Chapter 5#

“Then let her die.” Chapter ID: 7201094#

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

Outside, the servants were happily decorating the courtyard, hanging red lanterns and pasting Spring Festival couplets, ready to welcome New Year’s Eve.

Rong Yu reclined on the couch reviewing account books. As the end of the year approached, many of the farms and shops under his control had sent their ledgers for his inspection. At first he couldn’t understand them, but after half a day studying the account books and the ancients’ recording habits, he figured out most of it.

There was nothing wrong with the accounts. Lady Yang came from a family of imperial merchants and had learned the art of business since childhood. She was highly skilled at managing and assigning people, and the ones she left him were all capable talents.

If the original owner hadn’t courted disaster, he would definitely have had no problem living out this life smoothly, with great wealth and honor.

Unfortunately, even though Rong Yu had transmigrated here now, he was still courting disaster just the same. Even though he knew the plot thoroughly and could seek advantage and avoid harm, turning misfortune into fortune, he had no interest whatsoever.

Going against heaven to change one’s fate was too tiring. Better to lie down and watch the show, idling away and waiting for death.

Rong Yu was reading the account books now purely out of boredom, just to kill time.

Mo Shu entered from the outer room, carrying a plate, and said cheerfully, “Young master, Manager Wu from Jinyue Manor just sent over a crate of tangerines. Please have a taste.”

In ancient times, it was extremely hard to get fresh fruits and vegetables in winter; even in wealthy households, they were rarely seen.

Rong Yu took one and peeled it. The juice from the peel seeped out, immediately staining his fair fingertips.

Mo Shu said hastily, “Let me do it. Don’t dirty your hands.”

Rong Yu shook his head. “Have one yourself.”

He peeled it meticulously, even removing every bit of the pith from the segments.

Mo Shu looked at the one he had peeled, then had no choice but to stuff it into his mouth. He widened his eyes in pleasant surprise. “Young master, these tangerines are so sweet!”

Rong Yu smiled slightly.

Mo Shu spoke while eating a tangerine. “When I went out just now, I saw someone from Zhaohui Hall coming again. Fortunately, I stopped her. Don’t think I didn’t know—that little maid was holding medicine. It must be for Chu Tan.”

Mo Shu looked utterly confused. “This is the fourth or fifth time this month—first sending medicine, then sending physicians. I really don’t know why the Second Young Master is so concerned about a servant boy in our courtyard.”

“Does Chu Tan know?”

“Yes. As you instructed, I tell him every time someone from Zhaohui Hall comes. I also told him that the Second Young Master cares for him, and if he wants to leave, he may. But he insists on staying. He also said his body is almost better and he can return to duty at any time.”

Mo Shu was puzzled. “Young master, why do you think the Second Young Master values Chu Tan so much? Does this lad have some outstanding quality?”

Rong Yu put a segment of tangerine into his mouth and chewed slowly. “Maybe because he’s good-looking.”

“Oh, that’s true. Chu Tan’s face is indeed not bad. Could the Second Young Master have taken a fancy to him?” Mo Shu said halfway, then, as if remembering something, immediately turned around to flatter. “But Chu Tan is far inferior to you, young master. In all my life, I’ve never seen a man more handsome than you!”

Rong Yu curled his lips. “You’re right.”

Mo Shu grinned, thinking he had successfully flattered him, not knowing that Rong Yu was affirming the first half of his sentence.

Rong Yue had indeed taken a fancy to Chu Tan.

But it should not be now.

Rong Yu was very puzzled. According to the plot in the book, at this point Rong Yue’s kindness to Chu Tan was merely out of goodwill, a slight helping hand, and thus he left a kind, gentle “white moonlight” image in Chu Tan’s heart.

The development of their feelings mostly came from the forcible seizure in the latter half. And it was Wei Jingtan who forcibly seized Rong Yue, attempting to monopolize the protagonist shou.

It definitely should not be like now—Rong Yue being so proactive, coming to Biying Pavilion again and again, sending medicine and physicians, and even twice coming in person to inquire about a servant’s condition.

Wasn’t this a little too attentive?

“By the way, young master, tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. My mother asked me to ask if you have anything you especially want to eat, so we can prepare it in advance, so that if the shops are closed tomorrow, you won’t be unable to buy it.”

Mo Shu’s words interrupted Rong Yu’s thoughts.

He chewed the tangerine in his mouth. It was too sweet. The dishes he had been eating recently were also very light and tasteless. He really wanted to eat something with a stronger flavor.

He said, “Braised dishes.”

Mo Shu immediately responded, “Alright, I’ll have someone go buy Shixuan Zhai’s soy-braised beef and barrel chicken.”

Rong Yu shook his head. The two things Mo Shu mentioned were both things the original owner had eaten, and they were signature braised dishes quite famous in the capital. But the taste in his memory was mediocre, far inferior to the spicy braised duck he had eaten in his previous life.

He had Mo Shu bring him the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. After a moment’s thought, he wrote a few lines on the paper.

Mo Shu picked it up and looked—they were all medicinal herbs.

“Buy according to the recipe above and give it to the kitchen master. Have him mix the braising liquid according to the amounts.”

Rong Yu had read too many miscellanies, watched too many videos and documentaries. He had once seen this recipe in a food book. He then made some improvements based on his understanding of Chinese medicinal properties, so he thought it couldn’t be bad.

Although Mo Shu was a bit surprised and confused, he always regarded his young master’s words as truth. He carefully tucked the paper away and went out personally to buy the items.

After Mo Shu left, Rong Yu continued writing at his desk. He was in high spirits, his thoughts flowing freely. The knowledge he had learned in his previous life crazily reorganized and rearranged in his mind. Dipping his brush in ink, he wrote swiftly, filling several large sheets of paper.

Apart from cooking methods for some dishes he wanted to eat, there were also methods for making soap, dyeing cloth, and even purifying fine salt and smelting metals…

His writing covered clothing, food, shelter, and travel. Any one of these, if taken out, would be enough to make the entire Great Zhou Dynasty tremble three times. Yet now they were dashed off by Rong Yu, casually crumpled into paper balls, and tossed onto the table.

At some point, a furtive woman slipped quietly through the doorway.

As soon as she entered, she threw herself down before Rong Yu, sobbing mournfully, truly pitiful to behold.

“Young master, Lv’e knows she was wrong. Please forgive this servant.”

This person was none other than Lv’e, who had been cold-shouldered by Rong Yu for a month. She had had a genuinely bad month. Without the young master’s favor, she had been assigned to rough, tiring chores like sweeping and washing. She had lost a great deal of weight.

“Oh?” Rong Yu wasn’t annoyed at being interrupted. He was currently in an excited state, so his temper was very mild.

He asked with interest, “Then tell me, where did you go wrong?”

“This servant, this servant was wrong to overstep, wrong to make decisions for the young master, and even more wrong to talk back to you.” Lv’e crawled forward two steps pitifully, grabbed the hem of Rong Yu’s clothes, and lifted a face that invited pity. She had deliberately dressed up, with powder and rouge on her face and her eyebrows drawn.

“Young master, Lv’e truly knows she was wrong, but this servant’s heart toward you is unchanged. I have served you for two years, carefully and loyally. Please forgive me this once. The maids and matrons in the outer courtyard all bully me, making me do the hardest, most tiring work. If not for my single-minded desire to see you again, I fear I would have been worn down to death by them.”

Rong Yu curled his lips. “You say you are loyal?”

Lv’e nodded hurriedly. “This servant came to serve you as soon as I entered the residence. Although, although I have not yet… been with you… my heart has long been yours. In life or death, this servant is your person.”

Lv’e opened her tearful, beautiful eyes wide, her voice soft and pitiful. “I beg you, young master, to take pity on me.”

Rong Yu found it interesting. He set down his brush, a trace of amusement flashing in his eyes. “How should I take pity on you?”

Money? Power? Or to stay by his side as a first-class maid like before? He had long known Lv’e was one of Rong Yue and Madam Bai’s people. Now he wanted to see what tricks this woman was still trying to play.

Lv’e bit her lip, and a hint of seductiveness appeared in her expression. Grasping the hem of Rong Yu’s dangling robe, she pressed closer to him bit by bit.

Rong Yu was a little puzzled, propping up his head to watch her movements.

Until Lv’e’s plump chest pressed against his thigh, and her soft hand slipped in through the hem of his robe, reaching toward his crotch.

Rong Yu jolted, finally understanding what was happening. He abruptly raised his hand to shove Lv’e away and barked, “Get off!”

Seeing Rong Yu angry, Lv’e shuddered, but she was even more unwilling to give up. She knew this was her only chance. Although she had been by Rong Yu’s side for two years and he had always kept away from women, she thought it was only because he was too young and naive. Once he tasted a woman, he would surely become inseparable from her.

When that time came, she could coax him gently and sweetly, and the young master would do everything she said, making her his concubine. Then endless wealth and honor would follow.

Thinking this, Lv’e grew even more excited.

After all, she was a maidservant who had done manual labor. The frail Rong Yu was no match for her; no matter how he pushed, he couldn’t get her off.

“Young master, just let this servant serve you once. I’ll make you feel so comfortable!”

Lv’e groped him all over, tore open his lapels, and even tried to shove her hand into his trousers.

Rong Yu couldn’t struggle free or run away. He had difficulty breathing and was nearly crushed out of breath by her.

Just then, a burst of hurried footsteps came, and the next moment Lv’e was abruptly thrown onto the floor like a piece of rag, landing with a loud crash, and then fell silent.

Some servants who heard the commotion ran over to look. Seeing the ominous atmosphere in the room, they jumped in fright and hurried away. After all, the Third Young Master was a capricious master who loved to whip people. In the whole courtyard, apart from Mo Shu and his wet nurse, Aunt Qin, no one dared to approach and serve him.

Rong Yu clutched his chest and coughed violently, his throat once again surging with dry heaves. The sensation of that woman’s touch still lingered on his body—sticky and damp, like a poisonous snake crawling over him—making his stomach churn, and he couldn’t help wanting to vomit.

Just then, someone beside him handed him a cup of cold tea. Rong Yu drank it in one gulp. The tea spilled from the corner of his mouth and ran into his torn lapels, but he felt nothing at all.

Rong Yu barely suppressed the dry heaves and lay on the couch gasping, his pupils vacant and somewhat unfocused.

Chu Tan stood silently beside him, looking down at him from above.

From Chu Tan’s angle, the young man on the couch had disheveled clothes and an open chest. On his pale face, his eye sockets were red and his eyes brimmed with tears. His crimson lips were slightly parted as he panted heavily. There were glistening traces of moisture at the corner of his lips, running down his delicate chin and all the way into his fair collarbone and chest.

Even the innermost pure white undergarment had been pulled loose, and a spot of bright red peeked out at the edge of the lapel. With his heaving chest, it was faintly visible, as if about to emerge from the clothes.

It was exactly the look of… someone who had been brutally violated.

Chu Tan lowered his eyes, his long lashes concealing the darkness beneath them. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

After a long while, Rong Yu recovered a little.

He flickered his eyelids, not asking why Chu Tan was there. He simply moved his fingers and said hoarsely, “Take me to bathe.”

Chu Tan: “Yes.”

He draped a blanket over Rong Yu, wrapped him up, placed him in the wheelchair, and pushed him outward.

As they passed the figure on the floor whose fate was unknown, Rong Yu asked, “Is she dead?”

Chu Tan answered, “No, she merely fainted.”

Rong Yu closed his eyes and said coldly, “Then let her die.”

＊

Bathroom.

Chu Tan was about to undress Rong Yu when he heard two cold words from Rong Yu: “Close your eyes.”

So he had no choice but to close his eyes, fumble to take off Rong Yu’s clothes, then pick him up and place him into the hot bath pool.

When he opened his eyes again, he could only see the young man’s upper body, fair as jade, lazily reclining against the pool. As for his naked lower half, it was completely hidden beneath the water. Through the shimmering, rippling surface, one could only make out a shadow.

When he had carried him just now, Chu Tan’s palm had touched Rong Yu’s skin. That delicate, cool, smooth sensation lingered on his fingertips, making him unconsciously rub them together.

“Get out,” Rong Yu said listlessly.

Chu Tan acknowledged and went to wait outside the door.

Rong Yu took a deep breath, then grabbed a cloth and rubbed his body harshly, feeling that every inch of skin Lv’e had touched was utterly filthy. His fair, tender skin was soon rubbed red, yet that nauseating feeling lingered in his heart, impossible to wash away.

Rong Yu gritted his teeth, his face twitching with rage, dark clouds gathering densely in his eyes. A cold, gloomy pressure condensed around him.

He flung the cloth into the water with force and slammed his hands against the surface, but he could only futilely splash up some water.

He stared at his crippled legs with hatred. These useless, disabled legs left him at others’ mercy; even after being violated, he couldn’t even dodge.

The four words “I can do nothing” were carved into his heart, constantly reminding him that he was a waste. Even if he were a genius, so what? Even if he mastered scientific knowledge hundreds of years ahead of this era, so what?

He was a cripple without legs, destined to be trapped in the residence, staring at a square patch of sky from a corner.

A heavy weariness rose in Rong Yu’s eyes, and his gorgeous features lost their color, like a flower about to wither.

He closed his eyes, relaxed his body, and slowly sank into the water.

【Author’s note:】

I looked up some information on bipolar disorder. This illness is also called manic-depressive disorder. It is divided into manic episodes and depressive episodes. These two moods sometimes alternate, and they can also occur simultaneously. The depressive phase manifests similarly to depression—negative, world-weary, refusing to communicate, losing enthusiasm. The manic phase is more excitable, like the brain switching to high-speed operation mode: thoughts pour out, IQ soars, and you want to frantically express yourself and communicate with others… turning from socially anxious to socially confident… And one more thing: the libido surges wildly.