Chapter 2

I paid my respects and went outside.

A fine drizzle had begun without my noticing. I tipped my face toward the sky.

Mother’s words seemed to linger in my ears. “You really aren’t suited to the Xie family.”

In my previous life, I had thought so too.

Xie Guanchao had chosen my sister, and I wanted nothing in particular. Mother insisted I marry, so I did.

My sister and I were married on the same day.

On my wedding night, I sat alone for only a little while before Xie Fuyu arrived.

He smelled faintly of wine, but the smile in his eyes was impossible to hide.

He gently pinched my cheeks, pulling my lips into a smile.

“There. That’s better.”

“My wife, you look so lovely when you smile. You should do it more.”

“My elder brother must be blind, mistaking a pearl for a fish’s eye. His loss is my gain. Oh, tell me, can you guess when I first fell for you?”

He talked a great deal, with an easy, natural affection.

If I could find no answer, he simply moved on to something else.

I remained courteous with him.

Yet I also felt that it had been a long time since there was so much life around me.

And it was not only him.

Contrary to what I had expected, the marquis’s household did not welcome my sister while keeping me at a distance.

They were, in fact, very good people.

When we served tea the following morning, the old madam even called me forward to sit beside her.

She smiled. “These bracelets are of excellent quality. You and your sister shall each have a pair.”

From the marquis himself to the maids, the whole household was full of laughter.

At first, perhaps because they had heard of my temperament,

they were all rather careful around me.

I spent my days tending flowers and plants in my own courtyard.

But Xie Fuyu always found some excuse to send me to his grandmother’s rooms.

“Ah Shi, I left a knee warmer in Grandmother’s room. Could you fetch it for me?”

Or there would be freshly made pastries, and he would ask me to take some to the fifth young lady on my way.

When I arrived,

my sister was sitting inside, laughing and chatting with her.

They were close friends. Xie Linglong was only fifteen.

At the sight of me, she pressed her lips together, the words on them faltering.

My sister rose, saw me, and said with an understanding air, “My little sister is rather cold. Let’s carry on.”

“She doesn’t like to talk much.”

I had been about to set down the osmanthus cakes. Her words left me awkward.

I stood there for a while as the fifth young lady kept stealing glances at me.

Then I turned and left.

That evening I ate very little. Xie Fuyu came home from outside.

When he heard,

he put out a lamp.

Then he gently gathered me into his arms.

Still unused to being touched so intimately, I pushed at him a little.

He held me tighter.

I sighed. “Xie Fuyu, I know you want me to get along with your family.”

“But I’m truly no good at it. You needn’t waste your time on me.”

There was a smile in his voice. “Is that so?”

He produced a beautifully sewn sachet and handed it to me. “My fifth sister just asked me to give you this.”

“She says the osmanthus cakes were delicious. Thank you.”