Chapter 89:
But the man on the couch showed no sign of stopping at all. Lu Ziyan watched helplessly as the little young lady, who had just had such a lively expression, turned deathly pale bit by bit, her hand clinging to his arm slowly loosening, staring at him in a daze.
Lu Ziyan also sensed her change. He glanced sideways at her, his brows slightly furrowing: “What’s wrong, feeling uncomfortable somewhere?”
The usually cold and stern man now showed rare concern. The young lady on the couch blinked, her fingertips like green onions clutching the bedding tightly, her lips stiffly moving.
“Actually, I’ve always wanted to find an opportunity to ask you about that Rou Niang. But with the wedding date approaching, my elder brother wouldn’t let me come find you anymore, and you never came to find me either…”
Lu Ziyan’s eyes never left her body. Now seeing her eyes gradually reddening, he felt heartbroken.
He tried once more to return to his own body. Stop saying that nonsense, don’t make her sad anymore.
In his anxious haste, he succeeded this time. He was no longer a wandering soul, but could freely enter and exit his own body, and could feel this Lu Ziyan’s emotions.
But he was still just a dependent. He had no power to control the body.
He could only watch all this as an outsider, unable to intervene or try to change anything.
He could feel that this Lu Ziyan was not as calm inside as he appeared, but he still said flatly: “Be more tolerant. Rou Niang comes from humble origins. Even if she enters the household, she won’t affect you. Don’t make things hard for her.”
The little young lady was stunned for a long time after hearing this, then softly said “oh,” and asked in an even lower voice: “Then do you like her?”
After asking, she seemed to think it was a silly question and hurriedly said, “Forget it, no need to say. Let’s sleep.”
She turned her body, her thin and slender back facing this side, but he only looked for a moment before slowly closing his eyes.
Bastard, comfort her!
Lu Ziyan had never felt so powerless. He thought of that night in the brightly lit wedding chamber with red candles, when his Wanwan said she was also a young lady raised under the love of her parents and elder brother, and she couldn’t bear too much grievance.
But in those days when she liked him, he had no idea to cherish her, recklessly making her learn to yield and compromise.
This was their wedding night, and they had only just consummated their marriage, yet he proposed to bring another woman into the manor in two days and raise her as a concubine.
Damn it!
Lu Ziyan desperately tried to seize control of the body, but it was all in vain. He could only be a bystander unable to intervene.
The red silk for welcoming the new bride hadn’t even been taken down yet, and Liu Manrou had entered the manor as she wished.
Xie Wanning was the Young Madam of the eldest branch, while Liu Manrou entered as a concubine of the second branch, so naturally there was no reason for her to perform the concubine rites or offer tea to the Young Lord’s Consort of the eldest branch.
The servants in the manor gossiped privately that the Young Lord truly cherished that outer chamber concubine, fearing she would suffer hardship under the matriarch, so he arranged another path for her into the second branch.
Liu Manrou certainly wouldn’t suffer hardship. She was from Lu Family’s Second Madam’s branch. The second branch had no descendants left, and now the nephew had proactively taken in a concubine for that branch, which showed intent to carry on the line.
Lu Family’s Second Madam was naturally overjoyed, treating Liu Manrou like her own daughter-in-law and protecting her, hoping she would soon conceive a child to continue the second branch’s line.
She soon got her wish.
Less than half a month after entering the manor, Liu Manrou was diagnosed as pregnant. The child in her belly was not only the second branch’s offspring, but the first grandson of the entire Lu Family.
For the Lu Family with sparse population, it was practically a joyous event worth celebrating universally.
The servants were all opportunistic. The courtyard of that concubine grew busier day by day, while in contrast, Xie Wanning’s courtyard as the proper Young Lord’s Consort of the Marquis’s Estate seemed somewhat desolate.
Lu Ziyan stayed by her side, watching all this superficially. Seeing her listening to the gossips of the back courtyard servants, the light in her eyes gradually dimmed and faded, he hated so much his teeth nearly shattered.
But the other him was oblivious to all this. After marriage, he still lived in the outer courtyard study, coming to the back courtyard every few days, arriving under the cover of night.
With a cold and indifferent face, he never said a single soft word, but Xie Wanning would still beam with joy every time she saw him, holding his arm and chattering about what she did today and what she planned for tomorrow.
The man had no patience to listen to these trivial little things.
Often, before she could say a few words, he would kiss her lips and press her down on the couch.
Her clothes were removed piece by piece.
He was like a king inspecting his territory, leaving red marks on her creamy skin.
The two kissed passionately and lingeringly. The little young lady was very obedient, accepting whatever he gave.
Actually, sometimes he was very rough.
When too unrestrained, he had no control over his strength.
After a bout of lovemaking, her waist, wrists, collarbone, and back were all covered in bruises…
He was new to lovemaking, right at the peak of his enthusiasm.
Every time, he wouldn’t stop until he had exhausted her into a limp puddle with a hoarse throat.
Lu Ziyan could feel the scorching hot affection on his own body.
He loved the young lady beneath him to extremes.
On many nights when she fell asleep first from exhaustion, he would hold her waist, pull her into his arms, and kiss her.
But how could he watch this delicate flower-like young lady slowly wither in the back courtyard?
How could he let that concubine lord over her?
If he couldn’t truly feel his emotions, Lu Ziyan himself would suspect whether this world’s self had truly shifted affections to Liu Manrou.
Precisely because he understood himself, Lu Ziyan was even more baffled why he would act so exclusively fond of his cousin’s woman, cherishing her like a treasure.
Liu Manrou was Lu Zishuo’s bed-servant. The child in her belly was the second branch’s offspring, and his initial plan was just to let Liu Manrou give birth to continue the second branch’s line.
This way, the pressure on Lu Family offspring would greatly ease, and if he and Wanwan had a child, they wouldn’t need to consider adoption.
But things developed completely beyond his expectations, becoming stranger and stranger.
Liu Manrou safely gave birth to a boy, and the third-day ritual and full moon banquet were held grandly. Xie Wanning was the child’s great aunt by status and should have sent generous gifts to share in the joy.
But she didn’t even show her face from start to finish, acting as if she didn’t know her husband had another son.
But everything was ultimately different now. The Lu Family’s several madams, holding the great grandson in arms, grinned from ear to ear.
Even Old Madam Lu, who had previously criticized Liu Manrou’s background, continuously rewarded her with many items.
When Lu Ziyan proposed promoting Liu Manrou to second wife, she only hesitated briefly before agreeing.
After all, once she became the main wife, her great-grandson would have legitimate status, greatly changing his future prospects.
Fearing Xie Wanning would object, the Lu Family’s several madams took turns to persuade her.
Among them, their words implied that even if the concubine became second wife, it wouldn’t affect her status as Young Lord’s Consort.
Xie Wanning listened quietly and only said one sentence, “Let Lu Ziyan come speak to me himself.”
Since Liu Manrou gave birth, they hadn’t seen each other for a long time.
After marriage, he forbade her from seeking him in the front courtyard. The study she had entered before marriage, he no longer allowed her to set foot in.
Their encounters were only when he came under cover of night every few days, said few words, then dragged her to bed, parted her knees, and thrust wildly.
He tormented her until she had no strength to speak. By the time she got up early the next morning, he had already left.
What kind of couple was this? They had never exchanged heartfelt words, and he hadn’t even discussed promoting the concubine with her.
Did he see her as a plaything for amusement?
With the favored concubine pregnant and nowhere to vent, was she just a second-best tool for release?
Lu Ziyan couldn’t understand a young lady’s sensitive thoughts. He was a man, and for a man toward his own wife—or the woman he loved—even greater rudeness wouldn’t be excessive.
He even felt that his self in this world was overly restrained.
If it were him instead…
Until one morning, the young lady got up. Supporting her aching waist, she began to shed golden teardrops while rubbing it.
Er Qing, who was serving her to rise, was startled and hurriedly asked what was wrong.
“I’m just thinking…”
Xie Wanning said hoarsely, “What am I supposed to be?”
Er Qing looked at the marks on her young lady’s body, her face slightly flushed.
She paused, then comforted, “The Young Lord is young and vigorous, with surging blood qi. He didn’t mean to hurt you.”
Xie Wanning lowered her eyes, her tone flat: “But every time he comes, besides doing this to me, he won’t say a single extra word to me.”
It was as if he came to her courtyard just to vent on her body.
Lu Ziyan, standing nearby, was dumbfounded and cried injustice inwardly.
His first reaction was, how could she think that way? She was the wife he had formally married through matchmakers and betrothal gifts, welcoming her through the main gate. If he didn’t do this to her, who would he do it to?
But then he thought of this world’s Lu Ziyan’s behavior and felt he deserved the injustice.
Er Qing didn’t know how to comfort her master.
Actually, though everyone in the household felt the Young Lord didn’t care for their young lady, Er Qing didn’t think so.
A high-status Young Lord, where would he lack women? If he truly didn’t care, there was no need to wrong himself.
If a couple’s affection was truly faint, visiting the main wife’s courtyard on the first and fifteenth to make an appearance was enough.
She firmly believed the two masters were childhood sweethearts with unmatched affection. Even if the concubine bore the eldest son, it couldn’t shake her young lady’s status.
………..
Lu Ziyan came. He hadn’t set foot in Shao Guang Courtyard since Liu Manrou gave birth—this time, he came in broad daylight.
He arrived silently, and Xie Wanning didn’t know. She had a habit of drinking hot milk after waking from her afternoon nap.
Er Xia was always responsible for this, but that day she waited left and right without Er Xia coming. As soon as she stepped out the door, she heard noises from the nearby warming room.
In the piercing cold wind, the surroundings were utterly silent.
The woman’s rapid panting and the sounds of entangled bodies colliding stood out especially clearly.
Xie Wanning stood stunned at the door, her facial expression gradually turning deathly still. Lu Ziyan beside her was utterly shocked.
He couldn’t believe he would do such a thing no matter what.
Ignoring everything else, he barged right in, pushing the door open.
Everything inside appeared starkly before their eyes.
Er Xia lay flushed and disheveled on the couch, her lapel somewhat loose, teardrops still at the corners of her eyes. Lu Ziyan stood casually by the couch as if nothing had happened, his clothes neat.
Hearing the door open, he looked over. Seeing the deathly pale young lady, his pupils contracted slightly.
But Xie Wanning didn’t even spare him a glance from the corner of her eye, walking straight to the bedside and looking at her disheveled maidservant.
After a long, long time, her voice hoarse, she said word by word: “Did he force you?”
Lu Ziyan frowned: “Wanwan!”
Xie Wanning seemed oblivious, waiting for her maidservant’s answer.
But Er Xia shamefully lowered her head, saying nothing.
Everything seemed already clear.
She waited for a long time, then slowly turned and left, never glancing at the man from beginning to end.
The transparent-bodied Lu Ziyan next to her desperately blocked: “Calm down and take a good look, look at this bed, they did nothing!”
But it was still futile;
There were no tears in her eyes, but Lu Ziyan knew she was crying.
Her heart was crying.
Lu Ziyan experienced what it meant to truly empathize, his facial expression twisted in pain, he turned back ferociously, wishing he could strangle the other him who caused her such misunderstanding yet still explained nothing.
You will regret it. No matter why you are doing this, you will definitely regret it.
In a flash, Lu Ziyan suddenly remembered that night when he burst into her boudoir, she abruptly proposed to give Er Xia to him…
He gasped in cold air.
A thought emerged in his mind.
He stared blankly at the young lady’s back, then turned his head to look at his own tightly pursed lips.
After a long while, scarlet red gleamed in his eyes.
Is this their past life…
Did his Wanwan experience all of this one step ahead of him?
She thought he liked Liu Manrou, even took her maidservant, and was heartless toward her…
Therefore, she no longer wanted to marry him, preferring to hastily marry someone else just to get rid of him.
Lu Ziyan was unwilling to accept all of this. He gritted his teeth, desperately charging into his own body, wanting to seize control.
This scoundrel, how could he commit these wrongdoings!
He wanted to stop all of this!
But the story seems to have its ending already set.
It seems someone is saying, look, this is you just watching like this, this is everything she has endured after she did not break the engagement and chose to marry you.
The scene before his eyes was too realistic, so realistic that it was just like a real world.
But how could he treat her like this!
How could he bear to treat her like this!
What on earth was the matter that could make him allow her to misunderstand that he had touched her maidservant without even explaining!
Lu Ziyan hated so much that he wanted to kill people.
Unable to understand why she would do such a thing in this world.
The story continues. Er Xia was promoted to Concubine, still a Concubine of the Second Wife.
Liu Manrou got her wish and became the Second Wife’s Main Wife. She had a very bad relationship with Er Xia, this Concubine who took advantage of her postpartum confinement to rise in position.
The two of them caused several laughable incidents, but the Second Wife’s matters couldn’t reach Xie Wanning; she was happy for the peace, becoming an ornament kept in the Back Courtyard.
However, Liu Manrou had become her sister-in-law in terms of status. The main wife’s identity allowed her to no longer cower in her own courtyard; she could move around freely and attend banquets outside.
Xie Wanning went to the First Madam Lu’s place to pay respects several times, and each time she could see a woman dressed in bright red, sitting obediently. Upon seeing her, the woman called her “Elder Sister” repeatedly, acting very affectionate.
Xie Wanning was unwilling to get involved in the strife between wives and concubines, nor was she willing to feign civility with her, calling her Elder Sister or Younger Sister.
Four thousand words, two chapters combined~！！！！
