I'll Cut One Out For You

Murong Jin laughed, "Ah, so that's why you're upset, Sister."

"You find this funny?" Murong Yu said as she glared at him. 

'Do you have any idea when I pleaded with Ji Chengxuan afterward, he still ignored you after scolding me. You suffered and got beaten up in the mines all because of your actions!' Murong Yu thought.

"It's not like I was the one who did it..." Murong Jin said.

Murong Yu cut Murong Jin off and said "I just made amends with the Bodhisattva. I'll be eating a vegetarian diet for the next six months. That nomad slave will now serve in my courtyard as my groom, and I forbid you from enslaving him any longer!"

Turning a slave into a groom was a minor matter. Concerned, Murong Jin quickly said, "Sister, you're going to be vegetarian for half a year? But, you're still growing!"

Seeing he was not opposed, Murong Yu softened her tone, "Grandmother is getting old. If it can help improve her condition, I'll eat vegetarian for a year if I have to."

"But six months is too long. How about three months?" Murong Jin suggested.

"Is this something you can bargain over? It's about sincerity!" Murong Yu said furiously as she shot Murong Jin a look.

Although Murong Yu was on a vegetarian diet, the dinner table still had meat dishes for her brother. Murong Jin finished his meal and sighed contentedly, "After days of just barbecue in the hunting grounds, I'm sick of it. Home-cooked meals are so much better."

"Won't you get indigestion if you eat too much??" Murong Yu asked.

"No, I'll take a walk later, and I'll be fine." Murong Jin assured before getting up. "Sister, I'm heading back now."

"Be kind to the servants and people in the mansion from now on." Murong Yu reminded Murong Jin.

"I've always been kind, what happened with the nomad slave was an accident." Murong Jin claimed before casually leaving. Murong Yu felt a sense of happiness in her heart.

'I'm glad I'm fifteen years old again and Jin was still carefree and free-spirited, not like in the future when his eyes had lost all light. Even when Ji Chengxuan reluctantly saved him, Jin rarely smiled; he became more silent.'

"My lady, look how cute this little mink is," Aman said, returning with a cage and smiling.

Murong Yu glanced at it and said, "Tomorrow, we'll go to the Temple of Benevolent Virtue to offer incense and donations. We can also release this mink there."

Aman felt a bit of pity but understood the importance of Old Mrs. Li to Murong Yu. Aman didn't expect Murong Yu to clean the grime off that nomad slave herself.

That night, Murong Yu tossed and turned, unable to sleep well, haunted by the injuries of Ji Chengxuan. She woke up terrified in the middle of the night from a nightmare.

In that nightmare, Ji Chengxuan was holding a bloodied baby, walking toward Murong Yu step by step, his eyes filled with a dreadful smile. He said, "See, this is the child you and I have!"

However, Murong Yu knew she couldn't bear children. That baby had been brutally extracted from another pregnant woman's womb.

Ji Chengxuan once joked, "It would be great if you could have one. You can't? That's okay; I'll cut one out for you from another woman's belly!"

Since then, the way Ji Chengxuan looked at pregnant women had become terrifying. The subordinates held their baby's full-month celebrations in secret. Everyone knew that Ji Chengxuan disliked children and even more disliked attending baby celebrations.

But only Murong Yu knew how desperately Ji Chengxuan wanted her to bear a child, so much so that it drove him insane. Even if her menstrual cycle was delayed by a day, he would joyfully reward the servants. If she had a poor appetite or nausea, he would also be elated and reward the cooks. But the disappointment afterward would bring storms, making everyone too afraid to even breathe...

Thus, Ji Chengxuan was not just brutal and perverse but also wildly unpredictable.