"Young lady, what are you after, getting involved with that eunuch at such a young age?" Suddenly, an old man with completely white hair and tattered clothes appeared out of nowhere behind her, grinning strangely and saying, "Is it for vanity and extravagance, gold and silver and wealth?"
Zhenshu looked him over carefully for a while and said, "You're that old man who was singing. What are you doing here?"
The old man stretched out his withered hand and waved it over Zhenshu's body: "You offer such a tender, youthful body to the devil, what do you expect to gain? He is ultimately a heartless creature; he hates everything and wants to destroy everything because he lacks those two ounces of soft flesh, including..."
As he drew closer, Zhenshu slowly backed away. Suddenly, her heel tripped on her skirt, and she fell backward with a scream, landing in Yu Yichen's arms. The old man who had been singing suddenly collapsed to the ground for some unknown reason. Zhenshu suspected that a very fast needle had just flown from the direction of the small building, but it was too thin and too fast for her to discern whether it was real or just a hallucination born of terror.
☆, Chapter 77 The Singer
Yu Yichen put his arm around her shoulder, picked her up, and carried her towards the small building, saying softly, "It's all my fault for letting you run so far alone."
Zhenshu turned around and saw several teenagers running over to carry the old man who had collapsed under the pear tree. She asked, "Is he dead?"
Yu Yichen also glanced back before saying, "No, he must have fainted."
Zhenshu then asked, "Will they save him?"
Yu Yichen nodded: "Of course, he will be permanently freed from this."
These words still sounded somewhat strange. Zhenshu went upstairs to calm herself down and then made an excuse to leave. Yu Yichen had been busy all morning and hadn't had a chance to be intimate with her yet. Seeing that she was sullen, he didn't want to tease her anymore, so he could only personally see her out of the courtyard. He only returned to the courtyard after she turned the corner and disappeared from sight.
Once Zhenshu left, the gentleness and patience that had been on his face vanished. He turned around and saw Sun Yuan standing behind him, and asked sternly, "Where is that man surnamed Shi now?"
Sun Yuan bowed and said, "Tie him up in the hall."
Yu Yichen strode across the flower-lined stone path, his robes billowing as he entered the small building. He pushed open two thick doors and entered the corridor, then strode across the corridor and pushed open two more large doors. The once laughable, flower-filled hall was now only filled with darkness and deathly silence. Seeing him enter, several teenagers rushed over and lit the lamps in various places, leaving only the corner where he sat in darkness.
He hid in that dark corner, scrutinizing the white-haired singer surrounded by lights.
"Mei Xun, I once told you to have someone beat his son and cook and eat those two ounces of soft flesh. Did he eat it?" Yu Yichen asked coldly from the darkness. His voice was as if it had been torn apart, which was very terrifying.
Mei Xun stood by the door and bowed, saying, "He was fanned up, and he was given the food. He's a bit crazy now."
Yu Yichen said, "As long as he's not completely insane, cook one of his son's hands and give it to him to eat. If he's completely insane, cook his son whole and give him every last bit."
The white-haired singer had indeed stopped being mad. He knelt on the ground, crying incessantly, slapping himself in the face as he pleaded, "Grandpa Yu, please, I'm not really mad, I'm just confused, I'm stupid, I don't know the immensity of heaven and earth..."
Yu Yichen had already gotten up and walked to the door. Hearing what he said, he stopped, turned around, and coldly looked at the white-haired singer, saying, "Since you're not insane, then end it yourself."
The white-haired singer prostrated himself on the ground and kowtowed heavily, saying, "Thank you, Eunuch Yu. Thank you, Grandpa Yu."
He struggled to his feet, intending to crash into the large pillar, but two eunuchs quickly pulled him back, saying, "We must not leave any trace of blood here. Come on, we'll take you up to the second floor."
The white-haired singer swayed as he stood up, turned back and gave Yu Yichen a deep look. Yu Yichen had already disappeared behind the two heavy doors, into the new, sunny, and beautiful world that he was building for himself.
Half an hour later, a scream came from the second floor, and the white-haired singer was indeed granted permanent release.
It was Dragon Boat Festival again. Zhenshu was menstruating and had been washing rice and dried fruits in cold water for days on end. She had also been cooking zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) and herbal soup for several days, leaving her dizzy and lightheaded. On the third day of the festival, remembering she still needed to go to the Yu residence, she gathered some zongzi ingredients and herbs and put them in a food box. Just as she was about to go upstairs to change her dress, she slipped and nearly fell on the stairs. She sat there for a long time before finally getting up. When she reached the top, Madam Su noticed she looked unwell and asked, "Are you running a fever?"
Zhenshu herself didn't feel it, only a tingling pain all over her body. Madam Su came over and touched her, saying, "You're burning up like this, it's terrible! I have to go and get a doctor to take a look at you."
After speaking, she put on her shoes, tied her hair up, and went downstairs.
Zhenshu still managed to get to the shop and write a letter, taking the box of zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) with her to deliver to the postman on the street. She gave him a few coins, gave him the address, went home, went upstairs, hid in her room, and fell into a deep sleep. Madam Su called a doctor who prescribed some bitter medicine for her. Granny Wang brewed it into a soup and brought it up. Madam Su held it up and circled it in front of Zhenshu, saying, "Eat it quickly, and you'll get better."
Zhenshu's face was flushed red from the fever, and her lips were cracked. She struggled to get up, picked up the bowl, and tried to drink it all in one gulp. The medicine was too hot, and she couldn't hold it steady, so it spilled down her chest, immediately forming a row of blisters. Zhenshu angrily threw down the bowl and said, "Mother, why didn't you say it was so hot sooner?"
Su took a handkerchief and wiped the blisters on her face a few times, breaking them and making the skin and mucous membranes look even worse. She simply threw the handkerchief away and said, "Who told you not to blow on them yourself? I've never taken care of a patient before, how would I know these things?"
Zhen Shu angrily lay back and said, "Go on, let me get some sleep."
Still worried, Madam Su personally tiptoed to the doctor and bought some of the herbal ointment that the doctor had brewed himself. She then asked Madam Wang to apply it to her and brew a bowl of medicine for her to drink before leaving the room.
In the evening, on the first floor of the small building in the backyard, Zhao He handed the leftover materials and some miscellaneous items from his work to his apprentice, telling him to throw them away at the back. He then cleaned all his tools and put them back in their original places. A little while later, the apprentice came in and whispered, "Master, there's a strange man in the back of our yard. He's been standing there since noon, and I don't dare to chase him away. Why don't you go and take a look?"
Song's mounting shop was located on a back street, and the area behind the small building was even more deserted, usually used only as a temporary storage place for the shop's garbage and miscellaneous items. Zhao He went out and turned to the back of the building, where he saw Yu Yichen, dressed in black, standing there with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the small building. Unsure what to say, he went over and bowed, saying, "Eunuch Yu!"
Yu Yichen glanced down at him and nodded slightly, saying, "Uh. Mr. Zhao."
He still raised his head and pointed upstairs, asking, "Which room does Miss Song live in?"
Zhao He shook his head: "I have never been to a woman's private quarters. However, she probably lived in the narrowest room, which had no windows."
So that this lecherous fellow's pipe dream of climbing over walls and towers in the middle of the night will be shattered?
Yu Yichen shook his head with a wry smile: "I heard she's ill."
Zhao He said, "Yes, she's been going out too often lately."
In the end, everyone goes to find him.
Seeing that Yu Yichen was no longer speaking, Zhao He was too lazy to say anything more to him and went back to the shop to take down the door panel.
Yu Yichen was still standing downstairs. The noise in this bustling city was too much for him to hear, and even though he was so close, he could only stand there blankly.
He was still too far away from her.
Zhenshu slept for three whole days, not getting out of bed until after the Dragon Boat Festival. She was in good health, and after getting out of bed and drinking a bowl of porridge, she was full of energy. Because the weather was fine today, she was washing up on the first floor of the small building. As she rinsed her mouth with salt, she opened the door and looked outside, where she saw a familiar figure standing there.
She was disheveled and hadn't washed her hair for two or three days; her hair was a mess, like a bird's nest. She hurriedly closed the door and chuckled to herself inside. Just then, she heard Yu Yichen say softly from the outer room, "Come out!"
Zhenshu quickly swallowed a few mouthfuls of water and spat them out. She then gently opened the door a crack and said, "Hurry up and leave. Today is neither the third nor the eighteenth of the month."
Yu Yichen blocked the door with his foot and said, "If you don't come out, I'm going to visit your father at the shop in front. He probably really wants a new son-in-law."
Zhenshu was indeed startled and jumped back. She wiped her mouth with her hand, opened the door, and was about to speak when he pounced on her and kissed her lips. Zhenshu was terrified and hurriedly looked back to see if anyone had seen her. Fortunately, she had gotten up early enough, and Wang Mama in the kitchen was busy with other things and did not notice her.
She hurriedly went out the door and closed it behind her, scolding, "I haven't even washed my face this early in the morning, what are you doing?"
Yu Yichen said, "Come with me."
Seeing that no one was around for the time being, Zhenshu was afraid that she would run into the apprentices when they arrived, so she hurriedly pushed him and said, "You go first, I will come after I have washed up."
Yu Yichen grabbed her wrist and said, "No, we have to leave now..."
Without waiting for her to object, he grabbed her and started running. Zhenshu brushed her disheveled hair aside, glancing around furtively to see if anyone was watching her. Luckily, his carriage wasn't far; it stopped right in front of the framing shop.
Once inside the carriage, Zhenshu lightly punched Yu Yichen and said, "Oh dear, my parents will be worried sick if they don't know where I went."
Yu Yichen smiled without saying a word, letting her hit him enough before grabbing her hand and saying, "Someone will cover for you."
Seeing that he was still looking at her with a warm smile, Zhenshu covered her face and said, "I haven't washed or groomed myself for three or five days. What's there to see?"
Yu Yichen took her hands and used his own fingers to comb her hair. He noticed that she was still wearing the wooden hairpin even though she had gotten up early, indicating that she always wore it. He then loosely tied her hair up and secured it with the hairpin before saying, "Let me help you wash and comb your hair."
Zhenshu pouted and said, "You can do this too?"
He immediately regretted it after saying that. He was a eunuch, and his job in the palace was to serve women. How could he not know how to help women with their grooming?
This time, they returned to the new courtyard he had brought her to before. The two entered the inner courtyard building, where Sun Yuan had already prepared fragrant bathwater. Yu Yichen removed his outer robe and had Zhenshu strip naked before soaking her in the bathtub. He let her hair down, rinsed it with clean water, then applied a poultice of pigweed and rubbed it thoroughly to clean her. After rinsing it clean again, he wrapped her in a dry cloth before kneeling outside and massaging her entire body. His fingers were slender and long, and he slowly and meticulously massaged her entire body before applying soap to her.
As he did this, his brows furrowed slightly, his expression extremely meticulous, focused and absorbed. Even Zhenshu herself was moved by his expression, as if she truly possessed the captivating beauty he saw. She had intended to ask: "Did you serve those concubines in the palace in the same way?"
But she ultimately didn't ask. What did it matter to her how he treated others? This handsome and gentle eunuch, at least at this moment, belonged to her.
After she finished bathing, he wrapped her in a large handkerchief and carried her upstairs to a large room, asking her to sit down. This room also had a soft, thick carpet, and in the center was a large bed, fully furnished. He helped her sit on the edge of the bed, then took a pile of things from several large trunks on the other side and asked Zhenshu, "Which one do you want to wear?"
Zhenshu picked them up and saw that they were all undergarments. She was both amused and exasperated, and said, "Did you prepare all of this?"
Yu Yichen nodded: "I had the palace embroiderers make many styles, enough for you to wear for a long time."
Zhenshu took out a handkerchief and asked, "Surely you have other clothes too?"
Yu Yichen nodded. Zhenshu wrapped a handkerchief around her neck and walked to the large trunks. Seeing that they were neatly folded with clothes that were close-fitting, personal, casual, and outerwear, she asked, "Have they all been washed?"
Yu Yichen said, "I just washed it and brought it in the day before yesterday."
Zhenshu picked up a casual long gown and draped it over her shoulders, then threw the half-wet handkerchief far away. Seeing a box with many pairs of shoes on it, she went over, took a pair, sat on the box, put them on, and stretched her feet, saying, "Do these fit?"
Chapter 78 The Musician
Yu Yichen knelt down and helped her try on the shoes one by one. Whether they were velvet, silk, satin, or embroidered, they all fit perfectly. Finally, she chose a pair embroidered with two little green frogs, hopped a few steps on the ground, and asked Yu Yichen on tiptoe, "Does it look good?"
She wore only a loose outer garment, revealing her long, smooth neck and the beautifully arched collarbone, along with her full breasts. Beneath the dark, grassy area, two smooth, slender legs were visible. Yu Yichen carried her to the bed and cuddled her for a while before saying, "Beautiful, my little shopkeeper looks good in anything."
He got up and went out, and soon returned with the pure gold-rimmed jade bowl. Zhenshu was already used to his strange and unusual things, and seeing that he was holding a rubber band-like ring that he was putting on the jade ring, she asked curiously, "What is this?"
Yu Yichen pointed and said, "Sulfur ring."
He smiled mysteriously, reached out and touched between Zhenshu's legs, saying, "This thing is afraid of water. If there's too much water, it'll get ruined. What should we do?"
Zhen Shu fell for it as expected, and said by crossing her legs, "Then let's not use it. I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself."
She always made sure to thoroughly clean several handkerchiefs each time.
Yu Yichen laughed uncontrollably, then undressed and fiddled with things for a long time before finally saying, "Just kidding, relax!"
He continued to feed her with his fingers and lips, while she could only lie on the bed, eyes open, biting her fingers and staring at the bed curtains, letting the waves of passion drive her mad until she was completely exhausted. When he finally climbed up and embraced her, Zhenshu kissed him deeply, sighing, "I'm sorry."
She hesitated for a while before finding the right words: "I know that this kind of thing isn't just for women to enjoy, but men should also be happy. But I can't please you, I don't even know how to make you happy. If you have a way, no matter how embarrassing or unseemly, I'm willing to help you."
Her hands began to caress his body again. Yu Yichen grasped her hands and pressed them against his chest, saying, "Song Zhenshu, I love you. It's because I love you that I want to please you. Pleasing you is pleasing myself, because I love you. Do you understand?"
Zhenshu shook her head: "I don't understand."
He wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled her to his chest, sighing, "If you marry me, I will please you like this every day. That would be my greatest happiness, okay?"
He added, "I don't want to wait three years."
Zhenshu said, "But my sisters are not married yet, so I must marry them off first."
She felt something fuzzy and itchy behind her, as if something alive was walking around on her head. Looking up, she saw a small, snow-white dog standing on her head. Seeing her look up, it stretched its neck and barked loudly. Although it was just a small dog, its demeanor was more imposing than that of a large dog. Zhenshu, startled, covered her head and exclaimed, "Where did this thing come from?"
Yu Yichen shooed the little dog to the crib and said, "I brought you one of the palace's lion dogs to play with."
So this is a poodle.
Zhenshu sat up and watched it swagger around the room, sniffing everywhere. She waved her hand and said, "I lost it in the Wuling Mountains back then, just for a dog like this. I don't want this thing."
Yu Yichen pulled her down to lie down and asked, "How could it be because of a dog like this?"
Zhenshu recalled the whole story, feeling both angry and amused, her heart filled with mixed emotions. Moreover, she had long since put Du Yu aside in her mind. So she recounted how she was frightened on the edge of the cart, how she was run over, and how Du Yu saved her, only omitting Du Yu's real name and calling him a farmhand.
He then laughed and said, "If we're talking about your dog, all the good and bad things I've experienced in the past two years have been thanks to it. Why would I want to keep it again?"
Hearing how easily she spoke of it, Yu Yichen knew that the hardships involved must be unimaginable. He hugged Zhenshu tightly and said, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault."
Zhenshu chimed in, complaining, "So why did you have to send Liu Zhang a dog of all things?"
Yu Yichen said, "It's just that there was a male dog in the East Palace who was in heat all the time and got all the female dogs pregnant. The number of puppies born was countless, so I had no choice but to give some away."