In the dim candlelight, Shen Hanxing saw the young woman calling him clearly.
“Husband.”
Silent but captivating.
When Nanny Jia asked him if he wanted to change into the auspicious beddings, he didn’t have much hope.
Shen Hanxing didn’t like these types of festive traditions, but when he lowered his head, he saw a bead that had rolled to his feet at some point.
In theory, all the beads on the embroidered fan should have already shattered, but one intact bead happened to roll to his feet.
He looked at the bead, inexplicably thinking of the young woman who had trembled under his hand but stubbornly refused to back down.
He picked up the red bead and agreed to change the beddings.
Now, the young woman who had refused to back down was pressed on this auspicious bedding. Her inky long hair and fair skin looked alluring and dazzling on the red sheets, easily tugging at people’s heartstrings.
Shen Hanxing leaned down towards her. Lin Xingxue’s body trembled slightly, tightly holding onto his sleeve, her cheeks turning red. At this moment, the finger marks left on her neck seemed to become ambiguous.
Shen Hanxing gently caressed the finger marks, his gaze dangerously deep.
The young woman remained silent, as if passively enduring everything.
Outside, the wind whistled, and the cold wind carried scattered flowers.
Inside the room, there was a faint inhaling sound. Lin Xingxue shrank into the corner, her eyes red like a rabbit, with a shallow bite mark on her collarbone.
She looked pitifully at Shen Hanxing. At this moment, she truly felt afraid and had the urge to evade.
Shen Hanxing gazed at the bite mark, and as she showed signs of fear and avoidance, a trace of displeasure flashed in his eyes.
He initially wanted to tease her, and now that he had achieved his goal, he should be happy.
His intrusive gaze enveloped the young woman. Lin Xingxue faced his gaze, tears welling up in her eyes, looking particularly pitiful, as if she would burst into tears at any moment.
Suddenly, the oppressive aura diminished. Shen Hanxing turned over, ignoring the girl completely.
Sniffling, Lin Xingxue slowly moved closer, lying on the edge of the auspicious bedding, curling up her entire body.
There was only one quilt on the bed. If there were two, she might have just crawled into another bed.
She was already exhausted. After having been inexplicably bitten on the collarbone, she now felt both aggrieved and tired. Closing her eyes, she quickly fell asleep, though tear stains remained at the corners of her eyes.
Her breathing gradually steadied, and the soundly sleeping little lamb remained unaware of the evil wolf turning over and looking at her. He stared at her back as if watching prey that had fallen into a trap.
There was no heating stove in the inner room, and the warmth she had tried to gather slowly drifted out through the seams of the quilt. She got colder and couldn’t help moving towards the heat source until she hugged a warm spot, finally settling down.
However, that warmth seemed to strongly dislike her getting close. It forcefully pushed her away, but she couldn’t resist moving closer again. After a few back and forth movements, the warmth seemed helpless, allowing her to hold onto it for warmth.
Lin Xingxue smiled contentedly, her lips curved, and she slept deeply, completely unaware that someone was staring at her with an extremely fierce gaze.
After a quiet period of less than two hours, the sleeping Lin Xingxue suddenly broke into a cold sweat on her forehead. She opened her mouth as if trying to say something but couldn’t produce any sound.
In her dream, someone was tightly choking her neck, a pair of poisonous eyes staring at her intently. She managed to escape but stepped into thin air, falling into a deep pool.
The water in the deep pool was icy cold, she struggled to swim upwards, grabbing onto a piece of driftwood and holding on for dear life. Someone kept calling her, “Lin Xingxue, Lin Xingxue, wake up, wake up…”
That voice was like a ray of sunlight, suddenly breaking through the foggy illusion.
Lin Xingxue forcefully broke free from the suffocating feeling, opened her eyes, and breathed heavily to calm her emotions. Only when she had calmed down did she hear the extremely cold voice coming from above her head, “Had enough cuddling?”
That icy voice sent shivers down her spine.
Lin Xingxue finally saw the situation before her. Her hands were tightly wrapped around her husband’s waist, almost climbing on top of him. When she lifted her head, she could see her husband’s terrifying gaze. This chapter is updated first at novelping dot com.
Thinking about what happened before she fell asleep, she silently released her hands and slowly moved backward. She lowered her head, afraid to look at Shen Hanxing’s expression, trying hard to create distance.
After who knows how long she had moved, her back suddenly felt cool. In the next moment, her entire body was exposed to the air, and the sudden chill made her shiver instantly.
Raising her head, Lin Xingxue saw that Shen Hanxing was pulling one corner of the quilt, dragging the blanket she was covered with towards him. She huddled inside, shivering from the cold, resentfully grabbing a corner of the blanket, attempting to cover herself again.
However, with the strength of a young woman, she was no match for Shen Hanxing. She tugged for a while, realizing she couldn’t move it. Tearfully, with red eyes, she turned her back to him, giving up the struggle without saying a word.
In the severe winter of the ninth month, after sleeping in only a thin undergarment during the night, it would be considered strange if one didn’t fall ill.
The girl curled up in the corner, hugging her shoulders, her body trembling uncontrollably.
Shen Hanxing stared at her stubborn back, tightening his grip on the corner of the quilt.
He enduringly rubbed his forehead, sat up, and reached for the bell on the bedside. The sound of “ding-a-ling” rang out, and at the same time, an auspiciously designed blanket fell onto Lin Xingxue, shielding her from the harsh winter cold.
Hearing the bell, Luo Yan quickly entered the room, lit a candle, and said through the screen, “General.”
“Go and get another blanket,” Shen Hanxing’s voice remained calm.
The girl in the corner had turned around and was about to share half of her auspicious blanket with him. However, under his intimidating gaze, she shivered and used half of the blanket to cover her body, trembling.
He simply pulled over the other half and covered himself, instructing, “Prepare a hot water bottle as well.”
Luo Yan paused momentarily.
The general never used things like hot water bottles, even in the brutal winter. The main room didn’t have a warming stove or fireplace. So, during cold days, the main room would be particularly cold.
Was it an exception today because of Madam?
Luo Yan speculated in his mind but didn’t show any expression on his face. He prepared the blanket and hot water bottle, handing them over with the help of a maid.
The maid walked in with her head lowered. She first handed over the hot water bottle. Shen Hanxing took it and stuffed it into the auspicious blanket. The maid was about to unfold the quilt, but Shen Hanxing waved her away.
He casually spread out the bedding, seemingly disdainful as he pushed away the auspicious blanket.
The hot water bottle was placed in the auspicious blanket, and he rejected the auspicious blanket, pushing both the warm hot water bottle and the auspicious blanket aside.
Lin Xingxue blinked at him for a while, observing that he truly didn’t want the hot water bottle. She cautiously moved the hot water bottle until it was under her feet, then sighed with relief and loosened her eyebrows.
Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Shen Hanxing. She reached out, tugged at his sleeve, and when he lowered his head, she silently said, “Thank you.”
Shen Hanxing stared at the rosy little face, coldly shifting his gaze away, “If you make any more noise, I will throw you out.”
A real and direct threat.
However, Lin Xingxue wasn’t afraid at all. She deliberately moved closer, wrapped in the warm quilt, and closed her eyes in the direction of Shen Hanxing, ready to sleep.
Her breathing gradually became steady, and her features relaxed, as if immersed in a beautiful dream.
Shen Hanxing glanced at her, picked up the military book placed at the bedside and opened it. Until the faint light of dawn, with the candle flame about to go out, he did not close his eyes to rest.
Bright sunlight streamed through the bed curtains, casting light on the crimson bedding, piercing through the heavy drowsiness.
Lin Xingxue opened her eyes in confusion, and as soon as she woke up, she heard Wu Tong calling her from outside, “Miss-Madam, it’s time to get up; it’s getting late.” Get faster updates on novelping(.)com.
Lin Xingxue looked at the gently swaying green bed curtains, vaguely recalling that the bed curtains were not lowered last night. Before she could fully recall, Wu Tong had already lifted a corner of the bed curtain. Seeing her awake, Wu Tong pulled the curtains.
Lin Xingxue looked at the empty side of the bed, so Wu Tong explained, “The general woke up early. Madam, you shouldn’t sleep in so late next time.”
Lin Xingxue felt a bit embarrassed at the words.
She had a troubled nightmare last night, and she slept peacefully only in the second half of the night, waking up a bit late this morning. Now that she was married, it indeed wasn’t proper to sleep in like this.
However, Husband could have easily woken her up.
Taking the clothes handed over by Wu Tong, Lin Xingxue hid in the quilt first to put on some close-fitting warm clothes.
The room was without any warmth, and suddenly getting up and getting dressed would be very cold. Back in Cangling Province, when they couldn’t afford to buy charcoal for the stove, they would put on some close-fitting clothes before going downstairs.
Lin Xingxue covered her whole body in the quilt, only reaching out a small hand to take the clothes handed over by Wu Tong. She couldn’t see so she struggled to put on the clothes, only then did she uncover the quilt, intending to put on socks.
When she lifted her head, she was stunned in place.
When did Husband come? Why didn’t she hear any sound?
Shen Hanxing sat in a wheelchair, right in front of the bed.
The image of her, like a little hamster, stuffing clothes one by one under the blanket, was vividly seen by him.
Lin Xingxue also thought of her recent actions, and her face immediately turned red with embarrassment.
Although it was warm, it was actually very improper. She only did this back when she lived in Cangling Province, where no one cared about her, and just now, when she thought her husband was not present. Who would have thought that he would catch her in the act.
Lin Xingxue, moving her tiny feet, struggled to stretch them out, barely reaching the outside, only to quickly retract them due to the cold.
Shen Hanxing picked up the military book placed on the bedside. When he turned around, he saw someone’s feet rapidly retreating into the quilt.
He looked faintly at Lin Xingxue, who, feeling wronged, crawled out of the quilt and sat on the edge of the bed. Wu Tong quickly helped her put on socks.
Shen Hanxing looked at her pouting mouth, inexplicably feeling speechless.
Why did she feel wronged while he was getting a book? Was it so cold in the room that she had to huddle under the quilt without any dignity to get dressed?
Shen Hanxing, with a low mood, pushed the wheelchair away.
Lin Xingxue, who thought that her actions had angered him, felt a bit sad and helpless.
She didn’t want it to be like this, but the room was really cold.
The aggrieved girl walked out of the inner room, straight to the easternmost study. She stood at the door, not daring to go in.
When Shen Hanxing raised his eyes, he saw her wearing a begonia-red padded jacket and a pleated skirt with scattered flowers. The color matched her nightclothes from last night. The color complemented her skin tone, bright and dazzling.
Shen Hanxing glanced at her and then looked back at his book.
Lin Xingxue stood at the door, waiting for a long time. The bright light gradually dimmed, and she silently turned and left.
On the first day of marriage, the newlyweds are supposed to pay respects together.
However, she could tell that Husband did not want to marry her.
He probably wouldn’t accompany her to pay respects.
TLN: Hi guys, sorry for the super long hiatus. We were really busy with the school doing assignments and preparing for tests so we didn’t have time to post. However! We will resume posting much more often! Once again, sincere apologies, and we hope that you guys enjoy this chapter! Mwah~
❤️ Anon and Qinhu