The moment the maid’s announcement from outside the courtyard faded, Zhou Jin’s footsteps had already arrived.
Li Qu had just finished tidying her appearance. As Zhou Jin entered, she lifted a faint smile and stepped forward to give him a proper bow: “This concubine greets my lord.”
Zhou Jin eyed Li Qu and stopped in his tracks.
Nanny Xu signaled to Hongguo and Cuiguo—one to prepare the ice basin, one to prepare water for washing hands—rather than just standing around.
Li Qu rose and, smiling, came forward to fan Zhou Jin. “The weather is sweltering. Have you come from outside, my lord? Shall I have water prepared for a bath?”
Zhou Jin withdrew his gaze and answered tersely: ”Yes.” With that, he walked toward the seat of honor.
Li Qu instructed Nanny Xu to arrange for water to be prepared, then followed Zhou Jin step by step, taking a seat beside the place of honor.
A maid from the tea room served tea.
She asked Zhou Jin, ”Will you dine here this evening?”
Zhou Jin held his cup, not even lifting his eyes, and gave an “mm.”
Li Qu rose again to order the meal prepared, unaware that as she walked toward the door, Zhou Jin raised his eyes, his gaze fixed on her waist and hips.
Summer clothes were thin, and her dress particularly accentuated her curves. Her skirt swayed with every step, the very picture of flirtatiousness.
When she turned around, he nonchalantly withdrew his gaze and took a light sip of tea.
Li Qu returned to her seat, and fresh, refreshing fruits and pastries were brought to her side.
She picked up a silver fork and offered Zhou Jin a piece of sweet melon. Zhou Jin refused, setting down his cup: “I separated you from your sweetheart. I have yet to apologize to you.”
Li Qu had long since experienced the possessiveness of men, so she handled Zhou Jin without a trace of hesitation.
She ate a piece of sweet melon, its cool taste easing the tension and restlessness in her heart. “This concubine is sixteen this year. If I truly had someone in my heart, why would I have traveled south with my parents to seek refuge with my sister and brother-in-law?
That day, it was merely a convenient excuse I came up with on the spot, hoping you would be magnanimous and not hold it against me.”
“Besides, when I first entered the residence, my second sister, my mother, and I were questioned separately. Old Madam has long since thoroughly investigated my background.
If my family were not of unblemished standing, why would Old Madam allow me the chance to be near you?”
She speared another piece of fruit with her fork but didn’t hurry to eat it, only smiling as she turned to look at Zhou Jin. “You’re so concerned about whether I have someone in my heart, my lord. Could it be love at first sight? So that hearing rumors, you’ve come here to sulk with jealousy?”
Zhou Jin’s gaze slowly settled on Li Qu’s face.
As if he hadn’t expected Li Qu to be so thick-skinned, gilding herself with such flattery.
Li Qu feigned shyness, twirling the small fork in her hand as she avoided Zhou Jin’s gaze. “This concubine can also understand your feelings, my lord. If you had no feelings for me at all, why would you have so forcefully taken me for yourself?”
Zhou Jin: “…”
“But I’ve come to understand it now. You were born of noble standing, handsome as an immortal. That I have this chance to serve you is my good fortune. From now on, I will serve you wholeheartedly.” She appeared bashful, glancing at Zhou Jin from the corner of her eye, playing the part of a young girl who dared not look at him directly.
Just then, Nanny Xu came to announce that the bathwater was ready. Speechless, Zhou Jin withdrew his gaze and rose to wash up.
Li Qu popped the sweet melon into her mouth and dutifully followed behind him.
As a proper concubine, attending to her lord as he washed was part of her duty.
And such attendance included—and was by no means limited to—that kind of attendance.
Li Qu followed closely behind Zhou Jin, hoping he would open his mouth and tell her to get lost. But even when Huaiqiu smilingly placed the tray with Zhou Jin’s clothes in her hands, she never received the gentlemanly restraint she’d hoped for.
Entering the bath chamber, Li Qu set down the clothes and saw Zhou Jin holding both hands raised, waiting for her to undress him.
She had heard servants gossip before that Zhou Jin was a lover of men, and she had once doubted it—but now…
She unfastened Zhou Jin’s garments one by one and hung them on the rack. When it came to the last piece, his inner robe, she pulled open the ties and slightly closed her eyes.
Her fingertips accidentally brushed against his scorching skin, and her scalp tingled.
All the mental preparation she had made proved utterly useless when the moment actually came.
“How wronged you must feel, enduring this while pretending to be willing.”
Li Qu lifted her eyes with feigned indignation. “What are you saying, Master? Serving you fills me with joy—it’s only that I’m shy. Allow me a moment to adjust. Let Huaiqiu attend to you for the rest.”
She turned as if to escape, but Zhou Jin seized her arm. “What is there to be shy about? It’s not your first time.”
Then he pushed her toward the bathing tub.
“Wash yourself clean.”
Li Qu clenched her back teeth hard. Whatever her true feelings, this time she no longer resisted, letting him take what he wanted.
By the time the ordeal in the bath chamber was over, night had fallen.
Li Qu finally got the result she had been waiting for.
Nanny Xu watched as a patch of red quickly spread across Li Qu’s undergarment, just put on, and hurriedly sent for a physician.
Zhou Jin had left the bath chamber earlier. The meal in the main room had just been set out when he heard that a physician had been called for Li Qu.
He had shown Li Qu no tenderness whatsoever, doing everything as he pleased.
He hadn’t thought anything would come of it.
Only when Li Qu was helped back by Nanny Xu—pale-faced, brows knitted in suffering, her expression desolate, and Nanny Xu’s face full of worry—did he recall how, at the very end, Li Qu had wept and begged him…
He had assumed she simply didn’t want to serve him, and hadn’t taken it seriously.
Seeing Zhou Jin eating his meal as if nothing had happened, Li Qu took out her handkerchief and began to sob softly.
Catching from the corner of her eye Zhou Jin impatiently setting down his chopsticks, she dabbed at her eyes with the handkerchief, pitying herself. “I once thought that even if it wasn’t love at first sight, the Master held at least some fondness for me. Now it seems I was merely flattering myself.”
“If the Master had even the slightest feeling for me, he would not have ignored my earnest pleas and acted as he pleased.”
“Poor me—my belly is wracked with cramps, and the bleeding won’t stop. I fear it’s serious, sob sob sob…”
“In vain have I spent these days reflecting on my past conduct and nurturing sincere affection for the Master. Who knew it was all one-sided on my part.”
“The Master holds no goodwill toward me—no doubt he still resents those wild words I once spoke.”
“What will it take for the Master to be satisfied? Sob sob sob—must you drive me to my death?”
Nanny Xu couldn’t read Zhou Jin’s expression, but she clapped a hand over Li Qu’s mouth. “Consort, don’t talk nonsense!”
Li Qu flung Nanny Xu’s hand away, as if wounded to the heart by love, full of resentment and sorrow. “What nonsense? Everything I said is true. Your Third Master, it turns out, has no feelings for me at all.”
What could Nanny Xu possibly say to that?
Li Qu sat up and looked at Zhou Jin, tears brimming in her eyes without falling, pitiable enough to move anyone. “Since the Master turns a blind eye to my wholehearted devotion, why should I sign that concubine register just to add to your troubles?”
“Between you and me, let us simply carry on like this from now on.”
Crystal tears slid down her cheeks.
“When the day of the Master’s grand wedding comes, I shall request to leave the residence myself, and never again appear before you to offend your eyes.”
Li Qu turned her head away, one hand pressed to her belly, the other wiping her tears with the handkerchief.
The room fell silent. Hongguo and Cuiguo had turned to stone, while Nanny Xu nervously wiped sweat from her brow with her sleeve.
Good heavens, did the Concubine have any idea what she was saying!
Zhou Jin tossed the napkin he had used to wipe his mouth onto the table, took the tea a maid poured for him, and took a light sip.
This was the first time anyone had performed “I don’t want to be your concubine” with such elegant refinement.
Setting down his cup, he rose and left.
For a moment, Li Qu couldn’t tell whether she had passed this hurdle of not signing the concubine contract. Anxious, and with her abdominal pain unbearable, she slumped weakly against the soft pillow: “Nanny, tell me, why is my fate so bitter?”
“Oh, Concubine, you truly swallowed a bear’s heart and a leopard’s gall today. In this entire household, I daresay you’re the only one who’d dare throw a tantrum at Third Master.”
He didn’t get angry, did he?
Which meant this kind of behavior was within the bounds of his tolerance.
Or perhaps he simply didn’t care what she said or did, caring only about what happened in bed.
Li Qu knew that if she wanted to fool Zhou Jin, she first had to fool everyone in this household.
She had managed to escape from the land of Yan unscathed—how could she not safely extricate herself from this Zhou residence?
The concubine contract—she absolutely must not sign it.