Смертная любовь в эпоху Северной Сун

Глава 145

...

The bustling Ziye remained as vibrant as ever, with the throngs of people whose smiles reflected the beauty of their lives and further highlighted Ziye's prosperity.

After getting off the carriage, Rongyue and her daughter walked on the cobblestone street. Looking at the buildings on both sides that were more luxurious than a few years ago, she suddenly felt that they, dressed in coarse linen clothes, were so out of place in the splendid Ziye City.

Unbeknownst to Rongyue, the sight of her and her daughter walking down the street had already attracted considerable attention. Their identical almond-shaped eyes made people marvel at the immense power of genetics. The larger eye was deep and profound, seemingly lost in thought, or perhaps reflecting on something; its gleam was subtle and complex, enigmatic and unfathomable. The smaller eye sparkled, its bright, mischievous appearance truly endearing. But when people saw the gleaming top of her head, their expressions abruptly changed, from affection to pity, their gazes towards Rongyue filled with deep reproach and suspicion…

"Mommy, Gouwa wants those round balls! Round balls, round balls..." The chubby fingers kept scratching in mid-air, and his eyes were fixed on the strings of tempting candied hawthorns, wishing he could pounce on them and grab all the round balls that shone with a dark red luster into his hands.

He quickly walked a few steps and arrived in front of the old man selling candied hawthorns. He took out an ounce of silver from his pocket and said, "Grandpa, two skewers of candied hawthorns, please."

The old man glanced at Gouwa, who was drooling and greedily eyeing the candied hawthorns in his hand, and chuckled as he handed the two skewers to Gouwa: "Here you go, little one, hold on tight."

Her almond-shaped eyes suddenly gleamed with the light of a wolf seeing a sheep.

They snatched it away, the two chubby salesmen not holding the small bamboo sticks sticking out, but instead clutching the sticky, round hawthorns with sugar, stuffing them into their arms. Their almond-shaped eyes looked warily at the smiling, kind old man, their possessiveness evident, as if to say: Since you gave it to me, it's mine! Don't even think about taking it back!

Watching Gouwa happily licking his candied hawthorn, Rongyue suddenly realized that it was time for lunch after being out for so long!

Looking around, out of habit, she naturally chose a restaurant with a luxurious facade and walked towards it, a restaurant called Pear Blossom Falling.

The idiom "a dog looks down on people" is fully embodied in Rongyue's character.

"Get out! Get out! Do you see clearly? Pear Blossom Falling is the biggest restaurant in the whole city. Only high-ranking officials and nobles can come and go. A single cup of tea here costs three taels of silver. How could you beggars like you come here? Get out of here. This is not a place to send beggars away. If you want to beg, go next door. Don't block our business..."

A ten-tael silver ingot was stuffed into his mouth, successfully silencing his vicious words. Amidst the sidelong glances of the crowd, she carried Gouwa and walked into the restaurant as if no one else was there, heading up the sandalwood staircase to a private room on the second floor.

"Madam, our private rooms require reservations. You'd better go downstairs..." Before he could finish speaking, he was stunned by the ten taels of gold that Rongyue threw out.

He hurriedly changed his tune, bowing and scraping as he led the way for Rongyue: "It just so happens that a guest canceled their reservation today. You are so lucky, Madam, to have run into us like this! Madam, this way please!"

Money can make the devil turn the millstone, and even the millstone can turn the devil! This saying is absolutely true.

He sneered and followed the boy to an elegant room where he sat down.

Before the waiter could even announce the names of the dishes, Rongyue rattled off several famous dishes from the capital, leaving the waiter in awe.

It seems he's no ordinary person! I, Xiao Cheng, now truly understand the saying "don't judge a book by its cover"!

His attitude became even more respectful as he withdrew. Not daring to linger, he hurriedly went downstairs to make arrangements...

"Is it delicious?" Rongyue smiled as she looked at Gouwa, whose face was covered in food. She gently wiped Gouwa's greasy face with a handkerchief. Looking at Gouwa's satisfied expression, Rongyue felt a warm glow in her heart, and a sense of happiness she had never experienced before quietly swept over her.

Is this what it feels like to be a mother?

Her mother seemed to have changed. Not only did she stop scolding and hitting her, but she also gave her so many good things to eat. Would her mother always be this nice to her from now on? Oh—she knew it! It must be because she had been behaving well these past few days that her mother was treating her so well! Yes, she had to be good from now on so she could get lots and lots of food! In her little mind, this equation quietly formed: Good behavior = pleasing mother = delicious food!

The wolf's gaze at the sheep reappeared when it thought of food!

*Smack!* He gave Rongyue's cheek a hard bite, leaving a large, greasy lip print!

Her almond-shaped eyes widened in shock and the trembling sensation from the kiss. Her hand trembled slightly as she touched the spot where the dog had just gnawed at her. But when she felt the sticky, greasy residue, her emotion instantly turned into anger!

With a dark expression, she glared at the innocent-looking dog, about to explode, when the cool breeze from the lifted curtain at the doorway diverted her attention...

The handkerchief slipped from her hand!

"Hmph, you got your news pretty quickly! I barely arrived in Ziye and you're already here! Liu Rongyue, didn't I tell you not to come looking for me again? It's no use you coming; the person Lie loves isn't you at all!" A beauty from beyond the heavens, yet different beauties have different fates. No wonder she was so agitated when her master said those words; it turns out she had such an experience… Alas, she only regretted not understanding the meaning of that poem sooner. By the time she understood, everything had changed, leaving only desolation…

The moment she saw Chu Xuyao, she was so startled she almost jumped off her chair and fled. She was terrified that Chu Xuyao would use his iron-fisted methods to forcibly abduct her and make her his so-called first wife! But after hearing his words, her heart calmed down, and she silently thanked her heavens. At this moment, she was genuinely grateful to the original owner of this body who had returned for three years. Yes, the original owner. From Chu Xuyao's words, he was certain that the original owner had indeed spent those three years. Because besides that foolish woman who was willing to commit suicide for her cousin, who else would be so fixated on Dongfang Lie?

It seems the original owner didn't leave her with nothing but a mess; after all, she did bring her some benefits, didn't she? Making Chu Xuyao stop bothering her truly solved a major problem for her.

"Gouwa wants to eat that round ball!" A child's innocent voice rang out just in time, rescuing Rongyue from her predicament when she didn't know how to answer.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rongyue glanced at what Gouwa was pointing to; it was a lion's head. She wondered suspiciously if the child had a particular fondness for round, bulging things.

She picked up the braised lion's head from the very edge with her chopsticks and carefully brought it close to her lips. Just as she was about to put it into her mouth, a suspicious and probing gaze shot from the front of her made alarm bells ring in her mind!

She suddenly remembered that the original owner of this body disliked Gouwa, and Chu Xuyao must know perfectly well how he treated Gouwa!

They almost gave themselves away!

Rongyue shoved the food roughly into Gouwa's mouth and said in a harsh voice, "Eat, eat, you'll stuff yourself to death!"

The probing gaze vanished, replaced by a disgust Rongyue had never seen in him before: "Liu Rongyue, no matter what, she is still your daughter. Even if you don't like her that much, blood is thicker than water. How could you treat her so cruelly! You are truly unworthy of being a mother!"

Hearing Chu Xuyao say this, Rongyue suddenly felt that he might know who Gouwa's father really was.

"Since her father doesn't want her, why should I treat her kindly?" The words were tinged with just the right amount of resentment, making it impossible to doubt that they came from an abandoned woman.

To her surprise, these words enraged Chu Xuyao!

Chu Xuyao kicked the table over, strode over, his hawk-like eyes narrowed, and pointed at the mark on Rongyue's nose, warning, "Liu Rongyue, you know perfectly well whose child this is! I'm warning you, if you still insist on pushing the child onto me, and you piss me off, believe me, I'll really chop this child up, and then we'll see how you spout nonsense!" What a shameless woman! He remembered that night clearly; he hadn't touched her at all, how could it be his child!

A chill ran down my spine!

It turned out that she had never truly witnessed his ruthlessness before.

I wonder if she should be grateful that, thanks to the original owner, she had the chance to witness the terrifying ruthlessness hidden beneath the cold-faced iron.

"I didn't say it was yours..."

The sinister aura dissipated somewhat: "Then what did you mean by that?"

“I only said her father didn’t want her, so why should I treat her well? I didn’t specifically name her as yours. Her father is naturally the person I love…”

"Tch!" He glanced at Rongyue with disdain: "I've never seen a shameless woman like you! You're trying to pin the blame on Lie! Liu Rongyue, I don't want to see you again. Take your bastard and get out of here!" He couldn't stand it when someone with Rongyue's face said such shameless things!