Chapter 74 Chapter 74 Bathroom
The elegant pavilion behind Shoushan Lake was originally a place for guests at banquets to take a rest and sober up. At this moment, the banquet was in full swing and no one came here to rest, so the surroundings were very quiet.
Zhe Rou was led all the way back by Lu Chen. There was no one else on the road except the two of them.
Lu Chen walked side by side with her at first, but after turning a small path, he walked faster and faster, almost pulling her along.
Although Rose Dew was not considered a strong liquor, its aftereffects were long-lasting. She had drunk a few more glasses on an empty stomach at the banquet, and now, stirred by the night wind, all the alcohol had dissipated from her. She felt light and unsteady, and gradually could not keep up with his pace.
But her wrist was still painfully gripped by him. Zhe Rou couldn't help but frown and struggled hard, "Slow down..."
Lu Chen pretended not to hear her, but instead held her wrist tighter, without slowing down his pace at all.
Zhe Rou was provoked by him and could no longer bear it. She shouted in a low voice: "Lu Bingyan! Let go of me!"
Lu Chen then stopped and glanced at her with a hint of mockery in his tone, "Are you really that unhappy?"
Zhe Rou pursed her lips, not wanting to pay any attention to him at all. She just struggled to break free from his hand and walked forward alone.
Lu Chen, however, took a step forward to catch up with her, grabbed her by the belt, and yanked her back to him. He squinted her expression coldly and sneered, "Why, are you blaming me for disturbing your good time?"
The more you talk, the more ridiculous it becomes.
At this point, what was there that she didn't understand? Why did Lu Chen suddenly appear here? It was obvious that he had made plans long ago, waiting to see what she and Ming Qi would say and do.
After figuring this out, Zhe Rou's resentment surged like a tide, and she angrily said, "You knew that I would meet him at the banquet today, but you still forced me to come here and hid in the dark to spy on me. You were just testing me..."
Lu Chen unconsciously tightened his grip on her arm, his dark eyes staring coldly at her. "Yes, I did it on purpose."
"Shameless!" Zhe Rou bit her lip, looked up at him hatefully, her voice trembling slightly, "Are you satisfied now?"
Lu Chen's brows were gloomy and he stared at her intently.
She probably drank too much at the banquet and was now tipsy, with a blush on her fair cheeks and a soft and watery light in her eyes. Even though she was angry at the moment, there was a hint of haziness when she looked at people.
Lu Chen's expression became increasingly ugly.
He should have felt happy when he heard her say that she had severed ties with Xie Mingqi, but when he saw the tears in her eyes and her eyes full of reluctance, his heart felt like it was stuffed with a ball of cotton wool soaked in ice water, cold and heavy, making it hard for him to breathe. When he thought of the look that Qiang Liao had given her just now, his heart felt like it was on fire and it was so painful that it was unbearable.
Lu Chen's gaze grew deeper and deeper, fixed on her fair and smooth neck for a moment, wishing he could leave a noticeable mark in front of others.
He suddenly forced a smile and asked coldly, "Why are you so sad?"
A mixture of drunkenness and anger surged in her heart. Zhe Rou stared at him for a moment and couldn't help but sneered lightly, "Lu Bingyan, I just said a few words to him, why did you go to such lengths? Why, you only allow you to see Xu Jia Shiliu Niang in private, but you don't allow me to reminisce with Ming Qi?"
Lu Chen's body suddenly froze, and he narrowed his eyes. "...What did you say?"
Zhe Rou raised her head and said calmly, "Why were you poisoned and immersed in ice water that day... Do you think I'm confused? In Shangjing City, who else would give you that kind of medicine besides the young lady of the Xu family?"
Lu Chen's gaze paused for a moment, but a smile unconsciously appeared on his lips. He lowered his head and carefully studied her expression, "Miss Miss...are you angry with me?"
Zhe Rou's tone was extremely cold. "Lu Bingyan, I don't care who you've met or what you've been involved with other women. You have no right to restrict me from meeting anyone or saying anything."
After saying that, she struggled to break free from his shackles, turned around and was about to leave.
Lu Chen refused to give up. He immediately reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back fiercely.
Before Zhe Rou could regain her composure and struggle, he had already approached her, pressing her against the rock behind him. He lifted her chin with his long fingers, his dark eyes fixed on her expression, "Do you really not care at all?"
He was too close, his hot, alcoholic breath gushing against her neck, stirring up a slight shudder. Zhe Rou bit her lips tightly and turned her face away stubbornly.
Seeing her resistance, Lu Chen's eyes gradually darkened, his knuckles clenched until they turned pale. After a moment, he chuckled softly, "You don't care what happens between me and others, but you're so reluctant to disown Xie Mingqi... You're afraid I'll plot revenge and implicate him, huh?"
Zhe Rou frowned and struggled hard, "Let me go!"
Lu Chen remained unmoved. He grabbed her slender wrist with one hand, pressed her against the rock, and demanded in a hateful voice, "Miss, you're so kind to everyone else, why do you have the heart to treat me like this?"
The corners of his eyes flushed red as he stared at her intently, "No matter how I treat you, even if I want to give you my heart, I can't get even a sliver of your heart back, right? You and I have been married for four years, spent our youth together, and the affection we've shared for so many years...isn't even worth a few months for Xie Mingqi, right?!"
He was so arrogant again. Looking at the extremely familiar face in front of him in a daze, Zhe Rou was drunk, and the dissatisfaction and resentment that had been accumulated in her heart for a long time finally collapsed like a dam breaking.
Her throat tightened, and she couldn't suppress the sobs. "Why should I turn back just because you want me to? Why should I love you just because you want me to love you like before? Lu Bingyan, I was willing to give in the past because I wanted to, but now I don't want to give in. No matter who it is, no matter how hard they try, it won't work!"
Hatred mixed with bitterness rushed straight into her eyes, and tears rolled down in an instant. Zhe Rou looked at him, her eyes full of resentment and pain, "So what if you and I have been married for four years? He will not ignore my wishes, nor will he force me to bow my head... Lu Bingyan, in this matter, you will never be able to compare to him in the slightest!"
As soon as the words fell, the air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Zhe Rou stared straight at Lu Chen, her heart pounding, her chest heaving violently, her fingertips unconsciously digging deep into her palms.
She had just lost her temper and said everything without thinking. Now she realized that she was panicking. She was afraid that he would go crazy in anger and do something horrible.
The two of them stopped talking for a while. Lu Chen's face was extremely gloomy, and Zhe Rou also forced herself to look at him.
She had not eaten much at the banquet and had drunk a lot of rose water. Her stomach was already uncomfortable, and she was choked by the cold wind and argued with him for a long time. She was angry and afraid, and soon she felt cramps in her stomach, and a cramping pain like a surging sea. She tried to endure it for a moment, but still couldn't bear it anymore. She pushed Lu Chen away and leaned over to vomit out a few mouthfuls of sake.
Lu Chen's angry figure froze in an instant.
Coming back to his senses after a moment, he instinctively reached out and pulled the person into his arms, "...妱妱?"
Zhe Rou's eyes turned red with discomfort. She struggled weakly twice in his arms, but could only grab his clothes and vomited a few mouthfuls of sour water mixed with the smell of alcohol. Only then did she feel a little better.
Lu Chen gritted his teeth, tightened his jaw, and did not allow her to struggle any longer. He simply picked her up and carried her horizontally, then went straight out of Genyue. He sent his attendants to ask for leave, and took her back home by car.
There was warm tea in the carriage. Zhe Rou vomited out all the wine in her stomach and rinsed her mouth carefully with the tea. She finally felt a little relieved. However, her clothes were a little dirty and her whole body was stained with a faint smell of alcohol.
Neither of them spoke anymore. The cramped carriage was completely silent, with only the rumbling sound of the wheels rolling over the stone road.
Lu Chen sat silently by the side, looking down at her slightly pale face, with a burst of anger in his heart that he had no place to vent.
He believed that he was not a good person at all. He was cruel and ruthless to others and himself, and had never been soft-hearted. But he could not be cruel to her.
Even if she was having an affair with someone else, he would hate her so much that he wanted to bleed every time he thought about it, but he would rather cut himself with a knife than do anything to her.
Pingchuan had returned home early to deliver the message. When they returned to the villa, the maid had already prepared hot water. Lu Chen got out of the car first, turned around and stretched out his arm towards the carriage, "Come here."
Zhe Rou pursed her lips, her fingertips unconsciously clenching her sleeves.
Without waiting for her response, Lu Chen leaned over into the carriage, picked her up without saying a word, wrapped her in his outer robe, and walked straight to the bathroom.
Walking around the screen, warm mist hits your face, mixed with the clean and crisp scent of soapberries.
Lu Chen put her down on the bamboo couch beside him and turned to test the water temperature in the bathtub.
Zhe Rou lowered her eyes and said nothing. She raised her hand to remove the hairpins on her head, her heart in a mess.
I had originally planned not to argue with him anymore and wait for him to let down his guard, but I was drunk just now and let out all my anger. Now that I am in a clear mind, I don't know how to get along with him.
The hairpins and crowns worn by the ladies of high rank were complicated and heavy. She was not very skilled in taking them off and accidentally caught a strand of hair, causing her to hiss in pain.
Lu Chen turned around when he heard the sound, frowned, and grabbed her wrist, "Don't move, I'll help you remove it."
Zhe Rou paused slightly, her tone becoming a little stiff, "...I can do it myself, no need for help."
Lu Chen lowered his eyes and glanced at her. Seeing that she had really recovered at this moment, not only was she not seriously injured, but she even had the energy to trouble him. He couldn't help but sneer, "Don't you want help from others, or don't you want my help?"
Seeing him provoking her again, Zhe Rou felt impatient and pushed away his outstretched hand with a bit of a broken jar-like anger.
However, she didn't expect that Lu Chen happened to turn his body to help her untie the hairpin on the other side. When she raised her hand, her elbow hit the wound on his chest hard, making a dull thud.
Although the wound caused by the silver hairpin was not thick and wide, it was narrow and deep. He had also used corrosive drugs on it on purpose just to arouse her sympathy, so it had dragged on for so many days and the wound had not healed repeatedly. It really could not withstand this blow.
Lu Chen suddenly felt pain and groaned. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead and his lips turned pale.
Zhe Rou knew about his injury and didn't want to do this. She looked at Lu Chen helplessly as he very slowly bent his waist and buried his forehead deeply in her neck, as if he was enduring the pain. His breathing was slightly heavy and he didn't say a word for a long time.
Zhe Rou had her arms held by him, and she sat stiffly on the bamboo couch, her fingertips unconsciously curled up slightly, and for a moment she didn't know what to do.
Just as he was about to raise his hand to push him away, Lu Chen suddenly spoke in a hoarse voice, his tone surprisingly gentle: "Are you relieved? If not, how about stabbing me again?"
Hearing him talking nonsense again, Zhe Rou pursed her lips and turned her face away.
The two of them stopped talking for a while, and the bathroom fell into a long silence. Only the sound of each other's breathing could be heard, interweaving and rising in the misty water vapor.
After an unknown amount of time, Lu Chen slowly took her into his arms. With the familiar warmth in his palm, he gently stroked her slender back, again and again, as if to comfort her, and as if to show affection.
Zhe Rou's tense shoulders finally relaxed.
"Xiaoxiao..." Lu Chen's Adam's apple rolled, and his voice was so low and hoarse that it seemed to be ground out from his chest, revealing unspeakable pain and fatigue. "I have a heart too... My heart is made of flesh. If a knife pierces it, it will bleed. If an arrow pierces it, it will kill me... Xiaoxiao, I feel pain too."
After a while, Lu Chen took her hand, pressed it against his chest, and repeated in a hoarse voice: "Miss, I feel pain too..."
Beneath her palm was a rapid and powerful heartbeat, hitting her ribs again and again and rippling to her fingertips.
Zhe Rou seemed to be burned by something, and her delicate fingertips curled up slightly for a moment.
She was used to this man's arrogance and hatefulness, but when he suddenly spread out his soft belly like a little fox, revealing his previous weak and begging look, she didn't know how to deal with it. She felt complicated and indescribable in her heart, but she couldn't break free, so she could only bite his shoulder hatefully.
Lu Chen groaned, but didn't push her away. Instead, he slowly tightened his arms around her, pressing his cheek against her slightly cool hair, slowly nuzzling in. "You hate that I'm not as kind to you as Mingqi... It was me who forced myself on you and made you suffer, wasn't it?"
"I regret everything I did to you back then... I want to coax you back and hear you call me Alang, Xiaoxiao..."
Lu Chen raised his hand to cup her cheek, his fingertips gently caressing her skin, and sighed hoarsely, "You and I were a young couple, knowing each other from humble beginnings. Back in Taozhou, we only had each other... How could you bear to let go of such a love..."
"But you're just so stubborn, refusing to look back at me... I really have no other options, Ni Ni."
Zhe Rou held him in her arms. Listening to these words, the suppressed grievances and resentments in her heart surged up at once, forcing her eyes to swell and tears to flow.
She couldn't help but look up, tears in her eyes, and choked out, "Lu Bingyan, then is there anything I can do?"
The mist was thick and blurred their vision. Zhe Rou bit her lip, tears rolling down her face. Her thin shoulders trembled constantly, and her knuckles clutched his collar tightly, clutching his clothes with such force that they turned white.
Lu Chen's heart tightened. He gently stroked her wet cheek with his fingertips, lowered his head and kissed away the tears at the corners of her eyes. He said in a hoarse voice, "Don't cry, Meimei... It's all my fault... I'll change."
"I'll resign and go back to Taozhou with you. You can kill me or chop me up to satisfy your grievances, okay?"
"It probably won't take too long, three or four months at most... Then, if you want to open a pharmacy or a clinic, I'll help you manage it, and you'll be in charge of the family's finances... From now on, I won't force you anymore. Let's start over, just like we did back then... Is that okay?"
Zhe Rou was still sobbing and did not respond.
Lu Chen lowered his head and found her slightly cool lips, gently holding them in his mouth. As they tossed and turned, he soothed her tense body until it gradually softened.
He took her into the bathtub, took off her clothes, and put their skin close together. He followed her preferences, tried to please her deliberately, and was gentle and affectionate.
Love and desire are inherently intertwined and inseparable. If you can make her body happy, the resentment in her heart will sooner or later dissipate.
The remaining alcohol was evaporated by the hot steam, and Zhe Rou gradually made him feel dizzy, his cheeks flushed, and his breathing quickened.
Lu Chen hugged her slender waist tightly, freed one hand, and reached out to take a small rosewood box from the shelf next to him.
He pushed open the lid of the box with one hand, and inside was a Tai Chi pill that his Western Army comrades had given him two days ago. It was exquisitely crafted, about the size of a longan, but made of lacquered copper with seal carvings. The inside was hollow and filled with mercury, trembling like the chirping of a cicada.
It was originally prepared to please her, but today it came in handy.
Lu Chen held the person in his arms with one hand, and the cold, thin silver chain was wrapped around his slender fingers.
The water rippled gently, and the surroundings gradually became strange and chaotic.
As their breaths struggled, Zhe Rou raised her slender neck, as if trying to break free, but her fingertips dug deeply into the thin shoulders in front of her, and she let out a sob with a tearful tone, "Lu Bingyan..."
Lu Chen's eyes dimmed slightly, and he immediately leaned over to respond, holding her soft and warm cheeks in his palms, intertwining his lips and tongue, and kissing her sobs.
Hot sweat oozed out from where their skin touched. Lu Chen raised his hand to push away the hair stuck to her cheek. His deep black eyes fixed on her expression, and he patiently followed her reaction.
The wind was howling outside, the hot water in the bathtub was surging, occasionally splashing out, and the hot and humid steam was evaporating and spreading in the room.
Lu Chen stared at the person in his arms.
My heart seemed to be soaked in the moisture in the room, and waves of hot flashes came over me.
Since she looks like this, she probably still has him in her heart.
No one else has ever given her this kind of joy and happiness, and only he can give it to her.
…
After an unknown amount of time, the water in the tub had completely cooled down. Zhe Rou was so tired that she felt sleepy, nestling in his arms and breathing softly.
Lu Chen pulled her closer to him and placed a kiss on her sweaty forehead. "Xiaoxiao... do you still want me in the future?"
Zhe Rou was so sleepy that she was confused and heard Lu Chen talking in a trance, but she couldn't make out what he said. She just struggled instinctively, but the next moment, he hugged her tighter.
After a day of stalemate and argument, both of them were exhausted physically and mentally. After being tired, they had a good night's sleep.
The next morning, Lu Chen got up to start his shift. Before leaving, he called Nan Heng and said thoughtfully, "Don't follow her anymore. The people in the dark won't leave, and only Pingchuan will be in the open."
Since he had agreed to change, he had to make concessions step by step. He didn't want to make her unhappy, hurt her feelings, and increase the estrangement.
Nan Heng was startled when he heard this, then bowed and replied yes.
As he expected, Zhe Rou quickly noticed the change.
When she went out again, there were fewer people guarding her. Nan Heng no longer kept a close eye on her. Lu Chen seemed to be seriously planning to resign and return home. He was busy on duty all day and was not seen. He also asked someone to take inventory of the wealth and shops in Shangjing.
Lu Chen suddenly changed overnight, and Zhe Rou couldn't explain how she felt.
But how could so many deep-rooted estrangements, disappointments, humiliations and injuries be easily healed by just a few light words?
Love and hate can never offset each other.
She did not intend to be shaken by this and was still secretly preparing to leave the capital with the caravan.
Unexpectedly, before she could find a chance to leave, something happened in the pharmacy.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
