Scheming
The spring night was quiet. The vent of the brazier was open, and the charcoal inside crackled softly, making the room warm and cozy.
After drinking half a cup of warm tea, Mu Qing still felt cold inside.
She had no intention of harming the monkey, and its death shouldn't be blamed on her. If anyone should be held responsible, it should be Zhong Linlan.
Mu Qing looked at the teacup in front of him, which was about seven-tenths full, and asked, "Why aren't you drinking?"
Zhong Linlan raised her finger and stroked the thin porcelain cup, smiling slightly, "I just took a sip."
Really? Mu Qing thought for a moment. Her vision was blurred with tears just now, and she hadn't paid much attention.
“Let’s talk about the monkey again,” Zhong Linlan said. “You told me briefly that he spread the wrong message. What exactly was the message, and why did it make people suspect that he betrayed your father?”
Since Mu Qing didn't see him drink tea in person, she had no choice but to continue talking to him. "He said that a high-ranking official was acting on behalf of the imperial court to offer amnesty and to mediate between them. He said he could offer good conditions so that the people in the village could live in peace. But in reality, it's not amnesty, but a trap to suppress bandits."
Zhong Linlan asked intently, "What is that high-ranking official's title and name?"
Mu Qing's gaze darted around, and he hesitated as he spoke: "There are so many officials, how would I know what their official positions are? As for their names, I didn't pay much attention to things in the village at that time, I only remember that they were high-ranking officials."
Zhong Linlan stared at her silently, making her feel uncomfortable.
She lowered her eyes, held the teacup, and took a sip. "That's all I know. There's no use in you being unhappy. Would you like some more tea to calm yourself down?"
Zhong Linlan smiled slightly, picked up his teacup to drink, but seeing her looking at him intently, he put down the teacup. "I don't seem very thirsty, so I won't drink for now."
Mu Qing gritted his teeth, somewhat annoyed.
Zhong Linlan looked at her with interest. "Qingqing, you're sweating a lot."
As he spoke, he reached across the small table and touched her forehead.
Mu Qing stepped aside and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "It's probably too warm in the room."
Why are you avoiding me?
Zhong Linlan withdrew her hand, her expression clearly showing some hurt.
Mu Qing glanced at him, unable to bear looking any longer, and looked away to think about her reply, only to hear him say something that made her ashamed.
"When you touched me back then..."
"Shut up!"
The words slipped out of her mouth, and Mu Qing was startled by her own words.
The reckless and audacious woman of the past suddenly resurfaced from the depths of her memory.
It was a spring morning when she woke up and heard heavy breathing. She sat up from under the covers and peeked out.
The morning light streamed through the window, illuminating the room.
A reed mat was laid on the ground, and Zhong Linlan, who was still a boy, lay on his side on it with his back to her, the gray-blue quilt wrapped around him trembling.
The weather was warming up, but the floor was inevitably cold. She took his bed, showing a bit of kindness, and asked, "Are you cold?"
He quieted down and mumbled, "Not cold."
"What's wrong? Could it be epilepsy? Turn around and let me see."
He ignored it and just moved the blanket.
Mu Qing snorted, put on her cotton coat, got out of bed and put on her shoes.
Hearing the noise, he said urgently, "I'm fine, don't come any closer."
This is utterly a case of protesting too much.
She strode over, pulled back his blanket, and saw him fastening his belt. She immediately understood.
The village was mostly inhabited by men, and crude talk was common. Mu Qing had overheard some of it, so she deliberately asked, "What were you doing just now?"
Receiving no response, she grabbed his belt, preventing him from fastening it.
He said coldly, "Let go, don't touch me!"
She was not one to listen to reason, so she simply sat on his lap, pulled off his belt, and brazenly opened it to look.
"You look really strange here."
He clutched the sheet, turned his face to the side, revealing his bright red ear tips.
"I've heard that men are ashamed of being short. You're so ashamed, you must be one of those short ones." She chuckled and teased him, then suddenly exclaimed, "You say it's small, but it's actually big."
She curiously fiddled with it, and he, breathless, whispered for her to stop.
Stop, stop... Each cry to stop only spurred her to continue until the very end.
"Ugh, that's disgusting!"
She wiped her hands on his clothes and got up to leave, but when she didn't hear any accusations, she felt something was missing.
Looking back, she saw the boy lying there, ashamed to be seen, raising his hand to cover his face. She mischievously pulled his hand down, leaned closer, and took a closer look at his blushing embarrassment.
"Your head isn't filled with nothing but sacred texts either, so stop trying to educate me with those rubbish principles."
She couldn't stand his aloof and arrogant demeanor, as if he were so great just because he was educated. From then on, she used this incident as leverage to humiliate him, making him unable to be aloof anymore and only able to speak to her politely.
But fortunes change, and now he's an official while she's still a thief, putting him in her shoes.
Mu Qing felt a surge of resentment. She had long since reformed herself and started anew, yet he kept reminding her of how wretched she had been in the past.
She glared at Zhong Linlan. "Don't you feel ashamed to bring up those things?"
But he remained calm and composed, as if he hadn't been the one who had been manipulated. He said indifferently, "Trying to treat you as one of my own is just like touching myself; it's no big deal."
"..." Mu Qing choked for a moment.
She looked away, gritting her teeth as she said, "I really miss the old you." At least you would blush.
"If I were still the same as before, would you give up the young prince and come back to me?"
Seeing her lower her eyes and remain silent, Zhong Linlan smiled helplessly.
He was eighteen years old at the time. Even though he was weak, it wouldn't have been difficult for him to stop a sixteen-year-old girl from molesting him. But he didn't. He endured the embarrassment without moving and only offered a slight verbal resistance.
He knew very well that she harbored a rebellious spirit and loved to go against him. If he told her not to come any closer, she would come immediately; if he told her not to touch him, she would definitely touch him; if he told her to stop, she wouldn't stop.
The more ashamed and indignant he became, covering his face to hide it from her, the closer she would come, cup his face in her hands, and gaze at him with her clear, watery eyes.
Her thoughts were simple and easy to guess; everything was within expectations.
Hearing her scolding, his shame vanished, and he forgot all about the humiliation he had felt. He even felt a surge of joy, like secretly drinking honey. He considered his disheveled state as the price he had paid, and he accepted it with relish.
She said she missed him from the past, but in fact he has never changed. He only had to change his strategy because of the passage of time.
"Qingqing, I also miss the old you."
Zhong Linlan looked at Mu Qing and recalled how Mu Qing was like a frightened bird back then, treating everyone as an enemy. She rarely said anything nice, but she still had some tenderness for him. When she scolded him, it was always without her true feelings.
But that night, when he heard a noise at the window, he guessed it was her, but he couldn't help but ponder it for a long time in secret.
During the day at Xuan Yin Temple, she glared at him, her expression tense and taut. Yet, before the appointed day arrived, she came to see him that very night. It was impossible that she had any good intentions.
As he went to get the portrait, he noticed a shadow moving in the room. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that she had tampered with his teacup.
Even though it's so obvious, they still haven't learned much about being smart.
Sure enough, when he said he missed her from the past, Mu Qing felt a little ashamed. "How could that be? I treated you so badly back then, you just got used to it."
Zhong Linlan didn't deny it, "What can you do once you get used to it?"
Is he used to others treating him badly? Mu Qing thought about it for a while with a guilty conscience.
While in Jinglei Village, she heard strange rumors, such as that some people were majestic and imposing, but in private they liked to be whipped by women.
However, she didn't seem to have hit Zhong Linlan much. At most, she would pat him once or twice when she was unhappy, and she never hit him hard. It's impossible that he developed any strange habits because of her.
Mu Qing thought for a moment and breathed a sigh of relief. "Maybe it's not a habit, but rather that you're just naturally drawn to people who are rude to you. You should just find a girl with a bad temper."
Knowing that she was impulsive, Zhong Linlan was still stunned for a moment after hearing such nonsense before she managed to squeeze out a word.
"Was I like that when you first met me?"
When they first met, he was the most well-behaved and honest person she had ever met, even to the point of being considered pedantic.
Mu Qing felt guilty again.
But why is she talking to him about these things here?
Since they're already going to kill him... let's just consider it a way to comfort him as he faces his death.
Mu Qing rubbed the hem of her clothes and said, "You should know that I can't go back to how I was before. If you have any problems, you should go find another woman to solve them."
Hearing her veer off in an unusual direction, Zhong Linlan steadied herself and asked, "How do we find it?"
Mu Qing thought about it with difficulty.
A well-bred young lady from a respectable family would be knowledgeable and reasonable, and wouldn't easily offend anyone. A country girl might be a bit rougher, but Zhong Linlan is handsome and currently holds an official position; she probably wouldn't lose her temper with him. Based on this rough thinking, a respectable woman is unlikely to be the one. As for persuading him to go to a brothel, forget it.
Mu Qing glanced at the teacup across the table and said, "I don't know how to find it either. Why don't you drink your tea first?"
Zhong Linlan smiled and sighed, then picked up her teacup and glanced at it. "There's a little bug in the tea. I need to get a new cup."
Watching him change cups, pour tea, and drink it, Mu Qing immediately regretted it. She wished she had sprinkled the medicine into the pot earlier.
After drinking his tea, Zhong Linlan looked at her again and said, "When you confessed your love to me on Qixi Festival that year, you said it so beautifully. I have never forgotten it."
Hearing this, Mu Qing lowered her head. She seemed to have gone too far with him.
Back then, it was said that a matchmaker was asked by someone to arrange a marriage between Zhong Linlan and a beautiful young lady from a bookstore in the same county who had a generous dowry.
She didn't want another mistress in his house, so she decided to get there first and claim the position of mistress before the matchmaker arrived.
It just so happened that it was Qixi Festival, and a scholar confessed his love to a girl, saying that he would hold her hand and grow old with her, and he explained it to her with deep affection.
After overhearing this, Mu Qing thought that Zhong Linlan was also a scholar and would probably feel the same way. She secretly remembered what he said, then turned around and dragged Zhong Linlan to the Temple of the Old Man Under the Moon, tied a red string around his neck, and repeated the same thing to him.
Did he not only take it seriously, but he also remember it all this time?
Mu Qing was filled with regret, "Actually, actually..."
"Wasn't that sincere?" Zhong Linlan smiled. "I know what you were thinking at the time, and I also know that those words weren't what you intended to say."
Mu Qing looked up in surprise.
There were red marks on her face, but upon closer inspection, her features were still delicate and her expression was lively. Zhong Linlan noticed her panic and smiled faintly.
"But if you really had no feelings for me, why were you so enthusiastic? You're usually prone to stuttering when you're feeling guilty, but when you went on and on to me, quoting poems and saying you wanted to spend your life with me, you spoke so fluently and so sincerely."
"Qingqing, you do have feelings for me."
"No, no, you wish!"
Mu Qing jumped up, almost wanting to overturn the table, but when she met that determined gaze, she hurriedly turned around and fled.
In the thin porcelain teacup on the table, the tea sloshed gently, and when the surface was still, it reflected a face tinged with sadness.
The heartbreak lies in the fact that she still has feelings for him, yet she still wants to hurt him.
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