Chapter 50. Liang Ye suffers from insomnia and climbs onto Shan He's bed. ...
Shanhe's hand was gripped so tightly it hurt. She quietly twisted her wrist to find a slightly more comfortable position before saying, "How do you know it's just gossip?"
Liang Ye smiled and said, "The government is still investigating the case and we don't even know how it will end. Yet this person speaks with such conviction, as if he witnessed it himself. Who knows what's true and what's false?"
He spoke with nonchalant ease and confidence, as if he knew everything. Shanhe didn't ask. He had specifically disembarked here today, claiming to be visiting Ouyang Sima, but she didn't know what he had done, nor did she care to know. If it was good news, his silence meant she wasn't included; if it was bad news, asking now would only arouse his suspicion, which was pointless.
Therefore, Shanhe only replied, "What you say is true, sir." She recalled the Mrs. Zhao she had met at Ruishang during the day, who must be the mother of Zhao Sanlang that everyone was talking about. She thought to herself how unpredictable life's circumstances were; in just one day, Mrs. Zhao had gone from the joy of arranging a marriage for her son to the gloom of a murder case. It was truly a cruel twist of fate. And Shanhe, a complete stranger, had witnessed Mrs. Zhao's joy and sorrow throughout that day.
After returning to the ship, Liang Ye went straight to his study, taking Cheng Min and Cheng An with him. Granny Wei, eager to check if any of the servants on board were shirking their duties, also disappeared in a flash. Only Cai Ping, Miao Er, Huai Song, and Huai Feng remained with Shan He. Shan He led them to her room, retrieved the silver Liang Ye had given her that morning for shopping, and rewarded each of them with ten taels of silver. She then said, "Huai Song and Huai Feng, you two have drunk some wine, so you don't need to stay on duty tonight. Go back and bathe properly, and rest early." The two Huai Feng, clutching the silver, thanked Shan He and then happily withdrew.
Shanhe then said to Caiping, "Go and boil some hot water; I want to take a bath too." Caiping agreed and went to do so.
For a moment, only Shanhe and Miao'er remained in the room. Their eyes met, and Shanhe's lips twitched downwards, two lines of tears quickly rolling down her cheeks. Miao'er quickly helped Shanhe sit on the edge of the bed, while she herself knelt on the footstool, pretending to massage Shanhe's legs. Miao'er whispered, "My lady, it's alright to cry. When Caiping comes later, just tell her that you cried because you heard me tell you about my father and mother."
Shanhe nodded, sobbing. After finally wiping away some of her tears, she quickly said to Miao'er, "I want to leave, taking Qingyue with me. Is that alright?"
Miao'er looked up and said, "Judging from your appearance during the day, I thought you had agreed to marry Master Liang."
"I can't refuse! If I don't, Qingyue will get beaten! And I'll suffer his humiliation too!"
Miao'er pursed her lips and said, "We can go, but I'm afraid my wife will be won over and won't want to come with us."
Shanhe suddenly saw the image of Qingyue being beaten before her eyes. Her teeth clenched, and she said bitterly, "He kept saying he loved me and wanted me, but he treated me and Qingyue like that. If I were to give my heart to such a wolf, I would be degrading myself! I would rather be reborn as an animal than be worthy of being human!"
Miao'er quickly covered her mouth with her hand and smiled, "Alright, alright, don't say such unlucky things. When the brothel owner brought me here, Manager Mi said that Madam Xue is gentle, and Liang Ye is such a person, maybe Madam Xue will stay willingly, and asked the brothel owner and us not to cause trouble. But the brothel owner said that Madam Xue may look gentle, but she is actually very strong-willed. Manager Mi didn't believe it and made a bet with the brothel owner, saying that if I really rescue Madam Xue, he would arrange a marriage for me in the future, he would recognize me as his goddaughter, and he would prepare three chests of generous dowry for me to marry like a young lady! Today, when I saw Madam Xue leaning on Master Liang's arms, I panicked. I'm not crying for my bedridden mother, I'm crying for my three chests of dowry! Madam, you must be well, please don't really give in to him. Whether my dowry will grow wings and fly away depends entirely on Madam!"
These words made Shanhe both cry and laugh.
Seeing her smile, Miao'er felt a little relieved. She took a handkerchief and gently wiped away the tears on her face, saying softly, "My lady, listen to me, this can't be rushed. Liang Ye is meticulous. This afternoon, when he questioned me about my background, I could tell he's an extremely cautious person. Last time, the ward master saved you, but this Liang Ye found out, and the ward master suffered quite a bit in secret. Now, the ward master's idea is that you should pretend to obey him first, and keep up the act in everything. This will make things easier for you and make him lower his guard, giving you a chance to leave. Then we'll find an opportunity to run away and catch him off guard. These days, the ward master has secretly asked someone to make you a fake identity in Jinling. Once you've changed your identity, we'll immediately go back to Jinling. He definitely won't be able to find you for a while. If he can't find you for a while, he'll find you even less over time. In a few years, when he marries and has children, he'll definitely forget about you."
Shanhe nodded: "That's what I think too. Giving in to him now is just a temporary measure. Luckily you came, otherwise we would be like flies drowning in water, not even knowing how we died, just stuck here, unable to even touch the shore."
Just then, Caiping's laughter rang out from the doorway, growing louder as she approached: "Wife, the hot water is ready." Only then did Caiping appear outside the threshold.
Shanhe had composed herself, straightened her clothes, and walked over with Miao'er by the hand.
After bathing, Shanhe changed into a brand-new set of pajamas and lay on the bed, unable to fall asleep. So much had happened that day: first, she had taken revenge on Granny Wei; then Liang Ye went berserk, forcing her to submit to him; and finally, Miao'er came to her rescue, bringing so much good news. Her emotions had been turbulent all day; at times she felt her future was utterly bleak, like she had reached a dead end, and at other times she felt a glimmer of hope, a path to survival appearing in her seemingly hopeless situation!
Shanhe lay on her side, facing the wall of the bed, her face resting on her hand, and sighed deeply.
All she wanted was a peaceful and stable life, so why did she have to encounter such troublesome people and situations?
Behind her, the mattress dented in one corner. When Shanhe noticed, the man's iron-like arms were already wrapped around her waist. Hot breath sprayed onto the back of her neck. Liang Ye called to her in a hoarse voice, "Shanshan, are you asleep?"
Shanhe remained still, pretending to be asleep, but Liang Ye couldn't resist moving even closer to her. Only now, at this moment, in this place, did he understand what it meant to "find pleasure in what one has tasted."
The moonlight was like water, and the night was long. He did not go to find her at night as agreed, but lying alone in the bunk bed, when he closed his eyes, all he could see was Shanhe, who had been making love to him during the day.
Unable to sleep, he reminisced about the days he had spent with Shanhe. In this recollection, he suddenly realized how deeply he had fallen for her. From the first time he held her, he couldn't help but hold her every time afterward; from the first kiss, he couldn't help but kiss her every time afterward. He had previously planned to save that final moment for the exam results, but having tasted her today, he couldn't forget her. The moment he closed his eyes, she was everywhere, all the time—before his eyes, in his arms, beneath his eyelashes, in his hair, in his palms, on his arms and legs.
Unable to contain himself, he simply sat up and began to read. Unfolding the paper, the densely packed, crooked words seemed to materialize into her!
Liang Ye could no longer restrain himself. He had completely forgotten his earlier promise to let her rest alone that evening. To hell with promises! He only wanted her.
Shanhe knew it was Liang Ye, and sighed somewhat resentfully: "You always come during the day."
"Mmm..." he responded listlessly. Only now, holding her in his arms, did the burning emptiness in his heart gradually begin to fill. He closed his eyes and buried his face in her dark hair, which was fragrant with osmanthus. The cool shade of her hair clung to his face, reaching deep beneath his silk robes, gently teasing his burning skin.
Liang Ye hugged her even tighter: "Can I hug you?"
Shanhe gave a helpless "Mr., you should go to bed early." She closed her eyes, but then she remembered what had happened during her bath. At that time, she had told Caiping to go back to her room to rest, and the girl was happy to have some peace and quiet, leaving only her and Miao'er in the bath room. Shanhe then recounted how Liang Ye had forced and humiliated her all these days. Miao'er listened and couldn't help but shed tears, cursing him several times in anger.
Shanhe, however, remained calm: "The most important thing is my status as a slave. Now that he has it in his hands, if he wants, he can go directly to the Jinling government and ask the state soldiers to arrest me. No matter how far I run, I will still be a government slave who has run away on his own. I will have to hide wherever I go and cannot be seen by anyone. This alone has tied me to this place."
Miao'er rolled her eyes and suddenly said, "What if Madam's slave registration is in Madam's own hands? If he doesn't have the slave registration document, even if he goes to Jinling Prefecture in person, what proof does he have that he is Madam's master? It was Old Master Liang who signed Madam's slave registration, not him, Liang Ye! It was Second Master Liang who married Madam, not him, Liang Ye! What reason does his elder brother have to bypass Second Master Liang and send someone to arrest you? Even if he did, without the document, how can he get the government soldiers to arrest Madam?"
Shanhe's eyes gradually lit up: "Yes, as long as I keep the slave status in my own hands, he will be helpless."
But how to obtain slave status from one's own family?
Asking Liang Ye directly was obviously impossible.
"So, my lady, you must put on an act. Back then, didn't Liang Ye tell you to deceive the Second Master? He said something about 'when you're lying, eight parts truth and two parts falsehood.' Now, my lady, use the same tricks he taught you against him, and he'll deserve it! Once you've gained his trust, the ward master will probably have finished his plans. Then, my lady, take your slave registration with you, and everything will go smoothly. If my lady is worried about him catching up, we can take the slave registration and quickly return to Mizhou. My lady can then ask the Second Master Liang to change the document. I think the Second Master Liang is a more sincere person."
Shanhe agreed with the suggestion, and the two discussed it and slowly came up with a plan.
At that moment, Shanhe felt the increasingly tight force around her waist, the increasingly hot body behind her, and even the erect penis seemed to have grown larger, pressing against her.
Shanhe gritted her teeth, finally suppressing the shame and humiliation in her heart. She remembered Caiping's words: "With a man of Liang Ye's stature and family background, he still wanted you so badly, you're not at a loss." Yes, with a man of Liang Ye's stature and family background, she was actually climbing above her station. Since he treated her like a prostitute he didn't need, then her taking the initiative was his just deserts.
Therefore, Shanhe touched the hand that was holding him at the waist, the slightly protruding blue veins undulating like ravines under his fingertips. Shanhe's hand slowly moved from the back of his hand to his wrist, and then to his arm, the force light and gentle.
The man visibly stiffened.
Liang Ye said sternly, "Shanshan, you..."
Shanhe gripped his arm: "I just lay down here, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. My mind is filled with thoughts."
Liang Ye still couldn't believe it, and hesitantly asked, "What are you thinking about?"
“So many,” she said. “At first, I thought of my grandfather, and I always felt sorry for him. Then I thought of the Xue family, and of my father, but I couldn’t remember what he looked like. Finally, I thought of today, of the wind during the day, the moon-shaped window of the teahouse’s private room, and the old poplar tree outside the window, so lush and green…”
Liang Ye's heart pounded like a drum. He turned Shan He around, leaned over her, and braced his arms on her shoulders.
"Shanshan," he felt his throat burning, "...Have you ever thought about me?"
Shanhe lay flat beneath him, paused, and forced a smile: "How can I stop thinking about you?"
Their eyes met, and Liang Ye silently gazed at Shan He for a moment before lowering his head to kiss her lips, gently sucking on them.
The two bodies quickly came close together.
The pleasure this time was incomparable to any of the previous times, because Shanhe no longer resisted him so much; she truly opened her heart to him and truly accepted him. He was also extra gentle and slow, dragging out the time, as if he wanted to remember every moment of the spring night and savor it later.
The curtains swayed, and the golden bells jingled softly. The groping, the moans, the indulgence hidden behind the curtains and the bells were only visible and audible to them.
-----------------------
Author's Note: My darlings! I might be updating every other day for the next couple of days [crying emoji] because I haven't finished my summer homework and I still have two papers to write [crying emoji][crying emoji]. If you don't see it by 3 PM, don't worry, it'll just be every other day.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
