Chapter 2, Part Two: "Take me away from here."...
The next morning, just as dawn broke, Xiao Chongheng was about to leave. He accidentally bumped into something while getting out of bed, which woke Ling Zhenli up as well.
He left her a cat, saying he was afraid she would be lonely and sad, so he specially sent it over to keep her company. He said it was a Persian cat, a tribute from Persia.
The cat was meowing as it approached her.
Ling Zhenli was half asleep at the time and gave it a common name, Baiyun. Xiao Chongheng asked her why she gave it such a name. At that time, she was lying on the bed with her arms hanging down. The cat came over and she gently scratched the cat's chin with her fingertips.
The snowball squinted its green eyes, made a purring sound, then shook its long fur and lightly leaped to the window. Sunlight filtered through its downy fur, making it look like floating clouds, indeed resembling white clouds.
Xiao Chongheng smiled happily upon seeing this; it was one of the few times he smiled in front of Ling Zhenli.
In the past, whenever Xiao Chongheng went out on business, he would leave her a bunch of valuable items. This time, he left her a bunch of gorgeous clothes and hairpins. Ling Zhenli fiddled with the items on the table, admiring them one by one to see if there were any new or interesting ones.
She was indeed the daughter of an official, but only the daughter of a lowly ninth-rank official. She had never seen anything good. After following Xiao Chongheng, she ate and dressed well, but she didn't know that the treasures and clothes laid out in front of her were only available in the capital palace...
As she looked at it, she couldn't help but shake her head and smile.
No matter how beautifully she dressed or how luxuriously she was dressed, she was still a prostitute. Her only way out was to please Xiao Chongheng and beg him to take her out of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.
Thinking of this, Ling Zhenli called over the cat and gently stroked it.
As for the children...
Ling Zhenli loved children, but she also thought about giving birth to this child so that Xiao Chongheng could take her out of the brothel and get rid of her lowly status. She even thought that Xiao Chongheng could take her as a concubine in order to give the child a proper status.
The child's death is actually a good thing for the child, at least he won't be hated by his father or used by his mother.
Ling Zhenli comforted herself, knowing that Xiao Chongheng would still come to see her when he had time, staying at her place and giving her so many good things, so she still had a chance.
She had feelings for Xiao Chongheng. Despite the insurmountable gap in their social classes, she was hopelessly in love with him and desperately wanted him to take her away.
So, Ling Zhenli turned to the dressing table and began to carefully draw her eyebrows and eyes.
Her features in the mirror were exquisite, yet she couldn't hide the sorrow in her eyes.
Since she was using her beauty to please him, she should have been aware that she was just a plaything. She should have been more alert and, while Xiao Chongheng still had some pity for her, begged him to redeem her.
She was willing to accept anything as long as she could leave the Drunken Immortal Pavilion and escape her status as a courtesan.
Unfortunately, she waited from dawn till dusk, but Xiao Chongheng never came... Ling Zhenli couldn't bear it any longer and fell asleep.
She had a dream in which she left the Drunken Immortal Pavilion and became Xiao Chongheng's concubine. Xiao Chongheng doted on her and took great care of her. In the end, she rose to become Xiao Chongheng's principal wife and could spend the rest of her life with him.
Another half month passed, and one morning, Xiao Chongheng arrived.
He went straight to the bed as soon as he arrived. Ling Zhenli was still dreaming when he was roughly woken up by him.
"Why are you... only arriving now?"
His voice was still a little hoarse from just waking up. Ling Zhenli was the first to smell his fragrance, which was still refreshing. She wanted to open her eyes while she was still sleepy and wanted to say something more, but Xiao Chongheng's kiss landed on her and his hands wandered down his body.
"Don't rush me... I... I'm not done yet... mmm..."
Ling Zhenli's words were broken by Xiao Chongheng's kiss. Overwhelmed with emotion, Ling Zhenli wrapped her arms around his neck and responded to his kiss.
"Let's try something different today."
"Wait a minute." Ling Zhenli gently pushed him away, but not with much force.
"Wait for what?" Xiao Chongheng asked, puzzled, but he still slowed down.
The next second, Ling Zhenli boldly hugged him, buried her head in Xiao Chongheng's arms, rubbed her head against him, and her voice was filled with suppressed grievances.
"I missed you so much. Why did it take you so long to come back? Do you know how much I thought you were never coming back? Waaah..."
This action stunned Xiao Chongheng. The words he had prepared were choked in his throat by the woman's sudden coquettishness, and he couldn't say them no matter what.
After a long while, Xiao Chongheng patted her back and gave a curt "hmm" as a gesture of comfort. Then, feeling it was inappropriate, he added, "I'm here now."
Ling Zhenli in her arms also had her own thoughts. She needed to find an opportunity to bring up the matter of leaving Zuixianlou, but Xiao Chongheng was so indifferent that she didn't know how to say it when the words were on the tip of her tongue.
And so, each with their own thoughts, they quietly embraced for a while.
Soon, the man could no longer hold back and slowly lowered himself, letting Ling Zhenli lie back down on the bed...
...
The dim candlelight flickered with the rhythm of the bed, and sweet, cloying sounds emanated from within the bed curtains.
The woman's eyes were alluring, her hands were clasped together and bound above her head with a red rope, her wide sleeves hung down, revealing her alabaster forearms.
Her once neat and smooth black hair was now scattered, like disordered vines spread across the bed.
Ling Zhenli's body had not fully recovered, and later on, the little flowers in the pot were somewhat listless, drooping their heads.
The man on top of her seemed dissatisfied with her performance. He picked a flower bud and peeled off the petals one by one. It had just rained, and the flower was wet.
"don't want……"
Ling Zhenli couldn't bear to see the delicate flowers being destroyed like this. She closed her eyes, and the panic in her heart made her somewhat afraid.
Having learned from Zuixianlou, I only need to deal with her a little bit to make her suffer unbearably.
"Open your eyes and look at me. Who am I?" Xiao Chongheng persisted, eager to extract what he wanted from her eyes.
The woman's fingertips dug into his back, as if she had fallen into the sea and could only cling tightly to the only piece of driftwood...
The waves splashed everywhere, and the salty water flowed into the crevices of the rocks, completely submerging people.
Hearing Xiao Chongheng's voice was like a god descending to earth; she cried out for help from the deep water, her broken murmurs spilling from her lips.
“Chongheng…”
The words made her ears turn red, and the next second, he caught her shyness with a passionate kiss. Xiao Chongheng's hand traced her trembling waistline, like crashing waves, as if she were about to be suffocated by the sea. Ling Zhenli tensed up.
After finally catching her breath, she slowly opened her eyes. Before she could even make out the man's face, he leaned down and kissed her lips, relentlessly ravaging her senses...
Xiao Chongheng, as if addicted, pressed her to continue: "Say it a few more times."
“Chongheng…Chongheng…”
The entire greenhouse fell silent; the two were like two intertwined vines, their sap mingling, their fibers breaking and regenerating.
Xiao Chongheng was too lazy to be gentle and considerate towards her. He would only try his best to abuse her body and torment her spirit with all sorts of strange and bizarre methods. He would use his physical advantages to trample on her dignity and then watch her become obsessed with her decadent and beautiful appearance.
The affair was over, without any lingering tenderness.
Ling Zhenli felt the time was right, taking advantage of Xiao Chongheng's good mood after everything was over, so she said coquettishly:
"Chongheng, take me away from here."
Xiao Chongheng did not answer her question. He got up from her, left her aside, put on his coat with a normal expression, lifted the bed curtain, and went to get the silver notes.
Seeing Xiao Chongheng approaching with the silver notes, she prepared to hook him up again and try to charm him with her sweet talk.
Xiao Chongheng gave her more silver notes this time than he had given her during their usual flirting. Ling Zhenli was both surprised and delighted, and she started counting the money as soon as she got it.
Although courtesans cannot be redeemed, rules are rigid, but people are flexible. For someone as powerful as Xiao Chongheng, taking her out is just a matter of a word.
"Give up, Ahri, I won't take you with me."
Before Ling Zhenli could shake off her initial joy, Xiao Chongheng got up and prepared to leave.
"What?" Ling Zhenli was completely bewildered by his actions.
But the next sentence plunged her into an icy hell.
"I don't want my soon-to-be wife to know you exist, so let's end it here. Remember to drink the contraceptive soup while it's hot. I won't be coming back."
After saying that, Xiao Chongheng walked out of the room.
"No! No! Wait, Chongheng, Chongheng!"
Seeing Xiao Chongheng leave without looking back, showing no sign of lingering, Ling Zhenli snapped out of her daze. Her mind went blank, and she hurriedly got out of bed, only to miss her footing and fall off the bed along with the blankets on her body.
With that fall, all the silver notes scattered on the ground. Ling Zhenli was in so much pain that she couldn't get up. Her hair was disheveled, and the quilt was still wrapped around her. A silver note lay beside her, and she looked both pathetic and ridiculous.
Xiao Chongheng had already gone far away, and it was too late to chase after him now. Besides, she wasn't dressed yet, and she would be laughed at for going out like this.
He's gone, what will she do?
He won't be coming anymore, so what about her? What exactly is she to Xiao Chongheng?
Just when she was feeling utterly hopeless, she suddenly remembered her past with Xiao Chongheng.
When she first entered Zuixianlou, she suffered countless hardships. It was Xiao Chongheng who specifically requested her services. From then on, she had only him by her side. Xiao Chongheng said she was beautiful, that her eyes were more beautiful than any treasure he had ever seen, and she believed him. She thought that a young man as wealthy and powerful as him had really taken a liking to her and would take her out. After she became pregnant, she even fantasized that Xiao Chongheng would take her as a concubine.
At this moment, Ling Zhenli felt that she was so naive and foolish that she was pathetic. Only someone who was terminally ill would fantasize that a proud man like Xiao Chongheng would take a fancy to a lowly prostitute like her.
She laughed, then started crying, crying her heart out.
It wasn't just because Xiao Chongheng wouldn't take her with him, but also because she had just lost her child, and Xiao Chongheng was so heartless, wanting to get married soon and break off all ties with her.
Throughout her relationship with Xiao Chongheng, all the power of speech rested with him. To Xiao Chongheng, she was perhaps not even a person, just a plaything that he could discard when he was tired of her. In the past, Xiao Chongheng had a possessive desire for her, but now he had nothing left. He didn't care if she was picked up and played with by someone else or hurt.
He wants to marry a wife, he wants to start a family with other women, they will be loving, they will have a bunch of children, and then Xiao Chongheng will forget about her...
Ling Zhenli cried, secretly vowing that she must remember her identity and find a powerful person to take her out again; otherwise, she would really have to cry in Zuixianlou for the rest of her life.
***
On this day, it was said that it was the wedding day of the Duke of Yan, the second son of Princess Wuyang, and Princess Roujia, the daughter of the former Crown Prince. The streets were deserted, and Zhuque Street was covered with red silk. The sounds of sheng, xiao, drums and music shook the sky.
A wedding procession of a hundred people moved in a long, winding manner. Xiao Chongheng, dressed in a crimson robe embroidered with a unicorn, rode a tall horse. The procession was filled with the sounds of drums and music. Princess Roujia, Pei Chanlian, rode in a golden sedan chair adorned with decorations. Her maids scattered copper coins and auspicious fruits along the way. The people flocked to witness this grand marriage of a member of the royal family.
The red ribbon stretched from the residence of Prince Duanhuai all the way to the residence of Princess Wuyang, passing right by the Zuixianlou. Ling Zhenli leaned on the railing, wanting to see how luxurious the princess's wedding would be.
The wedding was truly grand, so grand that Ling Zhenli was filled with envy and resentment. She wondered what Xiao Chongheng's wedding was like. He seemed to be very rich and powerful. She wondered what his family did for a living. Would he and the woman he was going to marry have such a grand wedding?
As I raged with hatred, tears began to flow again without my noticing.
Ling Zhenli secretly vowed that she must leave this brothel and hold on to her pride. In this world, there are many people with high positions and power. She can attach herself to anyone and leave without relying on Xiao Chongheng.
She was driven almost insane by the hatred she felt.
With this in mind, Ling Zhenli got up and, instead of continuing to watch the wedding ceremony, went to her dressing table to wash and get dressed again.
So they didn't see that the groom riding a tall horse was Xiao Chongheng, who was constantly looking towards Zuixianlou, his eager gaze searching for her...
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