Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Zhao Zhengbei looked at the woman on the bed, holding up a hazy little lamp. Her long hair spilled around her, and she looked gentle, soft, and delicate.

For a moment, his mind went blank. Every word he had planned to say before entering the room vanished completely.

Then he heard her warm, mellow voice, so mild and amiable, calling him “husband.”

Zhao Zhengbei felt rooted to the spot, unable to move forward or retreat.

It was only after receiving his mother’s urgent letter that he learned Zhao Rong’an had committed such a vile act seven years ago.

For the sake of his second brother’s future, his mother wanted him to shoulder the blame.

When he heard it, he felt no ripple of surprise. After all, ever since childhood, his mother had always been this biased.

If it had been anything else-some idle nonsense like cockfighting or dog-racing-he might have taken the blame and let it pass.

But this was a grave matter of ruining a woman’s innocence and abducting a common girl by force. He absolutely could not let Zhao Rong’an escape responsibility just like that.

Before returning to the manor, he had already made up his mind to explain everything clearly to this woman.

Although he had written ahead early on, stating that he would return home today, when he arrived at the gate, only Nanny Zhang was there waiting for him with a single lonely lantern.

Seeing his unreadable expression, Nanny Zhang struggled to explain. “Madam, she…”

Xinyu had an impatient temper and said angrily, “Mother! Don’t bother making up excuses to fool the Eldest Young Master! The Second Young Master drank too much tonight and has a headache, so Madam is personally making him sobering soup in the small kitchen. That’s why she didn’t come to receive the Eldest Young Master.”

Zhao Zhengbei waved a hand indifferently, signaling that they need not mention it again.

When he was young, he had once looked forward to having a lamp waiting for him, to having a warm embrace wrap around him.

But now, he had long since passed that naive age.

When his mother gave birth to him, she had still been only a concubine. To curry favor with the legal wife, she had sent him away to be raised by her.

Later, after the legal wife died and his mother became the principal wife, the two of them could no longer grow close.

The bond between mother and son had broken long ago.

Nanny Zhang mentioned Lady Li, who lived in the side courtyard, saying only that she was quiet and knew how to manage a household.

Xinyu started arguing with Chimo, the page at his side.

Chimo said angrily, “Were you bought off by Lady Li or something? The Eldest Young Master said that once he came back, he’d send her to the Second Young Master. He’d tell her outright that she had mistaken the wrong man!”

Xinyu could not bear it and said, “The Second Young Madam is someone who won’t tolerate the slightest grain of sand in her eye, and the Second Young Master is a fickle man with no sense of responsibility. If that really happens, then Lady Li and her son will have no one to rely on. I’m afraid they might die quietly in the Second Young Master’s courtyard.”

Zhao Zhengbei had no desire to listen to their quarrel and strode ahead first.

When he entered the courtyard he had not seen in so long, the first thing that met his eyes was a riot of flowers.

Purples, reds, and every shade between bloomed vividly, especially striking beneath the night sky.

Zhao Zhengbei was not someone who liked lively clutter, and the sight of those flowers made his eyes ache.

This Lady Li seemed to choose flowers only by their bright colors, without caring whether they were precious or common.

Even forsythia, which could be seen anywhere by the roadside, had been planted in the corner by the wall.

Right beside the yellow forsythia was a patch of purple morning glories climbing along the courtyard wall.

At a glance, there was yellow, purple, and red. It was truly unbearably gaudy.

He thought that perhaps she had gathered every color available at the flower market.

And there were actually five or six lamps of all sizes hanging throughout the courtyard.

The lanterns, too, were painted in bright colors and all sorts of styles.

Zhao Zhengbei thought that if he had not lived here for more than ten years, he might truly not have recognized the place.

Seeing that there was still lamplight inside the room, he assumed Lady Li had not yet gone to sleep.

He pushed the door open and stepped inside. A warm fragrance drifted toward him, gently enveloping his soul before he even realized it.

The room he had lived in for so many years had originally contained only one bed.

Now, however, it was packed full of things.

Zhao Zhengbei walked around a carved table, lifted a curtain of bead strands, and entered the inner chamber.

He glanced over without thinking-and then could no longer look away.

A gentle-looking young woman lay on his bed, her fine lashes casting a small shadow beneath her eyes.

Wrapped in a quilt embroidered all over with flowers, she was sleeping comfortably.

Perhaps she felt a little hot, because she murmured softly and kicked at the quilt.

A pair of feet, fair and luminous as jade, slipped into view.

They hooked and tangled against the bed curtains.

Zhao Zhengbei lowered his eyes, gathered his focus, and glanced down at the front of his trousers.

Ever since he had been poisoned in his youth, this was the first time there had been any such reaction.

From outside came the voices of Xinyu and Chimo again.

Chimo said, “See? The lamp is still lit! The young master must be driving that woman away!”

Xinyu sighed. “Ah, the young master is hard-hearted. I’m afraid Madam won’t be able to stay.”

Zhao Zhengbei frowned. From the corner of his eye, he saw the woman on the bed shift, as if she were about to be woken by the noise.

Instinctively, he blew out the lamp, wanting her to sleep more peacefully in the dark.

Who would have thought that the moment the light on his side went out, another glow lit up inside the bed curtains?

This time, Zhao Zhengbei saw the woman clearly in every detail.

She wore a thin nightdress of cherry-blossom pink. The quilt had slipped down, revealing the curves of her body at a glance.

Zhao Zhengbei had excellent eyesight, and that glimpse of spring was laid bare before him.

He averted his gaze and tugged his cloak closer to cover himself a little.

Zhao Zhengbei swallowed, then spoke in a calm voice. “Sleeping at night without blowing out the lamp can easily cause a fire.”

He hated how bland his opening line was.

If it had been Zhao Rong’an, he probably would not have said such a thing. With a single sentence, he could have captured her heart.

The moment this thought surfaced, Zhao Zhengbei froze.

The person on the bed, however, smiled and said, “Husband is right.”

She called him husband.

But she should have been Zhao Rong’an’s woman.

Outside, Chimo drew closer, his loud voice carrying into the room.

He shouted at the top of his lungs, “Young master, have you finished talking? I’ve found a suitable residence. We can send mother and son away tonight.”