Inner chamber.
Su Wan sat on the chair her sister had just occupied, having removed her shoes to reveal pale, fair feet.
Lu Guizhou crouched before her, wrapping her foot in a brand-new piece of Hangzhou silk.
“Does it still hurt?”
“Mm.” Su Wan’s eyes shimmered with tears, yet she stubbornly refused to let them fall, making Lu Guizhou’s heart ache even more.
Earlier, when Lu Guizhou pushed the door open, he had bumped into Su Wan emerging from behind the screen. To avoid colliding, Su Wan had stumbled and fallen, injuring her left foot.
Lu Guizhou had just been setting her bone to prevent a fracture.
Of course, given their delicate positions, he cautiously used a cloth as a barrier to avoid gossip.
He hadn’t expected to encounter Su Wan here.
Moreover, Su Wan had removed her outer robe, her thin undergarments accentuating her snow-white peaks and slender waist. Flustered, he dared not look at her upper body, lowering his gaze only to see her delicate, pale ankles.
Even her five toes seemed to possess a magical allure, tempting him to look.
He couldn’t help but compare Wanmei to Su Lin.
She surpassed Su Lin in every way—every inch of her skin, every part of her.
If only he had married Wanmei back then…
If only he could have both sisters…
His palm tightened slightly, and Su Wan seized the moment to call out coyly, “Husband, let go of me quickly. Don’t do this—it hurts.”
Su Wan knew Su Lin’s jealousy and understood that her encounter with Lu Guizhou here was Su Lin’s arrangement.
Su Lin must be unwilling to accept it; she must be eavesdropping nearby.
Well, if her sister enjoyed eavesdropping, then let her hear enough.
“I didn’t mean to just now. I only wanted to check if your ankle still hurt.” Lu Guizhou rarely lied, but when he did, he spoke with composure, his face unflushed and his heart steady.
“I already told you—it still hurts.”
Su Wan’s voice was loud, yet her tone was soft and seductive, not seeming out of place.
Meanwhile, Lu Guizhou, feeling guilty, dared not speak loudly, keeping his voice low and hushed.
Next door, Su Lin could only hear Su Wan’s cooing voice and the sound of chairs and tables being overturned.
Su Lin’s chest heaved violently as she listened, nearly fainting from rage.
The “battle” next door was intense.
Who would have thought that merely sharing a room would embolden them to engage in such brazen intimacy!
If not for Nanny Liu standing guard, Su Lin would have rushed over to catch them in the act.
Nanny Liu soothed her, “This day was bound to come eventually, Miss. There’s no need to be angry with that wretch.”
Su Lin could no longer hold back her tears, which fell like beans.
“I can avoid being angry with that wretch, but Husband…”
After two years of marriage, she believed she shared some affection with her husband. How could he calmly accept the advances of her own sister, knowing Su Wan was her sibling?
She could admit that her half-sister was a wretch, but she couldn’t accept that her own husband was a hypocrite, a lecher.
The marriage she had schemed so hard to secure should have been harmonious and blissful; the husband she had stolen should have been a gentleman of virtue.
But now!
Her own sister was engaging in intimacy with her husband next door—a situation she herself had orchestrated.
Had she not become a laughingstock in Su Wan’s eyes?
Su Lin could no longer restrain herself. Ignoring Nanny Liu’s attempts to stop her, she pushed aside the loyal old servant.Behind the neighboring screen, Su Wan wondered how much longer her intensely jealous sister could hold back—surely not much longer—and nudged Lu Guizhou’s knee with her toe.
Her high-pitched tone softened to a whisper.
“Second Brother Lu.”
Like a fox about to do something wicked, she tempted her sister’s husband.
“My other foot seems to hurt a bit too.”
Lu Guizhou’s knee, touched as lightly as a dragonfly skimming water, seemed to go weak.
His knees gave way, and he knelt on the floor, taking her right foot in his hands. Gently and carefully, he removed her silk stocking, examining her foot with meticulous, ambiguous tenderness.
Su Wan hummed softly twice, then sighed, “Second Brother Lu, are you always this gentle and attentive with my sister too?”
Lu Guizhou didn’t know how to answer.
Countless dark thoughts sprouted in his mind; he feared he might lose control.
He couldn’t help but wonder why she made such sounds, why her voice was so soft and sweet when she called him Second Brother Lu.
Did she have any other intentions toward him?
Lu Guizhou wanted to confirm it. He lifted his gaze to meet his sister-in-law’s eyes.
There he saw Su Wan, her brows like dark ink, her eyes like spring, gazing at him with tender affection.
As their eyes met, his hand couldn’t resist caressing the top of her foot lovingly.
Her eyelashes fluttered lightly. A faint blush spread from the corners of Su Wan’s eyes, but she showed no sign of objection—only a coy, reproachful glance.
Lu Guizhou’s heart immediately began to wander.
So his sister-in-law didn’t mind him touching her like that after all.
A young lady’s feet were not to be seen lightly, yet here he was, holding hers in his palms to admire.
Gathering a sliver of courage, he was about to speak up and ask.
But then came a loud crash.
The screen before them was kicked over and fell to the ground.
Su Lin’s face, twisted with jealousy and rage, suddenly appeared before the two of them.
Already feeling guilty, Lu Guizhou instinctively averted his eyes upon seeing his wife coming to catch them in the act.
It was this evasive glance, combined with the sight of him kneeling on both knees, holding Su Wan’s ankle, that completely enraged Su Lin.
“What are you two doing?!”
“Su Wan!” Not daring to vent her anger at her husband, Su Lin directed all her fury at Su Wan. After all, Su Wan was inherently wanton. “It must be you! You seduced Brother Lu, didn’t you?”
Su Wan found her sister utterly ridiculous.
The entire family had pressured and coerced her into coming to Shangjing City for the very purpose of climbing into Lu Guizhou’s bed. So why, now that things had come to this point, was her sister jealous and resentful, too afraid to question her own man, yet turning her spearhead toward her?
How innocent she was.
Even if she had truly climbed into bed with Lu Guizhou and done things that shouldn’t be spoken of, so what?
Wasn’t that exactly what her sister had wanted?
Su Wan didn’t answer Su Lin’s accusation directly. Instead, she looked pitifully at Lu Guizhou.
“Second Brother Lu, I didn’t do anything.”
“Lin Niang, how can you be so unreasonable? Wanmei just fell and hurt herself. I was only tending to her injury.”
Lu Guizhou sighed. “Ever since Wanmei arrived, you’ve been talking nonsense. I know the proper decorum.”
Suppressing his desire for Su Wan, he sternly rebuked Su Lin.
What utter nonsense.
Tears welled up in Su Lin’s eyes and silently streamed down her cheeks.
She was neither deaf nor blind.
She had heard it, and she had seen it.
Even if the two hadn’t rolled into bed together, the ambiguity between them was undeniable.
“Brother Lu, when you married me back then, were you already unwilling? Do you regret it now?”Such words that left no face for anyone were spoken directly by Su Lin.
Nanny Liu, who had followed her in, wanted to stop her but it was already too late.
As expected, upon hearing this, Lu Guizhou’s face darkened.
This marriage was originally a case of the Su family reaching beyond their station, and moreover, the Su family had wronged him.
It was clearly Su Wan who was supposed to be married off, but just before the wedding, she was replaced by Su Lin.
Although exchanging a concubine-born daughter for a legitimate one was considered a joyous matter, Lu Guizhou had already met Su Wan before and exchanged several letters. To say there was no discomfort in his heart when marrying Su Lin would be a lie.
“Our marriage was already a muddled affair from the start, but I have always treated you with respect since marrying you, never using the Su family’s substitution to embarrass or trouble you.
Yet now you turn around and question my character. I, Lu Guizhou, am a man well-versed in poetry and literature, and I would absolutely never engage in an affair with my wife’s sister.
Since you do not trust me, I will simply not return to live in the Lu Mansion from now on.”
Heavens! Su Lin, who already lacked confidence, immediately regretted her words upon hearing her husband’s statement.
She grabbed Lu Guizhou’s sleeve and pleaded, “Husband, I never meant that. Of course, I trust you; it’s just that I don’t trust Su Wan.
Husband, I’m afraid you don’t know what kind of person Su Wan is.
The reason our Su family replaced me to marry you is actually because Su Wan had an affair with someone else before the wedding and even got pregnant…”
“Enough!” Lu Guizhou raised his arm and slapped Su Lin.
This was the first time Su Lin had been struck. She looked at her refined husband in disbelief.
“How could you slander your own sister! If such rumors were to spread, it would not only ruin Su Wan’s reputation but also destroy your Su family, including you, and even our Lu family’s reputation!
I never knew before that you were such a petty, rumor-mongering shrew!”
He flung his sleeve and left the Maple Bamboo Courtyard.
Su Wan silently watched the whole spectacle, thinking to herself that Su Lin still owed her a slap.