Chapter 3
Chapter 3
By the time I finished repairing the roof, the court had already closed for the day.
I stopped outside for a steaming bowl of beef soup and two large flatbreads before heading home. On the way, I counted my savings on my fingers.
One more month, and I would have enough silver to bring Mother, my younger brother, and my younger sister to the capital.
The metropolitan examinations would take place in a month, and my brother was coming to sit for them. If I rented a house in advance, they would all have somewhere to stay.
With my brother’s talent, he was certain to pass. Then our family would finally be reunited.
Mother could set up a little wonton stall. My brother could find himself some minor official post at court. And my sister was still young—she could study and play to her heart’s content.
The more I thought about it, the wider I smiled.
Father, I hope you’re watching from heaven.
Everything is well.
Your Ah Cheng can take good care of the family.
I hummed a little tune and skipped along.
“Oh, hear those copper coins ring bright,
The road runs broad and long.
My soles tread moonlight into shards,
A warm hearth rides within my heart.
Dear Mother, wait beside the door no more,
From tomorrow on, we’ll bask in all the winter suns we lost.”
Just thinking of the days ahead filled me with hope.
…
Mother had written recently to say that she had arranged a possible marriage for me back home. The man was one of my brother’s classmates. He would come to the capital with my brother in a month so that we could meet.
But now that I carried a passion parasite, I could hardly drag an innocent man into my troubles. Nor could I tell Mother the truth.
Oh, well. The boat would straighten itself when it reached the bridge. I would deal with it then.
When I returned to my courtyard, I saw lamplight glowing inside my room.
My cousin was sitting at my writing desk.
The desk was an utter mess, with opened letters scattered everywhere. I hurriedly tidied it and asked politely, “What brings you here, Cousin?”
Holding my balding brush between his fingers, he said coolly, “You weren’t nearly so distant when you slapped my face this afternoon.”
Er…
I was truly afraid of him.
“Cousin,” I said miserably, “you know I can’t control many of the things I do when the parasite takes hold. It slapped you because that felt good to it. Don’t blame me.”
He countered, “And you? Didn’t it feel good to you?”
I did not dare answer.
He went on sarcastically, “I told you from the beginning to let me eat it, but you insisted on thrashing around and staining my clothes. Do you know how many people I had to meet in that filthy robe?”
Who would look closely enough to notice such a tiny stain?
Besides, he had eaten it in the end.
Every conversation with him was edged with barbs. Then again, we young ladies who lived off his family all harbored questionable intentions toward him. We ate his household’s food, slept beneath its roof, and ultimately wanted to sleep with him too.
My cousin truly had a difficult life.
Pressing my palms together, I pleaded, “I’ve been taking my medicine diligently. I’ll cure the passion parasite as soon as possible. Then we can stay out of each other’s way and live in peace.”
He did not look pleased. He raised my balding brush and lazily used it to scratch my cheek.
“Let’s hear what Divine Physician Lin has to say.”
Divine Physician Lin arrived shortly afterward. He took my pulse and adjusted my prescription.
“Miss Zhang’s passion parasite is much less active than before,” he said. “Another two months of medicine should cure her. As for you, Your Heirship, the offspring parasite inside your body feeds the parent parasite in hers. If her parasite dies, yours will weaken and perish. You will then gradually forget everything that happened between you and Miss Zhang.”
At that, Divine Physician Lin gave my cousin a meaningful look.
“Once the passion parasite dies, you will forget it all. But if you develop true feelings for Miss Zhang, matters will be quite different. Each time those feelings stir, part of your memory will return. Then you will crave intimacy with her so fiercely that the torment becomes unbearable. After all, the passion parasite was created by a woman of the Miao tribes to punish faithless men who refused to speak the love in their hearts.”
My cousin listened in silence, his face expressionless.
I stole a glance at him. He would never suffer, I thought. He did not have the slightest feeling for me.
He wanted nothing more than for me to recover quickly. Then he could forget all of this and sever every tie between us. Why did Divine Physician Lin have to prattle on so much?
I escorted the physician out and asked him privately, “Two months is much too long. Can’t you give me something stronger?”
My family would arrive in only one month. I did not want to remain tangled up with my cousin like this.
Divine Physician Lin thought for a moment, then produced a pill. “There is one option. This is my Heart-Severing Pill. Your passion parasite was too vigorous for it to work before, but you could take it now. Two hours after you swallow it, the parasite will die instantly. There is one drawback: the pill will cause a splitting headache and affect your memory.”
He could not explain precisely how it would affect me. This was the first such pill he had ever made.
“I imagine the memory loss will concern you and the heir,” he said.
I breathed a sigh of relief. That was nothing to worry about.
He warned me repeatedly, “One more thing. After the passion parasite dies, you must not have any further physical intimacy with the heir. Otherwise, the two of you truly will be entangled for the rest of your lives.”
When I returned to my room, I took out the pill and told my cousin everything.
“Perhaps I should simply grit my teeth and swallow the Heart-Severing Pill,” I said with a sigh.
Better one sharp pain than endless suffering.
My cousin gave a cold laugh. “Miss Zhang is truly a heroine among women.”
Snap.
I looked up and saw that he had broken my one and only balding brush in his hand.
My hands shook with fury. I had gritted my teeth and spent a whole tael of silver on that brush so I could pass the Court of Judicial Review’s written examination!
He gave me a vicious look and plucked out the remaining hairs one by one.
Heat began racing through my blood again.
I drove one knee between his legs and seized his chin. In that instant, certain thoughts filled my mind once more.
His cool fingers trailed unhurriedly over my neck.
“Zhang Cheng,” he murmured, “is the parasite acting up again? What are you thinking about? Your blood is burning.”
Fighting the urges controlling me, I turned and gulped down a cup of cold tea.
He continued, “Let me guess. Do you want to rip my clothes apart and make me kneel before you? Mm, did I guess correctly? What else…”
He would not stop babbling!
I turned to throw him out, only to discover that at some point he had removed his outer robes.
He wore nothing but a thin sleeping robe. In the candlelight, I could even make out the scenery beneath his trousers.
I could bear it no longer.
I bit him and snarled, “Xiao Yanyu, you’re dead!”
He tilted his head back and released a long breath. Stroking my hair gently, he said, “Eat slowly. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay with you all night. Ah… Ah Cheng, lower down. If Mother sees the marks tomorrow, I won’t be able to hide them.”