Chapter 31 Thirty-One Moving Forward, Knocking on Thin Bones
It turned out that he had already had this idea back then. Wang Yuying thought about it as she used her hands to prop herself up and sit up.
Zheng Yangzhi held the hairpin in one hand and raised the other, slowly extending it towards Wang Yuying. Wang Yuying was puzzled but not intimidated. After all, Zheng Yangzhi didn't know martial arts, so she wanted to see what he was up to this time.
Did you want to touch her face?
Unexpectedly, Zheng Yangzhi gently grasped Wang Yuying's wrist and led her hand to his collar, as if asking her to unbutton his plain white long coat.
Wang Yuying frowned slightly: "You're not going to report me to the authorities later, saying I molested you, are you?"
Zheng Yangzhi smiled quietly, leading Wang Yuying down the path. He lowered his chin, placed the gold hairpin in his other hand into Wang Yuying's palm, and gently curled her fingers to help her hold the hairpin securely.
Wang Yuying still frowned. Should she return the item to its rightful owner or keep it for her temporarily?
Zheng Yangzhi did not answer her. He raised his arms to his collar and deftly unbuttoned his shirt. His constantly moving hands appeared even paler in the light of the night snow outside the window, his fingers long and slender, his knuckles prominent, and the veins faintly visible.
Wang Yuying scrutinized him, a slight smile playing on her lips, thinking to herself: Isn't he a little too impatient?
Zheng Yangzhi quickly pulled his long coat and inner garment down to his waist.
Wang Yuying's upturned lips gradually turned down, her whole body freezing—her white coat and clothes were scattered on the bed, almost completely covering her sky-blue quilt, as if the snow outside the window had fallen onto the bed. Perhaps because he had never seen sunlight for many years, Zheng Yangzhi's skin below his neck was whiter than his face, resembling pure snow. In the vast expanse of white, only the character "Ying" on his chest was different from the rest, a little yellowish and a little gray, like human flesh.
These characters must have been carved a long time ago. There are skin-like protrusions along the strokes, and small vertical protrusions that extend continuously on both sides of each stroke, like fishbone spines. They look ferocious upon closer inspection.
Wang Yuying had a flash of inspiration and suddenly looked down at the gold hairpin in her hand—he used this hairpin to stab!
Zheng Yangzhi then looked in the same direction, confirming her guess. His expression was gentle, and a faint smile, like smoke or mist, shone softly on his face from the moment he began to undress.
A moment later, Wang Yuying's lips curled up as she looked up at Zheng Yangzhi. With her chin slightly raised, her neck appeared impossibly long, and her large eyes sparkled with life.
Zheng Yangzhi smiled broadly.
Wang Yuying raised an eyebrow: "According to the laws of this dynasty, anyone with tattoos or embroidery on their body is barred from holding office for life. Lord Zheng is a fish that slipped through the net."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Yangzhi's lips curled up, but he remained silent, his thin lips pressed together. His phoenix eyes met Wang Yuying's gaze, which gradually deepened.
Sometimes, especially tonight, Wang Yuying felt that Zheng Yangzhi was not human, but a beast or a ghost that silently observed and imitated human habits.
"How did you get hurt on your forehead? It looks like you've lost a lot of blood." She said with a smile, only then mentioning the injury on Zheng Yangzhi's forehead that she had noticed earlier.
The wound was the complete opposite of the piercing mark; it was very fresh. The purplish-red scabs above the eyebrows and in the center of the forehead had not yet fallen off, and if you looked closely, you could see the light pink new flesh.
If you are far away, you can only see a dot of cinnabar between her eyebrows, making her look even more like Guanyin.
But there's no such Bodhisattva.
Zheng Yangzhi wasn't as dry as Wang Yuying had imagined. He was thin but not skinny, shirtless, but his hair was neatly styled in a bun without a single stray strand. Two plain white ribbons from his hairband hung down, gliding over his shoulders and past his collarbone, the ends sticking to his cherries. They partially covered him, making him even more eye-catching, and it was hard for Wang Yuying to ignore them.
He curled the corners of his mouth, his two red lips seemingly glued together, yet he did indeed utter a sound, wisps of smoke that drifted into Wang Yuying's ears and into her heart: "This is... the blood I shed for you."
Wang Yuying finally determined that this was a corrupt Guanyin, bewitching and seducing people.
But she insisted on manipulating him in the opposite way.
"Want to serve me?" Her voice was equally low and seductive, and her whole being was as smooth and lustrous as jade.
Zheng Yangzhi's lips curled up even higher, and he even pursed his lips slightly.
Wang Yuying raised an eyebrow, parted her lips, and silently uttered a single word to him. Zheng Yangzhi understood her lip movements, and was immediately stunned, his smile freezing.
The next moment, he smiled again and moved his body down. Wang Yuying was surprised that he accepted it so quickly. She was stunned for a moment before leaning back.
She had barely begun when she smelled the scent of heather, which made her frown. Then, realizing what was happening, she laughed without restraint, mocking his inexperience.
Wang Yuying glanced down, and Zheng Yangzhi also looked up at her. Their eyes met for a moment, and he said, "Ying, Niang."
Look, it's like a beast again, clumsy as if it were learning to speak human language for the first time.
Wang Yuying sucked her cheek: "Aren't you very excited? You can finally shout like that?"
Upon hearing this, Zheng Yangzhi finally showed some emotion, his shoulders trembling slightly.
Wang Yuying raised her chin, looking down at the person below with disdain: "I'm not happy yet! Wait until I've had my fill before you get excited, do you hear me?"
Hold it in for her!
Zheng Yangzhi smiled and nodded. As his chin lowered, his eyes also drooped, glancing at the long coat and bedding. Then his gaze moved downwards, and he retreated as well.
Several rays of moonlight streamed through the window, making it impossible to distinguish which was the crescent moon mingled with the snow's glow. The curtains fluttered gently, and Wang Yuying made no attempt to conceal herself, indulging in soft moans and gasps, which surged like a tidal wave.
Who carved through the Kunlun Mountains, stretching for thousands of miles, to unleash boundless waves that crash against the sky?
She was delighted, lying down and stretching out her limbs, her eyes alluring as she gazed at the shimmering spring waves.
Zheng Yangzhi's lips were still glistening with moisture. He knelt down on his knees, step by step, and leaned in as if to kiss her. Wang Yuying turned her head away and said, "No, you're the one who does that."
Zheng Yangzhi smiled, lowered his chin, and after a moment, straightened up again and began to untie the parts of his body that were still untied. He was no longer as slow and methodical as before, and a hint of impatience was revealed in his expression.
Wang Yuying was too lazy to move. By the light of the moonlight outside the window, she appraised the person in front of her—completely inexperienced, still behaving like a beast, with a thin waist but strong and wiry. When he exerted himself, although it was obvious that he had no internal strength, he was not bad.
Just like when she eats meat, she picks the tenderest tenderloin from the lean cuts.
Just like now, Wang Yuying could still squint and look around while enjoying herself, but Zheng Yangzhi had already closed his phoenix eyes tightly, pressed his chin down, and even kept his lips, which were hard to separate, apart. His cheeks also had the rosy glow of a living person. If he were a woman, he would be ashamed of peaches and apricots.
It was rare to see him so lively. Wang Yuying's lips were sweet with affection, and her voice was like a silver bell: "Zheng Yangzhi, just how much do you like me?"
Before he could even change his expression, he leaned close to her ear and whispered through their parted lips, "I like you so much I'd die for you."
His breath and sighs entered Wang Yuying's ears like smoke, but her expression remained unchanged. After a while, just before he was about to convulse and reach the brink of ecstasy, she suddenly raised her right foot and kicked Zheng Yangzhi hard in the chest.
She used all her internal strength. Zheng Yangzhi not only didn't know martial arts, but he was also completely unprepared. She kicked him off the bed, and he flew half a step in the air before falling heavily to the ground in a kneeling position.
The excitement was abruptly interrupted, and Zheng Yangzhi's previously congealed blood flowed back up in a chaotic, turbulent rush, yet his heart continued its rapid beating, causing chest tightness and palpitations. The pain was so intense that he curled up and convulsed, then looked back at Wang Yuying—because one was on the floor and the other on the bed, he needed to tilt his head slightly upwards to look at her.
“But I don’t like you.” Wang Yuying straightened her back, raising her neck to accentuate the height difference between them. The smile on her face vanished completely, replaced by contempt and ridicule. “I’m not crazy, how could I like someone who mocks, slanders, and insults me all day long?”
I could never fall in love with him in my entire life!
She was just toying with him, and he was nothing special; he would take the bait with the slightest flick of his finger!
Those wicked lips, aren't they still groveling before me!
From a young age, Wang Yuying loved the pleasures of the bedroom. She would read books on bedroom arts and eagerly learn and practice them. Xu Heng would sometimes scold her, sometimes read them with a stern face, and sometimes advise her not to read them so frequently, saying she couldn't bear it. He said what he wanted to say, but Wang Yuying let it go in one ear and out the other. The more she read, the more wicked she became, and she even began to study lewd martial arts techniques.
At the time, I felt that not every move could be used. For example, there was a sinister and seductive move that taught people to use their internal energy to interrupt their opponent at a certain moment and attack their heart meridian. The internal injury suffered by the opponent would last a lifetime, and would be like being bitten by a hundred ants when it was rainy or cloudy. It was undetectable and incurable!
Unexpectedly, as the saying goes, "reading is always beneficial" and "having many skills is never a burden," which is truly true.
As Wang Yuying thought, she raised her right hand, which was clutching the small flower swallow hairpin. Zheng Yangzhi's pupils trembled slightly, and he hurriedly raised his hand. Although he did not speak, Wang Yuying could read the worry in his expression and demeanor.
She raised one corner of her lip and glanced at him with a raised eyebrow: "What, you think I'd slit my own throat?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zheng Yangzhi looked at the hairpin and realized that the sharp end of the hairpin, which was gleaming with a cold light, was always aimed at the throbbing veins on his neck.
Wang Yuying warned sternly: "If you step onto my bed again, I will immediately slash your neck with the golden hairpin in my hand, making your blood splatter three feet high and your head separated from your body!"
Zheng Yangzhi remained kneeling on the ground, his Miaochang bun long since undone, his black hair flowing like a waterfall, and his face pale again. He stared down at the cold ground, seemingly lost in thought, or perhaps pondering Wang Yuying's words.
After a while, he suddenly looked up at Wang Yuying and silently raised the corners of his lips, as if two invisible ropes were tied to the two ends of his lips, pulling him up like a puppet. His long, narrow phoenix eyes were full of tenderness and affection, overflowing with submissiveness and infatuation.
Completely unexpected by Wang Yuying, she gasped and immediately ordered Zheng Yangzhi to leave. He obediently got up, dressed, and left on his own in the freezing winter night.
He remained silent throughout.
He then wandered around the temple from time to time for two years, but could not get close to Wang Yuying.
She then began to install opaque bamboo blinds on all the windows and lock the courtyard gate from the inside.
If there were other people present when the two met, he would always have a cold, gloomy face, his lips tightly clenched, and his expression somber. But if it was just the two of them alone, Zheng Yangzhi would show the same smile as that night.
*
Chongwen Lane, Zheng Mansion.
Grand gates and magnificent houses, adorned with cascading tripods and heavy carpets.
Zheng Yangzhi rarely had a day off. The autumn air was crisp and clear, but instead of climbing mountains to enjoy the view or picking osmanthus blossoms to explore secluded spots, he went back to the east wing early in the morning after paying his respects to his grandmother and mother.
To pass through the covered walkway, with a waterside pavilion and pond on the left and a dry garden of pines and willows on the right, Zheng Yangzhi was walking intently when suddenly a red-bellied pheasant darted out from the right, its long, dark brown feathers trailing behind it. It leaped over the railing and landed in front of Zheng Yangzhi, its head bobbing as it pecked at his feet. Zheng Yangzhi's face tightened, and he decisively turned left, descending the five steps of the Ruyi Steps in two strides and turning into the waterside pavilion.
However, two large reddish-brown crested gulls paddled through the clear water, swimming closer and closer. Zheng Yang took a step back, and although there was a pillar blocking his way, he kept his eyes closed and his breathing heavy.
The attendant following behind sighed inwardly—here we go again. The young master has been afraid of birds since he was a child, and it's not a new thing.
Chang Sui has a three-year-old nephew who is afraid of dogs. He avoids any yellow dog he sees.
But you say that the eldest son, who can't stand birds, has preserved a dead eagle and placed it in the east wing every day for quite some time.
Of course, there's something even stranger: at the very bottom of the eldest son's wardrobe lies a nun's robe with holes burned in it, something that's best left unsaid to outsiders.
Zheng Yangzhi waited until the fish and ducks swam away and the pheasant went far away before leaving the waterside pavilion.
He re-entered the covered walkway and continued walking. Before long, he saw two children, both with their hair tied up in buns and wearing satin jackets. The adults were worried that they would catch a cold as the weather turned cold, so they gave one of them a hood and the other a sable scarf around his neck.
The two children each held a cloth puppet in their hands, chatting and swaying it. When they saw Zheng Yangzhi coming, they both stood at attention, put down their puppets, and bowed: "Uncle."
"Uncle."
Zheng Yangzhi nodded. These were his second brother's youngest son and his cousin's eldest son, both five years old.
The younger members of the clan were all older than them and had already entered the family school. The sound of reading aloud could be heard all morning, but the two of them were still playing around here.
Zheng Yangzhi smiled and asked, "Have you two had breakfast yet?"
"Yes, Uncle, we have already eaten."
Zheng Yangzhi nodded again and asked with a smile, "What are you doing?"
The boy wearing the mink turban spoke first: "Uncle, we are practicing fighting. But fists and feet can hurt each other, so we are using rag dolls instead."
Zheng Yangzhi squatted down to be level with the two children and said with a smile, "Fighting doesn't necessarily require physical force."
The two children were taken aback at first, then eagerly chimed in, "I know, the best strategy is to subdue the enemy without fighting!"
"I know that too, the second priority is to disrupt diplomatic relations!"
"Have you been reading military strategy lately?" Zheng Yangzhi pressed.
"Yes!" the two children said in unison. "We not only learned 'Sun Tzu's Art of War,' but also 'The Thirty-Six Stratagems.' It's just that there are too many of them, and we can't remember them all."
Zheng Yangzhi was happy to teach the younger members of his clan: "You can try to remember it this way: when the advantage is in our hands, we can use it to win battles against the enemy, such as deceiving the heavens and crossing the sea, taking advantage of a fire, substituting one thing for another, and secretly crossing the Chencang pass."
"What if the enemy has the advantage, and we are at a disadvantage?"
"Then we'll have to resort to some honey traps and self-inflicted injury schemes," Zheng Yangzhi replied calmly.
The two children seemed to understand, but they made sure to remember it in their hearts and replied, "Thank you for your teachings, Uncle. We will keep them in mind."
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