Caiyu pursed her lips, concealing the cold glint in her eyes.
She had indeed done it on purpose.
The nanny who taught her etiquette once said that a woman should know how to show weakness appropriately so that a man would feel pity for her.
Why didn't it work on Song Yinghuai?
Seeing that she refused to speak, Song Yinghuai didn't press further. He turned around and went to the bedroom to fetch a bottle of ointment, then motioned for Caiyu to sit down.
Caiyu sat on the huanghuali wood square stool with a waisted design. She felt the burning pain on her face turn cool after Song Yinghuai applied the ointment with his fingertips.
It was truly a good medicine. As soon as it was applied, it had the effect of reducing swelling and relieving pain.
However, Song Yinghuai's fingers lingered on her incredibly beautiful face and didn't want to leave. They stopped when they reached her lips.
Caiyu, with her face being caressed, looked at him with a pair of innocent deer - like eyes, wet with tears. Suddenly, she remembered the scene from last night when Song Yinghuai had held her waist and kissed her. Her just - cooled cheeks began to feel hot again.
She couldn't help but tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "My lord, is it done?"
As soon as she spoke, her voice was so sweet that it seemed to be dripping with honey.
Caiyu closed her mouth and coughed lightly in surprise.
This wasn't a deliberately coquettish voice. It was a tone that came out unconsciously.
It made her feel a bit shy. After all, deliberately seducing and inadvertently being coquettish were two different things.
However, the moment she made a sound, an itch welled up in Song Yinghuai's throat. The low - pitched moans Caiyu had made when she fell into his arms and was kissed last night echoed in his ears.
She was truly a seductress. Just her voice could already make him have wild fantasies.
Looking down again, he noticed that her lips were unusually rosy, as if smeared with cherry jam.
This glance made him think even more of the scene from last night when Caiyu was pinned under him, her eyes moist with tears from his kisses.
The scene almost vividly appeared in his mind.
Caiyu had shed her usual coquettishness. Her cheek rubbed against his finger, and her lips felt as soft as peach gum on his fingertips.
Her eyes were innocent and a bit shy. She was even more beautiful than when she was coquettish, like an innocent little deer seeking help and trusting him whole - heartedly.
At this moment, if he just exerted a little force with his wrist and pushed down, she would...
This thought grew like weeds in summer, spreading rapidly like branches and vines. It broke through his body and limbs, trying to rush out, propping him up, instructing him, roaring for him to break this delicate flower in front of him.
The crazy thought was almost out of control. Song Yinghuai's fingers pinched her cheek, and his knuckles unconsciously tightened...
Caiyu had a wound on her face. Being pinched like this, she finally couldn't help but cry out in pain, "My lord! It hurts!"
Her faint cry of pain was like the spring water in a mountain stream, cool and refreshing, sweet and moist.
As soon as this sound came out, Song Yinghuai's crazy thoughts instantly sobered up. All the violence and blood - lust in his body quickly faded away.
Calm returned to his eyes. Without saying a word, he picked up the green sandalwood Buddhist beads from the table and turned around to leave without hesitation.
Caiyu placed her fingertips on her lips. Her lips were burning hot. She couldn't tell if it was his temperature or her own. A sense of frustration welled up in her heart.
Why couldn't beauty and showing weakness make this cold - hearted man fall in love?
After Song Yinghuai left the side hall, he went straight to the Quiet Spring. The sound of the gurgling water was like the clear sound in a mountain stream, driving away his distracting thoughts and extinguishing the rising flames just now.
However, what followed was a sense of irritability and anger.
Since he had been practicing Buddhism for six years, he thought his willpower had reached an unshakable level. But every time in front of Caiyu, he almost broke his self - restraint.
Among the five poisons in Buddhism - greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt, he had committed at least two of them when it came to Caiyu. This was unprecedented.
The warning left by Master Guangzhi said that whether it was a good or a bad fate was just a matter of a single thought. How should he choose to make it a good one?
In a fit of great anger, Song Yinghuai sat in the water in the Vajra posture. He twirled the Buddhist beads very quickly, indicating his anger.
At this time, a figure emerged from behind the screen.
Bailu was holding a tray with a box of soap beans and a Buddhist robe on it. She herself was wrapped in a light veil, and her figure was faintly visible, showing off her exquisite curves.
A look of nervousness appeared on Bailu's face as she looked at the majestic man sitting with his back to her in the hot spring.
His perfect physique exposed above the water surface was completely outlined under the lamp hanging on the osmanthus tree. The stripes on his back were clear and rigid. Sitting in the water without any movement, he exuded a certain charm.
Bailu's heart was pounding.
For a man like the lord, which woman could resist admiring him?
She would even be willing to serve him in bed every day!
Song Yinghuai was a martial artist with keen hearing. He had already heard the slight footsteps behind him.
He clenched his fist in the water, and his anger grew even stronger. He had just suppressed those evil thoughts, and this girl dared to be so ignorant as to seduce him.
It seemed that it was time to give her a real lesson!
Bailu squatted down by the pool. She took out the soap beans, suppressing her pounding heart, and said in her sweetest voice:
"My lord, this servant will serve you in your bath..."
Song Yinghuai's body trembled. He suddenly turned around, and the water droplets in the pool flew into the air, splashing Bailu's face.
Bailu let out a scream and fell to the ground.
The next moment, Song Yinghuai's voice, like a violent storm, rang out, "Who let you in?!"
His face was gloomy, and the low - pressure aura instantly spread. The entire space of the Quiet Spring became oppressive and restless.
Bailu met his furious eyes, and her breathing almost stopped. She stammered incoherently, "M - My lord... This servant... Caiyu didn't come to serve you... This... This servant can... Ah!"
Before she could finish her words, she felt herself flying into the air. She flew over the screen, drew a parabola in the air, and then fell heavily to the ground.
Her internal organs were almost displaced, and she couldn't even let out a scream of pain.
Song Yinghuai threw the tray and the soap beans on the edge of the pool out together. He roared in a rage:
"Where is Caiyu!"
Caiyu had already guessed that Bailu would take the opportunity to go in. She had been waiting outside to watch the show.
Hearing the banging and crashing sounds inside, she immediately pretended to rush in in a hurry.
As soon as she entered, she saw Bailu lying on the ground moaning. Her face was as white as a sheet, and the loose light veil on her body was in a mess. The ground was scattered with soap beans.
As soon as a hint of a satisfied smile appeared on Caiyu's face, she heard Song Yinghuai's furious order from behind the screen:
"Kneel down!"
Caiyu knelt down next to Bailu with a "thud", and the floor made a clear sound.
Bailu's face became even paler. Enduring the severe pain all over her body, she quickly got up and knelt on the ground tremblingly. Her forehead was pressed against the wet ground and she didn't dare to lift it up.
Song Yinghuai got out of the pool, went into the inner room to pick out a robe and put it on, then walked out from behind the screen.
Han Fen rushed in from the outside. Before he could stand still, Song Yinghuai coldly ordered, "Gather all the maids in the Lotus Sound Pavilion in the yard!"
The crescent moon was like a hook, and the wind was sparse with few stars.
Dozens of maids in the Lotus Sound Pavilion knelt on the ground in a large crowd. Almost no one knew what had happened.
Taoyao and the others were dragged out from outside the Quiet Spring by Han Fen. These maids had been keeping watch for Bailu outside the spring. Hearing the thunderous roars inside, they were so scared that they stood still and didn't even remember to run away. They were grabbed by Han Fen and thrown to the yard, where they knelt down with a plop, shivering.
Song Yinghuai was already fully dressed and standing in the evening wind.
Bailu was crying, kneeling on the hard ground and kowtowing continuously, "This servant knows her mistake, this servant knows her mistake... Please spare this servant, my lord..."
As for Caiyu, although she was also kneeling on the ground, her back was straight and her face was calm.
Seeing her like this, Song Yinghuai sneered in his heart.
This girl was really good at pretending!