Chapter 3: Ups and Downs

  Fu Yiyang returned with his half-dry hair, Su Ying clutched a handkerchief and called Lu Hui to wipe Fu Yiyang's hair.

  She sat on one side, looking at each other without a word. Fu Yeyang didn't start speaking, and Su Ying didn't take the initiative to speak either. In Su Ying's past memories, it was like this between them as husband and wife. Lately, they hadn't been like a normal couple, but rather like handling official business. Even every first and fifteenth of each month seemed like paying taxes on schedule.

  The house was quiet for a moment.

  "Go to sleep."

  Simply go to bed and sleep, each in their own quilt.

  Su Ying naturally couldn't do anything with Fu Yiyang, and her body didn't allow for intense exercise either. Su Ying couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness for the original owner, thinking that husband and wife shouldn't be like this - separated by more than just two quilts, it was as if they were in the same boat but having different dreams.

  Oh, Fu Da's figure lives up to the system's four-star rating, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, long legs and a slender waist, a standard nine-head body, six-pack abs, tight muscles, even wearing a cheongsam can't escape Su Ying's sharp eyes.

  Awkwardness spread throughout the small cabin.

  Fu Yiyang pursed his thin lips, he wasn't a talkative person. There weren't many intimate words between them on the boat, usually it was just Su Ying asking him questions and him responding briefly, like going through the motions, then nothing else.

  Su Ying didn't have the energy for that now. She felt tired and even though she was sleeping with a strange man on the same boat, she soon fell asleep.

  Fu Yiyang felt the long breathing of the person beside him, his thin lips pursed into a straight line, the candles in the room had burned to the end, and the room was plunged into darkness.

  Fu Yiyang was woken up by a murmuring voice, and when he sat up, he realized it was Su Ying talking in her sleep. "Child... my child..." As he reached out to touch her, his hand felt a coolness, and a warm teardrop landed on the back of his hand. She was quietly crying in her dream, so she could also cry and feel heartbroken.

  Fu Yiyang adapted to the darkness, lifted Su Ying's quilt and gently stroked Su Ying's shoulder. What he touched was a bony shoulder, with almost no flesh on it.

  "Madam, have you had another nightmare?" The worried voice of Ou Jian Lü Hui came in, and the light turned on.

  "Don't come in." Fu Yeyang felt a patch of dampness on his chest, his inner shirt was clenched by a cool hand, and a faint fragrance tickled his nose. Fu Yeyang thought for a moment, his warm hands patted Su Ying's back gently, but all he could feel was a handful of bones. His heart felt a bit stuffy, he wasn't good at comforting people, so he could only awkwardly comfort her with: "It's okay, don't cry." That was the only thing he could say, repeating it over and over again.

  The low voice seemed to work, the murmurs of the person in his arms gradually subsided, and he rubbed uncomfortably against his chest. Thin body but not thin chest, the softness on his chest made Fu Yeyang's dark eyes dim for a moment, and the faint fragrance in his hair made him involuntarily hold his breath.

  Just then, the person in his arms made a move and slid down, suddenly losing their softness. Fu Yeyang felt an inexplicable sense of loss in his heart. Looking at the small white hand grasping his middle garment, he thought of the child they had lost, and the tiny clothes that had caught his eye for a moment. His heart softened slightly, and with one arm around her shoulders and the other pulling over the quilt to cover them both, he let her sleep against him. His fingers, slightly rough from wear, gently stroked her damp cheek, accompanied by an almost inaudible sigh.

  In the darkness, he couldn't see her face, but Fu Yeyang felt a lump in his throat. Was she having nightmares and crying to herself at night for the past two months? Originally, when they lost the child, it was impossible not to feel regretful or sad. They had been married for five years before she finally got pregnant, only to lose the child after just two months. She didn't cry or make a fuss, but her whole person became pale and dry, and this illness lasted for two months.

  In front of the vertical flower gate, he saw that she had some spirit, but unexpectedly it was her strong support, and as soon as she entered the house, only a skeleton was left. The panic was palpable, and her chest was wet with tears. This woman would rather cry silently in her dreams than show weakness in front of him, always smiling elegantly. If he hadn't heard it, he might have misunderstood her too.

  But she didn't know that the person in her arms was tensing up, if it wasn't for his strong self-control and her current state, he would have pushed her away.

  "By the way, shouldn't you be using your 'unconscious temptation' to make the man under you turn into a wolf and devour you whole? When did you become so honest? The system that had been watching the play for half a day finally appeared again at this time, speaking with a mouthful of obscenities and a tone of "you're too reserved". It pulled Su Ying's attention back from her distraction. Come on, let's test your comprehensive strength as a four-and-a-half-star girl! Shake that snake-like waist!"

  Shut up and gaze at the starry sky, I've said it countless times, my role now is no longer that of a concubine who is coquettish when she should be, but rather a dignified, virtuous, and magnanimous legitimate wife who actively helps her husband take in concubines and works herself to death without being able to gain his favor! Damn it, Fu Su was literally worked to death, what a scumbag, not recognizing the value of a precious gem!

  Allow me to remind you, you are now the dignified and virtuous Fu Su who is being worked to death, and this scumbag who doesn't recognize a precious treasure is your target. The slightly metallic voice seemed to carry a hint of schadenfreude.

  Can I have a romantic relationship?

  Do you want to be dipped in a pig cage? No, and there's also riding a wooden horse, that's truly an *to-death experience. Cough cough, this is not recommended, besides, girls shouldn't think too much, the target of this strategy is still good, all in all just two concubines, one maid, and I'm self-disciplined, the cucumber is still very fresh. Bring out your skills, let him fall under your pomegranate skirt.

  Please, don't drag crab-related words into every sentence. The object of my revenge is indeed the vicious mother-in-law. Previously, when the original owner was resentful, she said some true and false things in her anxiety, but most of them were true. Can you imagine? The glaze on the bowls and plates they normally use has been soaked in medicine for several years. It's only been five years since Madam Su married into this family, and the person who plotted this is so ruthless.

  Following the principle of ancient small words, except for the female lead, all other female supporting characters are vicious and not kind. The mother-in-law is biased, the sister-in-law is vicious, the concubine is like a wolf, the maid is climbing the boat, and even the cousin comes to join in... These settings are normal, cough, it seems I've spoiled the plot, it's late, I'll go to sleep first! You guys should also go to bed early.

  Su Ying was speechless and silently scornful of the system's utterly unconvincing excuse, and in her heart she felt deepest contempt for it.

  But contempt is still contempt. After being interrupted by the system, Su Ying's tears were gone, and this play was over anyway. It was time to sleep.

  It's cold in February, and the heater is still on at home, but her quilt has already cooled down. Fu Yeyang's body, which had been trained in martial arts, was as warm as a heater, and Su Ying shamelessly stuck to him, hugging the heater and fell asleep - it's unknown who was the one who got angry earlier and wanted to push him away.

  Su Ying was completely unaware, although she herself and the system repeatedly emphasized that she was a proper wife, a dignified proper wife. However, her habits and thoughts still couldn't be changed in a short while, just like now, after falling asleep, she unconsciously twisted and turned... her slender waist, delicate legs shouldn't stick too close to Fu Ye Yang's body, the faint fragrance that was almost imperceptible also crept into Fu Ye Yang's nostrils under these circumstances...

  This was a torment for Fu Yiyang, a man who had not known the taste of meat for half a month, a hot-blooded man who had not known the taste of meat for half a month. With warm, fragrant, and soft jade in his arms, he couldn't do anything about it. He thought about waking Su Ying up to do something, but thinking that she was still ill and had cried earlier, he didn't dare to, feeling hotter and hotter, the movements under his silk pants stopping and starting, Fu Yiyang also hadn't closed his eyes for a long time.

  It was finally dawn, and although they hadn't eaten any meat, they at least had to drink some broth. The hand that had been placed on Su Ying's slender waist felt scalded, and it seemed to be moving upward of its own accord. But then Su Ying woke up with a start, coughing softly, and Fu Ye Yang hastily withdrew his hand, gently patting her back as he asked, "Are you okay?"

  There's no need to get angry now, wait until Su Ying stops coughing. He coughed again: "I'll get up first, you sleep a bit longer." Getting up without putting on clothes, he poured himself a cup of cold tea and drank more than half the cup before slowly suppressing the rising anger.

  She turned back to see Su Ying lift the curtain and get up, a white moon-colored undergarment faintly visible with a hint of red, her Adam's apple moving as she swallowed, hastily avoiding eye contact, and downing the remaining cool tea into her belly.

  Lü Hui had been on tenterhooks all night in the outer room. For the past two months, she and several other senior maids had taken turns keeping watch in the inner room at night. This time, with Master returning, she was stationed outside instead. When she heard a noise in the middle of the night, Master told her not to come in, but she couldn't sleep soundly after that. She tossed and turned for half the night, and as soon as it started getting light, she hastily got up and stood outside with Bao He. Only when she heard movement inside did she dare speak up: "Has Master risen?"

  Su Ying was already feeling awkward, how could she not feel the movements of Fu Ye Yang? The scorching object was stuck to her thigh root, and the restless hands were placed on her. In the past, Su Ying would have already been entwined with the man in a morning exercise, with eyes like silk. But now it's not possible, the change in identity also made Su Ying unaccustomed, she had to eat meat gradually, and now the most important thing was to take care of her body.

  After hearing the voice of Lu Wei, she quickly responded and let Pei He serve her in dressing and washing. As for Fu Ye's side, he was standing there waiting for someone to help him get dressed. Lu Wei glanced at Su Ying who didn't move, so she had no choice but to serve Fu Ye in getting dressed - usually these were all done by Fu Su herself.

  Several maidservants bustled in and out, Bai Zhi brought hot water to serve Fu Yeyang washing his face, Su Ying sat in front of the dressing table letting Zi Su comb her hair and apply makeup, also didn't notice Fu Yeyang's not very good complexion.

  Su Ying's complexion wasn't very good, somewhat pale and lacking luster. Even Su Ying herself couldn't bear to look at it, thinking that today she would eat the Nine Flower Jade Dew Pill that was rewarded yesterday.

  "Let them not come today either." Su Ying had been ill for two months, and it had been two months since she last saw outsiders. Now that she was considered to have made a comeback, according to the rules, her concubines should come over to pay their respects. Today, she got up early, but Su Ying was also annoyed at this time when the concubines came over, so she casually said.

  During the crab season, it's not a mistake here, the boat is also g