Chapter 62 Catch the Couple in Adultery
“Concubine Li, we’re here,” The driver spoke softly into the carriage.
The grey-black carriage parked on flat ground. Further ahead was the wet riverside mud. The light green lake was rippling in the wind. A simple and ancient thatched cottage was hidden among the mountains. The room, as well as the bamboo fence in front of the house, was half-old. It remained unknown who set up such a quaint thatched cottage in this mountainous area years ago to reside in seclusion.
Few people came to this place. Li Qiqi got down from the carriage and looked around for Qin Yunuan. The concierge said to her that Qin Yunuan had already left the house for the east a little earlier before, about the time of a column of incense. She must have a date. It shouldn’t be mistaken.
There was only the sound of t.i.ts fluttering around, and the driver was waiting downhill. Li Qiqi could only climb up the stairs by herself. Watching the dark red carriage on the mountainside following far behind her, her heart settled down for a little. It was the carriage of Qin Yunzhuang. On the one hand, the following was to monitor her, and on the other hand to catch Qin Yunuan in the act.
An unmarried woman scheduled a secret meeting with a man in the wild. Even though Qin Yunuan had a clever tongue, public clamor could confound right and wrong.
It was right that she cheated Qin Yunuan. But what about it? A fine fowl perches only on a fine tree. Everyone understood that principle. Qin Yunuan was born low, and she couldn’t even decide on her marriage. On the other hand, the Dou Family had great power, and Qin Yunzhuang was confident about being chosen as the consort of the prince three months later. People should always put themselves in the first place.
In the carriage on the hillside, Qin Yunzhuang rested on a soft couch. There was also Li Weijun with a submissive look.
“Sister Qin can rest a.s.sured. I heard them outside the room that day. They made a date to see each other off at the little thatched cottage today. Although I rushed in without catching them in the act, I remembered this sentence. Since Qin Yunuan dared to meet with her lovers, she should pay for it.”
Qin Yunzhuang didn’t seem to be pleased by Li Weijun’s flattering words. She just said, “Okay, I know you are capable of this. It’s very thoughtful.”
Li Weijun took it as a great encouragement. Once again she asked boldly, “Therefore, Sister Qin, please help me get chosen as the consort three months later.”
A gentle smile appeared on Qin Yunzhuang’s face slowly, “You just rest a.s.sured. I will take care of your business.” Qin Yunzhuang stretched out that soft and fair, jade-like hand, picked up a plump crystal candied date from the fruit plate on the table. She opened her small cherry lips and gently bit about the size of a grain of rice but felt satisfaction beyond words.
Li Weijun lacked in sophistication. Did she take it for granted that Qin Yunzhuang was after Qin Yunuan and Su Chenghai?
She had known earlier that Shangguan Rang was interested in Qin Yunuan. n.o.ble young masters like Shangguan Rang wanted no more than two things: a generous appearance and women’s bodies. She asked Li Qiqi deliberately to have Qin Yunuan arrived earlier. Shangguan Rang had already been waiting in the thatched cottage. As long as the drug was released and Qin Yunuan was unconscious, she wouldn’t need to worry about what would happen.
It could ruin her innocence, make Shangguan owe her a favor, provoke the relationship between Qin Yuwan and Qin Yunuan, and finally allow her cousin, Su Chenghai, to see how kinky a woman could be in Qin Yunuan’s bones. The strategy could kill four birds with one arrow. It was not perfect but at least ingenious.
The only thing she was afraid of was that Qin Yunuan, this charming fox, found a flaw and didn’t come. However, the familiar figure that appeared by the lake soon made Qin Yunzhuang’s worries disappear.
“Third Miss, you came finally,” Li Qiqi, who was waiting in front of the bamboo fence, was relieved to see the late Qin Yunuan, “I was worried that you’ve got other things to deal with and decided not to come.”
“How come. I have made an appointment with Concubine Li, and I will arrive on time.” Qin Yunuan was in a thin jacket with crocheted begonia flowers at its edge and a light skirt. She also covered her shoulder with a shawl to withstand the chill lingering in the mountains.
Qin Yunuan dressed herself up today, wearing elaborate makeup. She stood gracefully as if she had come out of a painting.
Qin Yunuan smiled and pushed open the front door made of firewood of the thatched cottage. The yard was covered with hollyhocks and impatiens. Costus and golden guineas were intertwined on the fence. A small painting of an unknown painter was hung in the center of the wall. In the side room, there was a whitewood couch.
This was a very elegant courtyard, but Li Qiqi failed to be elegant. She hid her anxiety and asked gently, “When will Master Su come?”
Qin Yunuan raised the jug on the table relaxedly, “It’s still early, Concubine Li. You said at first that you would be nervous and shy, so I should come earlier to accompany you. But now you’ve become nervous yourself.”
A half bowl of cold water was poured into each of two coa.r.s.e porcelain bowls, and Qin Yunuan handed one to Li Qiqi, “A cottage in the mountains was not like the mansion. There is hot tea but only cold spring water. Please don’t blame me for it.” She seemed to look around the room and sighed, “This room is very elegant.”
Li Qiqi caught the moment and shook the medicine hidden in her nails into the cold water bowl in Qin Yunuan’s hands very quickly. The white medicine powder melted into the water instantly that no one could pick out the difference.
She observed Qin Yunuan drink up the half bowl of cold water as if she hadn’t noticed anything. A strange smile of evil success appeared on the corner of Li Qiqi’s mouth.
She walked out of the house deliberately, pretending to appreciate the scenery. She raised her neck slightly in front of the hedge as if she had been watching the sparkling waves of fish leaping in the distance. This was her secret code with Qin Yunzhuang, leaving the room again and Qin Yunzhuang would know that everything was done. Just wait until the medicine worked, and then she would rush into the room and catch the couple. Qin Yunuan would have only two ways to go. Either she would be married into the Shangguan Mansion as a concubine or die in shame of her lost virginity. Dandies like Shangguan Rang treated public opinion as dung. They only wanted beautiful wives and cared little about the means to get them.
Shangguan Rang even showed a touch of enthusiasm for Qin Yunzhuang’s thrilling scheme, which he had never experienced before.
“Concubine Li, be careful of the strong wind outside. It might make you dizzy,” Qin Yunuan shouted in the room. Li Qiqi had completed her task. She walked back in peace. But her head became violently dizzy the moment she crossed the threshold. She also felt the fog covering her eyes. Her senses were gradually weakened as the eyelids became heavier. Qin Yunuan’s smiling face flashed into her eyes now and then and the ghostly voice came constantly, “You see, Concubine Li. Just like I said, it will make you dizzy.”
Li Qiqi struggled but failed and closed her eyes. After a while, she leaned slightly as if she had fallen asleep.
Li Qiqi lost track of time. In a trance, she seemed to return to the age of thirteen or fourteen years old. Su Chenghai was blowing the flute in the courtyard with his clothes as white as snow, his high hat and a broad belt. She quietly hummed along. Then she flashed back to when Su Chenghai insisted on leaving. She tried to stop him, but he was stubborn like a cow. Later, she went into a bawdy house as a virgin. She met Qin Zhi and entered the Qin Family. What happened then was that she received the bad news. She hid in the door and cried for three days.
She loved him in her most beautiful times but he never knew, and will never know in the future.
Li Qiqi was awakened by a violent collision and the scream of a woman. She felt uncomfortable as if her head had exploded. She tried to open her eyes desperately, and the first thing she saw was Qin Yunzhuang with disbelief written all over her face.
“What are you doing!” Qin Yunzhuang shouted at Li Qiqi. She had no time for respect for seniority, “I’m asking you to catch them, not to be caught.”
As her senses gradually recovered, Li Qiqi felt the heavy load on her body. It seemed that countless burdens were on her body. She tilted her head and almost screamed. An adult man was lying on her body, and his head was buried in her shoulders. The pose looked ambiguous and intimate. His handsome face in profile was pale. His eyes were tightly closed, and he seemed to be asleep. With a glance at the man’s costume, she recognized that he was Shangguan Rang, the romantic young master of the Shangguan Family.
The lapels of the two were also loosely undressed with some impatient eagerness. Li Qiqi kept close to Shangguan Rang with only a thin garment between them and her face flushed instantly, “I… I… I.”
“Stop talking!” Qin Yunzhuang took a deep breath, “Get up quickly, now that there are only three of us here. Don’t you drag on. Do you want more people to know that you are no longer a virgin?”
Li Weijun was too afraid that she hid outside the door. Qin Yunzhuang looked at the timid Li Weijun on one side and on the other, Li Qiqi who did not do anything right. She turned her head to the side angrily.
Qin Yunuan! It must be her! Only she could have done such devious tricks, and only she could be so vicious and shameless.
Li Qiqi felt ashamed immediately. Her underwear was intact. She had gone through things that made her knew that nothing had happened between Shangguan and her, not to mention that Shangguan Rang was not such an easygoing person. Most likely that he was also drugged. But now how they looked made it hard to vindicate themselves.
Li Qiqi tried to push Shangguan with her hands, but Shangguan Rang didn’t move. He was so heavy that she had no choice but to use both hands and feet to push him off the soft bed. Li Qiqi watched Shangguan Rang lying on his back on the ground, and then she saw the blood on his chest….
“Ah!” Li Qiqi could no longer restrain her anxiety and fear. She shouted out loud, making Qin Yunzhuang unhappy for the second time
“What are you shouting….” Qin Yunzhuang also retreated before she could say the next word. She didn’t stop until reaching the corner, and her eyes were filled with panic.
Shangguan Rang was pale, lying on the ground. In front of his chest was a large pool of blood. The wound was in the center of his heart. He died with a single stroke. The blood was half dry, showing a gloomy crimson color, which bloomed in the front chest of Shangguan Rang’s plain white collar like a bloodthirsty rose. The scene stimulated people’s senses strongly.
“Grand Miss, young master Shangguan, he… he… he’s dead.”