Ever since Liu Mingyue fell into the lake, her health had never recovered.
On top of that, the revelation about the switched daughters had left her emotionally devastated.
Most importantly…
She was pregnant!
Liu Xiyin did not know whether Madam Liu knew the truth.
All she knew was that Madam Liu had been extremely anxious.
Even on the day Liu Xiyin got married, Madam Liu had no energy left to pay attention to her.
Liu Xiyin had been perfectly happy to be ignored.
But after arriving at the Marshal’s Mansion…
Things turned out far worse than she had imagined.
Good heavens!
An illustrated bedroom manual!
In her previous life, she couldn’t even find proper adult videos online.
Now she was expected to study erotic illustrations?
Liu Xiyin accepted the book with an embarrassed smile.
She could at least feast her eyes on it.
Whether she actually used it was another matter.
At ten o’clock that night, Yan Changye finally returned.
He came to Qin Wan’s courtyard to pick up Liu Xiyin.
The smell of blood still clung to him.
Who knew where he had gone in the middle of his meetings?
Closing her Buddhist scriptures, Qin Wan said,
“It’s already late. The roads are slippery with snow. Why not stay in Wuyou Courtyard tonight? Tomorrow you’ll be returning to your maiden home, and I’ve already prepared the return gifts. It’ll be convenient to bring them along.”
Yan Changye glanced at Liu Xiyin, who was dozing off in a corner.
He did not refuse.
“All right. Thank you, Mother.”
Wuyou Courtyard had originally been prepared by Qin Wan herself as the bridal residence for the two of them.
He trusted it.
Liu Xiyin shook her head, chasing away her drowsiness, and said goodbye to Qin Wan.
Just as she was about to leave with Yan Changye, Qin Wan added,
“Since you know your bride is timid, be gentler. Don’t bring the habits you’ve learned on the battlefield back home.”
So that was what Yan Changye had whispered to Qin Wan earlier.
Liu Xiyin secretly peeked at him.
[He’d better really think I’m timid. What kind of decent man grabs a girl, drags her around, strips off her clothes without even taking a bath first? What a beast.]
“I understand, Mother.”
Yan Changye answered Qin Wan politely.
Yet his hand once again wrapped around Liu Xiyin’s wrist.
“You should rest early.”
Then…
He dragged Liu Xiyin away again.
[I knew it! What good did I expect from the great villain? Can’t he see his legs are so long while mine are so short? In this freezing weather, is he treating me like a sled dog? I might as well freeze to death!]
Liu Xiyin wore embroidered shoes and had to keep one hand clutching the silver fox fur draped over her shoulders, afraid it might slip off and leave her walking back in the freezing wind.
But Yan Changye’s stride was far too long.
One of his steps equaled three of hers.
She was also wearing a skirt, forcing her to jog just to keep up.
Otherwise, he might simply drag her across the snow as though she were a corpse all the way back to Wuyou Courtyard.
Then she’d truly have no worries left.
The red wedding decorations in Wuyou Courtyard had not yet been removed.
Qin Wan had also ordered the place cleaned during the day.
Now every lamp was lit, waiting for its owners to return.
A row of parasol trees stood in the courtyard.
It was the middle of the twelfth lunar month.
Their branches were bare beneath thick layers of snow.
By the time Liu Xiyin was dragged into the room, melted snow had already soaked through her shoes.
She hadn’t even gotten them wet while strolling with Qin Wan earlier!
[I should never have expected anything from the great villain. May he stay single forever. Better yet, may Ninth Concubine and all his little brothers abandon him too.]
Standing at the doorway and changing her shoes, Liu Xiyin quietly muttered another layer of curses.
Yan Changye: “…”
If he didn’t act this way, with how observant the little bride had been today, she would definitely begin suspecting he could hear her thoughts.
As the “great villain” who supposedly couldn’t hear minds, this was exactly how he should treat the wife his father had forced upon him.
Removing his cloak, Yan Changye crossed one leg over the other and sat on the sofa.
“Mother told me to be more considerate of you. Go take your bath first.”
“…”
Fine.
She would bathe first.
She certainly wasn’t going to insist he go ahead.
Ever since arriving in this era, Liu Xiyin had adopted a wonderfully healthy routine.
With almost no entertainment available, she went to bed early and rose early every day.
Normally she would have been asleep by this hour.
She had thought she would never die from overwork again.
Instead, she had to wait for her husband to finish meetings.
She waited until after ten o’clock.
Who knew if he’d come back even later in the future?
The more she thought about it, the more she felt it was another path toward an early death.
Her life was truly miserable.
Although the inner residence of the Marshal’s Mansion followed a traditional Chinese garden style, it lacked none of the modern comforts.
At the very least, it had modern-style bathing facilities.
Liu Xiyin quickly washed up, changed into her nightclothes, and planned to light a sleeping incense while Yan Changye was bathing.
She had prepared the incense while waiting to be married and placed it in the bridal chamber just in case Yan Changye returned on their wedding night.
He had indeed returned…
Only to carry her away.
No matter.
Tonight would be the perfect chance.
Fortunately, the servants cleaning the room had not touched the incense burner.
When Yan Changye saw her emerge from the bathroom, her fair face flushed pink from the steam, his eyes narrowed slightly.
Standing up, he said calmly,
“You’re so sleepy. Go to bed first. You don’t have to wait for me.”
That couldn’t have sounded better.
Softly, Liu Xiyin replied,
“Yes.”
Yan Changye entered the bathroom.
Soon, the sound of running water echoed inside.
Liu Xiyin quietly walked to the window and lit the incense burner.
Then, as though nothing had happened, she climbed into bed.
She had blended the incense herself.
The fragrance was extremely faint.
Even if someone discovered it, she could simply claim it was a calming incense.
Which wasn’t exactly a lie.
It really did help people fall asleep.
The bridal bed was enormous, a fashionable Western-style iron bed popular in this era.
Soft crimson silk bedding embroidered with auspicious patterns covered the mattress.
Secretly, Liu Xiyin fetched another quilt from the wardrobe and laid it beside the bed.
Then she wrapped herself tightly inside the first quilt and closed her eyes.
He had been the one to tell her not to wait.
If she fell asleep first, surely he wouldn’t wake her…
Or drag her out of bed.
The sound of water falling inside the bathroom resembled heavy rain.
The heated floor kept the bedroom comfortably warm.
Before long, Liu Xiyin’s eyelids grew heavy.
She drifted off to sleep without even noticing when the water finally stopped.
Yan Changye dried his hair and stepped out of the bathroom.
Seeing the tiny figure curled tightly against the edge of the bed, he snorted quietly.
She was so guarded.
Did she really think he had any interest in her frail little body?
Men raised on the battlefield never lived like monks.
In her sleep, Liu Xiyin suddenly sneezed and nearly woke herself up.
Yan Changye picked up the teapot and poured water over the incense burning beside the window, extinguishing it.
Having grown up in the inner residence, he remained highly alert to any suspicious smell.
Especially since his little bride was full of tricks.
If she had deliberately lit this incense, it had to be hiding something.
After finishing, Yan Changye picked up the quilt Liu Xiyin had deliberately left for him…
…and went to sleep in the adjoining room.
As long as the little bride did not know her thoughts had been overheard, he had to continue behaving like someone who had never heard them.
Besides, from the perspective of someone unaware of the truth, the way she had deliberately fallen that morning looked very much like the actions of a spy.