Forbidden to Bully the Storybook’s Heroine – Chapter 99
by Little PandaExtra 1: The Original Female Lead is Reborn (3)
The medicine was indeed almost ready. Just as Song Muyun finished mentioning the candied fruit, a maidservant entered with a bowl of pitch-black liquid. The little lady’s expression changed, visible to the naked eye. She looked pitifully at Jiang Yao, her gaze full of a clear plea.
Jiang Yao’s fingers twitched. She felt even stranger. Why does she keep looking at me like this? Is she certain I’ll give in to her?
But how could she be so certain? My temper isn’t usually good, and my reputation in the capital is terrible…
Jiang Yao was completely baffled, but she still spoke to the maidservant who had followed them in to change the tea. “Go and get some candied fruit first.”
The maidservant froze, replying instinctively, “Miss, we don’t have any candied fruit in our courtyard.”
Their Miss never ate sweets, so why would there be any?
Jiang Yao said, “The Second Young Miss’s courtyard has some. Go get it from her.”
“Yes, Miss.”
“Leave the medicine here. You can go now.”
“Yes.”
The bowl of black medicine was placed on the bedside cabinet. Song Muyun felt as if she could already smell the bitter medicinal aroma.
“You’re not drinking it now?”
She scooted back a little and said in a small voice, “I’ll wait for the candied fruit before I drink it.”
“Mm, that’s fine.”
Jiang Yao agreed readily and said no more. The room fell silent for a moment.
Song Muyun nervously clenched her fists, her eyes filled with apprehension. She raised her head to look at Jiang Yao, her appearance enough to make anyone’s heart soften.
Thinking of the beastly thing her brother had done to her, Jiang Yao felt another surge of anger. She spoke again, “Jiang Huai was in the wrong in this matter. I apologize to you on his behalf. From now on, I won’t stop you no matter how you wish for him to atone, I only hope you will spare his life.”
Jiang Yao had a headache. This was the first time she had ever apologized to someone for her useless brother. In the past, her father had always handled such things.
Hearing her bring the matter up again, Song Muyun just shook her head silently. She had no intention of doing anything to Jiang Huai. Although she detested him, she also knew that if she did anything too excessive to him, the Prime Minister and his wife wouldn’t stop her, but she would never be able to enter the Jiang family’s gates.
The little lady lowered her head and spoke after a moment. “I don’t need him to do anything. I only have one thing to ask of you.”
“Ask of me?”
Jiang Yao raised an eyebrow, thinking to herself, The Jiang family is indebted to you right now. There’s no need to use a word like ‘ask.’
After a moment, she nodded. “Mm, what is it? Just say it.”
Jiang Huai’s debt naturally had to be shouldered by the Jiang family. It could be considered a debt they owed her. If she could help a little more, Jiang Yao would not refuse.
Song Muyun’s hands, hidden under the quilt, clenched the bedding as if she were nervous. She said to her in a low voice, “I… I don’t want to serve in Jiang Huai’s courtyard anymore. I want to be in your courtyard.”
Jiang Yao was stunned. She could have racked her brains and never guessed that this was what Song Muyun was going to say.
“I never planned to have you stay in the residence to serve anyone.”
Her brow furrowed. She subconsciously felt displeased at the word “serve,” not even understanding why herself.
But upon hearing this, Song Muyun’s face turned deathly pale, and her body trembled slightly. She was a sensitive person by nature and understood the meaning behind those words completely. Sadness welled up in her heart. She asked, “Are you not going to take care of me anymore?”
The beauty’s eyes filled with tears. She looked utterly pitiful, her expression a mixture of grievance and fear. Jiang Yao couldn’t bear to see her like this. She took a step forward, lowered her head, and said gently, “It’s not that I won’t take care of you. If you face any difficulties outside, you can always come find me. I will protect you and not let others bully you. I will also give you money so you won’t have to suffer as you did before.”
Serving others was hard work, especially serving an idiot like her brother.
Damn it, just thinking of that thing makes my hands itch. I really want to beat him up. How dare he bully anyone? How dare he listen to just anyone?
What an idiot.
Song Muyun hadn’t expected her to want to send her out of the residence. What was the point of that?
If she was sent away, would she still be able to see Jiang Yao?
Even though Jiang Yao said she would protect her, she would most likely just send someone to help. She wouldn’t appear herself. Wouldn’t it be incredibly difficult to see her then?
That her had everything, and she was personally brought back to the Jiang Residence to be raised by Jiang Yao. But now that it was her turn, not only was Jiang Yao not raising her, she even wanted to send her away!
Song Muyun couldn’t control herself. A stream of clear tears fell from her beautiful phoenix eyes, and her whole body trembled with sobs, scaring Jiang Yao to death.
“You… why are you crying? Is there something wrong with my arrangements? If you have any objections, just say so. Don’t cry.”
She frowned, her hands reaching forward helplessly, as if wanting to comfort her. But she had never consoled anyone before and had no idea how to do it. She could only stare, her eyes outwardly calm but her heart in a panic, as she watched her cry.
She’s not even trying to comfort me. Song Muyun’s heart was in even more turmoil than hers. She had no idea what to do. She wanted to cling to Jiang Yao, but what if Jiang Yao wouldn’t let her?
She was just a lonely, helpless orphan. What could she do?
A beauty in tears was both a lovely and heart-wrenching sight. Seeing that she wasn’t speaking, only choking back sobs, Jiang Yao fretted for a long while before sitting down on the edge of the bed, planning to ask her intentions up close.
“You don’t want the Jiang family’s money?”
She had a basis for asking this. Scholars were mostly proud to the bone. After being so humiliated by the Jiang family, it was normal for her not to want their money. But if that was the case, how could a weak woman like her survive on her own?
Jiang Yao was slow when it came to certain things. If some things weren’t said directly, there was no way she could figure them out on her own.
Song Muyun secretly shot her a glare. That glance was caught by Jiang Yao’s sharp eyes. Jiang Yao was dumbfounded. Thinking of that fierce little glare, like a rabbit’s, she couldn’t help but ask, “Do you hate me?”
…
How could she possibly hate her!
If you don’t know, then don’t guess!
The little lady was so angry she threw caution to the wind and gave Jiang Yao a shove. Caught off guard, Jiang Yao was pushed off the bed. After steadying herself, she still couldn’t help but stagger twice, which was seen by the maidservant who had just returned with the candied fruit.
The maidservant stared in shock at the gentle and weak young lady on the bed.
Heavens, does she not know our Miss can shatter boulders with her bare hands! How dare she lay a hand on her?
Jiang Yao, however, didn’t think there was anything wrong with the push. At most, she just assumed the girl really disliked her.
Most of the noble young ladies in the capital disliked her; she was long used to it.
On top of that, she was implicated by Jiang Huai, being his biological sister. It would be strange if the other party did like her.
As for her request to move from Jiang Huai’s courtyard to hers, it was probably because she had helped her, so she figured that coming to her courtyard would be much better than staying in Jiang Huai’s.
“The candied fruit is here. You should drink your medicine first.”
Setting the matter aside for the moment, she looked at the maidservant who was still holding the candied fruit in disbelief. She reached out to touch the medicine bowl. It had been brought in scalding hot, but now it was warm and just right for drinking.
She handed the medicine over. “It won’t be as effective if it gets cold. Drink up.”
Song Muyun was filled with frustration. She glared at Jiang Yao again but still took the thick, pitch-black medicinal soup and drank it all in one go. The bitterness in her throat was intense, and she frowned so hard she could have crushed a mosquito between her brows. Yet, she didn’t reach for the candied fruit on the maidservant’s tray. It was Jiang Yao who, seeing her little face contort from the bitterness, quickly took a piece from the tray and popped it into her mouth.
This little lady seemed to dislike her, yet she wasn’t the least bit averse to her touch. When she fed her the candied fruit, she obediently opened her mouth and ate it, her eyes looking up at her, watery and pitiful.
“You may leave. In the evening, ask the residence physician to come again to take a safety pulse.”1
Jiang Yao turned her head and instructed the maidservant.
The maidservant curtsied, barely managing to contain her shock, and quickly departed.
Only the two of them remained in the room.
Jiang Yao didn’t know how to coax the young lady, nor did she know what Song Muyun truly wanted, so she watched her in silence.
It wasn’t until Song Muyun figured it out: in this life, if she wasn’t proactive, she would only miss her chance with Jiang Yao again. She couldn’t just sit by and wait for her doom. Jiang Yao was a block of wood; what could she possibly know?
If I expect her to ask me to stay on her own, I might as well wait until my next life.
Song Muyun grumbled internally, but when she opened her mouth, her voice was inexplicably tinged with tears. “Do you have to drive me away?”
Jiang Yao stiffened slightly, her expression one of surprise. What is she talking about? Isn’t this slander?
“I’m not trying to drive you away. I was just afraid you wouldn’t like staying at the Jiang Residence and that you hate our Jiang family,” she explained.
Song Muyun lowered her head, and her cool voice, tinged with a hoarse tremor, drifted over. “I don’t dislike staying at the Jiang Residence, and I certainly don’t hate you. I’m a weak woman; where else could I go if I left the Jiang family? I just don’t want to stay in Jiang Huai’s courtyard.”
Murong Qing had given her to Jiang Huai to both curry favor with him and to humiliate her. She only detested this knife of Murong Qing’s. How did that get twisted into her hating Jiang Yao?
Jiang Yao was so good, so different from everyone else.
Jiang Yao finally grasped the meaning behind her words and asked, “You just don’t want to stay in Jiang Huai’s courtyard?”
The little lady nodded silently, her expression aggrieved.
Her long hair was unbound, cascading over her shoulders. She looked well-behaved and lovely, yet also exceptionally frail and helpless.
Jiang Yao recalled what Song Muyun had said earlier—that she didn’t want to be in Jiang Huai’s courtyard and wanted to come to hers. Only now did she suddenly understand. It wasn’t that she was coming to her courtyard because she had no other choice.
She didn’t hate the Jiang family, and she didn’t hate her. She just disliked Jiang Huai, so she didn’t want to stay in his courtyard and wanted to come to hers instead.
Since she had saved her, she probably considered her a kind person in her heart, someone who would shelter her a little in the future.
Once Jiang Yao understood, she changed her tune. “Alright. If you don’t want to leave, you can stay in my courtyard. From now on, I’ll take care of you.”
Jiang Huai had wronged her so badly. As his sister, she had been dragged into it, so of course she had to be a little nicer to the young lady. It was just raising a woman, after all. It just meant adding an extra set of bowls and chopsticks at mealtimes and having a few more sets of clothes made. She could still afford it.
Her sudden, decisive agreement stunned Song Muyun. Slowly, very slowly, her jade-like cheeks began to blush. She said she would take care of me. Is it like how that Jiang Yao took care of that me?
The little lady was very shy, but afraid that Jiang Yao would go back on her word, she quickly nodded in agreement.
Only then did Jiang Yao breathe a sigh of relief. It was always good to be able to compensate her somehow. If she refused everything, then her conscience would truly be troubled.
“They just changed the tea to a hot pot. Would you like some?”
She still remembered that Song Muyun had said she was thirsty earlier.
“Mm, yes.”
Song Muyun replied obediently, and Jiang Yao poured her a cup of water.
The maidservant who had just left came in again from outside, looking somewhat troubled. When she saw her Miss looking at her, she curtsied and said, “Miss, the Young Master says his legs are about to break from kneeling and asks you to go over.”
Her face was full of helplessness; she had only come because she had been begged relentlessly.
Jiang Yao got annoyed just hearing Jiang Huai’s name. Legs about to break? How long has it been, and they’re already breaking? Useless thing.
“Let him keep kneeling. He’s not to leave until I say so. Otherwise, I’ll go over and break his legs myself.”
With Jiang Yao’s decree, the maidservant had no choice but to agree.
No one had expected that Jiang Huai would be punished, and punished so severely, all for the daughter of a convicted official.
The person on the bed had been silent since the maidservant entered. Once the maidservant left, she carefully scooted to the edge of the bed, very close to Jiang Yao.
She looked up at her. “If the Prime Minister finds out you punished Jiang Huai like this, will he be angry?”
He was his biological son, after all.
Jiang Yao sneered, “He sired him but didn’t raise him. What does the old man have to be angry about? Raising him to be like this, who wouldn’t be annoyed to see him?”
She had hoped Jiang Huai might restrain himself a little after getting married. But with the way he was, what girl from a good family would be willing to marry him? It was just wishful thinking.
If their father wouldn’t discipline him, she would.
She had originally planned to discipline him a bit later, to let Jiang Huai enjoy a few more days of freedom. But now, after learning about this, she couldn’t wait. He already dared to rely on his power to bully others. If she didn’t discipline him now, would he try to overturn the heavens next?
Song Muyun knew she was punishing Jiang Huai for her sake. A sweet feeling suddenly surged through her heart. She looked up at her with eyes full of starlight, as if she trusted and revered her completely.
It wasn’t the first time someone had looked at her like this, but only Song Muyun made her feel a little… cute. She wanted to reach out and pat her head, but then she remembered that the two of them weren’t very familiar with each other yet and feared she might offend her. So, she just told her to rest well and get some sleep, and that they could talk about anything else after she woke up.
After coaxing her to lie down, she didn’t leave. She moved a stool over, picked up a storybook, and sat to one side to watch over her.
She had originally planned to sleep through the afternoon until evening, but she had been disturbed midway. Now her bed had been taken over, so naturally, she could only read a storybook to pass the time.
Song Muyun didn’t know what she was thinking, which was why she obediently lay in bed, trying to fall asleep. If she had known, she would have definitely asked Jiang Yao to come up and sleep with her, then secretly inch her way into her arms.
After the Song family’s downfall, she had nothing left but this face and soft body that Jiang Yao liked.
That Jiang Yao used to touch her often and would occasionally kiss her cheek, saying she was beautiful. She must have really liked her body and face. It’s just…
The woman buried her head in the quilt, secretly looking at and touching her current body, which was so thin it was just a bag of bones. It wasn’t nice to touch at all.
She was worried. Will Jiang Yao not like me like this? Jiang Yao seems to like me with a bit more meat on my bones. What should I do?
Song Muyun was unaware, her eyes full of sorrow.
Jiang Yao was also unaware of her sorrow. After a few words of coaxing, she saw her curled up in the quilt without moving and guessed she might be asleep. But… it didn’t seem good to sleep with the quilt over her head.
After thinking it over, she still reached out and manually pulled the quilt down a little, only to meet Song Muyun’s sorrowful and somewhat dim eyes.
Jiang Yao: …
“Didn’t we agree you’d sleep for a while? Why aren’t you sleeping?”
Song Muyun had just been secretly touching her own body and didn’t expect to be discovered when Jiang Yao pulled the quilt away. A blush spread across her cheeks. She quickly snatched the quilt back, clutching it to her chest and covering half her face, revealing only a pair of shy eyes. Her long lashes fluttered as a small voice came from under the covers, defending herself. “I… I was just about to sleep, and then you lifted my quilt.”
Her voice was soft and very obedient.
Jiang Huai could bear to bully a woman like this?
Jiang Yao was astonished and became even more certain of one thing: Jiang Huai was a complete son of a bitch. Did no one teach him, so he grew up into this wretched state?
Heh.
Just wait and see how I deal with him.
Jiang Yao couldn’t resist. She reached out and ruffled Song Muyun’s hair a couple of times. “Don’t pull the quilt up so high. I’m afraid you won’t be able to breathe in your sleep. Go on and sleep now, I won’t lift your quilt again.”
As she promised, she pulled the quilt down a bit, revealing the woman’s elegant, jade-like nose, her pale lips that were a bit colorless from her illness, and her delicate, pointed chin. “Mm, this is better.”
The half of Song Muyun’s face that had been covered was exposed again. She blinked her eyes blankly but still hugged the quilt and replied, “Mm, I know.”
She closed her eyes but could still feel Jiang Yao’s gaze on her. Her eyelashes trembled nervously.
Jiang Yao could tell at a glance that she wasn’t asleep. She was also afraid that her staring was making her too nervous, so she simply lowered her head and began to flip through her storybook, page by page.
The room grew quieter, with only the sound of two steady breaths and the rustling of pages turning.
As dusk fell, a maidservant came to report that the meal from the small kitchen was ready. Only then did Jiang Yao put down her storybook and stand up to stretch. She had been sitting all afternoon, and her back was stiff. A light movement even produced a crisp cracking sound.
Jiang Yao said to the maidservant, “Serve the meal in a bit. Go and bring Jiang Huai over.”
Making him kneel for so long had barely managed to quell a tiny bit of her anger.
At that time, the rain had been pouring down. Jiang Yao was sleeping on a soft couch, already accustomed to the rhythmic sound of the rain, even finding it lulling. She never expected to be woken up by Jiang Huai.
She expected even less to have a woman show up at her door because Jiang Huai had bullied her—bullied her horribly. Perhaps out of desperation or in a panic, she had rushed into her courtyard, running towards her as if seeking sanctuary.
She had only reached out to catch her because she was afraid she would fall.
After catching her in her arms and watching her faint, she had summoned all the guilt-ridden, fleeing maidservants and servants. She finally found out what Jiang Huai had been up to these past few days.
If she didn’t make him kneel outside, she would feel she had let the young lady down.
The little lady was so thin she weighed less than the stone blocks Jiang Yao used for her martial arts training. It must have been Jiang Huai who had tormented her into this state. What a vicious idiot.
If he weren’t her own brother, she really wouldn’t have let him off so easily.
Jiang Huai limped in, drenched and bending his legs. The moment he saw Jiang Yao’s cold face, he was about to drop to his knees on the spot.
Jiang Yao shot him a cold glance, then stood up. This frightened Jiang Huai so much that his legs trembled and he quickly took two steps back. But he saw that his sister wasn’t coming for him. Instead, she walked forward, bent down, and spoke to someone in a soft, gentle voice. “Wake up, it’s time for dinner. If you sleep any longer, you won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
Heaven as his witness, Jiang Huai had never heard Jiang Yao speak in such a gentle voice. He was so scared he forgot how to make a facial expression.
A woman’s soft whimper came from behind the screen. Just as Jiang Huai was wondering who could possibly receive such special treatment from his sister—not even Jiang Ru had this privilege—a familiar yet slightly unfamiliar, hoarse female voice sounded again, tinged with intimacy. “Jiang Yao~ I’m still so sleepy.”
Hearing this voice, Jiang Yao also paused. She had always thought the young miss of the Song family was distant and cold, but she never imagined she could be so quick to warm up to people.2
Although today wasn’t their first time meeting, it was the first time they had exchanged more than two sentences. Her behavior made it seem as if she already considered her a close friend.
Jiang Yao felt a little uncomfortable but hid it well. She reached out to help Song Muyun up, but unexpectedly, the other party leaned her soft body directly into her arms…
That fluffy head even kept rubbing against her chest.
Her voice was like a kitten’s, coaxing, “Can we go to bed early tonight?”
Jiang Yao was almost at a loss. She wanted to hold the woman’s thin shoulders but didn’t dare, feeling it would be improper. She could only say, somewhat awkwardly, “Alright, but tonight… are you going to sleep with me?”
With just that one sentence, the person who had been drowsy a moment ago was instantly wide awake.
She suddenly sat up straight, remembering that she had been reborn. This Jiang Yao had no impression of her and certainly didn’t love her. In her daze, she had actually confused this Jiang Yao with the other one.
It was truly improper. That Jiang Yao had her own Song Muyun. This Jiang Yao was hers.
The little lady’s cheeks flushed slightly, but she quickly softened her posture again. She had already decided to be more proactive and make Jiang Yao fall for her sooner.
“Mm, is that okay? I’m very scared sleeping alone.”
Jiang Yao frowned in thought for a moment before saying, “It’s okay, but I rarely sleep with others. I’m afraid my sleeping habits aren’t very good. If I disturb you…”
“It’s fine, I don’t mind. I’m a heavy sleeper, I won’t be disturbed.”
Before Jiang Yao could finish, Song Muyun’s eyes lit up as she spoke, as if she really wanted to sleep with her.
It was probably because she had saved her, so Song Muyun was particularly dependent on her.
Jiang Yao once again found a reason for her clinginess and immediately accepted it. She just patted her on the back. “Alright, I’ll sleep with you. I just had someone bring Jiang Huai in. Do you want to get dressed and see him?”
After a thought, she added, “I absolutely won’t interfere with how you want to punish him. Just leave him his dog’s life.”
Jiang Yao had spent time in the military camps, where the men were rough and spoke crudely. She had been young and had inevitably picked up some of their habits, which she would sometimes use unconsciously.
The moment Jiang Huai heard her words, he started barking like a mad dog from outside. “Jie, jie, I’m your real brother! Are you crazy, letting someone else punish me? Dad won’t agree either! I’ve already been kneeling all afternoon, isn’t that enough?!”
He was about to lose his mind. What was his sister trying to do? How could she let Song Muyun punish him? He knew perfectly well what he had done to Song Muyun. If she were to punish him, he might lose half his life!
Jiang Huai was naturally a hundred times unwilling, trying to gain a shred of pity from his ruthless sister by acting pathetic.
But his sister didn’t even spare him a glance. She just ordered a maidservant to fetch some clothes and then had him thrown out. After Song Muyun had changed, she had him dragged back in.
Jiang Huai struggled nonstop but failed to escape. He was thrown down in front of Song Muyun.
He had been kneeling all afternoon, and his legs were extremely weak. Although it wasn’t his intention, he couldn’t stop his legs from buckling, and he knelt before Song Muyun. Then, his entire body froze.
Jiang Huai was feeling utterly humiliated when he noticed that the embroidered shoes in front of him didn’t kick or stomp on him. Instead, they vanished in a few steps, having gone around him to his sister’s side.
?
Wasn’t she famously cold and aloof, ignoring everyone? Neither he nor Murong Qing could ever get a pleasant look from her.
Why was she so clingy with his sister?
Footnotes
- A ‘ping’an mai’ or ‘safety pulse’ is a pulse reading taken by a physician to confirm a patient is stable and recovering well after an illness, injury, or shock.
- The term used is ‘zilai shu’, a slang term for a person who is naturally extroverted and can become friendly with new acquaintances very easily, as if they have known them for a long time.
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