Marrying a treacherous official

Even if Chi Ying had the greatest courage, she wouldn't dare to urge the old man to get up.

Last night, while she was on duty in the outer courtyard, she saw the master return home reeking of alcohol. Her mind was filled with thoughts of taking advantage of the situation to climb into his bed and become his concubine.

She hurriedly went back to her room to change into a lighter dress, and when she found the outer study, she realized that the old man had somehow gone into the main room in the inner courtyard to rest!

But this is a golden opportunity that should not be missed.

She was extremely fortunate that the First Madam had gone back to her parents' home to visit relatives, which gave her a stroke of good luck. She immediately went back to her room to get the First Master's inner garment and hurriedly rushed to the inner courtyard.

She originally planned to go inside to serve the master a bath, and then take the opportunity to wet her thin clothes, so that the master would be unable to resist taking her.

But when she pushed open the lattice door and entered the bathroom, the old man had already poured a bucket of warm water over her and hastily washed himself. He was only wearing a pair of baggy pants. After she entered the room, the old man turned around and stared at her intently.

Her hidden romantic thoughts vanished under that fierce gaze, and she had no choice but to kneel on the ground, offering her inner garments high with both hands, and saying in a trembling voice that she had come to deliver clothes to the master.

The old man didn't even glance at her. He walked shirtless to the bedside, unzipped his pants, and fell asleep immediately.

Chi Ying recalled the unbearable things that happened in the middle of the night and felt extremely remorseful. It was one thing to fail to win the master's favor, but how could she dare to offend him and push open the door to urge him to get up?

She knelt on the ground, stubbornly resisting, and said:

"The master has ordered that we must not disturb his rest without reason. This servant dares not enter the door to deliver the message. Please punish me, Madam."

Speak louder, I can't hear you.

Yunji patiently instructed her.

Chi Ying's oval face flushed red, adding a touch of coquettish charm. Unsure of the Madam's intentions, she could only raise her voice and say:

"This servant begs the Madam to punish me."

"Speak louder, I can't hear you."

Yun Ji coldly commanded her.

Even if Chi Ying was slow-witted, she understood at this moment that the First Madam wanted to "wake up" the Master because she was determined not to come in to deliver the message.

She remained silent, knelt down and kowtowed, performing a deep bow to the First Madam, and refused to get up no matter what.

Seeing that this tactic was not working, Yunji listened carefully to the sounds coming from the main room. After not hearing a sound from inside for a long time, he figured that if he didn't get up now, he wouldn't get up anytime soon.

But she was in a hurry to pay her respects to Madam You.

If one neglects the mistress of the house, according to the household rules, one must be punished by kneeling in the ancestral hall for half an hour.

Yunji's concerns went far beyond these. In her haste to return home that day, she took out three thousand taels of silver notes from a hidden box and stuffed them into a brocade box, then casually tucked the box under a colorful brocade embroidered gourd pillow.

There were still a thousand taels of silver notes left in the hidden box, which was all her savings.

What if Cui Zemin takes it...?

Yunji absolutely could not allow such a thing to happen. After thinking it over again and again, she quietly pushed open the lattice door in front of her.

The main room was bathed in the clear light of dawn, with a faint fragrance wafting through the air.

She followed the faint smell of wine into the inner room, lifted the moonlit embroidered curtain, and saw a hidden box protruding from under the embroidered pillow, hanging on the edge of the bed. The person on the bed was sleeping with his back to the outside, seemingly fast asleep.

If the box hadn't been so conspicuously placed on the bed, so he could see it as soon as he woke up, and she feared he might be tempted by the money and steal the thousand-tael silver note, she would never have taken the risk of sneaking over there.

As they drew nearer, he remained soundly asleep, his back still ramrod straight.

She was getting closer; the hidden box was right at the edge of the bed, within her reach.

Yunji stood still inside the tent, a step away, holding her breath as she reached for the hidden box and pulled it out.

She turned and hurriedly walked out, but her waist was grabbed by a brute force and she was pulled backward. In a dizzying moment, she fell into the soft bedding and was pinned to the embroidered pillow by a chokehold.

Cui Zemin stared at her menacingly, his eyes filled with malice. With a little force, he could crush her throat.

After recognizing who was beneath him, he unleashed his pent-up rage from a night of heavy drinking and the urge to seduce her.

"So, Madam, you were in such a hurry to get into my bed?"

Yunji was gripped tightly by the throat, without even a chance to defend herself.

When faced with life and death, money becomes something external.

She desperately glanced at the hidden box out of the corner of her eye, gesturing for him to open it and see what was inside.

Cui Zemin pushed open the small rectangular box, inside which was a silver note worth one thousand taels. He loosened his grip slightly, allowing her to speak.

"Move the top of the Luohan bed six inches from the inside out."

He didn't know what she was up to. While he was holding her, he used one hand to measure six inches outward from the top of the bed and immediately felt a loose bed board.

Tears welled up in her eyes from being choked, and she said in a hoarse voice, "Push it open and put the box in."

He didn't do as she said, but instead stared at her cautiously, trying to see what tricks she was up to.

"I dare not lie to you, sir. This is the secret compartment where I hide my secret stash of money. I left in a hurry before and forgot to put the box back where it was. So I thought I would take this box quietly before you woke up, so that you wouldn't suspect anything. I really wasn't trying to climb into your bed."

"Did you carve this bed?"

He suddenly became furious and said sarcastically, "Who told you to carve into my Luohan bed?"

Yunji had nothing to say about this. She had indeed secretly carved out their wedding bed. Thinking that she was doomed anyway, she decided to go all out.

"It's just a simple daybed. I've already carved it out. My husband abandoned me on our wedding day and has never set foot in the main room since. So what if I carved it out? If he's still not satisfied, he can just strangle me."

Seeing tears welling up in her watery eyes, yet still maintaining a dignified and fearless demeanor, Cui Zeming knew she didn't care, so he took what she cherished.

He reached into the hidden compartment and pulled out jade bracelets, silver hairpins, and gold hair ornaments with a clattering sound. Just as he was looking at the quality of the jewelry with disdain, she tightly gripped his arms and carefully pointed out:

"Sir, be gentle, don't break my bracelet."

When he put her in a chokehold, she didn't resist. But when he touched her private parts, she panicked and gave in.

"I'll accept all of Madam's secret stashes."

Cui Zemin released her, glanced back at the pile of jewelry, and said mischievously, "I know what I'm doing. Madam had better send someone to deliver these private treasures in pure gold and silver. Not a single piece can be missing."

Yunji watched as he angrily got out of bed and collapsed onto the bed, utterly exhausted.

She revealed the secret compartment where the jewelry was hidden to prove that she hadn't slept with him, rather than to accuse him of stealing her treasures.

Chi Ying led her maids in single file and attentively served Cui Zeming as he washed and changed.

Hua Chao silently carried the medicine box into the inner room. She glanced at the red marks on Yun Ji's neck, poured out the Jade Cleansing Powder, and tenderly applied the medicine to the wound.

Cui Zemin went out to the outer courtyard and punished all the servants who were on duty that night. The guards were all given twenty strokes of the cane, and the maids were all fined and had one month's salary confiscated.

Through the rows of doors, Yunji heard him raving outside and coldly scoffed:

"He got drunk and went to the wrong gate. Now he's doing this, as if I got him drunk and forced him into the main room. I don't know what he's upset about."

Still not satisfied after her outburst, she instructed Hua Chao, "Change all the bedding and pillows on the bed, open the windows to air it out, and get rid of that unpleasant lingering smell."