Chapter 101: Avoid Them Like Snakes and Scorpions

  Fu Yiyang raised his hand, using the joints of his fingers to tap against his forehead. The glass lamp had not been extinguished, and without the obstruction of the curtains, the bright light made his eyes ache. However, he held Su Ying's hand even tighter, completely disregarding her slight resistance that seemed more like a token protest. With one pull, he brought her head to rest on his chest.

  Su Ying's hand was still injured, and she couldn't afford to hurt the enemy fifty and lose eight hundred. But this made her feel very awkward. She moved her shoulder slightly and said gruffly, "What are you going crazy for?"

  Fu Yiyang pulled the person into his arms, and only then did he feel that the palpitations brought from his dream had lessened a bit. However, upon hearing Su Ying's question, which couldn't be considered gentle at all, he suddenly recalled the entire conversation they had last night.

  Fu Yi didn't know how to face the current situation, so he could only retreat and calm down, but the raging fire inside him made his heart ache, and as soon as he walked out the door, everything went black and he fell to the ground.

  He had another one of those dreams, and what Su Ying said to him yesterday with a condescending tone coincided with it to some extent. Fu Yiyang couldn't help but think that if he hadn't spent this year together with her, would the self in his dream really not have any sorrowful feelings at all, and would he still let Wei Shi wear that pink dress and flutter around in front of him?

  Fu Yiyang didn't dare think about it.

  People are always biased, a year ago Fu Yiyang thought more of Wei's good, a year later Fu Yiyang thought all of Su Ying's good, subconsciously wanting to deny, subconsciously wanting to defend himself and her, but when the words reached his lips, they became silent sighs.

  Su Ying struggled for half a day but couldn't shake off his arm, and she didn't want to make useless efforts anymore. She heard Fu Yeyang sigh, and the fire in her heart flared up again.

  She rolled her eyes and smiled lightly: "Was it at the beginning of last year?"

  Fu Yiyang suddenly widened his eyes and didn't look at Su Ying.

  Su Ying could feel his body stiffen, the bad water in his stomach churning and bubbling up: "You think I'm a lonely ghost or wild demon from who-knows-where. No, it's a seductive spirit possessing you, hooking your soul and turning it upside down. You're actually going to abandon your old love and lock her up in a cold prison? Hmph!"

  "Others say a few words that seem to be true but are actually false, and you believe them. But then you ask me why I don't trust you. It's precisely because I trusted you that I almost ended up in a terrible situation, maybe even without seeing your face one last time."

  Su Ying said seven parts true and three parts false words, but her tone was very calm.

  Fu Yiyang was shocked by her words, his head throbbing in pain, and he barely managed to hold back a cry of agony. He squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth: "You know?"

  Su Ying stared at his profile, and the words that came out made Fu Houye's temples throb with pain. "Don't you think it's more polite to look at the person when speaking to them?"

  Fu Yiyang's hand tightened on Su Ying's shoulder. Su Ying cried out in pain: "You're hurting me."

  Fu Yiyang finally relaxed his shoulders. The next moment, Su Ying avoided him like a snake's skin. She stood up abruptly, a few steps away from him, and the suddenly bright and suddenly dim light made Fu Yiyang's eyes uncomfortable.

  Fu Yiyang closed his eyes uncomfortably.

  Su Ying saw through it. Intentionally not letting him off easy, she shifted to a different position. The lamplight that Fu Houye could sense suddenly became brighter again. At the same time, she also said: "I understand you even more now, in the past few days you've been acting strange, just asking a little and it's clear."

  Fu Yiyang actually suspected that Su Ying was possessed by a ghost, but it was because Wei Niang, who was beaten to the cold courtyard, told him a few ambiguous words.

  However, since Wei Yiniang has reached that point, she can still find someone to bring Fu Yiyang over. Isn't it obvious who made an effort in this?

  Su Ying also realized that something was off yesterday, and it was because of this that Fu Ye's behavior became strange that day. She didn't know whether to feel relieved that Fu Ye had finally come clean or to lament that Fu Ye actually didn't care about her as much as she had imagined.

  Su Ying knew that showing weakness was the best way to deal with Fu Yiyang, but she just didn't want to. All the things she hadn't said yesterday were all brought up again. "I remember that a maid from the second house who had a big change in personality was burned alive, right?"

  "That's enough!" Fu Yeyang's voice was hoarse, and he growled, "What are you talking about? Those are just empty words!"

  "You, do you believe me?" Su Ying's counter-question was a sure hit. Since Su Ying came to her senses, she felt that Fu Yeyang believed in her. Not to mention other evidence, just the fact that they were still rolling around in bed the day before, and even flipped over once in the morning.

  Of course, it's also possible that some big shot thinks 'Du Dan Hua Xia Si, Zuo Gui Ye Feng Liu' is a factor.

  Su Ying saw Fu Yeyang's face was so gloomy that it seemed like water could drip from it, and she kindly asked him: "Do you want some tea?"

  Give someone a slap and then offer him a sweet date.

  Fu Yiyang raised his hand and pressed it tightly against his forehead, with a dense fatigue: "No need, just a headache."

  Su Ying raised an eyebrow, he wouldn't be thinking of letting her massage him, would he? If it were in the past, she might have pretended to be virtuous, but now her hands were already wrapped like a rice dumpling, did he not understand what it meant to cherish and pity a beauty.

  Su Ying was really misunderstood this time, Fu Yeyang hadn't become so depraved yet.

  Su Ying didn't make a sound, but Fu Yeyang's suddenly furrowed brow relaxed, and he lay on the bed, as if his voice also had a previously absent lightness: "Let's have a good talk."

  Su Heng's eyebrows rose, she didn't understand, hadn't they been at odds with each other before? How did the atmosphere change all of a sudden? And listening to Fu Yeyang's tone, it was as if she was being unreasonable and he was patiently tolerating her.

  Something's off.

  Su Ying was sleeping soundly in the middle of the night when Zi Su dug her out of bed, only to find herself engaging in a battle of wits with Fu Ye Yang, who was having a nightmare. The anger in her heart was suppressed, and just as she let out some of it, Fu Ye Yang's unpredictable behavior immediately shut her down, leaving her feeling utterly frustrated.

  In short, I don't have the patience to accompany Fu Yiyang in his nonsense. "Why must you make things difficult for me, a sick person? Don't you see what time it is now? I don't have the energy to continue accompanying you. I'll call someone else to attend to you."

  Fu Yiyang furrowed his brow into a 'river' shape and fell silent for a moment, then said: "Don't pretend to be virtuous and dignified anymore?"

  Su Ying felt irritated upon hearing this and immediately retorted: "What kind of words are these, sir? When have I not been virtuous and dignified? Even if someone were to ask around, whoever knows me would say that I am virtuous and dignified."

  She's so used to speaking in a roundabout way. Su Ying slowly took a deep breath: "If I were to pretend to be virtuous and gentle, I could still tolerate the Wei family and Wen Yu," Su Ying didn't continue. This time it was her turn to rub her temples, "It's late at night, I don't want to quarrel with you, considering you're a patient, I won't settle accounts with you for now. If you have any grievances or want to vent at me, come early tomorrow, I'll accompany you to the end."

  Fu Yiyang walked over to Su Ying under the light, and it was hard to see clearly from a distance. But he just felt that her eyes were rolling with brilliant light, like the hottest flames, all of which were directed at him, as if they wanted to scorch him all over before being satisfied.

  Fu Yiyang's heart skipped a beat, and he felt helpless. After Su Ying finished her rapid-fire speech, he sighed and said, "Now I can't even say one sentence to you?"

  Su Ying suddenly felt inferior and was unwilling to accept it. She reflexively retorted: "That's your misconception. Anyway, I don't think it's not okay, just that now is not the right time. And the doctor said you should avoid emotional ups and downs, and need to rest well, so I thought it's better not to argue with you too much, let you have a good rest."

  Don't let the dog bite Lü Dongbin, he doesn't know the kindness of good people!

  Fu Yiyang felt relieved in her heart, and then remembered that she was still ill, so a hint of guilt arose in her mind, and she said: "Forget it, you go rest too."

  Su Ying's fist hit the cotton, unable to land a blow, and she let out a hum of anger from her nose. Without saying another word, she turned around, tightened the silver-trimmed gray squirrel fur shoulder cape with a lotus leaf-shaped short cloak style, and walked out past the screen in the middle.

  This was originally her house, but now it seems that she is an outsider. Su Ying pushed open the door and went out, unexpectedly, Liu Yiniang was still waiting in the outer room, seeing Su Ying come out, she hurriedly came over, "Is Master all right?"

  Su Ying glanced at her faintly, "I'm not a doctor, how would I know about Master's condition?" After saying that, she ignored Liu Niang and walked out the door towards the west wing where she temporarily resided, leaving Liu Niang stunned on the spot.

  Cui Ping leaned in and lowered her voice: "Madam, isn't it that you've had a falling out with the master?"

  Liu Yiniang glared at her: "The matters of Master and Mistress are also something we can't meddle in."

  Cuiping's face turned red, and she nodded her head and followed behind Madame Liu.

  The master and mistress of the house were not present, and the identity of the night watchman was naturally not enough to persuade Mrs. Liu, who felt that she was out of place in this main courtyard, and even the ripples that had risen in her heart due to Cuiping's words earlier were somewhat shaken.

  Pinching her palm, Liu Yiniang still entered the inner room, looked up and saw that Fu Yeyang had already lain down in the canopy bed, feeling a slight disappointment in her heart.

  Fu Yiyang covered his chest and coughed twice. Mrs. Liu hastily said, "Master, are you all right? Do you want to drink some tea?"

  Fu Yiyang suddenly thought of that pink dress, feeling annoyed and unclear whether it was the person wearing the pink dress or the one who allowed people to wear pink dresses after the mistress's death.

  Hearing Liu Niang's anxious tone, Fu Yeyang said somewhat impatiently: "Never mind, turn off the light, you go back."

  Liu Yiniang hesitated, wanting to say a few more gentle words to remind Fu Yeyang of her past kindness, but was intimidated by Fu Yeyang's increasingly impatient and cold tone, and dared not speak again. Frightened and terrified, she pinched the wick to extinguish the lamp and quietly retreated.

  As soon as she stepped out the door, her legs went soft and if it wasn't for Cui Ping's quick reflexes in supporting her, she almost fell to the ground. The night watch eunuchs all turned to look this way.

  "Master has retired, you all just keep watch for the night," said Madam Liu in a low voice. It was already midnight, and the courtyard gate had been locked long ago. Madam Liu couldn't return to her own courtyard, so she lay down on the short bed where the maids usually kept watch.

  Just as she covered herself with the quilt, Liu Niang wiped her face and only then did she realize that tears had already streamed down her face.

  Fu Yiyang couldn't sleep, these consecutive blows in the past two days would move even someone with a heart of stone.

  Fu Yiyang thought the most about what Su Ying said to him, her sharp eyes almost cut through her eyebrows, Fu Yiyang had never seen her like this before. Usually, he couldn't quite recall what she looked like, but in his dreams, his own expressionless face seemed like a thin needle stuck in his throat now.

  Now when I recall, all that flashes before my eyes are the good times with my wife, as if they suddenly came alive this year. But in the end, did it all become empty and insincere flattery?

  Fu Yiyang, however, was skeptical, as if she had been saying that she was suffering and being bullied by others, but in fact, she didn't get along with the Wei family. Yet, she still hadn't taken action to deal with the deceased Wei; even Wen Yu... these things, Fu Yiyang didn't know how many times she had thought about them in her heart.

  In the past, when I thought about it, I felt that my wife had done enough, but now thinking back, Fu Yeyang was like being pricked by a needle, with a subtle and piercing pain.

  Fu Yiyang suddenly thought, if it was really like in the dream, she didn't even see him for the last time, was she resentful of him in her heart, resentful to the point where she didn't want to see him for the last time, and didn't want to see that eye-catching pink color.

  Now she is unwilling to be affectionate with him anymore, because her heart has been wounded too much, and even pretending in front of him is no longer willing to pretend. Fu Yeyang covered his mouth, a soft sigh spread out in the curtains.

  Fu Yiyang pulled the quilt. There was still some medicinal smell in the quilt. The delicate scent of her body's fragrance lingered on his nose, as if she were still in front of him.

  Fu Yiyang lay awake with a lonely pillow, while Su Ying hugged her quilt and slept soundly.

  In this night, the only one who slept soundly in the Hou Mansion was Su Ying. Fu Mu lay listlessly on her bed. The main house was eerily quiet because of the terrifying scene of Bai Yu crashing into the pillar during the day, even the little maids on night duty were trembling with fear, and they would go to the bathroom together for safety.

  Every time they passed by the red pillar, they couldn't help but clasp their hands together and chant "Amitabha Buddha" in their mouths. Even the slightest movement could scare the timid little girl to tears, covering her mouth and crying out loud. At that moment, all the servants in the house were terrified, as silent as cicadas in winter, not even daring to breathe loudly.

  Fu's mother suffered consecutive losses, and Mrs. Dai intentionally provoked her with a few words before leaving - Mrs. Dai had long been dissatisfied with Fu's mother for still interfering in her natal family's affairs after getting married, let alone now with new grudges and old resentments. Mrs. Dai naturally didn't want Fu's mother to have an easy time - between the lines, she was saying that her two daughters were suffering hardships at the Hou residence, and she would go back and tell their father about it.

  Originally, Chen Wanqing had an affair with the Fu family and was forced to marry Fu Xueyang as a concubine. As a result, Mrs. Fu had a falling out with her natal family.

  The Chen family has a noble title, but there is no one in the family who can make use of it. The matter of Ping's wife is undoubtedly adding insult to injury for the Chen family, which was already not as prosperous as before. If it weren't for the fact that the Chen family still relies on the support of the Yongwu Marquis' estate, perhaps even Madame Fu would not have received her natal family's support.

  Now Mrs. Dai can see clearly that the master of the Yongwu Marquis's mansion is still Fu Yeyang, and the uncle and nephew are closely related, so why bother with Fu Mu, just follow Fu Yeyang, this outsider.

  Besides, after these things, it's likely that the last bit of motherly love between Fu Mu and Fu Yeyang has been worn away. Without the respect due to him as the head of the household, how can Fu Mu still wield power? So naturally, Dai Furen is not afraid of Fu Mu posing a threat again.

  Mrs. Dai thought everything through inside and out before yesterday's thrilling performance.

  Fu's mother was blinded by a goose she had been hitting all day.

  Fu's mother would not be willing, harboring resentment in her heart. After she had thought it through, Fu Yao first pushed away the matter of the object that had been soaked in medicine, and then she wouldn't believe that a single sentence of "filial piety" could suppress her.

  Before dawn, Fu Mu was about to summon someone to call for Fu Yiyang and Fu Xuyang when she suddenly found that half of her body was numb and immobile, as if a mountain had been pressed on top of her.

  Wanting to say something, even more frightening is that one's mouth doesn't listen to commands, mumbling and unable to speak clearly, anxious to the point of tears in Fu Mu's eyes.

  She hastily got up to pull the quilt, but unfortunately half of her body was numb and she almost fell off the bed. Du Juan heard the noise and came in to hurry the little maids to support Fu Mu back.

  Fu's mother spoke unclear words, and she only scowled, slapping the nearest little maid in the face. Dujuan then shouted: "Old lady, don't worry, I'll go get the doctor's note!"

  The little girl who had suffered an unexpected disaster covered her face and shouted in a shrill voice: "Could it be that Bai Yu sister has come back?"

  Fu's mother heard this and in a fit of anger fainted again.

  Yesterday's affair was a huge family scandal, and it had to be hidden. The servants in the house were all silenced and dared not speak out, but the masters of the house knew how Fu Mu behaved.

  According to the rules, news of Fu Mu's serious illness had spread everywhere. When it reached the second house, Fu Xueyang was frightened by Bai Lu's miserable appearance yesterday. He also heard from people below that Fu Mu's illness was not light, saying that she couldn't even speak clearly.

  Fu Xueyang suddenly remembered a sentence that Bai Yue had shouted out in a shrill voice before hitting the pillar: "Man is doing, heaven is watching, slaves are waiting for you in hell." Suddenly, he felt a chill run down his spine.

  Mrs. Chen had long been resentful of Fu Mu, although this matter was dominated by Bai Lu, but Mrs. Chen did not believe that Bai Lu could do such a thing, after all, it was still Fu Mu's fault. After receiving the letter, she stroked her high belly with her hand and pretended to be ill.

  "Originally, as a daughter-in-law, I should go and pay my respects, but now that I'm pregnant with the second master's legitimate son, I mustn't be careless. The old lady is usually very kind to us mother and child, and when she comes around, she'll naturally understand my intentions."

  She also asked Da Yuer to go to her private storage room to fetch a piece of ginseng, "Although I cannot personally pay my respects to Old Lady, this intention must be there. I know that Old Lady has never been short of these medicinal materials." As she spoke, Chen Fu Ren gritted her teeth, how could the medicinal materials be in short supply? Otherwise, where did those harmful objects come from? "This ginseng will serve as my and Second Master's, as well as Third Madam's, intention."

  Third Mistress Chen Wanqing was still ill and couldn't get out of bed, so how could she go to Madam Fu's side to show her filial piety? She spoke beautifully: "The old lady is advanced in years, how can she suddenly suffer such a great calamity. It's all because my body isn't strong enough, if only my body were a bit stronger, I would immediately go upstairs to attend to the old lady and serve her medicine."

  The news of the second house had already spread, and naturally, Fu Yeyang and Su Ying in the main house received the news even earlier.

  At that time, Su Ying was eating the ice sugar swallow's nest congee brought by Zi Su with a silver spoon. When she heard this, her eyelids didn't even lift up once. Hearing the footsteps outside, she said: "These days our mansion is really having one disaster after another, the masters are having trouble one after another, it's really unlucky. Let's wait until we have some free time and go to Yunruo Temple to burn incense, don't ask for anything else, just pray that our mansion is peaceful and prosperous, you know that family harmony can bring prosperity."

  Even the words of filial piety she didn't want to say, and this remark was 100% sarcastic. The family is not at peace, whose fault it is, no one can say they are not wrong, but Fu Mu is the biggest contributor. Now that things have come to this point, it's all her own doing. To say something fitting, it's simply retribution!

  Su Ying was still feeling unwell, and she didn't even use her spoon. She drank the sweet bird's nest congee that had been brought out with ice sugar directly from the bowl, and then placed the bowl on the table. She said to Zi Su, "This hand wrapped in gauze doesn't usually feel like a problem, but when I'm eating with chopsticks, it feels like an obstacle. I don't feel like using chopsticks, so you go get me another bowl of congee. Don't bring bird's nest congee again, just bring chicken thread congee. These past few days, I've been drinking medicine and congee, my mouth has been tasting bitter and bland, it doesn't have any flavor."

  Zi Su asked if she should send a bowl over to Fu Ye Yang.

  Su Ying's eyebrows shot up: "Isn't the Liu family still serving in front, where do I need to worry? Bring the child over and let me take a look. These past few days I've been taking medicine, it's not good for me to nurse them anymore, even holding one is tiring."

  Fu Yiyang came in from outside, he was quite ill and had taken leave of absence. He wore a dark blue flower-patterned robe with a subtle sheen. Su Ying raised her eyelids to glance at him, smiling ambiguously: "Since Master is unwell, it's best to rest well, why are you still running around everywhere?"

  Fu Yiyang ignored her barbed words and frowned at the sight of the two greasy dishes on the kang table.

  Su Ying didn't need him to say anything to know what he was thinking, and raised an eyebrow saying: "Can't eat, not even allowed to smell the flavor."

  After finishing speaking, I felt something was wrong and furrowed my brow without saying a word.

  Fu Yiyang's gaze fell from her hand to her face: "Mother is ill."

  Su Ying raised her head, with some unknown thing in her eyes: "What? Does the Lord think it's me who made her ill? It's also possible, if I were to be separated from the Lord, I would probably suspect that I did it too. Who let me swear yesterday that I wouldn't let those who plot against me and my child live a good life? As soon as I said that, this person fell ill on the second day, and not lightly at that. No matter how you look at it, I'm the prime suspect."

  Su Ying smiled, but there was no smile in her eyes, completely gone was the warmth and gentleness of before. She sighed and said, "If I had such great abilities, I wouldn't have waited until now, huh."

  Even if she did it, what's the big deal? Where is the evidence? She is now a clear victim.

  ps：