Rebirth: So what if my husband is a little crazy? He loves me.

Chapter 72 Not letting her suffer even the slightest grievance

"You clearly don't want to teach me; you're deliberately mistreating me to force me to leave." Zheng Yanran cried, tears streaming down her face. "Even if I try to learn diligently, there's no way to torture me like this!"

“Miss Zheng, you are mistaken. My young lady has been learning this way since she was a child, and she gets up earlier and goes to bed later than you.” Lian Qiao stepped forward and said, “Many people, including His Majesty, know about this. Miss Zheng might as well inquire about it.”

“But not everyone can be like her, I…” Zheng Yanran wiped away her tears, her voice full of grievance: “You can’t just not give me food, can you?”

"Take your young lady away. If she keeps making a scene, I'll have to report her to the Imperial Concubine so she can be sent out of the mansion." Shen Li waved her hand.

The two maids had no choice but to help their young mistress to her feet. At this point, they had to think of another way; a direct confrontation seemed impossible.

After all, Shen Li herself was capable of doing it, so it's unreasonable to say that she was being harsh.

"Lord Gu, please plead for me." Zheng Yanran placed her last hope on Gu Chang'an, her pitiful eyes filled with hope as she looked at him, making it hard for anyone to refuse.

Shen Li rarely showed a puzzled expression. This Zheng Yanran had already begged her husband twice. Wasn't he the infamous "Living Yama"? Did he seem to have a soft heart?

“This is how one should learn to paint. Your wife has not treated you harshly.” Gu Chang’an said with a righteous expression, “If you can’t even endure this little bit of hardship, I advise you to leave as soon as possible.”

Zheng Yanran was filled with despair and disbelief. He didn't feel the slightest bit of pity when he saw the beauty weeping? Was he even a man?

The maid led the person away, and the main courtyard was finally quiet.

Gu Chang'an shook his head slightly, his expression showing some impatience.

"Since you're so impatient, why bother reasoning with her? Just say you don't care," Shen Li teased. "Are you worried about losing face if people find out you can't handle things?"

Gu Chang'an just laughed when she teased him: "Ah Li, what are you saying? Of course I know that saying you make the decision will save me a lot of trouble, but wouldn't that make you the bad guy?"

"Ok?"

“That would only make her hate you more, and she would see me as a kind person who dotes on you.” Gu Chang’an looked at her: “I don’t want that kind of good reputation.”

Shen Li was touched. He had actually considered so much about such a small matter. He really didn't want to suffer any injustice.

"My silly husband, what's the big deal about being a bad guy once in a while? Only you care." Shen Li looked at him with more guilt in her eyes.

Gu Chang'an couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable with the somewhat doting tone. He looked away and said in a very soft voice, "It's what I should do."

In his view, what it means to love and cherish someone is to do everything in one's power to protect and respect them, and to do anything for them is the least one can do.

Shen Li felt even more heartache seeing him like this; how could she have bear to let him down in her previous life?

Thinking of this, she felt a little angry, angry at herself, but she couldn't very well hit herself, so she turned her attention to Li Heng.

If he hadn't killed Gu Chang'an, she would have had half a lifetime to make it up to him in her previous life. It's all his fault for being so ruthless!

Li Heng shouldn't have a single day of peace and quiet.

Zheng Yanran was so hungry that she waited until midnight for Gu Chang'an to come out of the main courtyard again, so she had no choice but to go to sleep unwillingly. The next morning, she ate two steamed buns and a bowl of porridge without leaving a single grain of rice.

Just as she was about to ask someone to buy some food, Peony arrived and politely but sternly asked her to go out and paint.

"No, I'm sick, I can't go." Zheng Yanran quickly came up with a plan and started pretending to be sick.

She can't paint for another day; she's here to seduce men, not to do hard labor.

Peony glanced at her discreetly before taking her leave.

Zheng Yanran was smug. She hadn't expected him to be so easily fooled. It seemed she could use this excuse in the future. As long as she found a few more opportunities to get close to Gu Chang'an, she wasn't afraid he wouldn't take the bait.

But her smugness lasted less than fifteen minutes before Peony returned with an old man, and this time, she also had Forsythia.

"Miss Zheng, this is the family's renowned physician. Please let him treat you." Lian Qiao's attitude was respectful yet neither servile nor arrogant.

Zheng Yanran gave her maid a look, and the maid immediately said, "That won't do. Not just any quack doctor can treat my young lady. My young lady only consults imperial physicians."

"Our young lady said that if you are not allowed to see, we will send you home. After all, it would be difficult to explain if something happened to you in my residence."

"What are you talking about? What do you mean by 'three long and two short'?" the maid said anxiously.

"It means we can't say for sure if someone dies here," Peony added from the side.

Zheng Yanran and her maid were stunned by the bluntness of the words.

Lianqiao gave her a reproachful look. The young lady had praised her for being sensible, but what kind of sensibility was this?

"You should still take a look," Lianqiao stepped forward, while Shaoyao cleverly pulled Zheng Yanran's maid and said, "You two shouldn't cause any trouble. Staying here won't help you get medical help."

The two maids couldn't break free no matter how hard they tried, and were simply dragged away.

Lian Qiao appeared to be helping someone lie down, but in reality, she held onto his arm tightly without letting go. She then laid out a handkerchief and gestured for Old Qiu to come forward.

Even Qiu, an old military doctor who had come from the battlefield, felt that they were being a bit reckless. Shen Li was so reserved and humble, how could these two maids act so fiercely? Who did they take after?

Although he had a plan in mind, he acted without hesitation. He reached out and took Zheng Yanran's pulse, and released her after a moment: "You've taken plenty of tonics and never suffered, you're in good health, just pretending to be sick."

"You can't talk nonsense!" Zheng Yanran panicked. This was hardly the residence of a scholar; it had absolutely no manners or decorum.

"Please, Miss Zheng, come to the inner study to paint." Lian Qiao's voice was very respectful.

Zheng Yanran couldn't avoid it, nor could she win a lawsuit, so she could only quickly follow them to the inner study, where she was told that she had to make another painting of a hundred flowers, and that from this time until noon, the time would be even shorter than yesterday.

"What?" Zheng Yanran now regretted faking her illness. If she had arrived a quarter of an hour earlier, things would have been much easier. How was she supposed to draw this?

"Miss said that if we don't finish, lunch will still only consist of steamed buns and pickled vegetables." Lianqiao and Shaoyao relayed the order and then left.

What made Zheng Yanran despair was that Shen Li hadn't even appeared yet; how was she going to live like this?

When the two maids arrived at Shen Yue's courtyard, they saw the tutor that the second young lady had invited teaching their young lady how to use a sword. They immediately understood that this was a way to deceive others.

While Shen Li was practicing her swordsmanship in peace, Zhenguo Duke Xiao Zhan, who had not participated in state affairs for a long time, attended the morning court session and submitted a memorial.

The message was that with a major battle imminent, people should be sent to the northern border to reward the troops and conduct drills with new muskets to boost morale and deter the enemy. It would be even better if the enemy could be prevented from sending troops.