chapter 5
I acted surprised and hurriedly sent Xiaotao away to prepare sobering soup.
The moment the door closed, Qin Zhaoyuan pulled me into his arms.
“Was I wrong back then?”
His burning breath brushed my ear.
“Ruying is spoiled and willful. If only I had married you.”
I pressed lightly against his chest. “You are drunk, Brother-in-law.”
Instead of releasing me, he tightened his arms.
“Then let me be drunk. I would rather never wake again.”
He demanded, “Why did you leave the study that day? I keep thinking I should have let Mother and the others discover us. I never wanted Yunxiu as a concubine. I wanted you. I truly love you.”
I nearly rolled my eyes.
Only a fool would surrender the position of First Young Madam to become a concubine.
He claimed he loved me, yet he had treated my marriage and my life as a game.
I lowered my eyes and made my voice gentle, mournful, and helpless.
“We were fated to meet but not to remain together in this life. In the next, I promise I will marry you.”
Qin Zhaoyuan was overcome.
His scorching kiss fell against the side of my neck.
“Yueshu, I cannot wait another moment.”
He lifted me in his arms, carried me swiftly to the bed, and covered me with his body.
The candle flames swayed.
So did the curtains around the bed, all through the night.
After that, Qin Zhaoyuan spent most of his time away from the residence.
My mother-in-law complained that an unworthy wife had driven him from home.
“The sight of her makes me furious. She killed my unborn grandchild and drove Zhaoyuan away.”
I helped my husband in to pay his respects, and only then did she smile.
“Yueshu is so much better. She has been here only a few months, and You’an can already walk.”
My husband looked at me with growing tenderness. “I must thank Mother for finding me such a virtuous wife.”
Life in the marquis’s residence had been very pleasant of late. Every few days, my parents-in-law sent me rare treasures.
My brother had entered Yunshan Academy. His teachers praised his talent several times.
With the marquis’s support, Father completed several profitable business deals. My younger sister also found a good marriage.
Another woman might have been satisfied by now.
But I had never liked placing my fate in someone else’s hands.
I knew Qin Zhaoyuan was avoiding me, so I intercepted him after morning greetings.
“I am pregnant.”
He went pale and pulled me to a secluded corner.
I wiped my eyes with a handkerchief dabbed in ginger juice. Tears poured down my cheeks.
“You know my husband and I have never consummated our marriage. I truly do not know what to do.”
Sweat broke across Qin Zhaoyuan’s forehead. After a long silence, he finally said, “I will ask Mother.”
What an idiot.
If his mother learned the truth, I would never leave this house alive.
I sobbed and placed his hand over my still-flat belly.
“I am the daughter of a respectable family. After such a shame, I ought to hang myself from a white silk rope. But I pity this child. He has not even seen what his father looks like.”
Qin Zhaoyuan’s eyes widened. He caressed my belly with trembling care.
Inside was a child who would one day call him Father.
As if making a great decision, he said hoarsely, “Yueshu, tell me what to do, and I will do it.”
I softly offered him a plan that seemed to consider his every difficulty.
“Keep this secret for now. Go back and tell Sister-in-law that a distant cousin of mine wishes to become your concubine. See whether she agrees.”
Qin Zhaoyuan thought I was being considerate. He nodded eagerly.
“You always think of others. I am sure Ruying will agree.”
He went to discuss it with Liu Ruying.
The message I had deliberately arranged soon followed him.
By the time it reached Liu Ruying, however, the story had changed. Qin Zhaoyuan had supposedly kept my cousin in a house outside the residence for months and was only waiting to bring her in as a secondary wife.
Liu Ruying lost all reason. Servants I had bribed kept fanning her fury.
She rushed over to confront me.
Perfect. My husband happened to be practicing his steps in the courtyard, one hand braced on the railing.
Liu Ruying kicked open the gate and jabbed a finger at my face.
“I always knew you were scheming against me!”
“Do not hide. I will kill you and avenge myself!”
The courtyard erupted. Some people fought, others tried to hold them apart, and everyone shouted at once.
No one saw exactly when Liu Ruying stumbled into my husband.
She knocked him to the ground.
Blood burst from his mouth.