By evening, Xie Jingbai indeed came.
As if to suit the occasion, he had specially donned a vermilion brocade robe. His ink-black hair hung loose around his shoulders, and his body carried a faint fragrance of orchids. His cool, otherworldly features appeared somewhat gentle beneath the warm yellow lamplight.
If not for the three years they had spent together, he would still have looked exactly as Yun Shuangxu’s heart desired.
But now, seeing him only made her want to flee.
Xie Jingbai had assumed that Yun Shuangxu would carefully dress up and wait for his arrival. He had not expected to find that she had already washed her face and changed into her sleeping clothes, sitting barefaced before the dressing table while Lü Bo undid her hair.
The bedchamber was just as it usually was, without the slightest arrangement. Yun Shuangxu was even wearing plain white sleeping clothes, and even the candles were white.
This… this was completely different from what he had imagined.
He could not help feeling greatly disappointed, and he waved for Lü Bo to leave.
After Lü Bo went out, he walked over and asked Yun Shuangxu, “I said I would come over tonight. Did you forget?”
Yun Shuangxu rose and said, “I didn’t forget. I’ve already had someone make up the bed in the west room. Fourth Master may simply go there to sleep.”
In the past, whenever Xie Jingbai came here on the first or fifteenth day of the month to go through the motions, he always slept in the west room.
But he had already said that he would consummate the marriage with her tonight, and she was actually still sending him to sleep in the west room.
He furrowed his brows, a trace of displeasure flashing across his face. His instinct told him that Yun Shuangxu was putting on airs.
But he had said that he would properly make it up to her, so he decided not to quibble with her and indulge her this once.
“It’s late, and you’re wearing so little. Hurry and lie down on the bed.” He patiently reached out to take her hand.
His fingers were slightly cool, yet Yun Shuangxu recoiled as though she had been scalded.
Xie Jingbai grasped nothing but air, and he could hardly believe it.
In the past, he had also taken her hand on certain necessary occasions. She had always been docile and delighted, even blushing faintly, as though having him take her hand were the greatest happiness in the world.
But now, she had drawn away from him.
“What is it?” he asked as he looked at her, though he already knew the answer in his heart.
She was surely still angry over the matter of changing courtyards. Perhaps it was also because he had not gone to save her last night.
But he had already said that he would no longer force her to move out, and her foot had not been injured that badly. Why did she have to put on airs at a time like this?
Wasn’t consummating the marriage the most important thing to her?
Yun Shuangxu knew she could not avoid the matter, and she no longer wanted to beat around the bush. She simply made her meaning clear. “I’ve thought it over again and again, and I still feel that marital separation would be best for everyone. Since we’re going to separate, there’s no need to consummate the marriage.”
As soon as her words fell, the room sank into a long silence. The air around them was so still that even a needle dropping could be heard.
Only when the candle gave a soft crackle did the oppressive quiet finally break.
Xie Jingbai drew a deep breath and forcefully restrained himself from losing his temper. “Didn’t we already make everything clear during the day? Why are you bringing this up again?
“If you’re trying to test my attitude, then let me tell you clearly: I genuinely want to live out our days together. From now on, I won’t neglect you as I did in the past. Are you satisfied now?”
Yun Shuangxu looked at him, unable to say what she felt inside.
If he had said these words three days ago, she would have been delighted, exhilarated, her heart fluttering like a startled deer’s. She might even have been moved to tears of gratitude.
But now, these words were already useless to her.
It was like a child who had gazed longingly at a skewer of candied hawthorns but could never obtain it.
Once that child grew up, even if all the candied hawthorns in the world were piled before him, he would no longer care for them.
In truth, candied hawthorns were nothing more than sour enough to kill hawthorns wrapped in a layer of honeyed sugar.
The same went for certain people: their appearance and their reality did not match, and their image of a gentleman as fine as jade was nothing but a false façade.
She clenched her fingers, suppressing the bitterness in her heart, and forced a smile at Xie Jingbai. “Thank you, Fourth Master. I don’t need it anymore. Truly.”
Xie Jingbai froze. Gradually, anger appeared on his cool, aloof face.
“Yun Shuangxu!” He called her by her full name, his tone carrying a warning. “Do you know when to stop while you’re ahead? You have grievances, yes, but those grievances cannot be your capital for putting on airs. Do you understand?”
“I’m not putting on airs. I’m serious,” Yun Shuangxu said. “You don’t have me in your heart, so why force yourself for the sake of this so-called reputation? Once I leave, wouldn’t it be better for you and Concubine Lin to become a proper married couple?”
Xie Jingbai’s expression changed completely.
He believed that he had already lowered his stance as far as possible, yet Yun Shuangxu still refused to yield. How could that not infuriate him?
“How did you suddenly become like this?” He looked at her, his eyes full of disappointment. “Is it because we all gave way to you over the matter of changing courtyards, or because you think you have Third Brother backing you, so you’ve become carried away?
“Yun Shuangxu, I warned you before: Third Brother’s opposition to changing courtyards has nothing whatsoever to do with you. Don’t indulge in wishful thinking.
“You keep insisting on marital separation, but have you thought about what will happen afterward?
“As a man, marital separation won’t have much impact on me. But you’re a young woman. If you live outside, people will set their sights on you. If you return to your maiden family, people will gossip about you. And it may even be that your living at your maiden home for a long time as a separated woman will affect your younger brother’s marriage prospects.
“Even if someone is willing to marry into his family, will his new wife be able to tolerate you?
“Besides, your maiden family has already fallen into decline. Do you think your younger brother, who does nothing but chase cats and tease dogs, can support you for the rest of your life?
“Of course, you could remarry. But look across the entire capital—what family has a higher status than the Duke of Zhenguo's Residence? Among families of high standing, who would want a separated woman who had left the Duke of Zhenguo's Residence?
“Have you thought about any of this?”
He was truly furious, and his words were somewhat harsh. But he believed that these were all facts. If he did not lay them out one by one, Yun Shuangxu might truly think that marital separation was some easy and pleasant affair.
She was simply too naïve, too prone to taking things for granted.
Yun Shuangxu said nothing. She quietly listened until he had finished, and her expression did not change much. “I’ll find a way to handle my own affairs. Since marital separation will have no effect on Fourth Master whatsoever, please grant it.”
“You…”
Xie Jingbai had said so much, thinking that she would be able to take at least some of it to heart. Who would have thought she would remain so unmoved? He could not help feeling utterly disappointed.
He was about to say more when Lü Bo entered and said, “Fourth Master, Concubine Lin’s stomach is hurting again. She sent someone to ask for you.”
Xie Jingbai was still seething. Hearing this, he darkened his face and said, “Didn’t I say that people from that side were not to come looking for me at Caiwei Courtyard anymore?”
Lü Bo lowered her head, utterly respectful. “Fourth Master, please calm your anger. What could possibly be more important than Concubine Lin’s stomach now? You should hurry over and take a look. If something goes wrong, people mustn’t think that the Young Madam is clinging to you and refusing to let you go. Our Young Madam is not that sort of person.”
“…”
She appeared respectful, but how could Xie Jingbai fail to hear the sarcasm in her words?
In the end, she was still standing up for her mistress over what had happened last night, believing that Yun-niang had clung to him and prevented him from going over.
Although Xie Jingbai was angry, he could not be bothered to trade words with a maid.
In any case, he would not be able to consummate the marriage tonight. He gave Yun Shuangxu a deep look, left her with a single “Think it over carefully,” and then swept out with a cold expression.
After watching him leave, Lü Bo supported Yun Shuangxu to the bed and helped her sit down. She said casually, “Is Concubine Lin carrying a night watchman in her belly? Every time, her pain comes right on schedule.”
Yun Shuangxu was stunned at first, then suddenly burst out laughing.
“Don’t talk nonsense. That is the eldest grandson of the first branch. No matter what, he wouldn’t be reduced to making night-watch rounds.”
Lü Bo laughed as well. “I’m just indignant. Every single time, her stomach starts hurting precisely when Fourth Master comes to Caiwei Courtyard. Does she really think everyone else is a fool?”
“What are you indignant about?” Yun Shuangxu said. “She happened to get me out of a difficult situation. I should be thanking her.”
“…” Lü Bo hesitated for a moment, but still spoke honestly. “This servant also heard what Fourth Master said just now. I feel that he wasn’t entirely wrong. Marital separation truly isn’t that easy.”