The inner room smelled strongly of fragrance, and the red candles burned brightly.
Earlier, Lu Ziyang had said mysteriously: “His Majesty has prepared a great gift for you. You will surely like it.”
Xie Wuling had paid it no mind.
Silver, treasures, beauties, if he wanted such things, even following the Third Prince back then, he could have had them.
Yet Lu Ziyang insisted: “You will surely like it.”
That piqued Xie Wuling’s curiosity. What had that foolish emperor prepared this time?
Honestly, he had liked the pearl-encrusted red coral the day before.
Such beautiful coral, he thought, if he could bring Jiaojiao to see it, she would be amazed too.
Could it be that this gift was even more splendid than the pearl red coral?
When he stepped into the crimson chamber, he saw the still, alluring beauty lying between the red curtains of the bed.
His steps froze, and some chord inside him seemed to strike sharply.
Was he drunk, or dreaming?
How else could he see Jiaojiao lying there before him?
Her black hair flowed loose, her snow-white skin delicate. She wore a sheer red veil over a goose-yellow vest, and her bright black eyes shimmered enchantingly in the soft candlelight.
It was the scene he had dreamed countless times.
He often imagined, if on that day in Jinling, Jiaojiao had not been taken by Pei Xia, the night would have looked exactly like this.
His little wife fragrant, in red garments, shyly sitting on the bed waiting for him—
Even if she had been too pregnant to wield a knife or spear, just holding and kissing her would be enough. Simply imagining it brought satisfaction.
Now, his dream had come true.
His Jiaojiao lay before him…
Xie Wuling’s throat went hoarse, his body heated, and his robe stirred involuntarily.
Until the beauty on the bed blinked weakly and whispered, “How… how is it you?”
The shock and suspicion in her eyes forced him to suddenly calm down.
This wasn’t a dream, it was reality.
And if it was reality, Jiaojiao shouldn’t be here.
“Jiaojiao, why are you here?”
He stepped toward her, his voice still a little hoarse.
Shen Yujiao, recovering from her initial shock, frowned. “That’s the question I should be asking. Why am I here? And… where exactly is this place?”
“This is the guesthouse of the Honglu Temple.”
Xie Wuling walked toward her. “You don’t know how you came here?”
Relief washed over Shen Yujiao. Even after three years apart, she still trusted Xie Wuling.
“The Empress Dowager summoned me to the palace. Not long after I boarded the carriage, I was drugged.”
She looked embarrassed as she said this, her voice barely audible. “The drug… it wasn’t ordinary. I feel weak all over…”
She was burning up too, as if thousands of ants crawled over her skin, tingling and prickling.
She didn’t finish, but Xie Wuling immediately understood.
She had been drugged with an aphrodisiac.
So that “great gift” the foolish emperor mentioned… was actually this, he had tricked Jiaojiao here, to put her in front of him like this!
Xie Wuling’s face darkened instantly.
True, he had wanted Jiaojiao to think of him obsessively.
But that didn’t mean he would take advantage of her in such a state.
What did that d*mn emperor think Xie Wuling was? And what did he think of Xie Wuling’s feelings for Jiaojiao?
Seeing Xie Wuling’s sullen face and silence, Shen Yujiao felt uneasy. “You… you know what happened?”
Xie Wuling’s voice was low and serious: “It was that foolish emperor. He knew I cared for you, so he wanted to use you to please me…”
“Jiaojiao, believe me, I had no idea he’d stoop to such a vile trick! I didn’t know Lu Ziyang’s ‘great gift’ meant you. If I had, I’d have beaten him senseless!”
Shen Yujiao saw that his anxious expression wasn’t fake.
That look, that tone, it was unmistakably the Xie Wuling she remembered.
“Talking about it now won’t help. First, help me up.”
She wasn’t used to being in this position, speaking to him as if she were a fish on a chopping block.
Xie Wuling wasn’t comfortable either.
It was torturing him.
The one he’d been thinking about for years lay there, helpless and still, like a piece of fragrant meat delivered to him, he could have whatever he wanted.
He had some self-control, but in front of Shen Yujiao, it was useless.
He didn’t know how Pei Xia had endured this before, but now, his whole body burned with desire, painful to bear.
“All right, I’ll help you.”
He walked stiffly to the bed and grabbed a bolster.
When his large hand touched Shen Yujiao’s shoulder, even through the thin gauze, it was like holding tender, warm tofu.
He wanted to squeeze.
But he didn’t dare, fearing he might crush her.
He restrained himself carefully, afraid the beast inside him would break free.
Shen Yujiao leaned on the bolster, still unable to summon any strength. Her delicate, pale face flushed with a mix of drug-induced charm and embarrassment. She forced herself to speak: “My head is dizzy, my body feels… strange. What time is it? Could you find a doctor for me? Um—”
Her words trailed off into an involuntary, coquettish moan.
The sultry sound, even to herself, was shocking. Seeing Xie Wuling staring at her with such intensity made her mortified.
She bit her lip and glared at him: “Look away.”
Though her tone was fierce, the excessive charm in her voice and the shy, flushed glimmer in her eyes made it sound flirtatious.
Xie Wuling’s lower abdomen tightened.
D*mn it.
He had already started hating the emperor.
This wasn’t a gift…it was torture.
Though he ached to look at her, he turned his face and said hoarsely: “It’s past You hour; the gates of the district are closing. With a drug like this, there’s no way to counter it except… yin-yang harmonization.”
Yin-yang harmonization.
Just those words made Xie Wuling’s chest tingle uncontrollably.
He laced his long fingers together, his ears flushing. He cleared his throat. “Jiaojiao, if you don’t mind… I want to be your antidote.”
Shen Yujiao, wracked by the strange sensations in her body, blushed and flared with both shame and anger.
“Don’t talk nonsense…”
She bit her tongue, forcing herself to stay calm. “This is clearly the emperor’s scheme. We cannot fall into his trap!”
Xie Wuling understood, of course.
But when he saw Shen Yujiao, charming and vulnerable under the drug’s effect, his heart itched and ached.
“Jiaojiao.”
He sat by the bed, his bright, sincere eyes fixed on her. “Back then, I had no power, and you were trapped by that hypocrite Pei Xia. Now I’m back, with soldiers at my command, even the emperor has to flatter me, let alone the worthless Pei Xia. If you want, no one can stop us from being together.”
“Let me be your antidote tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll find Pei Xia. If he still refuses a divorce, we’ll go to court and sever ties. In the end, I will make sure you regain your freedom, never to be his wife again.”
Seeing Shen Yujiao’s willow brows knit and her watery eyes turning hazy, he took her hand and pressed it to his face, speaking in a low voice:
“Jiaojiao, I’ve been in Yanbei for three years, and I’ve always kept myself clean. I’ve never touched another woman…”
At twenty-eight, an age when many men could already be fathers of several children, he was still a virgin, something laughable if others knew.
Back when he mingled with the men in camp, hearing them tell lewd jokes at night, he would join in with a few teasing words— all made up, since he had no experience.
But in the vivid, sensual dreams that visited him night after night, it was always Shen Yujiao.
“Jiaojiao, let me help you?”
Xie Wuling leaned closer, barely restraining himself, only a breath away from blurting out, “I’m no worse than Pei Shouzhen.”
The strong masculine scent coming from him, the heat radiating from his face, and those bright eyes brimming with passion— all of it made Shen Yujiao’s body, already weakened by the drug, grow even softer and weaker.
But she still had a shred of reason left. She shook her head. “N-no, I can’t.”
She was now Pei Xia’s wife, Madam Pei. If she did such an absurd thing with Xie Wuling, it would be adultery.
“Xie Wuling, have someone bring a bucket of cold water.”
She drew her hand back from his face. “Or—or get me a knife. Let me bleed a little, maybe it’ll clear my head.”
“You’re keeping your chastity for Pei Xia, then?”
Xie Wuling’s throat tightened. “But back at the Weinan river, you clearly promised me you’d marry me. Have you forgotten?”
If Shen Yujiao were sober, she would have reasoned with him.
But now she was suffering, her body’s reactions were confusing her mind; she could no longer explain, only half-opened her misty eyes and gasped softly, “Help me… help me…”
Hope flared in Xie Wuling’s chest. He leaned closer. “I’m here.”
But then she turned her head aside, her voice trembling: “Send me back to the Pei residence.”
With a crash, as if a bucket of freezing ice water had been poured over him, Xie Wuling’s whole body went stiff.
Even now, she still thought of Pei Xia.
After three years, had she truly erased him from her heart?
“Jiaojiao.” His voice was hoarse as he called her name, trying to make her look at him again.
Aside from not having the title, how was he inferior to that Pei Xia?
He would give her everything, just to make her happy.
But she stubbornly turned her face away, forcing herself to endure the drug’s effects, murmuring faintly, “Xie Wuling… send me back… back…”
Xie Wuling felt as though a knife were twisting through his heart.
He grasped her shoulders and turned her to face him, his voice rough and strained: “Do you know how cruel it is to ask me to send you back like this?”
To personally deliver the woman he loved into another man’s arms— the humiliation and pain were like having his flesh flayed from his bones.
Forced to meet his flushed, beautiful eyes, Shen Yujiao felt the heat of his grip burning into her shoulders. And yet, that warmth against her skin brought a strange trace of clarity, like coolness easing the fever of her body.
It felt good, she wanted more.
More contact, more closeness.
For a moment, she nearly fell into his embrace, seeking release— but the last shred of lucidity in her told her she could not.
She must not do such a thing with Xie Wuling.
If she made that mistake, nothing could ever return to how it once was.
“Xie Wuling…”
She bit her lip, her dark eyes shimmering with tears, tender yet sorrowful. “Don’t do this to me.”
She didn’t want to hate him.
Nor did she want to ruin the pure, cherished affection they once shared.
“Jiaojiao.”
Xie Wuling gave a bitter smile and bowed his head, his tall frame leaning toward her.
Seeing him approach, Shen Yujiao’s eyelids fluttered, then, almost despairingly, she closed her eyes.
But the next moment, his warm lips merely brushed the corner of her eye.
Carefully, like a dragonfly touching water, he kissed away that tear.
“Bear with it,” his deep, gravelly voice murmured, “I’ll take you back.”
Shen Yujiao was stunned.
Before she could react, her whole body, blanketed and wrapped tightly from head to toe, was lifted into his arms.
He pulled the edge of the quilt to cover even her face and whispered, “Don’t peek out. It wouldn’t be good if anyone saw.”
Hidden beneath the quilt, her back pressed against his solid chest, Shen Yujiao suddenly felt as if she had gone back to that day when Shengdi was born.
That day, when her water broke, he had held her just like this, striding quickly toward the rear courtyard while whispering softly to comfort her:
“Jiaojiao, don’t be afraid.”
“Jiaojiao, I’m here.”
“I’ve always been here.”
Tears welled in her eyes again, and she choked out, “Xie Wuling.”
He lowered his head. “Mm?”
“Thank you…” she whispered.
Xie Wuling froze. Then his chest seemed to tear open; the wave of aching bitterness spread until it filled his heart completely.
What was there to thank him for?
Before Shen Yujiao, he had always been utterly defeated.
—
Before he even stepped out of the inn courtyard, Pei Xia arrived— long sword in hand, his whole body exuding icy rage.
As he drew closer, it could be seen that his robes were disheveled, and the knuckles of his fist were streaked with blood.
He looked as though he had just been in a fight.
The two met at the courtyard gate. When Pei Xia saw the bundle of brocade blankets in Xie Wuling’s arms, his gaze instantly turned to ice.
“You b*stard!”
He drew his sword and charged forward.
Xie Wuling’s brows twitched, his own anger flaring.
This d*mn man still had the nerve to call him a b*stard? If he truly were one, would he still be standing here?
“Pei Shouzhen, you’d better d*mn stop right there!”
Holding the light body in his arms, terrified of hurting her, Xie Wuling glared back with narrowed eyes. “If you want to fight, I’ll gladly oblige another day. But right now Jiaojiao’s unwell, don’t you dare hurt her.”
Pei Xia’s sword froze midair, his face darkening. “What did you do to her?”
Xie Wuling: “…”
I wanted to… but…
He ground his molars hard, his expression sharp and cold enough to kill. “I’m not as filthy as you think.”
“Jiaojiao was given an aphrodisiac, she’s in great discomfort. Stop talking nonsense and get in there.”
He turned and carried Shen Yujiao back into the room.
When his eyes fell on the large crimson bed and the delicate beauty lying weakly upon it, her dark hair disheveled, her skin pale as snow, his gaze burned as though scalded, and he dared not look again.
The human heart is greedy.
He feared that if he stayed, he really would become a b*stard— kill Pei Xia on the spot, and claim her for himself.
He wiped his face harshly, forcing down the surging jealousy in his chest, and strode out of the room.
But as he passed Pei Xia, resentment overcame him. He grabbed Pei Xia by the collar and slammed him against the doorframe.
His bloodshot eyes brimmed with fury. He ground out each word between his teeth: “Pei Shouzhen, she’s pure and innocent. Even under the drug, she begged me to send her back to the Pei residence. If you dare treat her with the slightest disrespect because of this, I’ll tear you to pieces and dig up the graves of eighteen generations of your Pei ancestors!”
Pei Xia frowned, his injured fingers prying off Xie Wuling’s hand. Meeting his gaze head-on, he said coldly, “I know Yuniang’s character better than you. I don’t need your lectures.”
Even if she had succumbed to the drug and lost her chastity, it wouldn’t be her fault.
It was that foolish, depraved so-called wise emperor who was to blame!
“Mm… so hot…”
Hearing the weak whimper from inside the room, Xie Wuling’s heart trembled, his expression twisting painfully.
He dared not linger another moment, releasing Pei Xia’s collar, he strode away.
Watching that retreating figure, almost as if fleeing, Pei Xia’s gaze grew complicated.
That Xie Wuling… seemed to treasure Yuniang even more than he had imagined.
But Pei Xia’s own devotion was no less.
Since Yuniang had chosen him, he would never let her go easily.
Retracting his gaze, Pei Xia looked again at the room filled with bridal red. Lifting his hand, he locked the door from the inside.
In the warm, fragrant air, he bent down and clasped his wife’s hand, their fingers intertwining.
“Yuniang, don’t be afraid.”
“Your Brother Shouzhen is here.”
—
The setting sun was molten gold, the crimson glow spreading endlessly across the horizon—
like the burning jealousy and rage in Xie Wuling’s chest that refused to die out.
He needed someone to vent it on.
He had intended to grab Lu Ziyang and beat him up but when he found him, Lu Ziyang had already been beaten.
His right eye was swollen purple, and he was holding a cloth to his bleeding nose.
When he saw Xie Wuling storming toward him, fury radiating from every step, he immediately began to complain: “Was it Pei Shouzhen who went there? I don’t even know how he got the news so fast, he arrived almost immediately—”
Then, hesitating, he asked, “So… did General Xie succeed?”
“Succeed your grandmother’s leg!”
Xie Wuling strode forward and punched Lu Ziyang square in the left eye socket.
He was strong to begin with, and in his fury, the blow sent Lu Ziyang sprawling to the ground, unable to get up for quite some time.
The servants around them panicked and rushed forward. “Lord! Lord, are you all right?”
Collapsed in their arms, Lu Ziyang only revived after someone pinched his philtrum and the web between his thumb and index finger.
When he looked up and saw Xie Wuling’s furious, storm-dark face, it was like staring into the eyes of a demon from h*ll. He raised his hands over his head, trembling. “G-General Xie, let’s talk—let’s talk this through!”
Though seething, Xie Wuling still had enough reason not to actually kill him.
After a cold sweep of his gaze that sent all the servants scurrying out, he bent down, seized Lu Ziyang by the collar, and snarled: “Last night I told you to get me a divorce letter! What kind of pig-brained message did you deliver, that you dared set her up like this? Is there not a single person in all of Chang’an’s court who has a brain?!”
“It was Chancellor Pei, he refused to agree to the divorce! Besides, if things had gone well today, once the rice was cooked, wouldn’t it have been just the same?” Lu Ziyang stammered, completely confused as to why Xie Wuling was so furious.
The beauty had been sent straight to his bed, how could that be bad?
“The same? You call that the same, you son of a—!”
Xie Wuling was livid, his fury like ice and flame together, his eyes bloodshot. “I wanted to make her my lawful wife! Being together like this, without name, without title, that’s fornication!”
These dogs— how dare they defile the sincerity of his love for Jiaojiao like this!
Xie Wuling was so enraged that he nearly wanted to storm into the imperial palace and twist Emperor Chunqing’s head off to use as a ball.
“Keep today’s matter a secret! Absolutely no one is to find out!”
He glared down at Lu Ziyang from above. “If even half a word leaks out, if her reputation is stained, I’ll be the first to flay you alive!”
Having been tempered on the battlefield, his fury carried a killing intent sharp as frost. Lu Ziyang trembled from head to toe, stammering, “Y-yes… yes…”
“I’ll settle accounts with your emperor tomorrow,” Xie Wuling growled. “Now get the h*ll out of here!”
Lu Ziyang fled as if his life depended on it.
Left alone in the empty, silent courtyard, Xie Wuling stared toward the distant sunset being swallowed by night, and his heart sank with it.
He sat heavily on the steps, lowering his head to look at his empty hands.
Not long ago, they had been filled with warmth and softness.
And now…
He shut his eyes, forcing himself not to think of the inn.
But the moment he did, agony seared through him, like fire burning, like ice freezing, like a thousand ants gnawing at his heart, until he could hardly breathe, much less escape.
What hurt more than the passion that had taken place at the inn… was Shen Yujiao’s choice.
She wanted Pei Shouzhen, not him.
Even in that unbearable state, she still did not choose him.
Had her heart already turned completely toward Pei Shouzhen?
That night, Xie Wuling sat on the steps, battered by the cold wind until dawn.
Before sunrise the next day, Pei Xia carried his sleeping wife in his arms and quietly slipped into the carriage through the back gate.
Xie Wuling’s eyes were bloodshot from the sleepless night, but he didn’t dare see them off.
His heart had been on fire all night, he could bear no more.
He feared that, consumed by jealousy, he would lose control.
He forced himself not to think, not to look, pretending none of it had happened. Even if it meant deceiving himself, he accepted it.
After all, they were husband and wife in name and right.
And he…what was he?
Nothing but an abandoned outsider.
