Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The day I returned to the city, the rain was coming down in a cold drizzle.

After my brothers and I entered Cloud City, everyone went their separate ways home.

We had been gone for three months. It was only natural to miss our families.

I wore a straw rain cape and a bamboo hat. It was not until I reined in my horse outside the An Residence that someone finally recognized me.

“Oh! Qiniang’s back!”

“Did this escort run go smoothly?”

I swung down from the horse. “It did. Aunt Li, I’ll leave you to your work. I’m going home first.”

Pushing open the courtyard gate, I strode inside.

Behind me, someone asked Aunt Li, “Who is she?”

“Ning Qiniang, the An Family’s daughter-in-law. She’s quite something. She’s an escort chief at Hengtong Escort Agency, always out on escort runs, so she doesn’t come home often.”

“There’s really a woman that capable?” The person sounded confused. “Then who is that woman I’ve been seeing at the An Family’s place these past few days?”

Aunt Li froze, then slapped her thigh. “Oh no!”

…

I was just about to return to my room when my mother-in-law blocked my way.

“Qiniang, you’re back? Are you tired? Thirsty?”

She stood in front of me, wearing an indescribably strange expression.

Her eyes darted about, and she kept glancing behind her without realizing it.

“I’m not tired or hungry.” I stepped around her. “Where’s An Chao? I need to speak with him.”

“An… An Chao is studying!”

My mother-in-law grabbed my arm. “Don’t go disturbing him right now.”

I glanced at the hand she had clamped around me. “Studying? Not in the study, but in the bedroom?”

How could my mother-in-law’s strength compare to mine? I shook her off with ease.

She grew even more frantic and tipped her head back, about to shout.

I stuffed a steamed bun into her mouth with my other hand.

“Mother, have a taste. I brought this back from an old shop in the east of the city.”

With that, I left her behind and headed straight for the bedroom.

Standing outside the door, I heard intimate sounds drifting from within.

A man’s helpless, muffled groans tangled with a woman’s soft, seductive moans, burrowing straight into my ears.

I raised my hand and pushed the door open a crack.

On the bed, two figures were entwined together.

“Anlang, you said you would marry me.”

“Of course I’ll marry you.” The man kissed the woman’s neck lightly. “Rou Rou, I truly can’t live without you anymore.”

The woman’s voice was timid. “But Anlang already has a wife.”

At the mention of his wife, the man’s voice filled with unconcealed disgust and contempt.

“That Ning Qiniang is vulgar beyond belief. All she knows is brandishing blades and spears all day. How could she ever compare to your gentleness and consideration?”

“If my father hadn’t forced me to marry her back then, I would never have looked twice at her.”

“Don’t worry, Rou Rou. Once she comes back, I’ll give her a letter of divorce…”

Bang-

Before he could finish, I kicked the door open.

A cold wind swept the rain straight into the room.

An Chao turned his head and saw my face. His eyes went wide at once.

I walked in and looked at them coldly.

When my gaze fell on that delicate woman, An Chao actually wrapped her in the quilt and shielded her behind him.

I was a little surprised.

In my memory, An Chao had always been a coward.

His voice trembled as he called to me, “Qiniang… I have wronged you.”