Chapter 127 Training: “Come into my arms.”

Chapter 127: Training: "Come into my arms."

At daybreak, crimson embroidered curtains were drawn tight, filled with a decadent atmosphere. The cotton velvet lamp wick was immersed in cold lamp oil, and the sinking incense that had burned all night had soaked into the furniture, leaving a lingering scent that was impossible to wipe away.

This gentleman had excellent conduct, coming and going without a trace, not ordering people about or leaving any indescribable traces in the room. Except for calling for water a few times during the night, it was quiet throughout.

Among the well-dressed gentlemen, many did not treat people as human, often beat and curse, acting arrogant and domineering, leaving many of the girls black and blue.

Yet before he left, the gentleman tipped them, with a kind and amiable demeanor. Everyone in the loft was grateful and respected him deeply, afraid to tarnish his reputation or inquire about his family background.

When Liu Ruyan came by with her maid to check on things, the girl on the bed was lying there, bare-faced, a face of delicate, faint lines, her whole body as limp and delicate as melting snow.

Her cheeks were rosy and glowing, the color of agate in the morning sunlight. Her long lashes shimmered like wet black feathers. After a night of his favor, she bloomed all the more beautiful today.

Before coming, Liu Ruyan had thought of preparing a bowl of birth control tea for her, after all, she was in a brothel, and giving birth would be inconvenient. But she was told that in the interactions between Yingge and the gentleman, he's always been the one to handle birth control.

Words couldn't describe Liu Ruyan's shock; she was dumbfounded for a long moment.

In all her years, she had never seen a woman who towered over her clients, nor a gentleman so indulgent as to take the burden of birth control onto himself.

It seemed Miss Yingge hadn't fallen into the muck; she was still the apple of her master's eye.

Although the gentleman had sent her here, certain unspoken rules between them still held.

What rare favoritism.

Liu Ruyan shivered, her spirits sharpening, and she silently decided that even if she couldn't train the girl, she wouldn't dare offend the mysterious and powerful Miss Yingge.

Liu Ruyan winked at Yu Zhu, signaling her to go in first and feel out Tian Qin's attitude.

Tian Qin sat by the lattice window, slowly combing her hair. No rouge or powder was needed; the natural shadow between her brow and lashes was enough to highlight her innate beauty. She was silent, the windows clean and bright, yet she purposely kept to the dim light, her demeanor lifeless.

What a quiet girl.

Yu Zhu was older, with sparse, sagging eyebrows, and looked much more kindly than the narrow-eyed Liu Ruyan, so Liu Ruyan sent her to persuade Tian Qin. If Tian Qin accepted her fate, it would be best, sparing them the need for other measures.

Yu Zhu had breakfast with Yingge, speaking softly and gently, then pulled up a stool to cut spring flowers with her. Although Yingge was sparing with words, she showed no resistance. Yu Zhu told some rare and interesting stories from the brothel, and Yingge just hummed indifferently.

"What is that gentleman to you?" Yu Zhu asked casually while drawing patterns for paper-cutting.

Tian Qin hesitated a moment, then said slowly, "My enemy."

Yu Zhu felt stung by those words. Even as an outsider, she found them shocking, and it was clear how difficult Yingge was to handle.

Yu Zhu said, "Husband and wife don't hold overnight grudges. Quarrel at the bed, make up at the bed—the more they fight, the more they love."

"We're not husband and wife." Tian Qin's face turned cold inch by inch, her words slow and deliberate.

The scissors ruthlessly cut through the paper, producing sharp swallow tail shapes.

Yu Zhu had misspoken; she meant that even though they weren't husband and wife, they were practically the same. The gentleman loved and pampered her so much; she should know to be content and repay his kindness.

A woman just wants a stable home. With the gentleman redeeming her and providing a safety net, what was there to fuss about? Yu Zhu, who would grow old and die in the brothel with no one to lean on, was the truly pitiful one.

Following Yingge's lead, Yu Zhu chose her words carefully as she cut patterns, and said, "Honestly, between a man and a woman, there's no clear winner or loser. He oppresses you with power during the day, you can get the upper hand with your bedroom tricks at night. Whisper in his ear and steal his soul, and he will surely listen to you, giving you everything you want."

Then, using the usual spiel for dealing with stubborn girls, Yu Zhu spoke eloquently and reasonably until her throat was dry.

Yingge stayed unmoved, clinging to her scary stubbornness, not a flicker in her dark eyes.

Yu Zhu's attempts to continue chatting were just talking to herself.

Helpless, she withdrew first.

Liu Ruyan directly knocked her on the head and scolded repeatedly, "You've been here so long, how can you not handle a little girl?"

Yu Zhu covered her head, "Madam, Yingge is not an easy person to handle. You'd better go personally."

A gleam of viciousness flashed in Liu Ruyan's eyes. The whip, hammer, long needles, and other torture instruments were all at hand. What an untrainable girl! If she were one of their own, she would have been beaten long ago.

Liu Ruyan hesitated repeatedly, not daring to use these instruments.

The gentleman was too gentle, he couldn't bear to see the girl injured.

If she were to say, people are all tough-skinned; they don't shed tears until they see the coffin. Only real physical pain has deterrent power.

"First, teach her music, chess, calligraphy, and painting."

At that moment, Liu Ruyan ordered.

This kind of neither soft nor hard "soft labor" is the most consuming; willpower is unknowingly broken down. She, an old hand, would personally train her. She didn't believe she couldn't subdue a little girl.

However, after a whole afternoon of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting training, it was Liu Ruyan who ended up collapsing.

Yingge's attainments in these fields were even higher than those of the most skilled teachers. She had been cultivated by high-ranking families with real gold and silver, her skills exquisite and filled with true insight.

For instance, in playing the zither, Liu Mama had just wanted to trouble her by making her play until her fingers bled, but Yingge first pointed out Liu Mama's fingering errors.

Liu Mama returned in defeat, extremely frustrated.

Now she had truly received a hot potato.

Tian Qin had been kicked out of the Xie residence before, spending the hardest time at the bottom of society, learning many survival skills. Compared to the hunger, cold, and hardship in the slums, the psychological offensive of "Drunken Flow Years" was nothing.

Moreover, she was a person who had dealt with Xie Tanwei.

Facing such a fearsome and profound opponent, she had persisted; how could she be defeated by such a formation?

During breaks in playing the zither, she quietly observed the exits of the loft. Inside and out, there were eight-foot-tall thugs guarding, and countless eyes were watching her room. Escaping would be as hard as reaching the sky.

The thought of escape only flared for a moment before dying out. She knew escaping outside was useless. The one who had cast the vast net to imprison her was Xie Tanwei. If she acted rashly, she feared Nanny Chen, Bo Ge, Zhaolu, and Wancui would lose their heads.

Because of Tian Qin's extremely poor performance, Liu Ruyan reduced her meals that night, giving her only a piece of steamed bun and a bowl of congee. Although Tian Qin had a small appetite, this amount was certainly not enough to fill her.

Starvation was the lightest punishment for stubborn girls in the brothel.

Tian Qin ate cleanly and then curled up on the couch, hugging her knees, compressing her stomach to better resist hunger. This punishment was barely worth mentioning to her; she had long been accustomed to it when eating chaff and swallows with Nanny Chen and Bo Ge.

She stared blankly for a while, then felt someone pat her. The hand was clean and strong, typical of a man.

Tian Qin instead closed her eyes. No one could enter her room silently except him. She was listless and lazy, muttering in a muffled voice:

"You just came last night, let me rest."

Xie Tanwei floated a faint smile but used some force to turn her body over, his cold demeanor fluttering: "You are my woman; I come whenever I want."

Tian Qin was forced to look up at him, her eyes sharp and bright.

"Just kill me then."

His spirit undiminished, he traced her icy cheek: "Don't be such a slacker."

Tian Qin's face settled into a weary expression.

Xie Tanwei paused, then half-dragged her upright, smoothing her disheveled clothes. Tian Qin listlessly leaned against his shoulder, seeming devoid of life, drowsiness seeping in. He was sometimes cold as a spring chill, sometimes warm as winter sun. Kissing her soft body in his arms, he said gently, "I brought you a midnight snack. Get up and try some."

Without a second thought, Tian Qin replied, "I'm not eating. I'm being punished."

"Be good," he warned softly.

On the table were two large food boxes, filled with every kind of food and drink—some from the Xie estate's kitchen, some from the capital's finest restaurants, and others with the rich, earthy aroma of street stalls. Among them were even the very buns she'd eaten when she was down and out at Nanny Chen's, unmistakably the same.

Tian Qin remained limply uncooperative. Xie Tanwei hooked his arms under her knees and lifted her, settling her firmly on a round stool, then placed chopsticks in her hand and poured a cup of osmanthus-scented clear wine. She liked savory food, so the cheese had an extra layer of salt, and the eggs were soft-boiled with runny yolks. Two skewers of candied hawthorn sticks coated in condensed milk, wrapped in oil paper, were a snack she had once craved but never splurged on.

Tian Qin had no desire to be entangled with him. These delicacies seemed ugly and repulsive.

"Eating too much at night will make me gain weight," she said, making a casual excuse and made to set down her chopsticks.

Before she could finish, Xie Tanwei smiled and picked up an iced cheese bun topped with raspberry blueberry sauce. He waved it lightly under her nose, wafting the scent, and murmured with an air of casual elegance, "So fragrant, unbearably fragrant."

Tian Qin's brow suddenly furrowed. "What are you doing?" She reached to grab his deliberately teasing hand. But his bamboo chopsticks held the food steady, unruffled by her interference, and he only intensified his provocation. After several failed attempts to snatch it away, she ended up trapped in his arms, held around the waist. Seizing the moment of her annoyance, he stuffed the fragrant bun between her teeth and bent down to kiss away the creamy stain from her lips.

"It really is fragrant," Xie Tanwei said with an open, amused smile, a hint of playful pride in his expression. He pressed his lips together, leaving it ambiguous whether he meant the iced cheese bun or her lips.

Tian Qin swallowed in annoyance, the cheese melting in her throat, incredibly satisfying and delicious. She hadn't tasted anything so fine since being driven out of the Xie estate. She held herself still and said nothing.

Xie Tanwei studied her questioningly, treading carefully. "Well? Want to try some more?"

Tian Qin smoothed her disheveled clothes, sat upright, and sighed. "I'll eat by myself."

Taking up the chopsticks, she resignedly finished everything he had prepared.

Xie Tanwei watched her from the side—watching her, not the food. His usually cold gaze gradually filled with immense warmth. When he looked at her, he saw the whole world.

He had heard today that the madam of Drunken Years had put her through training. But judging by the results, the training had mostly failed.

He couldn't help but shake his head knowingly. She was too smart; she wouldn't yield, because he had trained her himself.

Training or not, it didn't really matter. He had sent her to this place partly to tease her, but also because he found it amusing, entertaining—a place where he could fully indulge his desire to possess her, to be alone with her.

"Tian'er," he called out casually, suddenly using her nickname. "Come into my arms and eat."

Tian Qin put down her chopsticks. "I'm done."

She wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, ignoring him.

"Come into my arms anyway."

He opened his arms in invitation, a warm smile on his face, completely unfazed.