“Where’s that clever streak of yours from before!” As Li Rong finished speaking, her eyes reddened too.
The ring of bruises on Li Qu’s wrist proved that Third Master of the Zhou household was not a good man!
Li Qu made no reply.
From falling into the Zhou household with no way to save herself, to deciding to burn her boats and block the road to file a petition for change, to witnessing Zhou Jin kill a man with his own hands inside the prefectural yamen, then surviving against all odds and encountering Chang San, and finally, because of a single sentence of hers, provoking Zhou Jin’s anger…
Every single event before this had kept Li Qu’s nerves stretched taut.
Even now, she didn’t know whether she was crying over losing her innocence, over her careless blunder, or over having a pig-headed teammate of an elder sister.
“Boo-hoo-hoo…”
Li Rong plopped down on her knees at Li Qu’s feet, hugging Li Qu’s leg and wailing:
“I—I—I just thought that old madam of a wealthy family was doing a good deed. Dragon whisker pastry given away for free—who’d turn that down? Who knew it was just a front for picking women for the men of the family!”
“I—I thought you’d handle a man with ease like before. How was I supposed to know you’d be bullied like this!”
“I—I’m going to report it to the officials!”
Zhou Jin had not yet reached the door, but he heard every word of Li Rong’s wailing.
Seeing Zhou Jin approach, Nanny Xu hurried inside to hurry them along.
Li Rong and Zhou Jin crossed paths right at the doorway.
Zhou Jin didn’t spare Li Rong so much as a glance, striding straight into the room.
The tears on Li Rong’s face not yet dry, she pointed at Zhou Jin’s back with an expression of utter disbelief: “This—this is Third Master Zhou?”
Nanny Xu grabbed Li Rong’s finger and pulled her out toward the courtyard gate: “It’s getting late. Second Miss should return and report to Madam Qin sooner.
Now that the concubine and Third Master have already shared a bed, if you won’t sign the concubinage papers, do you intend to sign an indenture contract instead?”
Li Rong wiped the tears from her face: “That scoundrel Li Qu has far too good a fortune!”
The Heir of Prince Yan was strikingly handsome, and this Third Master of the Zhou household was even more dashing.
Both were first-rate beauties among men!
Nanny Xu wholeheartedly agreed with Li Rong’s words, saying with a smile: “When our Second Master went into business back in the day, it was our Third Master who lent him the silver.
So our Third Master holds a one-tenth dry share in all of Second Master’s enterprises.
You know of the Treasure Pavilion, don’t you? That’s the business our Second Master built his fortune on—it has branches all over the country, and our Third Master holds a fifty percent stake in it.”
Sour bubbles rose in Li Rong’s heart.
The bitterness she’d felt over Li Qu losing her innocence vanished in an instant.
She thought to herself: Third Sister leapt out of a nest of riches and into a vault of gold and silver—what luck!
Nanny Xu earnestly counseled her: “If the concubine wins our Third Master’s favor, she’ll enjoy blessings she can never exhaust!
Once the concubine has status, can she not look after her natal family a little?
As for those concubinage papers, I advise you to sign them as soon as possible!”
Li Rong’s face immediately fell.
Concubinage papers?
Her Third Sister hadn’t even deigned to look at the papers for the Heir of Prince Yan taking a noble concubine!
The whole way home, not a word was spoken. Upon seeing the worried Mother Li, Li Rong heaved a heavy sigh: “Mother, that contraceptive soup—Third Sister really did drink it herself.”
Mother Li collapsed into her chair at once.
Li Rong dropped her usual playful grin, cast aside the sour bubbles in her heart, and with a grave face and furrowed brow, said in all seriousness: “Third Master of the Zhou family is different from the Heir of Prince Yan.
Third Sister met the Heir of Prince Yan when she was eight—they’re childhood sweethearts, with an extraordinary bond.
The Heir treasures Third Sister like a precious jewel, which is why Third Sister could make him keep strictly to the proprieties with her.”
“Third Master of the Zhou household only met with Li Qu yesterday.
So Li Qu can do nothing against him.
And yesterday, when Li Qu accused the Zhou family of abducting an innocent woman, she offended the entire Zhou household.
So, he treats Li Qu badly!”
After a pause, she added indignantly, “He’s a scoundrel! Even if Li Qu has lost her innocence, she can’t stay beside a man who’s gold on the outside and rot within!”
A cloud of gloom hung over the Li household, and the atmosphere in Fanghua Courtyard was no better.
Li Qu’s emotions had been sealed away entirely since Zhou Jin’s arrival.
Zhou Jin came to Fanghua Courtyard for a meal, and as a proper concubine, Li Qu should have stepped forward to serve him and arrange the dishes.
But instead, the moment Zhou Jin sat down, she sat down too—at a distance.
Nanny Xu stared in shock.
Zhou Jin glanced at Li Qu; Li Qu lowered her eyes and ignored him.
It was her silent rebellion.
At the same time, Li Rong’s words had made her see even more clearly that Xiao Cong and Zhou Jin were two entirely different kinds of men.
Xiao Cong held her in his heart, and so he respected her.
But Zhou Jin saw her only as an object of revenge and a tool for his desires. He had no trace of tenderness for her—only oppression.
Someone who had lived her previous life under the red flag—how could she willingly submit to oppression?
As long as there was no concubine contract, no deed of servitude, she was a free woman.
And since she was a free woman—
What right did she have to follow the rules of a concubine!
The one in the wrong wasn’t her. It was the people of the Zhou household. It was Zhou Jin!
When the food was served, Li Qu didn’t feel hungry.
She chewed a couple of grains of rice, her mind still fixed on escaping.
One must look forward.
She couldn’t stop what had happened, but now that it had, she had to stand firm in the present and plan for the future.
She looked up and glanced at Zhou Jin. Hongguo was serving him dishes, and his appetite seemed good—he ate with relish.
Li Qu withdrew her gaze. “You…” As the words left her mouth, she realized her voice was hoarse.
She cleared her throat. “Have you… calmed down yet?”
“The wounds are too severe. I’m even angrier.”
Li Qu: “…”
She protested quietly: “But afterward—afterward I did everything your way.”
“That’s only because you couldn’t resist. You gave up struggling.”
Li Qu: “…” Shameless!
She viciously stabbed at her rice with her chopsticks.
Zhou Jin’s image in Li Qu’s mind could be summed up in two lines:
The power-holder of this era.
And the lawless outlaw of her heart.
What’s more, Li Qu felt that facing Zhou Jin was like an elementary school student facing an advanced mathematics problem—no idea where to even begin.
Zhou Jin was nearly finished eating. He glanced at Li Qu, who was angrily counting grains of rice, wiped his mouth, and tossed his napkin onto the table. “I’ll treat what happened before as you being young, foolish, and loose-tongued.”
Li Qu’s eyes lit up, and she looked at Zhou Jin. “So Third Master is willing to let bygones be bygones?”
Zhou Jin accepted the tea a maid handed him and took a sip. “There’s one thing you said that was quite right.”
Li Qu immediately felt a sense of foreboding.
“Following Master without name or status—that, too, is you climbing above your station.”
Li Qu’s eyes dimmed instantly, and she had no reply.
“I’ll give you one chance to make amends. There will not be a second.”
It might have referred to Li Qu scratching him, or to her insolent words that offended him.
“If you’re not afraid of death, then treat today as Master simply coming for a meal.” Zhou Jin set down his cup and rose to leave. “If you are afraid of death, then rein in that temper—Master will let you climb above your station.”
Li Qu’s heart turned to ash in an instant!
Zhou Jin was serious.
How could this be?
And by what right!
Li Qu shot to her feet, and the chair behind her crashed to the floor, striking her shin.
Ignoring the pain, she chased after him—along the corridor laced with slanting moonlight, on a summer night when hibiscus bloomed in riotous splendor—until she caught up with Zhou Jin and seized his sleeve: “You mustn’t force me like this—”
The words “forcing me” stuck in her throat like a stone the moment she met Zhou Jin’s ink-black gaze.
“Forcing you?”
Zhou Jin seemed to see straight through Li Qu’s thoughts. He gently pried her fingers from his sleeve and brushed it smooth.
“Yes. I intend to force you.”
“This high branch—you will climb it, whether you want to or not.”
“Why?”
Zhou Jin’s beautiful eyes, dark as spilled ink, brimmed with careless indifference, his tone lofty and laced with mockery: “Because I can afford to.”
With that, he walked past her.
Utterly indifferent.
Without a trace of reluctance.
Like a nobleman who had caught a beautiful oriole and tossed it casually into a cage.
He strode away.
Li Qu swayed, and Nanny Xu, who had been watching her all along, steadied her by the arm.
“Are you unwell, Madam?”
Things had gone wrong in the worst possible way.
Li Qu clutched her chest, feeling only that the summer wind was too hot, and the moonlight too cold.
What should she do? What should she do!
Was this fate?
In a daze, Li Qu returned to her room, threw herself onto the bed, and buried her face in the quilt.
She refused to accept this.
She would not be a concubine.
There had to be another way.
Auntie Li dug Li Qu out from under the quilt, only to find her face streaked with tears, crystal droplets clinging to her long, thick lashes—a pitiful sight.
The sternness on Auntie Li’s face softened a little. “Madam, the Old Madam has heard that you refuse to serve the Master, and sent me with a message.”
“You are no longer a maiden. Unless Third Master consents, you will likely spend the rest of your life within these walls of the Zhou household.
And in this household, life with Third Master’s favor and life without it are as different as heaven and earth.”
“You are clever, Madam—don’t fail to see what’s right before your eyes and choose the wrong path again.”
“Throwing away your own life is one thing, but if your parents and siblings are dragged down with you, no amount of regret will save you then.”
Li Qu’s protest rang hollow and weak: “I am a freeborn woman of good registry!”
It didn’t matter.
And no one cared.