Translated by: Jellylynn

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Edited by: Lynn

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Names mentioned in this chapter (which can also be found in the glossary):

-虞襄(yú xiāng)- Yu Xiang, the female lead

-虞品言(yú pǐn yán)- Yu Pin Yan, the male lead

-桃紅 (táo hóng)- Female lead’s main maidservant

-柳綠 (liǔ lǜ)- Female lead’s main maidservant

-常琦(Cháng qí)- Chang Qi, Duke Jingguo’s legitimate son 

-琦儿(qí ér)-Qi’er, referring to Chang Qi. 

-常雅芙 (Cháng yǎ fú) – Yu Pin Yan’s prenatal betrothal, Duke Jingguo’s 2nd daughter

As soon as Yu Pin Yan put his younger sister down, he saw that she quickly pulled out the beaded hairpin on her head, untied her bun, and scratched the root of her hair. Then, she took off her blouse, robe, and undergarments. In a blink of an eye, there was only a small pink dudou^[1] left. 

Although she was only fourteen years old, the girl’s figure had already grown to perfection. From the saying “gaining a little is equivalent to fat, while losing a little means slender^[2].” The scanty cloth couldn’t cover up this provocative scene. 

Yet she didn’t know about it and lifted the hem of her dress to look inside. Then, she reached out behind her back, intending to untie the knot. 

Only then did Yu Pin Yan recover from his hot and bothered state. He clasped both of her hands, covered the nape of her delicate and smooth neck with his big palms, and pressed this insanely beautiful body into his arms. 

The majestic scenery disappeared from the bottom of his eyes, but the softness that was directly pressed against his chest. There was a faint but deceptive fragrance that lingered in his nose and was impossible to get rid of.  Yu Pin Yan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He didn’t know what to do with the person in his arms. It was like holding a fire in winter and knowing that even if he would be burnt to death, he was reluctant to let go of it! It was practically asking for his life! 

Soon, however, his attention was attracted by the large water blisters on his younger sister’s back. The extremely white skin was covered with red, swollen and ulcerated scars, which was really shocking to look at. Recalling that she was spoiled ever since she was young, how could she ever suffer this kind of harm? 

Suddenly, there was a murderous glint in Yu Pin Yan’s eyes. 

Liu Lu stood at the door with the ointment as she didn’t know what to do. She muttered, “Marquis, let this maidservant help Young Miss apply the medicine.” Shouldn’t you retire to another room now?^[3] Although the two of you are siblings, you ought to at least observe the most basic social etiquette, right? 

Tao Hong was unaware of this and was cleaning up the worms that had scattered on the bed. 

Yu Pin Yan gritted his teeth and was about to let go of his younger sister, but his waist was hugged by Yu Xiang as she cried, “Elder brother, you must help me to whip Chang Qi to death! And Chang Ya Fu, she even allowed her younger brother to bully me. If you marry her in the future, who knows how she is going to torture me?! With such a venomous sister-in-law, I don’t want to stay at home anymore. You can directly send me to the village in the countryside before it’s too late!” 

As Yu Pin Yan heard what she said, his heart felt like it was stabbed by a knife. He slid his five fingers into Yu Xiang’s hair and gently kneaded. His tone was extremely gentle but his expression was abnormally cold. “Xiang’er can rest assured that your elder brother will give him an unforgettable lesson. As for Chang Ya Fu, she will never step into my Marquis Yongle manor ever again.” 

Only then was Yu Xiang satisfied, she let go of him as she sobbed. 

Yu Pin Yan took stiff steps and left the courtyard without turning back, and stood in the corridor for a long time. However, the fire in his heart could not be extinguished no matter what. So he had to step into the drizzle and let the cold drops of rain help him to clear his head. 

The two dragon scale guards outside the courtyard were uneasy and frequently looked towards him, wondering if they should give the commander an oil paper umbrella? Although the rain was not heavy, it was very dense. In a short quarter of an hour, the commander’s hair was drenched and the pattering drops of water slid down the hair and seeped into his coat. 

As they were hesitating, they heard the commander coldly order, “Get a basket of small worms[1] [2]  that are non-poisonous.” 

Both of them received their orders and left. Anyone who had spent time in the Dragon Scale Guard’s torture room knew that the little worm that Commander Yu talked about was completely different from those ordinary people would see. 

After standing in the rain for a while, the burning sensation in his chest slowly faded. Yu Pin Yan was about to take a step but he saw Chang Ya Fu walking towards the courtyard with Chang Qi in trepidation. 

“Pin Yan, I have brought Qi’er to apologise. I hope that you can be magnanimous and let him off. He’s still a little boy, and will inevitably lose his sense of propriety when he causes trouble, but I have already taught him a lesson.” 

“Big brother Yu, I’m wrong.” Chang Qi lowered his head and did not dare to look at Yu Pin Yan, but he suddenly felt unwilling. He raised his head and exclaimed, “But Yu Xiang is also at fault! She humiliated my elder sister and said she was unworthy of marrying you. What is she that she can make the decision on your marriage to my sister?” 

Yu Pin Yan nodded with an expressionless face, “It’s true that our Yu manor can’t make the decision on my marriage to your sister, but it’s up to your Duke Jingguo manor to decide. We can only get married if your family says so, and your family can always cancel the engagement when your family doesn’t want to marry. This is something that our Yu manor has known for a long time, but Xiang’er doesn’t know this etiquette.” 

Chang Qi was dumbstruck by his sarcasm. The incident in the past shouldn’t be rehashed, it was indeed Duke Jingguo who went against their promise in the past. 

Chang Ya Fu looked pale and on the verge of collapse. 

At this time, two Dragon Scale Guards came in carrying a bamboo basket and looked at the commander with questioning eyes. 

Yu Pin Yan pointed to Chang Qi and left in a hurry. 

Chang Qi was puzzled. As he was about to look into the bamboo basket, he saw the two Dragon Scale guards coming towards him and poured the contents of the basket onto him. They were snakes that were the size of the little finger. They just woke up from hibernation. Some were lazy, some that were on his head did not move, some went straight into his lapel to find a warm place.

Chang Qi was scared out of his wits and began to howl at the top of his throat. The volume of his voice almost broke the heavy clouds in the sky. Chang Ya Fu was also scared that she paled. She walked back and forth and held up the oil paper umbrella, jumping and shouting to chase them away. 

When Yu Xiang heard the sound, she ordered Tao Hong and Liu Lu to carry her to the window to have a look and immediately rocked with laughter.

Fortunately, Yu Pin Yan didn’t have the intention to kill him. All the snakes he found were non-poisonous and were just to frighten them. When the siblings screamed for half an hour, and seeing that he was about to faint, the two dragon scale guards sent someone to deliver a message to Duke Jingguo manor and asked someone to carry them. 

The di son that Duke and Duchess Jingguo had finally gotten after much difficulties, they even hated that they couldn’t hold him in their arms all the time and keep him in their mouth^[4]. Seeing his son coming back in a mess, his crotch was stained with a large mass of urine stains, and his hands and feet were constantly trembling. Obviously, he was scared badly. The couple were so distressed that they caught their daughter and reprimanded her for a long time. Then, they went to look for Old Madam Yu for an explanation. 

This Yu Pin Yan spoiled Yu Xiang too much. He was so unforgiving even when the children were playing around, this was totally unreasonable! 

^[1] 肚兜(dùdōu)- Dudou is a traditional chinese form of the bodice, originally worn as an undershirt with medicinal properties. Its early use was to flatten the breasts and preserve stomach qi in traditional Chinese medicine. Credits: Wikipedia

^[2] 增一分则肥减一分则瘦(zēng yī fèn zé féi jiǎn yī fēn zé shòu)-This phrase originates from a poetry work and is used to describe beautiful girls where that every aspect is just right and their appearance are already perfect.  

^[3] In this context, the word ‘retire’ refers to asking him to leave/step out. 

^[4] 含在口中(hán zài kǒu zhōng)-Keeping him in their mouth means to treat someone tenderly. 

Translator’s note: In case anyone is curious about the insect that Chang Qi has thrown, it is a caterpillar, which will only be explicitly stated in Chapter 36.

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