“Don’t move.”
Wei Linyě gave a low warning, not releasing her. Instead, he pressed her head against his chest.
“……”
Faced with his domineering behavior, Liu Muli no longer felt the sweetness she had in her previous life. Instead, she was simply speechless.
She had wanted to say that she was no longer sleepy so she could refuse his cuddling, but remembering what Huang Shi had said, she swallowed the words and closed her eyes, resting against him.
Before long, she fell asleep again.
Wei Linyě lowered his eyes and glanced at her. He could see her peaceful, beautiful sleeping face. Her fair cheeks still had a touch of baby-soft plumpness. Her nose was not particularly high, but the tip was small and delicately upturned, while her long, curled lashes seemed almost capable of tugging at a person’s heartstrings.
Unable to resist, he lowered his head and kissed her forehead.
He secretly thought that after taking her shopping today and buying all the things she liked, she should have gotten over her anger by now, right?
Of course, Liu Muli certainly had not gotten over it.
With the grudges from her previous life between them, how could she possibly let go?
When they returned home, Huang Shi did not blame them for spending so extravagantly despite seeing how many things they had bought. Instead, she was delighted and praised Wei Linyě for doing the right thing.
Liu Muli secretly sighed again.
Ah, such a kind and wonderful mother-in-law. I simply don’t have the fortune to have her.
That night, Wei Linyě climbed into her bed again.
Liu Muli really could not stand it anymore, so she asked him, “When exactly are you leaving for the capital?”
The night was pitch-black. Although Wei Linyě could not see her expression clearly, he could still detect the impatience and urgency in her voice, and his mood sank.
His voice turned cold. “What? Are you looking forward to me leaving as soon as possible?”
Of course. I can’t wait for you to leave.
She did not say it aloud. In the darkness, a cold smile appeared on her face.
After a moment, Liu Muli put on a considerate tone and said, “You said before that the journey to the capital is a long one and that you needed to leave several days early. You had also decided to set out on the first day of the eighth month, but it’s already the sixth. I’m only worried about you and afraid you’ll miss the timing.”
Wei Linyě’s voice grew colder and sharper.
“Heh. Since you care so much about me, why are you unwilling to go to the capital with me?”
Remembering the impatience in her voice just now, he did not believe her words in the slightest.
He simply could not understand why this girl was suddenly so determined to distance herself from him and quarrel with him.
After all, when she had returned twenty days ago, she had still been smiling brightly whenever she faced him, and she had been especially affectionate with him when they were alone.
Hearing his question, Liu Muli unconsciously clenched both hands around the thin quilt covering her.
Of course, she could not tell him the real reason. Suppressing the coldness in her eyes, she replied calmly, “It’s the same as I said before. I’m afraid that my crude and unsophisticated appearance will embarrass you and cause trouble for you. I don’t dare go.”
Then, afraid that he would continue pressing her on the matter, she added against her true feelings, “I’ll just stay at home and wait for you to come back, together with Mother.”
Only after hearing this did the knot in Wei Linyě’s heart loosen somewhat, and he stopped questioning her.
The room suddenly fell into a deathly silence. The deep, ink-black night seemed impossible to dispel.
Liu Muli closed her eyes and went to sleep.
She did not know how much time passed before she finally sank into a deep sleep.
But then she dreamed again.
It was practically a nightmare.
She dreamed once more of everything that had happened in her previous life—the sweetness after their marriage, their countless arguments, then the Princess of Anyang’s constant provocations and contempt toward her.
And later, she dreamed of her miscarriage.
Her child had only been three months old when it had died unjustly because of her.
Yet the child’s father had so casually let the whole matter of the child being harmed pass.
Endless grievances and bitterness surged through her like boiling water in a pot, scalding her heart with unbearable pain.
In the dream, she cried her heart out.
Outside the dream, low sobs escaped her lips, tears slipping from the corners of her eyes.
Wei Linyě was awakened by the sound of her crying.
The person in his arms was sobbing softly again and again, as though crying out about some terrible pain.
His heart clenched.
In an unusually gentle voice, he called to her, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?”
But even after a long while, there was no response from the person in his arms, only quiet sobbing.
Only then did he realize that she had not yet awakened.
He carefully withdrew his hand, sat up, and struck a flint to light the oil lamp.
Although the lamplight was dim and yellow, it was enough for him to see the tear tracks on her face. Her slender willow-shaped brows were slightly furrowed, and he could still see the struggle she could not completely conceal.
“A-Li, don’t be afraid. I’m here.”
Wei Linyě lay half-upright beside her, propping himself up with one elbow on the bed while gently patting her back with his other hand. His voice was far gentler than usual as he tried to soothe her.
But Liu Muli, still trapped in the nightmare, could not hear him.
In the dream, after she had breathed her last, she saw her personal maid, Huaying, crying desperately. Then Huaying found a dagger and drove it straight into her own chest.
Blood gushed out.
Liu Muli’s body suddenly trembled, and she jolted awake.
The dim, yellow lamplight illuminated the panic and anguish on her face.
“What happened? Did you dream of something frightening?”
A deep, familiar voice sounded beside her.
It was Wei Linyě’s voice.
Liu Muli had not yet recovered from the horrifying and sorrowful nightmare. The moment she raised her eyes and saw his face, she immediately recoiled, putting some distance between them.
Unable to conceal her hatred, the resentment filling her chest drove her to kick him viciously.
She kicked him straight off the bed.
Wei Linyě took the blow hard and fell to the floor. Several places on his body throbbed with pain.
He got up, dusted the dirt from his clothes, then used a handkerchief dampened with water to wipe his hands clean. His expression had darkened as well.
“Liu Muli!”
He gritted out her name angrily. Standing beside the bed, he stared at her with an extremely grim expression.
“How dare you kick me? You’ve gotten quite bold, haven’t you?”
“So what if I kicked you? I wish I could stab you to death with a knife!”
Tears still clung to the corners of Liu Muli’s eyes, and her gaze toward him was icy with hatred.
“You bastard! You miserable son of a tortoise! Shameless bastard! You piece of trash!”
Liu Muli’s subconscious was still trapped in her previous life. Every word she cursed at him came straight from the depths of her heart, filled with bitter hatred and resentment.
Wei Linyě’s expression abruptly changed, becoming even darker as anger surged through his chest.
But when he saw the hatred filling her eyes, he ultimately suppressed his anger and gritted out, “Liu Muli, what did I do to upset you this time for no reason?”
“Damn you! Give me my child back!”
Her hatred was so overwhelming that Liu Muli moved toward him again. She knelt beside the bed in front of him and raised her hand, viciously slapping him across the face.
But Wei Linyě caught the meaning behind her words.
He did not even have time to care about the slap. He grabbed her shoulders with both hands, his gaze dropping to her lower abdomen.
“A-Li, you’re pregnant?”
His voice betrayed an unmistakable panic.
“What happened to the child? Why didn’t you say anything when we went to the medicine shop in town yesterday? Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere now?”
His voice was no longer as cold and heavy as it had been when he was angry moments ago. Instead, it was filled with nervousness and gentleness.
Liu Muli gradually calmed down.
Suddenly, she remembered that she had already been reborn.
She was in the countryside of Yongning County, at the Wei family home—not in the Wei residence in the capital.