Help! The Frosty Noble's Son Is in Love With Me!-Chapter 418: Why?

Xiao Shiqing was locked up in the woodshed again.

He never imagined in his wildest dreams that the disparity in male and female power could be so vast.

For the first time, he experienced firsthand the difficulties women face; when isolated and helpless, even the thought of resisting is impossible.

Men are different. No matter how small, the bloodlust in their bones remains. Those who fear death naturally dare not engage in battle.

But women are different. People first believe they are weak and inconsequential, and with numbers, they can be easily subdued.

Xiao Shiqing once again witnessed his mother’s prowess. Others’ threats meant nothing to her; how could she be an ordinary woman? She was a formidable character, anything but simple.

The treatment of being locked in the woodshed again was naturally worse than the first time. No one even sent him meals anymore; they only delivered food every other day, intending to torture his willpower by making him feast one day and starve the next.

When a person can’t even eat to their fullness, how could they have the energy to think about anything else? In the end, just for a bite to eat, won’t they succumb to whatever the other side says?

Such methods of oppression are no less effective than the tortures used in prisons on criminals.

The women in the back courtyard are truly not simple.

Xiao Shiqing, having starved for most of the day, thought weakly, feeling both miserable and desperate.

How long must these days continue? He felt he was near his breaking point.

The guards left behind by Li Hua had disappeared without a trace. In truth, he didn’t need to ask to know that they must have been sent away by my mother under various pretexts.

Even in his dire state, someone still came to trouble him.

When Xiao Shiqing saw his cousin Ji Nishang, he initially thought she had kindly come to bring him food.

Because Ji Nishang indeed had someone bring food over, only it wasn’t meant for Li Hua to eat.

"Do you want to eat?" Ji Nishang squatted in front of Li Hua, looking down from above as she asked.

Xiao Shiqing, not knowing why, nodded. When one’s stomach is empty, who wouldn’t want to eat?

He just didn’t expect that despite my mother’s declarations, someone still dared to send him food. This friendship he would remember.

In the end, Ji Nishang took the food from the maid’s hands and spilled it on the ground before Li Hua, "Eat it. Look how considerate I am. This food just came out of the kitchen; it’s a bit hot, so I’ll cool it down on the ground for you, and you can eat right away."

Xiao Shiqing stared at Ji Nishang without blinking, unable to utter a word.

Ji Nishang covered her mouth with a handkerchief and laughed lightly at her bewildered expression, then continued, "Why aren’t you eating? I risked making Aunt angry to bring you this food. If you don’t eat, wouldn’t that be ungrateful for my kindness? You know, Aunt made it clear that no one dares bring you food, but I’m kind enough to send it to you this way. Surely Aunt won’t blame me when she finds out, so hurry and eat."

Seeing Li Hua remain still, Ji Nishang’s smile faded, and she signaled to her maid with a glance.

The maid stepped forward and grabbed the food on the ground, attempting to shove it into Li Hua’s mouth.

Even though Xiao Shiqing was faint, he could still resist a maid, and he eventually kicked her away, although his face and clothes were left soiled, making him look exceedingly disheveled.

What on earth had happened to this household? Why was everyone so venomous?

Had Li Hua ever offended Ji Nishang? Why would she do this?

Ji Nishang quickly provided the answer, "A mere rustic girl from the countryside dares to covet the position of the Xiao Mansion Princely Heir’s wife. Truly shameless. Cousin will never like a woman like you. You’d best curb those inappropriate thoughts of yours!"

Was the opposition against him, no, against Li Hua, entirely due to this reason?

Who he wanted to marry wasn’t something a cousin had a say in.

Ji Nishang didn’t stay long. Her shaming was enough to vent her frustration. After all, as long as Aunt persisted, cousin certainly couldn’t marry this woman, so she needn’t worry too much.

Xiao Shiqing finally got to eat after a day of hunger.

"Now are you willing to cook sincerely for my lady?" the old woman asked.

How could Xiao Shiqing refuse? As the saying goes, "A wise man submits to circumstances," and being more compliant would make his days somewhat easier.

Things would get better once Li Hua returned.

Hoping for Li Hua’s return had become Xiao Shiqing’s only conviction.

After all, he had fought back and failed.

Only when he had finally finished cooking did Mrs. Xiao still not let him off, making him sew clothes, and he had to continue sewing in the woodshed. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Xiao Shiqing felt he could hardly recognize his mother anymore; how could she be so cruel?

Even if he defied orders and was locked up without food, it was tolerable, but he acquiesced, yet still, he was locked up.

This left no room for compromise.

As the saying goes, "A cornered beast should not be pursued." What good was it for her to push a person to the brink?

Was she so sure that no one would retaliate against her?

If he weren’t her son, if she treated him so, he would’ve retaliated long ago!

Fortunately, Mrs. Xiao wasn’t excessively harsh. After Li Hua busied herself in the kitchen for most of the day, some food was eventually given during the woodshed confinement, so she wouldn’t starve for a whole day again.

Otherwise, if someone was tormented to death, how would they explain it to their son when he returned?

Speaking of her son, it wasn’t long before he returned, and when he came back, they would have to talk about his marriage properly. Want to marry Li Hua? Not a chance, though taking her as a concubine might be possible.

She wouldn’t force Li Hua to become a concubine, but if the other party "willingly" became one, people would only look down on Li Hua, having nothing to do with her.

"Xiao Shiqing" finally returned amidst everyone’s expectations.

Immediately upon returning, he heard that "Li Hua" had been confined in the woodshed.

Li Hua feigned weariness and rubbed her temples, ordering "Li Hua" to be released.

Then again, it was Mrs. Xiao who, acting as the villain, made a complaint first. Although Xiao Shiqing had anticipated it, he was still shocked by his mother’s brazen audacity.

In the end, Li Hua resolved the situation with a few words, then gave Xiao Shiqing an antidote so he could speak again.

After taking it, Xiao Shiqing tried his voice and found he could speak, at which point he was dying to spill out his grievances, but as the words reached his lips, he realized this was Li Hua’s body. Causing a scene would ruin her reputation, so he had to hold back.

When the two were alone, Xiao Shiqing asked her, with a tone somewhat aggrieved, why she hadn’t returned sooner. From what he understood, no matter how busy things were, she could’ve spared some time to take a look.

The slightly aggrieved tone went unnoticed by him, and saying it in a woman’s voice didn’t feel out of place, so he didn’t realize.

Li Hua appeared puzzled, "Why should I have returned sooner without reason?"

With that one sentence, Xiao Shiqing knew that all the letters he had written went unseen by her.

"While you were away, I wrote you plenty of letters. Didn’t you see them?" Knowing the answer, he still couldn’t help but ask.

Li Hua didn’t immediately answer, simply recalling some matters.

...

"Do you have any objections to my mother, unwilling to serve her?"

"No, I highly respect Aunt and am very willing to serve her. Perhaps there were things I didn’t do well, so I wrote to you for guidance, don’t you remember?"

"What letters? You wrote to me?"

"Yes, but they were trivial matters. You might have been too busy to notice."

...

Li Hua, having snapped back to reality, looked at Xiao Shiqing in front of her, smiling faintly, and said word by word, "I saw them."

Xiao Shiqing assumed she hadn’t seen them, making her delayed return justifiable. But since she did see them, "Then why..."