My Husband's Lover (9)

I tried to sleep, but I could not help thinking about what happened. And it did not help that Liqin just left without a word.

"I need to do something."

I rose up from my bed and took the paper from the cabinet. Trying to get my mind off what happened, I read Operation: QinWei Forever.

Yanyu's first aggressive attack on Liqin was the framing. In the novel, it was not mentioned that Yanyu was the one who framed Liqin. It was only stated that Dingxiang imprisoned Liqin for a crime he did not commit. I assumed it was originally planned by Yanyu because Dingxiang was her brother. But Dingxiang clearly did not like Yanyu.

I lied down on my bed again and thought about it. I had been hating Yanyu for something she did not do. Was Yanyu really not as bad as I thought she was?

I remembered Jie's words. Yanyu was not the religious type, but she bought the painting of the old man. Yanyu was clearly desperate.

I did not know how to feel about Yanyu anymore. Should I be sad because she was also suffering? Or should I continue to be angry because her actions were inexcusable? But how many of those bad things did she really do?

***

I woke up because of the smell of tofu that dominated my room. It was amazing how people did not grow tired of tofu.

"Miss, just put your dishes on your table when you're done. I'll collect them after I cook the porridge for Mr. Liqin."

"Isn't he going to eat tofu? He likes tofu. Has his taste finally changed?"

"Mr. Liqin is sick and requested for porridge."

Jie excused herself, and I quickly ate my breakfast. I hurriedly ran to Liqin's room. He was coughing, but he was still doing some reading on his bed. I knocked on the door and it got his attention.

"Stay away from me for awhile. I am not feeling well."

"I know. That's why I came here. I'm here to laugh at you." I looked at his shelf and commented, "You've got nice books here."

"You gave them all to me."

"Wow. I'm really a good friend, am I not?"

"Let me rephrase that. You threw them at me when you found out about our affair."

"At least you still got something."

"Let us argue when I am better." He closed the book and put it on the table near him. "Can you call one of the servants?"

"Why?"

"I want to change my clothes."

"Let me do it."

"No." His voice was firm, but he could not stop himself from blushing.

"Just let me do it. I've touched that part already so why-"

He threw the book at me. Thankfully, I was able to dodge it.

"I will do it myself."

"Is my dear Liqin shy? Awww. It's okay. I won't tell others about your size. It's our little secret."

I thought he did not have enough strength to chase me out but he did. Before he closed the door with a bang, I still managed to shout, "Your secret is safe with me!"

It was fun teasing Liqin.

I went to the kitchen to cook something for him. After all, I was the reason why he got sick. When I got to the kitchen, Jie was transferring the porridge onto a bowl.

"Jie, where are the foods stored?"

Jie pointed at the cabinet. "Why, miss?"

"I'm going to cook something for Liqin."

"The porridge is ready."

"I'm going to add something."

"Mi-"

"It's okay. I know what to do. I'll clean up after. You can go and do your other tasks."

Although hesitant, Jie left to do the laundry. I looked at the foods and I could only use one - the shrimps. I did not recognize the other foods.

While I was waiting for the shrimps to cook, I looked at the porridge. I gulped and tried to stop myself from tasting it. But it was so tempting. Any food that was not tofu looked delicious in my eyes.

"Just a spoonful wouldn't hurt, right?"

I was about to taste it when I heard footsteps. I immediately put the spoon down and started whistling. I stopped when I saw who it was.

"So how was prison, my dearest sister?"

"It was good, Dingxiang. At least in there I didn't have to endure seeing your face."

"If you think it is good there, I can always send you back. But you need to wait before I create another valid reason to put Liqin in jail. Then you can obstruct justice again so you can both spend many nights there in your cell."

"Don't you have important things to do?"

"I am doing an important thing. I need to put Liqin in prison so I can control Guowei. Only then could I take back what is mine. But you will not understand. You have always chosen Liqin."

"Since you know that I won't understand, stop talking to me. I don't care about your story."

"You are bound to care about it sooner or later. It will not be long. I would love to talk with you more, but I do not have much time to waste. I am a busy man."

"It's okay. I don't really like talking with morons. If possible, please be busy every time you see me so that I don't have to talk with you."