Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When I arrived at the front hall, the Marquis of Changning and the Madam Marquis were speaking with a white-bearded man.

The Marquis of Changning was a military commander, stern and imposing, while the Madam Marquis was poised and gentle, even her voice soft and mild.

They explained that the white-bearded man was an itinerant physician the Marquis of Changning had sought out to treat Ning Huai’s legs.

Ning Huai’s expression turned icy. “What? Does the sight of this crippled body offend you?”

The Marquis of Changning looked embarrassed.

“Divine Physician Fang is skilled at using silver needles to clear the meridians. He recently returned from his travels. Why not let him stay and nurse you back to health?”

Ning Huai’s face remained cold.

“Spare me the hypocrisy. There’s no need to put on some touching display of fatherly affection and filial devotion. I have no interest in playing along.”

“I haven’t forgotten what happened last year-not for a single moment.”

“Xuanfeng, let’s go.”

The Madam Marquis gently called after him. “Ah Huai, today is your new bride’s tea ceremony, after all-”

Ning Huai left without so much as looking back, Xuanfeng pushing his wheelchair away.

He must have been so furious that he even forgot to bring up the divorce.

I gave the Marquis and his wife a strained smile, then hurried after them.

“Xuanfeng! Husband! Wait for me!”

“Why are you following me?”

I pouted. “Because wherever you go, I go, of course. Husband, why did you throw my gold twin-flower hairpin into the lake today? My Grandmother gave me that! It even had a pair of lotus blossoms on it…”

“You treat any piece of junk like treasure. The Wei Family married you off to a cripple, yet you’re still this naive. They marry you to a cripple so Wei Wan can find herself a better husband… A pair of lotus blossoms? The Wei Family truly has no shame, giving you something like that…”

I muttered dejectedly, “But it was still gold…”

“Pathetic.”

When we reached his room, Ning Huai slammed the door in my face. “I want to be alone for a while.”

He was clearly in a dark mood, and it seemed his relationship with his family was poor as well.

I was far too curious to let it go. I circled Xuanfeng like a donkey trudging endlessly around a millstone and pestered him for ages before he finally agreed to tell me.

Last year, while the army was mopping up the battlefield, Ning Huai’s mount suddenly collapsed at the front, sending both horse and rider crashing to the ground.

Before Ning Huai could get back to his feet, several enemy spears pierced his body. He was nearly riddled with holes.

When Xuanfeng carried Ning Huai back through the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, his armor had been torn beyond recognition, and his entire body was drenched in blood.

The imperial physician said he would not survive.

As the saying went, a clay pitcher would inevitably break beside the well, just as a general would inevitably die on the battlefield.

But it was not the battlefield beneath the yellow sands that had brought this general down. It was a stab in the back from his own family.

While Ning Huai hovered between life and death, the Marquis of Changning gave Ning Huai’s military achievements to Ning Ze.

A later investigation revealed that Ning Huai’s mount had not gone mad for no reason. One of Ning Ze’s attendants had drugged the horse.

And it seemed the Madam Marquis had played a part in it as well.

The revelation left me stunned for a long time.

Rumor had it that the Changning Marquis Manor was the most harmonious family.

The Marquis of Changning had never taken a concubine. He had only one wife and two sons, Ning Huai and Ning Ze.

Although Ning Huai and Ning Ze had different mothers, their mothers were biological sisters, and the two brothers had always been said to love and respect each other.

Besides, the Madam Marquis was so gentle and gracious. Could she truly have done such a thing?

Xuanfeng scratched his head. “Young Madam, the Young Master is very proud. Please don’t tell him I told you any of this.”

“Young Madam, our Young Master has never had a sweetheart, and he doesn’t even keep any maids in his chambers. He may not understand much about romance, but please don’t hold it against him. If he truly didn’t like you, he never would have let you stay in the East Warm Pavilion attached to his room last night. He hates other people touching his things more than anything. He never sleeps on a heated bed, nor does he light the underfloor heating in his room. But when he learned you were coming, he specifically ordered the East Warm Pavilion to be prepared because he was afraid your delicate constitution wouldn’t withstand the cold.”

“Actually, our Young Master used to have a good temper. He may be stubborn and awkward, but he’s sharp-tongued yet softhearted. He simply doesn’t want to hold you back.”

After hearing Xuanfeng’s story, my heart ached.

I had once overheard the maids at Wei Manor gossiping that whenever Ning Huai went to war, he would decorate his warhorse with elaborate tassels.

Someone had warned him that doing so would make him easy for the enemy to identify, but he had replied with complete confidence that he wanted them to know exactly who they were facing.

His words had once been celebrated as a tale of heroic bravado. Now, they had become a joke.

Everyone blamed his crippled legs on his excessively adorned warhorse, saying his arrogance and overconfidence had brought about his downfall.

How pitiful.

I crept around to the lattice window on the other side of the room, poked a hole through the paper, and peered inside.

Ning Huai sat with his back to me at a table beside the window. The spearhead of the Red Tasseled Spear lay on the table before him.

He reached out and gently ran his fingers through its tassel, lifting the strands before letting them slip from his grasp.

He handled it like a precious treasure that no longer belonged to him-unable to resist it, unable to stop himself from drawing closer.

The dimness of the room shrouded his wheelchair-bound figure in desolation.

What would he be like if he could still stand?

Would he gallop down the main street, then lean against a railing as he sipped wine and listened to music?

Or would he ride an armored warhorse in battle robes, pointing his Red Tasseled Spear straight at the enemy commander?

“Who’s there?”

A cold gleam suddenly streaked from inside the room toward the window.

I stared at the dagger embedded in the window frame, the corner of my mouth twitching.

“Husband, it’s me…”

“Come in. I’ll give you another hairpin.”