Against the Current - Chapter 248

Chapter 248 - Flying into a Rage

Back in the Dicuifang Pavilion, Xianglan sat on the edge of the bed before she fully realized that her entire body was soaked in cold sweat. The wine she had drunk at the banquet possessed a lingering, potent kick that now surged straight to her head. Coupled with the chill she had caught while walking through the garden, her head felt heavy and dizzy. Since this was her first time ever getting drunk, she could not help collapsing sideways onto the bed.

Xiaoquan brought over a bowl of sobering soup, managed to feed her two spoonfuls, and pulled a thin apricot-blossom quilt from the cabinet to cover Xianglan. At the same time, she instructed a young maid to take the medicinal decoction off the small stove, intending to warm it up for Xianglan to drink once she woke.

As Xianglan lay on the bed, she only felt her head heavy and her heart pounding violently upward. Her consciousness gradually drifted away, and wild thoughts tumbled through her mind. Scenes from her past and present lives rushed over her in a chaotic wave, leaving her heart in a tangled mess. While she was suffering through this physical misery, Lin Jinlou walked in. The sight of Xianglan immediately stoked the fury burning in his belly. He sat down on the edge of the bed, yanked her upright, and said with bitter resentment, "You've actually gone to sleep! Where did that fierce streak of crying and laughing from earlier go?"

Xianglan opened her half-drunken eyes, stared fixedly at Lin Jinlou for a long while as if she did not recognize him, and then suddenly let out a giggle. She leaned in close to Lin Jinlou's face, reached out to pat his cheek, shook her head, and muttered, "This is a terrible dream. I've actually gone and dreamed of this bastard..."

Xiaoquan was just stepping inside to serve tea when she heard these words and gave a violent start, nearly dropping the teacup onto the floor.

Flaring up instantly, Lin Jinlou reached out to slap Xianglan's face, pinning her arms with both hands as he demanded, "Who the hell are you talking about?"

At the sound of the crisp slapping noise, Xiaoquan felt her heart freeze with dread. Carefully setting the tea down on a small side table, she mustered her courage to plead on Xianglan's behalf, saying, "Master, my lady drank too much and is just talking nonsense. She—"

Lin Jinlou glared at Xiaoquan and asked, "Did you give her the sobering soup?"

Xiaoquan nodded timidly, then quickly shook her head again, adding, "I was afraid the medicinal ingredients in the sobering soup might conflict with the medicine my lady has to take later, so I didn't dare give her too much."

Running a hand irritably through his hair, Lin Jinlou barked, "Get lost! Wait outside!"

Xiaoquan hurried out without looking back, though she cast one final glance at Xianglan before leaving. Seeing her still leaning drunkenly against the wall, Xiaoquan felt a deep surge of anxiety, yet there was nothing she could do.

Lin Jinlou hauled Xianglan back toward him, picked up the bowl of tea, and tried to force it down her throat, cursing with bitter hatred, "Wonderful! You've grown quite bold, haven't you? Drinking yourself into this state, having a secret tryst with an old flame, and mouthing off just now. You've really grown some spine, haven't you? Ah, go ahead and court death for your master!"

Struggling desperately, Xianglan spilled the tea all over herself and the bed. She coughed violently, nearly choking for breath, and as she dazedly looked into Lin Jinlou's face, the grievances and hatred pent up in her heart threatened to burst straight out of her chest. Pointing directly at Lin Jinlou, she raised her voice and shouted, "What kind of person am I? I, Chen Xianglan, have walked an upright path and lived with a clear conscience. Through two lifetimes, I have remained completely innocent and held my head high as a human being! It's you! You forcefully bent my waist and pressed down my head, demanding that I live the rest of my days bowing and scraping, unable to cry when I'm sad or laugh when I'm happy!"

With a sharp scrape, Lin Jinlou jerked to his feet, and with a crash, the teacup shattered against the floor. His hands shook with rage as he reared back and delivered a sharp slap across Xianglan's face.

Xianglan slumped against the bed, then pulled herself upright again. Clutching her cheek, she looked at Lin Jinlou and let out a shrill giggle, her tears falling like broken pearls. For so long, she had lived with such excessive caution around Lin Jinlou that she had almost forgotten she had a temper of her own. Tonight, with the alcohol clouding her senses, she truly cast all caution to the wind. Straightening up slowly through her tears, she said, "Back then, when I was nearly sold to a brothel by Zhao Yuechan, it was Song柯 who stepped in to rescue me and personally paid to redeem my father and mother. Yet he never once used that kindness to pressure or demand anything of me. Even if Song柯 cannot compare to you in family background or power, the deep love and respect he showed me—humph, for that alone, although this lifetime has left us unwed, I will cherish his kindness in my heart for the rest of my days. Today, you deliberately engineered that meeting between me and Song柯, and I know full well what kind of scheme you're running in your mind. If you held even a shred of genuine affection for me, you would never have placed me in such a humiliating position." She stared hard at Lin Jinlou, slowly shaking her head. "Then again, when have you ever held genuine affection for any woman? To you, we are nothing more than cats and dogs you keep as playthings. Let me tell you this: even if every single woman under the heavens were dying to be your concubine, I wouldn't want it!"

Staring dead at Xianglan, Lin Jinlou clenched his fists until the knuckles popped, wishing he could strike her dead on the spot. He was so furious he felt like vomiting blood, itching to beat her. His hand rose high into the air before dropping back down. Finally, he grabbed the lapels of Xianglan's tunic and ground out through clenched teeth, "You don't want it? Your master is going to keep you right by his side as a concubine, just to watch you suffer and cry every single day!"

Xianglan felt her head spin with dizziness, the intense nausea worsening until Lin Jinlou's rough yank sent her stomach churning violently. With a loud retch, she threw up, and once she started, it triggered an even worse wave of misery in her stomach, making her heave so hard the world seemed to turn upside down—right onto Lin Jinlou's clothes.

Trembling all over with rage, Lin Jinlou shoved Xianglan away, threw back his head, and roared, "Where are people? Where the hell has everyone gone?"

Xiaoquan had been hiding by the doorway, trembling with fear and listening in secret, thinking she might rush in to rescue Xianglan if Lin Jinlou lost his temper. Hearing his roar, she scrambled into the room on all fours. She found Xianglan slumped near the edge of the bed, having vomited all over the floor and still dry-heaving continuously. Lin Jinlou looked so furious steam might as well have been venting from his head; pointing a shaking finger at Xianglan, he cursed bitterly, "In vino veritas—wonderful, just wonderful! You certainly know how to repay me!"

Daring not to look at Lin Jinlou's expression anymore, Xiaoquan scrambled to fetch a spittoon and offered it to Xianglan. She rushed out in a panic, and fortunately finding half a kettle of warm water on the tea room stove, she mixed in some cool water and brought it back in. Lin Jinlou snatched the basin right out of her hands and dumped the entire contents straight over Xianglan's head, gritting his teeth as he snarled, "I'll help you wake up properly since you don't know what's good for you!"

Soaked to the bone, Xianglan felt her retching grow even more agonizing. Terrified out of her wits, Xiaoquan dropped to her knees and wept as she begged Lin Jinlou, "Master, please spare your anger! My lady only talked nonsense because she drank too much, she—" Panic choked off the rest of her words, and she kowtowed like a pounding pestle, repeating with every single bow, "Master, spare your anger! Master, spare your anger!"

With no other outlet for his boiling rage, Lin Jinlou kicked out, sending Xiaoquan sprawling as he bellowed, "Get out! Get out!"

The blow was not light, and Xiaoquan was so frightened she curled up outside the threshold, not daring to enter again.

Roughly hauling Xianglan to her feet, Lin Jinlou cursed, "You've embarrassed yourself enough outside—get up! We'll settle this account back home!"

With nothing left in her stomach to throw up, Xianglan felt a level of physical misery that defied description. Unable to bear it a moment longer and with the alcohol fogging her brain, she opened her mouth and sank her teeth straight into Lin Jinlou's arm, while reaching out to scratch at his face and head. In her heart reigned the reckless, exhilarating, yet despairing abandon of someone who had broken the pot just to watch the shards fly. If pushing this tyrant to his absolute limit meant he beat her to death on the spot, then so be it—at least it would spare her from suffering any longer in this world.

Lin Jinlou merely sneered, easily subduing Xianglan as the violent, turbulent malice boiled over inside him. He knew Xianglan was unwilling to stay by his side; she remained with him purely out of coercion, wishing only to repay the debts of gratitude for the times he had saved her life. What had she said about Song柯 just now? "He never once used that kindness to pressure or demand anything of me." Ah, right—he was the one who used kindness as leverage. In her eyes, Song柯 was her heart's desire, an upright and dashing gentleman, while he was nothing more than a bastard who trapped her with obligations. When had Lin Jinlou ever been reduced to such a pathetic, humiliated state? Outside, he was a formidable lord who could summon wind and rain in his domain, yet this woman treated him with total disdain no matter how well he treated her, even going so far as to seek out doctors and medicines in hopes that she might bear him an heir. He wanted to choke her to death and be done with it once and for all, yet he simply could not bring himself to do it. With a rough shove, he pushed her aside.

Overcome by a fresh wave of nausea, Xianglan's foot slipped and she pitched forward onto the floor, her hand landing squarely on the shattered porcelain shards of the broken teacup. Blood welled up instantly, and a sharp jolt of pain wrung an involuntary moan from her lips. The moment Lin Jinlou saw the blood, he strode forward and yanked her back up, cursing furiously, "Damn it!" He hastily raised her injured hand high and shouted toward the doorway, "Where is everyone? Bring clean water!"

Guarding the entrance, Xiaoquan hurried back inside with fresh water, used a hairpin to carefully pick out all the porcelain fragments from the palm of Xianglan's hand, and rinsed the wound clean. Because Lin Jinlou was a military man, he routinely carried bone-setting and trauma medications superior to anything found outside. He applied the ointment to Xianglan's hand himself, asked the Lu family for clean cotton bandages, and wrapped the injury.

Her face drained white from the pain, Xianglan bit her lip without uttering a single sound. The alcohol had mostly worn off, leaving her sitting on the bed with tears welling silently in her eyes.

Lin Jinlou gave a cold snort as he looked at her, his face rigid as he said, "See blood and now you're docile? Is your drunkenness gone? Still want to court death?"

Xianglan closed her eyes and feigned sleep.

With a succession of cold laughs, Lin Jinlou stood up and said, "Fine, you've grown quite capable, daring to put on a long face for your master." He walked over to strip off his stained garments.

A short while later, Guiyuan arrived with two sets of clean indoor and outdoor clothing. Lin Jinlou changed into one set and tossed the other straight onto Xianglan's face, snapping, "Hurry up and change!" Turning to Xiaoquan, he added, "Help her change her clothes immediately, did you hear me?" With that, he strode out of the room.

Xiaoquan helped Xianglan change into fresh garments. Since her hair was still damp, Xiaoquan combed it back into a simple knot, braided the tail end, and tucked away the rest of her hair ornaments altogether.

Though her face was ashen, her headache excruciating, and the ordeal of vomiting and hysterical venting had left her drained, Xianglan felt somewhat lighter. The young maids of the Dicuifang Pavilion had already informed Lin Dongwan that Lin Jinlou and Xianglan were quarreling within the quarters. Lin Dongwan had quietly come by to take a peek, then made up her mind to play deaf and dumb. Only now, when the storm had passed and calm had been restored, did she bring her young maids over. Ignoring the swollen side of Xianglan's face, she wore a full smile and said, "So Sister Xianglan simply drank a bit too much wine—it was my poor hospitality that caused this. Here is a cup of sobering tea; unlike that medicinal sobering soup, this one has ginger in it, which will warm your stomach. The back kitchen has some light porridge and side dishes, so do have a little, Sister, to settle your stomach." After offering a few more words of warm concern, she took her leave.

Xianglan drank the tea and managed half a bowl of porridge, though her head still felt heavy. As Xiaoquan used a cool damp towel to soothe her face, Xianglan gripped her hand and asked, "You took a kick earlier—where did it hit you? Is it serious?"

Tears welled in Xiaoquan's eyes at the question, and she choked out, "I'm fine. I eat well and sleep well; a kick at most leaves a bruise for a couple of days. Besides, I dodged quickly, so it wasn't a direct hit... My lady, you must cherish yourself. Look at what's become of you... Your face, and this hand... You still need this hand to hold a brush and paint."

Hearing this, Xianglan could not hold back her own tears. At that moment, footsteps sounded outside, and Xiaoquan hurriedly used a handkerchief to wipe the tears from her face. Lin Jinlou walked in, acting as though nothing had happened. He walked straight up to Xianglan, rolled her up entirely within her quilt, and issued a single order to Xiaoquan: "Pack up our things. We're going home."