How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

Chapter 39 Wake up

Yan Ru was surprised to hear that Master Song was coming. She had thought that after their last argument, Master Song would abandon her. She never expected that he would come again so soon.

Everyone in the small building was happy, but the happiest of all was the little one.

"Hehe, I knew the master wouldn't abandon you so quickly. There are still a few more days of warmth in the kitchen." Although the words were unpleasant, the others thought the same way. After all, everyone could see Yanru's beauty. If they were men, they wouldn't be willing to let go of her either.

Yan Ru felt uneasy; this chaotic life couldn't withstand any more turbulence.

When Master Song arrived, Yan Ru was lying on the couch reading a book. Upon seeing him, she awkwardly put the book down and stood to one side, neither bowing nor greeting him. After hesitating for a long time, she remained silent.

Having already noticed her hesitation, Master Song calmly sat down and drank his tea. He was originally angry with Yan Ru. That night, although he had put in effort, he took Yan Ru's rejection as half-hearted. He never expected that Yan Ru would turn on him so easily, making him lose face.

All his care and attention to Yanru was in vain, and she showed no appreciation whatsoever.

But when I saw Yanru today, she seemed to have lost even more weight. Her already thin body was now even more frail. The large robes wrapped around her slender frame, and her face was pale and translucent from staying indoors all the time. If you looked closely, you could almost see her veins.

It was Yan Ru who, despite being so thin, possessed a unique and alluring charm. Slender as a willow branch, with a graceful waist, she moved like a light cloud emerging from a mountain peak; even Xi Shi, the legendary beauty, couldn't have captured her beauty.

Mr. Song took her hand in his, and felt a pang of tenderness as he held her delicate bones in his grasp.

What I meant to question was, but what came out of my mouth was concern: "Did I not feed you? You've gotten so thin."

Yan Ru silently withdrew her hand, took a few steps away, and said softly, "That's not true. I'm just restless, I can't eat or sleep properly."

Seeing her resist him like a raging flood, Master Song felt a surge of anger, but he quickly extinguished it when he looked at her face.

Master Song was very reluctant to admit that Yanru was different from other women to him. Every smile and frown of hers touched his heart. When Yanru was happy, he was happy too; when Yanru was sad, he was worried. Although Yanru was still no match for his business and the Song family, compared to other women, Song Wenqu believed that he had given Yanru the respect that other women did not.

Although the means by which he obtained Yanru were not aboveboard, he believed that he had simply taken advantage of her fear and anxiety. He felt that providing her with a stable and affluent life would be far better than her current one.

Therefore, Master Song was not embarrassed at all; on the contrary, he was quite self-righteous. Although Yan Ru was unwilling to admit it, she was indeed his woman.

After a few moments of thought, Master Song finally said, "I think I also know some things that you don't know, about your father."

Yan Ruo approached him again, somewhat anxiously yet reservedly, "My father, what... what happened to him?" Yan Ruo wanted to slap herself a few times; she both resisted Master Song and wanted to use his power to achieve her own wishes. She had just said some heartless words, and now she was asking him.

Fortunately, Mr. Song did not dwell on the past and asked directly, "Before I answer you, can you tell me who your ancestors were?"

Yan Ru was somewhat puzzled, but still answered, "My grandfather was just an ordinary scholar who only passed the preliminary imperial examination in his entire life. My great-grandfather did serve as a county magistrate, but not in the local area, and he passed away early. I don't know anything about his ancestors, but I heard that some of them became high-ranking officials, which is why they left behind some ancestral property." After telling her everything, Yan Ru was still confused, "What does this have to do with my father? Does my family have a blood feud with the Guo family?"

Master Song shook his head, saying that was not the case. "As far as I know, your family not only produced high-ranking officials, but also traces back to the family of Empress Lü of the Western Han Dynasty."

Yan Ru exclaimed in surprise, "How is this possible? The Western Han Dynasty was more than two thousand years ago. How could a family have survived for so long? Master Song, do you know something? What exactly happened to my father? Please tell me."

Master Song helped Yan Ru up and pressed her down on the couch. He said to her, "I won't tell you about this right away, as it won't do you any good. I only know that a Japanese man has been working on your father's affairs recently, which seems to involve the ancestral property. I haven't found out anything else, and I don't know why."

Yan Ru carefully reviewed the events leading up to the incident, but still couldn't figure out what she had done wrong. "Japanese? My father did receive them before, but they were all after antiques. To be honest, my father is honest in business, but he's a bit cunning when dealing with the Japanese. He often mixes truth with falsehood, and they just think he's a newcomer to the business and not skilled enough. I originally thought that's how the incident happened, but you've heard that the Japanese are still working on my father's behalf, so it's not that simple. Don't hide it from me; whether I can resolve it or not, please give me a straight answer."

After Yan Ru finished speaking, she noticed that Master Song was staring at her, and she couldn't help but turn her head away in embarrassment. Yes, she had made a request again. Why should he help her when they had no relatives or friends? But did becoming a concubine give her the right to demand Master Song's help?

Yan Ru forced herself not to think about it, not to be influenced by Master Song's gaze, and forced herself to remain calm as she swallowed a mouthful of cold tea.

Old Master Song slowly wrapped his arms around her from behind, rested his head on her shoulder, and said, half threatening and half comforting, "Yanru, I really missed you. I treated your matter as my own. How are you going to thank me?"

Yan Ru stood stiffly, motionless, tears silently streaming down her face, her fingers digging painfully into her chest.

Mr. Song turned her face to him and gently kissed away her tears. "Don't worry, I didn't tell you for your own good. I will take care of everything for you, don't worry."

What else could Yan Ru do? The word "family" was always her stumbling block. As long as they were safe, Yan Ru could treat this matter as an equal exchange.

The more he kissed, the more tears he shed, but Master Song didn't care at all; the salty tears were his stimulant.

Once again, he won over the girl with his "wisdom".

The lights in the small building gradually went out, with only the hot water in the kitchen downstairs bubbling away, waiting for the owner's summons.

The lights went out, and a large amount of water carrying murky mud and sand poured into her mouth, making it hard for Qingru to breathe.

But the river's current was far from calm. A swirling eddy pulled her into the darkness, then tossed her up and down like a child at play.

A moment passed, or perhaps a long time, and another figure was thrown overboard. It wasn't the deity who came to rescue her, but another unfortunate person who had also fallen into the water.

Before losing consciousness, Qingru seemed to have grabbed the hem of his clothes and held on tightly, letting the water carry them wherever it took them.

"Cough cough," Qingru woke up slowly, opened her eyes, and squinted. Fortunately, the light was not glaring, and she didn't know if it was morning or dusk.

Her body was limp, and Qingru was shivering from the cold. She must have hit a reef underwater. As she regained consciousness, the pain in her body, especially in her arms and legs, gradually became clearer and intensified.

It felt like something was stuck in her lungs. Before Qingru could think about it, her body's instinct made her bend over and vomit, emptying her stomach of water.

With a "whoosh," instinct beat all else, and he stopped only when he was almost vomiting bile. He rolled over and leaned against one side, breathing heavily with difficulty.

This must be somewhere along the river. Judging from the lush trees around, we must have left the city.

Hungry, tired, sleepy, cold, and in pain... a variety of complex emotions spread through Qingru. However, at this moment, she just lay there motionless, her thoughts drifting far away, but her body honestly showing no strength at all.

She didn't know how much time had passed, so long that Qingru realized it was evening, not dawn, and so long that the moon was high in the sky.

"Hmm," Qingru couldn't help but let out a muffled groan. She had been gathering her strength all day and had finally managed to move slightly, but this aggravated her wound, causing fresh blood to gush out.

Unlike Yanru's naivety and ignorance, Qingru clearly knew that if she didn't move now and find a safe place for herself, she would likely either freeze to death or be torn apart by wild beasts tonight.

The smell of fresh blood is the best motivator for wild beasts.

Despite the pain, Qingru gathered her strength on the ground, resting while observing her surroundings.

She had good eyesight and saw that the pile of rocks not far away was a natural shelter from the wind. If she could move over there, put a few branches on top to block the wind, and move some stones to block the wind, she could get through the night.

Qingru didn't expect Guo Zixing to come and rescue her. Besides, even if he did come, it wouldn't be a quick thing. She would have to get through today first, otherwise whether she could hold out until the rescue was another matter.

But as she imagined, what was normally a short walk felt like an insurmountable chasm to Qingru. The mere ten meters seemed like an insurmountable distance, separated by the Milky Way.

This was the result of an entire afternoon's work. Qingru looked back at the path she had come from, and saw two bloody streaks carved out by her own blood, a shocking sight.

Gritting her teeth and refusing to look any longer, Qingru prepared for a new wave of progress.

She injured her left hand and right leg, so she could only lean to the side and push forward with her uninjured left leg. Fortunately, this place was a beach, and there were no sharp stones to trip her up, so she didn't get hurt again.

"Ugh," a groan came, and Qingru tensed up. Where could a human voice come from in this desolate wilderness? She was afraid it was a person, but she was also afraid it wasn't. However, Qingru couldn't move easily, so she had no choice but to remain still, even lowering her breathing, for fear of disturbing the other party.

"Hiss," came another cry of pain. Qingru was pretty sure it was a male voice, and her expression tightened.

The sound of footsteps approached, and Qingru tensed up. She didn't know who it was, and she had nowhere to avoid it.

"Hey, is it you?"

Qingru opened her eyes wide and saw that the man was tall and strong, dressed as a caddy, which was now filthy. He was covering his left arm, where there were still some dark brown bloodstains that were not yet dry, but he moved freely.

It was Huang Qian's driver. Qingru confirmed the man's identity and felt a surge of despair. She never expected that the thug would chase her all the way here.

“It’s me, what do you want?” Qingru said coldly.

Realizing his identity, the driver knew he had been misunderstood and hurriedly explained, "Miss, please don't misunderstand. I used to be Huang Qian's driver, but I won't be anymore. You don't know, he caused you to fall into the water, and then pushed me out to take the blame. He even pushed me into the water, trying to kill me too."

Qingru didn't entirely believe it, but she had no other choice, so she pretended to sympathize and said, "Then he really is utterly depraved, daring to do it but not daring to admit it, unworthy of being a great man."

"That's right, that scoundrel, bullying men and women, he deserves to die. Bah, he's only good because he has a rich dad. If my dad had money, I'd beat him to a pulp, you son of a bitch..."

Seeing that he was talking incoherently, Qingru quickly stopped him, saying, "Stop talking so much. We're both injured. Let's find some shelter quickly. We don't know if there are any wild animals here."

The driver was also shaken by this. "You're right, where should we hide? Climb a tree?"

Seeing that he still had her in his words, Qingru comforted him a little and pointed to a large rock not far away, saying, "Go there, there's a natural cliff house there. Just pile some stones and break some branches at the door, and we can get through the night."

"Oh, okay, I was thinking the same thing."

The driver was tall and strong. He also woke up after falling into the water, but he only had minor injuries, unlike Qingru, who was already unable to move.

With a touch of jealousy, Qingru shifted half of her strength onto the driver, and the two half-crippled people helped each other to the bottom of the large rock.

The driver put Qingru down and looked at the rock several times before confirming that it was stable.

"Okay, we can stay here tonight. Luckily the moon is big enough tonight, otherwise we wouldn't be able to see anything at all."

Qingru leaned against the stone wall to regain her strength and didn't object to what was said. "Thank you for your help, I really have no strength left."

The driver waved his hand dismissively and said, "It's nothing, I'm in great shape, I'm as strong as a rock."