Married Thrice to Salted Fish

y weakness.
The Hou Mansion can no longer continue to raise all of them, at most… only half of them can stay.
Whether they can stay or not, will be up to them to decide.”

Pan Shi didn’t dare think to much on it and she merely gave a low sound of assent.

The entertainers in Qingdai Pavilion were mostly orphans, without fathers and mothers.
They’ve finally found a generous master; they could live in the Hou Mansion and eat and drink their fill.
If they weren’t forced to leave, who would want to? 

For all that Lu Qiaosong was loose and dissolute, he was actually quite picky.
Though he raised them in his courtyard, most of the time he would only listen to them sing some popular tunes, or have them perform when guests come to boost his prestige.
Occasionally, he would choose one of them to bestow his favor upon.
It was precisely because of this that Nan’an Hou and Liang Shi could tolerate them staying in the Mansion.

As domestic prostitutes, the only thing they could rely on was their master’s favor.
Now that half of them were going to be sent away, they had to struggle and contend.

The next day, Lin Qingyu asked Huan Tong to take out all the medicine jars buried under the tree.
He dried them for three days, ground them into powder, put them in incense diffusers and gave them to Zhang Shiquan.

This scent was strong, and once you were exposed to it, would stick for a long time.
Lin Qingyu finished preparing the medicine and went to bathe and change clothes before returning to the room. 

Lu Wancheng was lying in bed, reading a book.
His illness this time wasn’t serious; it was just bothersome.
His condition showed no improvement nor any deterioration.
These short few days, all his body’s stores of health, cultivated over the past months, were mostly consumed.
His complexion and lips grew pale and strained.
Only his pair of smiling eyes remained unaffected.

Lin Qingyu checked Lu Wancheng’s pulse every day before going to bed, and tonight was no exception.

Lu Wancheng sniffed the barely-there scent on him, and asked, “Did you use perfume?”

Lin Qingyu retracted his hand.
“No.” 

“You obviously have.” Lu Wancheng approached Lin Qingyu, his nose moved slightly, “What kind of perfume is it? It smells so good.”

Lin Qingyu frowned and pushed him away.
“The kind you shouldn’t smell.”

Lu Wancheng understood and said with a smile.
“I see.
It’s poisonous.”

Lin Qingyu hesitated for a moment but didn’t deny it. 

“Then the question is, who do you want to use poison on? It must be someone who has offended you recently.” Lu Wancheng let out a couple of coughs, “Is it Lu Qiaosong?”

Lin Qingyu was silent.

Lu Wancheng said again, “You wrote a prescription some time ago.
I asked you what kind of medicine it was and you said that it was medicine to liven things up.
So you didn’t lie to me.
I remember that the entertainers raised within the Mansion cannot leave the house without authorization.
Whatever they want to buy, they would have to ask the help of a page they’re on familiar terms with.”

“…” 

“To sum it up, you want Lu Qiaosong to die in the most unseemly way, during sex.
Just because he has humiliated you.”

Lin Qingyu’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
Staring straight ahead, he said calmly, “Yes.
Why? You don’t think he deserves to die? You think my methods are too cruel?”

Lu Wancheng smiled.
He said deliberately riling him up, “It seems… a little bit?”

“Oh, think whatever you want.” Lin Qingyu looked perfectly calm and collected, “Lu Qiaosong used sexual matters to insult me.
He also insulted you.
He even wanted to use Chang Yang to destroy my reputation.
Even if his crime doesn’t deserve death, but his death will make me happy so I’m going to do it—I want to make myself happy, it’s that simple.” 

In front of others, he has never shown himself to be different from his appearance.
His parents had good temperaments and they have never done anything to harm others and benefit themselves.
Before marrying into the Hou Mansion, he was either with his parents or with his teacher and his fellow disciples, reading books by virtuous men.
It made it easy to suppress his dark side.
But as soon as he entered the Hou Mansion, the malice he could not act upon because of others, surged up like a broken well.
Fortunately, he was sane and rational; he knew that he was in a situation where he would only bring destruction upon himself if he were to act rashly.

Until Lu Wancheng said that he liked him doing bad things, and even encouraged and helped him do bad things.

It was Lu Wancheng who made him like this.
What qualifications did Lu Wancheng have to accuse him of being too cruel?

Lu Wancheng didn’t say anything, just stared at him quietly. 

Lin Qingyu felt agitated.
He closed his eyes and said, “What’s more, so long as he follows the doctor’s orders and doesn’t lay his hands on those entertainers, he may not die.”

Lu Wancheng finally laughed and sighed softly, “Qingyu, you really as worthy of being…Qingyu.”

His tone seemed admiring; it seemed excited; it seemed fascinated.
That slightly low voice made Lin Qingyu chest subconsciously loosen.

Lu Wancheng added, “But…” 

Lin Qingyu’s face slowly sank once again — Lu Wancheng still dares to add a “but”?

Lu Wancheng smiled and said, “But next time you do bad things, can you take me with you?”

Lin Qingyu’s eyes widened.

“I told you, I like seeing it.” 

“…”

Lin Qingyu lowered his eyes; his long trembling eyelashes seemed to betray their master’s thoughts.

“Okay? Qingyu?”

Lin Qingyu slowly raised his head, looked unwaveringly at Lu Wancheng and said softly, “Okay.”