Chapter 76
Chapter 76
[The Male Chauvinist’s Victory – 17]
Li Jiangyue’s proposal was not bad-at least, not for Liu Che. He could kick the ball named Li Jiangxue back to the Li Family and leave Li Dongshan and Madam Wei to struggle with how to catch it.
Since the elderly servant was so fond of talking, Liu Che saw no reason to waste that mouth. He and Li Jiangyue each wrote a letter, entrusted them to a confidant, and sent him to Jiankang together with the elderly servant.
Li Dongshan had initially wondered why his son-in-law was writing again when they had parted only a few days before. He opened the letter and skimmed it, and his face instantly turned livid.
“What a fine daughter you’ve raised!”
Madam Wei wanted to defend herself, but Li Jiangxue was simply too disastrous an ally. Her methods were clumsy, and she was not intelligent. With both witnesses and evidence laid before them, Madam Wei could not even open her mouth to argue on her behalf.
Lacking any ground to stand on, she looked deeply embarrassed and had no choice but to lower her head and admit fault for her daughter. “Jiangxue was indeed in the wrong…”
“What else could it be? Are you saying Jiangyue was the one in the wrong?!”
Li Dongshan flew into a towering rage. “Should she not have become pregnant? Should she not safely give birth? Should she hurry up and die to make room for your daughter?! Vicious woman! A heart like a snake or scorpion!”
The noun and its accompanying description made Madam Wei’s face burn even hotter. She stood awkwardly for a long while before saying quietly, “You may be angry, Master, but we still have to decide how to handle this.”
“How else can we handle it? Tell him to beat her!”
Li Dongshan roared, “Tell him to bring out the family disciplinary rod and beat that wretch to death!”
“Master! What are you saying?!”
Madam Wei said angrily, “Jiangxue is your own legitimate daughter! She has been delicate since childhood. If she truly receives thirty strokes, will she still have a life left?!”
“Then what do you propose?”
Li Dongshan was nearly mad with rage, the muscles in his face twitching constantly. “Shall we simply send people to bring her home?!”
Madam Wei pressed her lips together in embarrassment, lowered her head, and said nothing.
How could they possibly bring her back?
She was the legitimate eldest daughter of the illustrious Li Family of Lingnan, a noble young lady fit to become the consort of an imperial prince. Yet she had married her half sister’s husband as a concubine, damaging the reputations of every unmarried girl in the Li clan.
Madam Wei and her daughter had incurred public wrath. One could see this from the day the Li sisters married: the Li clan’s female relatives had all gathered around Madam Yu to chat and offer congratulations, while no one came to congratulate Li Jiangxue or Madam Wei.
That day, Li Dongshan and Madam Wei had shamelessly married their eldest daughter off as a concubine and lost all face before Jiankang’s aristocratic clans. If their daughter was now expelled and sent home for trying to poison the mistress and her legitimate child…
The reputation of the Li Family’s daughters would be utterly ruined!
Even if Li Dongshan himself remained silent, the clan elders would storm to his door and demand that Li Jiangxue, the rotten apple spoiling the barrel, be put to death!
Bringing her home was impossible. But if she remained in the Yan household, she would inevitably have to obey its rules. Yan Hongguang had stated how she should be punished: she was to receive thirty strokes under the family law…
The mere thought of that scene left Madam Wei terrified and sick with worry. In a rare lowering of her posture, her knees weakened and she knelt before her husband, pleading mournfully, “Husband, you are Hongguang’s father-in-law and have shown him favor. Speak to him properly and plead for Jiangxue. He will listen to you. Do you not know our daughter? She may be rather mischievous, but she is not wicked at heart. She acted only because of the depth of her feelings and lost her senses for a moment. Jiangyue came to no harm in the end, so why insist on beating and killing Jiangxue and taking her life?”
Seeing her like this, Li Dongshan could not help softening slightly. Yet his eldest daughter had committed such an evil act and been caught red-handed. How could a few pleas settle the matter?
“How was this a momentary lapse?”
Li Dongshan paced around the hall several times, then returned to his wife and said bitterly, disappointed at her failure, “It looks to me as though she planned it meticulously for fear she might fail to harm anyone!”
No sooner had he finished than a servant announced from outside that Madam Yu had arrived.
Li Dongshan’s expression eased somewhat at the news, while Madam Wei’s face darkened.
Before long, servants escorted Madam Yu inside. She wore plain clothes and no ornaments in her hair. Walking directly up to Li Dongshan, she knelt and cried, “My lord, save my life!”
“Qiujing, what are you doing?”
Seeing her haggard appearance and tear-streaked face, Li Dongshan’s heart ached. He shot a hateful glare at Madam Wei, who was still kneeling on the floor, then reached down with both hands to help Madam Yu up. “The floor is cold. Get up quickly, or your legs will ache!”
Madam Yu firmly refused. Sobbing, she said, “My lord, this concubine married you twenty years ago and has raised two sons and a daughter for you. For the sake of our affection over all these years, please grant me a path to survival and let me leave…”
Li Dongshan’s expression changed violently. “What do you mean by this? With me here, who would dare harm you?!”
The moment Madam Yu read her daughter’s letter, she had made up her mind: she must leave the Li Family.
She knew that Li Jiangxue could not leave the Yan household. Whether for the alliance between the Li Family and Yan Hongguang or for the Li Family’s reputation, she had to remain there.
If she remained in the Yan household, she had to accept its family punishment. Thirty strokes would cost her half her life. Lady Wei had always doted upon her daughter so deeply that she had even accepted the absurdity of her legitimate daughter becoming a concubine. If she learned that her daughter had been beaten half to death, could she possibly refrain from venting her anger upon Madam Yu?
Though Madam Yu came from a respectable family and enjoyed her husband’s favor, he could not carry her in his pocket and protect her every day. When the time came, Lady Wei needed only invoke the distinction between legitimate wife and concubine and press down upon her. Madam Yu was certain to suffer greatly.
Moreover, even in the worst case, if Lady Wei truly tormented her to death, she had the Wei Family supporting her. Would a man as driven by self-interest as her husband truly fight Madam Wei to the death for Madam Yu?
She was not stupid. Why should she entrust the safety of the rest of her life to the insubstantial love of a man?
Besides, this matter concerned her daughter. Madam Yu did not wish to endure it, nor could she.
The wife and concubines of the Li household had lived peacefully together over the years because neither Madam Yu nor Madam Wei had crossed the other’s bottom line.
Madam Yu knew her own measure. She sought only her husband’s favor and dared not covet the position of principal wife. Seeing that she understood her place, Madam Wei did not wish to fall out with her husband completely. Thus, both sides had turned a blind eye and gone on with their lives.
But things were different now.
Li Jiangxue had actually attacked her daughter and attempted to murder the mistress of the household!
Her daughter had already been six months pregnant when the affair occurred. The fetus in her womb was fully formed. Forcing a miscarriage at six months could easily kill both mother and child!
If Li Jiangxue could be so ruthless, why should Madam Yu’s daughter be forced to swallow the bitter consequences?
This venomous snake would not be removed but would continue living in the Yan household’s inner residence. If Madam Yu did not hurry to leave the Li Family now, would she not be deliberately installing a weakness in her daughter and allowing others to control her?
Hearing Li Dongshan’s question, Madam Yu pointed at the elderly servant in the hall and cried aggrievedly, “The envoy from the Yan household has already told us everything. That day, when the Yan Family spoke of the eldest young lady’s evil deed, this old servant repeatedly used this concubine to restrain Jiangyue. She implied that if the Yan Family dared punish the eldest young lady under its family rules, this concubine would certainly suffer for it. If even an old servant dares speak like this, how can this concubine remain alive if she continues living in the Li household?!”
Li Dongshan had only now learned of this. He stared in astonishment at the elderly servant, then looked at his wife. Shock and fury filled him, and the softness he had felt upon seeing Madam Wei humble herself vanished instantly.
He raised a foot and kicked the elderly servant squarely in the chest, cursing without mercy. “Wretched thing! Instead of faithfully performing your duties as a servant, you dare use veiled words to manipulate your masters? Let me tell you, this is the Li household, not the Wei household. Do not flaunt the Wei Family’s power here!”
Madam Wei could tell that he was cursing the mulberry while pointing at the locust; those words were entirely intended for her. Her face alternated between livid and pale. After twisting her handkerchief for a long while, she finally said, “If Master has something to say, speak plainly. Why beat around the bush?!”
Then, with a dark expression, she turned to Madam Yu. “Younger Sister, those are ugly words. You would believe the claims of a mere old servant? In your heart, am I truly someone so incapable of distinguishing right from wrong?”
Madam Yu knew that after today’s events, their relationship would be completely torn apart. How could she retreat? She immediately raised her head and retorted, “May this concubine ask Madam a question? If I poisoned your food intending to kill the child in your womb, could you continue calling me Sister afterward as though nothing had happened? Given Madam’s power in those years, would you not have immediately ordered the authorities to seize this concubine and beat her to death with clubs as punishment?”
A derisive expression appeared on her face. “What? When you were the mistress of the household, you were incomparably noble and no concubine could offend you. Is Jiangyue as lowly as mud beneath one’s feet, so anyone may trample upon her? But do not forget: Jiangyue was once concubine-born and the eldest young lady legitimate. Now Jiangyue is the mistress, while the eldest young lady is a concubine!”
Madam Wei and Madam Yu had lived together for over twenty years. When had Madam Wei ever seen her speak so fiercely and contradict her so directly?
Her expression immediately changed, and she shouted, “Lady Yu, how dare you!”
“Is what this concubine said not the truth? Or can Madam not bear to hear the truth?”
Madam Wei’s face was livid. Pointing at her, she cried, “Wretched slave, shut your mouth!”
Li Dongshan’s face looked even worse than hers. “You shut your mouth!”
Madam Yu first moved Li Dongshan with emotion, then immediately appealed to his interests. “Master, the eldest young lady began bullying an innocent honored concubine as soon as she entered the Yan household. Now she has gone even further and actually tried to poison the mistress! Of course you may write to plead for the eldest young lady. Hongguang has always respected you, and I expect he will ultimately agree. But if you do that, what sort of man will you become in Hongguang’s eyes? You will have indulged the eldest young lady in harming the Yan Family’s offspring, then vigorously shielded her afterward. If you act this way, will Hongguang continue cooperating with the Li Family without reservation? If not for this capable son-in-law, why did you marry both your beloved daughters to him back then? If you protect the eldest young lady now, will you not be destroying your own strongest defense?”
Madam Yu had struck directly at Li Dongshan’s private concerns, and hesitation inevitably appeared on his face.
“Master!” Madam Wei’s heart was filled with grief as she said in a trembling voice, “Jiangxue is your own legitimate daughter! You were so happy when she was born that you had to look at her every night before you could sleep. When she was little, you let her ride on your shoulders to pick flowers. Have you forgotten all that?!”
“Indeed,” Madam Yu said faintly. “The eldest young lady is Master’s first daughter and legitimate besides. She has always enjoyed Master’s favor and received so much. Why would she not leave even a path to survival for her younger sister?”
Madam Wei’s gaze turned venomous. She remained silent, seething with hatred.
The heart Li Dongshan had only just begun to soften instantly hardened once more.
Madam Wei was silenced by the retort and could not speak for a moment.
Madam Yu turned to Li Dongshan and kowtowed as she pleaded, “Master, you know how partial Madam is toward the eldest young lady. To preserve her life, she even agreed to the absurd proposal of marrying her daughter to her half sister’s husband as a concubine. What would she not do? If you still care at all for the affection between us over these many years, please grant Qiujing a path to survival. Write me a deed of release and let me leave this place.”
Li Dongshan knew Madam Wei’s temper. He had personally witnessed her urge him to permit their legitimate eldest daughter to become a concubine for the sake of that daughter. Hearing Madam Yu’s words now, he felt neither anger nor displeasure, only deep reluctance to part with her. He tried tenderly to keep her. “Qiujing…”
Madam Wei had no interest in the turbulent emotions surging through her husband. She understood only one thing: if Lady Yu truly left, there would be nothing left with which to restrain that concubine-born daughter Li Jiangyue. Then her own daughter would truly be left helpless in the Yan household, with neither Heaven nor earth answering her cries!
She drew a deep breath and softened her tone. “Younger Sister, do you truly distrust me so much? You have lived in the Li household for over twenty years. Surely the master is not the only person for whom you feel affection. Jiangyue may be your daughter, but you have sons as well. Will you abandon them completely?”
“Madam is correct. I truly do not trust you. Or rather, even if I trust Madam’s character, I do not trust the lengths to which your love for your daughter might drive you. As for my sons…”
Madam Yu continued, “My eldest son, Third Brother, is already married. I have made every arrangement for him that I can. Sixth Brother is studying away from home and already engaged. They have Master and the Li clan elders to protect them. Jiangyue is different. She is a woman alone in another household. Though she is the principal wife, she must still suffer resentment from a concubine. Besides, Madam had only just said that I should trust you, yet in the next breath you invoked my two sons. What am I supposed to think?”
She turned toward Li Dongshan. Her face was cold and stern, without the slightest smile. “Master heard what Madam just said. If Third Brother or Sixth Brother truly meets with some disaster in the future, Madam will certainly have had something to do with it!”
Li Dongshan’s gaze grew inscrutable as it roamed over Madam Wei’s face. Fear rose in her heart under his scrutiny, and she immediately shouted, “Have you gone mad? Nothing has even happened, yet you dare make such malicious accusations before Master?!”
Madam Yu replied, “If I wait until something has happened, I fear it will already be too late.”
She no longer argued with Madam Wei. She merely kowtowed to Li Dongshan. “Please, Master, grant this concubine a path to survival.”
Li Dongshan did care for her, and he did not trust Madam Wei’s character. He knew that writing a deed to release a concubine would damage the dignity of a great household. Yet if he forcibly kept Lady Yu here and she truly lost her life, would he not regret it forever?
Moreover, Third Brother and Sixth Brother were already grown. How would they view him as their father when the time came?
More important still, Lady Yu’s daughter Li Jiangyue was Yan Hongguang’s principal wife and presently pregnant. If Madam Yu was truly killed by Madam Wei, how could Li Jiangyue possibly let the matter rest?
One misstep, and the affection secured by marrying off two daughters might turn into hatred!
After repeatedly considering the matter and weighing every interest, Li Dongshan quickly made his decision. He ordered servants to bring paper, brush, and seal, hurriedly wrote the document, pressed his fingerprint and seal upon it, and handed the deed of release to Lady Yu. He also sent someone to the government office to handle the relevant formalities.
Madam Wei sighed inwardly and closed her eyes, suppressing her emotions.
Madam Yu’s eldest son held office elsewhere and was not at her side. Her younger son studied at an academy and returned only a few times a year. She had little to keep her here. She immediately ordered her servants to pack and prepared to depart for Shouzhou to join her daughter.
Her matron asked, “Madam, when we arrive, will we live in the Inspector’s residence or purchase a separate residence?”
Madam Yu shook her head. “I may be Jiangyue’s birth mother, but who does not know that I was once a concubine of the Li Family? If I went to the Inspector’s residence and acted like a proper mother-in-law, I would only humiliate myself and damage Jiangyue’s dignity. Have someone purchase a residence fairly close to the Inspector’s. I can visit her every few days. The Governor-General will not mind, and we will have greater freedom as well.”
The matron agreed. “That makes sense.”
…
After Madam Yu settled the affairs of her courtyard, she had only to wait for Li Dongshan and Madam Wei to reach a decision and reply to their son-in-law. Then she would depart with the Yan Family’s envoy.
Once Madam Yu left, Li Dongshan and Madam Wei erupted into a fierce quarrel and parted on terrible terms.
Li Dongshan had borne tremendous pressure when he married his legitimate daughter to Yan Hongguang as a concubine.
There had been the ridicule of his colleagues at court, the fury of the clan elders and his brothers, and the resentful gazes of his household concubines. Even the emperor had mocked him during a court session. Yet out of pity for his beloved daughter, he had withstood those mountains of pressure and finalized the marriage. Now he learned that her suicide attempt had been nothing but a young woman’s trick that exploited his sincere paternal love. How could he not fly into a rage?
His affection and protection for his own flesh and blood had become a weapon for his wife and daughter to use, while the Li Family’s reputation had become the rag beneath their feet!
Li Dongshan’s face was livid. Without another word, he pulled on his boots, stormed back to the principal residence, and slapped Madam Wei across the face. “Wretched woman! What do you and that vile creature take me for?!”
His entire body shook with rage. He raised his hand and slapped his own cheek, demanding between blows, “Do I have no shame? Do I enjoy being mocked by all of Jiankang? Is the Li Family’s century-old reputation worth nothing, something you deserve to trample beneath your feet?!”
Madam Wei was stunned by the slap, both furious and aggrieved. Seeing that her husband’s state of mind was plainly abnormal, she said in panic, “What are you talking about? I don’t understand!”
Overwhelmed by rage, Li Dongshan shed tears. “I pitied that vile creature. She wanted to become her half sister’s husband’s concubine, and I held my nose and agreed! Others laughed at me, and the clan elders and my brothers blamed me, but I endured it all. How could you exploit me like this? What do you take me for in your hearts?! Very good! You conspired with her to stage a false suicide. You joined that vile creature in deceiving me!”
Madam Wei was confused. Only after carefully sorting through his words did she understand. “You are saying Jiangxue’s suicide attempt was false? How could that be? You saw it with your own eyes. There was enough blood to soak the bedding!”
“You are still pretending!” The depths of Li Dongshan’s heart were filled with the fury of betrayal. The successive blows had utterly shattered the last of his affection for his daughter. “Vile creature! Wretched woman! To think I still wanted to protect her. Looking back now, if she does not regard me as her father, why should I regard her as my daughter? Let Yan Hongguang beat her to death and be done with it!”
With that, he left the principal courtyard, radiating icy fury.
Madam Wei felt as if her liver and gallbladder had split apart. She hurried after him. “Master!”
“Shut your mouth!”
Li Dongshan’s eyes were bloodshot, his expression savage. “I have had enough. I can endure no more! Either close your mouth immediately, or summon your brothers from your natal family tomorrow. I will open the ancestral hall, invite the clan elders, and write you a letter of divorce. Then you can go straight back to the Wei Family!”
“Ha!” He laughed bitterly at himself. “Had I known this would happen, why did I bother writing a deed of release? I should simply have elevated Qiujing to principal wife!”
Madam Wei looked as though she had been struck by lightning. Standing frozen at a distance, she said in a trembling voice, “Master, I… Lady Yu is only a concubine. How could she be elevated to principal wife?”
Li Dongshan sneered. “Even if I do not elevate her, I can divorce you and let her manage the household!”
Madam Wei stared at him in astonished despair. There was no pity in Li Dongshan’s eyes, only the frigid ruthlessness with which one regarded an enemy.
A chill slowly spread upward from her feet until her entire body felt cold. She wanted to speak, but her throat seemed stuffed with cotton.
Her vision blurred, and everything before her became indistinct. Her body suddenly swayed, and she fainted to the floor.
Li Dongshan did not spare her another glance. He turned and went to his study, where he hurriedly wrote a letter in bitter fury and ordered someone to deliver it to the Yan Family’s envoy.
When Madam Yu set out with the envoy the next day, she heard that Madam Wei had fallen ill and was presently unconscious. Her condition was said to be poor.
Madam Yu had already learned of the couple’s great quarrel in the principal residence the night before. Mockery leaked into her eyes, and she shook her head lightly.
Once the matron saw that no one was nearby, she asked in a low voice, “Was it Concubine Dong? One truly could not tell. She is usually so gentle and has always endured everything without complaint. Who would have thought she could do such a thing?”
“What is strange about it? Even a rabbit bites when cornered.”
Madam Yu sneered. “Our eldest young lady was beside herself with joy when she married on the same day as Jiangyue. I fear she has forgotten how terribly she harmed Second Young Lady. A legitimate daughter of the Li Family voluntarily becoming a concubine also ruined the reputations of every unmarried girl in the family. It was not long before Second Young Lady’s future husband’s family broke off their engagement. She cries in her room all day. Do you think Concubine Dong does not hate her? This is only the beginning. Once the younger girls begin discussing marriages, this family will have far more turmoil.”
The matron sighed. “Our madam was clever all her life, only to stumble over this daughter.”
Madam Yu agreed. “Indeed.”
…
Because Madam Yu and her attendants traveled by carriage, the journey from Jiankang to Shouzhou took six days.
Li Jiangyue had sent servants to wait at the city gate well in advance. The moment she heard that her mother had entered the city, she hurried out to welcome her.
Madam Yu and her daughter had been separated for nearly two years. Naturally, each had worried constantly about the other. When mother and daughter met, they inevitably sighed and shed tears before exchanging greetings and asking after each other.
Liu Che’s confidant returned with Li Dongshan’s letter. Liu Che unfolded it, and after reading it, he could not help laughing. “What happened in the Li household? Li Dongshan is so angry he no longer even wants this daughter. He says that since she entered the Yan Family’s gates, she is a member of the Yan Family, and I may decide whether she lives or dies.”
The confidant told him the news he had gathered.
Liu Che clicked his tongue and said to his old companions, “I told you her suicide attempt had to be false. Sure enough, it came back to bite her, didn’t it?”
He pushed the letter forward and ordered, “Take it to Lady Li and let her read it. Then bring the family disciplinary rod. Remember my order: thirty strokes. Not one fewer!”
The confidant obeyed and left.
In the ninth month, the scorching heat began to recede and the weather gradually cooled.
Every afternoon, Liu Che took his two younger brothers to the outskirts to practice riding and archery. Today was no exception. After sending word to Li Jiangyue that a banquet would be held that evening to welcome Madam Yu, he left with his brothers.
Madam Yu carefully studied her daughter. Li Jiangyue’s complexion was rosy, and pregnancy had added some flesh to her face, giving her the dignified, prosperous appearance of a principal wife.
Smiling gently, she held a hand above her daughter’s belly without quite touching it and said with emotion, “Now all I have to do is wait for my precious grandchild to come out.”
Supporting her waist, Li Jiangyue laughed. “Mother, you can touch it. It will be fine.”
Madam Yu sighed. “I have been a mother myself. Would I not understand? If I touch your belly, the child will start moving, and you will be uncomfortable for a long while.”
Li Jiangyue froze slightly at those words, and tears instantly fell.
Only her own mother would worry over every small detail. After traveling from afar and seeing her daughter about to give birth, she did not even dare touch her for fear of causing the slightest discomfort.
Madam Yu grew anxious. “Why are you crying?” She took out a handkerchief and wiped her daughter’s tears.
Li Jiangyue smiled and shook her head. She pressed her mother’s palm to her cheek, reluctant to let go.
At that moment, a servant entered through the doorway and said softly, “The family punishment has just been carried out over there. They say she fainted immediately. Madam…”
Li Jiangyue paused, then said gently, “Send a physician to examine her. Do not stint on medicine, and have the servants attend her carefully.”
The servant acknowledged the order and left. Surprise appeared between Madam Yu’s brows, and she asked her daughter quietly, “They truly beat her?”
Li Jiangyue replied just as quietly, “Of course they did. Thirty strokes. Husband settled on it long ago. Why would he change his mind?”
Madam Yu’s brow twitched. She looked up at her daughter with faint worry in her expression.
Li Jiangyue smiled instead. Nestling into her mother’s embrace, she said softly, “Mother, don’t worry. I am doing very well.”
That evening, Liu Che held a banquet at the residence to welcome Madam Yu and cleanse away the dust of her journey. He raised his cup to her several times and treated her with great courtesy and respect. Madam Yu was adept at handling every social situation and did not put on the airs of a mother-in-law. She treated him with equal courtesy. Host and guest thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and the atmosphere was harmonious.
That night, Liu Che did not sleep in a concubine’s room. He went to the principal residence to accompany Li Jiangyue instead. The physician said her due date was approaching and that she would give birth within half a month, so whenever he had time these days, he often went to keep her company.
Li Jiangyue reached out to help him undress. Seeing her enormous belly and difficulty moving, Liu Che would not allow it. He told her to sit on the couch, removed his outer robe in a few quick movements, and casually hung it to one side.
The lamp in the inner room had not yet been extinguished. The couple spoke intermittently for a while before Li Jiangyue tentatively raised the matter of Li Jiangxue. “Her servants reported that she was badly injured. She does not dare lie on her back and will have to remain on her stomach for at least half a month…”
Liu Che raised an eyebrow. Lifting her chin with one hand, he asked softly, “Do you pity her?”
Li Jiangyue placed a hand on her belly and gently shook her head.
Liu Che smiled and asked again, “Then do you think me cruel?”
Panic entered Li Jiangyue’s eyes. After a few moments, she said in a trembling voice, “Husband, I…”
Neither pleased nor angry, Liu Che said nothing. He removed his inner robe and turned his back toward her.
His body was tall and powerful, the muscles across his shoulders and back flowing in smooth lines. It was an exceptionally masculine physique. The only flaw was the savage network of whip scars across his back, terrifying to behold.
Li Jiangyue pressed her lips together, her gaze trembling. She tentatively reached out to touch the fearsome wounds that had long since healed and called once more, “Husband.”
Liu Che turned around and casually tossed his inner robe onto the head of the bed. “If one repays resentment with virtue, with what does one repay virtue?”
Li Jiangyue seemed about to say something, but Liu Che reached out and placed his index finger against her lips. He smiled softly. “I may not be a good man, but I am no great villain either. Judging by your conduct over the past two years, you deserve to be called a worthy wife. I know what is what.”
The great stone weighing upon Li Jiangyue’s heart finally fell away.
For an instant, she even felt the urge to weep.
Liu Che extinguished the lamp and climbed onto the bed to rest. Because Li Jiangyue was pregnant and frequently rose during the night, he let her sleep on the outside while he lay on the inside.
The inner room was dark, but several lamps still burned in the outer chamber. The bed curtains fell, and the faint light was soft and gentle.
Before sleeping, Liu Che instinctively reached to touch his wife’s rounded belly. Just before his hand made contact, he drew it back and yawned. “If I touch you, the child starts moving, and then you cannot sleep for a long time. I didn’t know that before. Why didn’t you say anything?”
Like a sudden thunderclap on a summer night, the words made Li Jiangyue’s heart pound. Her body trembled almost imperceptibly.
Liu Che leaned closer and lightly kissed her cheek. His tone was gentle, almost sighing. “I do not eat people. You need not be so excessively cautious. You are my wife, and the child in your womb is flesh and blood of the Yan Family. How could I not cherish you both?”
He squeezed her hand. “Sleep, Jiangyue.”