Chapter 85 Ayin, Don’t Hate Me
The host of tonight's banquet was a young master from the Cui family's side branch. As soon as he saw Ning Yue approaching, he guessed her purpose.
"Ms. Ningyue wants to save her?" Master Cui drank his wine and looked at Ningyue with clear eyes.
Ning Yue bowed and said, "That girl looks similar to a sister I once had, so I can't bear to let her suffer this disaster. I hope Master Cui can help her."
Master Cui looked at her and said calmly, "You can ask me to save her, but I wonder if Miss Ningyue can afford the price?"
Ning Yue wanted to say something, but He Yi'er's crying was heard again. The situation was urgent and it would be too late if she delayed any further.
"I will do my best to repay Master Cui."
As soon as she finished speaking, Master Cui signaled with his eyes, and several sturdy servants nearby immediately went up to separate the two people.
"What are you doing?" Master Zhou, who was about to taste the beauty, was suddenly pulled away. Feeling dissatisfied, he immediately yelled at the servant.
At this time, Master Cui also walked up, with a smile on his face, but his eyes were very cold.
"Brother Zhou is drunk, it's time to go to bed."
The Cui family is now the undisputed number one family. The Zhou family finally returned to the capital, so they naturally dare not offend the Cui family, even though this Young Master Cui is just a descendant of a side branch.
After seeing Master Cui's eyes, Master Zhou, who was drunk to the point of madness, lost most of his drunkenness immediately. He no longer had the courage to act wildly and said obediently, "Yes, yes, I'm drunk. It's time to go back to my room and sleep."
Master Zhou was helped away by a servant. Seeing that the crisis was resolved, the mother of the Jiaofangsi hurried forward to put clothes on He Yi'er and took her to kowtow to Master Cui.
"Thank you, Master Cui, for helping me out."
He Yi'er also held back her tears and said, "Thank you, Master Cui."
Master Cui didn't even look at them, he just said: "Take the person away, don't disturb everyone's fun."
"Okay, okay." The mother half-dragged and half-carried the frightened He Yi away.
At this time, the place was silent. The young masters who did not see Ning Yue come forward to plead for mercy were all confused. They didn't know why Master Cui suddenly stood up to protect the girl from the He family.
Master Cui did not explain, but just said: "Let the performance continue."
The steward immediately listened to the order and urged the musicians to play, and then asked people to go up and dance according to the original arrangement.
Amid the pleasant sound of bamboo, Master Cui returned to his seat. Ning Yue quickly bowed to him politely: "Thank you, Master Cui."
Master Cui nodded and said, "Miss Ningyue, please go back to your seat and rest. When the banquet is over, I will send someone to take you back to Qingqiu Pavilion."
Ning Yue bowed again and then turned back.
It was not until she sat down that Ning Yue dared to breathe relaxedly and realized how tense her body was. She wanted to drink some tea to calm herself down, but found that her hands were shaking so badly that she couldn't even lift the teacup.
She lowered her eyes and forced herself to remain calm, but her maid whispered beside her: "Girl, you are frightening me to death."
"Don't be afraid, I'm fine." Ning Yue's words were meant to comfort the maid as well as herself.
The maid wanted to ask Master Cui why he was willing to help Ningyue, but Ningyue shook her head and indicated that she would talk about it later.
When the banquet was over, Master Cui really sent Ningyue back to Qingqiu Pavilion politely and never mentioned anything in return.
When the maid learned that Master Cui agreed to Ning Yue's request without asking for any conditions, she immediately became anxious: "Young lady, you are confused. What if his request is too excessive, for example, asking you to give yourself to him? You have never been so kind before, but why can't you bear it tonight and have to take the lead?"
The maids also felt sorry for Ning Yue. People in their line of work had seen too many dirty things, and they were not able to take care of every one of them.
In the past, Ningyue was clear-headed and never helped anyone on a whim. Why did she suddenly want to be a hero tonight?
Ning Yue had completely calmed down by now. She gently stroked the strings of the zither and said meaningfully, "I am not acting on impulse. I just want to fight for a future for myself."
The maid was stunned when she heard this: "Miss, what do you mean?"
Ning Yue shook her head: "I can't say."
The maid kept silent.
Her daughter has always been very smart. Since she said she did this for other purposes, she was definitely not lying.
On the second day, Ning Yue dressed up and went to meet the young master of the Cui family.
The two chatted for the whole day, and Ning Yue also sang several songs for Master Cui that Rong Yinxin shared with her. After knowing that she was the first audience to hear these songs, Master Cui showed a satisfied smile on his face.
When Master Cui left, Ning Yue did not take the money from him.
For the next month, Ning Yue only received Master Cui. Even if he didn't come, Ning Yue would not see other guests, no matter how much money he offered.
Ning Yue was a popular prostitute recently, but she actually refused to receive customers for the sake of Master Cui. Not long after, rumors about the two of them spread.
Everyone says that Miss Ningyue is deeply in love with Master Cui, and Master Cui is so lucky.
Master Cui, who was originally a nobody in the Cui family and had no rank among the children of the aristocratic families in the capital, is now the center of attention wherever he goes because of his romantic affair with Ning Yue. Many young masters of aristocratic families chase him and ask him how he won the heart of Miss Ning Yue.
As for the men who admired Ning Yue, they regarded him as a thorn in their eyes and wanted to rush over and beat him half to death.
In short, whether it was envy, jealousy or hatred, Master Cui accepted it all.
Letting Young Master Cui steal the spotlight is the reward Young Master Cui wants from Ning Yue.
As a member of the Cui family, Master Cui has no shortage of money, power, or wives and concubines, so she will not force Ningyue to become her woman.
What he wanted was to surpass his brothers, and even the young masters of his direct lineage, and become the most eye-catching figure in the capital.
Even if this glory could only last for two months, he didn't mind, because the benefits he gained in these two months would far exceed the price he paid for helping Ning Yue save He Yi'er.
Two months later, winter arrived in the capital. The sky was gray all day long, and heavy snow fell from time to time.
One day, Ningyue's maid went out to buy things for Ningyue. While walking on the road, she was suddenly bumped by a little girl with her head lowered. Before she could say anything, the little girl whispered "For Miss Ningyue" and then ran away in a hurry.
Only then did the maid realize that the little girl had stuffed a letter into her hand.
Out of caution, the maid quickly stuffed the letter into her sleeve, and when she returned to Qingqiu Pavilion, she immediately handed it to Ningyue.
Ning Yue opened the blank envelope and took out the folded letter inside. When she smelled the faint scent of powder and saw the first sentence on the letter, her heart, which had been hanging for more than two months, finally settled down slowly.
The corners of her lips slightly raised, and she said, "It's done."
"Everything arranged?"
In the tea room, Patriarch Cui drank hot tea and asked his subordinates questions.
The subordinate nodded and said, "Master, don't worry. The maid was planted by the Li family. Even if the plan fails in the end, the emperor will only find out that it is the Li family."
The Cui family head's slightly wrinkled brows relaxed a little, and he said lightly: "Go down, and report to me as soon as the results come out."
"Yes." The subordinates took the order and retreated, leaving only the head of the Cui family in the room.
The sound of falling snow outside was almost inaudible, and the only sound in the tea room was the sound of boiling water on the clay stove. Patriarch Cui stroked the rim of the teacup, his eyes fixed on the paper handkerchief on the table.
Recently, Zong Zhengxiao's paper mill has made improvements to the paper handkerchiefs. Not only can they be printed on, but they are also divided into two versions: scented and unscented. With their convenience and exquisite beauty, the paper handkerchiefs quickly squeezed into the high-end market.
Zong Zhengxiao was actively upgrading not only handkerchiefs, but also toilet paper, rice paper and other paper products, and had always been offering low prices and preferential treatment, which made Cuijia Paper almost unable to breathe.
Even if the noble families were reluctant, the fact was that what Zong Zhengxiao produced not only repeatedly squeezed their living space, but also infiltrated every aspect of the noble families' lives.
Nowadays, which wealthy family doesn’t buy cheap ice, bread, milk tea, and toilet paper?
Whose land doesn't need fertilizer? Knowing that Zong Zhengxiao has new grain seeds, everyone is eagerly waiting for distribution.
The dominance of the aristocratic family was revealed bit by bit.
Who still remembers that their several noble families were once able to compete with Zong Zhengxiao, and even slightly surpass him, but all this changed from the day that mermaid appeared.
Originally, Zong Zhengxiao was tormented by insomnia and had an unpredictable personality. The aristocratic families could not only spread his reputation as a tyrant by angering him, but also hope that he would die early so that they could support a puppet emperor to take the throne and realize their own grand ambitions.
But after the arrival of the merman, Zong Zhengxiao's insomnia was inexplicably cured. Not only did he prevent the rebellion from happening, he also wiped out the He family. Later, he took out good things such as low-priced ice and fertilizer to win the hearts of the people and strengthen his influence among the people. Instead, they, the several aristocratic families, became less and less popular among the people.
The rise and fall of the royal family was all due to the mermaid Rong Yin. After the head of the Cui family realized this, he specially hired someone to investigate. Almost everything that was beneficial to Zong Zhengxiao, whether it was seeds, fertilizers, ice, paper, or food, was related to Rong Yin.
Moreover, Patriarch Cui was sure that this mermaid had more good things in her hands than what they had already taken out. This could be seen from the degree of importance and protection that Zong Zhengxiao attached to Rong Yin.
Now the aristocratic families are showing signs of decline. If the royal family is allowed to continue to develop, the outcome of the remaining aristocratic families will probably not be much better than that of the He family.
To cut the weeds, we must remove the roots. Rong Yin, the mermaid, must not be allowed to stay.
但宗政逍獨寵戎音，戎音之前能從李傲手裏逃出來，說明他自己也有本事，所以除去戎音這件事，得循序漸進地來。
而崔家主，早已落下了第一步棋。
宮中，銀鲛園。
戎音坐在火爐旁的小板凳上，一邊啃着肉餅，一邊往竈臺上瞧，上面正炖着湯。
他手裏的肉餅其實總共沒啃幾口，他眼神有些呆滞，像是在回憶什麽。
大概率不是什麽好的回憶，因為他的臉上沒有半分笑容，反而滿是悲傷和深深的憂慮。
廚子走進來，看見戎音的臉被竈火烤得泛紅，便勸道：“主子，您去外面休息吧，不用一直盯着，等湯炖好了，奴才裝好了給你送過去。”
戎音搖頭，道：“沒事兒，我等的時候順便烤個火，外面還怪冷的。”
廚子聞言，也沒有再勸，轉身忙自己的去了。
其實他們都知道，戎音喜冷不喜熱，比起坐在竈臺邊被明火灼烤，他應該更喜歡在雪地裏奔跑。
但今天戎音不知道是怎麽了，非要親自炖湯給陛下喝，說是冬天這麽冷，要給陛下暖一暖身體。
親自炖湯其實也沒什麽，主要是戎音還要從頭盯到尾，這對怕熱的戎音來說其實是種折磨。
好不容易等到湯炖好了，廚子都替戎音松了口氣。
将湯盛進湯盅裏，又套上棉罩子保溫，戎音這才歡歡喜喜地帶着湯坐上步攆去禦書房找宗政逍。
每到年關宗政逍都很忙，戎音也想學一學“賢夫”那套，給疲憊的丈夫煲個湯，慰問他一番。
一想到待會兒宗政逍知道湯是他親自炖的時候可能的驚喜表現，戎音就止不住唇角上揚，原本有些郁悶的心情也瞬間開朗了許多。
戎音到時，四喜正守在外面，看見他過來，趕忙笑着迎了上去。
“小主子您怎麽來了？”
戎音拍了拍懷裏抱着的湯盅，“給陛下送湯。”
四喜笑道：“小主子您來得巧，陛下剛送走幾位大臣，現下正休息呢，估計也餓了，您這份湯送得正正好。”
“是嗎？”聽見他的話，戎音更高興了。
他道：“不用通傳了，你跟我一起進去吧，陛下不知道我會來，我想給他一個驚喜。”
“是。”四喜應下，跟着戎音蹑手蹑腳地往屋裏走。
穿過外間的大門，繞過屏風，在兩人即将踏入裏間的門檻時，裏面響起一道女人的驚呼。
“陛下！”
戎音先是一愣，而後快步跑進去，映入眼簾的畫面是宗政逍坐在書桌後，桌上茶盞傾倒，打濕了宗政逍的衣衫，而一個胸前衣領被扯開的宮女正往他身上撲。
宮女還沒碰到宗政逍，就被宗政逍一把掐住脖子，然後絲毫不留情地将她扔到了地上。
“四喜！把她給我拖出去！重刑伺候！看看這不要命的東西是誰家派來的！”
宗政逍聲音冰冷，滿含殺意。
他注意力都在那個宮女身上，聽見腳步聲，還以為進來的人只有四喜。
直到四喜緊張地喚外面的侍衛進來捉人，宗政逍的餘光才瞥見旁邊還有其他人，他轉頭看去，一張滿是狠厲神色的臉瞬間僵住。
戎音抱着湯盅，像是被施了定身術，只直勾勾地盯着他和那個宮女看。
宮女捂着脖子咳嗽了幾聲，在侍衛進來之前不停往宗政逍面前爬去，大聲道：“陛下，奴婢知道您只愛戎音主子，可您千不該萬不該為了他空置後宮，你是君主，有責任給皇家開枝散葉，不然您讓天下百姓怎麽看待您……唔！”
宮女話說到一半，就被跑進來的侍衛捂住了嘴，她掙紮着向宗政逍伸手，可惜宗政逍此刻眼裏只有戎音，根本沒有分給她一點注意，更何況侍衛為了自己的飯碗着想，也不會再給她打擾到兩位主子的機會。
宮女的聲音逐漸消失在門外，四喜忙着處理宮女去了，也沒有再進來，是以書房裏只剩下了宗政逍和戎音。
宗政逍上前，接過戎音手裏的湯盅，又摸了摸他的頭，語氣裏滿是擔心，“抱歉，是不是吓到你了？”
宗政逍也很惱火，他不想當着戎音表現出自己嗜血兇狠的一面的，都怪那個宮女和她背後的主謀，自己一定不會放過他們。
戎音呆呆地搖了搖頭，輕聲道：“沒有。”
宗政逍拉着他過去坐下，把湯盅放到桌上，柔聲問：“怎麽突然過來了？”
戎音低着腦袋，恹恹地道：“我怕你餓了，想給你送湯。”
宗政逍以為戎音誤會了什麽，便将戎音抱進懷裏，輕拍着他的後背，解釋道：“怪我沒有及時識破她的身份，也沒猜到她會忽然來這麽一出，應該是有人故意安排她這麽做的，我和她沒有任何不正當的關系。”
之前宗政逍就讓四喜調查過在自己身邊伺候的宮人的底細，這些年來一直相安無事，沒想到居然還有漏網之魚。
那宮女藏得這麽深，又在宮裏待了好些年，肯定清楚他不是貪圖美色的人，所以勾引他這個計劃是不可能成功的。
而她之所以主動暴露身份，主要目的大概率不是誘惑他，而是早就知道戎音要來，故意演戲給他看的。
這些人居然能提前知曉戎音的行蹤，看來銀鲛園也不再安全了。
“我知道的，她是卧底，是她故意往你身上撲的。”戎音把臉埋進宗政逍懷裏，悶悶地道。
宗政逍扶他坐直，盯着他的眼睛，問道：“既然不怕，也沒誤會，那為什麽還不高興？”
戎音垂眸，不吭聲。
宗政逍有點着急：“阿音，我們之間沒什麽不能說的，你有心事卻瞞着我，你覺得這樣好嗎？”
戎音搖頭，“不好。”
“那為什麽不告訴我你不開心的原因？”
戎音：“……”
宗政逍見他這樣，不得不使用激将法：“其實你還是不相信我，覺得我會背着你和女人厮混，對吧？”
戎音擡頭看他，不停搖頭：“我沒有，我相信陛下的。”
宗政逍捧着他的臉，神情嚴肅，語氣也重了點：“你的相信就是什麽都不說，讓我自我懷疑，為你傷神，是嗎？”
戎音見宗政逍居然這麽兇自己，當即就紅了眼，嘴角下撇，聲音都帶上了哭腔，“我只是還沒想清楚，所以現在不知道該怎麽告訴你，你居然敢質疑我對你的信任，宗政逍，你個王八蛋，我讨厭你，我以後再也不給你送湯了！”
我讨厭你。
這幾個字，如同平地一聲驚雷，炸得宗政逍當即失了分寸。
他忽然覺得心髒疼得不行，因為他明白這不是打情罵俏的“讨厭”，戎音是認真的。
他想去抱戎音，戎音卻将他一把推開，扭過身去的同時，眼淚開始撲簌簌地往下落。
宗政逍單膝跪在戎音面前，去握戎音的手，戎音想抽回去，卻因宗政逍握得太緊沒抽動。
戎音瞪他：“你放開，不許你碰我！”
“我錯了，阿音，我不該逼問你，不該質疑你，我只是擔心，我怕你因為剛才那件事亂想，我怕你不想繼續跟我在一起，我怕你不要我了……”
宗政逍緊緊抓着戎音的手，語氣可憐無比。
戎音知道宗政逍這是在裝可憐，也是在給彼此一個臺階下，可戎音今天不想順勢去哄宗政逍，也不想告訴他自己此時的想法。
他現在腦子很亂，他想要自己安靜地待一會兒。
“我先回去了，湯你自己喝吧。”戎音硬是掰開了宗政逍的手，起身就要離開。
但他剛走出去兩步，就被宗政逍從身後抱住，宗政逍緊箍着他的腰，将下颚搭在他的肩上，語氣委屈巴巴：“阿音，為什麽要走，你是不是真的不要我了？”
“我沒有……”戎音聲音疲憊極了，“宗政逍，我只想自己安靜待一會兒，你就放過我吧，行不行？”
宗政逍呼吸一窒，不再僞裝可憐，而是冷冷地問：“讓我放過你？阿音，你難道不知道嗎？從你選擇留下陪我的那一刻起，我就不可能放過你了。”
戎音聽宗政逍這話就知道他是誤會了，他只能嘆氣解釋：“我不是這個意思，我沒有要離開你，我只是需要一個單獨的空間自己待一會兒，把自己混亂的思緒整理清楚，再來和你交談，而不是像現在這樣彼此誤解，你懂嗎？”
“我不懂，也不想懂。”向來通透聰明的宗政逍卻在戎音這裏犯起了驢脾氣，他将戎音轉過身來面對自己，眼神執拗得吓人，“無論你想做什麽，都得待在我身邊，我可以不打擾你，但我不能容忍你不在我的視野裏。”
既然那些人能在今天演這一出，誰能保證他們接下來會不會對戎音做什麽。
戎音急紅了臉：“宗政逍，你再這樣我生氣了！”
“氣吧，你要氣也只能在我身邊氣。”
“混蛋，我讨……”
戎音話還沒說完，就被宗政逍狠狠封住了唇。
Rong Yin tried to push Zong Zheng Xiao, but was restrained even more tightly. In a rage, he bit Zong Zheng Xiao's lips, but Zong Zheng Xiao only paused for a second before continuing his attack with the smell of blood.
The memorials and books on the desk were swept to the ground with a crackling sound. Rong Yin was controlled by Zong Zhengxiao and his clothes were ruthlessly stripped off.
Before invading, Zong Zhengxiao buried his face in Rong Yin's shoulder, his voice trembling, "Ayin, please, don't reject me, don't say anything that dislikes me, I love you, I love you..."
Rong Yin hugged Zong Zhengxiao's shoulders and stopped struggling, but his tears never stopped until the end.
Si Xi came back after finishing his work and was about to go in to report to Zong Zheng Xiao, but as soon as he reached the door, he heard some noise inside. He quickly retreated, closed the door, and stood guard at the door.
He didn't understand, wasn't everything fine when he left? How did it suddenly become like this?
He seemed to hear the young master crying, a truly sad cry.