Chapter 28: Let Her Go
“I… I…” Feng Yuzhen was flustered by the question. “She’s just here to take a look.”
Cui Jingkong’s tone was extremely cold. “Then what does Sister-in-law want me to do? Sit here and let her look at me?”
When it came to pretense, Cui Jingkong was a natural. He was exceptionally gifted and had learned from a young age how to display a personality that would please others in order to get what he wanted. The so-called humility and politeness, the cool and distant demeanor, were all just masks that he could change at will.
It was the same with Feng Yuzhen. Whether it was cold sarcasm or tender affection, he had rarely spent so much effort trying to figure someone out. Whatever she liked, whatever would make her let down her guard, he would pretend to be. It wasn’t difficult for him.
But Cui Jingkong had never been so furious in front of her. The calm mask suddenly shattered, revealing a corner of what lay beneath.
His face was like a storm, a hurricane suddenly sweeping through a clear sky, pressing down with a dark and gloomy weight. His dark eyebrows were heavy. Because of his high brow bone, a deep shadow was cast around his eyes, and his expression was unclear.
Feng Yuzhen suddenly remembered the Chancellor Cui from ten years later, who had held a high position of power. He had been standing in his private prison, a black whip wrapped three times around the back of his hand, blood dripping down the side of his face.
The two grim faces suddenly overlapped across time and space. Her heart was in her throat, and Feng Yuzhen suddenly realized she had made a big mistake.
She had mistaken the Cui Jingkong of this life, who lived under the same roof, for being too kind. Under his subtle influence, she had naively thought that he was a considerate and thoughtful brother-in-law, and she had foolishly jumped into the trap.
Cui Jingkong threw the book in his hand onto the table and stood up, walking towards her. Feng Yuzhen felt a pain in her lower back and realized she had retreated to the edge of the stove, with nowhere else to run.
Cui Jingkong, with his keen perception, sensed her intention to turn and flee. He strode forward, trapping her between the stove and himself.
He had completely blocked her path. The young man’s eyes roamed over his widowed sister-in-law’s uneasy face. “I will do as Sister-in-law says. When she arrives, what should I say?”
He nodded as if he had suddenly realized something. “Could it be that you want me to tell her, through my own mouth, that my feelings for Sister-in-law are sincere, and therefore I have no interest in her at all?”
“Why are you talking such nonsense again!”
Feng Yuzhen’s heart pounded with fear. These words were truly brazen. She was afraid that a word or two would be overheard by Zhou Fu, who might arrive at any moment. In a panic, she reached out to cover his mouth.
Cui Jingkong did not stop her. Instead, he took her hand, his eyes fixed on hers, and his soft, slightly cool lips kissed the palm of her hand.
Feng Yuzhen snatched her hand back from his grasp, staring in disbelief at this extremely deceptive, jade-like face.
He withdrew his hand as if nothing had happened, his brow filled with a casual and unrestrained air. He just grinned. “You’re not letting me kiss you again?”
The tacit understanding from when he had kissed her wound before was mercilessly shattered. Feng Yuzhen’s thoughts were in a turmoil. She suddenly lost her balance and was caught off guard as the young man’s strong arms separated her legs and lifted her onto the stove.
He forcefully squeezed in. Feng Yuzhen was so angry her teeth were chattering. “You’re crazy! A’Fu is coming any minute!”
“Is this the first day Sister-in-law knows I’m crazy?” he said noncommittally, getting more and more carried away. His body was like a mountain pressing down on her. Feng Yuzhen pushed against his chest, but couldn’t move him. She braced her hands on his shoulders, but they were as unmovable as iron.
Just then, the sound of light footsteps came from outside the door, and the young girl’s voice arrived before she did. “Sister Yuzhen, I’m here.”
When Zhou Fu entered, she saw that there was no one in the main room. She was not the type to wander around when the owner was not present. She just stood by the table where they had eaten last time, her eyes scanning the room. Only then did she see that there were two people entangled in the kitchen to the east!
Cui Jingkong turned his head slightly, just enough to shoot a dagger-like glance at her, then turned back to his widowed sister-in-law and gestured, “Let her go.”
His merciless glance was truly vicious. Zhou Fu was, as expected, frightened. She steadied herself against the table. She saw that the young man with the terrifying expression just now had his back to her, and Sister Yuzhen was facing him at a slight angle, pushing and blocking him.
Feng Yuzhen was about to persuade Zhou Fu to leave. At the crucial moment when she was about to speak, Cui Jingkong’s two hands suddenly wrapped around her waist. The distance between his two thumbs was less than half a palm’s width from being able to completely encircle her.
Feng Yuzhen’s whole body instantly went limp. Cui Jingkong ignored it, his eyes fixed on the narrow waist trembling in his hands, like a flexible piece of soft satin.
Zhou Fu thought that Feng Yuzhen was being taken advantage of by a scoundrel who had broken in. She immediately picked up a stool from the ground and was about to rush over. “Sister Yuzhen, move aside! I’m coming to save you!”
“A… A’Fu, you go first! I… I’m fine, really!”
Feng Yuzhen almost wanted to cry. The distance she had forcefully maintained just now was rapidly closing. When their bodies were completely pressed together, she took a deep breath, her two hands clutching his wrists tightly, no longer afraid of the prayer beads made of bones.
“…Sister Yuzhen, are you really alright?”
Zhou Fu hesitated for a moment. How could Feng Yuzhen dare to see her now? The large palm on her waist gave a light squeeze, and she couldn’t help but let out a soft cry. She quickly said, “A’Fu, I’m sorry. I’ll apologize to you another day.”
Zhou Fu was confused. She put down the stool and peeked again, but she could no longer see Feng Yuzhen’s body. She was completely blocked by the tall young man.
She only saw ten white fingers resting on the young man’s broad shoulders, slightly bunching up the two pieces of black cloth, creating messy wrinkles. Her two slender legs were pushed apart to the sides, hanging in the air from the stove, her toes pointed downwards, unable to reach the ground, just dangling in mid-air.
The young girl’s face suddenly flushed red. Only then did she understand. While marveling inwardly, she left as if her backside were on fire.
Sister Yuzhen is quite a character, she thought, to be able to handle such a fierce man.
Feng Yuzhen finally caught her breath and, in a fit of shame and anger, hit him. “She’s gone, she’s gone! Let go of me!”
Cui Jingkong turned a deaf ear. He stared at her for a long time before looking up, his eyes filled with a certain fascination. Only then did his hands loosen. He gestured with his hands, thinking, Why is she so different from him? So thin, so soft?
Feng Yuzhen hit him and beat him, but it was no use. She simply turned her face away and ignored him.
Cui Jingkong rarely saw her throw such a small tantrum. His tone softened considerably. “Sister-in-law is not happy with me doing this, and I am not happy with Sister-in-law pushing me onto others.”
He asked in return, “Why didn’t you tell me about today’s matter sooner?”
“I… it was hard to say.” She stammered a few words. Cui Jingkong didn’t give her a chance to dodge and pressed on, “Why was it hard to say?”
He reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair from Feng Yuzhen’s forehead behind her ear. “Is it because… Sister-in-law also has some feelings for me, more or less, and therefore feels awkward, am I right?”
“No, it’s not!” She was like a cat arching its back in agitation, her eyes wide.
“If not, why didn’t you dare to tell me that trinket was a gift from the master carpenter’s senior apprentice? If not, why didn’t you dare to tell me in advance that he was coming today?”
He knows everything…
The young man’s dark pupils were like a bottomless abyss. Once you looked in, you would fall. Feng Yuzhen barely found her voice. “Kong’ge’er, we can’t be like this. This is incest.”
“Is it because of worldly conventions, or because you don’t dare to think about it carefully?”
Cui Jingkong moved closer to her, their breaths mingling. “So what if it’s incest between a brother-in-law and sister-in-law? We can move to town, or if that’s not enough, to the county. In the future, when I achieve fame, we can go to the capital, live freely and happily. What’s wrong with that?”
Feng Yuzhen said no more. She was silent for a long time, her heart in a mess. It wasn’t just Cui Jingkong. These past few days, she herself had been confused.
Why did she feel a subtle discomfort every time Zhou Fu mentioned Cui Jingkong, and would only gloss over it? And why, when she was facing Zhao Yangyi that day, did Cui Jingkong’s face unconsciously appear in her mind?
Her hand suddenly tightened on his shoulder, her head bowing down, just like that time he had rushed to Zhang Zhu’s house to save her, pressing against his chest. “Kong’ge’er, don’t force me anymore…”
“Is Sister-in-law still going to push me away?”
The head nestled against his chest shook, as if in a reluctant compromise.
Cui Jingkong lowered his eyes. He suddenly remembered A’Shan’s joking warning, but quickly pushed it to the back of his mind.
The person before him let out a response as soft as a mosquito’s buzz, and his heart felt strangely warm again. His fingers unconsciously rubbed together. He really wanted to touch her face, or see her expression right now.
But fortunately, he was now gradually getting used to this increasingly frequent anomaly.
It was when the matter with the Feng family had just been settled. Cui Jingkong remembered going to return the horse to A’Shan. Standing outside the door, about to knock, he heard the short-haired young man’s soft voice from inside, coaxing the Second Miss to drink her medicine.
It was a stark contrast to his usual low, monotonous voice—gentle and warm. One could almost imagine him holding the bowl, his expression gentle as he comforted the simple-minded young girl, coaxing and encouraging her to take the medicine, spoonful by spoonful.
When A’Shan came out and saw him standing outside the door, his expression was unnatural for a moment.
Cui Jingkong found it a little interesting and asked, “A’Shan, why don’t you go back to the border and be a young lord?”
With the Second Miss not around, A’Shan’s face became stern again. “I am repaying the Second Miss for saving my life.”
“Repaying a debt of gratitude requires staying by her side day and night, even searching for medicine for her for ten years?”
A’Shan found Cui Jingkong very annoying today. “Then why did you, a few days ago, risk being suspected by Zhong Jide and not come to the academy without reason, and borrow my Mo Feng in the middle of the night?”
Mo Feng had a fierce temperament and was extremely difficult to tame. A’Shan had raised him by hand since he was a foal, and he usually only listened to him. Anyone else who came near, besides him and the Second Miss, would get a kick.
To tame it, Cui Jingkong had spent a great deal of effort over ten days, being thrown from the horse’s back countless times. Fortunately, he was determined. In the end, he had held the reins and had managed to tame it in a short period of time.
After this incident, until Cui Jingkong had climbed into the academy in the middle of the night and had come to his door to borrow the horse again, his expression had been ice-cold. A’Shan, just waking up, had thought Cui Jingkong was there to kill him to silence him, and the two had almost come to blows.
Cui Jingkong replied, “I am different from you. I have something to gain.”
A’Shan gave him a rare smile, his meaning clear. “Is that so? Then I hope you… don’t outsmart yourself.”