Full House Spring

Chapter 35 Breaking the Emotional Barrier

Behind Yang Yong's seemingly beautiful promises, there is nothing but a deceitful heart.

Bai Shao was the head maid serving the old lady, and she received two taels of silver as salary every month.

She had superb embroidery skills. Even if she was not the best in the mansion, she could still rely on this skill to make a living.

Moreover, her father and brother were highly valued by their master and lived a more respectable life than those wealthy families in his hometown. No matter how he calculated it, he would definitely make a profit from this marriage.

Logically speaking, since the two of them have just fallen in love, Bai Shao should be thinking about him day and night and trying every means to see him. Yang Yong was afraid that this might change, so he thought of asking someone to call her out to meet him first.

At noon, he got off duty. As soon as he stepped out of the guardhouse, he ran into the guard captain Wang Donglai. The guard captain asked familiarly, "Where are you going, dressed like a gentleman?"

Yang Yong would not tell the truth, he said calmly: "I am not on duty this afternoon, I plan to go out and have a drink to relieve my fatigue."

Wang Donglai smiled cheerfully, put his arm around his shoulders and said, "I'm worried that I can't find anyone to drink with me. I have some excellent girl's red wine and ready-made snacks. Do you want to go?"

Yang Yong's greatest hobby in life was drinking. In the past, he had earned a lot of money from selling the prey he got from hunting, but he used it all to buy wine. He lay at home drunk all day long, so he couldn't save a penny.

Although he knew that there was a risk of trouble on Bai Shao's side, he couldn't move when he heard that there was wine to drink. He bared his teeth and said briskly:

"Why not? I haven't had a single drop of alcohol during this period of time, and I'm afraid that drinking will cause trouble. I'm already feeling uncomfortable with it. I must drink to my heart's content today."

Wang Donglai laughed out loud, his eyes flickering. On the surface he looked friendly and like a good brother, but in fact he was thinking about how to ask questions later.

Yang Yong was chatting and laughing with him enthusiastically and didn't notice his expression at all. When the two of them arrived at Wang Donglai's room, they saw a few side dishes and three unopened jars of wine on the low table.

Yang Yong only had wine in his eyes, so he didn't care about Bai Shao anymore. His greedy look made Wang Donglai sneer. The expression on his face was gone in an instant, and he greeted him warmly: "Sit down, sit down. I'm not on duty now. Don't treat me as the head of the guard. Let's drink to our heart's content."

After Yang Yong sat down, Wang Donglai picked up the wine jar and poured wine. The fragrant aroma of wine immediately spread, making Yang Yong lick his lips and pick up the wine glass impatiently.

As the wine took a sip, he was surprised and said, "This wine tastes pure, fragrant, and has a long aftertaste. Where did Brother Wang get this wine?"

He took a sip between words, and Wang Donglai immediately filled his glass, saying nonchalantly, "This was a reward from the Duke last year, and my wife hid it and couldn't find it. She went back to her parents' home yesterday, and I finally found it."

Yang Yong said leisurely: "I didn't realize that Brother Wang is henpecked. If a woman doesn't obey, he will beat her. After three beatings, she will behave herself..."

Wang Donglai said in a deep voice: "My wife is the one who gave birth to my children and took care of the housework. She is not an animal. How can you beat her? How can you treat your wife like this?"

Yang Yong was drinking and in a good mood, and said casually: "I am a lonely man, how can I have money to marry a wife? I don't even have a decent home. Girls have to avoid me when they see me."

Wang Donglai's eyes flickered slightly, and he filled his glass again, saying calmly: "We have so many outstanding maids in our house, and you are both beautiful and skilled in martial arts, so why don't you think about marrying one home?"

Yang Yong drank quickly and was a little tipsy at the moment. "With my ability, it won't be a problem to pick a maid to take home."

Wang Donglai put down his chopsticks, his eyes flickering, "That's true. There are many third-class maids in the mansion. Even if she is a family-born child, if you two can really succeed, you can go to the eldest lady to beg for mercy and get money to redeem her..."

Yang Yong picked up the wine glass and drank it all, forgetting everything and saying, "A third-class maid is too vulgar. If I marry her home, she can only do rough work. I will never look down on her."

Wang Donglai pretended to be surprised, "You are so arrogant. How can a maidservant in front of the master in the inner courtyard look down on you? You are probably dreaming."

Yang Yong got drunk and lost control of his mouth, and inevitably became carried away by success.

"I have my own way to get whoever I want. You know Bai Shao who is in front of the old lady. She is deeply in love with me and will marry me..."

Wang Donglai had a hint of ridicule on his face, and said, "How is this possible! Isn't she discussing marriage with Steward Shi's son? Many people in the mansion know about this."

Yang Yong was in high spirits at the moment, and said with a big tongue: "Shihu that boy doesn't understand romance, how can he understand women as well as I do? Just wait and see, Bai Shao will listen to me and kneel down to beg the old lady sooner or later. Then I won't spend a penny and I can get her back..."

Little did he know that his extremely proud and arrogant words were all heard by Bai Shao and Xia Li who were standing outside the door. Bai Shao's face turned ashen with anger, his chest heaving violently, his eyes flashing with rage, and he wished he could rush up and fight him immediately.

Xia Li held her tightly and whispered in her ear, "Be patient for now. It won't be too late to teach him a lesson after he takes out his wallet..."

Bai Shao tried her best to endure it. Wang Donglai pretended to be unconvinced and said, "You are really good at flattering yourself. You are poor and have nothing but a pretty face. It's strange that Miss Bai Shao would like you. I won't believe it even if you kill me."

Yang Yong stood up and said indignantly, "I am more than worthy of her. If you don't believe me, look, I still have a purse she made by hand."

Finally, they got to the main point. Wang Donglai secretly breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "I have had the honor of seeing Miss Bai Shao's embroidery once. I can recognize the fine stitches. Let me have a look."

Yang Yong was drunk, and he said without thinking: "Here, take it and have a look... I definitely didn't lie to you..."

As soon as the purse was in Wang Donglai's hand, Bai Shao could no longer hold back and kicked the door open. She said angrily, "Yang Yong, you cheap man, you cheated on me and threw dirty water on me everywhere. I'll slap you in the face."

Yang Yong had drunk too much and was slow to react. He was caught off guard and Bai Shao scratched his face, leaving a long bloody mark. She hit him recklessly to vent her anger. The pain made Yang Yong come back to his senses a little. He fought back and pushed Bai Shao away with a palm.

Bai Shao fell backwards uncontrollably. Fortunately, Shi Hu came over in time and immediately reached out to support her. Bai Shao looked back and saw Shi Hu and felt so wronged that her tears burst out uncontrollably.

Shihu was already holding his breath, and seeing Baishao crying loudly, how could he hold it in any longer? He was furious and said, "You hypocritical beast in human clothing, you even dare to bully a woman, I'll beat you up." Shihu looked honest, but he had been practicing martial arts with the prince since he was a child. If they really competed, he was much stronger than the unruly Yang Yong. In addition, alcohol paralyzed Yang Yong's brain, and he was slow to react. He was no match for Shihu at all.

Seeing that Bai Shao was not injured, Xia Li stopped caring about her, took the purse handed to him by Captain Wang, and threw it directly into the charcoal stove to burn it.

Shihu always has to find a place to vent the anger in his heart, otherwise after a long time, he will inevitably have a grudge against Baishao.

When he was almost done beating Yang Yong, he sobered up. He collapsed to the ground like a puddle of mud. He looked at the people standing around him and immediately understood what was going on. He first looked at Bai Shao and begged bitterly, "Bai Shao, how could you team up with outsiders to plot against me? Doesn't the relationship between you and me count?"

Bai Shao broke through the emotional barrier and regained her former ferocity. She spat at Yang Yong fiercely and said viciously, "How dare you, a piece of stinky shit, come and touch me? Why don't you take a piss and look at yourself? I don't even know you, so what kind of feelings do you have?"

Yang Yong's pupils shrank, and he said in disbelief: "You are so cruel that you turned your back on me. The purse you gave me is still here..."

Bai Shao saw Xia Li destroy the purse. Now she had no handle in Yang Yong's hand, so she raised her chin and said, "What purse? Don't slander me. I am discussing marriage with Shihu, how could I give you a purse? You must be trying to blackmail me and ruin my reputation. I will ask the ancestor to take action."

Yang Yong searched for his purse and suddenly remembered what happened. He shouted at Wang Donglai, "Captain of the Guard, I showed you the purse. Please give it back to me."

Wang Donglai was sitting next to him, looking as if he had nothing to do with the matter. Hearing this, he said coldly, "Guard Yang, watch your tone. I haven't seen the purse, but you broke the rules of the mansion, so I'm afraid I can't keep you here."

Yang Yong's face was ashen. He struggled to get up and pointed at the dendrobium and asked:
"You planned all this, didn't you? Even if you chase me away, Bai Shao doesn't like you at all. You are just a dog beside the prince, and you will never win her heart."

Bai Shao's face turned pale, her hands twisting the corners of her clothes unconsciously, trying to suppress her inner panic, and she loudly explained: "It's not like that, it's just that we are too familiar with each other, and I'm not used to changing my identity..."

Shihu turned to Baishao and gave him a soothing smile, saying in a calm tone:
"I don't believe a word he said. Tomorrow I'll ask my mother to propose marriage. Once we get married, we'll have a lifetime to cultivate our relationship. It's no big deal."

Bai Shao felt relieved by his words. Her eyes were filled with tears and she kept nodding in agreement. Yang Yong felt that it was extremely irritating and said angrily, "You are a heartless bitch. You are so ruthless and ungrateful to me. You will not have a good ending."

Shihu kicked him in the stomach and said in a cold tone: "If you want to die, just bark. If you want to live, be quiet. This is the Duke's Mansion. It is not a place where any cat or dog can act recklessly."

When Shihu said this, he had his back to Baishao and the others. His eyes were like a sharp sword, sharp and unruly, which was completely inconsistent with the impression he had given people in the past. Yang Yong suddenly lost the confidence to confront him.

Xia Li didn't care what happened to Yang Yong. Anyway, it was impossible for him to stay in the mansion and continue to work. With such bad behavior, he would definitely be expelled from the mansion. She stepped forward, took Bai Shao's hand and said, "Leave it to Shihu to deal with it. Let's go back to Leshou Hall."

Bai Shao subconsciously glanced at Shi Hu, and he nodded slightly, motioning them to leave first.

Bai Shao had been worried about Yang Yong these past few days, fearing that he would take the purse and make trouble in front of the ancestors. If the trouble got out of hand, for the sake of her reputation, she would really have no choice but to marry Yang Yong. Now that the matter was properly resolved, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The two of them walked along the bluestone path. Seeing Bai Shao's brisk steps, Xia Li couldn't help but joked, "Are you willing to discuss marriage with Shi Hu peacefully this time?"

Bai Shao's cheeks flushed slightly, as if she was as beautiful as a blooming peach blossom. She said shyly, "I just found that Shihu is different from what I thought. He is down-to-earth and reliable, and a real man who can support a family. If I live with him, I don't have to worry too much. Isn't it wonderful?"

Xia Li shook his head and laughed, "As long as you are happy, don't tell anyone about this. Shihu will also keep it a secret. When you go back, build a good relationship with Sister Shimi and don't alienate her."

Because of the Dendrobium incident, Bai Shao felt uncomfortable when she saw Shi Mi and subconsciously avoided her, but that was no longer the case now.

After they came back, they went to see the old lady first. At this moment, the inner room was silent. Shi Mi was accompanying the old ancestor in front of the bed. Aunt Xie was sitting in a half-idle armchair and taking a nap. Xia Li walked up to her and called softly, "Grandma, let's go back to the room and sleep?"

Aunt Xie was not asleep to begin with. She opened her eyes upon hearing this, looked at her with cloudy eyes, and said in a low voice, "Where have you been mischievously going again?"

Xia Li touched his nose and whispered, "Let's go back and talk. Don't wake up the old ancestor."

Aunt Xie stood up and Xia Li hurriedly supported her arm. The grandmother and grandson walked out staggeringly. The sun was shining brightly at noon, making people feel warm. The icicles under the eaves were dripping with water.

After returning to the house, Xia Li briefly told the story of Bai Shao. Aunt Xie widened her eyes in surprise. She said unhappily:

"Bai Shao is so bold that she even dared to get married to a man outside her family. If you don't stop her in time, her parents will probably break her legs. What's wrong with the manager of the front yard? How dare they invite such a despicable person into the mansion? It's ridiculous."

Xia Li patted her back to calm her down, and was thankful that she had kept it a secret from Grandma. She comforted her softly, "The guard has been kicked out of the house. This matter has been resolved satisfactorily. Please don't mention it to the old ancestor."

Aunt Xie said sternly, "If the old lady knew that Bai Shao was so unruly, she would definitely not let her serve in front of her. The Shi family is such a good marriage, but she doesn't know how to cherish it. She is so stupid."

Xia Li lowered her head and advised, "How could she know that people are treacherous? Yang Yong ran after her, so he naturally tried his best to please her. It's understandable that he was bewildered. Fortunately, he turned back in time, and it's not too late."

Madam Xie turned her head and looked at her. "You said that the prince intervened to help. When did you become so close to him?"

Xia Li hurriedly shook his head and denied, "It's not what you think. I just happened to run into the prince. Every time I saw that prince, I stayed far away from him."

Aunt Xie pursed her lips tightly and said worriedly:
"You must know how to avoid suspicion with the Crown Prince. No matter what the First Madam is thinking, you should not get involved. The future Crown Prince's wife must come from a famous family. If you try to curry favor with the rich and powerful, your fate will not be good."

Xia Li chuckled and said, "Grandma, you're overthinking. I know the maids in the mansion are ready to make a move, but I don't have any idea at all. I still want to take you out of the mansion as soon as possible to live a free life."

Aunt Xie was relieved by her words. Lu Lingchuan, that flower on the mountain top, could only be admired from afar...

(End of this chapter)