Volume 1 Chapter 3: Illicit Affair
On their wedding night, the groom wasn’t in the bridal chamber being intimate with his bride, but was instead fooling around with another woman in the study?
The crowd didn’t know whether to sympathize with Yan Qing.
Or condemn Marquis Wu’an for failing to raise his son properly!
“Pah! It was all rumored that Heir Lu was deeply in love with the Second Miss Yan, yet who would have thought he’d commit such a filthy act on his wedding night? Truly makes us see him in a new light!”
The hot-tempered wife of the Vice Minister of Justice suddenly cursed aloud: “I want to see what kind of little seductress could tempt Heir Lu into such absurdity!”
“Vice Minister’s wife, you mustn’t!”
Madam Li tried to stop her, but the Vice Minister’s wife had already stepped forward and yanked the quilt off Lu Qiao Nan!
“Brother Qiao, save me!”
A woman’s panicked voice rang out, and Lu Qiao Nan instinctively shielded her in his arms.
The crowd instantly erupted in uproar!
There really was a woman hiding in Lu Qiao Nan’s embrace!
Though her face was buried in Lu Qiao Nan’s chest and her features couldn’t be seen, her disheveled clothes and the red marks on her neck all pointed to what had just transpired in the study!
Had Lu Qiao Nan truly been fooling around with a woman on his wedding night?!
Everyone was utterly shocked.
This was Lu Qiao Nan!
The radiant, principled Lu Qiao Nan who had always maintained his integrity! The Lu Qiao Nan who was madly in love with the Second Miss Yan!
Who in the capital didn’t know that to ensure Second Miss Yan could have a glorious wedding, Lu Qiao Nan had knelt all night before the Prince of Qi’s mansion, begging the prince to take him to the battlefield?
He wanted to use military merit to add to Yan Er’s dowry!
Yet on his wedding day, he was fooling around with another woman in the study? Even causing a fire?
The guests all wore expressions of disbelief, completely unable to accept that the man praised throughout all of Yongjing would do something so outrageous!
“You disgrace!”
Marquis Wu’an’s face turned pale with rage, and he slapped Lu Qiao Nan hard across the face: “What have you done? Utterly shameful!”
A joyous occasion had turned into a scene of catching adulterers—he had nowhere to hide his old face.
Lu Qiao Nan’s head snapped to the side from the blow, and his eyes met Yan Qing’s dark gaze.
“Qingqing…”
He instinctively moved toward Yan Qing.
But the woman in his arms suddenly grabbed him, lifting a tear-streaked face: “Brother Qiao, are you going to abandon Tan’er?”
Lu Qiao Nan froze, looking down at the woman’s face.
Suddenly, a splitting headache struck him.
“Marquis, why are you hitting Nan’er?” Madam Li couldn’t bear to see her son suffer and immediately stepped forward to shield him: “Don’t you know Nan’er’s character? He would never do such a thing!”
She turned and seized the woman in Lu Qiao Nan’s arms: “It must be this wretched maid seducing Nan’er. Let me tear her apart… It’s you!”
Madam Li gasped in shock.
Everyone looked at the woman.
When Yan Tan’s enchanting, alluring face was revealed before their eyes, all eyes widened in disbelief!
“Isn’t this…”
The Vice Minister of Justice’s wife instantly turned cold: “Heir Lu is quite the talent—marrying the younger sister, yet still wanting the elder sister. Are you afraid the Yan family’s daughters won’t find husbands?”
Marquis Wu’an and Madam Li were also stunned.
They had thought it was some shameless maid trying to seduce her master and climb the ranks, but it turned out to be the eldest daughter of the Yan family—Yan Qing’s half-sister and sister-in-law!
How could they reprimand her now?
Everyone turned their gaze to Yan Qing.
This legitimate daughter of the Minister of Revenue’s household, whose maternal grandfather was a three-dynasty elder statesman, had been excessively pampered since childhood, known for her aloof and flamboyant nature. She would usually make a huge fuss over the slightest grievance.
Yet today, she hadn’t uttered a single word?
Yan Tan also hadn’t expected Yan Qing to be so quiet.
Based on her understanding of Yan Qing, Yan Qing should have rushed forward to fight her at this moment, then recklessly escalate the matter to her father or even the Emperor. Why was she so composed?
"Little sister, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"So you did it intentionally?"
Yan Tan's tearful expression faltered slightly as she secretly glanced at Yan Qing.
Yan Qing sat calmly in her chair, dressed in her wedding attire.
Her expression was cool and detached, showing no signs of anger.
Yan Tan's eyes flickered with surprise. Yan Qing liked Lu Qiao Nan so much—why hadn't she erupted in fury upon seeing her with Lu Qiao Nan?
She wept and approached, collapsing at Yan Qing's feet: "Little sister, I know I've wronged you, but Qiao brother and I truly love each other…"
As she bowed her head to wipe her tears, her slender neck was exposed.
The scattered red marks caused everyone to gasp in shock. The female guests present flushed with embarrassment. The wife of the Deputy Minister of Justice even spat out a curse, calling her a shameless fox!
Unaware, Yan Tan leaned her neck closer to Yan Qing, planning to say a few more words to provoke her, when suddenly her neck felt a chill.
Yan Tan inexplicably felt a pang of anxiety.
She saw Yan Qing's cold fingers touch her neck.
Looking at those marks of intimacy, Yan Qing's eyes revealed scorn. Her half-sister indeed understood her well enough.
If it were in her previous life, she would surely have been driven mad with rage.
Her fingertips brushed over the evidence of Lu Qiao Nan's betrayal, then Yan Qing suddenly grasped Yan Tan's chin, forcing her to look up.
The scheming in Yan Tan's eyes—
Was now clearly exposed in Yan Qing's gaze.
Yan Qing curved her lips and said: "Sister, didn't Madam Zhen tell you that illicit union without proper marriage rites is akin to beasts? Since you've acted like a beast, you should be taken to be drowned in a pig cage…"
Yan Tan's eyes widened abruptly.
Yan Qing commanded coldly: "Servants, seize the eldest young lady."
Everything happened in an instant.
By the time everyone reacted, Qing Luan had already led people to bind Yan Tan and, quite skillfully, gagged her mouth.
The guests: "…"
Yan Tan panicked inwardly.
Yan Qing's reaction was completely beyond her expectations!
Seeing herself about to be taken away, she began struggling violently, making muffled noises incessantly.
Yet in such a matter, who dared intervene?
Moreover, it was such a disgraceful, immoral affair?
If this happened in another household, anyone daring to seduce one's husband would have been beaten to death by the mistress long ago. Although Yan Qing wasn't the mistress of the Marquisate, being betrayed by her husband on the first day of marriage—without crying, raging, or attempting suicide—was already a blessing for Wu'an Marquis Manor!
The guests all sided with Yan Qing.
So now, when Yan Qing intended to take Yan Tan to be drowned in a pig cage, not only did they not consider it excessive, but they greatly praised her for acting with propriety, displaying the demeanor of a noble household.
Marquis Wu'an looked at Yan Tan, then at Yan Qing, urgently saying: "Daughter-in-law, this is your half-sister…"
Yan Qing calmly lifted her gaze: "Is the Marquis protecting her?"
"This…"
Marquis Wu'an was rebutted into speechlessness.
He glared fiercely at his disappointing son. Fooling around with a woman on the wedding night was already bad enough—why choose the bride's half-sister? If it were a maid, she could be beaten and killed, but Yan Tan was Yan Junyuan's precious darling. If Yan Qing truly bound her to be drowned in a pig cage, Yan Junyuan would surely fight him to the death!
Marquis Wu'an immediately dispatched someone to Yan's residence to summon Yan Junyuan.
Only Yan Junyuan could stop Yan Qing.
"Mmm! Mmm!"
Yan Tan pleaded toward Lu Qiao Nan's direction.
Lu Qiao Nan hung his head low, lost in thought, appearing distracted and unsettled.
Yan Qing looked at him coldly and ordered someone to escort Yan Tan away.
"Thump!"
Just as Yan Tan was about to be dragged out of the courtyard, Lu Qiao Nan knelt down!
Everyone was startled by his action.
Only Yan Qing showed no surprise on her face.
She pursed her lips, her crimson lips curling into a sarcastic yet inexplicably sorrowful smile.