Chapter 90: Lotus Stem Broken, Threads Connected

  Su Yingqian cleared her throat and tried not to show any disgust: "I'll let someone come in from the hot water."

  It's not just washing your face when the hot water is delivered early in the morning. Yesterday, Fu Yeyang got drunk to that extent and didn't take a bath to wash away the smell of wine on his body. After fermenting for a night, the smell can't be said to be very good.

  Fu Yiyang indeed looked a bit embarrassed, rubbed his nose, narrowed his eyes, and deliberately wanted to tease her. He rubbed his brow, turned over and lay on the bed, propping up his head with a pillow: "Headache."

  It's shameful to act cute, Lord Hou!

  Su Ying put on a simple dress and from then on refused to be fooled by this trick anymore.

  He didn't know about her mental changes, Fu Yiyang patted the bed beside him and motioned for Su Ying to come over. "I'm on vacation today, no rush."

  Su Ying didn't comment, smoothed her hair with her hand and sat down next to Fu Ye Yang. She didn't know what wind he was blowing, sometimes pure and sometimes old-fashioned. Looking at his 'natural and effortless' gesture, she felt uncomfortable and wanted to tease him a bit.

  "You're really something, having to drink so much wine. Go wash up quickly, even if you don't go to court, I still have a lot of things to do. Mother Fu is ill again on the other side, and we must show our concern," "The old lady was unwell yesterday, and I haven't had time to visit her yet. After dinner, let's go together to take a look."

  Fu Mu's tricks are no longer new, but no matter how fresh the moves are, they can still be used to deceive people, whether it is Fu Yiyang or Su Ying who doesn't care.

  Fu Yiyang responded with a gentle "hmm" and took her hand. "You've always been considerate of your mother." Speaking in such a soft tone was not his usual character, even the few gentle words he had spoken to Su Ying earlier were rare for him, and this time it carried an unspoken understanding that seemed to say, "Even if I don't say it out loud, you should still understand me."

  Moreover, Fu Mu is also involved in this matter. Fu Yiyang's feelings towards Fu Mu are complicated. Even if he has been disappointed, on the surface, he still shows respect and filial piety. Moreover, he thinks that Su Ying is disliked by Fu Mu because of him, so seeing Su Ying being respectful to Fu Mu as usual makes him feel grateful and remember it in his heart.

  Fu Yiyang sighed in his heart and unconsciously grasped Su Ying's hand.

  Su Ying met Fu Yeyang's gaze and looked at him, slightly avoiding his line of sight with a hint of guilt in her heart, she had once thought she was too deeply immersed in the play.

  It can be thought that from the time she became Mrs. Su to before she knew the truth, no matter what the reason was, the focus of her life had been revolving around him. All her thoughts and plans were all because of him.

  Intimacy has been achieved, children have been had, and the cucumber defense war against Fu Houye has also been very successful. She is not cold-blooded. After all, there will be some feelings after getting along with each other, right? If the system was still around, if the task was still around, Su Ying wouldn't have her current confusion, if she was still like before, she couldn't do it.

  It's one thing for her to have no feelings for Fu Yiyang, but it's another thing to let the man she has trained with her own hands be taken away by someone else. She really can't do that and would feel uncomfortable in her heart.

  This is really melodramatic.

  It's all about possessiveness. Su Ying closed her eyes, not wanting to make eye contact with Fu Ye Yang again. And... her hand was almost rubbed raw, and it really couldn't withstand such secondary destruction.

  Su Ying pulled her hand out and tucked it into her sleeve. She stretched out the other hand to scratch her face, and smiled slightly.

  Fu Yiyang immediately understood Su Ying's meaning, in fact he had seen the hint earlier and leaned over to press his lips against hers.

  Su Ying skillfully dodged, causing his lips to land on empty air. He looked a bit displeased, and Su Ying gave him a stern look: "Go wash up."

  This was being rejected. Fu Yeyang hadn't had time to feel embarrassed when he heard a maid knocking on the door: "Master and mistress, do you want me to come in and serve?"

  "Cough, come in." Fu Yeyang turned around and saw Su Ying sneaking a smile. He looked at her with an "I really can't do anything about you" expression, then waited until the maids had brought hot water into the bathing room before standing still in front of Su Ying, not wanting anyone else to serve him.

  Su Ying really didn't want to serve him a bath, pretending not to understand his meaning, and even pursed her lips, or else others would think she was being abused.

  Fu Yiyang, still under the influence of last night's drinking, leaned half his body against her. The maids who came in to serve were busier than usual, only daring to glance in one direction, not even glancing this way. Baohe and Luli were both very proper, their faces only slightly red as they cleaned up the messy room, unlike before when their faces would turn bright red like tomatoes. It seemed they had gotten used to it.

  In this case, Su Yingming knew that Fu Yeyang was intentional, but she couldn't proudly and coldly push this old man down with a single hand on her waist, and then hum out a cold snort from her nose. She could only hold on tightly, supporting Fu Yeyang as they walked towards the bathtub, and she really regretted why she had become a soft and charming girl instead of a tough and strong woman!

  Fu Yiyang narrowed his eyes and let Su Ying take off his clothes, which couldn't be counted as clothes, he was only wearing a set of undergarments, the buttons on his upper garment were not even fastened properly.

  He was very cooperative and was pushed into the bathtub by Su Ying, then after getting into the bathtub, he directly stared at her with his eyes, without even needing an excuse. He was still hungover, weak all over, dizzy and had a headache, where did he have the energy to wipe himself?

  The old man decided to die in the bathtub, posing with an "I'll let you do whatever you want" attitude, which was surprisingly similar to his non-violent and uncooperative state after getting drunk yesterday. Su Ying's back teeth itched, she was so shameless and confident, and she really gained some insight.

  Su Ying wiped the sweat from her forehead, thinking that she couldn't help but feel uneasy about this unseemly trend. Just then, Fu Ye Yang, who was sitting in the bathtub, suddenly spoke up: "Ying'er, I'm really happy to have Chen'er and Yun'er."

  Through the steam, Su Ping couldn't see his expression clearly. How did he suddenly become so sentimental? And what's with this term of endearment? "Why bring this up all of a sudden?"

  This emotional old man is really... Su Ying rolled her eyes, compromised and walked over to pick up the towel to wash his hair. He didn't say a word for a long time. If he hadn't been sitting there quietly, Su Ying would have thought he had fallen asleep.

  I've taken off my pants, and you're showing me this!

  Su Ying was exhausted, the splashing water hit her body, originally she only wore a single layer of clothing, after getting wet it stuck to her skin, feeling uncomfortable and soggy.

  Su Ying stopped and raised her arm to sniff, she really admired herself. Just yesterday, in order to save a few steps, she had slept with the old master on the same bed, now mixed with sweat and bathwater, it really didn't smell good.

  Su Ying just undid the button and was about to take off her single dress, paused for a moment, narrowed her eyes and saw Fu Ye still pretending to be meditating, thought they had done what they should do, and explored what they shouldn't do without giving up, what's there to be shy about, simply took off her single dress and hung it on the rack.

  All that was left on her body was a bellyband with embroidered plum blossoms in light red. There was also a pair of silk pants of the same color, which had been soaked in water and stuck to her skin. As soon as Su Ying turned around, she met Fu Ye's scorching gaze. She didn't even know when he opened his eyes.

  Su Ying gave him a sideways glance. She tossed the towel at him, "I'm feeling a bit dizzy from the heat." I'm not serving you anymore.

  She hadn't even turned around and taken a step forward when she heard the sound of rushing water, and her waist was already being held by two strong arms, pulling her into the bathtub. Before she could struggle, her mouth was covered first. He carefully avoided the scab on the corner of her mouth, and his smelly tongue darted in and out of her mouth, stirring around once before retreating, saying with a hint of mystery: "Dare to say that your husband's mouth stinks?"

  Su Ying glared at him with her eyes, and the completely wet pants were stripped off by him. He threw them away very generously.

  Su Ying covered her chest and was on the verge of tears: "Sir, spare this humble woman, she's already married."

  Fu Yiyang was taken aback, just when Su Ying thought he couldn't accept this role-playing, he quickly got into character. He pressed down on her hands with both of his, trying to pull them away, and his tone was somewhat frivolous: "Little lady, follow me, Lord Hou, and I'll make sure you eat well and drink well. Why bother with that man? Quickly submit to me, Lord Hou."

  Su Ying felt particularly discordant, and couldn't help but burst out laughing with a "heh" sound. The flowers in her hair shook violently, and the soft bulge on her chest also shook along with them, almost burning Fu Ye Yang's eyes red with desire. He gritted his teeth and reached out to slap her butt, saying "stop being so weird".

  In simpler terms, that's "you annoying little demon", Su Ying thought and laughed even harder, the lively sparkle in her eyes made Fu Yiyang stunned for a moment, pulled the corner of his mouth, and felt a bit helpless, his chest swelling, determined to take charge of being the husband.

  Su Ying's physical demonstration showed what it means to be 'thoroughly shameless', hugging his neck and refusing to let go, rubbing and grinding, licking and sucking, almost making the old master who had not experienced such things for a long time nearly lose control in the first round and surrender prematurely.

  The old man is no longer a young punk, but for a man who has been smelling meat for several months without being able to taste it, it's only normal.

  He held his eccentric wife, panting, and gazed at the smile that couldn't be hidden on her face, and fiercely bit down on a tooth. It was still early today, so it couldn't be considered daytime yet. The sound of water splashing was endless, and it could also be said that the two were taking a bath together.

  The result of deliberately provoking her was that Su Ying had to go back to bed and sleep for a while, and before falling asleep, she thought vaguely, indeed, being hungry for several months is different.

  Fu Yiyang didn't think the hangover was gone either. After washing up feeling refreshed and energized, he got dressed while waving his hand at the aloe vera plant standing guard by the door, saying with a serious face: "Let your wife continue sleeping."

  It was already more than an hour later than Fu Yiyang's usual wake-up time, and the people outside, including Lu Hui, knew something had happened when they heard some noise, but in Su Ying's courtyard, who dared to mention it.

  Fu Yiyang said so, and no one would object. Gu's smile on her face never faded, even when Zhang led Wen Yu to pay respects to Fu Yiyang, she only took a glance.

  Although she knew what Zhang's intention was, Gu also didn't stop her and thought that this was the normal attitude a concubine-born daughter should have towards her stepmother. The mistress had a soft temper and wasn't pretending, but a concubine-born daughter still had to maintain her proper place.

  Wei Yiniang and Liyue were moved to the most remote courtyard in the north after the new year, Liyue's face was bruised, her front teeth were knocked out, and she spoke with a lisp. Her originally delicate features were greatly discounted because of this, and only Wei Yiniang accompanied her in that courtyard.

  Madam Liu was not willing to provoke Su Ying again, and she was still the only one in the main courtyard. She didn't even see the meat soup. If it were before, maybe she could have cried and made a fuss, but Fu Yeyang's temper was there, let alone Wei Madam's miserable situation was still there, even the old lady had to avoid her edge. Later, they would still have to make a living under Su Ying's hands. Madam Liu was not stupid, and she could only sigh that the madam's means were no longer what they used to be, nothing could be done.

  In the first month, every family is filled with joy. The New Year's banquet, the sound of sheng and drum music, relatives and friends visiting, although it was because Su Ying had not yet come out of her postpartum confinement and there were fewer women present, but at Fu Mu's place, it was still lively and bustling. Chen Furen and San Taigong attended to her side, and one could not see that Fu Mu was unwell in body and spirit, unable to even attend the full moon banquet for her own grandson. But just so coincidentally, on the day of Fu Lu's twins' full moon celebration, she fell ill.

  Most of the guests were old friends and acquaintances of the Hou family, although they looked down on Madame Chen as not being a legitimate wife, or at most, the name of a third concubine. They didn't want to offend them due to their relationship, but in conversation, they were quite cold. Moreover, without Su Ying, the mistress of the house, to host and entertain, there was something improper about discussing relationships.

  This is also one of the reasons why there were more guests than expected when Fu Lu's twins were full moon, and later on, those who came to send congratulatory messages at the door would not stop, all of which required Su Ying to go out and socialize.

  Fu's mother suddenly recovered and was chatting with the guests. The recovery was too obvious, considering that Fu Yeyang and Su Ying had visited her in her room the day before to "check on her", but there was no smell of medicine in the room, and Fu's mother looked radiant, not at all like someone who was feeling unwell.

  Even perfunctoriness is no longer willing to be perfunctory.

  Su Ying raised an eyebrow. Was there something she didn't know about? Why was Fu Mu being cold to Fu Ye Yang again, wasn't it just 'asking about each other's well-being' before? And even called Fu Ye Yang to the upper house to have dinner together?

  Or has Fu Xueyang's relationship already thawed out?

  From head to toe, Fu Mu treated Su Ying as an invisible person. Su Ying didn't want to stand out and be bullied by her, so she stood quietly beside Fu Yiyang the whole time, unintentionally taking a half step back behind him, letting the man bear the brunt of Fu Mu's 'cold violence'. Seeing Fu Mu's nearly enraged expression, Su Ying felt a sense of satisfaction in her heart.

  The conversation ended with "I'm also tired, you guys go ahead", and after leaving the hospital gate, Su Ying quietly let out a sigh of relief. As soon as she looked up, she met Fu Yeyang's gaze looking over at her. She pursed her lips and pretended to ask: "What's wrong?"

  Fu Yiyang added: "Mother is worried about Second Brother's affairs, I'm used to it."

  Su Ying was taken aback, is this a veiled comfort? Are we commiserating with each other or are you saying I'm even more pitiful than you? At this point, she could only smile faintly to show she didn't mind, "What happened to your little uncle?"

  Fu Yiyang furrowed his brow: "Indulging in wine and lust, not thinking of progress, I can't control him." Fu Yiyang was still brooding over the hurtful words that Fu Xiyang had blurted out at the time. At first, it was just a fit of anger, but later on, he would still feel a piercing pain like being pricked by a needle.

  Fu Yiyang didn't want to tell Su Ying about these things, that would make him appear weak, so he changed the subject.

  Su Ying returned to the house and had someone ask about Fu Xueyang's recent situation, after hearing it, she could only sigh.

  Fu Yiyang's evaluation of 'addicted to wine and lust, not thinking about progress' is actually quite objective. Fu Xiyang has indeed healed his wounds and forgotten the pain. Thinking back to last year, he even had kidney problems. If it weren't for his youthful vigor, if he continues down this path of indulgence, he'll eventually wear himself out.

  Madam Chen's mind is all on the child in her belly, while Third Madam has a daughter and everything is complete, and it doesn't seem like she was as attentive to Old Lady Fu as before. It's said that Old Lady Fu even had the idea of adopting Third Madam's daughter, but who knows why she gave up on it, leaving Third Madam in a state of nervousness.

  The originally housebound Wang Yiniang regained favor, who let Fu Xueyang be a doting husband?

  It's hard to describe the situation in the second house with the phrase "thick and heavy", Su Ying snorted and listened, why would she need to worry about the second house?

  The Lantern Festival is approaching, and the Hou Mansion has also hung up lanterns of various colors, including the twelve zodiac animals, Fu Lu Shou Xian, Ba Xian Guo Hai, etc. After a family dinner where everyone's faces didn't match their hearts, Su Ying felt it was all unnecessary and left early.

  Fu Yiyang and Su Ying walked towards the main building, outside there were still people setting off fireworks. Su Ying couldn't help but look up to watch, Fu Yiyang stopped and waited for her. When she looked over, he stretched out his hand, Su Ying lowered her head and handed hers over, and the two of them held hands together.

  Su Ying's heart was racing, she didn't need to touch her face to know it was definitely burning, and only felt a little better when she covered it with her somewhat cool hand. "I had someone cook some yuanxiao..."

  She hadn't finished speaking when Fu Yeyang pulled her forward. His low, husky voice was magnetic: "Let's go for a walk outside."

  "What? Where did this come from?"

  Su Ying was pulled out of the Hou Mansion by the enthusiastic old man, wearing a large windproof cloak, without even bringing her maid, and only when she saw the crowded street with people shoulder to shoulder did she fully come back to her senses.

  Fu Yiyang helped her put on the snow hat, and a circle of white fox fur rolled up, dense and long. The light reflected that her skin tone was like the white fox fur, with eyes as bright as ink, shining brightly like stars. Fu Yiyang looked at her, repeatedly stroking her hand and chuckled: "I had thought about taking you out for a stroll, to relax and unwind. I wanted to do it earlier, but didn't have the chance, just like ordinary couples, what do you think?"

  Su Ying looked back at the guards following closely behind them, when did he become so sentimental?

  To be honest, Su Ying had hardly walked past the bluestone slab in front of the Hou Mansion a few times. It was truly unprecedented for them to have such a 'two-person world'. Looking up at his deep eyes, could Su Ying say no? She nodded at him and put her hand back into his. The large fur cloak covered it, making it inconspicuous, and besides, with people coming and going, no one would specifically notice this.

  Fu Yiyang coughed with his fist clenched and pressed to his mouth, still not letting go of Su Ying's hand. He furrowed his brow: "How come your hands are still so cold? I should have had you bring the muffler, I remember that there was also a matching muffler made from the leftover white fox fur of this cloak."

  Su Ying was surprised. "Do you know?"

  Fu Yiyang glanced at her: "I instructed someone to do it, of course I remember."

  Su Ying's palm moved slightly as he held her hand, and it seemed like he was becoming more and more like a husband. However, holding hands like this was still a first for her, and she felt like they were dating or something. Su Ying's heart felt a slight warmth. The coolness that rushed to her face gradually calmed her down.

  The streets were lined with lanterns, bustling with people. It was a lively and extraordinary scene. They had come to the most crowded street, but Fu Yeyang, holding Su Ying's hand, didn't follow the flow of people. Yongping panted and ran over to whisper something in Fu Yeyang's ear. Fu Yeyang waved his hand and led Su Ying away, explaining: "There are lotus flower lanterns by the river, let's go take a look."

  Su Ying looked at his profile with some surprise, she could feel the palm of his hand sweating, was he nervous? Su Ying didn't even notice that her mouth had already curled up, letting Fu Yeyang lead her to the riverbank. After a while, there were fewer people around, and he handed her one of the lotus lanterns with a painting of mandarin ducks and lotus flowers, "Someone bought it randomly, just for fun."

  Su Ying looked at what was in her own hand, then looked at what was in his hand. Obviously they were a pair of lanterns, did he dare to be hypocritical again?

  Yongping, who was a few steps away, wiped the sweat that had run out of his forehead with his hand. In order to buy a pair of flower lanterns for the old master to coax his wife into happiness, he didn't take less trouble running around. He secretly wondered in his heart, how did the old master still know to buy flower lanterns to delight his wife? It's really rare.

  I searched for him in a crowd of thousands, but he was standing in the dim light of the lanterns.

  "Yi Biao Ge!" Just as Fu Yi Yang and Su Ying were being affectionate, a mournful and lingering cry pierced the air, making it awkward. There weren't many people around, so the voice was particularly clear and jarring.

  Su Ying looked up at Fu Yiyang's expression, he frowned slightly displeased, Su Ying thought he probably thought this girl was too unreserved.

  If it weren't for Pan Ruyue's previous outburst at her child's full moon celebration, and those questioning "Sister Su"s, I'm afraid most people would have thought there was something between them just based on this affectionate "Ye Biao Ge".

  Speaking of which, shouldn't Su sister be paired with Fu brother? Why is he called Yi uncle, can't it be Yi brother or Yi boy instead?

  Xue Zi pulled Fu Yi Yang's hand from under the sleeve, he turned his head to look over, Su Ying looked at him with a hint of reproach, softly calling out to him: "Yi Ge"

  "Stop it." Fu Yeyang originally didn't think there was anything wrong, just that Pan Niang wasn't being reserved enough. But after hearing Su Ying shout like this, he inexplicably felt a twinge of guilt.

  The couple looked at each other, and Pan Ruyue on the other side saw this scene and couldn't bear it anymore. Tears fell like broken pearls, and she murmured "Yi Biao Ge".

  ps：

  I laughed so hard I cried and fainted in the bathroom