“Sister’s husband, no…”
In the dim candlelight and heavy, lingering fragrance, the beauty’s bare shoulders trembled slightly.
“Be a good girl. Open up a bit.”
The man’s voice was hoarse, his gaze locked onto her like a wolf eyeing its prey. She struggled to pull away, only for a pair of warm, powerful hands to imprison her and ruthlessly drag her back.
Qin Susu knew very well that even upon entering the East Palace, she was nothing more than a plaything.
Taken in by her concubine-born mother to the Qin household at age nine, she was treated like a young lady on the surface, but the woman tasked with tutoring her was a brothel madam of over a decade!
All of the capital knew the Qin family had two daughters.
The eldest daughter was gentle, polite, graceful, and virtuous—the current Crown Princess and future empress. The second daughter, meanwhile, was notorious, possessing only a mesmerizing, hibiscus-like face.
Yet, the world did not know that the eldest Miss Qin was born a biological virgin unable to consummate marriage (a natural stone maiden). From the very day she entered the Qin mansion, the so-called second Miss existed solely to bear children for the eldest daughter in the future.
In her past life, she had walked on eggshells, yet she was despised by the Crown Prince after being forced to share his bed. Although she was fortunate enough to conceive a child, the Crown Prince’s heart still belonged to her eldest sister. In his eyes, Qin Susu was merely a lowly concubine’s daughter driven by greed for power and a vain attempt to vie with her elder sister for favor.
Yet, once she had that child, Qin Susu’s life was better than it had been in the previous sixteen years. She had her own courtyard, no longer cold and unpalatable food, and the Crown Prince—though wearing a stern, iron-clad expression—frequently came to visit her.
She had foolishly thought that even if she stayed quietly in a corner and became the lowest-ranking Fengyi of the East Palace, she could peacefully watch this child grow up.
Never did she expect that the moment she gave birth, her eldest sister would tear away the facade worn for years and rip the child straight from her arms. Standing high above, looking down at her covered in blood, the sister cynically spewed out every bit of the truth.
And in the end, when Qin Susu had lost all her strength, her eldest sister ruthlessly set a fire, trapping her directly within the blazing inferno to burn her alive!
Brimming with bitter grievance and unwillingness, upon opening her eyes once more, Qin Susu found herself returned to a year prior—the very day she was forced into her brother-in-law’s bed.
Sensing that the woman had seemingly drifted off, the man’s light chuckle came from right above her head, his fingers pinning her wrist against the pillow.
“It hurts…”
Tears swirled, brimming in Qin Susu’s eyes.
The agony of her past life came rushing back in a tidal wave, filling her with a heavy sense of grievance, instantly followed by a fierce, burning hatred. She bit her lower lip and boldly reached out a pair of pale, flawless arms to loop them around the man’s neck.
With a voice as sweet and melodious as an oriole’s: “But this is the study…”
A single tear slipped down Qin Susu’s cheek: “If Your Highness truly wants to… this concubine… this concubine can help you.”
Hearing this, the intoxicated man paused slightly, but as a wave of overwhelming fragrance flooded his senses, he completely lost his wits. His fingertips slowly moved, landing right upon that petal-like lower lip.
“Use these.”
His voice was hoarse, thick with restraint: “Be good, Gu will dotingly pamper you…”
Qin Susu took a deep breath.
“Your Highness, Your Highness, you cannot go in!”
Outside the study, the sky was just beginning to turn the color of fish-belly white.
Disregarding all attempts to stop her, the Crown Princess barged straight in.
The beaded curtain was violently yanked down by her, sending pearls scattering everywhere with a loud, clattering rattle. Qin Yihuan rushed red-eyed to the side of the couch and furiously ripped off the brocade quilt.
In the morning light, that unclad body was as pristine as snow, and the ambiguous purple-red marks scattered across that jade-white skin were painfully stark to the eye.
The Crown Princess’s pupils contracted sharply. She grabbed Qin Susu by her long hair, hauled her straight up, and whipped her hand across her face in a fierce, heavy slap!
“Vile creature!”
The slap was heavy and sharp. Qin Susu tumbled down onto the footrest, her dark hair half-concealing her swollen, reddened cheek. Yet the lingering love-bites could not be hidden, shining vibrantly and dazzlingly in the dim light.
Staring at those marks, the Crown Princess trembled at the fingertips.
“How dare you seduce His Highness right under my very nose! Had I known this would happen, the Qin family never should have kept you alive!”
Qin Susu turned her face away, the red mark on her left cheek glaringly obvious against her porcelain-white skin. Her damp, fluttering eyelashes cast soft shadows beneath her eyes. She hurriedly scrambled back toward the edge of the bed, wrapping her frail body within the folds of the bed curtains.
“No, no it isn’t.”
She raised her head to look at the Crown Prince, who had already sat up, his gaze chillingly dark: “Eldest Sister, I didn’t…”
Seeing Qin Susu’s vulnerable weakness, the Crown Princess trembled all over. She looked toward the Crown Prince, her expression filled with a deeply wounded sorrow, her voice melodiously weeping in a way that would make anyone’s heart ache: “Your Highness, how could you treat me like this?”
Pei Xuanyan half-leaned against the rosewood bedpost, the collar of his dark profound-black sleeping robe casually slackened to reveal the clear, sharp lines of his collarbone.
His long hair was unbundled, draped loosely over his shoulders with a few strands slipping across his chest, making his complexion appear all the more chillingly pale. His sharp phoenix eyes were half-drooped, the fierce angle of their outer corners nearly blending into his temples, his gaze as deep and still as ink frozen over a cold winter well.
He quietly observed the Crown Princess—his childhood sweetheart, his good wife—though his expression remained almost unreadable.
Hearing Qin Yihuan’s words, Qin Susu shivered violently.
“Eldest Sister, His Highness has only you in his heart… Please do not blame His Highness, it was all my fault.”
Qin Susu choked back sobs, her voice still hoarse from the turmoil of the previous night. She lowered her delicate head, her slender neck making her look all the more fragile and graceful.
Just like an innocent little fawn in the woods, making it impossible for anyone to bear punishing her.
A flicker of absolute astonishment flashed across the Crown Princess’s face. Staring at Qin Susu, her mind spun wildly.
Qin Susu was hand-delivered to the Crown Prince’s bed by her. Having entered the Qin estate since childhood and raised practically as her personal maid, nobody knew Qin Susu’s timid nature better than the Crown Princess herself.
She was merely a brainless idiot with nothing but a pretty face; she could never have conceived that everything which happened last night was a trap meticulously orchestrated by the Princess herself.
Yet now, Qin Susu was actually taking the blame for everything that happened yesterday?!
The atmosphere in the room was taut and explosive, yet no one could have anticipated that beneath the brocade quilt, a pair of small hands was slowly and stealthily inching upward.
She wanted to retrieve that un-stained wedding handkerchief to keep her eldest sister from discovering that, through her strategic push-and-pull last night, she hadn’t actually consummated the act.
However, the cool touch of her fingertip against firm muscle made Qin Susu’s hand tremble. Startled as though frightened by something, she remained frozen for a long moment. But right as she was about to yank her hand back—
On the bed, the man’s lips pressed into a tight, thin line, his gaze dark and unfathomable.
Without warning, he directly reached out and locked his grip tightly around her wrist.
“Ah—!”
Qin Susu let out a gasp of shock, startling the Crown Princess. Even Pei Xuanyan’s gaze paused for a fraction of a second.
Then, his grip tightened further with decisive force.
This time, the pain was genuine for Qin Susu; her face turned deathly pale, and her body swayed as if she might collapse.
Yet, she heard the man’s cold, authoritative voice ring out:
“Enough.”
Pei Xuanyan’s phoenix eyes brimmed with majesty, his gaze as calm and unfathomable as an ancient, deep pool.
“Since things have come to this, she shall be conferred the title of Chenghui (Imperial Concubine of the Sixth Rank), and granted residence in the Nanyun Pavilion. Crown Princess, see to the arrangements.”
In an instant, Qin Susu’s eyes widened into perfect circles.
Chenghui?!
Wait—she just got promoted?!