books44 Chapter 159: Deterioration
Chapter 159: Deterioration
Chapter 159: Deterioration
After a short silence, news finally came from the government office. Ji Meiqing was decorating a pine tree when she heard the news.
It was snowing heavily outside, and the vast expanse of white snow was quite pleasing to the eye. She stood in the snow, breathing out warm air and rubbing her hands together to warm them up.
She had knitted a hat for Lu Yu, which was now on his head, looking quite adorable. Ji Meiqing looked at him with a smile, "Want to come and play in the snow?"
Lu Yu didn't answer; he didn't know what "walking on snow" meant. So he could only look to her for help as Ji Meiqing pulled him along in the open snow.
Behind him was a series of footprints.
"You go ahead, I'll follow in your footsteps," she said without looking up.
The snow was several feet deep; each step left a large crater. Everything around was covered, making it impossible to see what was underneath.
They walked one after the other, making a circle around the open space.
She stopped when she was too tired to walk any further.
"Let's rest for a while." She looked at his back pitifully, and Lu Yu immediately stopped and slowly walked back.
Ji Meiqing gestured for him to sit next to her, then watched him sit down with a sly smile, but he didn't fall down as she had expected.
The snow was hollow underneath, unlike the chair-sized protrusion where she was sitting. Lu Yu pulled her by the collar and rolled her to the side, pinning her beneath him.
Fortunately, with him protecting her, she only felt that the world had suddenly turned around, and when she came to her senses, there was only Lu Yu in front of her.
"Look at me." The voice, deliberately lowered due to suppressed emotions, caused a momentary daze. "Don't look anywhere else."
Ji Meiqing's gaze drifted back after he pulled her like that. Staring at the person in front of her, her mind went blank.
Amidst the heavy snow, only the two of them seemed out of place. One in red, the other in black, their figures intertwined in the swirling snow.
The gray sky felt particularly oppressive.
With her back to the heavy snow and her face to the sky, and Lu Yu pressing down on her, Ji Meiqing reacted quickly and tried to push him away.
"When are you going to let your guard down with me? I can't wait any longer."
She knew what he meant. Her ears, stimulated by the psychological impact and the icy snow, turned red and then white, eventually becoming increasingly red.
"I……"
"How much longer? Give me an exact time," Lu Yu said again.
Faced with his sudden assertiveness, Ji Meiqing was momentarily at a loss for words, "I..."
"How long?" His eyes burned with intensity.
"Give me a month..." She had barely finished speaking when she saw the restraint in his eyes.
He remained still for a while before finally getting off her. Ji Meiqing propped herself up on her hands and looked at the person in front of her. She had lived two lives, and her combined age was older than the person in front of her.
Now she's being threatened by Lu Yu, who isn't even as old as she actually is. It's like she's regressing as she gets older.
"Give me a month to recover properly," she said, resting her chin on her hand, looking rather helpless.
Lu Yu stood before her, not wanting to pressure her. But the longer it dragged on, the less he felt she would care about him.
She got up, brushed the snow off herself, and looked at Lu Yu. "We have to go back."
His expression remained unchanged as he went back with her. The heavy snow began to fall again. Ji Meiqing looked back at that spot and remembered what Lu Yu had said: the sooner this matter was resolved, the better; dragging it out would only lead to more problems, and running away wouldn't solve anything either.
At the Ji family home, Ji Tianzhuo was tied to the ground with his hands behind his back. He had his head down and a stubble of green on his chin.
No one spoke. Ji Tianzhuo looked around. Tian Cuiwei and Yanzhi were kneeling behind him, but Tian Cuiwei's face was still wet with tears, and her shoulders were trembling slightly.
Rouge couldn't bear to watch any longer and bowed respectfully, saying, "Sister Tian is about to give birth. I beg you, sir, to spare her. It is not appropriate for her to kneel while she is standing."
She broke the silence, and facing their gazes, Rouge showed no fear, instead openly letting them look at her.
Tian Cuiwei was also surprised, wondering why she would do such a thing.
"Get up." Master Ji's expression softened a bit, and Tian Cuiwei slowly got up from the ground, with a maidservant helping her.
She looked at Rouge with a strange expression.
"Send the young master back and confine him for three months. Let's just leave it at that." He looked tired. Although he didn't intend to punish him, he knew that things wouldn't be the same as before.
Rouge lowered her head, concealing her gaze. Ji Tianzhuo had been exhausted and probably wouldn't come looking for her these days. That was perfect; while the Ji family was busy with Qian Hongyan's matter, she could devise a way to deal with them.
As soon as they returned to the room, Ji Tianzhuo grabbed her hand, his face tense and fearful, which made Yan Zhi a little strange.
"What happened, Master?"
"You need to do me a favor. You're the only one here who can help me." He glanced around, afraid someone might overhear, which only fueled Rouge's curiosity.
He said, "I lost several estates on Mother's side. Do you have any silver or valuable jewelry? I want to win those estates back."
“I…” She looked at the dressing table with reluctance, but Ji Tianzhuo was a little impatient. Seeing that she did not answer, he went to rummage through it.
The dressing table was ransacked inside and out, and all the valuables were taken. Rouge only gave him a perfunctory reprimand before letting him go.
She looked at the messy pile of things, a slight smile playing on her lips. Qian Hongyan was probably still hoping to get out, but now it seemed that opportunity was gone.
Rouge messed up her clothes a bit, rubbed her makeup, and removed all the hairpins from her head. Without those secure hairpins, her thick hair immediately fell flat.
After making up a story with the tea, he ran out.
"Help! Young master has gone out again! Help!" She cried uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face. Luckily, her voice was shrill, and it immediately attracted a lot of attention.
Rouge slumped to the ground, and in a moment of dramatic acting, she rambled on about everything that had just happened. Even Master Ji was alarmed; the matter with Ji Tianzhuo wasn't over yet, and now he'd gone and robbed money to gamble again.
Master Ji was so angry that his eyes rolled back and he almost fainted. Fortunately, someone behind him supported him, preventing him from falling to the ground.
Yan Zhi watched them, still feeling things weren't chaotic enough, and chimed in with a few more words. Only after they carried Master Ji away did she get up from the ground and leisurely return to her room to change her clothes.