Shen Ru Jie had been waiting at the Drunken Immortal Tower for a long time.
He knew Xin Yi had gone to see Shen Gui, and she had even dressed up carefully and left happily. The wait was utter torment, jealousy piling up in his gut. His thin lips pressed into a line, his mood growing ever darker.
He had not touched the sugary pastries on the table. He clutched a cup of tasteless tea, wishing he could crush it.
She still had not returned. She had not come back.
What heartfelt words needed so long to say?
Were those letters she wrote to Shen Gui not enough?
Shen Ru Jie even felt himself ridiculous, pathetic and ridiculous.
Since he had seen that Xin Yi still thought of that man, why did he still refuse to let go? Clinging to her like this, possessing her, would only end up annoying her.
With a “bang,” the door to the private room was flung open hard.
Shen Ru Jie looked over at the sound and saw only a woman drenched through, emanating cold air. She collapsed miserably on the ground, frail and thin, like a drowned ghost just fished from the lake.
Xin Yi let out a pained groan. He rushed over immediately, scooped her up in panic yet tenderly, and carried her entirely into his arms to the beauty couch.
His tone was icy cold, yet carried a slight tremble. “What happened… Xin Yi, who bullied you!”
He wiped the water dripping constantly from her temples and cheeks, saw her tightly furrowed brows, and her eyes misty with vapor.
She had only then noticed the abnormal flush on her cheeks and neck, burning hot to the touch. Before he could react, the woman on the couch could no longer hold back. She rubbed her face against his cool hand, her sobs urgent, charming, and utterly without restraint.
What else did Shen Ru Jie not understand?
That beast Shen Gui! He actually dared to use such despicable tricks on Xin Yi. Death by a thousand cuts would not be enough!
The brazier in the room burned fiercely with charcoal. The youth stiffened, not daring to move. In mere moments, he felt hot air seeping from the slender shoulders he held in his arms, scorching his fingers painfully.
“A Jie, A Jie…” She called him again amid sobs, unaware of how soft and seductive her voice had become.
He felt as if he were holding a piece of burning coal.
Shen Ru Jie struggled to maintain his last shred of clarity. He restrained himself and pressed his forehead against her damp temple fringe, reminding her and himself, “Endure it a little longer, Xin Yi. Endure through tonight, or else…”
He closed his narrow phoenix eyes, his voice laced with bitter hoarseness. “Or else, you will regret it.”
But as soon as the words left his mouth, the woman impatiently wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed forward to kiss his lips.
Her slender arms clung to him like a plea. She kissed him haphazardly while murmuring pitifully through her sobs, “I ran back, ran back. I don’t want him, A Jie. I only want you.”
His last shred of clarity shattered completely.
The youth gasped and shut the door behind him tightly once more. Then he scooped up the woman clinging and nuzzling in his arms and carried her toward the bed draped in layers of silk curtains.
The red candle before the window flickered endlessly, burning away bit by bit.
The biting winter wind howled through the night. By the time dawn was about to break, the last fallen petals in the courtyard had withered away.
Xin Yi did not remember when she had passed out. She only knew that midway through, she had been fed water several times.
But when she woke, she was still thirsty, her throat dry and sore.
She tried to make a sound, but as expected, her voice was hoarse from crying all night. It was not unpleasant, but it served as proof of her shameful memories.
Shen Ru Jie was not beside her. The pillow next to her was empty.
She heard the sounds of maidservants sweeping outside and realized she had returned to the residence.
Unfortunately, Xin Yi now felt aches all over, as if her body was about to fall apart. Her waist and legs felt like they were not her own, and that place hurt indescribably.
She lay on the couch, weakly staring at the ceiling. She wore a robe that carried the youth’s scent, while her undergarments had long since disappeared somewhere.
After a moment, the door was pushed open from outside. The youth in black robes seemed to have just finished practicing swordplay in the courtyard.
When he met her resentful gaze, he paused slightly. Then his cheeks flushed belatedly, and his ears turned red.
Xin Yi asked him huffily, “Where are my undergarments! Why did you dress me in your clothes?”
She tried to prop herself up on her elbows to make her angry expression more imposing, but she accidentally tugged at her injury and let out a soft hiss of pain.
Shen Ru Jie hurried over to support her.
But she rejected his help and slapped his hand away. She bit her lip unhappily and asked again, “Where are my undergarments?”
“I washed them.”
The youth’s dark eyes fixed on her, shimmering with obsessive tenderness and a hint of shyness. “I washed them all. The bloodstains on the skirt hem might not come out if left too long.”
Xin Yi stared at him wide-eyed, then flushed belatedly as well.
Damn it, this kind of topic…
“Ding~ Congratulations to the host. Shen Ru Jie’s Favorability has risen to 95%! Just five percentage points left to complete the conquest task. Host, keep up the good work!!”
Xin Yi: “…”
This kind of topic was not so bad after all.
While she silently complained, the youth walked over, leaned down, and hugged her. His cool cheek obediently pressed against her neck, showing no trace of the scoundrel from last night. “Xin Yi, let’s get married. I want you to be my wife. I want it so badly, I wish we could hold the wedding ceremony today.”
“Xin Yi.”
“Xin Yi, Xin Yi, Xin Yi.”
Xin Yi, hugged tightly: “…”
Villains truly could not be slept with lightly. Once done, they clung on, pestering her to take responsibility first thing in the morning.
Of course, she had no intention of taking responsibility.
While he was still acting spoiled, she quickly found an excuse to turn the tables. “I’m exhausted and just woke up. You don’t ask if I’m hurting anywhere and keep saying these things. Do you not care about me at all?”
The youth lifted his black head from the crook of her neck and gazed at her. Then he rested his forehead against hers. “Does it hurt, then?”
His eyes were truly beautiful, like they held stars.
Xin Yi’s face reddened too. “Nonsense!”
How could it not hurt? She was in so much pain she felt half-dead. She had even felt a bit aggrieved upon waking without seeing him. Though this brainless fool had gone to wash her skirt.
“Then let me apply medicine for Xin Yi.”
“…”
Scram.
The one who found it hardest to accept after this incident was A Ying.
That day, after Xin Yi shooed away the overly clingy youth by her side, she called A Ying to prepare hot water for her bath. As soon as her clothes were undone, A Ying saw the mottled marks on her body and stared in disbelief, her eyes widening.
Then she cried.
She cried so heartbrokenly, as if Xin Yi were not bathing but about to die right then.
The little maidservant pouted and choked with sobs nonstop. After parting the waterfall of dark hair that draped over her shoulder, she asked even more tremulously, “Was it the Second Young Master? How could he do this to Miss!”
The skin of a young lady from a noble household was already snow-white and delicate, tender to the extreme. Even a light pinch would leave a red mark.
Moreover, the other party had not held back at all. After last night, she looked utterly tragic, like a beautiful painting that had been maliciously crumpled by the youth.
Xin Yi admitted it. “It was him.”
Besides that sickly little dog, who else loved to bite so much?
Thus, after wiping away her tears and helping her bathe, A Ying embarked on a journey of nagging every other day.
Xin Yi could recite those words by heart. They boiled down to the two of them being utterly incompatible, and this matter absolutely could not be known to outsiders. If rumors spread, everyone in the Capital City would curse her as a vixen, shameless.
Xin Yi’s ears were about to grow calluses from listening.
Later, whenever A Ying started nagging again, she pretended to be sleepy or thirsty, prompting A Ying to go do something else quickly.
At first, A Ying was reluctant and always tried to help her avoid Shen Ru Jie’s intimate entanglements.
Later, the little maidservant stopped caring. Instead, whenever she saw Shen Ru Jie enter her lady’s room, she turned and left as if she would grow needles in her eyes if she lingered.
A Ying felt bitter inside: She had accidentally walked in on him pressing Miss against the window frame to kiss her multiple times.
Kissing her lips, kissing her fingertips, looking utterly enamored as if he wanted to devour her.
So scary!
She did not even dare enter casually to comb Miss’s hair anymore.
On the night of New Year’s Eve, Xin Yi spent it with Shen Ru Jie. That day, they took a carriage to the streets to buy candied snacks, spring couplets, and red candles.
The youth insisted on holding her hand. His handsome face held obsessive dark eyes. Both wore thick snow-white fox fur cloaks, with wide sleeves edged in snow-white fur. Beneath the sleeves, their ten fingers intertwined tightly, impossible to shake off.
Shen Ru Jie’s fingers were much longer than hers. His cool fingertips reached her wrist, earning several dissatisfied glares from her.
Seeing this, the youth chuckled lowly and could not resist leaning in to kiss her, but she dodged.
But one could dodge the first but not the fifteenth.
Xin Yi felt she might have it even worse. She could not even escape during dinner before the youth coaxed her into falling into the gauze canopy.
The flower hairpin in her crow-black hair was rubbed off, as was her moon-white undergarment. Soon, she cried until she could not speak.
Shen Ru Jie pressed against her feverish forehead and laughed. “What to do? I’ve already lost my chastity completely. No other Little Lady will want me now. So, Xin Yi, you have to take responsibility for me.”
This was the villain complaining first!
She bit her lip in a daze, frowning with teardrops welling in her eyes. “That thing, you lost it long… long ago. You don’t even have any integrity.”
She did not know how much time passed, probably about two hours.
Xin Yi was held in his arms, her body carefully bathed with hot water. Aside from lingering soreness and lack of strength, she felt no other major discomfort.
She was just about to curse him as a bastard pup when she looked up and saw several thin, bloody scratches on the youth’s handsome profile and neck.
Her words caught abruptly, and most of her anger dissipated.
“I want to eat New Year’s fortune fruit.”
She made demands, determined to torment him. “And crab-stuffed oranges, a single steamer of golden milk pastry.”
The youth smiled, utterly indulgent. “Alright.”
He was already unreasonably handsome. Even with a cold face usually, he could attract Little Ladys. Now, he seemed deliberately designed to steal her soul.
“Want some Osmanthus Wine?” Shen Ru Jie asked again before leaving.
Xin Yi originally wanted to nod and say a little would be fine.
But thinking of something, her cheeks flushed strangely. She shook her head rapidly and firmly. “No, not a single sip more.”
Soon, Shen Ru Jie returned with a food box containing several dishes, all the ones she had named.
There were also a few she had not asked for, but they looked delicious.
The charcoal basin in the side room burned warmly, and the immortal cranes and phoenixes on the glazed lamp shade danced lively.
This was the first New Year’s Eve she had spent since entering this Small World. She was very happy, happier than she had imagined. Though it might also be her last.
Gazing at the youth beside her carefully picking fish bones for her with chopsticks, Xin Yi could not help recalling their first meeting.
The youth in black robes had a cold demeanor, rejecting and resisting the kindness she showed, even throwing her handkerchief into the rainwater.
There were sounds of A Ying and the matrons in the courtyard discussing how to paste paper cuttings and hang lanterns.
Farther away came the aroma of fireworks from the Capital City, and the crackle of firecrackers from other homes. At least tonight, everyone should have a home.
Xin Yi stared at Shen Ru Jie in a daze, as if a slight sourness struck somewhere in her heart.