Chapter 362

Chapter 362: Loose Collar Xie Yunting arrived, and You Shuyi tactfully took her leave. Before leaving, she couldn't help but take a few extra glances at Xie Yunting, which made Cui Lingrong even more embarrassed. Xie Yunting sidled up to Cui Lingrong and asked what the medicine on the table was. "Contraception," Cui Lingrong answered truthfully. "If you need heirs..." "No need. I, Xie Yunting, came into this world with nothing, and I can leave alone just the same. After death, these are all empty titles—twenty years from now, no one will remember who I was. I don't need insincere offerings." As he spoke, Xie Yunting had already pressed himself against Cui Lingrong. "Don't think of me with those men's mindsets. If I wanted a wife and children, why would I have waited until now? Having my sister's affection is enough to make me happy." Xie Yunting was shameless, and his way of thinking differed from most people's. When he said he didn't care, he truly didn't care. Cui Lingrong watched Xie Yunting for a moment, and only when his hands started wandering did she let out a resigned sigh. "It's broad daylight—what are you doing?" "Whatever sister says, I'll do," Xie Yunting said, sniffing at Cui Lingrong with a look of pure enjoyment. "Sister smells wonderful." Cui Lingrong tapped Xie Yunting on the head. "Enough. This isn't the bedchamber—behave yourself." Just as she finished speaking, the sound of Song Shulan and Nanny Qiu arguing came from the courtyard. Nanny Qiu was blocking Song Shulan from entering. Song Shulan had been drinking. Though not drunk, the wine had given him courage. "You servant girl, what are you blocking me for? I'm here to see Cui Lingrong today. She won't let me have peace, so I'll pester her for the rest of her life—let's see where she can hide!" "Marquis, you're a man of status—have some dignity!" Nanny Qiu was thoroughly disgusted, but then she saw Song Shulan suddenly pull out a dagger. "Get out! All of you, get out!" Nanny Qiu dodged to the side, which gave Song Shulan an opening—he rushed into the room. But no sooner had he steadied himself than Xie Yunting kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying backward. The dagger clattered to the ground. When Nanny Qiu came in, she quickly retrieved the dagger. "General, Marquis Song, he—" "It's fine. With me here, he can't do anything. All of you, leave." Xie Yunting grabbed Song Shulan and poured a pot of tea over his head. "Song Shulan, if you have nothing better to do, you can go do manual labor at the military camp—there's plenty of strength for you to burn there!" "You're... Xie Yunting? Why are you here again?" Song Shulan reached forward, but Xie Yunting caught his wrist and twisted it, eliciting a pig-slaughter scream from him. "It hurts, it hurts—let me go!" Song Shulan's mind finally cleared. He looked at Xie Yunting, then at Cui Lingrong. "You... the two of you, alone together—even if Xie Yunting is a eunuch, shouldn't you at least have a servant attending in the room?" Just as he finished speaking, Song Shulan noticed Cui Lingrong adjusting her loose-fitting garment, the collar area covered in glaring marks. "No—Cui Lingrong, where did those marks on you come from?" "Song Shulan, you and I are strangers now. What right do you have to interrogate me?" Cui Lingrong's voice was light and cold. She loathed Song Shulan, so she decided to crush his hopes completely. She wrapped one arm around Xie Yunting, her cheeks flushing and eyes shimmering. "You've seen what you came to see. Now get out." "No—isn't Xie Yunting impotent?" Song Shulan didn't understand. "Why is it that I can't, but Xie Yunting can?" They were both impotent—so why? Cui Lingrong smiled. "Song Shulan, your impotence is genuine impotence, but..." Cui Lingrong didn't finish, and Xie Yunting wrapped his arm around her slender waist. "But I can." Their gazes intertwined with deep affection, as if they'd been together for a long time. Song Shulan stared in disbelief. "Xie Yunting, you've deceived the Emperor! I'm going to report you!" "Song Shulan, if you have that kind of ability, go right ahead. We'll see whether the Emperor believes you or me. With this kind of matter, as long as I say I can't, then I can't—surely you can't prove otherwise?" Xie Yunting's face turned cold. "Stay away from Sister Cui from now on. You reek—you'll dirty her courtyard." "You two shameless adulterers!" Song Shulan hadn't expected Cui Lingrong to actually be with Xie Yunting. "Have you been together all along? Fine, Cui Lingrong—you actually cuckolded me! What skill! The Emperor can't control you, but what about the Cui family? I refuse to believe there's no one in this world who can rein you in!" Song Shulan felt utterly humiliated and wished he could kill Xie Yunting. Cui Lingrong said, "Though I don't care what you think, I'll still make things clear: before the mutual divorce, General Xie and I were completely innocent. Today, I'm telling you—stop coming around to disgust me. With a filthy thing like you, how could I ever go back?" Just thinking about it was nauseating, let alone sharing a bed with Song Shulan again. But Xie Yunting said, "Why does sister call me 'General Xie'? Last night, that's not what you called me." He deliberately flirted in front of Song Shulan, making the man's anger burn with rage. "Xie Yunting, you... you've gone too far. Don't think I'm actually afraid of you!" Song Shulan cursed as he tried to leave, only to have Xie Yunting grab him by the collar from behind. "What are you doing? I hold a noble title, and I'm still the father of Yu-jie and the others. Treat me like this, and they won't be good to you!" Xie Yunting laughed at that. "Why would I need Yu-jie and her siblings to be good to me? It's not like I'm trying to be their father. With a head that thick, no wonder you'll never get promoted in your lifetime. You rose through the ranks by riding on a woman's coattails, and in the end, you were still demoted. Song Shulan, you haven't got a shred of real ability, yet you still want to row a boat in your own trousers—aren't you afraid of splitting them wide open?" Xie Yunting dragged Song Shulan all the way to the front gate and dumped him there. Song Shulan tumbled twice on the ground in a sorry state, even swallowing a mouthful of dirt, coughing as he lay sprawled on the ground. "Cough, cough—Xie Yunting, you beast! You'll die a horrible death!" "Close the door. From now on, don't let scum like that inside." Xie Yunting brushed the dust off his hands. Song Shulan cursed several more times, but when his shouting drew stares from passersby, he hurriedly fled. On the way back, Song Shulan kept thinking about how to get revenge on Xie Yunting and Cui Lingrong. If he went out into the streets and spread the word, no one would believe him. Besides, the Emperor valued Xie Yunting. He himself was merely a man in mourning, and the Emperor had never liked him anyway. In comparison, Song Shulan knew full well whose side the Emperor would take. But swallowing this humiliation was something he couldn't do—he wouldn't be able to sleep day or night. Cui Lingrong claimed she was innocent with Xie Yunting before the Mutual Divorce—how could that be possible? If Xie Yunting hadn't been her lover, why would Cui Lingrong have sought a Mutual Divorce? He had been married to Cui Lingrong for over a decade and knew her well. She was the quintessential lady of a great household. He hadn't done anything particularly wrong to her, yet she insisted on a Mutual Divorce—clearly she had strayed. The more Song Shulan thought about it, the angrier he grew. He was so focused on figuring out how to get back at Xie Yunting and the other one that he wasn't watching where he was going, let alone noticing the carriage racing toward him from not far ahead. "Move out of the way!" By the time Song Shulan reacted, the carriage was nearly upon him. He instinctively stepped back, but his foot missed the ground, and he tumbled into the middle of the river. "Someone help! A man's fallen in the water!" Song Shulan sank beneath the surface. A moment later, the water above him turned a vivid red.