In late September, a gentle breeze blew.
The fading red of the setting sun pierced through the half-open window, spilling onto a navy blue bedspread. Beneath the thin quilt, a slender and exquisite figure was outlined. A slim, snow-white forearm rested on the edge of the bed; her neatly trimmed, beautiful nails were a faint crimson, and her delicate fingers curled naturally.
The thin quilt barely covered the woman’s supple, lustrous curves; she wore only a lotus-root-colored inner camisole.
The thin straps of the camisole wound around her slender, fair nape, pressing a faint mark into her skin.
The golden-red light of the setting sun hit her eyes. Uncomfortable, Jiang Ningsui raised a hand to cover them.
A moment later, she moved her hand away and slightly tilted her chin to look at the half-open window.
She estimated it was around three-quarters past the hour of the Rooster.
Her hazy mind cleared instantly.
She had almost forgotten that she was currently in a small courtyard rented by her husband in Qingping Zhen, not in her in-laws’ home in Xiping Cun. In less than half an hour, her husband would be returning from the academy, and she needed to get up to prepare the evening meal for him.
Jiang Ningsui propped herself up with her hands. Her flowing black hair brushed over her thin shoulders and hung before her chest.
Her nose twitched as she caught a faint scent of cedarwood on her husband’s bedding.
—It smelled very much like the scent on Pei Duo, the son of the Pei family who lived next door to the Zhao family.
She remembered her husband did not like this scent. Why was he using cedarwood incense now?
Before Jiang Ningsui could think further, a creaking sound came from the window as a door was pushed open, followed by the sound of footsteps approaching step by step.
Jiang Ningsui hadn’t expected her husband to return early.
She was still on the bed, wearing only her camisole and drawers, and hadn’t yet cleaned up the aftermath of their earlier activities.
Speaking of which, her coming to town was at her mother-in-law’s request.
Firstly, her mother-in-law wanted her to take care of her husband—cooking and doing laundry for him to relieve his fatigue. Secondly, her mother-in-law feared that if she and her husband were too far apart, she wouldn’t be able to bring him fortune. Thus, she was instructed to stay by her husband’s side every day from now on.
The whole thing was rather ridiculous.
In late May of this year, the Zhao couple had suddenly come to her door to propose a marriage, seeking her hand for Zhao Zhixue.
The Zhao family was considered wealthy in Xiping Cun. Logically, if the Zhao family were looking for a match for Zhao Zhixue, it shouldn’t have been the turn of the impoverished Jiang family from Hongshan Cun. However, the Zhao family was determined to marry her into their house, even agreeing to her parents’ exorbitant demand for a five-tael dowry.
It wasn’t until her wedding day that her mother quietly told her the truth. They had bribed a fortune teller in town to tell the Zhao couple that her birth chart would bring fortune to Zhao Zhixue, ensuring that he, who had previously failed the Yuanshi once, would pass smoothly this August.
Only then did the Zhao couple spare no expense to marry her into their family.
For the sake of money, her parents had essentially pushed her into an abyss.
After Jiang Ningsui married in, she lived in constant fear. Every night, she prayed to the heavens that her husband would successfully pass the Yuanshi in August.
If her husband failed again, her future days in the Zhao family would likely be a living hell.
Perhaps the heavens took pity on her sincere daily prayers, for this August, Zhao Zhixue passed the Yuanshi and became one of the two Xiucai in Xiping Cun.
The other Xiucai was Pei Duo, the son of the Pei family next door.
On the tenth day of June this year, he had just turned seventeen.
She had been present at Pei Duo’s birthday banquet. The Pei family had hosted many households from Xiping Cun at a small restaurant in town; it was quite a lively affair. That day at the restaurant, everyone said that the son of the Pei family possessed extraordinary talent and a striking, heroic bearing, having taken first place in the Yuanshi at such a young age.
In the three months since she married into the Zhao family, she had only encountered Pei Duo twice.
The first time was on the day of her wedding to Zhao Zhixue. The youth, dressed in a sea-lavender cross-collared robe, stood tall outside the house. His pair of habitually indifferent and calm eyes had cast a faint, fleeting glance at them.
The second time was at Pei Duo’s birthday banquet. The youth wore a raven-blue robe and stood amidst the crowd, nodding faintly to those who congratulated him.
Jiang Ningsui reined in her thoughts and threw back the quilt to get up. Her fingers had just touched the dress draped over the bedside when the footsteps reached the door. Before she could call out to her husband, the closed door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.
Immediately, a long, upright shadow extended into the room from the ground.
Jiang Ningsui looked up, about to call her husband, only to see that the person who had entered was none other than the son of the Pei family, Pei Duo.
And she was wearing only her camisole and drawers, kneeling on the bed quite exposed, clutching the dress she had just picked up. Aside from the private areas miserably hidden, everything else fell into Pei Duo’s sight.
From the tips of her ears to her cheeks, then to the side of her neck and her entire body, Jiang Ningsui felt as if she had been rolled through fire; a deep, vivid red spread over her.
She gave a sharp scream, frantically grabbing her dress and the quilt to wrap herself up airtight.
Pei Duo, who had been lost in thought all the way back from the academy, was jolted back to his senses by Jiang Ningsui’s scream. The youth lifted his eyelids and saw a fair-skinned person quickly burrowing into the very quilt that only he used.
The youth’s brow furrowed sharply. Those eyes, usually so indifferent and cold, were now clouded with a heavy chill.
The room, originally filled with the scent of cedarwood, now had an additional fragrance unique to a woman.
Pei Duo glanced at the woman who had appeared in the room out of nowhere—she was the Zhao family’s new bride.
With just one look, he understood what had happened in this room.
The youth coldly lowered his eyelids, avoiding the sight of the tightly wrapped woman on the bed. His clear, magnetic voice carried a hint of tension and discomfort.
“Sister-in-law… my apologies.”
Pei Duo paused briefly. “I did not know you were in the room.”
With that, the youth turned and left the room, closing the door behind him as he went.
Jiang Ningsui was dazed for a long time before she recovered her senses. She looked out through the half-open window; only by tilting her head could she see a corner of the youth’s robe fluttering in the wind. Recalling how she had just been seen by Pei Duo after he accidentally intruded into the room, Jiang Ningsui felt a sense of shame so intense she wanted to run into a wall.
Since she had grown up, the only man who had seen her body was her husband.
Now, by accident, she had been seen by another man.
Jiang Ningsui was turning red all over, filled with both shame and embarrassment. She didn’t dare hesitate, quickly putting on her dress, her mind a chaotic mess.
What exactly was going on?
Why was Pei Duo in her husband’s small courtyard?
Why hadn’t her husband told her that Pei Duo would be coming?
The journey from Xiping Cun to the town took more than half a day’s walk. Jiang Ningsui had walked for half a day, and her legs were tired and weary. As soon as she entered the house, she had been dragged into the room by her husband. Her husband couldn’t even wait for nightfall to perform his marital duties. Afterward, he hurried off to the academy, telling her to get some good rest and that he would return at the first quarter of the hour of the Dog.
Jiang Ningsui had been exhausted from the long day, so she fell into a deep sleep, only to encounter Pei Duo upon waking.
After Jiang Ningsui finished dressing, she neatly folded the messy bedding. She looked down to double-check that her clothes were tidy and proper. Taking a few deep breaths, she walked to the door and opened it, immediately seeing Pei Duo standing tall beneath a pear tree in the courtyard.
The youth had his back to her, his figure long and upright. He was wearing clothes of the same color as the day of his birthday.
A raven-blue robe with mountain-and-water ink patterns on the sleeves and hem. An ebony hairpin was tucked into the hair atop his head, while the rest of his black hair hung down his back.
As soon as Jiang Ningsui saw him, she remembered the incident that had just caused her extreme shame.
Her face burned with embarrassment, and her hands twisted together forcefully. Looking at Pei Duo’s back, she pursed her dry lips before asking, “Young Master Pei, are you here to see my husband?”
Pei Duo turned around, his cold and indifferent gaze falling upon Jiang Ningsui.
The youth’s voice was just like the man himself—extremely cold. “Did Brother Zhao not tell you, Sister-in-law, that I live here?”
Jiang Ningsui’s small face stiffened as she stared blankly at the youth.
He said… he lived here?
Then… then… Jiang Ningsui’s eyes widened suddenly. She looked back at the door she had just closed; the faint scent of cedarwood still lingered in her nose.
So, Pei Duo had returned to his own room?
So, she and her husband had done that kind of thing in Pei Duo’s room?!
Jiang Ningsui’s face turned from red to white, then from white to pale green, until her beautiful face flushed the color of a pig’s liver. Her palms were marked by the indentations of her fingernails. She was so ashamed she wished there were a crack in the ground she could crawl into.
How could her husband… how could he bring her into Young Master Pei’s room to do such a thing!
Without Jiang Ningsui having to explain further, Pei Duo had already gleaned the answer from her expression.
Regarding the new bride who had married into the Zhao family three months ago, Pei Duo had no real impression of her; he had only heard a few words from Zhao Zhixue.
—Illiterate, conservative, and dull, but virtuous and kind-hearted.
Pei Duo shifted his gaze away with extreme propriety. “Brother Zhao’s room is this one to the south.”
Jiang Ningsui followed his gaze and turned her head. There was a room next door with its door wide open, separated from the room behind her by only a single wall. When she arrived this morning, before she could get a good look at the layout of the courtyard, she had been dragged into the room behind her by her husband. Thus, the current situation that left her dying of embarrassment had occurred.
She bit her lower lip hard, suppressing her shame. “Young Master Pei, I… I will help you clean your room.”
“No need.”
Pei Duo walked toward her. “I need to go inside and read for a while. Sister-in-law, please tend to your own business.”
The youth stepped past her and pushed open the door.
Jiang Ningsui turned to look at Pei Duo as he was about to close the door. There was a narrow gap between them.
Although the youth was only seventeen, he was extremely tall—half a head taller than her husband. Jiang Ningsui was a year older than him, yet she didn’t even reach his shoulder. She looked at Pei Duo, her expression pained with embarrassment, looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.
Pei Duo lifted his eyes to glance at her, knowing she had something to say and knowing what it was she wanted to say.
He said, “I will not mention a single word of what happened just now to Brother Zhao. Rest easy, Sister-in-law.”
Jiang Ningsui was surprised that Pei Duo had actually seen through her thoughts.
Her face flushed crimson. Before she could offer her thanks, the youth closed the door, seemingly not wishing to say another word to her.
Jiang Ningsui went to the southern room. The furnishings inside were very simple.
A bed, a two-door wardrobe, and a table set by the window with books, brushes, ink, and paper. The quilt on the bed was neatly folded at the foot. The room wasn’t large, but it was clean and tidy, a mirror image of the layout in Pei Duo’s room.
Jiang Ningsui felt a surge of resentment toward her husband.
His room was clearly perfectly fine; why did he take her to Pei Duo’s room?
Since he and Pei Duo lived in the same courtyard, why hadn’t he told her beforehand, leading her into such an embarrassing predicament today?
Thinking about how she would have to live under the same roof as Pei Duo for nearly the next year, Jiang Ningsui felt it would be an unbearable ordeal.
Her husband’s room was separated from his by only a single wall. How could the matters between a husband and wife be hidden by a mere wall? Moreover, today she had been… had been seen by Pei Duo. Although Young Master Pei hadn’t intended it, she would be seeing him every day from now on. Jiang Ningsui could not convince herself to stay any longer.
She wanted to go back.