396 How Did You Eat It?

In the Southern Heaven City…

The very exhausted Guan Qing Han had closed her eyes, and lain down on her bed after Jun Mo Xie had left her tent. Her spirit had been stretched extremely thin ever since she had been besides the Young Master. Her heart wasn't worried. And, the others didn't matter. However, Guan Qing Han's mind was fuzzy, and she was extremely exhausted. Pain was invading her body. In fact, there wasn't a point on her body where it didn't hurt. Moreover, she felt ashamed that the lower part of the body hurt a lot in particular. In fact, she felt as if it was being torn apart. Even the tiniest of movements would give rise to excruciating pain there…

[It's entirely that idiot's fault for meddling with things! Damn… it hurts so much!]

Guan Qing Han felt powerless and weak. She couldn't move a single part of her body… not even her little toe. Two tears flowed down her cheeks. She didn't regret helping the Young Master. Nor did she resent Jun Mo Xie. But… it was too painful. And, these tears were her only means of relief from this pain…

The Young Lady had been passive throughout that stormy event. In fact, she had even mentally prepared herself for it. But, she had still lost every ounce of her physical strength. In fact, every bit of her Xuan strength had forsaken her as well…

She felt that she didn't have any bones or muscles in her body. She wasn't able summon any strength from any part of her body. But, she was still unexpectedly able to turn her eyes. Guan Qing Han felt somewhat surprised at this. And, those tears had left her eyes even before she could react.

She expended the last bit of her strength to save her pride and dignity when she had stood-up inside Jun Mo Xie's tent, and had put-on her clothes…

The Young Lady didn't wish to show her weak-side in Jun Mo Xie's presence. She had told herself that she had committed that mistake to save Jun Mo Xie… to save the last surviving member of the Jun Family's Third Generation. She had thought that there would be no traces of that event, and that she wouldn't get involved with him after that. In fact, she had convinced herself that there wouldn't be a need for them to get involved with each other after the incident had passed.

She tried to think along these lines, but she couldn't convince herself.

"You're my woman! This is a fact!"

Jun Mo Xie had spoken those words in a domineering manner. And, his tone had been unquestionable in its authority. That scene had been repeating in her mind, and those words had been playing in her ears…

"I will marry you when these problems subside!" that man had said.

[Was that a promise? Was that his desire?]

[That was a mistake, right? Isn't it?]

[And, why am I so scared?]

[But, why is there a trace of bashfulness in my heart?]

[I did it to save the sole surviving member of the Jun Family's Third generation. But, why haven't I committed suicide already? Why haven't I traded my life to defend the names of these two families? Why hasn't this idea even cross my mind? Why…?]

[Am I a woman with no sense of shame and honor…?]

[Why?]

She was quietly lying in bed when this train of thought overwhelmed her, and flooded her mind with a plethora of questions. And, Guan Qing Han had forgotten about the pain her body was suffering as a result. Her face became red at first. It would then turn deathly pale… before turning deep red again… and would eventually paint her neck the same color. And, this continued to happen in endless circles…

Two tear drops flowed down her cheeks, and soaked her long, black, and satin-like hair.

However, they weren't because of the pain this time.

[This night… I… am doomed to get no sleep…]

She was unaware of how much time had passed when she heard someone speak something outside her tent. She didn't care much about that at this time. Everything seemed very trivial to her in her current frame of mind…

But, there's always something that comes to provoke a person regardless of how hard they try to avoid it. Someone lifted the entry flap of the tent, and stuck their small head inside. This person then sneakily looked around the place, and walked-in on tip-toes…

"Elder Sister Guan… are you alright…?" Dugu Xiao Yi's face was brimming with a sense of loss and shame. Her eyes gleamed with tears as she looked at Guan Qing Han. She then cautiously and solemnly sat at the bedside. It seemed as if the little girl's figure had wasted away in the middle of the night…

The little girl had been born into the second most powerful family of the Capital City of the Tian Xiang Empire. And, she was the only girl in her generation in that huge family; the rest of the off-springs were boys. Therefore, Dugu Xiao Yi had blossomed in that family while being doted on. In fact, the care she had received was hard to imagine…

It was very hard to have male-female relationships in that era. And, this case was the same for even the most common of girls of the most common of households. The morality of such a relation was scrutinized very strictly before marriage. And, it was for the fear of someone learning about something unsavory. And, wasn't she from a big family like the Dugu Family…?

Even the people of the neighborly households had to be very vigilant. They may dare to talk about those tabooed things, but the Young Lady's ears shouldn't come to hear of them. Otherwise, it would be a huge and unforgivable crime…

Their family had the Grandfather in-charge, three great generals, and the seven beastly Young Masters, and many other powerful members. Which one of them couldn't decide the life or death of a person from an every-day household? Therefore, the consequences of even one indecent word reaching the ears of the Young Miss Dugu would be horrible…

Moreover, the little girl was only sixteen years of age at present… what could she understand?

This was an era when the youthful maidens would only come to understand such things a night before their marriage. The mother and daughter would be alone together, and both would be blushing. The mother would gingerly hand-over erotic pictures through the silk. And, the daughter would be very careful while stowing it away. However, the thin silk enveloping these pictures would clearly indicate its purpose.

After that, the mother would send a loyal and elderly lady with her daughter upon her marriage… as a guide. And, this is when the real education would begin. Instructions about what to do… and when… and so on… the newly married girls would follow that loyal elderly lady's teachings… Ahm… ahm…

Even the mother would be too shy to speak about such things to her daughter!

Therefore, the fact that Dugu Xiao Yi already understood this much… and now knew what something as vague as "cooking rice" meant… was an amazing feat in its own merit.

However, Dugu Xiao Yi didn't understand this aspect of the society since she was very adorable and pure. A Young Lady would quickly assume the indicated postures the moment a man would ask her switch to the 'pushing a cart position' if she knew about these things in detail. How terrifying would such a tabooed sight be for this era…?

Which family would ever dare to take such a daughter-in-law in that era? And, they would be very unhappy even if they braced themselves and went ahead with such a marriage proposal…

…

Guan Qing Han's expression became complicated when she saw her culprit in front of her. How could she not harbor some hate when she saw the person guilty of perpetrating such a big crime?

The little girl would've had to lose her virtue, and would've had bear this pain if they hadn't switched places by accident…

[She had thought herself clever, and had set out to "cook rice". She had then set a roaring fire, but she herself had been scared away from the cooked food. And then, I took advantage of the situation… wait… I didn't take any 'advantage' of the situation. I was obviously the innocent one in this case…]

[Could it be considered as 'taking advantage'? It hurts a lot. This is a huge sin!]

Guan Qing Han's face started to heat-up at that thought. It was like her face had caught fire. However, she didn't know whether it was because of anger or shame…

"Elder Sister Guan… I'm really sorry… I didn't do it on purpose… I didn't know that it would turn out this…" Dugu Xiao Yi scowled miserably. She felt distressed that she had lost such a rare 'once in a lifetime' opportunity due to her mistake. The little girl had obviously cooked great rice. But, someone else had consumed that cooked rice. In fact, she hadn't even come over to apologize. Instead, the little girl felt wronged…

"It's nothing… it's in the past now…" Guan Qing Han smiled with difficulty. She wanted to raise her hand, but she was unable to since it was extremely painful. In fact, even budging a little hurt her a lot…

"Elder Sister Guan… is it… it isn't that painful…?" Dugu Xiao Yi saw Guan Qing Han remain motionless. So, she asked inquisitively.

"Ah… Ahm… Ahm…" Guan Qing Han's red face looked at her in an accusing manner. How could she reply to that? [How can I possible answer to that in a way that doesn't sound wrong?]

"Elder Sister Qing Han, you're not answering… but I know that you're in a lot of pain… you've suffered a lot, elder sister…" Dugu Xiao Yi spoke-up with some sympathy. "Did he hit you?"

"Did he hit me?" Guan Qing Han opened her big and beautiful eyes at those words. [Where did that come from? Jun Mo Xie had lost his mind due to that excessive poison. He hadn't gone berserk on a battlefield. So, why would he hit me?]

"Oh, I had also seen Brother Mo Xie's devilish form that day. He was sure to have hit you. Uh… it's my fault…" Dugu Xiao Yi had spoken those words absent-mindedly. It was evident that she hadn't dared to speak the words she was thinking in reality…

"He he…" Guan Qing Han had finally understood that this little girl didn't understand what she herself had believed a moment ago.

[She definitely has a lot of guts. How else could she have dared to ask that question…?]

"Can I ask you a question, Elder Sister Qing Han?" Dugu Xiao Yi became relaxed when she saw Guan Qing Han chuckle. In fact, she had become so relaxed that she had become unbridled by what had happened before.

"What's the question? You can ask." Guan Qing Han looked at her gently. She could do nothing about this little girl at this time…

"Uh… ahm ahm… that one… how did you eat it? Was it tasty?" Dugu Xiao Yi rubbed her clothes as her face turned red with embarrassed.

"What? Eat what? I haven't had anything to eat!" Guan Qing Han was flabbergasted. How could anyone not be puzzled by what that little girl was speaking?

"I… Brother Mo Xie… wasn't he cooked by the rice I gave?" Dugu Xiao Yi's face became extremely red. She gathered a lot of courage as she asked, "I cooked the rice, but you ate it in the end… So, how did you eat it?"

"Huh?" Guan Qing Han's beautiful eyes widened to their greatest limit.