Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I simply never expected the vow I made before leaving to turn to ashes in less than three months.

Jishan Academy was notoriously strict. Every day, I practiced martial arts and studied until, in just two short months, I had slimmed down by an entire size.

The customs in Jiangnan were far more open-minded.

I had three female classmates who were set to inherit their family businesses. Their families had long since taken in husbands for them, yet they also kept attentive, tasteful male attendants.

Every day, I watched as someone fussed over them, sending food and clothes and asking whether they were warm or cold. I was wildly envious.

Spring had come, but the chill still lingered. Lying alone under my icy blankets, I inevitably felt lonely.

With tears in my eyes, I picked up my brush.

“Mother, let’s just arrange a divorce. I can’t live another day of this bitter life with no one to warm my bed.”

My mother-in-law wrote back and scolded me soundly.

“Is that all? Such a tiny matter, and you’re ready to abandon even me, your mother? Just wait. Mother will find you someone to warm your bed!”

“It’s fine for a woman to be a little amorous while she’s away from home, as long as she remembers she still has a family.”

“When you finish your studies and return, clean up whatever happened outside. Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know. Just enjoy yourself!”

Not long after, my mother-in-law sent me a bond contract.

She said he was a criminal slave she had bought from out of town. He would not know anything about my background, so I could simply use him as I pleased.

I looked at the criminal slave lying on the floor. Beneath his blue robes, his body was covered in bloody marks.

Only his face was uninjured.

His brows and eyes were picturesque, carrying a willful, flamboyant arrogance.

I removed his shackles and invited a physician to treat him.

After three full days of nursing, he finally woke.

His beautiful eyes glared at me. The moment he opened his mouth, he shouted, “Let me go!”

I poured a bowl of bitter medicine down his throat and grinned. “Sure. I raised you for three days, and the medicine alone cost twenty taels. Pay me back with interest.”

He fell silent, turned over, and pretended to sleep.

I pinched his fair neck. “I’m not someone who likes forcing others. Once your wounds heal, you can go out and find work. You can keep living in this house too. Just pay me two taels of silver a month.”

I left early and returned late every day. Studying and practicing martial arts were exhausting enough; I had no energy to tame an unruly Little Leopard.

Who would have thought that ten days later, while I was lying in bed, he would slowly climb onto it?

As if throwing all caution to the wind, he shouted, “I’ll be yours! You have to support me!”

I laughed so hard I could barely breathe.

When he had been sold off, someone had drugged him. The toxins had yet to clear, and at night, desire burned through his body.

By now, he truly could not endure it anymore.

So angry that tears welled in his eyes, he bit my lip. “I… It’s my first time. Be gentle with me, or I won’t let you off even as a ghost.”

His whole body trembled, as if he were offering himself up as a sacrifice.

I patted his back and pushed him away.

Under his bewildered gaze, I fed him a pill.

After about seven or eight minutes, the flush on his face gradually faded.

I said lazily, “This detoxifying pill was only just prepared. It cost me thirty taels. Take one every day for twenty days, and the poison will be cleared. Add it up, and you already owe me fifty taels. If you’re willing, you can serve as my attendant. I’ll pay you two taels of silver a month. You can do other work on the side too. Once your debt is repaid, you’re free to leave.”

Zhao Chun was a pitiful man.

After losing his memory, he had been sold as a criminal slave, covered in wounds, and had not lived a single good day.

Now, for the sake of survival and because of the poison in his body, he had no choice but to submit to me.

Although his looks truly suited my tastes, I was not willing to take advantage of someone in distress.

Zhao Chun could hardly hide his delight as he said, “Then don’t regret it!”