“Ah! Gently! Gently! Are you trying to hurt me to death?!”
Wei Xinian was carried back to his courtyard. After receiving thirty strokes, he collapsed on the ground without moving.
They finally carried him back, but just as they were about to put him on the bed, he woke up.
The moment he woke, he cried out loudly in pain. Nanzhi and Jingxin rolled their eyes in annoyance. Yue Jingque said nothing, but just seeing her standing there gave Wei Xinian a headache.
“Second Young Master, I’m already being as gentle as I can,” Qingniao said quietly.
“Move aside. Let Jiu’an apply the medicine.”
“Second Young Master, Jiu’an is still locked in the woodshed.”
“Then what are you waiting for? Go let him out!”
Just as Wei Xinian finished speaking, Fang Rushi walked in.
She was holding a bottle of medicine.
“Go where? Do you need someone else just to apply medicine? You’re useless.”
“Mother, listen to yourself! The injury is on my back. How am I supposed to apply it myself? Who has eyes on the back of their head?”
“You still have plenty of energy. Looks like your punishment wasn’t hard enough.”
Fang Rushi sat beside the bed and looked at the overlapping red marks on his back.
“Those servants were afraid of hurting you, so they didn’t use enough force. If you don’t rub the bruises hard, they won’t heal properly.”
Wei Xinian’s eyelids twitched. He suddenly had a bad feeling.
Fang Rushi smiled.
“I’ll do it for you. I’ll make sure every bruise gets rubbed properly.”
“No!”
Wei Xinian quickly dragged himself farther onto the bed, but Fang Rushi pressed a hand firmly onto his back.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Wei Xinian let out a scream that sounded like a pig being slaughtered.
“Let go! It hurts! Fang Rushi! I’m your son, not a pig that escaped its pen! You don’t have to use so much force!”
“So delicate!”
Although she scolded him, Fang Rushi still loosened her grip.
She looked at the medicine in her hand, then at Wei Xinian, who was still crying miserably. After looking around, her eyes landed on Yue Jingque.
“Fine. If you think your mother is too rough, then let your wife do it.”
“How is she any better? Tell her to leave too! I only want Jiu’an! Go get Jiu’an!”
Wei Xinian shouted loudly. He glanced at Yue Jingque, but only for a brief moment.
How could he let another man’s beloved woman apply medicine to him? He wasn’t that shameless.
Besides, he still couldn’t accept the fact that she was carrying another man’s child. To him, it was the greatest humiliation, and he simply couldn’t get over it.
Yue Jingque looked at him, her eyes growing colder.
This fool had burned the ancestral hall, dragged Wei Nancheng and Li Zhenchun into trouble, and still showed no regret. Instead, he kept making demands.
She took a handkerchief from her sleeve and handed it to Jingxin.
“It’s late. Don’t let the Young Master disturb everyone else’s peace.”
“Yes.”
Jingxin took the handkerchief, walked over, and stuffed it into Wei Xinian’s mouth.
His eyes widened. Just as he reached up to pull it out, Jingxin twisted his arm behind his back with a wrestling move.
Nanzhi stepped forward with a silk ribbon. Jingxin took it and quickly tied both of Wei Xinian’s hands behind his back.
Then Jingxin stepped back and said to Yue Jingque,
“Miss, the Young Master is quiet now.”
Fang Rushi was stunned. In the end, she could only look sympathetically at her son, who was wriggling on the bed like a giant worm, unable to get up.
Of course she felt sorry for him.
But her daughter-in-law was precious too, especially now that she was pregnant. She knew which was more important.
Pretending not to see Wei Xinian’s pleading eyes, she turned to Yue Jingque and handed her the medicine bottle.
“I’m getting old. At this hour I get sleepy. I’ll leave the medicine to you. Remember to rub it in well. The bruises will heal faster that way.”
After saying that, Fang Rushi walked out.
At the entrance of the courtyard, she met Chen Runiang.
“Is Erlang alright?” Chen Runiang asked.
“He’s fine. If anything serious had happened, Wanwan and Zhouqing would already be making a fuss. His wife is with him now. Let the young couple spend some time together. How is Dalang?”
“Nothing serious. Zhenchun is keeping him company.”
“That’s good.”
Fang Rushi linked arms with Chen Runiang.
“Sister-in-law, Erlang’s wife is pregnant now. You should urge Dalang to hurry too. If they both have children around the same time, the courtyard will be lively, and the children can grow up and play together.”
She truly wanted Li Zhenchun to become pregnant with Dalang’s child soon so their marriage would become more secure. Most importantly, she didn’t want Li Zhenchun and Wei Xinian getting too close. A sister-in-law and her husband’s younger brother should not behave so closely.
Chen Runiang thought for a moment.
“That actually sounds like a good idea.”
“A good idea? What do you mean?”
Fang Rushi quickly asked.
“Didn’t Dalang insist on joining the army today? He had completely made up his mind. I only managed to stop him by threatening to kill myself.”
“Although it worked, I’ve also blocked every other path for him. I’m afraid he might do something extreme and leave without telling anyone.”
“Now that you mention it, maybe I should give him another reason to stay. Let him have a child with Zhenchun first. At least that will keep him here for now.”
Fang Rushi slapped her thigh excitedly.
“That’s brilliant! First tell him to have a child. Then after she’s pregnant, tell him to wait until the baby is born. Once the baby arrives, how can it grow up without its father? Then ask him to stay a few more years to raise the child. Keep delaying him like that, and before long they’ll have several children!”
“Exactly.”
The younger generation knew nothing about the two women’s plans.
Yue Jingque raised her hand, dismissing everyone from the room.
After the door closed, only she and Wei Xinian remained.
“Why did you go to the ancestral hall?”
She sat beside the bed and pulled the cloth from Wei Xinian’s mouth.
“Mind your own business! My affairs are none of yours! Qingniao! Get in here! Qingniao! Qingniao!”
No matter how loudly he shouted, it was as if everyone outside had disappeared. The courtyard remained completely silent.
Wei Xinian was speechless.
Seriously? Yue Jingque has only been here for a short time, and everyone in the courtyard is already listening to her.
His upper body was bare, his hands tied behind his back, and his back was injured. He could only lie on his stomach and turn his head toward Yue Jingque.
“Untie me! I’ll apply the medicine myself. I don’t need you to do it!”
He had noticed the medicine bottle in her hand and assumed she was about to treat his wounds.
Yue Jingque’s face was as cold as ice.
Right in front of him, she smashed the bottle onto the floor.
The porcelain shattered into pieces. Tiny shards flew past Wei Xinian’s face, making him jump.
Damn.
Has this woman gone crazy?
“Was it fun, Wei Xinian?”
He swallowed nervously.
“W-What?”
“The entire Wei family spent more than a month exhausting themselves trying to save you. Wei Nancheng even lost his official position because of you.”
Wei Xinian’s pupils shrank.
“What? Whose position was lost?”
“The Wei family is honest and upright. They would never use their influence to protect him.”
“He earned his civil official position after studying for over ten years. He climbed step by step to become the Deputy Prefect through his own ability.”
Yue Jingque looked at him with a mocking smile.
“For a useless fool like you, all those years of hard work were wasted.”
“You really are his dear little brother.”
Wei Xinian stared at her, his eyes turning red.
“Untie me! I want to ask my brother! Untie me now!”
He struggled with all his strength, but the silk ribbon was tied too tightly. No matter how hard he twisted, he couldn’t break free.
He struggled so violently that he shoved Yue Jingque off the bed.
She stumbled but quickly regained her balance.
She didn’t care whether he had pushed her on purpose or by accident.
She simply looked at him coldly.
“The civil officials and military officers at court have hated each other for years.”
“Wei Nancheng was born into a military family, yet he became a civil official.”
“How much do you know about the ridicule he received from the military officers, or the difficulties the civil officials gave him?”
Wei Xinian stopped struggling.
He slowly looked up at her.