chapter 2

Qin You’an was easy to care for.

He was weak. Once he drank his medicine, he would sleep. He stayed awake only a few hours each day, and when he had the strength, he spoke to me for a while. He never made things difficult for me.

Xiaotao was relieved. “At least Young Master is a good man. You have a decent home after all, my lady.”

On our wedding night, Qin You’an had told me exactly what happened.

“The Qin family has wronged you. If you are unwilling to remain, I will write a letter of separation and set you—”

Before he could finish, I covered his mouth.

“A woman obeys her father at home and her husband after marriage. Besides, to marry a man of your character is a blessing earned over three lifetimes.”

His expression softened. He promised he would never fail me.

As I watched him turn over and fall asleep, I scrubbed my palm hard with a handkerchief.

A gentleman indeed.

If he truly had not wanted this marriage, could his parents have forced him?

He had taken every advantage and still wanted to pose as a virtuous man.

Set me free if I wished? What a joke.

If I separated from my husband on our wedding night, gossip alone would drown me.

Even if I were willing to stake my life on demanding justice, what of my parents and younger siblings? The marquis’s family could crush them with one finger.

When I returned to our room, Qin You’an was still asleep.

A servant brought in a jade incense burner. Qin You’an had prepared it for my amusement.

I ran my fingers over it. The jade was smooth, warm, and clearly valuable.

But it was still not enough.

I walked to the couch and brushed the delicate tips of my fingers over Qin You’an’s throat.

My husband, you ruined my entire life. Gold, silver, and jade will never repay that debt.

Power had made every member of this family far too precious. They thought nothing of using other people’s lives as pieces on a board.

The throat beneath my hand quivered. Qin You’an coughed himself awake.

When he saw me, a faint smile touched his face. “Did you eat at Mother’s?”

I helped him against the cushions with practiced ease, allowing him a glimpse of my reddened eyes.

Once his breathing settled, he asked, “Did someone bully you?”

I pressed my lips together and said nothing. Someone else would speak for me.

Xiaotao understood immediately. Indignant on my behalf, she said, “The Second Young Madam is always making trouble for my lady. She says my lady comes from a low family and will be left helpless and alone.”

A married woman became helpless and alone only after her husband died.

Qin You’an’s face changed at once.

Physicians had long said he would not live more than three years. The family had strictly forbidden anyone from mentioning it in front of him.

He took my hand, his expression twisting.

“I heard your younger brother has some talent for scholarship. I will arrange for him to study at Yunshan Academy.”

My brother had been clever from childhood. Hoping to raise our family’s standing, Father had spent a fortune trying to secure him a place at Yunshan Academy, yet after two or three years he had accomplished nothing.

Qin You’an needed only to speak one sentence.

Power truly was a wonderful thing.

I brightened and cheerfully fed him the rest of his medicine. “Then I must thank you, Husband.”

Liu Ruying was punished.

My mother-in-law scolded her for having a vicious tongue and ordered her to copy the Admonitions for Women a hundred times.

The punishment was not severe, but it was humiliating.

Convinced I had complained about her, Liu Ruying dragged Qin Zhaoyuan to places I had to pass every day, trying to block my way.

She could not defeat me with words, so she tried to wound me by other means.

“Higher! Higher!” she laughed.

Xiaotao glared. “They can fly a kite if they want, but do they have to come all the way to our courtyard?”

The sun blazed overhead. Even in the shade of a tree, I felt hot.

I wondered how Qin Zhaoyuan felt with a grown woman riding on his back.

“The Second Young Madam does not seem to care much for the Second Young Master after all.”

I scattered the rest of the fish food into the pond and brushed the crumbs from my hands.

“However much she cares for him, his own mother cares more. Look over there.”

Xiaotao followed my gaze and saw the mother-in-law I had lured to the garden.

The sight before her had almost driven her mad with fury.

Liu Ruying never imagined that her little performance would fail to hurt me and instead summon her greatest scourge.

Mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law had been enemies since ancient times, no matter how satisfied the older woman had been before the wedding.

Once you married her son, you became the wicked woman who had stolen him.

Even if you dutifully served your husband, she would find fault. Clinging to him day after day was far worse.

My mother-in-law erupted, accusing Liu Ruying of disturbing Qin Zhaoyuan’s studies. She confined her to her courtyard for half a month.

At morning greetings, she sighed. “If only she possessed one measure of calm, I would be satisfied.”

I gently kneaded her shoulders and gave no answer.

There were things she could say that I could not.

“You’an tells me you have been reading medical texts.”

“My husband is frail. As his wife, I should learn all I can.”

She praised me repeatedly, then said, “Zhaoyuan has many medical books. Go take whatever you need.”

I told my husband and said cautiously, “Sister-in-law dislikes me. To avoid trouble, perhaps you should send a servant to fetch them.”

Qin You’an narrowed his eyes. “Why fear her? I am the eldest son of this family. A wife’s honor follows her husband’s. She will never stand above you.”

During these weeks together, I had learned his temperament.

Though sickly, he was fiercely proud. He displayed brotherly affection on the surface, but in his heart he bitterly envied Qin Zhaoyuan’s good health.

Once I learned how to press that wound, Qin You’an always did as I wished.

Qin Zhaoyuan looked surprised when I came to his study. I had avoided him whenever possible. Why would I visit now?

After I explained, disappointment flickered in his eyes.

He rose and led me to a bookshelf.

“I read these when I was young. Eldest Brother was always ill, so I searched the books for a way to cure him.”

“Did you find one?”

He smiled bitterly. “It was only childish fancy. Father summoned so many imperial physicians, and not one could help.”

I drew out a volume. Its pages were creased from repeated reading.

“You and your brother must be very close.”

He frowned and sighed. “Eldest Brother was frail. Father and Mother naturally gave him more attention.”

I understood.

This one also had grievances.

There were many medical books, but I selected only one.

Whenever I did not understand something, I asked my husband. He loved being admired and depended upon.

His energy was limited, though. After only a few pages, he would grow tired.

That did not matter. It was enough for him to know I was trying.

Every three or five days, I visited the study to borrow another book. I chose one and left immediately.

Qin Zhaoyuan tried to speak with me, but I always avoided him.

Even so, whenever I entered the study, I could feel the heat of his gaze on my back.

After several visits, he could no longer restrain himself.

“Do you truly hate me so much?”

I raised the book between us. “You are drunk, Brother-in-law.”

He stepped closer, his face tight with regret. “I have had nothing to drink. These past days, my guilt has nearly crushed me.”

“Ruying wept and begged me that day. Mother begged me too. I had no choice but to deceive you.”

“But… I never expected you to be such an extraordinary woman.”

How laughable.

By his reasoning, he would have felt no guilt if I had been ordinary.

I lowered my eyes. When I looked up again, tears glimmered in them.

“I know none of this was your fault. Fate simply played a cruel trick on us.”

Light burst into his eyes. He seized my shoulders.

“I knew you were not indifferent to me. I still have every letter you wrote me during those three months.”

I tightened my grip on my handkerchief. “Where did you keep them?”

That damned Qin Zhaoyuan. If anyone found those letters, my entire family would be doomed.

“They are right—”

Before he could finish, a furious shout came from outside the courtyard.

Liu Ruying’s voice drew closer.

“Wang Yueshu, you shameless whore! How dare you seduce my husband!”

Qin Zhaoyuan stiffened. He whispered for me to hide, then hurried out.

Knowing someone was concealed inside made him nervous too.

“What nonsense are you screaming? Go back to your courtyard!”

Liu Ruying was wild with rage, but he blocked her path.

“You are still protecting her! I will drag her out and let the entire household see what she has done!”

They struggled. Finally provoked beyond endurance, Qin Zhaoyuan slapped her across the face.

The crack was crisp and delightful.

Even he froze afterward.

“I—I’m sorry.”

Clutching her cheek, Liu Ruying took the chance to shove past him. She kicked the door open.

“Why are you here?”