After Becoming the Cannon Fodder Live-in Spouse A (GL) - Chapter 49: The Forty-Ninth Day

Chapter 49: The Forty-Ninth Day

With Su Wanqiu’s perverted request appearing, many scenes from the past when she got along with Shen Jinglan floated in Ye Fuguang’s mind, but those all passed by like mirror flowers and water moons, in her mind like photos falling one by one, overlapping and coinciding with each other before she could see them clearly—

In the end, what she recalled was something mentioned in the plot.

Su Wanqiu must listen to a story before sleeping, originating from the shadow of her escape from Yong’an Imperial City accompanied by that great fire in her childhood; she could not sleep all night long, and at that time, there was always her aunt who accompanied her, constantly telling her stories and coaxing her to sleep, and accompanying her when she woke up from nightmares.

Later, this even became a point for the male and female protagonists to show affection together, because the first time Shen Jingming and Su Wanqiu were trapped in a cave in the wild, with campfire and shadows, in the crackling jumping flames, Shen Jingming suddenly asked her, “Can’t sleep?”

He said in a joking tone, “Do you want me to tell you a story?”

This speech was the same as when her aunt who had taken care of Su Wanqiu since childhood first discovered her insomnia, making Su Wanqiu’s heart thump while sleeping in the cave; she did not know what mood she was in when she agreed, but in any case, that should be one of the few scenes in the whole text where the male and female protagonists got along without doi, but that was a rare moment when Su Wanqiu softened her heart toward this man.

Later, every night that Shen Jingming spent with her, sometimes he would read books to her, sometimes he would tell her stories; in short, Su Wanqiu gradually deepened her dependence on him because of this.

The reason why Guishuang of the Great Zong Royal Court could not win her heart was because the other party disdained to do these things; he liked to train eagles, and if Su Wanqiu could not sleep—

Then he would make her exhausted and have to sleep.

As long as he did this a few more times, Su Wanqiu would always be able to change those disobedient bad habits.

…

It had to be said.

Even until now after entering this world, Ye Fuguang still felt that Su Wanqiu and the likes of Shen Jingming and Guishuang were really a perfect match; Shen Jingming was deep-minded and resourceful, Guishuang liked forced and twisted love, and the Su Wanqiu in front of her was completely of the same kind as these two people.

They were suspicious, violent, deep…

Like reflections of all the dark sides of this twisted world.

However, because of the lesson during the day, these recalled things only flashed in her mind for a short few seconds, and in the swaying candlelight, she pursed her lips, and only then spoke out, “I and the Prince…”

She neither wanted to fabricate some colorful stories with Shen Jinglan like those authors of talk books, nor did she want to experience the price of refusing Su Wanqiu again, so she was quiet for a moment, brought out her most skilled and usual act of pretending to be weak, recalled Shen Jinglan’s attitude toward her when she first woke up, and timidly spoke out:

“I… I am too weak… The gland is also incomplete.”

“The Prince perhaps never thought…”

Now Ye Fuguang already understood some of the shame of Qianyuan, so when admitting that she was [useless], the shrinking in her tone was like timidity overflowing from her bones.

This made Su Wanqiu recall her previous investigation results, with countless evidences proving that this Qianyuan was such a waste, and precisely because of this, the scene in Plum Garden where she previously slashed Shen Jinglan’s back neck and forced the release of the scent gland left such a deep impression on her.

“Is that so?”

Su Wanqiu raised her hand to touch Ye Fuguang’s lower jaw, but the smile did not reach her eyes, and her facial expression was more inclined to sarcasm: “She actually had the heart to treat you like this? I thought you saved her, and she should repay you with her body.”

…How could Shen Jinglan be the type to repay with her body?

This thought clearly emerged in Ye Fuguang’s mind.

But she did not speak out; she always felt that Su Wanqiu’s attitude toward Shen Jinglan was very subtle, and these happened to be contents not mentioned in the original work, but originally when she transmigrated, this novel had not yet ended, and looking at the author’s stance of dragging on and making it long to earn rotten money, perhaps this was a hidden part—

So she lowered her eyelashes, weaker than the Dikun in front of her, her throat moved, and she said somewhat uneasily, “I-I use other stories to exchange, more interesting than this, is that okay?”

Su Wanqiu hooked her lips.

Because she had listened to stories from childhood to adulthood, even though Xunfang had studied in the palace, but because of her special situation, she had to collect some bizarre and exotic talk books with rare and interesting texts for her, and in the past she was in the palace and had seen the vast and boundless collection of books in Great Xia, and in these years she had also collected many strange tales from the Great Zong Royal Court; she really wanted to know what more interesting stories Ye Fuguang could tell?

She smiled very mildly, “Okay.”

Still that appearance of being very easy to talk to and easy to satisfy.

But Ye Fuguang, who had already been deceived by her surface, did not believe that she was so easily fooled, and sure enough, she heard her say, “But if it is a story with no novelty that I find uninteresting, tonight you probably will not be allowed to sleep and will have to be punished again.”

While speaking.

The fingertips that originally held Ye Fuguang’s wrist shifted slightly to the side and directly pressed on her wound; this sudden pain directly made her face twist for an instant.

—It has to have novelty, right?

Palace court jade liquid wine, eight hundred and eighty-one cup.

Specifically how it is, listen to me blow it for you.

Have you prepared yourself psychologically to listen to the Four Great Classical Novels and the Four Great Worker Comics?

Ye Fuguang showed an especially difficult smile, thinking that if telling stories could prolong life, all the people in this world would have to give her extra lifespan, so she cleared her throat, “I temporarily thought of four, I don’t know which one you want to hear first?”

Su Wanqiu did not expect her to come up with so many in an instant and was rarely stunned, “Oh?”

“The Story of a Monk and Three Animals, The Story of Three Women and a Group of Men, The Story of Three Men and War, and The Story of a Man and a Group of Women, temporarily just these four.”

The face of this little princess from the previous dynasty darkened, “Do you think this kind of thing can interest anyone?”

“There are also their original names, but I thought you would like this choice…” Ye Fuguang hesitated and said honestly, “Journey to the West, Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Dream of the Red Chamber, how about choosing like this?”

Su Wanqiu chose very casually, “The first one.”

Is there any travelogue in this world that she has not heard?

–

At the third quarter of Chou hour.

Ye Fuguang had already fallen asleep, but Su Wanqiu was still full of energy.

She had never heard such an interesting story, especially the immortal world depicted by Ye Fuguang, which was not depicted in the Great Zong, and Great Xia had once given those monks many conveniences, allowing them to build temples and buildings on this land; those scriptures were obscure word by word, as if containing some power.

But in the end, when Great Xia fell, these gods failed to save the dynasty that sheltered her.

So they deserved to die.

But in this travelogue, the world where these immortals lived seemed to have little intersection with mortals like her, so it was mysterious and elusive, like an immortal realm spread out in front of her.

She could not help but pinch the cheek of the Qianyuan who had fallen asleep tiredly next to her, and in her painful frown and vague questioning sound, she said coldly, “I haven’t slept yet, you get up and continue for me—”

She had just said up to the part where that monkey was thrown into the alchemy furnace by Taishang Laojun.

She was very much looking forward to the later content.

But the person pinched by her did not know if she had gotten used to her viciousness in this short time or something else; in any case, because she was just recovering from a serious illness and was really too sleepy to open her eyes, she could only lift her hand in a daze and very lightly pat her back through the quilt.

“Hmm… I’m here, sleep.”

The soft coaxing voice was very soft, with a strange charm that made the tense spirit relax along with it.

Su Wanqiu, who originally wanted to pinch her awake directly, somehow relaxed the strength in her hand for some reason, paused for a moment, and inexplicably felt a sense of relaxation as if she would always be accompanied.

Accompaniment.

This person?

What right did she have—

The thought emerged, and a bit of sarcasm appeared in Su Wanqiu’s eyes again.

A weak and useless guy like Ye Fuguang, even Miyun sealing her gland’s acupoint was superfluous; if thrown on the street, not to mention as a Qianyuan, even Zhongjun and Dikun would come to bully her; at this moment, Shen Jinglan was still too busy to take care of herself, and her only reliance was herself.

If she was not obedient, and sold her to a flower house, with this appearance of being afraid of pain, easy to cry, and without any ability, she would probably be torn apart by guests on the first day.

Su Wanqiu quickly convinced herself that it was not that she needed this weak and promising waste for companionship, but that this waste could only rely on her to survive, so her gaze immediately softened, looking at the person in her arms, really like looking at a little native dog she had carefully selected in the market.

A little dog that would be slaughtered and eaten without her.

A little dog that could only please her and be loyal to her.

Her mood suddenly improved again, those uneasy and irritable emotions all calmed down, and in the end, she actually allowed Ye Fuguang to boldly put her hand on her body like this, then raised her hand and made a gesture, letting the maid kneeling and guarding by the bed extinguish the last bit of candlelight in the room and withdraw.

When the other party was about to go out quietly and without sound, she suddenly added, “Let Miyun come tomorrow morning.”

Little dogs are always fragile and easy to die; if the wound on her wrist was left for a longer time, it would leave a scar, which would be somewhat imperfect.

…

When Ye Fuguang woke up, her mind was still chaotic.

Because she had not slept enough.

But the noise in the room was really too loud; although Su Wanqiu did not belong to the type with a sharp voice that made people feel irritable, her shadow toward this voice was really too deep, so she could not ignore it; her body instinctively got goosebumps, and after vaguely hearing it clearly, she could no longer sleep.

She sat up in a daze and then discovered that there was an additional figure of a man in front of the bed at some unknown time; the other party did not have the appearance of a Central Plains person and looked a bit like a mixed race of foreign ethnicity; when he had a cold face, he had the look of an eagle’s gaze and a wolf’s watch, making her pupils shrink.

“Extend your hand.” Miyun’s face was very bad.

Especially since today’s departure plan was canceled by the princess on a whim, this meant that when they wanted to resist the deliberately spread plague in Jiangning City, they also needed to prevent Shen Jinglan from really coming back with her life; at that time, they would be besieged in this city.

He never thought that Shen Jinglan, whom the Great Zong regarded as a threat, could leave so easily without returning, because in the past, several ambushes against the Shen family army had not succeeded, and even the great victory in Yancheng was relying on—

“Miyun, you are too fierce.” Su Wanqiu, who was lazily having breakfast at the table, looked over here and smiled as she reminded, “She has a very small胆子, don’t scare her.”

Miyun strongly held back the impulse to roll his eyes at her but did not hold back his mouth, “If the princess had not played so excessively yesterday, I would not have the chance to scare her today.”

Su Wanqiu was not concerned, “If I really got excited about playing, it would not be until morning that I summon you.”

The implied meaning.

If she really wanted to torment someone, Ye Fuguang would not have survived last night.

Miyun ignored her and raised his voice a bit toward the person in the bed again, “Extend your hand.”_

Ye Fuguang, through that faintly visible curtain, discovered that Su Wanqiu had no objection, so she closed her eyes and extended one hand to Miyun; the purple-red bruise on her slender wrist had become even more terrifying after one night, giving people a terrifying illusion that the hand would be strangled off from here.

She looked at the injury on her hand and could not help but redden her eyes; when the man applied medicine to her, there were already silent tears sliding down her cheeks.

In the past in the royal court, Miyun had treated many terrifying wounds on the slaves and concubines of many Great Zong nobles; at that time, each of them would cry like this—

Including the Han Chinese Dikun who had given birth to him, his birth mother.

He had not thought of that woman for a long time; at this moment, seeing Ye Fuguang shedding tears silently but without casting any hopeful or seeking-help gaze toward him, it made him think of that robbed woman again.

This was the most obedient way of crying that would not bring new disasters to oneself.

He inexplicably lightened his movements and, very rarely, before leaving, left the last piece of gauze in the medicine box; if Ye Fuguang did not want Su Wanqiu to see that she had cried later, she could use that white gauze to wipe away her tears instead of letting them fall on the bedding.

–

But Su Wanqiu still discovered the traces of her crying.

When Ye Fuguang was served by the maids to wash and comb, could only stay dazed to be manipulated by them, did not dare to raise any objection, and was then led by them to Su Wanqiu’s table, this female protagonist who was weak and beautiful in the original work supported her head with one hand and asked her with a smiling face: “How, did Miyun hurt you?”

She stiffened for a moment, still holding that small piece of gauze in her hand, and shook her head nervously.

She hesitated for a moment, “It is, it is that I am too afraid of pain…”

Su Wanqiu slowly blinked her eyes.

After a strange silence, she suddenly asked, “In the past, were you also coquettish with Shen Jinglan like this?”

Ye Fuguang uneasily lifted her gaze to look at her, hard to understand why she always mentioned Shen Jinglan in every sentence, as if… wanting to compare with her, or perhaps, secretly in love with her?

Before she could figure it out, Su Wanqiu slowly raised one hand, stirred the bowl of bird’s nest porridge that had just been served, then scooped a spoonful and placed it by Ye Fuguang’s lips; because the temperature was a bit high, it instantly scalded Ye Fuguang’s lips red.

She reflexively dodged back a bit, then quickly leaned forward to blow on the porridge in her spoon, opened her mouth without hesitation and bit it down; although it was still a bit hot in her mouth, she did not dare to swallow—

Because if eating something too hot and not spitting it out quickly, the worst way was not to swallow it down; burns in the esophagus were more troublesome than in the mouth.

Seeing her holding the porridge wanting to swallow but not daring to, Su Wanqiu slowly withdrew her hand and smiled even happier, “You see, if you coquettish with me in this manner, I would only want to make you hurt even more.”

Ye Fuguang: “…”

Pervert, I have already scolded tired.

She kept a wooden face.

Fortunately, Su Wanqiu also lost interest in continuing to feed her hot porridge; after throwing away the spoon and having someone replace it with a new one, she said to her very insincerely, “I have never served anyone, just now I was not skilled.”

She paused and smiled slightly, “How about finding someone who can skillfully serve you?”

Ye Fuguang reflexively wanted to refuse, but felt that the meaning in her words seemed already decided; after fully experiencing this previous dynasty princess’s decisiveness in saying one and doing one, she sat stiffly without moving.

…

Then—

She would never forget, from the doorway side, walking over against the light, the figure with lowered eyebrows and compliant eyes, as steady, reliable, and able to entrust many things as in the past.

Because the other party had already changed out of the servant clothes in Prince Qi’s mansion, this figure was familiar yet revealed an uncomfortable strangeness.

Until that person came in front of her and very lightly called out: “Wangfei.”

She finally came back to her senses.

Ye Fuguang’s pupils finally focused on her, as if she had just found her own voice: “…Jixiang.”

She paused and felt that she probably should not call the other party like this, because in the past when this little girl and Ruyi stayed by her side together, their names were both changed after entering the mansion to make it convenient for the master to remember; she looked familiar with them but had never asked their real names.

She even did not understand their hometowns and preferences.

So she skillfully comforted herself.

In this way, even if betrayed, it was very normal, was it not?

So she seemed not to see that the other party had no injuries at all and even changed into the same clothes as Su Wanqiu’s maids, and could even show her a smile, as if echoing the female protagonist’s previous considerate suggestion, and after saying this name, continued:

“It is indeed someone I am familiar with.”

But as if meeting the person in front of her only today, she spoke lightly and asked: “Then, how should I address you now?”

Jixiang could clearly feel the princess’s gaze falling on her.

That gaze carried the meaning of watching a play, shuttling back and forth between her and Ye Fuguang, seeming to expect some tearful, regretful, or incredulous reaction like in a play, but there was nothing; but having none of these would disappoint her true master, and the outcome would be very miserable.

So she trembled imperceptibly and answered, “You… just like in the past.”

Rarely, she took the initiative to say, “Do you have nothing else to ask?”

For example.

Why did she betray Prince Qi and betray her?

Or for example, why did she bring her to Su Wanqiu here?

Jixiang remembered that when facing Ruyi, this master was always the type to speak straightforwardly and frankly, but it was easy to know that the princess was not easy to serve, so the wangfei had become this silent in the short time after waking up.

Then this play that would satisfy the princess could only be performed by her—

Ye Fuguang seemed to be reminded of something by her, nodded very slowly, “Oh”ed once, thought for a long time, “Were you forced?”

This sentence was finally what Su Wanqiu expected.

The princess who liked to listen to bizarre and fresh bedtime stories at night also happily watched interesting pets and useless chess pieces temporarily put on a play in front of her during the day; she liked this kind of entertainment.

Jixiang was quiet for a long time, she slowly shook her head, “No.”

Ye Fuguang then followed with sudden realization, “Like this.”

She showed a genuine smile, “That is too good.”

In this way, she did not have to worry that she was so useless and implicated the people around her.