How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

The night was as dark as ink, but this small courtyard was as bright as day. Yanru was not used to it; she now preferred the dark environment.

Logically speaking, quite some time has passed since the day she fell into the water, but Yan Ru doesn't seem to have recovered yet.

Now she has developed a new habit: she likes to stay in a dark environment and look up at the bright night sky alone, which gives her a sense of security as if she is patrolling in the shadows.

The little creature's footsteps rang out, and Yan Ru put her mind at ease.

With a creak, the door was pushed open, and the little thing, holding onto the door frame, looked up and said disdainfully, "Oh, you've struck it lucky. Tonight is your wedding night, hehe."

Hearing her provocative words again, Yanru was no longer angry or sad. She glanced at her indifferently, said nothing, and sat down on the bed.

Seeing that she didn't respond, the little thing also felt awkward and gave a light snort, but still didn't shake her off.

Resigned to his fate, he tidied up Yanru's room and settled the old woman who brought water, without stopping for a moment.

Yan Ru sneered inwardly. No matter how arrogant the little thing was, it was still just a servant.

Yan Ru was soon frightened by her own inner thoughts. The school taught her that everyone is equal, but here she was exploiting a pitiful woman with a sense of entitlement. This was not her!

Taking a deep breath and calming herself down, Yan Ru said as calmly as possible, "You can all leave now, I'll take care of it myself."

The busy little thing glanced at her upon hearing this, and still gave her a disdainful look, saying, "Pretending to be innocent."

However, he didn't intend to do anything more, so he clapped his hands and led the women away.

Yanru picked out a white satin silk belted floral dress from the clothes sent by the second concubine, bathed herself clean, and put on this "prisoner's dress".

In a short time, she had figured it out. The Song family was like a lamb to the slaughter for her. She had no chance before, but now that she had offered herself up, they had no reason to refuse.

So she decided to submit to fate and try another way out of the Song family. Nowadays, various warlords are in power, and the rise and fall of forces is inevitable. Even the Qing Dynasty has fallen. How can the Marshal's Mansion last for a hundred years?

Yanru turned off the lights and lit traditional dragon and phoenix candles. She sat in front of the mirror to do her makeup, the candlelight flickering and making it difficult to see clearly.

It was late at night when Master Song arrived.

Upon reaching the top floor, they noticed something different. It turned out that Yanru had asked Xiao Dong to bring a large bouquet of fresh flowers, which were laid out all the way from the lobby to Yanru's boudoir.

Master Song was full of pride and high spirits, and he strode confidently toward the person he longed for.

Yanru had already dressed and made up; her hair was loose, she was dressed, and she had applied a light layer of makeup.

It is said that a beautiful woman looks more beautiful the longer you look at her under the lamplight, let alone someone who is already stunningly beautiful. In the flickering candlelight, Yan Ru's slender and graceful figure appeared and disappeared. With just one glance, Master Song felt his soul was captivated and his whole body was ablaze with passion.

His decades of experience in the business world vanished in an instant, leaving only the urgency of a young man. He hurriedly stepped forward and hugged Yan Ru tightly, instantly satisfied, and asked eagerly, "You...you really want to?"

Yan Ru looked up at him, her eyes filled with the shyness of a traditional woman, and remained silent, pursing her lips. However, Master Song didn't really want her to answer; before she could speak, he leaned in and kissed her.

His eyes, hidden behind Master Song's cover, remained expressionless, but they flickered slightly when he saw the servant accompanying him. It was... the person in the water that day...

Yan Ru's absent-mindedness did not displease Master Song. He pushed the beauty down, looked down at her young and clean beauty, and appreciated her shyness, her panic and her fear.

Song Fu kept his head down and quietly followed Song Ren out of the room, closing the door behind them. Then they went downstairs one after the other.

This wasn't the first time Song Ren had acted like this with this Master Song, but Song Fu seemed somewhat uncomfortable, his body trembling slightly. Seeing this, Song Ren quietly asked, "What's wrong?"

Then, as if remembering something, he teased, "You're not still a virgin, are you?"

Hearing Song Ren's teasing words, Song Fu blushed and stammered, "Don't talk nonsense, I'm going to the kitchen to prepare water."

Song Ren got even more excited, "Don't run away, I'll take you to Hulukou to see what it's like."

Hulukou is a famous red-light district in the city. It got its name from the way the houses and streets are arranged like a gourd. It is also used jokingly to describe the girls in the alley as having a curvy figure like a gourd.

Upon hearing this, Song Fu moved even faster and disappeared into the darkness in the blink of an eye.

Song Ren laughed at him behind his back, but dared not speak loudly, for fear of disturbing Master Song's mood.

He sat down in the armchair in the hall with his legs crossed, took a sip of tea, and was about to fall asleep when he suddenly saw the little thing standing at the door of the servants' room. She had a long braid, blinked her eyes, and looked at him shyly, as if she wanted to say something. Then she turned around and went into the room, but forgot to close the door.

Suddenly, Song Ren's sleepiness vanished, and he felt a surge of heat in his heart. Although his master preferred delicate beauties, he actually preferred voluptuous ones. He swallowed hard but didn't dare to do anything. He simply found a place to lie down and didn't dare to move again.

The little thing saw Song Ren like this from inside the door frame and smiled smugly. "Pah, hypocrite. Humph, plenty of men like me. Master is just infatuated for a while. He'll discover my goodness sooner or later."

Meanwhile, at Yanru's place, Master Song showed no mercy, attacking her like a storm. At that moment, she was afraid, even regretful.

Instinctively, she pushed him away, saying, "Master Song, you can't do this! My father and you were classmates and old friends. How dare you humiliate me?!"

For a moment, Master Song regained his senses, but desire once again took over his mind. "Yanru, I love you, and I want you."

Yan Ru continued to struggle, "I... I am a classmate of the young master of this mansion, which is against the rules."

It would have been better if he hadn't mentioned it, because once he started talking about it, Master Song became even more excited. Being able to gather such a young and beautiful woman at the age of forty inflated his vanity to an immense degree, especially her delicate body, which made him feel like he was a boy again.

The more Yan Ru refused, the more insistent Master Song became, believing she was merely shy and naive, and determined to leave his mark on this pristine blank canvas.

Before long, Yanru was powerless to resist.

The matter was settled, and Yan Ru's original five points of fragility became ten points. Whenever there was any doubt, her watery eyes would innocently stare at her.

Master Song was both satisfied and felt it wasn't enough, so he ultimately let her go.

Because he was always short of her, he missed her dearly and took great care of her, feeling that nothing he could give her was enough.

"Ha, it's just that they're not full, so they always keep it in mind," Yan Ru thought disdainfully, while her face remained innocent and frail.

The night was more than halfway over, and even the most tired person would eventually fall asleep.

I don't know when it started raining outside, the drizzle gradually turned into a downpour, the rain pattering against the tiles.

The moment the thunder roared, Yan Ru looked at Master Song, who was holding her, and felt an immediate sense of disgust. She carefully moved her body, turning her back to him, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

When he woke up in the morning, Master Song was in high spirits and called for someone to come and serve him.

Yan Ru's slender body was curled up on the couch, her expression listless and tired, with red marks on the little bit of skin that was exposed.

Master Song was very satisfied, and the little girl helped him get dressed, but he didn't let anyone wake Yanru up. "Let her sleep. She must have been exhausted yesterday."

You could tell from his tone that Master Song was quite pleased with himself. The little thing didn't respond, and Master Song didn't notice.

After getting dressed, Master Song gently kissed Yanru's cheek before going downstairs and leaving.

Yanru knew nothing of what happened that morning, and by the time she woke up, it was already sunset.

Her whole body ached unbearably, and that area was especially throbbing. Thinking of what happened last night, even with her eyes closed, a few tears still slid down Yanru's cheeks.

There was an extra maid downstairs. In addition to the little one, Master Song also arranged for a cook, a personal maid, and two cleaning maids.

Hearing her wake up, the new maid rushed upstairs to help Yanru get dressed. Yanru was still a little dazed and asked the unfamiliar maid, "Who are you?"

The girl answered crisply, "I am the maid that the master assigned to the sixth concubine. My name is Dujuan."

The words "Sixth Concubine" displeased Yanru, but she didn't say anything. She only instructed, "Don't call me that anymore. Don't come here unless it's necessary. I don't like crowds. The little one is enough."

Du Juan paused for a moment, then quickly finished her work. Thinking that perhaps the Sixth Concubine wasn't familiar with her yet, she said, "Alright, I live in the west room downstairs. Call me if you need anything."

Yanru nodded and called the little one up again.

The little girl looked a bit awkward. She had never shown much respect to Yan Ru, but she hadn't expected that Yan Ru would only want her to serve her. She didn't know how to face her for a moment, so she awkwardly moved to Yan Ru's side and greeted her, "Hello, Sixth Aunt."

Yan frowned subconsciously. "Don't call me that."

The little girl knew that intellectuals might have their own pride, and she was definitely unhappy that she had become a concubine in such a muddled way.

But Yan Ru's words that "only the little one needs" warmed the little one's heart. The little one regarded Yan Ru as family and complained, "Several old women and maids have been added to this building. Including me, there are about ten of them!"

Yan Ru glanced at her and could roughly guess what she meant by those words. She didn't like them either, and they wouldn't be good for her future endeavors, so she said, "I don't like having a bunch of people serving me. This building is small and quiet to begin with, let alone with so many people."

“Yes, yes, how can we get things done like this?” the little thing chimed in.

Unfortunately, Yan Ru stopped talking after saying that. She felt unwell and just wanted to feel better before doing anything else. "I'm not feeling well. I'll take a bath first. Also, I'll ask the old woman in the kitchen to make some plain porridge. I don't have an appetite."

The little girl agreed, first going to the kitchen to get water, then instructing the cook to make porridge. What she used to dislike, she now did willingly after others took her place.