"Jinchai pays her respects to the master—," whispered Jinchai, her heart filled with trepidation.
Before she could finish her speech, the world spun around, and she ran into a wall of flesh. Without even realizing what was happening, a hot and moist mouth pressed down on hers.
Hong Hua and Qing Ye, the two little maids, blushed and hurriedly bowed their heads before retreating. They thoughtfully closed the bedroom door behind them.
Jinchai was stunned at first, not coming to her senses until Gao Jin’s large mouth, reeking of alcohol, nuzzled against her face, covered her with slobber, and shamelessly tried to push his tongue into her mouth.
Frantically trying to push Gao Jin away, her eyes wide with terror, she had only seen him from a distance once before, dressed in official robes, surrounded and waited on with the utmost respect, exuding the full authority of his status.
How could she have known of this side of Gao Jin, drunk and indulging his base desires in private?
As she pushed, tears began to well up: "Sir, sir, please let go first—" She was too frightened even to call him master anymore, only able to sob and beg.
The little beauty in his arms was fragrant and soft, as helpless and pitiable as a lamb—especially her pleading voice, which was like a powerful aphrodisiac spurring on desire.
With eyes bloodshot, Gao Jin’s hands roamed over the little beauty at will. To her, his seemingly flirtatious smile was nothing short of ferocious: "So, little beauty, you , do you? Today, I shall fulfill your desires—" he said.
Like a wolf carrying off its prey, he dragged Jinchai to bed and pressed down upon her...
Jinchai felt that this night was the longest, most painful, and most humiliating night of her life.
Gao Jin regarded her as nothing more than an object, toying with her mercilessly, without the slightest concern that it was her first time. She fainted from the pain several times, only to awaken to more torment.
When Gao Jin finally rolled over to sleep, she couldn’t even muster the strength to move her fingers.
Her tears had run dry amidst her pleading. Listening to the thunderous snores beside her, Jinchai couldn’t help but wonder how she ended up in this situation.
Just a few months earlier, she was the treasured pearl in the palm of her parents, a pampered daughter. Among her peers, she was outstanding, and at the very least, she would have married a well-off scholar, supporting him through his exams, and then starting from scratch honestly.
How did she end up as a concubine to the county magistrate, taken into the room of this corpulent man?
At this thought, a look of rage and fear appeared in Jinchai’s eyes...
Any man would find it unbearable to hold the woman he loves in his arms.
Song Chongjin felt that his normally excellent self-control simply crumbled in front of Wang Yongzhu.
He wished he could meld the person in his embrace into his very bones and blood.
It was a sweetness mingled with pain!
It was Wang Yongzhu who noticed Song Chongjin’s agony and, with a mix of amusement and sympathy, pushed him to let her up.
Song Chongjin would rather endure the pain than leave her, playing coy and refusing to budge.
As they playfully struggled, a commotion arose in the front courtyard, followed by the voice of Wang Yongping: "Little sister, Brother-in-law Song—quick, get up, father is not doing well—"
Song Chongjin and Wang Yongzhu were startled and exchanged glances. With a push from Wang Yongzhu, Song Chongjin immediately rolled out of bed.
The two of them straightened their clothes. Song Chongjin glanced at himself, smirked bitterly, and decided to find an opportunity to properly discipline that fourth uncle of his. He had great timing. If he kept up , he feared he was the one who wouldn’t last!
Without another word and after adjusting their attire, the two of them rushed out of the bedroom door.
The lamps were bright in the front courtyard, and the door to Wang Laozhu’s side room was open.
Sobs could be faintly heard from within.
Hastening his steps into the side room, he found Wang Laozhu half propped up in Wang Yonggui’s arms, with another pool of blood spat out on his chest, and his complexion was deteriorating.
Jindou was trembling as he tried to feed medicine from the bottle into Wang Laozhu’s mouth.
It was only after managing to get two pills into him that some color returned to Wang Laozhu’s face.
Opening his eyes and gasping for breath, he glanced at Wang Yongzhu and Song Chongjin and managed a weak smile, "You two... are married now, and I can be at peace!"
After finishing his words, he coughed twice and spat out two mouthfuls of blood before saying, "I know, I’m not going to make it much longer—"
Wang Yonggui, with a stern face, said, "Dad, don’t talk, rest for a bit, just rest for a bit—"
"I’m afraid if I rest a bit more, I won’t wake up again!" Wang Laozhu said grimly, well aware of his own body’s state. His end was near, and as he looked around the room at the people present, he only felt regret that as he was about to close his eyes for good, not all his children were with him.
Both Wang Yongping and Jinhoo couldn’t help but kneel down and weep.
Old Granny Zhang, however, sitting on a chair to the side with an equally pale face, barely managed to stay composed, "Enough of that, why the wailing? All of you shut up and listen! Does your dad have any last wishes or not?"
At a time , all you know is to cry; what’s the use of crying now?
Wang Laozhu nodded and scanned the room, looking at his descendants and sons- and daughters-in-law surrounding him. Despite slight regrets, he felt content that in a foreign land, he had so many of his children by his side and he should be satisfied with that.
In the latter half of his life, it was precisely because he wasn’t satisfied that he ended up in this situation!
He didn’t blame anyone but himself; he had a good life but didn’t cherish it, neglected the wife that looked after his family, didn’t show affection for the capable daughter he had, all for a dream whose whereabouts he didn’t even know, letting his second son, that worthless fellow, commit all kinds of misdeeds, causing his wife and daughter to grow estranged from him.
His eyes filled with remorse landed on Old Granny Zhang. "Old woman, I have done you wrong in this life! You bore heirs for the Wang Family, managed our household for the better part of your life, put up with so much hardship because of me, yet I still neglected you for someone else! "
"At first, I didn’t realize it, but now that I’m on my deathbed, I’ve come to see that everything I did before was utterly despicable! I want to make it up to you, but it seems even the heavens can’t stand to watch any longer and are ready to take me away— so I won’t be a burden on you anymore—"
With those words, Wang Laozhu revealed a bitter smile.
It was only when death was looming that he realized just how much he had missed before.
Unfortunately, it was all too late now. He would not have the time to make amends to the old woman who had suffered with him for half a lifetime, nor to rectify those mistakes.
He could only hope that the old woman would forgive him for all the wrongs he had done.
The eyes of the entire family turned toward Old Granny Zhang, and Wang Yongzhu hurried by her side, holding her arm, silently comforting Old Granny Zhang.
To Wang Yongzhu, repenting at death’s door was admirable, but that did not mean Old Granny Zhang should suffer any more because of Wang Laozhu’s last-minute confession.
Song Chongjin blinked, feeling aggrieved. His mother-in-law was perfect in every way, but she always had to compete with him for Yongzhu’s attention.
Whenever the mother-in-law was around, Yongzhu seemed to forget he existed completely.
Thinking it over, he too made his way to Old Granny Zhang’s other side, vividly demonstrating his support and submission to his mother-in-law.
The intention of both children was naturally felt by Old Granny Zhang.