Xin Yi couldn’t answer him at all. Her slender neck arched like jade, whimpering. Her lips bit deep marks, and her ears could only hear the creaking of the bed.
By the time the goose pear incense in the tent burned out, the goose-feather snow falling in the night had also stopped.
As dawn gradually brightened, the accumulated snow in the courtyard began to melt slowly, but it was still very cold. It was so cold that the maid holding the broom sneezed.
In the room, Xin Yi was sneezing too.
While sneezing, she scowled and pushed away Shen Ru Jie’s hand that wanted to help her tie her undergarments. She didn’t know what had gotten into him last night. Not only had he deliberately woken her, but he had shown no mercy at all during the process.
It might have felt good at first, but afterward, there was only numbness and pain.
Trying to move her legs, she paled and slowly exhaled a cold breath.
Then, in a tone of forbearance and anger, she said to the youth beside her, who looked guilty and wanted to hug her, “Don’t touch me. At least until after dinner, I don’t want to talk to you.”
After dinner, night rain began to drizzle.
These past few days had been snow then rain, the biting chill seeming to drill into people’s necks through their jackets. A Ying was afraid she would catch another cold and specially wrapped her in a thicker cloak.
It was wrapped especially tightly, almost covering half her face.
Xin Yi delicately pinched a piece of candied pastry from the dish and ate it carefully, afraid crumbs would fall on her collar.
Until a young servant came to say that Shen Ru Jie had called her to the study, saying there was a surprise waiting for her.
Xin Yi: “…”
He had better really have a surprise.
Her separate courtyard wasn’t far from the study—just the time for two incense sticks to burn—but because the rain was pouring heavily.
Her and her maid supported each other carefully, so the two incense sticks’ journey stretched into four or five.
When they finally arrived in front of the study, Xin Yi suddenly froze.
She saw Shen Gui drenched and disheveled, hands bound behind him as he knelt on the ground. His long fingers were twisted, his leg bones too. The shattered joints oozed blood that mixed into the drizzling rainwater. At a glance, it could only evoke the word “cruel.”
Only then did she become even more acutely aware: Right, Shen Ru Jie had never been a good person. He had no mercy or compassion, held grudges, and was vindictive.
He was a very typical villain.
She couldn’t help but frown as she held her umbrella and walked to Shen Gui’s side. The man, weakened to the extreme from pain, lifted his head with red eyes. His lips were bitten open, and blood flowed down his chin.
A Ying was so frightened that she let out an “Ah!” and nearly dropped the umbrella in her hand, shrinking back as if she were about to cry.
Xin Yi also drew in a sharp breath and retreated two steps in horror.
She knew that Shen Gui had not treated Shen Ru Jie well in the past. What goes around comes around; it was only right for him to hate Shen Gui.
But seeing this excessively cruel scene still sent chills from head to toe. It was not just stiffness; she felt a physiological dizziness.
“A Ying…”
Before she could finish her words, the door of the study was pushed open. The young man’s obedient and clingy voice drifted through the rain curtain. “Xin Yi.”
It was even somewhat syrupy, like honey melting in a brazier.
But Xin Yi felt a chill all over her body upon hearing it, as if she had been entangled by a venomous spider or a chilling poisonous snake. Why did she have this feeling?
Perhaps because, during the strategy period, she had only seen his pitiful and injured side and not the side where he tormented and retaliated against others.
So even knowing he was the villain in the original plot, she didn’t have much real sense of it. Instead, she couldn’t help but feel heartbroken and pity for him.
“Xin Yi.”
Seeing her pale little face dazed under the paper umbrella in the rain, standing far away from him, Shen Ru Jie’s heart suddenly tightened. He called her again.
Fortunately, this time the woman walked over.
He lowered his head to touch her cold slender hand, warmed it in his embrace, then pulled her into the room without explanation. A Ying tactfully stayed under the corridor to wait.
“Is this the surprise you prepared for me?”
“Xin Yi doesn’t like it?” Shen Ru Jie gazed at her, his brows also furrowing slightly. “Shen Gui used those dirty tricks on you, and he bullied you again yesterday. Shouldn’t he be punished?”
As he spoke, his dark eyes gradually turned cold. “Or do you not want to see him suffer?”
Seeing her purse her lips and not answer for a long time.
Shen Ru Jie suddenly pinned her against the window in a fierce and sinister manner. The bloody taste in his throat was about to surge out. Jealousy made him tremble as he bit her lip. “You’re heartbroken for him again, aren’t you?”
“You still can’t forget him, can you?”
“That’s why you wrote those letters full of boudoir resentment and longing for him. So no matter how much he hurts you, you can still forgive him!”
Xin Yi’s mood had been fluctuating wildly tonight, and being entangled by him so unreasonably, she didn’t want to coax him with even a single sentence.
She was just about to push him away in annoyance and tell him to go crazy somewhere far away when the salty taste between their intertwined lips and teeth made her freeze.
Shen Ru Jie was crying.
Tears fell profusely. His crow-black lashes veiled the wet corners of his eyes, and his trembling breaths were all swallowed by her.
Xin Yi fell silent. She hadn’t expected that as she was about to leave here, so many messy things would happen, giving her a headache.
But Shen Ru Jie was clearly mad. No matter how much her head hurt at this moment, she could only patiently soothe him. “Don’t torment Shen Gui anymore. I don’t like him. Otherwise, that day I wouldn’t have run back to the Drunken Immortal Tower to find you.”
The young man finally released her a little. His lips fell to the side of her neck and bit lightly as if in revenge.
Xin Yi continued, “That day, Shen Gui asked me to tea at the restaurant, actually wanting to rekindle old affections with me, but I refused. I told him that in my heart, A Jie will always be more important than Shen Gui.”
“And… if I liked him, how could I sleep on the same bed with you night after night?”
The young man’s emotions finally calmed down a lot.
But he still held her tightly, refusing to let go. His tone was full of grievance. “Get married.”
Xin Yi looked up at the sky helplessly and sighed after a while. “Fine, as long as you get my parents’ consent, I’ll agree.”
First solve tonight’s matter; the rest could be discussed later.
Anyway, according to the Wu family ancestral precepts and house rules, the old couple would rather hang themselves from the beam in shame than agree to this marriage.
The next morning, Shen Ru Jie kissed her, who was still in a coma, and took the betrothal letter he had prepared long ago, along with the bride-price gifts, to the Wu Mansion to propose marriage.
Naturally, this infuriated the Wu family parents and even her two elder brothers. Divorce was already a topic of gossip; how could they allow their daughter to create such a scandal again!
Shen Ru Jie had lost his mind and was shameless, but the Wu family still cared about their reputation! Especially among aristocratic families, rules were paramount. How could they watch Xin Yi remarry Shen Gui’s bastard younger brother!
Unfortunately, the Wu family were all elegant scholars. Even if angry, they couldn’t utter overly vulgar words.
They only told him to abandon this foolish notion quickly and not mention it again, then send Xin Yi back under the cover of night.
Shen Ru Jie naturally refused and knelt on the ground like a stalk of cold bamboo. “I want to marry Xin Yi, only her in this life and the next.”
If one ignored his outrageous deeds, he truly had some aristocratic demeanor.
The old lady of the Wu family saw that reasoning with him was futile and completely darkened her face. “You’re not even of age yet; what talk of this life and the next? I’m afraid before Xin Yi even ages, you’ll be like your elder brother and shift affections to other women.”
She then looked up at the sky and sneered at him. “If you really won’t give up, then kneel in front of the mansion. Kneel for three full days, and we’ll consider giving our daughter to you.”
The weather outside was bitterly cold. Forget three days; even three hours would make one’s knees unbearable, let alone crippling both legs.
This was clearly deliberate bullying, words meant to dissuade him.
But upon hearing it, the young man actually smiled without a moment’s hesitation. “Good, I’ll kneel.”
Shen Ru Jie knelt in front of the Wu Mansion gate. Servants coming and going could all see him. At first, they watched the spectacle and gossiped.
Later, they sighed with emotion: This marquis manor young master truly loved their young miss to extremes. Otherwise, he wouldn’t go all out like this, disregarding reputation and life.
This news reached Xin Yi’s ears only at dinner time.
At that moment, she sat in the warm pavilion, holding a bowl of almond porridge with too much sugar. Upon hearing it, her slender hand holding the spoon paused, but she still slowly finished it.
Then she called for servants to prepare the carriage. Supporting herself on A Ying’s arm, she got into the sedan, letting the horse hooves gallop toward the Wu Mansion.
The snow outside had grown heavier. A Ying tucked in the sedan curtains on both sides and stuffed a hot water bottle into her arms. “Miss, hold this to warm your hands.”
Even the Melodramatic Transmigration System couldn’t help but sigh. “Shen Ru Jie really wants to marry you.”
Although the villain was sometimes eerily frightening, his feelings for the host were not fake at all. Favorability had long exceeded 100 and was undetectable, with frequent “+++++” prompts.
So liking could go even deeper at its deepest.
“I know.”
Xin Yi’s tone was very flat, making the gentleness on her face seem somewhat fake. “But I didn’t enter this Small World to marry him. Since the task is done, we’ll leave in a few days.”
The system: “…”
How was she even more clear-headed than the system?
The horse hooves galloped all the way, finally arriving at the Wu Mansion before nightfall.
As soon as Xin Yi was helped down from the carriage, she saw Shen Ru Jie kneeling not far away.
He was like a broken bamboo stalk, stuck in the snow.
His face was pale, lips purplish. Snow covered his dark-clothed shoulders, accentuating the stark black-and-white tragedy.
Xin Yi walked over and frowned at his face.
Shen Ru Jie also lifted his head upon hearing the footsteps. Those narrow phoenix eyes were deep black, carrying a faint smile.
He seemed to have known it was Xin Yi all along.
Lanterns hung in front of the Wu Mansion gate. It was too cold at night; even the two gatekeepers under the corridor had gone inside.
Now, outside, besides her and her maid, there was only the kneeling youth.
Xin Yi held her umbrella and stood by his side, reaching out to brush the snow from his shoulder clothes. She sighed inwardly.
Then she said earnestly, “Go back. It’s too cold today. We’ll talk about the marriage later.”
Shen Ru Jie not only refused but instructed A Ying to send her back to the marquis manor to wait and take good care of her, not letting her catch a cold.
After giving the instructions, he looked up at Xin Yi. The smile in his dark eyes shone brightly. “Just three days, not long. Go back and sleep well. Tomorrow morning, get up and read a storybook for a day, brew tea for another day. By the third day, I can go back and marry you.”
So Xin Yi went back.
She ate, slept, and brewed tea just as he said, without going to look at him in front of the Wu Mansion again.
By the evening of the third day, Shen Ru Jie was carried back.