Inside the crimson bed curtains, Xiao Lin lay perfectly straight, his hands folded over his chest, his eyes peacefully closed.
Suddenly, a shadow loomed over him. He snapped his eyes open, his wrist instinctively twisting…
Only to find Su Mingyue pressing her entire body down on him?
He immediately withdrew his strength.
Xiao Lin’s heart pounded wildly, his eyes unblinking. When he spoke, his voice trembled faintly: “What are you doing?”
The room was dim, and Su Mingyue didn’t notice that Xiao Lin’s face was now flushed a burning red. She focused solely on tugging at the sash of his robe.
“What am I doing?” She narrowed her eyes and snorted softly. “Naturally, I’m doing what married couples should do!”
She was righteous, matter-of-fact… acting as if this were only proper, exactly like a flower thief!
Yet, though she understood human anatomy, she was utterly inexperienced in this matter!
She struggled to recall those illustrated manuals… her ears instantly flushed crimson with shame!
No, no, that required cooperation from both parties, and besides, this fellow Xiao Lin’s body wasn’t up to it!
By the moonlight, Su Mingyue glanced at Xiao Lin’s hand gripping her wrist and suddenly recalled how he had bullied her in her past life. Her eyes brightened, and she immediately reversed her grip, forcibly raising his arms above his head and pressing them down.
However, due to her unstable posture and insufficient arm length, her entire body ended up pressed tightly against Xiao Lin’s, completely defenseless.
The man’s chest was firm and scalding hot. As their breaths mingled, Su Mingyue’s heart raced, and she instantly panicked…
“Y-you… since you married me, you have to take responsibility for me! You can’t make me live as a widow!”
“If you’re not skilled at consummating the marriage, I can do it… In any case, as husband and wife, we should be united. You can’t not only fail to work with me but also cause trouble for me!”
Her face flushed, she managed to pin both of Xiao Lin’s wrists together with one hand.
With her other hand, she fumbled clumsily over his body, searching for the sash of his robe… completely unaware of the outrageous words she had just spoken.
Xiao Lin’s breathing grew heavier. Su Mingyue simply thought he was furious but unable to struggle.
“Why are you angry on our wedding day? If you don’t give me a child, how will I establish myself in the Marquis’s household in the future?”
“Since you married me, you have to take responsibility for me… Besides, do you really want to watch your title and your family fortune all go to outsiders?”
Xiao Lin’s body suddenly stiffened.
So she had actively married him and insisted on consummating the marriage… for his inheritance and title?
Hah, this little girl may be young, but her ambitions are anything but small!
Still, if she truly wanted them, she needn’t wait for him to die…
Xiao Lin’s thoughts wandered, his attention drifting, when he suddenly felt her hand pressing against his wrist. His pupils contracted sharply, and he broke free from her restraint, reaching his hand toward something else.
Su Mingyue let out a startled “Aiyo!” as her chin slammed hard into Xiao Lin’s jaw, nearly biting her tongue.
Lying atop Xiao Lin, she barely managed to lift her chin and stick out her tongue. Ignoring Xiao Lin’s fixed gaze, she followed the direction of his outstretched arm and saw, hanging from the bed canopy, a small bell!
Huh??
Su Mingyue’s eyes widened abruptly, and she quickly understood…
Right, Xiao Lin was frail and inconvenient. Throughout Dulan Courtyard where he lived, bells were hung everywhere so he could summon help at any time.
Who would have thought he was so meticulous? Not only had he prepared a guest room in Xuanmao Hall, but he had also set up such a mechanism here?
So…
She slowly turned her gaze, staring wide-eyed at the man beneath her… So this fellow now wanted to call someone in to rescue him?
Hah!
On their wedding night, he actually wanted to call someone in to “save” him?
This scoundrel… where did he place her dignity?!
Su Mingyue was furious.
Steadying her emotions, she calmed down and pondered that her wedding day in this life was much earlier than in her previous one. Could it be…
Could it be that Xiao Lin had not yet developed feelings for her, which was why he was so unwilling to be intimate with her?
No wonder he was willing to listen to her unconditionally… it was all because of that bed bell!
Su Mingyue’s expression darkened, feeling that the situation had become somewhat tricky!
She did not want to force anyone. Propping herself up, she was about to climb off Xiao Lin…
Just then, a loud “bang” echoed from outside—it sounded like someone had indeed kicked the door open!
…
The bridal chamber in Xuanmao Hall, meticulously prepared by Xiao Lin, had its door violently kicked open. The two panels of rosewood carved doors swayed slightly, and a strange fragrance suddenly wafted in, yet there was not a sound from inside the room!
Slightly intoxicated, Xiao Yunhe did not notice anything amiss and stormed into the room: “Su! Ming! Yue!?”
His fists were clenched tightly, his eyes wide with rage, veins bulging at his temples.
“Have you no shame?!”
“I merely cherished our sibling bond and softened my heart toward Ying’er, never explicitly rejecting her affections… yet you chose such a drastic way to humiliate me, willingly degrading yourself to consort with that worthless fool?”
Were all the kindness and obedience she had shown him in the past nothing but lies?
Extreme anger and drunkenness stripped Xiao Yunhe of all reason. He completely forgot that the two people he was insulting were not only his elders by a generation but also a legitimate, heaven-and-earth-wedded couple!
Looking at the tightly drawn crimson bed curtains, Xiao Yunhe trembled all over, his fists clenched so tightly they creaked. He took a sudden step forward but stumbled, nearly collapsing to his knees.
“It’s hot…”
“Winter has just begun, yet this room is so hot…”
He shook his increasingly muddled head vigorously.
At the same time, Liu Ying, who had been peering curiously at the doorway, was thrilled. She hurriedly said to the maid beside her, “Baoqing, go quickly to the front courtyard and say that Marquis Xiao is vomiting blood uncontrollably and may not survive! Tell everyone to come at once!”
“Yes!” Baoqing hastily replied, lifting her skirt as she hurried away.
No sooner had she left than Xiao He, her face covered, suddenly appeared and kicked Liu Ying with all her might.
Liu Ying staggered and fell into the room. Before she could turn to see who dared disrespect her, the door was firmly shut.
…
“Hurry! Everyone, move faster!”
Shadows flickered outside the door, and a crowd of people holding lanterns instantly flooded into the bridal chamber!
The blinding light immediately illuminated the entire room as if it were daytime!
With Tai Furen still alive, Xiao Hongjin, as the eldest grandson of the Pingyang Marquisate, rushed in at the forefront, lantern in hand, only to be met with a glaring sight of red!
Seeing the scene before him, he was instantly dumbfounded.
The screen in the room had been removed, and instead of the slightest hint of blood, on the wedding bed, Liu Ying’s dark hair was spread out as she straddled the disheveled Xiao Yunhe, while Xiao Lin’s hand gripped her slender waist. Their bodies pressed close in an intimate posture, clearly intending to…
A cold wind suddenly swept into the room, jolting Liu Ying awake.
She was startled by the sudden turn of events, her face turning pale and her pupils contracting sharply!
“Ah—!!” She instinctively covered her face and screamed in terror.
She had clearly intended for someone to catch Su Mingyue, that wretched woman, in the act, leaving her too ashamed to live… So why was she herself the one being surrounded and watched?
She had done nothing wrong—she was still an unmarried maiden…
But if this matter were to spread, how could she ever show her face again? How could she marry Brother Yunhe in a grand and glorious manner?
Several members of the Xiao Family who had rushed in together clicked their tongues in astonishment, frozen in place and exchanging bewildered glances…
Wasn’t it said that the Marquis was on his deathbed? Where was the Marquis?
And why was the person on the bed Xiao Yunhe??
What was this scoundrel doing in the bridal chamber of his elder, engaging in such acts here?
“You wretched creature! Why aren’t you rolling off there!?” Xiao Hongyi, burning with rage, strode directly toward the bed, shoved Liu Ying aside, grabbed Xiao Yunhe by the collar, and yanked him forcefully to the floor.
Some guests hadn’t clearly seen the woman on the bed and didn’t recognize Su Mingyue. Their gossipy hearts had just stirred, excitedly thinking that the Marchioness actually…
A cool, clear female voice suddenly rang out, “What has happened?”
Everyone immediately turned toward the sound.
In the adjacent room, the moment Su Mingyue spoke, Xiao Lin’s fingers abruptly clenched, shattering the teacup in his hand.
Crimson blood mixed with warm tea trickled down from between his fingers, dripping onto the wedding-night handkerchief on the bed, yet he seemed utterly unaware of the pain.
Then, with a cold, stern expression, he sat in his wheelchair and followed the others out of the room.
Just as he arrived at the entrance of the bridal chamber, an elderly servant woman walked in from the other side, picked up the wedding-night handkerchief, and left directly.
Seeing the Pingyang Marquis and his wife isolated at the very edge of the crowd, everyone quickly made way for them.
Taking in the chaotic bridal chamber and the disheveled man and woman, Xiao Lin shouted sternly, “What unfilial descendants! Guards! Xiao Yunhe trespassed into the bridal chamber, showed disrespect to his elders… Drag him away and give him fifty strokes…”
“Marquis, please calm your anger,” Su Mingyue interrupted him. “Be careful not to harm your health with pent-up rage… I will handle this matter. Let the servants escort you back to rest first.”
There would be plenty of opportunities to deal with Xiao Yunhe… But now was the perfect chance to push this scoundrel and that wretched woman together.
If he ended up being beaten unconscious, wouldn’t this matter just be swept under the rug!?
Moreover, how could the main wife’s courtyard be so easily trespassed upon, and actually breached successfully?
She refused to believe that the vast Pingyang Marquisate could have such lax security!
If no one had authorized this from behind the scenes, who would dare to be so brazen?!
Since some people were eagerly handing leverage into her hands, she couldn’t let down this “kindness”!
Su Mingyue straightened her back, adopting the dignified manner of the Marquisate’s mistress, and declared solemnly, “Regarding today’s events, all present here are witnesses. I ask everyone to move to Qingshen Tang to discuss this matter.”
…
In the quickly emptied courtyard, Xiao Lin’s expression grew increasingly grim.
After such an incident, was she still protecting that scoundrel? Did she not trust him?
Her feelings toward Xiao Yunhe… were they more about affection or calculation?
Xiao Lin only pondered these questions in his heart, unable to voice them.
After all, the young girl had once held affection for Xiao Yunhe…
But what about her feelings toward him? Hah, she only cared about his inheritance!
He lowered his head, fiddling with the jade ring on his finger, somewhat distracted.
Qing Jiu could tell that the Marquis cared about his new wife!
He bent down and whispered, “Marquis, should we secretly assign guards to protect the lady…”
“Not for now!” Xiao Lin suddenly looked up, his face dark enough to drip water. “The current situation is unclear from all sides. The more I favor her, the more dangerous it becomes for her…” The one in the palace would not let her off.
There are spies in the Pingyang Marquisate, and not just one—all deliberately left behind by him.
In this estate, or even outside it, protecting someone would be easy for him… but what about inside the palace?
He wasn’t certain,
He didn’t dare take the risk.
“Qing Jiu,” Xiao Lin lowered his gaze, “let us also go to Qingshen Tang and see how the lady handles this matter.”