Chapter 240

Chapter 240

Old Madam Shen looked displeased. She could not imagine what sort of delicate treasure Ji Hanyi thought herself, falling ill and then refusing to let anyone visit.

After hearing Madam Bai’s words, an inexplicable anger rose within her, and the phrase *dangerous beauty* sprang to mind.

Shen Si had once devoted himself entirely to official business. Now that he had taken a wife, all his attention went to her. He would not even allow anyone to visit, as though someone in this household meant his wife harm.

It was not that she did not want the couple to live in harmony. But whenever she thought of how much Shen Si cared for his wife, perhaps even more than he had ever cared for his own mother, bitterness filled her heart.

She did not let it show. She merely said to Madam Bai, “I heard you were ill as well. Are you feeling any better?”

“Thank you for your concern, Old Madam. I am somewhat better,” Madam Bai replied.

Old Madam Shen nodded. “You needn’t remain here with me. Go back and rest.”

Once Madam Bai left Old Madam Shen’s quarters, the contrived cough that had plagued her moments ago vanished.

She thought back to the old madam’s expression. She understood perfectly well what had been on the older woman’s mind.

As the saying went, harmony in the family brought prosperity in all things. But who in this world was entirely without selfish desires?

The Fifth Master had once been indifferent to everything in the household and distant toward everyone. He had never been particularly attentive even to Old Madam Shen. Now that he doted so heavily on his new wife, it would have been strange if his mother felt no resentment.

Toying with her fingernails, Madam Bai strolled slowly back. Old Madam Shen would never blame her own son. If she blamed anyone, it would be Ji Hanyi, the beauty who had bewitched him.

Madam Bai had all the patience in the world when it came to quietly turning the old madam against Ji Hanyi.

She was a mother-in-law herself and knew exactly how one thought. Even after a son married, what mother did not wish to remain the most important woman in his heart?

Madam Cui, walking beside her, asked in puzzlement, “The Second Madam merely has a cold. Why will she not allow anyone to visit?”

Madam Bai smiled. “Who knows? In any event, leave it alone.”

She then turned to Matron Zhang. “Leave today’s affairs to Concubine Luo as well. I have not fully recovered, so keep an eye on her from the side, lest she grow suspicious.”

Matron Zhang hastened to nod. Leaning close to Madam Bai’s ear, she murmured a few words, then added softly, “The maid was waiting at the usual place early this morning. That is what she said.”

Madam Bai paused after hearing her, then smiled again and gave Matron Zhang a single instruction.

Shen Suyi had overheard those last few words between her mother and Matron Zhang, and her curiosity was piqued. She followed her mother inside and asked in a low voice, “Has something happened to Fifth Aunt?”

Madam Bai reclined leisurely in a large armchair, idly turning the lid of her teacup as she regarded Shen Suyi with a faint smile. “Why are you asking so many questions? Do not ask anyone else about this.”

Shen Suyi pouted. “When I first met Fifth Aunt, who could have imagined she would marry Fifth Uncle? Now I feel awkward every time I see her, yet I cannot help being curious about her.”

“I wonder what it is about her that attracts Fifth Uncle.”

Madam Bai cast Shen Suyi a sidelong glance. Looking at her daughter’s lovely face, she said with a smile, “What is there to be curious about? You should know that all men are the same. They crave novelty. They are drawn to a woman’s beauty, her gentle disposition, and her obedience. There is nothing mysterious about it.”

“Once the novelty wears off, he will decide your beauty lacks the delicate charm of another woman, call your temperament dull, and find your obedience tedious.”

“Everything he once liked about you will become a fault in his eyes sooner or later.”

Shen Suyi froze, then could not help asking, “What about Young Master Zhou? Will he be that sort of man too?”

“He is exceptionally talented, courteous, and the most upright of gentlemen.”

Madam Bai studied Shen Suyi in silence. Seeing the stirrings of young love on her daughter’s face, she recalled that Shen Suyi had already turned fourteen. It was time to begin seeking a suitable match for her.

But romantic love was the most insubstantial thing in the inner household. In an even voice, she shattered her daughter’s wistful dreams. “Suyi, remember your mother’s words. Every man under heaven is the same.”

“The more polished and charming he appears, the more likely his affection is false.”

Shen Suyi looked up at her mother. Madam Bai was still bright and beautiful, and she and Shen Suyi’s father had always treated each other with the courtesy and respect of an ideal married couple. In Shen Suyi’s eyes, their relationship had always been a good one. Why, then, would her mother say such a thing?

She could not understand.

Elsewhere, after Ji Hanyi rose, Rongchun brought her a mirror. Only then did she discover that her eyes were slightly swollen. No wonder Shen Si had kept looking at them that morning.

Her body still ached. After taking her medicine, she lay facedown on the bed while Rongchun applied salve.

Her skin, once flawless as white jade, was now bruised purple at the elbows and knees. Tiny cuts marred her slender fingers, leaving cracks across what had once resembled finely carved jade.

Rongchun moved with painstaking care, afraid of causing her pain.

But after the terror and agony Ji Hanyi had endured, she had grown accustomed to pain like this. She even felt fortunate-fortunate that she had made it back alive.

Her gaze shifted to the pot of golden peonies on the windowsill, blooming splendidly in the spring breeze.

It must have been sent back ahead of her on the day she left the palace. The luxuriant blossoms lifted her spirits. As long as everything remained safe and sound, nothing else mattered.
Ji Hanyi’s thoughts halted. Trouble had found her the moment she left the palace, which meant whoever was behind it must have known she was there. But who had known?

The Empress Dowager? Commandery Princess Fengning? Or Sun Baoqiong?

The more she thought, the more her head hurt. If she insisted that one of them had arranged it, there were always details that did not quite fit.

Would the Empress Dowager really do such a thing?

However much Commandery Princess Fengning despised her, would she truly take such a risk?

As for Sun Baoqiong, although she had often visited Ji Hanyi in the palace, she had also mentioned in conversation that the Empress Dowager was choosing a new husband for her. Surely she would not have gone this far.

Unable to make sense of it, Ji Hanyi simply stopped trying.

Her body still hurt too much for her to move about comfortably, so she remained on the daybed. At noon, she ate a hearty meal, finished an entire plate of cherries, and then took an afternoon nap.

Rongchun brought her some tea, saying it was new tea Concubine Luo had sent over the day before. Ji Hanyi took a sip, then paused. “Concubine Luo sent this?”

Rongchun nodded. “I made some inquiries. I heard First Madam has fallen ill, so Concubine Luo is helping manage the household affairs. Apparently, this has happened often before.”

Ji Hanyi thought of Madam Bai, a woman who always charged about as though no task could ever tire her. It was surprising that she was willing to let a concubine help manage the household.

Then again, everyone was made of flesh and blood. Even a tiger had to doze sometime. The thought left her oddly wistful.

She said nothing more. Her body still throbbed faintly, and before long she fell asleep again.

When Shen Si returned that evening, Ji Hanyi was sitting against the headboard reading. He sat down beside her and, seeing how engrossed she appeared, asked, “What are you reading?”

Only then did Ji Hanyi come back to herself. Instinctively, she shoved the book beneath her pillow.

Shen Si raised a brow at the movement but did not question her. Instead, he reached out, took her hand, and examined it in his palm.

He had given her the palace’s Hibiscus Skin-Renewing Salve, which could quickly fade scars.

But even that took time. The tiny cuts grains of sand had left across her fingers were still plainly visible.

He studied them in silence, his thin lips pressing into an even tighter line.

Guilt weighed on Shen Si, keeping every emotion within him stretched taut.

After all the trouble he had taken and every calculation he had made to marry her, they had been wed for less than a month, yet he had already allowed her to suffer so much.

His thoughts heavy, Shen Si ran his fingertips over hers without speaking. Then he fetched the salve and silently applied it to her wounds.

Ji Hanyi watched him. She wanted to say that Rongchun had already applied the medicine, but his lowered brows were cold and solemn, and a chilling darkness churned in his deep black eyes. A shadow seemed to envelop him, making him appear unusually severe.

All at once, Ji Hanyi did not dare speak.

She had few injuries, most of them on her knees and arms. Shen Si lifted both her legs onto his lap, then used his long fingers to roll up the fabric over them little by little. She quietly watched those beautiful hands in the flickering candlelight. They seemed capable of anything.

Those hands could wield a brush and draft a memorial of impeachment sharp enough to draw blood. They had placed a Divorce Agreement in her hands that night, brought pleasure to her body, and now tended her wounds with exquisite gentleness.

Their lines were hard and austere, the bones pronounced, yet at times those hands could be remarkably warm.

By now, she no longer resisted the intimacy of skin against skin. It almost felt as though they were an ordinary married couple, joined because they loved each other rather than because they had weighed their respective interests.

She wondered in a daze whether Shen Si might truly be a good husband.

Yet his expression so rarely softened that she could never tell what he was thinking.

The injury to her knee was the worst. A scab had formed over it. Shen Si regarded it in silence, then looked up at her. “Does it still hurt?”

Ji Hanyi shook her head. “Not anymore.”

Shen Si looked into her clear, dark eyes, gave a slight nod, then said, “Gu Yan is alive, but he has not regained consciousness. Whether he wakes will depend on him.”

“I will have him sent back to the Gu Family and say that bandits attacked him on the road. You need not concern yourself with the Gu Family for the time being.”

“I will handle everything.”

At that, Ji Hanyi could not tell whether what she felt was relief or something else. She merely nodded.

She knew only that she did not want to think about the matter again.

When they retired for the night, Ji Hanyi could not fall asleep. Perhaps she had slept too much that afternoon. She tossed and turned for quite some time before finally drifting off.

Shen Si was awake as well, silently watching the restless figure beside him. Only after she grew still did he turn her from her side to face him. Cradling her face, he gazed at her for a long while. There was little lingering sorrow on her features, and the sight of her sleeping so sweetly soothed the tension and anxiety he could reveal to no one. He bent and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

Then something occurred to him. He reached beneath her pillow for the book she had hidden earlier.

By the lamplight, he picked it up and glanced at it, then abruptly stilled.

He had wondered what she was reading. It was a romance storybook-and its contents were nothing like what he had expected.