The sound of the guzheng carried through the air, and the rain was like a forest shrouding the city. It swallowed up Jiangning with its monotonous yet clamorous sound. Yuan Jin'er peeked out, took a look, and then retracted the supporting rod beneath the window. Turning around, she saw Ning Yi and Yunzhu chatting quietly at the other end of the room.

A sense of unease stirred within her, but she didn't feel like joining them at the moment. After so many days apart, they deserved some time to talk – this was Yuan Jin'er's magnanimous thought, perhaps tinged with a little guilt from hitting him on the head with a stone the day before yesterday. At least, that's how she justified it to herself, but the truth was likely more complex.

They had known each other for a year or two. Since she had redeemed herself, Ning Yi was the only man she could joke and play with. It wasn't that Yuan Jin'er particularly enjoyed flirting with men in brothels. The feelings she experienced when interacting with Ning Yi and Yunzhu were unlike anything she had known before. Although she believed Yunzhu deserved a better man, one who would devote himself to her, and had resolved to make herself like Yunzhu and dislike Ning Yi after realizing she couldn't find such a man, she had also felt worried for Ning Yi when she learned he was injured and near death, at the same time Yunzhu was injured and sick.

Upon realizing this, she could only tell herself it was simply friendship. After all, she, Yuan Jin'er, was a kind and pure-hearted girl who wouldn't even step on an ant. Besides, Ning Yi was fortunate enough to have known her for so long.

During the days Yunzhu was injured and sick, that Su Tan'er had come to visit once, looking frail herself. Yuan Jin'er vaguely sensed that she might still have thoughts of reconciliation or proposing marriage, and, cursing under her breath on Yunzhu's behalf, she had chased her away. Later, she learned that Yunzhu was worried about Ning Yi and had secretly gone to the Su family to inquire about his condition, hiding by the roadside to peek at him. Seeing how Ning Yi could barely walk, she felt a pang of sympathy, but while others could visit him, she couldn't. After a few more days, seeing that his injuries were healing, but he still hadn't come to their little building, she felt resentment rising in her heart, and threw a stone to remind him, only to hit him on the head – though, of course, she later convinced herself that Ning Yi deserved it.

Regarding the relationship between Yunzhu and him, she might have been able to deceive herself in the past, but after this incident, she had to admit that Yunzhu was likely inseparable from him. This realization made her feel slightly sad. Seeing Ning Yi pointing at his forehead and laughing, and glancing at her, probably telling Yunzhu tales about her behind her back, she felt annoyed. She abruptly stood up and walked towards the door: "You two talk, I'm going out to play!" With that, she glared at Ning Yi.

"Don't come back too early," Ning Yi waved as she opened the door, joking as usual. She suddenly turned around, looked around for something handy, and摸ing her person, she took out a five-tael silver ingot and threw it at Ning Yi. Watching him catch it, she turned and slammed the door shut: "Not coming back!"

"Uh, I've offended her again..."

She faintly heard Ning Yi's voice from inside the room.

******************

Perhaps it was because Yuan Jin'er had been present, that whenever the two of them were together there would always be a third person. Now that Yuan Jin'er had left, the room suddenly felt quiet. The sound of the rain and the silk and bamboo instruments began to filter in. It wasn't exactly a bustling gathering time. There weren't many guests in Qingyuan. From the courtyard nearby, a singer seemed to be performing Li Shangyin's "Jin Se": *The ornamented zither has fifty strings without cause, each string, each fret evokes the flow of years...* The song drifted over, faint and indistinct. As she was about to finish the first verse, Yunzhu began to hum along softly, singing the lines, "This emotion could be left for remembrance, but at that time, I was already lost in regret."

Yunzhu was physically weak; her injuries and illness hadn't fully healed. Her voice was slightly hoarse, but her control over her voice was excellent. The way she sang it had the flavor of sipping a fine wine. However, she wasn't very satisfied with herself, and after quietly finishing the second verse, she smiled and said, "I used to be good at singing, but now I can't even sing anymore..." Actually, with their hearts so attuned, even if she sang poorly, Ning Yi wouldn't have minded in the slightest. He simply looked at her and smiled.

The two of them talked for a while, asking about each other's injuries. Yunzhu had lost some weight, and when she sat on his lap, he felt that she was much lighter than before. Yunzhu had bandages wrapped around her head, and Ning Yi had many bandages on his body. The two of them simply sat quietly together for a while, listening to the rain and the singing in the courtyard, as several talented men made wry poems, occasionally smiling knowingly.

It was only shortly after noon, and the rain showed no signs of stopping. After sitting for a while, the two of them held hands and went outside for a walk. Within Qingyuan, the gardens and cloisters were cleverly designed. After walking for a while, they didn't encounter many people. Heavy rain poured down under the eaves of the cloister. Yunzhu took his hand and dodged it, feeling quite happy. However, after walking for a while, a manager of Qingyuan found them and said, "Miss Yunzhu, your medicine is ready."

Chinese medicine is usually taken before or after meals, but some time had already passed. Yunzhu looked at Ning Yi, then at the sky, and said hesitantly, "It's already this late..."

"But Miss Jin'er instructed us when she left, that you came out without drinking your medicine at home, and asked us... uh, asked us to brew it..."

It turned out that she and Jin'er had heard the news that Ning Yi was coming to Qingyuan while they were at home, and had come over before drinking their medicine. Now that the other party had said so, Yunzhu said, "Then... take it to the accounting room." She lowered her head, not daring to look at Ning Yi, feeling quite embarrassed.

The accounting room she spoke of was naturally not the guest room outside, but the small courtyard where she and Yuan Jin'er handled accounts together every month. Before long, the two of them went over, and the female manager brought over the brewed decoction. Ning Yi knew that Yunzhu wasn't afraid of bitterness in this regard, but at this moment, looking at the medicine, he hesitated a little, occasionally looking at Ning Yi. Ning Yi asked, "What's wrong? Is the medicine very bitter?"

Yunzhu shook her head, and after a while said, "If I drink the medicine, I'll feel very sleepy." Ning Yi laughed when he heard this: "It's okay, you can sleep here, and I'll stay here with you."

"But..." Yunzhu still seemed a little hesitant when he said that, but in the end, she drank the decoction and reluctantly spoke with Ning Yi for a while before taking off her shoes and socks and going to bed. At this time, a woman's feet were taboo, but Yunzhu and Ning Yi, although they had not yet had physical intimacy, didn't mind this matter. She curled up on her side, holding hands with Ning Yi, who was sitting by the bed.

"Actually... I'm almost better. My head doesn't hurt anymore. It's just that this medicine... Liheng, I only get to see you once..."

Perhaps because she had some worries, Yunzhu, who was usually so serene and elegant, still had some complaints about the medicine at this moment. Ning Yi comforted her a few times. Yunzhu hesitated, then recalled past events: "...Back then, I couldn't even kill a chicken, and I couldn't swim. Liheng saved me, but I slapped you... Thinking about it, Liheng just ran past my house every day, and I fell in love. I always thought that the talented men and beautiful women in operas would have those earth-shattering stories, but we never had one. This time at the Su family can be considered an earth-shattering thing to talk about... I'm very happy, and I'm fine. Liheng doesn't need to feel like I've been wronged..."

In fact, many things had already happened between the two of them that could be talked about – the attack by the Liao people on Qin Si Yuan, the performance she gave to make Ning Yi famous, including the establishment and expansion of this Zhu Ji, etc. However, what was important in Yunzhu's heart was still Ning Yi running past that small building every day. As she said these things, she finally gradually fell asleep. Ning Yi sat by the bed for a while, then walked to other parts of the room to sit down. What he was thinking about was marrying Yunzhu.

He was originally unwilling to marry Yunzhu because the environment in the Su family was not good. He could endure the Su family's difficulties or sarcastic remarks, but he didn't want Yunzhu to come over and be wronged, because Yunzhu was definitely the kind of person who would swallow the biggest grievances. But now the Su family's problem had probably been resolved. Since Tan'er already knew about it, there was no point in delaying it any longer. In a few more days, he would either go to the capital or Shandong, and this matter had to be resolved before then.

In fact, from the perspective of modern people's thinking and character, it was much better for Yunzhu to manage Zhu Ji outside, having money and connections, than to enter the house as a concubine. But Ning Yi also knew that Yunzhu's personality was traditional, and even if she didn't say it, she naturally cared about her status. Now that things had come to this point, the problem with Tan'er was no longer significant. Now that he had thought things through, he felt a sense of clarity.

As he thought for a while, seeing that Yunzhu had not yet woken up, he pushed the door open and looked at the rain. He felt a little confused about Jin'er's whereabouts. He asked someone and learned that Jin'er had already asked Qingyuan's coachman to drive her out, and she hadn't returned yet. When he turned around to go back to the room, he found that the door to the room was slightly open, probably because Yunzhu had already gotten up. He pushed the door open and saw that Yunzhu had indeed gotten up, sitting on the edge of the bed with a dazed expression. There were tears on her face for some reason. When she suddenly saw Ning Yi come in, she suddenly reacted, raised her hand to wipe away the tears: "Liheng you... you..."

"What's wrong?"

"I... I thought you were gone..."

"Uh..." Ning Yi felt relieved when he heard this, and closed the door with his backhand. "I just went out to take a look."

Yunzhu wiped away her tears, probably feeling that her emotions were a bit childish, and "pfft" laughed, then her face seemed to want to shed tears again, and she covered her mouth with the back of her hand: "I'm sorry, I... I'm a bit... I didn't think that way... I thought you were gone... Today, today..." Her voice choked up, becoming incoherent. Ning Yi frowned and was about to go over when she pointed her finger: "Liheng... you, you just stay there, okay? Don't come over, if you come over, I'll... I'll..."

She didn't say what she would do if Ning Yi came over, but Ning Yi still stood there, and then he heard her say: "Liheng... turn around, look away... I won't have the courage if you look at me..."

Ning Yi turned around, tilted his head slightly, but couldn't see what was happening behind him. He just heard Yunzhu stand up, her voice as thin as a mosquito's buzz: "Today... I had already made up my mind... but as soon as I saw Liheng..."

There was a rustling sound from behind, the sound of cloth being untied, the sound of skirts falling to the ground, one piece, then another... Yunzhu didn't speak again. After the sound finally stopped, Ning Yi waited for a few breaths before turning back, and then he saw that absolutely beautiful figure in the dim light...

"I... I didn't have a good life before, but even in those worst of days, I always thought, looked forward to standing in front of a man like this one day, willingly giving him my pure and innocent body... If I hadn't thought so, I probably wouldn't have made it through those days, Liheng... I originally wanted to give myself to you on a better day, I'm probably a bit unsightly now, but no matter what, my body is still pure, Liheng you... Liheng you... if you like..."

She had probably already prepared herself to dedicate herself today. She had naturally seen these things at Jin Feng Building, and may even have had training. However, making a decision in her heart was one thing, and actually doing it was another. After seeing Ning Yi, what she had originally thought she would do was hard to do. The plan was to lure Ning Yi over here and seduce him, but when it really came to the time, those emotional words were hard to say. In the end, she even ate the medicine and fell asleep. When she woke up, she thought Ning Yi had already left, and she couldn't help but cry.

But at this point, she finally presented what she considered not perfect body to the man in her heart at a time she considered not perfect.

The heavy rain was pouring outside the window, and in the distance, there were only faint, indistinguishable sounds in the air. In the dim room, that body was trembling slightly, either from the cold or from shyness, presenting a breathtaking beauty...

Ning Yi sighed in his heart, and gently hugged her.

Outside the window, the rain was falling even harder...

*************

Due to the reason of fixing the book, this chapter has been deleted by about 300 words. Because the VIP modification of Qidian can only be more but not less, some words are temporarily filled in. I am very sorry for the impact on everyone's reading. I often don't deliberately control the number of words when writing books, and there are many chapters similar to 3900 and 4900. I am very sorry that I can't refund one penny to everyone here.

Repeat: Due to the reason of fixing the book, this chapter has been deleted by about 300 words. Because the VIP modification of Qidian can only be more but not less, some words are temporarily filled in. I am very sorry for the impact on everyone's reading. I often don't deliberately control the number of words when writing books, and there are many chapters similar to 3900 and 4900. I am very sorry that I can't refund one penny to everyone here.

Repeat again: Due to the reason of fixing the book, this chapter has been deleted by about 300 words. Because the VIP modification of Qidian can only be more but not less, some words are temporarily filled in. I am very sorry for the impact on everyone's reading. I often don't deliberately control the number of words when writing books, and there are many chapters similar to 3900 and 4900. I am very sorry that I can't refund one penny to everyone here.