Chapter 22: Hong Fu Nü

With Cheng Chumo as his companion, Yun Ye felt much better. Today, he planned to give away the new things in the Yun family. Zhaoguo Square sent a lot of iron stoves, chimneys, and kettles. Then, Yun Ye made many soft chairs out of wool according to the shape of the sofa. He didn’t use springs, but used beef tendon to weave the load-bearing layer, which was soft and elastic. It was really a good thing that was indispensable for home life. That’s what Old Cheng said. As the Yun family’s biggest creditor, it is natural to get involved. Who doesn’t like to make money?

Yun Ye did not pay off the old Cheng family’s debt, and even when Emperor Li Er gave him a reward of ten thousand pieces of gold, he did not mention paying off the debt. The thing that the old Cheng family was most satisfied with Yun Ye for was that he knew what was going on and was tactful. The old Cheng family’s debt could not be paid off with money. If the debt was paid off, it would mean that the Yun and Cheng families would no longer owe each other anything, and it would mean drawing a line between them. In that case, Yun Ye would not want to, and the old Cheng would take a knife and chop people up. It is better to always owe money, at least as long as the old Cheng family is still around, this matter cannot be mentioned. This is a little bit of incense left by Cheng Yaojin for the old Cheng family. In the future, if the Cheng family is in trouble, Yun Ye will definitely not stand by and watch.

The Cheng family’s fierce-looking servants ran amok on the street, and no one was there to restore order. Liu Jinbao, who had a black eye, was just about to learn the Cheng family’s ways when Lao Zhuang gave him a slap on the head, and he obediently followed behind without saying a word.

It’s so quiet. The Wei Gong Mansion is deserted, even though it has been accused of many crimes, it shouldn’t be deserted. Be careful. Even if you didn’t participate in the great battle of Li Er killing his brother and slaughtering his brother, you can’t be called a trusted minister, but you are at least a trusted minister, so it’s too much to make yourself a wronged young wife.

After handing in the invitation for half a day and no one said anything, they just left the brothers at the door unattended. Cheng Chumo pulled a long face, and Yun Ye was unhappy. No matter how high and mighty you are, you can’t leave guests outside without a greeting.

Just as the two were about to hand the gift to the doorman and leave, the door opened. Li Jing’s son Li Deyu hurried out, walked up to the two men and apologized repeatedly. He reached out to shake hands with them, but they could only endure it and followed Li Deyu into the Wei Gong Mansion.

As soon as they entered the door, they realized that something was wrong. There was no trace of the festive atmosphere at home, and the servants and maids were hurrying about, looking nervous. Li Deyu laughed twice: “Brother Cheng, Brother Yun, I’m really sorry for the inconvenience. My mother is in a bad mood and has made a mess of the house. I’m sorry to have made you laugh.”

He had heard that Li Jing was somewhat fearful of women, and he didn’t want that Red Whip woman to be so domineering. This was not the way a wife or mother should behave. Yun Ye said to Li Deyu, “Since there is some inconvenience in Brother Li’s home, I and Chu Mo will not disturb you. Please ask Brother Li to greet the two elders on behalf of the two of us.” After saying this, he was about to leave.

“Kid, where are you going?” A crisp voice came, and then a cold light flew past Yun Ye’s face, “Doo” and nailed it to the nearby tung tree. Yun Ye’s face turned pale, and it was almost stuck in his head.

Cheng Chumo was not prepared for this, and he was furious. He pushed Yun Ye aside and was about to pounce on him with clenched fists. Li Deyu stood in front of Cheng Chumo with his arms raised and shouted, “Mother, this is a guest.”

A young woman appeared from the living room, graceful and elegant, looking to be in her twenties, wearing a bow-shaped robe, with thin-soled boots on her feet, and her sleeves tied to her arms. She took a step forward and grabbed Li Deyu by the collar and threw him to the side. Cheng Chumo saw that it was a woman and stopped short.

“This is my mother!” Li Deyu hurriedly said.

Yun Ye clasped his fists and bowed: “I am Yun Ye, a junior, and I have seen your wife.”

Hong Fu Nv looked at Yun Ye up and down several times: “Are you the kid my husband was talking about?”

Some don’t want to pay attention to it. Yun Ye really doesn’t like this kind of woman who doesn’t let the whole family be comfortable if she is unhappy. Considering Li Jing’s face, he bowed and replied, “I don’t know who Wei Gong is talking about. What does it have to do with the kid?”

“Is your master called Xiaoyao Zi? Has he met my second brother?” Obviously, the son is almost twenty years old, but he still looks like a little girl, and he is rude and annoying.

“I don’t know the man you’re talking about, and I don’t know your second brother. I’m sorry to have disturbed you. I’ll be going now.” He said this and then grabbed Cheng Chumo and was about to leave.

Hong Fu Nv turned her body and blocked the door: “You brat, don’t think about leaving this house without telling me where my brother is.”

Yun Ye’s face turned pale and asked Li Deyu, “I don’t know what you have to teach me. Today, my two brothers came to congratulate the New Year according to etiquette, but I don’t know what mistake I made that I was humiliated like this?”

Li Deyu was obviously at a loss, so he pulled Yun Ye aside and whispered, “Yun, don’t be offended. My mother has a strange illness. She is fine most of the time, but when she has an attack, she thinks she is a 15-year-old girl. She always says that a big gray wolf is biting her, and there is always a snake licking her feet. She hasn’t slept for three days. Now she doesn’t have the slightest bit of the dignified appearance she usually has. It’s been a headache for my father. My father has gone to ask Master Sun to come and treat her. Please help, Yun.”

It was actually a mental patient. Yun Ye finally understood the mystery of the legendary Red Whip Girl, who was still young and beautiful at the age of 80. In the end, it was a stubborn case of schizophrenia that had not improved by the age of 80. I don’t know what kind of experience she suffered as a young girl, which led her to strongly suggest that she not think back to that period. This kind of repression, when it reaches the extreme, will form a second personality, which will always be fixed at the age of 15. Once the mood is calm, it will recover, but it will not remember what it did when it was ill. It doesn’t even understand why it became like this.

Having found an excuse to forgive Hong Fu Nü, Yun Ye also took advantage of the situation. “Oh, I see. I didn’t know. I’m sorry to have offended you, Auntie. I hope you won’t be offended.”

“What are you whispering about? Boy, you haven’t answered my question yet.” Hong Fu Nv pouted and played cute, and Li Deyu’s face turned red.

“We were talking about the big bad wolf coming. Why didn’t you run? Waiting for the wolf to eat you?” Yun Ye said seriously.

Li Deyu looked at Yun Ye angrily and was about to ask them to leave. But then he saw Cheng Chumo shake his head at him and pull him aside to say to him, “Don’t disturb them. Xiao Ye is treating your mother.” Li Deyu was doubtful and stood still, anxiously watching his mother.

“Where, where, where is the gray wolf?” Sure enough, Hongfuren huddled in the corner of the wall, staring with her big eyes and looking around.

“The gray wolf is right next to you. Look, it’s licking you with its tongue, and its saliva is dripping. Oh no, another snake has come, and it’s running up your leg.” Yun Ye said this with great enthusiasm. Hong Fu Nv screamed and jumped onto the screen wall. I don’t know how she got up there, and Yun Ye didn’t notice it at all.

Li Deyu was so angry that he was about to explode. His muscles were tense and he was about to make a fist and go to Yunyu to argue. A pair of large hands pressed on his shoulders, making him unable to move. He turned around and discovered that it was his father, standing in front of him with a black-bearded old Taoist. The old Taoist watched Yunyu scare Hongfuren with great interest.

“I am a big rooster that can fly, and neither wolves nor snakes can bite me.” Standing on the wall, Hong Fu Nv was smug.

“The snake is climbing up the wall, and it’s almost reaching your feet with its tongue out.” Yun Ye continued to scare Hong Fu Nv.

“What should I do? I forgot that snakes can climb walls.” Yun Ye finally saw the true expression of fear. Yun Ye took a long time to pull the sword stuck in the paulownia tree and threw it to Hong Fu Nv: “Hurry up and cut him, the snake is in the corner of the wall.” While Hong Fu Nv was desperately cutting the bricks, he said to Li Deyu: “Get some red paint and use water to make it look like blood. Hurry!” Li Deyu ran away. Li Jing looked at the crazy Hong Fu Nv with a calm expression, and his eyes were full of tenderness.

Yun Ye splashed red paint on the wall and poured some on himself, shouting, “Yay! You chopped the snake to death and the blood spilled all over the floor. Why did you throw the blood on me? The big bad wolf ran away too. You’re really something.”

Red Whip Girl giggled and said, “Who told you to stand there? You deserve to be covered in blood. I’ll kill you, you damned beast, and make you lick my feet so I won’t dare to sleep.”

“You killed the snake, but you have to pay for my clothes. You splashed me with blood. You have to pay for my clothes. You have to come down.” Yun Ye shouted on the ground with his feet jumping.

Hong Fu Nv jumped off the screen and looked at Yun Ye: “Oh, I really got you all bloody. I told my husband to pay you back. It’s so tiring!” After saying that, she yawned and fell to the ground. Li Jing reached out to grab her, but there was no movement. He tried to check her breathing, but found that Hong Fu Nv had already fallen asleep.