Chapter 19: Kneeling When Mu Yelei heard Hua Ling’s words, he thought for quite some time. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, “Tell me in detail.”
Hua Ling smiled smugly. She knew she had won. “Weren’t you ignoring me? Why are you speaking now, my Lord Chancellor?”
Mu Yelei naturally heard the sarcasm in her tone. His handsome face flushed slightly, and only after a long while did he say, “Then what do you want? What will it take for you to tell me how to make the thing you mentioned?”
Hua Ling had long been holding in a bellyful of anger. At this, she burst into laughter. “Mu Yelei, so you have this day too. Weren’t you the one who left me in Yinlü Xuan and paid me no mind? You let me suffer disdain and humiliation in this chancellor’s estate of yours. Don’t you think you owe me for that? Shouldn’t you apologize to me?” Hua Ling felt sorrow on Xia Ziying’s behalf. Such a beautiful woman had withered away just like that; in her brief life, she had suffered nothing but bullying. Mu Yelei ought at least to repent to her. This could be considered helping her vent a little resentment.
Hua Ling’s words made Mu Yelei feel as though he truly had gone too far. But he had not ordered the servants in the estate to bully her. It seemed that if she did not vent this anger today, she would refuse to say anything. For the welfare of the people, what did it matter if he suffered a little grievance? If such a thing as she described truly existed, it would indeed be a blessing to all under heaven.
“Just say what you want. As long as I, Mu Yelei, can do it, I will,” Mu Yelei said calmly. From that face as cold as frost, one could not see the burning concern and love he held in his heart for the common people.
“As long as you kneel and beg me, I’ll tell you. How about that?” Hua Ling looked at his face and said each word clearly. She wanted to make things difficult for him—make things viciously difficult for him. She had disliked him for a long time. This stinking man, heartless and unfaithful, had to be taught a proper lesson.
Mu Yelei had not expected Hua Ling to make such a demand. Anger immediately surged across his handsome face, and he said coldly, “Don’t go too far. In everything, one should know when to stop.” One had to understand that in ancient times, men stood high above women. How could there be any man kneeling before a woman? This was simply an enormous humiliation.
“Is that so? Then forget it. I still have matters to attend to, so I won’t disturb you. Goodbye.” Seeing Mu Yelei’s face flushed red with anger, Hua Ling felt thoroughly satisfied. Such an opportunity was rare, so naturally she had to seize it properly. She lifted her foot and walked outside. She did not know whether Mu Yelei would call her back. She was gambling—gambling on whether Mu Yelei would abandon his own dignity for the sake of all the people under heaven.
Mu Yelei watched Hua Ling’s figure walk farther and farther away. His hands could not help clenching tightly, so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He did not understand why she had to do this. Why did she insist on making him cast aside his dignity? In this marriage, was he not a victim as well?
Between his dignity and the common people, he was caught in an extreme struggle. What should he do? Seeing that Hua Ling was about to step over the threshold, Mu Yelei, in his urgency, shouted loudly, “Wait.”
Hua Ling stopped abruptly. She had not expected Mu Yelei to truly call her back. It seemed he really was a good chancellor who loved the people as his own children. At once, unease arose in her heart, and a faint stabbing pain pricked at it. Xia Ziying, are you resisting? Are you unwilling for me to vent your anger for you? This heart belonged to Xia Ziying. The sudden heartache at this moment made Hua Ling have no choice but to wonder whether its original owner was protesting, whether she was unwilling for Hua Ling to do this.
“Fine. I promise you. For the sake of the people living and working in peace, free from the suffering of drought, what does it matter if Yelei suffers a little grievance?” Mu Yelei looked at Hua Ling and spoke from the heart.
Hua Ling said nothing. She merely pressed her right hand over her aching heart, her face pale. When she saw Mu Yelei lift the hem of his robe and prepare to kneel, the pain in her heart grew even fiercer. This time, she knew that it truly was Xia Ziying resisting. She could not help but doubt herself a little. Was what she was doing really right?
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