Cultivation Begins with Caring for Sister-in-law-Chapter 546: Chu Ran: This Is the Collapse of Ritual and Music
"How dare a servant... blame Duke An."
Although Chu Ran held the title of Da Song Princess, as the wife of the Xu family’s eldest son, she had become a female musician and was now a slave due to the Xu family’s downfall.
She covered her upper body with her hands, her voice trembling as she immediately said, "I ask that Duke An please step outside and wait for a while."
But Chen Mo ignored her and turned his head slightly to look at Xiao Yunxi, he said softly, "Why don’t you hurry and help your husband disrobe?"
Xiao Yunxi furrowed her delicate brows, feeling a bit regretful, wishing she hadn’t acted on her own accord. She cast an apologetic glance at Chu Ran, then with slightly trembling fingers, began to help Chen Mo undress.
Seeing the brocade robe fall off Chen Mo’s body onto the ground, Chu Ran’s heart skipped a beat. Instinctively she wanted to stand up and flee, but the moment she was about to get up, she realized that if she did, she would be completely exposed.
Suddenly, she found herself in a predicament, unable to decide whether to leave or stay.
Seeing the young man in only white shorts approaching the bath barrel, Chu Ran’s face, already flushed and radiant from the hot water, showed signs of embarrassment and urgency. She said, "Duke An, there should be separation between men and women, please... restrain yourself."
Chen Mo’s footsteps did not stop as he stepped onto the wooden steps beside the bath barrel and said warmly, "Your Highness is already my woman, why talk about restraint?"
"When... when did I become your woman?" Seeing Chen Mo about to enter the bath barrel, Chu Ran, in her urgency, forgot about her usual etiquette in speech.
"Your Highness must have a wealthy memory." As Chen Mo spoke, he stepped onto the wooden steps and entered the bath barrel amidst the steaming fragrance of flower petals.
Chu Ran’s bathing barrel naturally couldn’t compare to the specially made bath barrel at Chen Mo’s mansion, which could accommodate several people soaking together. With just the two of them, it felt a bit cramped. As soon as Chen Mo entered, the water level, initially at the mountain terrain position in the barrel, rose to her collarbone, threatening to overflow.
Chu Ran’s delicate body felt as if it was electrified, as she could feel Chen Mo’s body already tightly pressed against hers, prompting her to squeeze tightly against the side of the barrel to create some distance from Chen Mo.
But the space was limited, and despite how she tried to retreat, she couldn’t avoid contact with Chen Mo.
Unbothered by her unease, Chen Mo continued, "Xu Guozhong’s attempted rebellion was discovered and suppressed by Prime Minister Lu Sheng. The subsequent military coup led to Xu Guozhong’s death, resulting in the Xu family’s assets being confiscated, the men sentenced to death by beheading in the autumn, and female family members reduced to slavery, placed into the Music Bureau.
Your Highness thus became a female musician in the Music Bureau, and it was at this time that His Majesty decreed that Your Highness be conferred to me, granting Your Highness freedom. Thus, Your Highness is my woman."
As he finished speaking, Chen Mo placed his hand on Chu Ran’s shoulder, saying, "Please, Your Highness, help your servant bathe."
Chu Ran: "..."
Xiao Yunxi: "..."
Here it comes again, this sort of "sovereign-servant" act.
Xiao Yunxi gave Chen Mo a deep look, her eyes holding an unfathomable expression.
When this man was with her, he loved to call her Princess Consort and referred to himself as a servant or subordinate.
"Although things are this way, do you really have to humiliate me in this manner?"
Everything Chen Mo said was true, leaving Chu Ran with no way to refute it, so she could only say this.
As a daughter of the Imperial Family, all of Chu Ran’s words and deeds aligned with etiquette and law, and even after being forced by Xu Guozhong to marry his eldest son under coercion, such things as public displays of affection in daylight or shared baths with mandarin ducks had never occurred.
She had been with her deceased husband for many years, always maintaining a relationship of treating each other with respect like guests.
"Humiliate?" Chen Mo feigned confusion, then said, "A woman helping her own man bathe, isn’t that a perfectly normal thing, what humiliation is there? Your Highness, having been a princess, must have studied the Three Books and Five Classics, and the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, the so-called obedience to father before marriage, obedience to husband after marriage, and obedience to son after husband’s death. Serving your own man, why would it be considered humiliation?"
Chu Ran: "..."
She would never have expected that with just one sentence, the other party would spin so many arguments, leaving her speechless.
She could only cast a pleading gaze at Xiao Yunxi.
However, Xiao Yunxi was already unable to protect herself, how could she help Chu Ran, so she pretended not to see.
After thinking for a moment, Chu Ran said, "But the books don’t say that women have to serve their husbands in this way, and it is still broad daylight. You... you call this the collapse of rites and music."
"But has Your Highness heard the saying, it’s better to not have a book than to believe it blindly, at this time you should listen to your husband, rather than learn from what’s written in books."
Chen Mo gazed at Chu Ran, who was covering her chest with one hand and pushing against his chest with the other, and said, "Between husband and wife, there should be openness with each other."
"But you are not my husband... there isn’t any marital status between us; I am merely your maidservant..."
As Chu Ran spoke, her voice grew smaller, and she even wished to slap herself. If it involved husband and wife relations, there could still be talk of propriety and equal treatment, but emphasizing that she was merely his maidservant, it left no room for etiquette at all.
What is a maidservant, after all, just an object of his possession, to be discarded or beaten at will. Making a maidservant bathe him, is that not something achieved merely with a word...
Sure enough, in the next second, she noticed Chen Mo looking at her with a smile on his face.
Feeling exceedingly embarrassed, Chu Ran had no choice but to cast a sideways glance at Chen Mo while biting her lip.
Actually, after so much time had passed and after Xiao Yunxi’s persuasion, Chu Ran had long accepted Chen Mo at heart. It was only because Chen Mo immediately resorted to actions that shattered Chu Ran’s preconceived notions, arousing her subconscious resistance.
Additionally, deep down, Chu Ran believed that if she so readily acquiesced, it would make her seem overly lowly in his eyes.
Now, having been dragged to this point, Chu Ran had no choice but to submit. Lowering her head, she said softly, "Then... then turn around."
Chen Mo turned around, allowing Chu Ran to wash his back.
Xiao Yunxi: "..."
So that’s resolved.
It took her quite a while to persuade Chu Ran back then.
Just then, Chen Mo beckoned to her.
"What are you doing?" Xiao Yunxi approached nervously.
Chen Mo pulled Xiao Yunxi’s delicate hand and brought her in front of him, making her lower her head.
Xiao Yunxi’s eyes widened because in that moment, the young man leaned towards her lips and captured her own moist lips.
"Mm-mm..."
Xiao Yunxi’s snow-white face turned bright red like snow, especially when she saw Chu Ran, who was washing Chen Mo’s back, looking at her. Her heart was filled with both shame and indescribable excitement, and the embroidered shoes beneath her skirt were pressed tightly together.
After having arduously finished bathing Chen Mo and thinking it was finally over, Chu Ran heard Chen Mo say, "Your Highness, it’s time for me to help you bathe."
Just hearing these words made Chu Ran’s delicate body tremble, and she replied shakily, "No... there’s no need to trouble Duke An."
"Your Highness need not be polite. You helped me; how could I not help Your Highness? Please turn around, Your Highness."
