Blame the Villain – Chapter 140

Villainous Fake Eunuch (17)

Song Xuyi did not know whether Gu Ruyu had informed her subordinates.

Gu Ruyu’s methods were numerous, and it took Song Xuyi and the system a long time to find the strange fragrance hidden around her waist. Even if Gu Ruyu had informed her subordinates, Song Xuyi felt she might not be able to detect it.

Song Xuyi also felt embarrassed to ask: although the Gu Ruyu in front of her seemed no different from usual, seeing Gu Ruyu’s eyes seemingly losing their brilliance compared to the powerful and intimidating Gu Ruyu she first met, Song Xuyi felt immensely guilty.

“Do you want me to read you a story?” Feeling she couldn’t just sit idly, Song Xuyi couldn’t help but speak softly: “I just heated some porridge; you can have some first to fill your stomach, and then have some fruit—”

Just like before, Gu Ruyu remained very obedient and ‘looked’ at Song Xuyi with a gentle smile: “I’ll listen to Xuyi.”

Such a Gu Ruyu looked really adorable! Song Xuyi looked away, feeling that perhaps due to too much guilt and pressure, her heart suddenly began to race upon seeing Gu Ruyu in this state, and she dared not meet Gu Ruyu’s eyes.

Fortunately, Gu Ruyu couldn’t see her reaction.

Song Xuyi took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the sudden discomfort, cleared her throat, and began to read the storybook.

These storybooks were given to Song Xuyi by the female lead Zhao Qin.

Zhao Qin was illiterate, but the male lead Zheng Lian could read. To please the then-depressed Zheng Lian, Zhao Qin bought some storybooks recommended by a book vendor while coming down the mountain. However, after reading for a while, Zheng Lian’s expression darkened, and he threw the book out of the window, telling Zhao Qin never to buy books from that vendor again.

However, these storybooks were bought by Zhao Qin at a high price, and she was reluctant to let them be discarded by Zheng Lian. Taking advantage of Zheng Lian’s inattention, Zhao Qin secretly retrieved the books. Today, when Song Xuyi asked if there were any storybooks for leisure, Zhao Qin handed these volumes to Song Xuyi and instructed her not to let Zheng Lian know.

Song Xuyi glanced at the doorway and, seeing that Zheng Lian was still busy in the tea fields and hadn’t returned, felt relieved and began to focus on reading the storybook.

This storybook had a strange name—《Why Are Two Women Like This?》

The beginning of the storybook was quite normal, telling of a wealthy family in a certain place that had a beloved daughter, a young lady as beautiful as a pearl or jade. She took in an amnesiac woman she found on the street as a maid.

The maid was delicate, with a calm and silent demeanor, and she was literate. The young lady grew increasingly fond of her and gradually made her a close maid.

Hearing Song Xuyi read the beginning, Gu Ruyu, who was listening with her eyes closed, suddenly had a blush spread across her fair face, making her look even more captivating.

“What’s wrong?” Song Xuyi had been paying attention to Gu Ruyu’s reactions and stopped reading upon seeing this, looking at Gu Ruyu with concern: “Is the sun too strong? Do you want to go inside and rest for a while?”

This time, Gu Ruyu did not smile at Song Xuyi as before. She slightly turned her face away, closed her eyes again, her long eyelashes trembling, and her long hair falling down, covering half of her flushed cheek: “It’s nothing, it’s just that the story is so captivating that I got a bit lost in it.”

Song Xuyi carefully observed Gu Ruyu, feeling something was a bit odd. Seeing that Gu Ruyu showed no further unusual expressions, Song Xuyi lowered her head and continued to read the book.

However, it was Song Xuyi’s turn to blush next:

The perspective in the storybook suddenly shifted, becoming that of the maid.

The maid, upon her first glance up at the young lady from the dust (courtesan), fell in love with her. She used all her abilities to become the young lady’s personal maid. The young lady was unaware that, while the maid appeared to be dutifully serving her, she was actually coveting her in secret every moment…

Seeing the plot start to go astray, with the maid beginning to attend to the young lady’s bath, the wording in the storybook became extremely suggestive and explicit… Song Xuyi quickly stopped reading, coughed dryly, and said, “I’ll warm up the porridge for you. You should have some porridge first…”

Song Xuyi almost fled in embarrassment, her face red, as she took the storybook to the kitchen.

She finally understood why Zheng Lian had wanted to throw away these volumes at the time; she hadn’t expected the book to be… that kind of book.

Song Xuyi’s gaze fell on the fiercely burning stove fire. According to her original plan, she intended to throw the book into the fire, but she found herself reluctant to burn it. Although the book was melodramatic and cliché, it stopped at a crucial moment, and Song Xuyi was really unwilling to give up just like that. At least… she should finish reading the finale before discarding it.

Song Xuyi lingered in the kitchen for quite a while before finally calming herself. She secretly hid the book in her room and then, acting as if nothing had happened, brought the porridge to Gu Ruyu.

Gu Ruyu was still lying on the wicker chair with her eyes slightly closed, seemingly unaware of Song Xuyi’s unusual behavior.

Song Xuyi breathed a sigh of relief and dared not mention reading the storybook again. She helped Gu Ruyu sit up: “Ruyu, I’ll feed you the porridge!”

To avoid thinking about the unfinished book, Song Xuyi racked her brain for topics while feeding the porridge: “This porridge was also cooked by Miss Zhao. Isn’t Miss Zhao’s cooking particularly good?”

“She has taught me many things over the past few days. I never imagined there could be someone so skillful in this world—”

……

However, Gu Ruyu seemed to have a poor appetite. After listening to Song Xuyi’s words, her cheeks, which had been flushed, returned to a pale color. She coughed softly twice, took a couple of sips, then pressed her lips tightly and pushed the porridge bowl away: “Xuyi, I can’t drink anymore.”

Is the porridge not tasty?

However, Song Xuyi had tasted it in the kitchen; the porridge was soft, glutinous, fragrant, and had a very good taste.

Perhaps it’s because her appetite is not good after recovering from a long illness!

“It’s okay, let’s set it aside for now. You can drink more when you feel hungry later.”

Song Xuyi did not insist and put down the porridge bowl. Remembering that she still needed to find an opportunity to let Gu Ruyu contact her subordinates, she squatted in front of Gu Ruyu again: “Ruyu, can you walk? Do you want me to help you walk around a bit?”

Gu Ruyu’s tightly pressed lips relaxed a little, and she nodded, holding onto Song Xuyi’s arm to stand up.

To gain Zhao Qin’s sympathy and facilitate escape, Gu Ruyu was still dressed in women’s clothing. Previously, there was no time to look closely, but now that there was a moment of leisure, Song Xuyi’s gaze unconsciously focused on Gu Ruyu: Gu Ruyu in women’s clothing looked truly beautiful! With a slender waist and graceful steps, Song Xuyi couldn’t help but recall the description of the young lady in the storybook: “A flower-like face, jade-like nose, eyebrows like ink paintings, resembling a divine consort or fairy, making one utterly captivated…”

Song Xuyi accompanied Gu Ruyu for a stroll around the courtyard and explained the current situation: “Ruyu, I tended to your wounds myself. Rest assured, I know you don’t like others touching you, so I covered my eyes and definitely didn’t see anything I shouldn’t have… But there’s one thing you need to pay attention to: when you just woke up, your voice was hoarse, and Miss Zhao didn’t suspect you were a man, but it’s still more appropriate to use a female voice afterward.”

Song Xuyi spoke cautiously, observing Gu Ruyu’s expression: Song Xuyi’s words actually held her own intentions—despite Gu Ruyu’s reasons for disguising as a man, life like this was too hard for her. Song Xuyi hoped that while recovering, Gu Ruyu wouldn’t be too hard on herself and could enjoy being a woman for a while.

However, Gu Ruyu perhaps was unwilling to return to her female identity. After listening to Song Xuyi’s words, her lips pressed tightly together again. After a while, she coldly said “Okay,” but she did switch back to a female voice.

Song Xuyi did not know why Gu Ruyu suddenly became unhappy again. She carefully reflected on her own words but couldn’t figure out where she went wrong. Fearing that speaking further might anger Gu Ruyu, she remained silent and quietly supported Gu Ruyu as they walked around the courtyard twice.

Gu Ruyu’s mood seemed to worsen.

Especially when she heard Zheng Lian’s voice at the dining table, Gu Ruyu’s mood seemed to reach its lowest point.

Song Xuyi also didn’t understand why she could sense that Gu Ruyu was angry, even though Gu Ruyu still maintained that indifferent expression that revealed no emotion.

Now, Gu Ruyu’s injuries have not healed, and Zheng Lian seems to possess martial skills as well. If they were to confront each other, Gu Ruyu might not be a match for Zheng Lian. Seeing Zheng Lian’s thoughtful gaze constantly falling on Gu Ruyu, Song Xuyi was afraid that Zheng Lian would notice something unusual. She could only try hard to chat with Zhao Qin to change the subject. Zhao Qin was extremely cooperative and found more and more common ground with Song Xuyi in their conversation, even suggesting in the end: “Sister Xuyi, why don’t you sleep with me tonight? I haven’t met someone I get along with so well in a long time!”

As soon as Zhao Qin finished speaking, Zheng Lian’s expression turned extremely unpleasant, and Gu Ruyu, beside Song Xuyi, suddenly drew in a sharp breath—

“Ruyu, what’s wrong?” Song Xuyi quickly inquired.

Gu Ruyu lowered her eyes, her long lashes quivering slightly, and spoke softly: “My eyes hurt a bit.”

Gu Ruyu is of a forbearing nature; if it weren’t for extreme pain, she would certainly not make a sound—

Hearing Gu Ruyu say this, Song Xuyi immediately leaned over to check Gu Ruyu’s eyes. However, Song Xuyi only understood basic medical principles and couldn’t see anything unusual, so she had to reluctantly give up and went into the kitchen to look at the herbs Zhao Qin was simmering for clearing heat and detoxifying.

Zhao Qin was also a considerate person and knew that Song Xuyi had to take care of Gu Ruyu, so she didn’t bring up the idea of wanting Song Xuyi to sleep with her again.

Gu Ruyu had a poor appetite. Song Xuyi, worried that Gu Ruyu might not have much appetite either, didn’t eat much and then helped Gu Ruyu back to the room.

“Xuyi!” Just as she was about to bring the herbal medicine to apply to Gu Ruyu’s eyes, Gu Ruyu suddenly grabbed Song Xuyi’s arm: “I’m afraid of the pain being unbearable when applying it to my eyes. Xuyi, could you continue telling me that story?”

Song Xuyi froze on the spot, not expecting Gu Ruyu to still be thinking about that story. However, how could Song Xuyi have the face to tell that story to Gu Ruyu…

I can only make up a story for Gu Ruyu to listen to!

Song Xuyi had been a creator in a past life, and her mind worked extremely swiftly. While fetching the medicine from the kitchen, she came up with an outline in her head and immediately crafted a story: “The maid actually had the ability to foresee, and she observed the young lady only because she knew the young lady would encounter calamity. Sure enough, the young lady was almost kidnapped by villains later on, but the maid saved her, and the two became sworn sisters.”

After exhausting her mind to finish the story, Song Xuyi applied Gu Ruyu’s medicine. Covered in sweat, she went outside to pour out the herbal juice and returned to find Gu Ruyu lying on the couch with her eyes closed, seemingly already asleep.

Recalling Gu Ruyu’s somewhat gloomy expression while listening to the story, Song Xuyi didn’t suspect anything. Taking a glance around, she closed the door and carefully took out a booklet she had hidden in the cabinet, blushing as she began to read.

“Liar!” Listening to the sound of pages turning, Gu Ruyu couldn’t help but angrily voice her thoughts internally.

Sworn sisterhood? This is complete nonsense!

Gu Ruyu didn’t expect it to be such a coincidence that the story Song Xuyi read to her was precisely from one of the booklets given to her by her subordinates, which Gu Ruyu had already finished reading. Later, the maid became closer and closer to the young lady. The naive young lady, unaware of worldly matters, was coaxed by the maid into doing all sorts of shameful things. Eventually, a wealthy family noticed something unusual and drove the maid away, forcibly arranging a marriage for the young lady. Unexpectedly, on the eve of the wedding, the daughter of the local king suddenly arrived—it turned out that the maid, who had regained her memory, was actually the daughter of the king.

Later, the king’s daughter found a Taoist priest and used the excuse that her fate clashed with the stars and required the young lady to be with her for life, keeping the young lady by her side. The two shared deep affection and love…

The latter half of the story describes the things the two did in the bedroom, in the study, and even in the woods…

……

Gu Ruyu intentionally brought up this storybook earlier because she wanted to see Song Xuyi’s reaction to the affection between women.

Gu Ruyu found herself unable to suppress her jealousy, even though she was angry at Song Xuyi for pretending not to know her true female identity and angry that Song Xuyi’s kindness might just be for the sake of protecting Zheng Lian.

However, Gu Ruyu discovered that what she minded most was the tacit understanding between Song Xuyi and Zhao Qin, and how Song Xuyi’s words constantly revolved around Zhao Qin.

Could it be that Xuyi… has feelings for Zhao Qin?

The author has something to say:

Oh dear, who spilled the jar of vinegar?

…

Goodnight, mwah~

Little angels, don’t stay up late.

LP: Re-translated on August 29, 2024