Chapter 4

Chapter 4

In my previous life, my elder sister had not only been given a show of force the very first day she entered the household, then left alone for the entire wedding night, but the next day, when she served tea, she was also deliberately made things difficult by the Fu Family relatives.

But I was different.

I simply refused to go serve tea at all.

The old madam sent people to invite me several times. I only said that since the marriage had changed, everything would have to be discussed at length.

When the old madam and my sister-in-law came storming over, I was in the middle of having my dowry servants sort through my dowry.

The mother and daughter had clearly come intending to make trouble for me, but when they saw that my entire attention was on the dowry filling the courtyard, they panicked first.

The old madam’s attitude softened at once. She did not even blame me for missing the tea ceremony. “What is the new bride doing? If there is something wrong, we can discuss it properly.”

Ha. So now she knew how to discuss things properly?

In my previous life, why had she refused to let my elder sister off no matter what?

Fu Huai had never consummated the marriage with my sister, yet the old madam had only blamed my sister for being incompetent and lacking virtue, saying she could not even keep her own husband in line.

I put on a sorrowful expression and said, “The matter of the mistaken marriage is already beyond dispute. I should never have married into the Duke’s Mansion in the first place, so I will take my dowry and leave.”

Father and Mother doted on both my elder sister and me, and Mother was the daughter of the richest man in the realm. Each of our dowries amounted to one hundred and eighty loads, something rare even among the noble families of the capital.

The old madam hurriedly smiled and smoothed things over. “Since matters have come to this, we can only make the best of the mistake. You and Ah Huai have already consummated the marriage. How can you simply leave? A woman’s reputation is the most important thing of all!”

As she spoke, the old madam’s gaze swept over the dowry chests filling the courtyard.

She was all smiles now.

But in my previous life, she had been certain my elder sister cared about propriety and would never easily disregard her reputation, so she had suppressed and tormented my sister in every possible way.

But I was different. Bluffing was what I did best.

What was “reputation”?

Could it be eaten?

Just as I was feigning grief, Fu Huai hurried back from the palace. He must have heard the servants’ report, for his steps were swift as the wind.

I seized the chance and said, “Last night, I did not recognize Lord Duke. Had I known Lord Duke already had someone in his heart, how could I have stolen another woman’s love? Even if I am the legitimate wife, the one who is not loved is the one who is unnecessary.”

“Speaking of which, this is my fault as well. In the past, I had only heard that Young Master Wen was an upright gentleman with no bedchamber maids or concubines by his side. Last night, I mistook Lord Duke for Young Master Wen, and that was why my whole heart and eyes were filled with my husband.”

In other words, the tender affection I had shown last night was only because I had believed the man I married was Wen Sheng.

Fu Huai’s brows furrowed at once, and a trace of unwillingness rose in his eyes.

He already desired my body, but that was far from enough.

I wanted to rouse his desire to win. The more he wanted to conquer my heart, the more he would mistakenly believe he had fallen in love with me.

Men always poured more effort and attention into things they could not easily obtain.

The old madam kept shooting Fu Huai meaningful looks.

On the surface, Fu Huai was a gentleman of impeccable character. He would never be irresponsible.

He was the best at false benevolence and sham righteousness.

Therefore, there was no way he would let me leave.

Fu Huai walked up to me and, without even realizing it, softened his voice. He himself did not notice how tender and affectionate he sounded as he said, “Madam, I have already reported to Your Majesty that the mistaken marriage cannot be changed, so we may as well make the best of it. You need not leave the Duke’s Mansion. From now on, you are my wife, Fu Huai’s wife.”

I blinked and looked uneasily toward the two concubines present.

Shen Ru was the beauty he had brought back from the battlefield. Her brows and eyes were full of heroic spirit, and a whip hung at her waist. I narrowed my eyes, remembering the whip marks on my elder sister’s corpse in my previous life…

The other concubine, Linglong, was the old madam’s adopted daughter and stood firmly on the old madam’s side.

I pressed my lips together, then gave another soft sigh and said, “Had I known my husband already had two beloved women, I certainly would not have married over. But now… as the legitimate wife, I should naturally possess the magnanimity to accommodate others.”

I directly turned the spearhead toward Shen Ru and Linglong.

One was his beloved beauty, and the other had been his bedchamber maid since youth. Those two should be the ones at each other’s throats.

Sure enough, Shen Ru and Linglong exchanged a look, each finding the other utterly detestable.