Fang Yao heard him say the words “forever faithful”, and the memory of all the scheming and betrayal she had endured gave her heart a sharp, wrenching tug.
Yet she knew it would not be long before Xu Qingzhou was crippled.
She pressed her lips together, turned her face to meet his deep gaze, and said, “Do you know what tonight has taught me? It is far easier to expect a sow to climb a tree than to believe a single word that comes out of a man’s lying mouth!”
Xu Qingzhou looked back at her, his gaze steady and unshaken. A faint, knowing smile curved his pale pink lips in the moonlight.
“Your family chose you with great care to marry into our Xu household. There is not a family for miles around who can offer you better prospects. Since you will not believe anything any man says then come with me. At the very least, you will have a secure livelihood. From now on, every coin I earn shall be placed in your keeping.”
Fang Yao’s fingers tightened at her sides. The promise of having a steady provider was undeniably tempting.
In her past life, she had known little of Xu Qingzhou beyond the fact that after he was injured, he and Li Xuemiao quarreled every other day and on bad days, came to blows. He had shattered the windows so thoroughly that the house was drafty and exposed; Fang Yao had long since lost count of how many times she had helped repair them.
Clearly his temper was not gentle. He was domineering, forceful, and sharp-tongued.
“I do not believe our personalities suit one another,” Fang Yao said, still hesitant. “You heard what the neighbors said they all call me fierce. Who knows what might happen if we one day come to blows?”
Xu Qingzhou let out a low laugh, the sound rumbling deep in his chest. The amusement in his dark eyes seemed to deepen.
“Rest assured. I have never struck a woman in my life. I know what you are like and I will not provoke you.”
Fang Yao found herself wondering sharply: Could this man have been reborn alongside her?
He was so different from the man she remembered. Though it might simply be that he still had the full use of his legs and had not yet grown into the bitter, brooding man she had known before.
“Marriage is a matter of a lifetime,” she said, still holding back. “Let me think on it further.”
“Very well,” Xu Qingzhou said simply.
He rose, fetched a spare set of military bedding from the cabinet, and spread it upon the floor. Then he looked over at her. “My mother’s room is too small. You sleep here tonight take the bed. I shall make do on the floor.”
Fang Yao watched him stretch out casually on the hard ground, then her gaze drifted to the window. Outside, the wind howled and tore at the night.
In the north, winter nights could plunge to well below freezing. Even with a stove burning inside, the floor remained damp and biting cold he would certainly fall ill if he slept there through the night!
“Are you truly set on sleeping there? If you sicken, do not blame me!”
Xu Qingzhou glanced sideways at her, a faint, teasing smile tugging again at his lips.
“And where else should I sleep? Would you have me share your bed?”
Fang Yao promptly blew out the lamp. She had never really studied Xu Qingzhou closely before tonight but now she saw that his eyes held a startling, magnetic pull. He seemed to find every chance he could to draw her in.
That night, Fang Yao lay beneath the covers, wide awake. At the slightest sound from where he lay on the floor, her eyes flew open and she held her breath, alert and wary.
Twice through the night, Xu Qingzhou rose to stoke the stove, building the fire high and bright. Even so, by the small hours, his breathing grew thick and heavy with congestion.
When the sky at last began to lighten and the wall clock chimed four, Xu Qingzhou rose and sat upon a stool. Fang Yao sat up too.
“It is morning. I am going home.”
Xu Qingzhou remained seated on the stool and said nothing only let out a soft, quiet sigh.
Fang Yao walked to the door and opened it. The world outside was buried under a heavy, endless fall of snow that had continued all night. The courtyard lay shrouded in white. Behind her, she heard the man cough low, thick, and muffled.
On impulse, she drew the door shut again. Xu Qingzhou lit the oil lamp, shook out the match, and the flame cast warm, flickering light across his clean, striking profile softened by a pale, cold shadow.
“Were you not leaving?”
“Xu Qingzhou,” she called.
He turned his head and looked at her.
Standing at the open door just now, gazing out over the endless white expanse, she had felt more than the bitter cold seeping into her limbs she had stared into an uncertain, unreadable future.
She had already come through the gates of the Xu family. The story of the wrong wedding chamber would soon be known far and wide.
Even if she returned to her parents’ home, gossip and whispers would follow her everywhere. And Xu Qingzhou had spoken truly last night she would not find a better match within miles.
Since she must marry someone in any case, she might as well secure a steady livelihood. And perhaps… if she stayed close enough, she could find a way to prevent the accident that would leave him injured.
Besides if she meant to have her revenge, she must remain here in the Xu household.
“Are you truly willing to marry me? Will you not regret it?”
Xu Qingzhou seemed almost amused by her wavering. He glanced sideways at her, then stood and walked back to the bed.
“I have said it already. It is up to you so long as you do not come to regret it.”
With that, he pulled back the covers and lay down. He had been frozen and exhausted all night; within moments, his breathing had fallen into a steady, even rhythm.
Fang Yao went to the stove, added fuel to the fire, and watched the flames glow through the iron grate, casting shifting light across her eyes. She crouched there for a long while, waiting until warmth had returned fully to her body, before walking to Wang Hua’s door and knocking.
Wang Hua had plainly not slept a wink for fear Fang Yao would refuse. She came to the door with eyes red-rimmed and bloodshot, and hurried Fang Yao inside.
Fang Yao stood where she was. “What time does Grandmother rise? I have thought it through. I will marry Xu Qingzhou but on conditions.”
At once overjoyed that she had agreed, Wang Hua did not even stop to ask what those conditions were. She threw on her coat and hurried Fang Yao to see Old Madam Xu.
Old Madam Xu was even more delighted. She nodded eagerly. “Child name whatever terms you wish. If it is within our power to grant, you shall have it, I swear!”
Fang Yao wasted no time. “Li Xuemiao is the village chief’s daughter. The betrothal gifts prepared for her were twice as generous as those offered to me. Now that the engagements have been swapped, those gifts and all funds set aside for the wedding must be transferred to me instead.”
“Of course, of course!” Old Madam Xu nodded vigorously. “Since you are to marry Qingzhou, everything ought to be yours!”
“And there is more,” Fang Yao said, stopping her before she could leave. “Xu Manjiang slept with the wrong woman on his wedding night. The whole village knows of the scandal. By marrying Qingzhou, I am cleaning up the mess they made and I shall bear the whispers and the shame because of it. In all fairness, he owes us compensation. Let it be one thousand in total five hundred to me, and five hundred to Qingzhou.”
Since Xu Qingzhou had already agreed to place all household finances in her hands, splitting the sum was simply a way to make the payment easier for them to accept.
Even so, Old Madam Xu’s face fell visibly. She gripped her cane tightly and sighed.
“In all fairness you are right. But the betrothal gifts Manjiang gave you were borrowed from his maternal uncle. Even were he willing to pay, I fear he simply does not have the means.”
Fang Yao knew the truth perfectly well. Xu Manjiang’s family were farmers who earned their keep by the day; their means were nothing compared to Xu Qingzhou’s. Xu Manjiang’s true support came from his uncle a shrewd merchant who had struck it rich elsewhere. When he heard his nephew was to be married, he had handed over two thousand without blinking.
One thousand had gone to Fang Yao as betrothal gift. The other thousand remained safe in Wang Cuilian’s keeping. Now it remained to be seen which would she value more: her money, or her reputation?
“Surely where there is a will, there is a way, Grandmother,” Fang Yao said coolly. “Think on this: if I should refuse to marry Qingzhou and return home this very hour… then last night’s business will not be so easily laid to rest. Would you not agree?”