BLHO Chapter 31
by VolareThe Drunken Fragrance Pavilion was in a state of panic and had already closed its doors to customers.
In the days since the incident, Grand Eunuch Li would come to Song Jiting’s room every night to wait in person, and tonight was no different, staying up all night guarding him.
No one dared to approach the room on the second floor, and the madam and the other *xiaoguan* were all hiding in the hall for peace and quiet.
The Grand Eunuch treated Song Jiting like the apple of his eye, and now they had lost the apple of the Grand Eunuch’s eye. They couldn’t think about making money; they had to think about how to save their heads if they couldn’t find him.
Very few people knew about Song Jiting’s background, but the madam knew that he was originally a respectable official’s son who had fallen into this state due to his father’s implication. Grand Eunuch Li had taken advantage of his misfortune and defiled his innocence. Song Jiting must hate him to the bone, and now that he had successfully escaped, there was no reason for him to return.
The madam leaned against the door frame, at a loss, and had already begun to consider where to bury herself after death.
At this moment, she saw a figure in the distance on the street, walking towards the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion.
She quickly rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.
It really was this ancestor coming back!
Song Jiting returned to the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion, covering his face with a veil as usual. He entered the door and stood calmly in front of the madam, calling out, “Mama.”
The madam felt as if she had narrowly escaped death. Overjoyed, she ran upstairs, yelling, “Grand Eunuch! He’s back! Song Jiting is back!”
Song Jiting stood waiting in the hall. After a moment, he saw Li Yuliang coming down from upstairs.
The cold gaze made one’s heart tremble, and no one dared to look directly at him.
He stared intently at Song Jiting, his oppressive aura surrounding him as he walked step by step to him. His gaze swept over him from top to bottom, seemingly confirming that he was unharmed.
Finding no signs of injury, Li Yuliang said nothing and turned to go back upstairs.
Without being told, Song Jiting followed him back to the room with great understanding.
As if nothing had happened in the past few days, Song Jiting, as usual, said to Li Yuliang after entering the room, “Grand Eunuch, please wait a moment, I’ll go take a bath.”
The atmosphere in the room was suffocating, and Li Yuliang’s emotions were on the verge of explosion. A dangerous aura permeated the air around him.
Fortunately, Song Jiting was already used to his unpredictable temper.
After greeting him, Song Jiting went to the bathing room and washed himself clean from the inside out.
When he returned, he was wearing a flimsy gauze robe on his exquisite body.
After so long, he had already learned to use various brothel tricks to please the Grand Eunuch under Li Yuliang’s coercion and temptation.
He wanted to live and, more importantly, protect his father.
Compared to these, dignity was not worth mentioning.
He naturally knelt at Li Yuliang’s feet, raised his eyes, and said softly, “I went to the mountains to burn some paper money at my mother’s grave since it’s almost New Year’s Day. I was delayed for two days. Is Grand Eunuch angry?”
He tried to please Li Yuliang by rubbing his cheek against him, his alluring panting voice humble and lowly.
Under normal circumstances, Li Yuliang would have liked it very much.
But today was different; the Grand Eunuch was angry, very, very angry.
Without any mercy, he kicked Song Jiting in the chest.
He groaned in pain and immediately fell to the ground, landing far away.
Li Yuliang stood up, his hard boot sole stepping on his face without any pity.
“Am I too good to you?”
–
The wind and snow that night were bone-chillingly cold.
An hour later, Li Yuliang sat on a grand master chair, playing with a valuable jade stone in his hand. Several *xiaoguan* surrounded him, serving tea and massaging his legs, not daring to be negligent in the slightest.
Normally, the Grand Eunuch wouldn’t even spare these ordinary fellows a glance.
But tonight, they were all called up.
However, these *xiaoguan* who had received favor were not happy about climbing up the social ladder. Each of them was trembling, fearing that they would be implicated and lose their lives.
It was all that Song’s fault. The Grand Eunuch had given him so much favor and glory, but what got into him that he had to run away?
If he didn’t want to live, he should have just gone to die, but he had to drag so many people down with him, lacking great virtue.
The atmosphere was extremely oppressive. The *xiaoguan* dared not breathe loudly, and the madam paced around anxiously, sweating profusely. Unable to bear it any longer, she stepped forward to plead, “Grand Eunuch, if you don’t let Song Jiting come in, he’ll really freeze to death.”
Li Yuliang had punished Song Jiting to kneel in the snow, and he had been kneeling for an hour.
He was wearing the same robe he had been wearing earlier, which couldn’t cover anything.
The madam said anxiously, “He has already kowtowed and admitted his mistake. Grand Eunuch, please be merciful and spare his life.”
The jade stone stilled in his hand, and Li Yuliang slowly opened his eyes.
The threatening gaze made the madam’s back turn cold, and she knelt down with a thud, “Grand Eunuch, spare me! I was being too talkative!”
She slapped herself on the mouth, not really feeling sorry for Song Jiting, but she had seen how the Grand Eunuch usually treasured him. If he really froze to death, and the Grand Eunuch regretted it later, the unlucky ones would be them, the servants.
Li Yuliang cast a cold glance and let her slap herself.
After a while, he seemed to think that enough time had passed, and slowly stood up and walked out.
A subordinate quickly trotted after him, fetching a fox fur coat to put on the Grand Eunuch.
The cold wind rushed in, and every strand of hair felt cold.
In the empty courtyard, a thin figure was kneeling.
Motionless, he seemed to be freezing.
Li Yuliang stood expressionlessly, unhurriedly, and stopped nearby, looking down at Song Jiting.
Song Jiting’s nose and lips were frozen red, and his beautiful eyebrows and eyes were covered in thick white frost.
He was still alive, but his body was frozen and wouldn’t move.
With great effort, he finally raised his head and met Li Yuliang’s eyes.
Li Yuliang didn’t bend down an inch for him, and seeing him being tortured into such a sorry state didn’t arouse the slightest sympathy in him.
Song Jiting struggled to twitch the corner of his mouth, and in despair, he actually smiled.
His smile was incomparably bleak.
“Li Yuliang… would you be happy if you tortured me to death?”
Day and night, he had pondered this question countless times.
“Why?” His voice was hoarse and trembling. The person who had been tortured to madness was left with only numbness. “Why me? Grand Eunuch, you are in a high position and have great power. What kind of beauties in this world are not easily available… why me?”
Li Yuliang finally spoke.
“Because, I like you.”
Like…
Song Jiting laughed bitterly and lost his voice, collapsing to the ground.
His arms propped himself up on the snow, barely supporting his body.
“Humiliating me, threatening me, trampling on me… Grand Eunuch’s way of liking someone is really special.”
Li Yuliang slowly crouched down, staring at his face covered by messy hair, and asked calmly, “Have I never been good to you?”
Yes, it wasn’t at the beginning that Li Yuliang threatened him with his father.
Who told him he was unwilling?
Who told him he didn’t know his place and dared to reject the Grand Eunuch’s good intentions.
Li Yuliang said, “Someone like you who doesn’t know what’s good for them, the better I am to you, the more you lose your sense of propriety. Only by letting you suffer will you know who you are.”
He pinched Song Jiting’s chin with his cold fingers and continued, “I thought you would have learned to be obedient after so long. I didn’t expect you to be so bold, pretending to be sincere with me, and now secretly plotting against me.”
Song Jiting’s body trembled violently, but his gaze was stubborn and unwilling to give in. “I have already explained where I went these past few days. If you don’t believe me, there’s no point in me saying more. If you’re afraid of me, then kill me.”
Li Yuliang tilted his head, and the past shallow affection disappeared from his eyes.
“You think I can’t bear to, do you?”
“I never thought that.”
“Then you still dare to threaten me?”
“I’m not threatening you.” Song Jiting’s eyes were red, and he seemed to have really been driven mad. “Do you know that every time you touch me, I feel that living is worse than dying.”
It was as if cracks had opened in the ice in Li Yuliang’s eyes, and anger and murderous intent welled up inside.
“Okay, since that’s the case, I’ll grant your wish.”
After saying that, he flung Song Jiting away fiercely. When he got up, the fox fur coat billowed, and snow rose with the wind.
He ordered the madam, “Let him continue to kneel until tomorrow morning, and no one is allowed to plead for him.”
The madam said with difficulty, “Grand Eunuch, please have mercy. If he kneels until tomorrow morning, he won’t be able to keep his life!”
“Then collect his corpse.”
The sound of official boots crunching on the snow, Li Yuliang walked away decisively. This time, it didn’t seem like he was just scaring him; he was determined to take his life.
Seeing that he was about to leave the courtyard, Song Jiting collapsed in the cold snow, gritting his teeth to prop himself up.
“Brother Yu…”
Hoarse and trembling, his voice was weak.
Normally, no matter how much he was forced, he would rarely be willing to call out so intimately.
Li Yuliang stopped in his tracks.
Surprised, doubtful, he thought he had heard wrong.
At this moment, another voice came from behind.
“Brother Yu.”
Li Yuliang’s heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and his anger burned even more fiercely.
Truly a lowly creature.
He only knew to lower his head when death was imminent.
He turned back and stood in front of Song Jiting.
His official boots, covered in snow, almost touched his face.
“Don’t go…” Song Jiting’s frozen fingers struggled to tug at his hem. He was so hypothermic that he was almost delirious. “If you want to kill me, then watch me die here, let me die in front of you. Let me see if you will be sad. You say I’m pretending to be sincere, but I’m also curious, how much sincerity do you have for me…”