Chapter 32: Garlic White Meat (Part 7)
Had she seen Feng Si'er before?
Leng Yue almost blurted out "impossible."
If she had seen such a beautiful woman even once, she couldn't possibly have no impression at all. Yet Leng Yue couldn't think of any reason why Feng Si'er would lie to her about this.
Leng Yue nodded politely. "It's possible."
Feng Si'er seemed to detect the insincerity in Leng Yue's words. Her forced smile turned slightly bitter as she turned away and coughed lightly.
No sound from outside could be heard in this room. Thick cotton curtains covered the doors and windows, making it as stiflingly hot as a noon just before a summer thunderstorm. Though wrapped heavily in thick quilts, not a single drop of sweat could be seen on Feng Si'er's face. Her voice trembled slightly as she said, "Steward Lu, please help me entertain our guest..."
Before Steward Lu could respond, Leng Yue interjected, "Madam Cheng, since you're unwell, there's no need for formalities. I came uninvited to ask you a few questions. I'll leave right after."
Feng Si'er closed her eyes gently, as if pondering for a moment, then slowly opened them again. Her gaze lingered on Jing Yi's face once more. "Alright... but please ask Young Master Jing and Steward Lu to step out..."
Steward Lu looked at Jing Yi, who smiled and nodded. "Of course."
Jing Yi left immediately without any hesitation.
He had been waiting in the outer room for less time than it takes for an incense stick to burn when Leng Yue emerged.
Leng Yue walked out with an unconsciously furrowed brow. Upon seeing Jing Yi, her first words were, "She wants to see you."
Jing Yi was slightly taken aback, then broke into a somewhat roguish smile and shook his head. "I'm not going."
Leng Yue seemed surprised by his response. After a moment's pause, her expression turned stern. "Stop dawdling and hurry up... This works out perfectly since I need to go check on Cheng Xun again. Take your time talking with her, and wait for me at the main estate gate when you're done."
Without looking back, Leng Yue hurried out. In her haste, she even forgot the umbrella she had left by the door. By the time she rushed back to the estate, she was completely drenched, her body so cold it felt as if her heart, liver, lungs, and stomach had all turned icy.
Instead of heading straight to the stables, Leng Yue quietly returned to the courtyard where her bedroom was located. She had someone prepare bathwater boiled with soapberries, brought a small stove into her room, and poured a basin of aged vinegar to boil on it. While fumigating with vinegar, she scrubbed every inch of her skin fiercely.
The steaming vinegar smell was somewhat pungent, but no matter how strong it was, it seemed unable to wash away the lingering foul odor on her body.
As long as that foul odor remained, the stunning smile of its owner kept appearing vividly before her eyes.
Leng Yue scrubbed with increasing force, nearly rubbing the skin off her shoulders when a hand reached from behind her neck and pressed gently but firmly on her frantic hands.
"Doesn't that hurt? It looks painful even to me."
Startled, Leng Yue had already quickly reversed her grip on the intruder's wrist and was about to throw them against the wall when she heard these soft words. Her strength faltered, her tight grip loosened, and she turned her head in astonishment to meet Jing Yi's smiling face.
"You... didn't I tell you to wait for me at the main estate gate?"
Jing Yi took a deep breath and grinned shamelessly. "I smelled vinegar, so I came back."Leng Yue froze for a moment, her face flushing hot as she swatted Jing Yi’s hand off her shoulder. “Get out! Can’t you see I’m bathing?”
“I can’t,” Jing Yi said softly, rubbing his reddened shoulder where she’d struck him. A faint sting made Leng Yue frown slightly. He sighed, “All I see is you here, slaughtering a pig and scraping off its hair.”
“...Get out!”
Jing Yi crouched and shuffled sideways to her, scooping a handful of water and letting it trickle over her shoulder. With a playful grin, he said, “This humble one misspoke. Please punish me, Madam.”
Without hesitation, Leng Yue scooped a full handful of water and splashed it squarely in his face.
Jing Yi wore his drenched face like a badge of honor, gazing contentedly at his wife, whose eyes blazed with murderous intent. “Now that you’ve punished me, stop tormenting yourself.”
Leng Yue paused, her second handful of water halting mid-air. Whether it was the vinegar fumes or something else, her nose tingled with a sourness that blurred her vision.
Jing Yi gently touched her shoulder again. “If you scrape off all the hair, the texture won’t be as nice.”
“...”
Jing Yi’s ethereally handsome face caught the second handful of bathwater—and then a damp kiss.
After the damp kiss came a damp body clinging to him.
Soon, there were two damp bodies.
Because Leng Yue hooked her arms around Jing Yi’s neck and yanked him into the bathtub. In a few swift moves, she stripped off his clothes, pressed him into the soapy water, and scrubbed him from head to toe. Jing Yi’s howls were even more pitiful than those of a pig being dehaired.
The guards who rushed over at the commotion, hearing the screams from the bedroom interspersed with cries of “Madam, I was wrong!” silently retreated.
By the time Leng Yue released him contentedly and watched Jing Yi scramble out of the tub, he was rubbed raw—pink and red all over, like a freshly dehaired suckling pig.
“Madam...”
Leng Yue stared expressionlessly at Jing Yi, who clung to the tub’s edge with teary eyes and soft, panting breaths. “Starting today, you’re not allowed to call me ‘Madam’ anymore.”
Jing Yi froze, his breath catching for a moment. “Wh-why?”
“You ask every wife you meet to be called ‘Madam.’ If you casually say ‘Madam,’ how would I know which one you’re referring to?”
Jing Yi’s clenched heart suddenly relaxed. Like a lotus petal gently plucked from its stem, he slumped softly in a corner of the tub, torn between laughter and tears. “This ‘Madam’ isn’t the same as those others...”
Leng Yue’s gaze sharpened, and Jing Yi hurriedly added, “I’ll call you whatever you say!”
Leng Yue lowered her head, splashing a handful of water over her chest. Her voice softened, carrying a hint of shyness. “Just call me Xiao Yue again...”
He had called her that since he first learned to speak. She had always felt “Madam” carried more weight than this address—until this morning, when she left home, she still thought so. But just moments ago, in that abruptly cut-off syllable “Si,” she suddenly realized: “Si’er” and “becoming Madam” carried entirely different meanings.
“Alright, Xiao Yue.”Leng Yue lowered her head and gave a muffled "Mm," splashing several handfuls of water over herself before looking up again. With an expressionless face, she said, "If you ever sneak into the brothel district again, don't bother coming home... Why are you staring with such wide eyes? Dare you say you've never been there?"
Jing Yi didn't dare.
He had indeed been there—not just once, but frequently.
But there was one thing he could swear on his chest.
Jing Yi straightened his posture, his expression unusually serious and out of place in this scene of a loving couple bathing together. "Xiao Yue, I am innocent."
Ignoring Jing Yi's face, which had stiffened with tension, Leng Yue shot him an annoyed glance. "Nonsense. I just scrubbed you clean—of course you're innocent."
"...I didn't mean my body is innocent."
Leng Yue raised an eyebrow, and Jing Yi suddenly realized something was off. "No, no... I mean my body is innocent!"
"Then are you or aren't you?"
"I am!"
"Oh..." Leng Yue casually splashed another handful of water over herself, neither believing nor disbelieving him, and merely said, "Feng Si'er told me the same thing."
Jing Yi was taken aback. "She told you... I'm innocent?"
Without looking up, Leng Yue's voice carried a sour note, mingling with the strong scent of vinegar. "What she told me—didn't you ask her?"
"I really didn't go to see her."
"Oh..." Leng Yue splashed another handful of water over herself, her tone still indifferent. "Feng Si'er told me the same thing."
Feng Si'er had told her he wouldn't go to see her, yet Leng Yue was now telling him that Feng Si'er wanted to see him...
Jing Yi felt a chill run down his spine.
When women started competing with each other, it was anything but fun...
He realized that if he didn't clarify his relationship with Feng Si'er to Leng Yue now, he might very well meet an unjust death in this basin of vinegar-laden bathwater today.
"Dar—Xiao Yue, I'm only Feng Si'er's..."
Before he could finish, Leng Yue cut in sharply, "Savior, right? There was a time when she almost got beaten to death for refusing a customer, and you saved her. She told me that too."
Jing Yi was bewildered. He had been confused ever since Leng Yue uttered the word "savior," and by the last sentence, he was completely lost.
"You... you believe what she said?"
Leng Yue replied nonchalantly, "I don't know which ancestor said it, but 'a man's words are kind when he is near death.'"
Jing Yi was slightly startled. "Near death?"
"Mm..." Leng Yue gritted her teeth softly and sighed. "If you had taken her out of that place back then, she might have lived long enough to see herself become the most beautiful old lady in the world."
After her sigh, Leng Yue looked at Jing Yi, who was sitting dumbfounded across the bathtub, and rolled her eyes in annoyance. "You really did go to the brothel district just to drink tea... You don't recognize the smell on Feng Si'er?"
Jing Yi shook his head blankly.
"That's the smell of a syphilitic sore after it has festered."
Syphilitic sore...
No wonder Leng Yue had rushed back to fumigate the place with vinegar, soak in soapberry water, scrub herself as if she were cleaning a pig, and then force him into the water for a thorough scrubbing too...
If Feng Si'er had contracted such a disease, it would indeed be worth his second brother's trip.
But if she had such an illness, what about Cheng Xun...The surprise in Jing Yi's brow vanished as quickly as it appeared, replaced by a delicate furrow. "You said you came back to check on Cheng Xun... to see if he'd also contracted this illness?"
Leng Yue nodded.
"This illness... is it related to the case?"
"Don't know."
Leng Yue took a deep breath, submerged her face in the water for a moment, then emerged with a splash. Wiping the water from her face, she continued, "But... aside from Xiao Yunde who showed no obvious symptoms, the other two victims before Cheng Xun both had clear signs of festering sores."
Catching her breath, she gazed intently at Jing Yi. "Do you know what the killer did to those sores?"
Jing Yi had a sinking feeling.
He desperately wanted to say he didn't know and didn't want to know, but it was already too late.
"While they were still alive, the killer used a blade to meticulously carve out every single sore, then filled each cavity with melted white wax. When I first examined the two bodies, I only noticed some wax-filled holes and didn't realize what they were. But just now, when I smelled Feng Si'er..."
Before Leng Yue could finish her sentence, her words were silenced by a deep, lingering kiss.
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