The floor was truly too cold. Zhao Xiheng curled herself into a ball, staying as close to the stove as possible while ensuring her safety, trying to draw some warmth from it.
She had always been sensitive to the cold. In the past, she would never have been able to sleep in such conditions. But after months of constant travel and the fright she had endured today, she was utterly exhausted. Surprisingly, she fell asleep unusually fast.
Not far away, her breathing was steady and peaceful, so faint it was almost imperceptible. Wei Li hadn’t intentionally listened for it, yet he found himself noticing it, thinking her breathing sounded rather heavy.
Unable to sleep, he listened as Zhao Xiheng slept soundly, grinding his teeth slightly.
Lying stiffly for a while, the scent of Gardenia Bath Beans and Fragrant Ointment emanating from Zhao Xiheng became impossible to ignore. Abruptly, he kicked the bedding away.
“It’s too hot!”
“Zhao Xiheng!”
“Hmm?” Zhao Xiheng frowned. Having spent the day on horseback with Wei Li, her already frail constitution simply couldn’t take it. Once she fell asleep, it was hard to wake her. Though she vaguely sensed someone calling her, she soon drifted back into a deep, unconscious slumber.
Wei Li waited for a long time, but she neither responded nor moved. He sprang up from the heated kang bed and stood silently beside Zhao Xiheng.
He saw her huddled against the innermost side of the floor bedding, wrapped tightly in her quilt, looking as if she were sleeping quite comfortably. This only fueled Wei Li’s sleepless irritation.
“Zhao Xiheng?” he asked darkly.
“Hmm…”
She still didn’t wake. Wei Li lost his patience.
Zhao Xiheng awoke choking. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Wei Li’s unpleasant face, his dark eyes fixed on her. The silver ornament on his left ear gleamed brilliantly under the moonlight.
He had somehow climbed onto her bed—no, onto her floor bedding—like a vengeful ghost trying to terrify her.
And his hand…
Was wrapped around her neck.
All traces of drowsiness vanished in an instant.
After a day of exhausting travel, not only did she have to share a room with a madman in the middle of the night, but this madman couldn’t sleep and was now trying to strangle her to death. Surely, no one in the world could be more desperate than she was.
But as Wei Li’s grip tightened around her neck, she coughed a few times, tears welling in the corners of her eyes—just as fragile as Wei Li had imagined.
“Zhu Gong!” Wei Li!
“Please let me go!” I’ll kill your entire family!
Wei Li released his grip, wiping his hand on her quilt as if it were dirty, then said, “Zhao Xiheng, I’m hot. Go put out the stove.”
“Cough, cough, cough…” Zhao Xiheng clutched her neck, bending over the bed as she coughed violently. She needed to calm down, or she might not be able to control the urge to take Wei Li down with her, even if it meant risking her life to kill him.
Beneath the quilt, her hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly. “Zhu Gong, I don’t know how.”
“You don’t know? Would you figure it out if I strangled you?” Wei Li retorted, kneeling on one knee beside her bed and staring at her like a snake poised to strike. The pale moonlight cast a ghostly pallor over his face, making him look like a corpse.
A cold sweat broke out on Zhao Xiheng’s back. Stumbling out of bed, she hurried to light the lamp. The warm, yellow glow somewhat eased the anxiety in her heart. “I can do it, I can do it.”
Wei Li tilted his head, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. His lips were thin, yet redder than a woman’s rouged lips. “Hurry up~”
His unpredictable moods were truly frightening. Zhao Xiheng feared and loathed him, yet couldn’t help stealing a few glances, her gaze lingering on the collar of his underwear.
The originally tightly wrapped collar had somehow loosened, revealing half an inch of neck skin marked with what looked like scars.
Zhao Xiheng narrowed her eyes, turned around, and picked up the fire tongs. Ultimately, no matter how many strange things there were about Wei Li, they had nothing to do with her. The only thing she needed to think about now was how to preserve her life in Wei Li’s hands and make her days as comfortable as possible.
If things could be even better, it would be best not to sleep with him.
Even better would be if Wei Li were to die suddenly one day, allowing her to flee with money, without having to return to the palace or enter into a political marriage.
Zhao Xiheng used the stove hook to open the stove. The friction of the metal produced a sharp screech.
The charcoal inside was burning fiercely, with crimson and orange flames licking the stove walls, leaping higher as they came into contact with the air.
Her face grew warm from the fire, and her whole body felt comfortably cozy.
Zhao Xiheng took two steps back and noticed Wei Li sitting on the Hu bed, seemingly bored as he examined his fingernails. Only then did she feel slightly relieved.
Since Wei Li could sneak into her bed in the middle of the night and strangle her, it wasn’t impossible for him to shove her head into the stove.
Currently, this old beast’s favorability in her heart was negative; even Zhao Mingxin was more likable than him.
To extinguish the charcoal fire…
Feeling dizzy and with a chill running down her spine, Zhao Xiheng turned around, grabbed a pot of water from the table, and poured it onto the charcoal.
“Sizzle~”
“Sizzle~”
…
The fire below continued to burn, but because the charcoal above was wet, thick black smoke billowed out.
“Zhao Xiheng, are you insane?!” Wei Li coughed uncontrollably from the pervasive black smoke filling the room, impossible to disperse.
That face, like something out of a horror story, showed a rare moment of collapse.
The commotion inside was likely too loud, waking the maids on night watch outside. The black smoke seeping through the door cracks alarmed them.
“Hurry, go report to the Commandery Governor and his wife!”
In their panic, just as they were about to pry the door open, it was kicked open with a loud “bang.”
Wei Li emerged from the inner room, gripping Zhao Xiheng by the collar, his face filled with murderous intent.
The maid had left the door open when she departed, and a cold wind rushed in from outside. Zhao Xiheng shivered all over from the chill; this time, her tears weren’t fake—they were genuine.
It was too cold.
“What, scared now?” Wei Li wished he could strangle her right then.
“Zhu Gong, I really didn’t mean it, wuwuwu.” She cried pitifully, but paired with her soot-blackened face, it hardly evoked the image of a delicate beauty in tears.
In her heart, she had already cursed Wei Li a thousand times over.
If this beast hadn’t woken her up in the middle of the night to extinguish the stove, how could things have ended up like this?
As if those experienced maids outside were just for show, and he had to threaten her with her life instead—ugh!
Wei Li pinched her cheek.
The Commandery Governor and his wife lived nearby. They had been sound asleep when someone reported what seemed like a fire at Wei Li’s residence. They hastily threw on their clothes and rushed over, their hair still disheveled.
The Commandery Governor quickly handed the clothes he was carrying to Wei Li to put on.
The Commandery Governor’s wife wore a cloak over her shoulders and carried another in her arms, made of purplish-black animal fur, glossy and sleek, looking both valuable and warm. Zhao Xiheng, dressed only in thin underwear, couldn’t help but glance at it a few more times.
This item seemed to be unavailable in Jinyang.
She stepped forward, intending to drape it over Zhao Xiheng’s shoulders. “We left in such haste that I only brought my own. Please do not mind, Little Lady.” The Commandery Governor’s Wife spoke with particular clarity, enunciating each word distinctly—something Zhao Xiheng had noticed earlier.
But halfway through, Wei Li raised his hand to block her. Clad in a cloak, he cast a cold glance at the Commandery Governor’s Wife. “She isn’t cold. She doesn’t need it.”
The bright, expectant gleam in Zhao Xiheng’s eyes instantly dimmed. Wei Li was truly a beast!
“After doing wrong, you still have the nerve to ask for marten fur? You might as well freeze to death without it,” Wei Li added another remark.
The Commandery Governor’s Wife also hesitated, her gaze shifting uncertainly between Zhao Xiheng and Wei Li. The Little Lady was young and likely couldn’t bear the cold. The weather in Pingzhou was so frigid—the Zhu Gong was being too harsh.
The Commandery Governor tugged at her sleeve, shaking his head to signal her not to offend Wei Li.
“And who is this ‘Little Lady’?” Wei Li’s mind finally caught up, tilting his head as he asked with a sinister tone.
The Commandery Governor’s Wife panicked, quickly kneeling to explain. “This… please forgive this offense, Zhu Gong. Your servant is foolish and ignorant…”
“Your subordinate and his wife are ignorant and foolish, failing to understand Zhu Gong’s intentions. We acted presumptuously. Please grant us an opportunity to redeem ourselves.”
The Commandery Governor, feeling it was a man’s duty not to let his wife bear the blame alone, knelt beside her.
Both of them adopted an extremely humble posture, hastily pleading for forgiveness and admitting their fault. They dared not ask Wei Li to punish them, only requesting a chance to make amends.
Given Wei Li’s temperament, if they had truly asked for punishment, he would likely have paused before saying, “Punishment, you say? Then drag them out and beat them to death.”
“Aren’t you going to prepare the rooms?” Wei Li rubbed his temples, his forehead throbbing with pain.
Having endured until now and being further agitated by Zhao Xiheng, he was teetering on the edge of fury, barely managing to control his emotions.
Pressure breeds motivation. This time, the Ji’an County Commandery Governor handled matters swiftly and efficiently, and he did not arrange for the two to stay in the same quarters.
Zhao Xiheng now had her own heated kang bed. Although she had endured a bout of freezing cold, it was well worth it.
After the maidservant led her to freshen up, she withdrew.
Zhao Xiheng collapsed onto the steaming heated kang bed. The warmth enveloped her body, making her limbs tingle and go numb, as if soaked in hot water.
Suddenly, Wei Li’s face flashed into her mind, sending a shiver through her heart. Dragging herself up, she bolted the inner chamber door, as if only this could bring her peace of mind.
Zhao Xiheng had left Jinyang to be married in mid-November. After a month on the road, it was now mid-December.
Along the way, the people of each prefecture were beginning to prepare for the New Year, purchasing festive goods. Even the poorest among them wore radiant expressions, and lively scenes were everywhere. Even while resting at post stations at night, she could see fireworks bursting in the sky.
But Pingzhou was excessively desolate. From Dandong to Ji’an, the streets were empty—no laughter or cheerful voices, no festive decorations or lanterns. It bore no resemblance to the atmosphere of the New Year at all; it was even unnervingly quiet.
If she hadn’t heard the muffled cries of infants from inside houses along the way, she might have thought Pingzhou was an empty city, a ghost town.
Even within the Ji’an Commandery Governor’s residence, there were no colorful decorations or lanterns. It was as plain as if they simply did not celebrate the New Year.
As she pondered, her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, until she finally drifted into a dream.
Zhao Xiheng wished the night would last longer, so she could delay seeing that beast Wei Li a little while more.
If she had to run into him a few more times, she might just lose years off her life.
Outside, the maid on night watch couldn’t sleep. She had lit a small lamp, holding scissors in her left hand and red paper in her right, carefully cutting out characters.
Another person was horrified, snatching the paper cutting from her hands and whispering urgently, “Are you mad? Doing this right under the Wei Bandit’s nose?”