Chapter 40: I often peeked at the booklets.
“How could I possibly expect to be a widow?” Ye Mingzhu defended herself as if she had heard something unbelievable. “Although we’re not really husband and wife, we have a working relationship, and I only wish you well. Besides…”
Her almond-shaped eyes were brimming with tears, and she didn't continue speaking, but her reproachful eyes seemed to say everything.
"Really?" Sheng Yunche asked.
"Really!" Ye Mingzhu nodded.
"Hmm..." Sheng Yunche gave her a deep look, responded casually, and took her hand.
Jia scratched her hand, leaving a bright red bloodstain that looked extremely jarring against her fair and delicate skin.
He took the medicine box and applied the medicine to her, his movements clumsy but his expression earnest.
Ye Mingzhu sat in his lap, but she couldn't hold on any longer.
It was so hot, and Sheng Yunche's body temperature was as high as a furnace. He held her in his arms, and she was so hot that she was covered in a layer of fine sweat, and her clothes were almost sticking to her body.
She said she wanted to get down, but he wouldn't let her go.
She couldn't help but shift slightly, but he raised his hand and pinched her slender waist again.
"Don't move." Sheng Yunche's voice was low and hoarse, as if someone suffering from a cold was speaking with difficulty.
Ye Mingzhu had never heard him speak like that before, but she knew he definitely didn't have typhoid fever, so she looked at him curiously.
Before she could even glance at him, he grabbed her chin, turned her head away, and said impatiently, "Don't look at me either."
"..." Ye Mingzhu said helplessly, "Then what do you want me to do?"
Sheng Yunche lifted his eyelids, his dark, deep phoenix eyes glancing at her: "Didn't I tell you?"
Ye Mingzhu looked at him again.
Their eyes met.
Ye Mingzhu suddenly blushed.
The words "Let's consummate our marriage tonight" kept echoing in her ears, and for the first time, she hated herself for having such a good memory.
"It seems you've remembered." Sheng Yunche put down the medicine in his hand, said "It's all taken care of," and then casually asked her, "Now that you've remembered, what are you going to say?"
"What do you mean, how do you say it?" Ye Mingzhu feigned ignorance and changed the subject, "...Now that it's all settled, can you let me go? I'm going to take a shower."
Sheng Yunche didn't let go; instead, he hugged her even tighter, raising an eyebrow and asking, "I'm hugging you because I'm applying medicine to you?"
Ye Mingzhu: "..."
He scoffed, "I'll hug you if I want to!"
Ye Mingzhu: "..."
He kissed her on the cheek and said, "Kiss me if you want!"
He kissed her on the lips and said, "Kiss me if you want!"
He was incomparably handsome, but his gaze was wild and untamed, like a wolf in the wilderness that couldn't find meat, full of aggression and possessiveness.
Ye Mingzhu couldn't bear the heat in his eyes, her face flushed red, and she hurriedly looked away.
But just when she thought he really wanted her and was about to tell him that he needed to rest and couldn't consummate the marriage, he suddenly patted her buttocks lightly and said indifferently, "The medicine has been applied, aren't you going to get down?"
Ye Mingzhu: "...?"
Isn't this a case of turning the tables?
Right?
She tried to leave earlier, but he wouldn't let her. Now he's accusing her of clinging to him, and even... he took pictures of her there... How could he be such a person?!
In a fit of rage, she leaned in and bit his cheek, leaving a round, bright red tooth mark.
But looking at the "masterpiece" she had left behind, she was dumbfounded. She bit her lip, said "I'm going to take a shower," and fled in panic.
Her response was Sheng Yunche's unrestrained laughter.
By the time the two of them had settled down in bed, it was already past midnight.
The night outside the window was dark, and only a floor lamp lit up the corner of the room.
Exhausted from the day, Ye Mingzhu felt drowsy.
Sheng Yunche suddenly asked, "Mother only mentioned dividing the family property, don't you think that's not enough?"
Ye Mingzhu covered her mouth and yawned, then turned to look at him: "How could that be? Sheng Huai'an received twenty strokes of the cane, and Jia Shi also suffered a lot. I think that's enough."
"Really not?" Sheng Yunche looked at her. "You really dislike Sheng Huai'an, and you don't want to touch the pillow just because he used it? You really don't want to get rid of him completely?"
Ye Mingzhu thought for a moment and said, "I really hate him, but Mother will block the door to the West Mansion tomorrow and we won't have any contact anymore. He can't do anything to me. Besides, if I want to take revenge on him and ruin his and Liu Rumei's reputations, how can I watch the show after he's gone? That's inconvenient."
"Really?" Sheng Yunche asked again.
Ye Mingzhu smiled gently, nestled obediently into his arms, and looked up at him, asking, "Lord Duke, are you jealous again? I really don't care about Sheng Huai'an, but I do have a question about what happened today."
What question do you have?
"Regarding Liu Rumei..." Recalling Liu Rumei's reaction in Rongshou Hall, Ye Mingzhu said, "I suspect that Jia Shi and Sheng Huai'an were truly unaware of the poisoning incident. Perhaps it was Liu Rumei who was behind it."
Sheng Yunche frowned: "What do you mean?"
"Actually, this is just a conclusion I drew from observing the reactions of the three of them. There is no evidence, and it still needs to be verified."
"You want me to take action?" Sheng Yunche asked directly.
"No need," Ye Mingzhu said with a smile. "I've already asked Yanzhi to keep an eye on Liu Rumei. If she really was the one who did it, Sheng Huai'an will definitely talk to her about it, and then we'll know the truth!"
Sheng Yunche paused for a moment before remembering that Yanzhi was the female bodyguard he had given to Ye Mingzhu.
Unexpectedly, she ordered her bodyguards to conduct eavesdropping.
That's a good match...
Ye Mingzhu felt it was a pity: "But Sheng Huai'an was punished and will probably be bedridden for a few days, so he won't be able to go see Liu Rumei so soon. If they fight like dogs, the progress in that area will probably be delayed, and I don't know when their scandal will be exposed."
"Why don't you pay more attention to the progress between us?" Sheng Yunche suddenly asked.
"...?" Ye Mingzhu cleared her throat in the night and calmly coaxed, "Of course it's because we have a long future ahead of us."
"There's plenty of time ahead?" Sheng Yunche drawled, his smile meaningful. "Yes, there is indeed plenty of time ahead. A long few decades, enough for us to try out all 108 sexual positions hundreds of times."
"What 108 styles? Didn't your booklet only have 30 pictures?" Ye Mingzhu stared wide-eyed in surprise.
The next moment, she blinked, sensing something was wrong.
As expected...
Sheng Yunche chuckled softly, his dark phoenix eyes glancing at her with amusement. "Hmm, looks like you've been sneaking peeks at my erotic pictures quite a bit, and maybe you've been sneaking peeks at me quite a bit too..."
She didn't!
She peeked at the erotic pictures, but she didn't peek at him!
Ye Mingzhu was both embarrassed and angry. She sat up as if to retort, but before she could say anything, she pulled the blanket over her head and said, "Go to sleep!"
Some things get worse the more you try to explain them, so it's better to say nothing at all.
If he hadn't constantly nagged her about consummating their marriage, about wanting this and that, she wouldn't have been so nervous about the unknown that she secretly went to see his defiled bedroom...
It's all his fault! She was forced into it...
...
At the same time.
Tingsongju (Listening to the Pine Trees Residence).
The dim candlelight cast a dark shadow on the wall, and the room was filled with a strong smell of medicine mixed with a faint smell of blood, making it hard to breathe.
Sheng Huai'an lay sprawled on the bed, his eyes gloomy.
His injuries had been treated, but the burning pain in his back constantly reminded him of how utterly humiliated he had been that day.
Why had he ended up in such a state? Who was framing him? He pondered this for a long time, and an unbelievable guess suddenly surfaced in his mind...
This speculation caused him immense distress.
He finally waited until Hai Shi (9-11 PM), gritted his teeth and got out of bed. He asked Fu An to take him to the study in the front yard, intending to go find Liu Rumei.
He had walked the secret passage from his study to Qinghui Garden many times, but the first time he did it was incredibly difficult.
It was also the first time he entered this secret passage with a furrowed brow and in a very bad mood.
He walked for an unknown amount of time, his forehead was covered in cold sweat, the wound on his back seemed to burst open and bleed again, and his trembling hands could barely hold the candlestick. Finally, he arrived at Qinghui Garden and saw Liu Rumei, who was still awake.
The first thing he asked upon meeting was, barely containing his anger, "Sister-in-law, did you put the poison in the spice sachet?"
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