Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Ji Zhi became increasingly clingy toward Xie Yijue, finding excuses almost every day to keep him in her room.

Meanwhile, I managed the household affairs with meticulous order, keeping the accounts clear and transparent. Even the several shops outside the estate flourished under my supervision.

Everyone in the residence praised my skill in household management. Outside the manor, word spread that the Heir had married a virtuous wife.

Xie Yijue came to my courtyard to play a game of Go. As he placed a stone, he said softly, “The affairs of the household are numerous and complex. You have worked hard.”

I kept my eyes on the board and smiled slightly. “Sharing my husband’s burdens is my duty.”

His gaze drifted to the freshly cut magnolias in the vase on the windowsill, their petals still glistening with morning dew. He smiled. “You have elegant tastes, Madam.”

I only smiled and remained silent.

As the hour for the midday meal approached, a maid from Ji Zhi’s courtyard arrived. Her voice was just like her mistress’s-cloyingly sweet.

“The Concubine has cooked personally and invites the Lord Heir to dine with her.”

Xie Yijue did not respond immediately, looking instead at me.

I had just placed a stone, my expression gentle and refined. “Go ahead, my Lord. Do not let my sister’s kind intentions go to waste.”

He stared at me fixedly for a long moment. Suddenly, he tossed the stone in his hand back into the jar, stood up, and swept out of the room.

I had just retired for the night when a rustling sound came from outside the bed curtains. A scent of alcohol drifted in with the intruder.

The quilt was pulled back, and a warm body pressed against mine, arms encircling my waist.

“We have been married for over a month…”

His voice was hoarse, his lips pressed against my ear, his breath hot. “Yet I have never truly consummated our marriage.”

His fingertips brushed against the ties of my nightgown, his murmurs sounding like drunken ramblings. “She is always clinging to me, making a scene… yet you never fight or argue. You even push me away.”

“Madam.”

He chuckled low, with the shamelessness of a drunkard. “How can you be… so generous?”

I caught his hand as it reached into my robes.

He refused to yield, instead gripping my wrist and nuzzling into the crook of my neck. His voice was soft, unlike his usual upright, gentlemanly self. “Madam… good Madam… give yourself to me.”

I spoke softly. “I have caught a cold. I fear I might pass the illness to you, my Lord.”

His movements froze.

In the silence, he suddenly let out a low laugh. But there was not a hint of joy in that laughter.

“First it was your monthly cycle, then you were unwell… and now it is a cold.”

He pinched my chin, forcing me to turn my face toward him. “Are you truly that unwilling?”

Moonlight filtered through the gauze curtains. My expression remained calm.

The drunkenness in his eyes faded, replaced by a somber, brooding coldness.

“Fine.”

He released me and rolled out of bed. His robes fluttered with the force of his movement. “Then I shall do as you wish.”

In the middle of the night, the sound of footsteps receded, heading straight for Ji Zhi’s courtyard.

After that day, Xie Yijue rarely visited again.

Ji Zhi was immensely proud. She came to pay her respects wearing a set of pure gold headwear inlaid with jewels-a new gift from him. The shimmer of the gems was blinding.

“Look, Sister. The Lord Heir said this color suits me.”

She adjusted the dangling hairpins at her temples, her smile blooming like a flower. “After all, being young and vibrant is more endearing.”

I skimmed the tea leaves off the surface of my cup and did not answer.

She leaned in closer, her voice sweet and mocking. “Sister, this aloof act of yours reminds me of the former Madam back then. She was just like this, putting on the airs of a legitimate daughter. And in the end? She exhausted her heart’s blood and died without ever receiving a single backward glance from her husband.”

I looked up and watched her quietly.

Her cheeks were flushed with health, and she looked radiant. A natural daintiness seeped from her very bones.

“If there is nothing else,” I said, “you need not come to pay your respects in the future.”