Chapter 51: He Insists, So You Give In? The Saintess is Coming
Chapter 51: Chapter 51: He Insists, So You Give In? The Saintess is Coming
In the outer courtyard of the Pei Mansion, Liu Yuheng was directing the servants in arranging potted landscapes when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned, a bright smile appearing on her face as she eagerly went to greet them.
"Young Master, you’re both back."
"Mm. A small catch. I’ll have to trouble you to take this to the kitchen," Pei Shaoqing said, showing off the carp in his hand.
"Oh, it’s quite big!" Liu Yuheng said with some surprise, stepping forward to take it from him. "I’ll cook it myself tonight. I’m afraid the chef might waste your catch. Besides, it’s a chance for you to taste my cooking."
"Truly a lady in the hall and a chef in the kitchen," Pei Shaoqing complimented her, adding with a smile, "Then I’ll look forward to eating your fish."
"I’ll do my best not to disappoint you, Young Master. I’ll go and prepare it now." With that, Liu Yuheng turned to leave.
"Young Master, I’ll go help," Zhao Zilan said to Pei Shaoqing. After he gave a nod of approval, she quickly caught up to Liu Yuheng. "Mistress, could you teach me how to cook while you’re at it?"
Liu Yuheng’s expression faltered for a moment, but she quickly masked it with a smile. "Of course. If you wish to learn, my dear girl, how could your mistress refuse to teach you?"
As she spoke, she subconsciously quickened her pace, her hand gripping the carp so tightly her knuckles whitened. Her thoughts were a chaotic mess.
As a woman who had been married for over a decade, Liu Yuheng knew what Zhao Zilan had done the moment she opened her mouth.
She was a roiling mix of shame, anger, and shock.
’How could Lan’Er... How could she!’
"Mistress, what’s wrong? Why is your face suddenly so red?" Zhao Zilan asked with concern.
"N-nothing." Liu Yuheng snapped out of her daze and shook her head. Taking a deep breath to suppress the storm of emotions inside her, she asked with feigned composure, "How are things going between you and the Young Master? How far have you two gone?"
"Mistress~ It’s... it’s not even on the table yet," Zhao Zilan answered, her cheeks flushing as she lowered her head guiltily.
Liu Yuheng just assumed she was being shy and too embarrassed to speak plainly. Liu Yuheng was also too embarrassed to be blunt, but she was afraid Zhao Zilan would be taken advantage of and left without any official title or recognition.
So she felt it was necessary to step in and look out for her.
"Lan’Er, come with me." Liu Yuheng grabbed Zhao Zilan’s hand and pulled her directly toward her own bedroom.
Zhao Zilan was bewildered, stumbling along behind Liu Yuheng as she asked, "Mistress, what’s wrong?"
Liu Yuheng didn’t answer. Once they were inside her room with the door shut, she turned to Zhao Zilan with a grave expression. "Lan’Er, tell me the truth. Have you and the Young Master already been intimate? Don’t look down. Look at me when you answer."
"Mistress, we haven’t..."
"You’re still lying to me!" Liu Yuheng snapped.
Zhao Zilan flinched. She darted a glance at her mistress’s stern face, too mortified to speak.
"Lan’Er!" Seeing this, Liu Yuheng’s expression softened. She placed both hands on Zhao Zilan’s shoulders and pleaded earnestly, "I raised you. In my eyes, you’re like my own daughter. There’s nothing a mother and daughter can’t talk about. I’m just afraid that you, being inexperienced, have been foolishly taken advantage of. Please, don’t make me worry, alright?"
"Okay." Zhao Zilan nodded, forcing down her embarrassment to whisper, "I haven’t given him my body yet."
"So, besides that, you’ve given him everything else." Liu Yuheng felt no relief. On the contrary, her vision seemed to go dark for a moment.
Zhao Zilan’s face turned red as she tried to defend herself. "He insisted."
"He insisted, so you just gave in?!" Liu Yuheng, frustrated with her apprentice’s lack of fortitude, pressed a hand to her forehead. "How can you have so little self-respect? If you don’t love yourself, how can you expect anyone else to love you?"
Zhao Zilan lowered her head, her fingers nervously twisting the corner of her skirt. Looking utterly pitiful, she didn’t dare to say a word in her defense.
’She felt incredibly wronged. Wasn’t this all for the Sect’s sake in the beginning? That’s why she’d thrown herself at him.’
’By the time she wanted to stop, it was already too late. She had to see this dark path through to the end, completely at Pei Shaoqing’s mercy.’
"He’s not only seen and touched your body, but you even..." Liu Yuheng’s voice trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.
"Mistress, you..." Zhao Zilan wasn’t a fool; she understood the unspoken part of the sentence. She looked up, shocked and mortified, her face as red as a sunset. "How did you know?"
"Hmph!" Liu Yuheng shot her a withering glare.
Zhao Zilan lowered her head again, whimpering inwardly. ’I could just die of embarrassment! How did Mistress find out?’
Liu Yuheng took another deep breath, trying her best to remain calm. "Since things have already gone this far, have you asked Pei Shaoqing when he plans to marry you?"
"I have," Zhao Zilan said. The topic made her feel both angry and wronged, but she was afraid the full truth would make her mistress even angrier, so she gave a half-true answer. "Young Master Pei said he would choose an auspicious day in three months to marry me."
Liu Yuheng’s expression softened considerably. Her impression of Pei Shaoqing, which had begun to sour, was restored by Zhao Zilan’s words.
"Until you are officially wed, you absolutely must not let him have his way with you completely," she instructed. Still, she didn’t feel reassured. "Forget it. From now on, I want you to report to me every day about what you two have done."
"Okay." Zhao Zilan nodded obediently.
’Since my mistress even knows about... that, there’s nothing I can’t tell her from now on.’
’With my mistress watching my back, I’ll feel more secure.’
And so, she confessed everything: how Pei Shaoqing forbade her from wearing trousers, how he touched her leg during meals, and all the rest.
"That scoundrel! That lecher!" Liu Yuheng seethed, then sighed. "You need to be smarter about this."
She couldn’t really blame Pei Shaoqing, though.
Pei Shaoqing had indeed kept his promise not to harass Zhao Zilan. It was Zhao Zilan who had initiated things with him.
She picked up the fish and turned to leave. At the doorway, she paused, glanced back, and added coolly, "After you... finish eating, you should rinse your mouth. The smell is quite strong."
Zhao Zilan froze for a second, then her face visibly flushed crimson once more.
’So that’s how it was. No wonder she found out.’
"Wait, does that mean you too, Mistress...?"
"Pah!" Liu Yuheng’s face flushed, and she spat in a mix of shame and anger. "I am not so shameless!"
With that, she turned with a flick of her waist and hurried off.
Zhao Zilan covered her face with her hands and threw herself onto Liu Yuheng’s bed, writhing around like a maggot.
’AHHHH! Today has been utterly humiliating!’
.............
During dinner that evening, Pei Shaoqing noticed Liu Yuheng was giving him strange looks, and he was completely baffled.
"My dear, is there something on my face?"
"N-no," Liu Yuheng said, shaking her head.
Pei Shaoqing found it odd but didn’t dwell on it, instead praising her cooking. "My dear, this fish is excellent. The sauce is rich, and the flesh is perfectly tender and firm."
"If you enjoy it, Young Master, then please have some more. I can make it for you often," Liu Yuheng replied with a sweet smile.
’Now, whenever she looked at Pei Shaoqing, her mind was filled with X-rated images of him and Zhao Zilan. How annoying.’
She felt even more vexed, especially when she noticed that one of Pei Shaoqing’s hands remained under the table the entire time.
’If Zhao Zilan hadn’t thrown herself at him and already lost the upper hand, I would be using my authority as her guardian to force Pei Shaoqing to marry my apprentice immediately.’
Pei Shaoqing, however, was oblivious that Liu Yuheng knew about his dalliance with Zhao Zilan. He was happily eating his meal, feeling up a different "catch" under the table, and feeling utterly smug.
Everyone at the table was well aware of Pei Shaoqing’s little movements beneath it, yet each of them thought they were the only one who knew.
The atmosphere over dinner was indescribably strange.
And at that very moment, the Shaking Light Saintess was about to arrive on the battlefield.