Chapter 16: Applying Ointment
“If my brother could, why can’t I?”
This sentence repeated in her ears from time to time. Whenever Feng Yuzhen closed her eyes, it played over and over again, almost exhausting her.
Her throat was dry, and she was a little thirsty. She was about to open the door to go to the main room for a drink of water when she remembered that from today on, Cui Jingkong would be living here, traveling back and forth every day.
Fearing the beast-like brother-in-law outside the door, she was truly afraid of running into him again. Feng Yuzhen could only sit dryly on the chair by the window, staring blankly into the troubled night.
The evening wind blew in, and the tender yellow blossoms from the locust tree rustled down onto the windowsill. Feng Yuzhen picked one up. After the annoying emotions faded, doubt filled her mind.
Why? Why would he be interested in her? …A woman like her, mediocre and dull.
Feng Yuzhen was not ugly, but her beauty was very limited, especially compared to the women who appeared later in the storybook—she was a country girl from the mountains. What stunning beauty could she have?
But her brother-in-law was different. He had a face that could make the noble ladies of the capital swoon. At that time, he had just come of age, had become the top scholar in the palace examination, and was full of youthful vigor. The emperor had personally decreed that the eldest princess be married to him. The so-called talented scholar and beautiful lady was just that.
She and the princess were like the locust blossoms in her hand and a golden branch with jade leaves—the difference between heaven and earth.
She couldn’t figure it out even if she were beaten to death. Feng Yuzhen was very good at letting things go. As long as she wasn’t pushed to the brink, she would just bury her head in the sand like an ostrich.
But Cui Jingkong had truly hit her where it hurt. His undisguised words, his almost incestuous feelings—he had personally led her to pierce that thin layer of paper between them. Now, Feng Yuzhen could no longer pretend she didn’t know.
Once broken, it was broken. Even if it were repaired, unnatural traces would remain. One side turned a blind eye, while the other was ambitious. It was not something that could be glossed over.
In the dead of night, a sudden, fierce shout broke her troubled thoughts.
“Open the door! Don’t pretend you’re asleep and can’t hear me, or I’ll be back tomorrow to settle the score with you!”
Cui Jingkong had not yet gone to bed. He had expected this. As soon as he opened the door, he saw a middle-aged couple with a child.
The man had his arms crossed, his face grim, standing silently to the side. The woman, Mrs. Zhang, had her eyes wide with anger. “Scholar Cui, we common folk don’t know where we’ve offended you, a great master. If you have a problem, take it up with us adults. What kind of coward scares a child! Look at him yourself, he can’t even eat!”
The big boy who had been the leader on the riverbank was hugging her waist and whimpering. As soon as he saw Cui Jingkong, his neck shrank, and he hid his face behind his mother.
Cui Jingkong was not provoked. He stepped aside. “It’s late and noisy. Let’s talk inside.”
The man stood guard outside the door and didn’t enter. Mrs. Zhang followed him into the house.
She was too angry to sit down. Cui Jingkong didn’t mind. He sat calmly in the main seat and then spoke, “This evening, I was chopping firewood in the forest. The situation was urgent, and I had no choice but to act. I lost my sense of proportion for a moment.”
Mrs. Zhang couldn’t contain her anger and shouted, “What do you mean, urgent? He’s just a small child. Did he jump up and hit you or something…”
The child had run home crying. In the village, every child grew up with bumps and bruises. At first, she hadn’t paid much attention. When he refused to eat, she had just thought he was throwing a tantrum.
Mrs. Zhang and her husband had worked in the fields all day and didn’t have much time to look after him. But when it was time for bed, the child was still crying, hugging his right leg and shivering.
Only then did she realize something was wrong. After much difficulty, she found out that it was that weak scholar who had been showing off his power! This was unacceptable. She had rushed over with her husband to demand an explanation.
As they were arguing, the old wooden door creaked open, and a thin woman walked out.
Feng Yuzhen had already taken down her hair bun. She had hastily braided a shiny black braid to see the guests, revealing a hint of a maiden’s charm.
Cui Jingkong had intended to handle it for her directly. Seeing Feng Yuzhen come out, he stood up and walked to her, asking in a low voice, “Did I wake you?” as he led her to the chair on the west side of the table.
In front of outsiders, Feng Yuzhen felt even more embarrassed, fearing that their improper relationship would be discovered. She only gave a muffled “mm.”
Seeing the two of them interact, Mrs. Zhang couldn’t help but mutter to herself. Although she lived nearby, she had never had any contact with Cui Jingkong. They didn’t even greet each other on the road. She had only been envious for a while after he became a scholar, and that was it. They were complete strangers as neighbors.
Is this his wife?
The candlelight on the table shone on her. After a few hours, the bruises on the woman’s face had deepened, turning a reddish-purple, a shocking sight on her delicate face.
Since Feng Yuzhen had appeared, the child’s expression had become visibly uneasy. He tugged at his mother’s sleeve, wanting to leave.
The adults were still confused. Cui Jingkong then told them, “At that time, the stone in his hand was about to be thrown at my sister-in-law’s face. If it had hit her head, it would have been a disaster. I only acted in a moment of desperation.”
Mrs. Zhang was at a loss for words. She glared at the naughty child. She would definitely give him a good beating when they got back.
But in front of them, she still protected her own. She didn’t back down. “He’s still just a child. Children don’t know any better. You should just let it go. Is it really necessary to be like this?”
At this moment, Feng Yuzhen, who had been silent all this time, opened her mouth and replied, “Auntie, he is young and I shouldn’t hold it against him. But do I deserve to be treated like this?”
Her rebuttal was gentle, as was her soft temperament. To be able to come out and say a word today was already a great act of courage.
Cui Jingkong was far less easy to talk to than his widowed sister-in-law. The so-called respect for elders was nothing more than empty words to him. Trying to use that to pressure him was just nonsense.
“If a dog bites someone, is there any reason to blame the person for not avoiding it? Since you can’t control him, why didn’t you tie him up? Why did you let him run out?”
His words were a bit venomous. Feng Yuzhen looked at him with a hint of novelty. She had never seen him be so unforgiving. Knowing that her brother-in-law was standing up for her, a warmth rose in her heart, and she unconsciously pinched the corner of her clothes with a hint of shyness.
“You!”
Mrs. Zhang was filled with anger, but Feng Yuzhen’s disfigured face was right there, and she couldn’t say anything more harsh. If they continued to argue and it escalated, the other side would probably be in the right.
She spat, “You scholars really have a nasty way of talking,” and dragged her crying child away, looking eager to go back and discipline him.
As she closed the door, she couldn’t help but look back one last time.
The two of them sat on either side of the high hall, the warm candle on the table between them. The scholar in the east seat, who had just been so cold and distant, now had a warm smile on his face. The woman in the right seat, who was being stared at by him, had a gentle expression, her braid hanging down her chest, like a young maiden who had just married.
They didn’t look like a widowed sister-in-law and brother-in-law… but more like a young couple, where the husband was standing up for his wronged wife.
***
The next day, when they met, it was still awkward.
Cui Jingkong was calm and composed when he returned from the private academy, calling her as usual. But Feng Yuzhen was far from having such composure.
The two of them had never talked much, and now that only one of them was willing to speak, the atmosphere inevitably became heavy.
After a silent dinner, Feng Yuzhen walked towards the side room as if her feet were on fire. But a single sentence from her brother-in-law, falling from the sky, stopped her in her tracks as if she had been hit by a paralyzing spell.
He had only lowered his head for a moment. When he looked up, he saw his widowed sister-in-law furtively trying to escape. He found it amusing. “Wait, come here for a moment.”
Feng Yuzhen really wanted to ignore him, but she couldn’t.
A rabbit without a mind of its own cannot become a tiger with sharp teeth overnight. So she couldn’t refuse. She suppressed her steps, hoping for some turn of events, and finally, slowly, moved to his side.
The young man took out a small porcelain bottle from his chest. After he removed the stopper, a moist, medicinal scent filled the room. He pulled over a stool and looked at her with his dark eyes. “Sit.”
Feng Yuzhen was stunned for a moment, then realized he was going to apply medicine. She waved her hands, at a loss. “I’ll be fine if I just let it heal slowly. I don’t need such a good thing. You should save it.”
When had she ever been so particular? Even when her left leg had just been injured, she had only been given medicine for a month. Later, her father had thought it was too expensive and had stopped the medicine on his own. Now, it was just two bruises on her face, with very little blood. There was no need to waste it on her.
But Cui Jingkong acted as if he hadn’t heard her. Seeing that she wouldn’t cooperate and sit down, he stood up himself. He was nearly a head taller than Feng Yuzhen. He leaned in, trapping her between him and the table.
Feng Yuzhen had nowhere to retreat. Her hands were braced on the table behind her, her body leaning back, a repeat of yesterday’s scene, caught in a dilemma.
The tips of her ears turned red. She couldn’t be bothered with the shyness of the past two days and was somewhat angry and embarrassed. “Why are you being like this again!”
“Like what?” Cui Jingkong replied nonchalantly, his refined, jade-like face showing no trace of his malicious nature.
He dipped his fingertip in the ointment. “It might hurt a little. Bear with it.”
He gently lifted the widowed sister-in-law’s chin, and the pad of his finger landed on the wound on her face.
The cool ointment was spread evenly around her eyes, the corners of her lips, and her cheeks. Feng Yuzhen was extremely uncomfortable and subconsciously turned her head away, but he gently turned it back and continued.
“I’ll do it myself.” Seeing that resistance was futile, Feng Yuzhen skillfully took a step back, only hoping that she wouldn’t be in such an awkward position… as if she were being held in his arms.
Cui Jingkong sneered, “Can you see it yourself?”
The brick house had no bronze mirror. After moving here, Feng Yuzhen would go to the stream in the morning to look at her reflection.
But, but that didn’t mean she could just let him do as he pleased!
The pad of his finger circled on her delicate, porcelain-white skin, with a hint of lingering. The almost imperceptible caress brought a beautiful, sunset-like blush to her face, and even the fingers braced on the table curled slightly.
Cui Jingkong studied her for a moment. He had intended to stop, but he accidentally met the woman’s eyes, which were already misty.
It was like falling into a moist tide. A burgeoning passion enveloped his entire body, as if his clothes had been dampened by a light rain.
I want to…
What do I want to do?
The young man’s eyes were deep. He couldn’t help but slowly lean closer. The woman’s body was trembling slightly, her lips parted, not knowing if it was in anticipation or fear. He unconsciously used some force, and the woman’s cry of pain suddenly woke him up.
“Alright. Apply it once in the morning and once at night for the next three days. It won’t leave a scar.”
Cui Jingkong quickly stepped aside, letting her go.
Feng Yuzhen had also been in a daze for a moment. She quickly took two steps back, putting some distance between them. She held the porcelain bottle in her hand and hesitated for a moment before deciding to ask him, “Kong’ge’er, where did you buy this? How much did it cost?”
“Someone gave it to me.” Cui Jingkong knew what she was going to say. His emotions were unstable, and his usually appropriate smile was now tinged with a hint of wickedness. “What, is Sister-in-law going to thank me? Why don’t you…”
Feng Yuzhen’s scalp immediately tingled. She couldn’t stand this ambiguous tension with her brother-in-law. She clutched the bottle and fled into the room.
After she closed the door, Cui Jingkong’s smile instantly faded, revealing a cold indifference devoid of humanity. His thin lips were pressed tightly together. He lowered his head, pulled open his collar, and placed his hand on his chest. Inside, his heart was pounding violently.
Why did it beat so fast when I looked into her eyes just now?
He thought, puzzled. It had almost reached an uncomfortable level.