Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

Ruyu was internally frantic, but she couldn't stop herself from going out in this situation; it was truly bizarre.

If anyone's to blame, it's Chu Mingkong. How come there was no warning at all, and his belt just suddenly appeared hanging to the side?

Ruyu covered her eyes, unable to bear the sight, but the sounds from the other side forced her to unconsciously open her fingers and peek at the commotion.

"Qingning's small frame looks like she's been abused, yet she can still shout so happily..."

Ru Yu thought to herself with a subtle feeling, the blush on her face lingering. Her heart was stirred by the soft cry, and one hand unconsciously reached towards that strange place on her body.

......

After an unknown amount of time, Ruyu let out a long sigh and thought to herself: It's finally over!

She watched Chu Mingkong leave with Qing Ning, then lay low for a while longer before getting up and sneaking out of that cramped and awkward place.

This room is indeed a place of trouble; one should not enter it lightly.

"I've been squatting here for so long, but I still have to get the sachet back!"

Ruyu took the hanging sachet, but she didn't intend to ruin someone's good fortune by losing a few strands of hair or anything like that.

She carefully reached in, intending to remove the hair completely, wrap it in paper, and take only the sachet.

But just as the finger reached in, Chu Mingkong and Jin Yu pushed the door open and entered, the two of them still talking about something.

"Jinyu, you can just cut off your hair and stuff it in. I'll call Yongzhen and the others over later."

"No, please. I want you to cut a strand for me, and then I'll symbolically cut one for you too, just one! No more!"

Jin Yu's desire for a complete ceremony is understandable, although it's unclear why she didn't think of it on her wedding night.

When the two of them saw Ruyu standing in their room, she reached into the sachet.

Chu Mingkong and Jin Yu stared silently at Ru Yu, while Ru Yu met their gaze with a solemn expression.

Ruyu really wanted to show her confidence and make it clear that she wasn't there to steal, but to properly retrieve what she had come to, but that seemed a bit difficult to explain.

The first to break the silence was Jin Yu, who, after some thought, said in surprise:

"Ruyu, could it be that you secretly have feelings for Chu Lang, and are secretly stuffing your hair here, hoping to form a secret marriage?"

Ru Yu was furious. This fiery young woman, hands on her hips, maintained her imposing manner and said:

"What are you saying? I'm just here to retrieve my sachet. I wove it myself!"

Jin Yu knew a bit about these royal sisters and didn't quite believe their words, becoming increasingly suspicious:

"Ruyu, you don't know any needlework, do you? You only know how to wield swords and spears, how come you know how to weave sachets?"

“I sewed this last stitch myself, so how can it not be considered as my hard work?” Ruyu continued to argue.

Chu Mingkong suddenly realized, but became even more confused.

The enlightenment lies in the fact that you can consider this as something you wove yourself, leaving someone else to finish the entire sachet for you. The confusion lies in... when did this girl enter the room?

She concealed her presence quite well; she must be carrying some kind of treasure.

"I have a question for you. Ruyu, when did you enter the room?" Chu Mingkong asked.

Ru Yu's expression changed, and she even stammered:

"Why are you bothering with all that? What I'm saying now is that I really made this sachet, I didn't mean to stuff my hair in it!"

"Even if you just said you were stuffing your hair in it, I wouldn't blame you. Anyway, I'm the older sister, and you've decided on this younger sister~" Jin Yu's focus was a little off, and she smiled smugly, her beautiful eyes curving into a pretty crescent moon.

Ru Yu felt a sense of powerlessness that she couldn't quite explain.

Chu Mingkong, however, did not intend to make things difficult for Ruyu any further. He said to Jinyu:

"Jinyu, why don't you go play with Maomao and the others first? I'll talk to Ruyu for a bit, and then you can come over with Rong'er and the others to get married later?"

Okay~

Jin Yu left the room without hesitation, leaving Chu Mingkong and Ru Yu alone.

Chu Mingkong walked over and sat down at the table and chairs, not getting too close to Ruyu to avoid putting pressure on her.

"Since this sachet is the result of your hard work, why don't I buy it? Otherwise, it's strange for you to use it since it's full of hair."

Ru Yu emphasized the issue of the sachet so much mainly because she felt guilty. She was caught in someone else's bridal chamber, and it was really hard to explain.

The original idea behind this sachet was to use the "handmade" gimmick to make it a thoughtful gift for Shen Xuejun, but now that it's really going to be taken back, so be it.

The princess didn't dare to look Chu Mingkong in the eye, and forced a show of force as she said:

"Never mind, you can have it. I'm not that stingy."

Seeing that she was about to leave, Chu Mingkong stopped her, saying:

"Hey, hey, hey, let's stay and chat some more."

"What do you want to talk about?" Ruyu stopped.

There's no point in discussing the sachet anymore; Ruyu has already said she'll give one as a gift, so we'll just give her a sachet in return.

"How long have you been in the room? What have you seen?" Chu Mingkong asked.

"..."

After a brief silence, Ru Yu realized that Chu Mingkong was doing this on purpose, so she turned and left. Chu Mingkong quickly followed and apologized.

"Alright, alright, let's not talk about this anymore. I didn't know, I was just asking out of curiosity... I wanted to talk to you about having fun."

In other contexts, Ruyu is actually quite willing to talk about this topic of "playing".

Why did she come out? Naturally, it's because she was bored staying at my General Grandpa's place and wanted to get some fresh air. The last time she went out was when she met Chu Mingkong.

But just a short while later, he witnessed Qingning being lifted up by the knees, her legs hooked, and held high in the air...

Ruyu felt it wasn't appropriate to talk about "fun" topics, as the conversation might easily turn into "the end."

“I’m serious. You rarely get to come out, and with the Asura King as your protector, you can freely wander around the Sword Dynasty. You don’t usually have many opportunities to come out, let alone travel far. If you want to go to the Abyss, I can take you there.”

Chu Mingkong's enthusiasm and painstaking efforts to take her out to play were simply to use Ru Yu's presence to keep his master's wife here longer.

Although if the master's wife is determined to leave, no one can persuade her otherwise, if she is in a situation where she can choose to stay or leave, then Ruyu can try to persuade her.

"That's a possibility, but why are you suddenly bringing this up?" Ru Yu asked suspiciously.

"There's nothing strange about that. You're a guest, so I should at least take care of you. I wanted to tell you this before, but it wasn't appropriate to bring it up a couple of days ago." Chu Mingkong cleared his throat.

"Why is it inappropriate?" Ruyu asked, puzzled.

Chu Mingkong didn't know if she was genuinely unaware or feigning ignorance.

"...On our wedding night, who carried you over, and then did they accidentally stuff something in your mouth?"

Chapter Forty-Four: A Pair of Hands

Ru Yu could only glare at Chu Mingkong repeatedly. What was wrong with this guy? He always brought up such awkward topics!

I know perfectly well what happened that night, but it's difficult to talk about it; we all have to save face.

But Ruyu also knew that this matter could not be treated as a muddled account or as if nothing had happened.

Although Ru Yu herself didn't know how long she would stay at the Sword Dynasty, if Chu Mingkong didn't mention this matter at all before she left, and acted as if nothing had happened as long as it didn't bother her, then Ru Yu would really despise him.

Dare to act or not to act!

Of course, now that Chu Mingkong has directly brought this up... Ru Yu herself doesn't know how to answer or what to do.

After a long while, she slightly changed the subject:

"Was that how the antidotes were obtained before?"

"That's right. It wasn't easy to get two jars. Even if I bled, I might not be able to release that much blood all at once without panting," Chu Mingkong honestly admitted.

"It's kind of disgusting to think about..." Ru Yu stuck out her tongue, as if she had eaten something bad and was very disgusted.

Chu Mingkong dared not refute anything else, but he did remember that when the girl first arrived at the wedding banquet, she seemed to be looking for rice paste.

"Good medicine tastes bitter."

"What did you say!"

"No, it's nothing." Chu Mingkong awkwardly raised his hands in surrender. "Then Ruyu, what do you think we should do about this? Do you want me to apologize, or what?"

Aside from when she's being coquettish in front of Shen Xuejun, Ruyu is mostly a forthright and tough woman. She's straightforward and doesn't mince words; she's like a spirited and charming steed.

She doesn't hide her likes or dislikes. At the moment, even knowing that she had been taking his "antidote" for so long, she didn't seem to feel any resentment or anger towards Chu Mingkong. She was just stunned and at a loss.

But to say I like them, that's probably not true. We haven't even had much contact, so how could I have developed feelings of liking them?

Perhaps there was more goodwill than admiration, after all, Ru Yu had heard a lot about Chu Mingkong's deeds these days, and she was even more impressed with his weapon skills.

However, it's a bit difficult for a young woman to say that she ate so much but I don't mind.

Ruyu brought up her mother, saying:

“My mother said that one drop of your...thing is equivalent to ten drops of blood. I’ll just consider it as sucking your blood. I find it strange but there’s nothing I can do about it. You’ll have to treat me well these days.”

This is the opinion of an elder, not my opinion! That's exactly what Ruyu wanted to express.

"There's definitely no problem treating them well. I'll take them for a stroll. But there's something I'd like to know. Shall I ask you quietly?" Chu Mingkong looked at her mysteriously.

Ru Yu raised an eyebrow and said in a clear, bell-like voice:

"you say!"

"Will you still drink it after this? If so, will I give it to you in a small bottle like before?"

Ru Yu blushed, and many images from their wedding night flashed through her mind: Jin Yu's face, Yong Zhen's voice, Yun Han's sunken cheeks... and she herself was one of them.

"You scoundrel, how dare you make such a lewd joke about me!"

Ru Yu subconsciously raised her slender hand as if to hit him, but with her hand raised in mid-air, she dared not strike him down—she couldn't afford to offend this guy!

Moreover, that night, it was actually her who started the wedding night pranks and played around first, so she had to find her own reasons. Ruyu wouldn't make too many excuses for herself in this regard.

Chu Mingkong looked at her small hand and said easily, "Go ahead and hit me, just be gentle~"

Ru Yu then symbolically tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"I'm off, I'm going to find someone to play with."