NCCnovel Chapter 44 The sky is the blanket, the earth is the bed
Chapter 44 The sky is the blanket, the earth is the bed
The autumn wind blew, but it couldn't take away the heat emanating from Ye Wanning.
"Lord Xie?"
"Ok?"
Upon receiving a response, despite her best efforts to restrain herself, she leaned forward, only to have her wrist suddenly grabbed.
"who are you?"
"I am Ye Wanning."
"Wan Ning?"
Ice and fire collide in an instant, and a dragon emerges from its shell, frolicking among the mountain vegetation. The sky is its blanket, the earth its bed, and sweet springs alternate, fierce and sticky, tirelessly exploring and demanding.
As reason gradually returned, Ye Wanning's body was covered with red marks of various sizes. The person on her body was muttering to himself, seemingly out of consciousness, but blood was drawn from the teeth marks on his shoulder, and tears streamed down her face with red eyes.
It is Xie Bohuai.
It's not Zhou Yu.
When Xie Bohuai stopped moving and pressed down heavily on her, Ye Wanning gasped for breath.
"Lord Xie?"
After calling several times without getting a response, Ye Wanning pushed Xie Bohuai away. Looking at the icy stream, she paused for a moment, then slowly walked into the water, trying to wash away the scent left by Xie Bohuai.
After an unknown amount of time, Ye Wanning heard a noise in the bushes and quickly hid behind a rock. When she heard Xu Da's voice, she couldn't help but run out crying.
"Big girl!"
Xu Da exclaimed with delight, "I've finally found you! How are you? Are you alright?"
Ye Wanning concealed the anxiety in her eyes and shook her head. "I stabbed Zhou Yu. What about Third Sister and Yunzhi? How are they?"
"We only came here because we met the Third Miss. It's good that you're alright. Where is Zhou Yu? I'll go find him and settle the score for you!" Xu Da was furious and wanted to go find someone, but the Ye family steward stopped him, saying that the eldest young lady should get on the carriage first so that no one would see her.
Ye Wanning's thoughts were in disarray. After getting into the carriage, she remembered that Xie Bohuai was still by the river.
While she was struggling with what to do, she heard someone riding by on horseback. When she saw it was Qingshan with his men, she knew Xie Bohuai would be alright, and she leaned against the carriage and shed tears.
Now that things have come to this, she can't tell anyone.
Since it's not Zhou Yu, I can survive.
Living well is the most important thing.
When Zhou Yu couldn't find Ye Wanning, he knew there was no hope of a turnaround. He hastily bandaged his wounds and took Feng Ran to Ganye Temple.
He needed to get there before Ye Wanning returned to Ganye Temple, so he rode at full speed to the temple. After dismounting, he immediately asked where the Ye family's meditation room was.
The monk stopped Zhou Yu, saying, "Esteemed benefactor, the Ye family members present today are all women, so it is inconvenient for them to see men. If you have any matters to discuss, I will convey them to you. If the Ye family agrees to see you, I will then take you there."
Zhou Yu couldn't wait any longer. "I said I need to see the Ye family right now, did you hear me?"
“Benefactor, please don’t cause trouble here.” The monk frowned.
Zhou Yu, however, charged forward, attracting a crowd of onlookers. Some who knew about Zhou Yu and Ye Wanning's past couldn't help but follow him to watch the spectacle.
Having rushed all the way to the outside of the meditation room, not knowing which room belonged to the Ye family, Zhou Yu knocked on the door as if possessed, only to be chased out by the family.
"What's wrong with you? We don't know you. Why are you barging in like this?" The maid stopped Zhou Yu.
Zhou Yu's only thought right now was to find the Ye family and ruin Ye Wanning's reputation. After all, Ye Wanning had been drugged with aphrodisiacs, and it was impossible for her to recover without having been intimate with someone. Without even apologizing, Zhou Yu continued knocking on the door.
His actions angered the people in the courtyard, who summoned monks to drive him out.
The monks from the temple came over and pulled Zhou Yu away. Zhou Yu was being dragged away by two monks. Just as he was about to be taken away, he shouted loudly, disregarding his image, "Ye Wanning, are you feeling guilty? Or has your Ye family been kidnapped by a man and you dare not show yourselves in public?"
Everyone was surprised by these words and began to search for traces of the Ye family.
Some of them saw the Ye family come to offer incense. If the Ye family didn't step in when Zhou Yu made such a scene, they might really be guilty.
At this moment, Madam Lin came out with her entourage. Her face was dark. "Zhou Hanlin, have you lost your mind? Our two families have long since severed all ties. How dare you cause trouble at the temple? You have no shame, but we do. My sister is a perfectly good girl, and you've ruined her reputation in public. If you continue to cause trouble, our Ye family will risk everything to report you to the authorities!"
"Are you feeling guilty? If you're so capable, let Ye Wanning come out. I saw her being kidnapped with my own eyes!" Zhou Yu stomped his feet on the ground, his voice cracking as he shouted.
Someone advised, "Yes, Grandma Ye, let your sister-in-law come out and meet people. Wouldn't that prove that Zhou Hanlin is talking nonsense?"
Most people were just there to watch the show; it wasn't their business anyway, and Ye Wanning's refusal to come out meant she was guilty.
Zhou Yu's chest ached so badly that his scalp tingled. The more it hurt, the more it reminded him that Ye Wanning had hurt him, so he shouted even louder, "I think your Ye family is just feeling guilty. What kind of scholarly family is this? Their reputation is nothing special."
His reputation is so bad that he's not afraid of being talked about again.
"Zhou Yu, you've really lost your mind."
Just then, Ye Wanning gracefully emerged from the meditation room, her clothes impeccable, her hair and makeup flawless, showing no signs of having been abducted.
She walked over to her sister-in-law and looked at Zhou Yu with disdain. "I was just resting peacefully in the meditation room, and you had to come and slander me, saying I was kidnapped. What are you up to?"
Seeing that Ye Wanning looked normal and had just come out of the meditation room, and seeing Zhou Yu with his hair disheveled, everyone felt even more that Zhou Yu had gone mad.
"Impossible, how could this be? I clearly..."
"What do you mean, 'clearly'?" Ye Wanning retorted sharply. "Tell me, let's see how else you plan to slander me?"
Zhou Yu rolled his eyes in disbelief. He had personally administered the medicine to Ye Wanning, yet she stood there perfectly fine. He knew he wasn't insane, so Ye Wanning must have slept with a man.
Zhou Yu burst into laughter, "Ye Wanning, you've lost your virginity, how dare you stand here? Don't think I don't know what you've done!"
"Guards, gag him and take him to the government office!" Lin's ears turned red upon hearing this.
Among the onlookers, many ladies and young women frowned upon hearing these words. A young woman's reputation was of utmost importance, and Zhou Yu's public utterances were utterly futile, leaving Ye Wanning no way out.
The servant of the Ye family gagged Zhou Yu and gave him a severe beating.
This matter cannot be left unresolved. Madam Lin told Ye Wanning and her sister to go home first, while she took Zhou Yu and others to the government office.
“I’ll go with my sister-in-law.” Ye Wanning took a deep breath. “Things have come to this point, and I don’t need to care about anything else. I have to go to the government office and tear Zhou Yu to pieces.”
Seeing Ye Wanning like this, Madam Lin felt heartbroken and knew that from now on, Ye Wanning would face even greater difficulties in her marriage.
That's how people are. Even though they might say Zhou Yu has lost her mind, they'll still blame Ye Wanning, making all sorts of speculations and piling up unpleasant words about her. As a result, what decent family would come to propose marriage?
Ye Wanning was clearly the most outstanding of the three sisters-in-law, ranking highly in the capital in every aspect, but she unfortunately met the wrong person and was implicated by Zhou Yu, ending up like this.
Since that was the case, the Lin family had no choice but to agree.
Ye Wanyu also wanted to go along, but Lin refused, saying, "You go back with your third sister first." Her third sister was also frightened and didn't want to cause any more trouble.
Lin took Ye Wanning to the government office. As soon as they arrived outside the government office, Ye Mingyue rushed over and punched Zhou Yu twice, knocking out one of Zhou Yu's front teeth.
At this moment, Zhou Yu coughed up blood, his head was buzzing, and before he could come to his senses, Ye Mingde punched him twice in the stomach.
The Ye brothers had lost all their scholarly refinement. Ye Mingyue's eyes turned red. "You dared to slander my sister! You scum! I should have killed you long ago!"
Even the refined Ye Mingde kicked Zhou Yu several times until the officials from the government office came out to stop them.
Finally, Zhou Yu was carried into the government office.
"My lord, Zhou Yu has slandered the reputation of my Ye family. Please, my lord, do justice to this," Ye Mingde said first.
Ye Mingyue immediately chimed in, "Yes, sir! The Ye family's century-old reputation has been completely ruined by Zhou Yu. He's gone mad and is no longer worthy of being a Hanlin Academician!"
The Prefect of the Capital looked at the people below him with a headache, especially Zhou Yu. What was he doing causing trouble at Ganye Temple? He talked so much nonsense. Could he have really gone mad?
Previously, Zhou Yu had been on good terms with Minister Qian and others, but now Zhou Yu only frequents the Right Chancellor's residence. The Prefect of the Capital thought Zhou Yu was confused, but did not want to offend the Right Chancellor. After thinking it over, he said, "Zhou Yu is, after all, an official appointed by the court. I will submit a memorial to the Emperor on this matter, and let the Emperor make the decision."
Having served as an official for several years, Ye Mingde instantly understood the meaning of the Prefect of the Capital. "Thank you, Your Excellency. I will also submit a memorial to the Emperor, hoping that the Emperor can give our Ye family justice!"
When Ye Mingde looked at Zhou Yu on the ground, he was already looking at a dead person.
Ye Wanning, who had originally wanted to help, didn't get a chance to say a word from beginning to end, as her two older brothers took turns speaking for her.
On the way back, Lin glanced at Ye Wanning several times. After hesitating for a long time, she finally looked at Ye Wanning with a conflicted expression when they got back to the Ye family home. "Wanning, now that there are no outsiders, tell me the truth. What Zhou Yu said was all a lie, wasn't it?"