Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As soon as he finished speaking, there came a few knocks at the door. The young manservant outside didn’t dare push the door open without orders. But he wouldn’t leave either. Perhaps because he was truly anxious, he finally stood at the doorway and whispered, “Young Master, it’s Miss Chen. She’s come down with a high fever for some unknown reason.”

Shen Xiu stiffened, caught in a dilemma.

I tactfully rolled out of his embrace and said in a daze, “Go ahead.”

He hurriedly got up and dressed, but halfway he turned back to explain, “Chen Li once saved my life. I can’t be ungrateful. I’ll tell you the details later.”

If I were a woman who loved him, hearing this on my wedding night would definitely make me argue over right and wrong. But I didn’t care. Lying in bed, I didn’t even open my eyes and just gave a random response.

“My husband naturally has his reasons. Go.”

Once the door closed, I drifted off into deep sleep.

Early the next morning, news that Shen Xiu had abandoned me on our wedding night spread throughout the Marquis’s Mansion. On the short walk to serve tea, I was met with inquisitive stares from the servants. The matron I had seen yesterday led me to the main hall, and along the way she directly sold two servants as a warning. We crossed a corridor, passed through an archway, and finally arrived at the main hall.

I knelt respectfully before my mother-in-law. The matron naturally returned to stand behind her. She didn’t make things difficult for me; instead, she slipped a fine-quality jade bangle onto my wrist. Patting my hand, she praised me, “You’ve been wronged by last night’s events, dear girl.”

I lowered my head and answered obediently, “I haven’t been wronged.”

She seemed even more convinced of my grievance and told me to pick a favorite set of hair ornaments later.

At that moment, Shen Xiu also stepped into the front hall. Miss Chen, who followed behind him, didn’t bow respectfully as I had done, but instead went straight to cling to First Madam’s arm, calling her sweetly, “Aunt.”

I watched with lowered eyes. First Madam patted my hand.

“Come, Lan Yin, this is Chen Li, from my maiden family. She and Xiu’er have been close since childhood.”

She bowed to me and apologized, “Sister-in-law, I’m sorry. Last night I had a high fever and even the physicians in the Marquis’s Mansion couldn’t help. I wanted to endure it, but I never thought Xiao Hu would call for Cousin.”

“I’ve ruined Cousin’s wedding night. I wish I could just dash my head against the wall and die.”

After she finished, the matron beside the First Madam grew angry: “When all is said and done, it’s still Xiao Hu’s fault. Young Cousin, you had a fever; what use would it have been for the Young Master to go?”

“Xiao Hu was impatient and reported it without permission. The Young Master was also anxious, and that’s how this farce came about.”

“He really should be sold off.”

Chen Li froze in place and instinctively knelt to plead, “Don’t blame Xiao Hu. Everything is my fault.”

Shen Xiu also spoke up: “Xiao Hu has been by my side since childhood. If anyone should be punished, let it be me.”

First Madam continued patting my arm, a faint smile on her face as if she were deciding.

This matter seemed unrelated to me, but actually it was meant to test my attitude. In the strange silence, I spoke.

“A servant who reports without his master’s permission has broken the rules and should be transferred to the outer courtyard. However, since this concerns Miss Chen’s life, a small punishment of docking two months’ wages-what do you think?”

After I finished, First Madam nodded.

She then scolded the matron behind her: “You, after all these years by my side, your words are getting more and more insolent.”

Shen Xiu stood up and patted the back of my hand: “You’ve been wronged.”

In just one day, he said this twice, and his mother said it once. If they really thought I was wronged, why would they have done such a thing? The “wronged” on their lips wasn’t truly out of consideration for me; it was just a perfunctory, placating phrase.

I also responded with a shallow smile and perfunctory words: “I haven’t been wronged.”