By the time they returned to the marquis manor, both of their clothes were completely soaked through.
With Shen Ru Jie, who had exceptional lightness skill, there, they naturally did not need to go through the main gate. Xin Yi only heard one sentence in her ear—“I was rude to Sister-in-law”—before her waist was encircled and her feet lightly left the ground.
Xin Yi thought to herself, ‘Not rude at all, not rude at all. It saved me 400 points, after all.’
In her daze, she felt a bit dizzy. By the time she came back to her senses, she had already safely landed in the courtyard.
The surroundings were desolate and chilly. A crooked persimmon tree grew in front of the peeling vermilion window frames, and aside from that, there was nothing else.
It was Shen Ru Jie’s courtyard.
The Melodramatic Transmigration System could not help but sigh. “He really doesn’t know how to cherish the fair sex. Otherwise, he should have sent the host back to her courtyard first—at least let you change out of these wet clothes.”
It was no wonder it said that. Xin Yi was soaked like a drowned rat. Although she still tried to maintain a strong facade, her lips had already turned slightly pale and were trembling—perhaps from the cold.
Xin Yi heard this and gave a resigned polite smile. “You’re right, but with only 25% favorability, how much consideration can we expect from him?”
These were also the words she used to console herself. There was no helping it—the yandere villain was even harder to conquer than she had imagined. In the truest sense, the path ahead was long and arduous.
Meanwhile, the youth had already pushed open the door and then turned his head to invite her in. “Please come in, Sister-in-law.”
At that moment, Xin Yi made no pretentious refusals and directly followed him into Shen Ru Jie’s room.
The candlelight in the room was lit, and soon, the youth brought over a small basin of charcoal fire, lit it, and placed it in front of Xin Yi.
Water dripped nonstop from where both of them stood, with the difference that Shen Ru Jie’s was faintly bloodstained water.
He still wore a set of black clothes as usual, but the wound was tightly wrapped with a glaring light-colored silk cloth. Although it was still seeping blood, it was clearly much better than it had been in the stables.
Xin Yi lowered her head to look at her own skirt, which was stained with blood and torn. She lamented that this skirt, which she had worn only a few times, was now completely ruined.
Shen Ru Jie’s gaze fell on her. The woman’s skirt clung to her skin without a single gap due to the rain, outlining her slender waist that could be grasped with one hand.
Her eyes were slightly moist, giving off a pitiful yet alluring charm.
The next second, Xin Yi sneezed.
Her already pale little face looked even more fragile, causing Shen Ru Jie to subconsciously furrow his brow.
Clearly, he was the one suffering from serious injuries at that moment, but he just felt that the woman in front of him needed care more.
A strange, inexplicable emotion arose in Shen Ru Jie’s heart. Before he could figure it out, he had already instinctively fetched two sets of clothes from the bedroom and handed them to her. “They’re both new; I haven’t worn them. If Sister-in-law doesn’t mind, please change into them first.”
Xin Yi reached out to take them, peeled them open to look, and then gazed at him with puzzled eyes. “Why… give me two sets of clothes?”
The youth glanced at her again, then quickly looked away. He pursed his lips and said indifferently, “Your hair is wet. Dry it.”
Xin Yi: “Oh.”
She obediently went to change. The original host’s body had been soaked in the rain for too long and might really catch a cold.
Shen Ru Jie’s room was extremely spartan. Aside from the desk and bed, there was nothing extra. However, there was a clear pine wood fragrance, mainly wafting from the extinguished incense burner—Xiaoxiang.
This surprised Xin Yi a bit. After all, the other party did not seem the least bit refined, yet he used incense?
Upon second thought, she felt it made sense.
She could not ignore the fact that he was a young master from an aristocratic family just because he killed people like chopping vegetables.
Xin Yi quickly changed her clothes. She first roughly dried the water from her black hair.
Then, she carefully bundled up the undergarments and intimates she had changed out of, wrapping them inside the skirt and outer robe to ensure they would not be seen, before walking out.
Shen Ru Jie had been applying medicine to himself by candlelight.
He turned at the sound of footsteps, then was stunned by the sight of Xin Yi, whose sleeves and pant legs were rolled up several times.
His frame was tall, and his build was much broader than hers.
The clothes hung loosely on her body; even tied at the waist with a cord, they were still excessively baggy.
Xin Yi walked over and gently took the medicine paste from his hand. Her smoky, watery eyes looked toward him. “Second Young Master is badly injured and cannot easily reach his shoulders. Let me help you apply the medicine and bandage it.”
Her words sounded very pleasant, but in truth, she did not know the first thing about applying medicine.
She just wanted to use this indirect physical contact to try raising his favorability.
There was a saying: a skilled artist dares greatly.
She had not known how before, but that did not mean she did not now. It was just applying medicine—probably no different from plastering a wall.
Xin Yi thought this way, but when she actually got to it, she still drew in a sharp breath.
New and old wounds intertwined on the youth’s shoulder and back; in places where blood flowed nonstop, even the flesh was flipped open.
The system saw her freeze for a long time. “What is the host thinking?”
Xin Yi: “A bit faint from blood.”
“I thought you were craving his body.”
Xin Yi nearly bit her tongue. “P-pervert! He’s practically a bloodied mess—why would I crave his body!”
Although the youth’s body was indeed very beautiful, with a waist like a thin blade and beautifully structured bones and sinews. But no matter how perverted, one could not have such crooked thoughts toward someone currently drenched in blood!
Xin Yi felt her integrity had been insulted, and her face flushed red with anger.
“Sister-in-law?” The youth’s posture was gentle and docile, seemingly puzzled why she had not started. He called to her in that clear, cold voice.
Xin Yi: Damn…
She seemed a bit perverted after all.
With a complicated mood of self-doubt, she finished applying medicine to the youth. Because she was too clumsy with the bandaging and did not know the right pressure, she seemed to hear faint suppressed gasps near her ear.
By the time everything was done, two incense sticks’ worth of time had passed.
The rain outside had gradually stopped, and the moon floated out from behind the thick clouds. The courtyard filled with the earthy scent of grass and soil after rain.
Shen Ru Jie stood up from the sandalwood couch, his dark eyes looking toward her. “I’ll see Sister-in-law back.”
Birds chirped noisily, gathering under the clear eaves—it was evidently fine weather.
If not for going to bed too late the previous night and being utterly exhausted, Xin Yi should have gotten up by now to study.
The system still had some humanity and knew she had worked hard on the task, so it did not wake her as usual. A Ying saw she was still sleeping and naturally did not disturb her.
Thus, for the first time in these days, Xin Yi slept until she woke naturally. By the time she opened her eyes, the sun was well up in the sky.
The good news was: upon waking, Shen Ru Jie’s favorability had risen by two percentage points.
The bad news was: as expected, she had caught a cold.
Xin Yi felt utterly tragic: the original host really had the body of a delicate lady and the fate of one, without a single golden finger.
The system comforted her. “That’s already considered having a golden finger; otherwise, it would not be just a cold.”
After washing up, A Ying did not even have time to change the flowers in the porcelain vase before going to boil ginger soup for her.
Xin Yi’s nose was terribly stuffy; she kept sneezing and blowing her nose.
After a while, she sat tearfully on the edge of the bed and asked the system, “Why did I do the same thing as Zheng Wu, but Shen Ru Jie’s favorability only rose to 27%?”
If the villain was this hard to conquer, how had Zheng Wu in the original plot made him fall deeply in love?
The system pondered for a moment and said what it thought was profound. “Perhaps because after the host enters the game, the originally fictional world becomes even more real.”
Xin Yi: “…”
There was no need to make it this real.
Due to the cold, Xin Yi spent the next two days behaving herself in her own courtyard, recuperating while listening to the audiobooks that came with the system. She did not wander in front of Shen Gui anymore.
After drinking ginger tea and eating snacks, the days were fairly leisurely.
However, she was not the only one feeling leisurely.
Shen Gui was also leisurely. Without her entanglement and disturbance, he could finally go to his outer residence to pour out his affections.
When Xin Yi heard the system say he had gone to the suburban villa to see Zheng Wu again, her hand paused while blowing her nose.
She could not help but feel envious. “That dog of a man has it good—beautiful wife and charming concubine, all of it.”
The system was honest. “Not entirely; at least you’re preparing to cuckold him with a green hat.”
And after picking the wrong side in the faction war, his end was quite miserable.
Hearing the system say this, Xin Yi’s heart finally balanced a bit.
She picked up a candied fruit from the dish and put it in her mouth, sighing in mock sympathy. “Is that so? How pitiful.”
At the villa outside the Capital City.
With a beauty by his side, the scenery was pleasant. The pond behind the rockery drew from a living spring; even as the weather grew cold, fish happily frolicked in it.
Zheng Wu had not seen Shen Gui for several days and had been a bit sullen.
But when he hurried over this morning, set aside his marquis’s dignity, and softly explained that he had been busy with official duties, she had no more temper.
What she cared most about was Shen Gui’s love.
As long as his heart was full of her, it was sweeter than the richest honey in the world.
Perhaps the two shared a tacit understanding—Zheng Wu had deliberately dressed up today, styling her hair in the most fashionable updo among Capital City women. She was young to begin with, her powdered face blooming like peach blossoms, utterly captivating.
But she noticed Shen Gui was a bit distracted. During lunch together, he kept staring at the indigo garment she wore.
So she coquettishly smiled in a dazed manner and asked, “Does the marquis like this garment on your concubine? Otherwise, why keep spacing out and not eat properly?”
Shen Gui came back to his senses and met Zheng Wu’s charmingly naive face with a coquettish reproach. But in his mind, he could not help but think of another woman.
He recalled that Xin Yi had also worn the same color, though one was satin and the other shark gauze; one was innocently naive, the other gentle and refined.
Shen Gui did not know what had come over him to compare A Wu and Xin Yi.
At that moment, a subtle guilt arose in his heart.
So he reached out to stroke A Wu’s face, pulled her to sit on his lap and held her, intimately whispering words only the two of them could hear. “I still have to return to the manor tonight for official business. Let’s rest early later.”
Zheng Wu understood his implication, and her face blushed bright red. “How is the marquis always thinking about that…”
That shy and annoyed look fully expressed the young girl’s amorous posture.
Shen Gui laughed and scooped her up horizontally, carrying her into the courtyard room behind.
By the time he returned to the marquis manor from the suburban villa, night had fully fallen.
After finishing dinner as usual and planning to go to the study, he saw Xin Yi waiting on the bluestone steps.
She wore a crimson garment—the deepest shade of rouge.
But on her, it did not seem vulgar at all. Instead, it was pure and elegant, exuding an indescribable grace, very much like the scholarly air of an official’s daughter.
After several days without seeing her, she seemed to have lost some weight.
Shen Gui slowly walked over and pondered for a moment. “These past two days… I had matters to attend to, so I did not visit you. Is the cold better?”
The woman nodded weakly upon hearing this, a faint smile gathering at her lips. “Much better, thank you for your concern, Marquis.”
Seeing her obedient appearance, Shen Gui’s heart softened involuntarily.
Just as he wanted to instruct her a bit more, he was interrupted by a manservant who hurried over with an anxious and uneasy expression. “Marquis! Marquis, something bad happened…”
The manservant was pale with fright and paid no mind to Xin Yi’s presence. “The maid at the villa said A Wu has been unwell since eating a few pieces of osmanthus cake. By evening, she started vomiting. A doctor has been called right now. Marquis… Marquis, please go see her quickly!”
Shen Gui’s tone suddenly turned cold and heavy. “What osmanthus cake?”
The manservant was also flustered. “According to the maid, it seems it was the osmanthus cake the marquis brought.”
Shen Gui remembered that before he left that day, he had run into Xin Yi’s maidservant A Ying, who came to deliver pastries, saying they were personally made by the madam for the marquis to try.
He was in a hurry and took them to A Wu.
A Wu thought they were specially for her and opened them to eat right away. Shen Gui had wanted to stop her but then let it go.
Fine.
It was just a plate of pastries; if A Wu wanted to eat them, she could. He had not expected this.
He subconsciously looked toward the “culprit” beside him. In extreme disappointment, his tone amounted to a rebuke. “Wu Xin Yi, I never expected you to be so vicious.”
“Tell this marquis what exactly you put in that plate of osmanthus cake!”
Xin Yi seemed frightened and, after a long while, managed to explain with a pale face.
However, the other party had no mind to listen to her defense at all. He flicked his sleeves and stormed off in a hurry, had the servants harness the horses, and headed toward the Capital Suburbs.
The maids and servants who witnessed this all pretended to lower their heads and sweep the grounds.
But those gazes filled with sympathetic sighs landed on her like knives, making her feel utterly humiliated.
Her tears fell drop by drop to the ground. She had not even noticed when Shen Ru Jie had approached.
It was not until the youth frowned and called out “Sister-in-law” that she lost consciousness and fainted into his arms.