In the cold winter dawn, a faint light revealed itself, the watery sunlight penetrating the bed curtains, leaving only a dim light.
Shen Hanxing felt pain invading his internal organs, sinking him into a heavy ink-colored abyss. The intensely oppressive dark shades outlined an unforgettable past.
In a deep and dark dungeon, a chilling cold penetrated every limb of the man bound to an iron frame. His head hung low, his body covered in wounds, blood staining his silver armor, and the mournful cry of crows echoed.
A red-hot branding iron pressed mercilessly against his legs. By now, only a faint ache emanated, as if his legs were about to lose their last sensation.
Around him, the arrogant laughter of those people resounded, mocking him, mocking the former war god who had fallen into captivity, mocking his elder brother who became cold bones buried at the riverbed.
They said, the Shen family now had no one else.
The man bound to the iron frame slowly raised his head, his face smeared with fresh blood, his vision blurred.
His eyes, filled with bloodshot veins, glared fiercely at the foreign prince, and a surging intent to kill welled up in his heart.
In the blink of an eye, the dungeon turned into a river of blood, fierce flames consuming the withered cages, and the fire engulfing the corpses.
Those who had mocked relentlessly could no longer speak.
The man kneeling in the center of the dungeon remained motionless for a long time. His heavy sword was stained with blood, silver armor tattered. He hung his head, as if unable to muster the strength to struggle anymore.
The tongues of fire licked at his robes, the warm firelight enveloping him, driving away the chill and pulling him into the abyss of darkness.
Looking up, he saw a blur of pale purple petals falling with the wind. The petals followed his figure and delicately landed on his chest. A faint fragrance, barely discernible amid the bloody atmosphere, floated in the air, then firmly gripped his senses.
He grasped it, seized that lone petal, the only vivid color amid the blood.
The heavy ink-colored darkness began to disintegrate. Shen Hanxing struggled to open his eyes, and the faint fragrance of the dream seemed to linger at the tip of his nose, refusing to dissipate.
He lowered his head slightly, gazing at what he held in his arms.
The ethereal fragrance transformed into the tangible form of a young girl, tightly held by him.
He had held her too tightly; the girl’s arms were sore from his grip. However, instead of showing distress, she gently patted his back, as if comforting him to sleep, just like his mother did when he was a child.
Shen Hanxing closed his eyes again, dispelling the last trace of drowsiness.
As he loosened his grip, the girl in his arms reacted. She raised her head to look at him, her eyes filled with concern.
Lin Xingxue didn’t understand. She thought Shen Hanxing was simply trapped in a nightmare and couldn’t wake up. Now that he was awake, she sighed in relief, smiled, and gestured outside.
The day had dawned, and all nightmares would dissipate.
Though she hadn’t said a word, Shen Hanxing understood her meaning perfectly.
He gazed deeply at Lin Xingxue for a moment, then got up and leaned against the headboard, ringing the bell as if nothing had happened.
Thinking that he might be in a bad mood due to the nightmare, Lin Xingxue gently tugged at his sleeve, testing his attitude. Seeing that Shen Hanxing didn’t rebuke her, she then held his wrist and wrote words in his palm.
Don’t be afraid.
Nightmares are just nightmares and won’t come true.
Surprisingly, the girl felt that he was scared.
Shen Hanxing chuckled lightly, a hint of irony in his eyes.
He looked at Lin Xingxue and said in a faint tone, “Do you remember what I said yesterday?”
Lin Xingxue looked at him blankly, and Shen Hanxing grasped her delicate wrist, rubbing it meaningfully. “I told you that if you casually touch me again, I’ll cut off both of your hands.”
He said such words with a smile.
Lin Xingxue’s body trembled, suddenly feeling a bit scared.
Husband’s ambiguous smile was indeed somewhat intimidating, and she couldn’t shake off the feeling that he might chop off her hands for some gruesome purpose at any moment.
Lin Xingxue took a deep breath and, with a pair of peach blossom eyes, stared at him silently but resolutely. “You touched me first.”
She just wanted to sneak a peek at him, and suddenly he had her in his arms.
If there was a violation, he was the one who violated first.
In any case, the fault wasn’t hers, and she couldn’t succumb to such an unreasonable threat.
Shen Hanxing raised an eyebrow, looking at the girl with some surprise.
He didn’t expect the obedient little bunny to dare challenge him.
Then, he flashed a gentle smile and said, “I don’t understand lip-reading.”
Lin Xingxue widened her eyes even more. She hadn’t expected Shen Hanxing to play dumb. The way he smiled clearly indicated that he understood, but he was just teasing her because she couldn’t speak.
The little bunny was furious. Fueled by anger, she bared her teeth and seriously threatened, “Let go, or I’ll bite you.”
Shen Hanxing looked at those bared teeth, still pretending not to understand.
He enjoyed watching the little bunny getting worked up, completely forgetting the oppression from the nightmare just moments ago.
He didn’t believe the little bunny would actually dare to bite him.
This extremely confident attitude finally infuriated the dizzy-headed little bunny. She revealed her teeth and fiercely bit into the back of Shen Hanxing’s hand.
With one bite, the little bunny’s teeth were met with resistance.
Shen Hanxing was also shocked.
A man’s hand was quite different from a girl’s soft hand; it was not only not soft like hers, but also somewhat firm. Lin Xingxue ground her teeth and hesitated whether to bite through his skin.
As the girl hesitated, Shen Hanxing clearly felt the soft touch of her lips and the grinding of her teeth. Occasionally, her tongue touched his hand, bringing a slight moist sensation.
Shen Hanxing frowned. He extended his thumb between Lin Xingxue’s lips, forcefully lifting her chin with four fingers, compelling her to look up at him.
With narrowed phoenix-like eyes, he now issued a real threat, “Little mute, do you find these teeth troublesome?”
The anger that Lin Xingxue had just suppressed surged back up. She fiercely bit down on Shen Hanxing’s thumb, resisting his unreasonable behavior.
She was not a little mute, and he was not allowed to call her that.
Shen Hanxing let out a soft hiss, surprised by the girl’s stubbornness today; she refused to give in no matter what.
As he attempted to retract his finger, a sudden rustle and a dazzling light poured in[1].
The parted bed curtains revealed the scene on the bed clearly in the bright light.
Shen Hanxing sat on the bed, and Lin Xingxue was very close to him. The neckline of her clothing was loose, exposing her collarbone. Above the collarbone, ambiguous bite marks were faintly visible.
Lin Xingxue slightly opened her mouth, biting Shen Hanxing’s thumb, while he raised her chin, seemingly enjoying her playful antics.
Luo Zhi recalled the blushing discussions she had accidentally overheard from the senior maids earlier.
In an instant, she felt like she had figured it out.
The general was young and full of vigor—ah, she could understand, she could understand.
Silently, Luo Zhi lowered the bed curtains and swiftly exited the inner chamber.
The space behind the bed curtains became dim once again.
Lin Xingxue realized something was amiss. She quickly released Shen Hanxing’s thumb, pushed his hand away, and obediently retreated to the inner side, leaving only a pair of eyes watching him like a wary rabbit.
Shen Hanxing took a deep breath, too lazy to continue the play. He called out in a deep voice, “Luo Zhi, get in here.”
Luo Zhi was outside trying to persuade her brother Luo Yan not to disturb the General and Madam. When she was suddenly called for, her heart skipped a beat. Find the original chapter at novelping.com.
Luo Yan let out a soft sigh, shaking his head in helplessness.
He knew very well, how would there be sweet intimacy between General and Madam.
Now that Madam was inside, he couldn’t casually enter and exit, so he had asked Luo Zhi to attend to them. However, this reckless girl was likely to be punished today.
Luo Zhi nervously entered the room, then came out with a dejected look, glancing at Luo Yan with tearful eyes. “Brother, the general punished me to copy scripture ten times.”
She extended ten fingers, feeling like her days ahead were going to be bleak. She dreaded copying scriptures the most; she’d prefer any other punishment.
Luo Yan comfortingly patted her head, “Don’t worry, you’ll finish it quickly.”
He smiled warmly, appearing anything but comforting. Luo Zhi angrily swatted his hand away.
On this side, Luo Zhi didn’t get much sympathy from her older brother. On the other side, Lin Xingxue found herself in a crisis – the crisis of sleeping in separate beds.
Shen Hanxing sat in a wheelchair, directing the maids to carry the bedding to the chaise longue. He pointed to the rosewood chaise longue and said leisurely, “From now on, you sleep there.”
Lin Xingxue looked at him in disbelief. She hadn’t expected Shen Hanxing to be so petty.
Because she bit him, he wants to sleep in separate beds now.
However, there was no reason for a newlywed couple to sleep separately; it was only their second day of marriage…
Lin Xingxue looked at Shen Hanxing with grievances. Shen Hanxing rested his jaw on his hand and asked, “What? Do you still want to claim my bed?”
He appeared relaxed, enjoying the sight of her getting upset without any solution.
Lin Xingxue reluctantly approached, rolling up the bedding to put it back. The maids stood on the sidelines, unsure whether to help or not.
Shen Hanxing didn’t stop her either, saying, “Let her move it. Once she moves it back, you can move it again. Whenever she is done, we can have breakfast.”
He didn’t mind the boredom, watching Lin Xingxue go around the screen to put the bedding back, and then the maids moved it back into place.
After a round of this, Lin Xingxue realized that Shen Hanxing was serious.
Without looking at Shen Hanxing, she took the quilt from the maids and laid it on the chaise herself, telling someone with her stubborn back: Fine, sleep like this. Who’s afraid of whom?
Even the most obedient little rabbit has a temper.
Shen Hanxing watched her proficiently make the bed, his eyes flickering slightly. He inexplicably recalled what Wu Tong had said yesterday.
He had initially thought the girl was delicate, but it seemed not.
She could fall into the situation of freezing her hands and feet due to a lack of money for charcoal. She could make delicious spicy noodles, and now she could also make a bed.
It seemed that even without someone to serve her, she could live independently.
She wasn’t the delicate young lady he had imagined[2].
Or maybe, she was just acting, trying to gain his sympathy.
Lin Xingxue finished making the bed, but when she turned around, Shen Hanxing was no longer there.
She sat on the chaise lounge feeling a bit lost, touching the Yulan magnolia sachet at her waist. Unable to resist, she thought of the appearance of the young man when they first met. However, he was really different from what she had imagined. He was more infuriating and could be a bully.
However, this portrayal of him made his cold and ruthless character from the novels seem much more vivid.
Lin Xingxue was unaware that, before her arrival, her celestial young man was not much different from the portrayal in the novels. Perhaps only she thought there was a difference, only she was that bold.
“Madam,” Wu Tong whispered as she entered, interrupting Lin Xingxue’s thoughts. Her expression didn’t look great, as if she had encountered some difficulty.
Lin Xingxue looked at her in confusion and soon heard her say, “Madam, Nanny Kang and An Ling want to see you.”
Nanny Kang and An Ling, the people arranged by Lady Han.
[1] man these maids be taking their time. He rang that bell ages ago 😂
[2] yasss she’s not like other noble girls 💅💅