Suddenly being grabbed by the throat, Shen Wangshu was so startled that a curse nearly slipped out. She looked at Chen Ting in shock, never expecting such an intense reaction from him.
The cold black-iron hand guard pressed against her skin. With just a little force from those sharp fingertips, he could have ended her life on the spot. She didn’t dare move at all. Tears welled up uncontrollably, her eyes reddening as she looked at him.
A tear slipped down without warning. Even through the layer of black iron, Chen Ting seemed as if he’d been burned. He immediately loosened his grip, a trace of regret flashing through his eyes.
A conspicuous red mark appeared on the beauty’s slender, pale neck. Once freed, she retreated several steps in panic, watching him warily. The gentle smile that had been in her eyes before was gone.
Chen Ting suddenly didn’t dare meet her gaze anymore. He turned his head away awkwardly. The two of them stood in silence for a moment, neither willing to speak.
In the end, it was the man who left the pavilion, leaving Shen Wangshu alone.
“…You were the one who wanted to ask, and when I answered, you got angry.” After he left, she couldn’t help muttering under her breath, “So it’s all my fault again? Jerk.”
She had meant well, trying to help him vent his frustration. Instead, after a few cups of wine, Chen Ting took it out on her. Anger flared in Shen Wangshu’s heart. Fine, I’m done humoring you. I’ve spoiled you too much.
From afar, the maids had seen some movement in the pavilion. They only knew that the general seemed to have lost his temper and then left in a hurry, but they had no idea what the two had said.
As soon as he left, they hurried over anxiously.
Seeing the mark on her mistress’s neck, Taohong’s eyes reddened with distress, and she was so anxious that she even changed how she addressed her. “Miss, did the general lay hands on you just now?! How could he do that?”
Shen Wangshu couldn’t see the mark herself. When she had been grabbed, she was so tense she hadn’t even felt pain. She hadn’t expected this body to be so delicate that it would bruise so easily.
Facing the worried looks of the maids, she suppressed her anger and shook her head calmly. “I’m fine. Let’s go back.”
That hateful Chen Ting—if she ever took the initiative to talk to him again, she’d write her surname backward!
Walking beside her, Taohong fretted and said tearfully, “Tomorrow is the day you return to your natal home. How could you quarrel with the general tonight? Are you going to return to the Xiahou residence alone tomorrow?”
All of Moyun— even the capital—had countless eyes secretly watching. If the young madam really returned to her parents’ home alone tomorrow, who knew what kind of gossip would spread?
Shen Wangshu froze. If Taohong hadn’t mentioned it, she would have forgotten about the return visit altogether. Without realizing it, she had already been married into the ducal residence for seven days.
“Alone it is, then,” she said angrily. “Not only will I go back alone, I’ll stay at the Xiahou residence for several days.”
As if she cared so much about staying by the side of that moody, unpredictable man.
Lüliu advised softly, “Miss, you really shouldn’t act out of anger.”
Nanny Liang’s face had already darkened as she listened. “A woman must take her husband as her—”
She had only just begun when Shen Wangshu interrupted her. “Take the husband as heaven, take the husband as heaven—I know! But this time Chen Ting was the one who lost his mind first! Nanny, stop talking. I don’t want to hear a single word!”
She was truly angry and wronged now and didn’t want to hear any lecturing.
Seeing that the usually gentle madam was angry with her for the first time, Nanny Liang sighed and didn’t dare say anything more.
By the time they returned to the room, Shen Wangshu’s overheated mind had mostly cooled down. She bathed as usual, using the fragrant milk soap. By the time she had combed her hair and was ready for bed, Chen Ting still hadn’t returned.
The past few days, whether eating or sleeping, Shen Wangshu had deliberately waited for him. Tonight, however, she refused to do so. If he didn’t come back, so be it. She had Wutong blow out the lamp and rolled herself up in the quilt, turning toward the very inside.
Late at night, only after washing himself with cold water in the side room did Chen Ting appear at the door.
Taohong, who was on night duty, immediately snapped awake from her drowsiness. Remembering how the general had seemed to hurt her mistress in the pavilion, she hesitated for a moment, then bravely knelt in front of Chen Ting and pleaded in a low voice, “General, the madam will be returning to her natal home tomorrow. If there’s any displeasure, could it wait until after she comes back?”
Chen Ting glanced at the foolhardy maid and said coldly, “Move aside.”
She must have seen something earlier. What did she mean by that? Did she think he would go in and hit someone?
Chen Ting had always disdained explaining himself to irrelevant people, but seeing someone from Shen Wangshu’s side, he uncharacteristically added one more sentence. “I won’t do anything.”
He had said before that he would sleep in the room from now on, and Shen Wangshu had agreed herself.
And tomorrow was her return visit—why hadn’t she told him anything at all? Was it because she didn’t trust him, so she never intended to let him accompany her?
The more Chen Ting thought about it, the worse he felt.
He stepped past Taohong and quietly pushed the door open. The candles inside had already been extinguished. After what he had done tonight, she really hadn’t waited for him and had gone to sleep.
Since their marriage, she had always slept on the inside. Chen Ting had never minded, but now, seeing the small figure curled up in the corner, he suddenly felt uncomfortable.
So he reached out and moved her to the middle of the bed, closer to himself.
Shen Wangshu was a light sleeper. Being moved like that, she immediately startled awake. Opening her eyes, she met a pair of dark, gleaming eyes and froze. After a long moment, she spoke hoarsely, “My lord, you’re back.”
Chen Ting looked at the sleepy, soft, delicate little beauty before him. His heart had completely calmed down. He gave a quiet acknowledgment and then said softly, “About tonight… I’m sorry.”
Still half-asleep, Shen Wangshu heard those words and widened her eyes in surprise. “What did you say?”
Say that again and she wouldn’t be sleepy anymore.
“I’m sorry. I took my anger out on you tonight and hurt you,” Chen Ting repeated plainly. Seeing the red mark on her neck, his guilt deepened.
He had only seen an investigation report. Without asking her a single question, he had treated her like that.
It was right for her to be angry with him. It was also right for him to apologize. There was nothing more to it.
Shen Wangshu sat up, not even noticing when her inner robe was rumpled and slipped off her shoulder. She clearly saw the guilt and regret in his eyes. Letting out a soft snort, she said, “If you don’t explain things clearly, I won’t forgive you.”
Did he think she was that easy to placate—just one apology and it was over? Had she been grabbed for nothing tonight?
At the very least, she needed to know what on earth this man had been losing his mind over.
From outside came the watchman’s call—it was already deep into the night, yet neither of them felt any sleepiness.
Chen Ting lowered his gaze slightly, pulled her clothes back up, and asked, “I uncovered some things… setting everything else aside, are you willing to tell me your true identity?”
They’d been married a whole week, and only now had he thought to investigate her background.
Shen Wangshu had never expected to be able to hide it anyway. The old madam had probably known from the start and said nothing because she didn’t mind. She answered truthfully, “My original surname was Shen—the Shen of the Marquis of Yongning’s household.”