Chapter 51: If He Insists, You Just Give In

In the outer courtyard of the Pei Mansion, Liu Yuheng was directing the servants to arrange bonsai plants. Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned around, revealed a bright smile, and went to greet them.

"Young Master, you've returned."

"Mm, a small harvest. Please have it sent to the kitchen, Madam." Pei Shaoqing shook the carp in his hand.

"Oh, it's really not small at all." Liu Yuheng was somewhat surprised, stepped forward to take it from his hand, and said, "I'll cook this fish myself tonight. I'm afraid the cook might waste the Young Master's catch, and I'd like to taste my own handiwork as well."

"Madam is truly capable of managing the household and cooking in the kitchen." Pei Shaoqing offered a compliment, then added with a smile, "Then I shall look forward to eating Madam's fish."

"I will try my best not to disappoint you, Young Master. I'll go do it now." After saying this, Liu Yuheng turned and left.

"Young Master, I'll go help." Zhao Zhilan said this to Pei Shaoqing, and after receiving his nod, she hurried to catch up with Liu Yuheng. "Master's wife, please teach me how to cook it while you're at it."

Liu Yuheng's expression changed slightly, but she quickly masked it and responded with a smile, "Alright, as long as you, this girl, want to learn, how could your Master's wife not teach you?"

As she spoke, she subconsciously quickened her pace, her hand gripping the carp tightened, and her heart felt somewhat chaotic.

As a wife married for over a decade, the moment Zhao Zhilan spoke, Liu Yuheng knew what she had done.

She felt ashamed, angry, and shocked all at once.

How could Lan'er... how could she!

"Master's wife, what's wrong? Why is your face suddenly so red?" Zhao Zhilan, who was by her side, asked with concern.

"N-nothing." Liu Yuheng came back to her senses, shook her head, took a deep breath to suppress the various emotions surging in her heart, and asked with feigned composure, "How are you and the Young Master getting along? How far have things progressed?"

"Master's wife~ there isn't even a shadow of a start yet." Zhao Zhilan's pretty face flushed, and she lowered her head guiltily to answer.

Liu Yuheng assumed she was just shy and embarrassed to speak plainly; she herself felt embarrassed to speak plainly, but she was also afraid that Zhao Zhilan would be taken advantage of completely without having any status or title.

So she felt it necessary to help her keep watch.

"Lan'er, come with me." Liu Yuheng grabbed Zhao Zhilan's hand and headed straight for her own bedroom.

Zhao Zhilan was a bit dazed, stumbling along after Liu Yuheng, asking as she went, "Master's wife, what's wrong?"

Liu Yuheng did not answer. After entering the room and closing the door, she asked with a stern face, "Lan'er, tell me the truth: have you and the Young Master already had intimate relations? Don't look down, look at me and answer."

"Master's wife, we haven't..."

"Still lying to me!" Liu Yuheng scolded sharply.

Zhao Zhilan was startled, glanced at her Master's wife's stern face, and was too ashamed to speak.

"Lan'er!" Seeing this, Liu Yuheng's expression softened. She held her shoulders with both hands and said earnestly, "You were raised by me; in my eyes, you are my own daughter. There is nothing that cannot be said between mother and daughter. Your Master's wife is just afraid that you lack experience and will suffer a loss in your confusion. Don't make your Master's wife worry, okay?"

"Mm." Zhao Zhilan nodded, suppressing her shyness, and said in a low voice, "I haven't given him my body yet."

"So, except for that, you've given him everything else." Liu Yuheng felt no relief; instead, her vision went dark.

Zhao Zhilan defended herself with a flushed face, "He insisted."

"He insisted, so you just gave it to him!" Liu Yuheng was angry at her lack of resolve and helplessly held her forehead. "How can you be so self-deprecating? If you don't love yourself, how can you expect others to love you?"

Zhao Zhilan kept her head down, her fingers nervously twisting the corner of her skirt, not daring to utter a single word of retort.

She felt aggrieved too; wasn't it all because she was considering the sect at the beginning that she went out of her way to throw herself at him?

Later, even if she wanted to stop, it was already too late; she could only walk down this path to the end, being wantonly manipulated by Pei Shaoqing.

"Not only was your body seen and touched, you even..." Liu Yuheng paused, unable to say it.

"Master's wife, you..." Zhao Zhilan was not stupid; she understood what was left unsaid. She immediately raised her head, shocked and ashamed, her face as red as sunset clouds. "How did you know?"

"Hmph!" Liu Yuheng glared at her fiercely.

Zhao Zhilan lowered her head again, whimpering—so embarrassing, how could her Master's wife know about this?

Liu Yuheng took another deep breath and asked as calmly as possible, "Since it's reached this point, haven't you asked Pei Shaoqing when he will let you enter the door?"

"I have asked." Zhao Zhilan felt angry and aggrieved mentioning this, but fearing her Master's wife would be even angrier if she told the truth, she gave a half-truthful answer: "The Young Master said he would choose an auspicious day three months from now to welcome me into the house."

Liu Yuheng's expression improved significantly. Her impression of Pei Shaoqing had started to turn sour, but Zhao Zhilan's words had corrected his image.

"Before you are officially married, you must not let him have you," she instructed. Still feeling uneasy, she added, "Forget it, from now on, you must come and tell me everything you do with him every day."

"Mm." Zhao Zhilan nodded obediently.

Since even the matter of eating people had been discovered by her Master's wife, there was nothing left to be embarrassed about telling her in the future.

With her Master's wife helping to keep watch, she felt more secure.

She then poured out everything, from Pei Shaoqing forbidding her to wear long trousers to him touching her legs while eating.

"That scoundrel! That lecher!" Liu Yuheng was furious, then sighed, "You need to be more careful."

She had no way to blame Pei Shaoqing for anything.

Pei Shaoqing had indeed kept his word and had not actively harassed Zhao Zhilan; it was Zhao Zhilan who had actively harassed him.

She then picked up the fish and turned to walk out. Just as she reached the door, she paused, turned back, and said indifferently, "Rinse your mouth after you've finished eating; it's full of the taste."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhilan was stunned for a moment, and then her face turned red again at a speed visible to the naked eye.

So that was it; no wonder her Master's wife had discovered it.

"Wait, could it be that you, Master's wife, also..."

"Pah!" Liu Yuheng's face flushed, and she spat, both ashamed and angry, "I'm not that shameless."

Having said that, she swayed her waist and hurried away.

Zhao Zhilan covered her face with her hands, threw herself onto Liu Yuheng's bed, and rolled back and forth like a maggot.

Ahhh! Today is truly so embarrassing!

………………………

During dinner that evening, Pei Shaoqing noticed that Liu Yuheng was looking at him with a strange expression, and he was completely confused.

"Madam, is there something dirty on my face?"

"N-no." Liu Yuheng shook her head.

Pei Shaoqing felt it was inexplicable and didn't take it to heart, instead praising her cooking, "Madam, this fish is truly excellent; the broth is thick, and the meat is tender and springy."

"If the Young Master likes it, eat more. Your concubine will cook it for you often in the future," Liu Yuheng replied with a gentle smile.

Facing Pei Shaoqing now, her mind was filled with inappropriate images of Zhao Zhilan and him, which was annoying.

Especially seeing that one of Pei Shaoqing's hands never once rested on the table, she felt even more stifled inside.

If it weren't for the fact that Zhao Zhilan had thrown herself at him and had already been taken advantage of, losing the initiative, she would have insisted on using her status as a guardian to force Pei Shaoqing to marry her disciple as soon as possible.

Pei Shaoqing, however, did not know that Liu Yuheng was aware of the affair between him and Zhao Zhilan; he was slacking off while eating fish, enjoying himself immensely, and feeling quite smug.

The few people at the table clearly all knew about Pei Shaoqing's little movements under the table, yet they all assumed the others did not.

The atmosphere of this dinner was somewhat strange and indescribable.

Meanwhile, the Saintess of the Jade Light was about to arrive on the battlefield.

(End of chapter)