“Xiaoyi’s friend? Oh!” Looking at the young handsome man standing not far away, Liao Qing’er gained insight and said, “You’re Feng Yang, the bastard who forced Xiaoyi into the marriage with the seventeenth son of Zhu’s Family. She will never do that. You should give up the idea forever! She would rather marry my elder brother than marry a man in Zhu’s Family! My goodness!”

Suddenly, Chang Nuo’s friendly smile froze. What a peculiar girl! Alas… Sure enough, a girl who could make friends with Qingyi was indeed strange. Didn’t she want to know why he was here?

After censuring him, Liao Qing’er thought that wasn’t enough so she withdrew her hand from Meng Ying’s grip and rushed to Feng Yang. Standing in front of him with one of her hands on her hip, she pointed at Feng Yang and said while she had to look up at him, “Xiaoyi is not at home. You can talk to me directly. I can represent her and you just tell me what you want! Anyway, it’s out of the question to make a match between Xiaoyi and the son of Zhu’s Family. Xiaoyi and I hate men like studs the most. Our husbands must be virgins and hen-pecked men. They should be great men outside while at home, they must be obedient. If we ask them to do something, they will have to do as we said without any objection. Listening to their wives’ words is the most basic principle the husbands should follow. They can’t have any mistress or concubine. If they do that before the marriage, we’ll directly reject marrying them. If it happens after the marriage, they will suffer from castration before the divorce. As for the men who aren’t virgins, have lost their first kisses, always flirt with other women, cheat on their wives, and fall in love so easily with every woman they meet, we will directly ignore them and mark them as the men we shouldn’t get along with. Feng Yang, you can assess the seventeenth son of Zhu’s Family and see how many of the above bad things he has done. Such a bastard without virginity like him even dares to think about marrying Xiaoyi! It’s so unforgivable!”

In her tirade, Chang Nuo and Meng Ying immediately caught the keyword: virgin.

Meng Ying was shocked right away. Virgin? He lost his virginity long before! That happened when he was thirteen. Not long after Liao Qing’er gave him the love letter and ran away from home, he got a waiting-maid. Later, he got four more in succession who were all sent by his mother and grandmother. And he had spent ridiculous years in Lord Ning’s Mansion. He also often went to the brothels in Yangzhou City to drown his sorrows and divert himself from the annoyance caused by his being coerced by Zhu Quan… Virgin? That was such a strange word to him now. Wasn’t it the synonym of the words like child, childhood, or innocence? How could a mature man still be a virgin? Only kids kept virginity, right?

It was such an unprecedented statement. So far, had anyone heard that men should keep their virginity? Wasn’t it a requirement for women? On wedding night, husbands would check if the brides were still virgins by seeing whether they had bled after the sexual acts. That also decided how much the husbands would love the brides in the future. However, men didn’t have fragile hymens. How could people prove they were still virgins or not? Could anyone distinguish them? Would any woman try to do that? Except for Liao Qing’er and He Danggui, would any woman care about that?

By the way, men and women were already different from each other in their bodies. Men were aggressive and loved conquering territories. The more they conquered, the more honored they would be. Otherwise, women were like defensive fortresses. They should be protected and hidden well and never leave home to eliminate the possibility of losing their virginity. They should give up all distracting thoughts and never contact any man other than their husbands. They could only show their charm to their husbands. These were common sense and logical thinking, weren’t they? Was Liao Qing’er sober enough when she said those words?

“In fact, she won’t find it even if I lie to her, will she?” Meng Ying thought guiltily, “After what is done can’t be undone, she won’t be able to pull back and has to go back to Meng’s Family with me. She will be the novelist only serving me and I will be her first reader and audience…Or, at best, after she had given birth to three sons, I can talk to mother and promote her to be my wife or co-wife as compensation… She’s nineteen this year. If she gives birth to one kid a year, she will achieve the goal when she’s twenty-two…”

Uh, wasn’t it too early for him to think about it at this moment? Looking at Liao Qing’er who was shouting and pointing at Feng Yang, Meng Ying felt upset and thought, “I didn’t even confess my love to her successively. It’s too soon to plan anything.”

It was annoying! His first confession was ruined by this chubby girl and it turned into an unpleasant memory. Now all nervousness he had about his first confession was triggered by her. He had hinted at it many times. Didn’t she sense it? Didn’t her heart beat faster at all? When he held her little hand, both his hand and heart felt warm. What about hers? He was the man she had ever liked. Why was “ever” used here? Didn’t she like him anymore? Who did she like now, then? She lived in Guan’s Mansion… Was it Guan Bai or Guan Mo?

Gosh! Since she had given him a love letter, she should’ve been waiting for his answer, shouldn’t she? As a female, she should’ve been faithful to one man until death. She was a daughter of a wealthy family. How could she not know such a simple truth? Or was she just tantalizing him? Maybe she wanted to keep him in suspense and didn’t let him get her easily so that she could avenge the humiliation he brought her three years ago. Yes, that was very possible. She must have done it on purpose. Hum, how could she not sense his admiration at all? She ever liked him. “Ever”? No, he didn’t want to be just part of her past.

Meng Ying tried to calm down. He thought, “Relax. Meng Ying, take it easy. You’re a man who can face everything calmly. Right, you’re a man like that… Absolutely. She is just a chubby girl that isn’t very pretty and Liao’s Family doesn’t have a very high status in the capital where there are lots of wealthy and influential clans. What’s more, there aren’t many people knowing she’s the creator of serials. Few of them know about her value and personality. I don’t know much, either, but it’s enough for me. I will get this girl who is good at writing stories before men like Guan Bai or Guan Mo approach her.”

Meng Ying thought he must’ve seen too many serials. How could a ridiculous plot like “She had been coveted for long by some men” happen in the reality? He believed he would be the first one who knew she was a diamond in the rough. He comforted himself, “I must’ve been cursed by the weird dream I had before. I’ve been loving her secretly for four years? I’ll cut my belly open if she doesn’t marry me? The truth should be the opposite. It should be her who has unrequited love with me. I will never love her secretly.”

He kept trying to calm himself down by thinking, “Meng Ying, relax. Be more honest with your heart. It’s not something shameful to like a woman. As a great man, you should have the courage to take the consequences and admit your feelings. Liao Qing’er! I fall in love with you! Go home with me and we’ll have our own family! I will promote you to be my wife after you have given birth to two sons!” (It could be seen the treatment got better and the standard was lower. He said he would marry Liao Qing’er as his concubine at first, then he promised her the title of co-wife and she could even be his wife if she gave birth to three boys and at last, two boys would do. It showed Meng Ying was indeed a big fan of serials… He deserved some applause!)

However, Chang Nuo suddenly said, “Miss Liao, listen to me. I’m not here for Qingyi but you, and you don’t have to be so angry. The marriage between the lord and Qingyi won’t be mentioned again. I met General Gao from Imperial Guards before and he asked me to give a message to people close to Qingyi. I was going to find He Dangyou, but since you’re here, it will be more appropriate to tell you…”

“Ah!”

Meng Ying was listening to the message from General Gao from Imperial Guards carefully with Liao Qing’er. Gao Jue? He was a colleague of Liao Qing’er’s elder brother and wasn’t familiar with her, right? He just needed to give her a message, right? While Meng Ying was guessing it secretly, a sudden roar sounded in He Danggui’s bedroom, while immediately interrupted Chang Nuo and shocked the three of them as well as other people in Tao Yao Yard. In the next moment, all rooms in the northern side of the yard were illuminated by the light of candles successively and people began to talk. Then, the yard got noisier and noisier.

Meng Ying and Liao Qing’er had telepathy for the first time. They looked at each other briefly. Then, Meng Ying ran into the bedroom to check what happened and Liao Qing’er went to calm those who woke up because of the scream. She lied and urged them to go to bed again.

“That’s it. You just go to bed and don’t disturb us… Your miss and I are acting in an opera and it’s all part of the story. If we don’t scream, the dramatic effect won’t be shown. After the scream, we can continue the performance. Ha, ha! Go, go, go. Go to bed! On the count of three, if anyone still stays here or lingers outside the room, I will deduct two months’ salaries and allowances of him or her. One, two…” Liao Qing’er squinted while asking, “Qian Shi, why are you still standing there? Do you want a salary deduction?”

With tears in her eyes, Qian Shi replied in a low voice, “I was going to use the bathroom.”

Liao Qing’er was slightly confused about her implicit words and failed to understand her immediately, but her expression and gestures could make up for it. Thus, Liao Qing’er waved her hand and said, “Make it quickly. You have three minutes. After that, your salary will still be deducted!” Gosh! She kept talking about virginity with Meng Ying and Feng Yang. Where on earth was Xiaoyi now?

After making sure that Qian Shi finished using the bathroom quickly, Liao Qing’er immediately closed the door of the servants’ room and put two locks on it. Then, she turned around and looked up in the gloomy sky that was drizzling. Staring at the moon, she thought, “Xiaoyi, wait for me. I’m coming to save you!”

“Miss Liao, General Gao asked me to tell this.” Chang Nuo walked close to Liao Qing’er while she was looking at the moon and said, “The poison has reached Qingyi’s heart arteries and she has also been injured externally. She won’t come to her sense for now and they had better not move her frequently. Thus, she is resting at a secret place arranged by Imperial Guards. He hopes you can help comfort people in Luo’s Family. As for what to say, you won’t need me to teach you, right?”

He Danggui woke up from her deep sleep. She just felt she had slept for a long time and it made her very tired. She walked through dreams after dreams which were sometimes true and sometimes false. There was no beginning or cause for them. She kept fighting with people in those dreams but she still failed because she was suffering from a high fever now. How could she think of any good solutions in such a state? When she slightly sobered up, she suddenly forgot everything and the people in the dreams.

She felt some coolness on her lips and then, some bitter liquid was poured into her mouth. She immediately swallowed it because she always remembered that bitter medicine could cure diseases.

She could feel coolness, wetness, and warmth on her body. She was surrounded by something warm and soft and could smell the familiar light fragrance of pear flowers that only some person she knew would have. It was cool, sweet, and dreamlike and seemed to come from afar. It gave her a warm and familiar feeling.

However, walking in her dreams, she didn’t feel at ease at all. Why?

Where did her nervousness, panic, fear, or horror come from?

Suddenly, she gained some strength and sobered up. She opened her eyes as wide as she could! Where was she now? The place was cold and strange.