A sudden bolt of lightning seemed to strike right above Yun Juan’s head, leaving her face deathly pale.
In her past life, Xiao Mingyu had ripped off her bridal veil and fled the room, leaving her to keep vigil over an empty bridal chamber on her wedding night. Even after twenty years of marriage, she had remained a virgin, becoming the ultimate laughingstock among the high-ranking noblewomen.
She had resigned herself to that fate in her past life, chalking it up to the karmic debt of the swapped marriage. But now, she and Xiao Lanting… it was clearly Xiao Lanting who had actively insisted on keeping her!
To marry her and then refuse to take responsibility—what kind of man was he?!
Clenching her delicate fists, Yun Juan wrapped herself in a cloak and charged out into the snow, heading straight for the back study.
In her sheer anger, she completely forgot that she shouldn’t have been so familiar with the layout of the Marquis of Yingchuan’s estate. Arriving at the study doors, she kicked them open with a forceful shove.
“Xiao! Lan! Ting!”
The man behind the desk looked up. Yun Juan’s cheeks were flushed crimson, her entire body trembling with rage.
At the entrance, the guard stood in an awkward dilemma, unsure whether to step in or back away.
Xiao Lanting set his writing brush down and said flatly, “Get out.”
Yun Juan froze. Just as she was about to snap at him, the guard closed the doors and scurried away from the corridor.
So he hadn’t been talking to her.
Yun Juan’s hands relaxed slightly, but her anger remained. With reddened eyes, she demanded, “Why aren’t you back in the room sleeping?”
“I—”
“You left me to keep vigil over an empty room on our wedding night?! Lest you forget, we have already bowed to Heaven and Earth! You are my husband; you must fulfill your marital duties! Otherwise, what kind of man are you?!”
Step by step, Yun Juan closed in on him, slamming both hands onto the desk in a fierce, imposing stance.
In this life, the marriage hadn’t been swapped, so fulfilling his obligations was only right. She refused to be ridiculed behind her back for another several decades.
More importantly, tonight, Yun Xiu and Xiao Mingyu would definitely consummate their marriage. In her past life, she had been humiliated precisely because she had spent her wedding night alone, whereas now…
Suddenly, Yun Juan’s eyes widened in realization.
Wait, something wasn’t right. In her past life, Yun Xiu had also spent her wedding night alone, and until the day Xiao Lanting died, the two of them had never…
Could it be? Could it be that Xiao Lanting—
Yun Juan blurted out, “Do you have some kind of hidden dysfunction?!”
Xiao Lanting: “…”
“Heh.”
Xiao Lanting let out a dry, amused laugh. He reached out and tapped the paperwork on his desk.
Yun Juan looked down and realized it was a pile of official case files.
“In preparation for the wedding, the backlog of cases at the magistrate’s office has piled up like a mountain,” Xiao Lanting explained in a slow, deliberate drawl. “I saw that my wife was utterly exhausted today, so I wanted to let you rest first. I figured by the time I finished reviewing these files and returned, you would be just about waking up.”
Yun Juan’s mind went entirely blank.
“Is… is that so…?”
“I simply didn’t expect my wife to be so incredibly impatient—to the point of suspecting I had a physical dysfunction…”
As he spoke, Xiao Lanting leisurely gathered the files, stepped out from behind the desk, and walked toward her.
Yun Juan spun around to flee, but he caught her by the wrist and yanked her back. With a single large hand clamping around her waist, he lifted her up and set her right onto the desk.
Beneath her was the icy wooden desktop, but pressing against her was his scorching, solid body. Xiao Lanting forcefully wedged himself between her thighs. Yun Juan didn’t know whether to squeeze her legs shut or relax them; her entire body burned a bright, deep red like a boiled lobster.
The files on the desk clattered onto the floor from the impact.
“Tell me, wife, do I have a dysfunction?”
Tears clung to Yun Juan’s eyelashes. “Mmh… go, let’s go to the bed…”
The next morning, the sun was high in the sky. When the senior maid searched the main chambers and couldn’t find the Eldest Young Master and Young Mistress, she asked around, only to learn that the master was in the study.
“Where is the Young Mistress?” the maid asked, her heart hammering. Surely both young masters hadn’t spent their wedding nights without consummating their marriages?
“The Young Mistress went to the study to find the Eldest Young Master last night and never came back.”
The maids exchanged glances. The senior maid walked up to the study door and knocked cautiously. “Eldest Young Master? Eldest Young Master?”
Rustling sounds came from within. A moment later, Xiao Lanting opened the door. His dark hair draped loosely over his shoulders, and he wore a thoroughly satisfied, languid expression. “What is it?”
The maid offered a polite, strained smile. “The Grand Madame ordered me to fetch the handkerchief.”
“The handkerchief?” Xiao Lanting thought for a brief second before remembering what she meant. He let out a soft tut. “Wait here.”
The maid stood with her hands clasped, waiting. Shortly after, Xiao Lanting emerged carrying an outer robe, which he tossed into her arms.
The robe was large, clearly belonging to Xiao Lanting. At first, Madame Xia didn’t quite understand, until her eyes caught the bright red bloodstains smeared across the hem.
Even at her advanced age, the vivid imagery conjured in her mind made her blush furiously.
“Will this do?”
“Yes, yes, this will do perfectly.”
“Then run along.” Xiao Lanting made to close the door, adding casually, “Tell the folks in the front courtyard that we will be late to serve tea. She was exhausted last night and needs to rest longer.”
“Yes… yes.”
Only after Madame Xia departed did Xiao Lanting turn back into the inner chambers.
He walked past the chaotic, messy desk with an unbothered expression, stepping behind the folding screen to the side of the daybed.
The brocade quilt was slightly puffed up, the person inside seemingly still fast asleep.
In Xiao Lanting’s mind, the image of her tear-stained face from last night surfaced—her flushed body pressed against the snowy-white silk bedding, looking both pitiful and utterly alluring.
His Adam’s apple bobbed, his darkened gaze resembling a hungry wolf staring at its prey.
Last night had been truly magnificent. Originally, he had only intended to ‘fulfill his duty’ to pacify the Marquis of Yingchuan, but as the night wore on, he had gradually lost all control.
This woman suited him perfectly—or rather, she was incredibly wonderful to hold.
He felt a familiar stir of desire but reluctantly reined in his urges.
After all, his little lamb’s waist had nearly snapped from all the tossing and turning last night; it was better not to torment her any further.
Xiao Lanting lifted the edge of the quilt, intending to slip back in for a morning nap, but he met a sudden resistance.
Looking at the curled-up bundle, he chuckled. “You’re awake?”
“…”
“If you’re awake, come on out. Aren’t you suffocating under there?”
Yun Juan kept her eyes tightly shut, wishing she could just suffocate to death.
Yet, the soreness radiating from her waist down was a relentless reminder of exactly what had transpired last night.
Xiao Lanting was an absolute beast.
Yun Juan’s mind was in a daze. She couldn’t understand how a man who possessed such boundless, bovine strength—tossing her around for more than half the night—could possibly fall ill and die within a single year.
As she was pondering this, the quilt over her head was suddenly yanked away. Hands like iron clamps pinned her wrists firmly above her head, and Yun Juan found herself staring directly into Xiao Lanting’s eyes.
“Why are you hiding? Where did the courage you had last night go, when you barged in here demanding I fulfill my responsibilities?”
“Don’t talk about—mmph…”
Flustered and angry, Yun Juan struggled to cover his mouth. But the moment she moved, she pulled a muscle in her waist, letting out a soft groan as she collapsed back onto the soft mattress.
Xiao Lanting released her wrists and let out a soft scoff. “Rest up. There’s no rush to pay respects. I’ll have someone heat some water for you. By the way, where are your personal maids?”
“They offended Yun Xiu and were locked up.”
Now that she thought about it, the marriage swap was definitely not a spur-of-the-moment decision by Yun Xiu. Her maids had been locked away right before the ceremony, leaving her to be guided by a crowd of unfamiliar faces on the wedding day, which was how she had been so easily led into the wrong bridal sedan.
Xiao Lanting didn’t press for details. “I’ll have someone come help you bathe in an hour.”
“No need, I can manage on my own.”
“On your own?” Xiao Lanting arched an eyebrow. “Can you even get out of bed?”
Yun Juan’s face flushed between shades of red and blue. She glared fiercely at Xiao Lanting’s retreating back, cursing him in her mind—
Bastard!
As the heavy outer doors slammed shut, Yun Juan finally let go of her forced composure, her face giving way to exhaustion.
She and Xiao Lanting had consummated their union. At least in this life, she would not be subjected to criticisms over a cold marriage chamber. It was a good start.
As for Xiao Lanting’s hot-and-cold attitude, she didn’t particularly care. After all, they only had one year together. When the time came, she would give him a dignified and proper send-off.
After resting for another hour, Yun Juan was woken by a knock at the door.
“Come in.”
Clutching the quilt around her, Yun Juan forced herself to sit up, her lower back cracking protestingly. She forced her contorted expression into a neutral mask as she looked at the maid.
“My clothes are outside. Please help me fetch them.”
“The Eldest Young Master ordered some new garments to be brought from the treasury. Please bathe first, Young Mistress.” The maid kept her eyes strictly lowered, helping Yun Juan into an outer robe before guiding her out of bed.
In truth, Yun Juan wasn’t entirely incapable of walking; her legs were simply weak, forcing her to take small, hesitant steps.
She wrapped her robe tightly to hide the marks on her skin and walked out of the inner room with an air of calm dignity—only to freeze completely in her tracks.
Scattered case files, a tilted desk and chairs, suspicious stains on the carpet, and a cool draft blowing through the open window onto her utterly dumbfounded face.
She appeared to be alive, but in reality, her soul had already departed this world.
That absolute bastard, Xiao Lanting… he had cleaned her up, but he hadn’t bothered to have the room cleaned?!
The maid let out a quiet, tactful cough. “Young Mistress, please go ahead and bathe. I will clean up here.”
Yun Juan closed her eyes in silent despair.
She truly didn’t know which was more socially mortifying: being labeled a wild, wanton hussy, or being known for spending her wedding night alone.