Chapter 11 Drunken Seduction

Shen Qingci returned to her room and lay back down on the bed, but her mind was still disturbed by what had just happened.

The most urgent task, besides ensuring Huo Yunzhan's lineage ends, is to ensure that he has no descendants.

She still had to find a way to frame someone else for the death of her unborn child!

Ideally, this incident would create a rift between Huo Yunzhan and Liu Ruolan.

Liu Ruolan now knew that the person she was sharing a bed with every night was Huo Yunzhan, not Huo Yunting. And because of her pregnancy, she felt jealous, which was why she had flaunted their intimate moments in front of her tonight.

That's perfect, she can take advantage of Liu Ruolan's jealousy.

Force her to take action!

That's right, if you want to use her jealousy to force her to take action, you have to suppress your disgust and pretend to be friendly with Huo Yunzhan!

Shen Qingci closed her eyes. It was alright. It was all for revenge and to investigate the massacre of the Shen family. She could endure it.

If she can endure for just over thirty more days, she can finally escape this misery.

Shen Qingci quickly arranged everything, choosing the afternoon, when Huo Yunzhan usually returned home from court, and waited early in the peach blossom grove in the back garden.

It was early spring, and the peach blossoms were in full bloom. A gentle breeze swept by, carrying with it the refreshing fragrance of peach blossoms, and also ruffled the stray hairs at her temples.

Hearing familiar footsteps approaching, Shen Qingci immediately took out the prepared wine pot and cup, filled a cup, and drank it down.

As she drank, tears streamed down her face. Her voice choked with sobs, filled with endless sorrow and grief, as she wept in the empty space.

“Husband… Yun Zhan! Do you remember? Last year, when the peach blossoms were at their best, we brewed this pot of peach blossom wine together.”

"You said that after we got married, we would drink the wine we brewed the previous year together in this peach grove every year, and then brew a new batch ourselves. But why... why did you break your promise in the first year?"

She held a wine pot in one hand and a cup in the other. The clear wine reflected her red eyes, and large tears fell, splashing into the wine pot and onto her clothes, spreading a dark stain.

"You left, leaving me all alone... Now the peach blossoms are blooming again, but I'm the only one left to drink with. My husband... how cruel you are..."

She cried her heart out, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably...

Huo Yunzhan stood not far away, quietly watching the scene before him amidst the peach blossoms. Shen Qingci's sobs also evoked his memories of being with Shen Qingci in this peach grove, and he couldn't help but feel an overwhelming pang of sorrow and trembling in his heart.

Shen Qingci's feelings for him were so deep, yet he had to abandon her for power, allowing himself to die and live on in this world as Huo Yunting.

He wronged her.

Huo Yunzhan subconsciously took a step forward, accidentally stepping on a dry branch, making a soft "crack" sound.

Shen Qingci turned around abruptly and saw Huo Yunzhan. She froze, as if she had lost her soul. Her wine glass clattered to the ground, and she stumbled and fell straight into Huo Yunzhan's arms.

"Yun Zhan! Is that you? You've finally come back?" She spoke incoherently, her hands tightly clutching Huo Yun Zhan's clothes, her hot tears falling onto his chest, carrying the strong smell of wine and peach blossoms, along with her unique cool body fragrance, all mixed together, surprisingly pleasant.

The pleasant scent made Huo Yunzhan lose his composure, and he didn't push her away immediately to tell her that she had mistaken him for someone else.

"Why don't you appear in my dreams? You've been gone for over two months, yet I haven't dreamt of you even once!"

"Why didn't you take me with you? Have you... have you forgotten me? Don't you want me anymore..."

Shen Qingci raised her tear-streaked face, her eyes glazed over, a mixture of anger and resentment, her drunken entanglement carrying the lingering pain of drunkenness. She called out "Yun Zhan" repeatedly, clutching Huo Yunzhan's clothes tightly.

Huo Yunzhan's body stiffened slightly. He held a warm and soft woman in his arms, and heard her tearful question in his ear. Every word was like a knife to his heart. Before him was her stunningly beautiful face.

All the memories of the time I spent with her flooded back to me.

He now assumes the identity of Huo Yunting and spends every night passionately with Liu Ruolan, but he always feels that something is missing from their intimacy.

He had no feelings for Liu Ruolan; his nightly trysts were merely to complete his mission and get Liu Ruolan pregnant as soon as possible.

Shen Qingci's deep affection and despair struck his heart hard, stirring a profound emotion he hadn't felt in a long time.

He felt that she was the one drinking, but it seemed that he was the one who was drunk.

His Adam's apple bobbed, unable to contain his emotions, and he lowered his head to seize those soft, slightly parted lips that were so close to his.

Just then, a woman's voice, tinged with surprise and shrillness, came from behind the artificial hill not far away, breaking the ambiguity and sorrow in the peach grove: "Yun Ting, what happened?"

Shen Qingci's body jolted violently, as if startled awake by the sound, and she regained her senses slightly.

She blinked her teary eyes, stared at Huo Yunzhan for a moment, and seemed to realize that the person in front of her was not the Yunzhan she had been longing for...

Panic quickly spread across her face. She hurriedly broke free from Huo Yunzhan's embrace, took several steps back, and bowed her head in apology.

"Lord, Lord... I'm sorry, I've had too much to drink and mistook you for someone else."

"I was very offended just now, please forgive me, Lord Marquis!"

Her voice, hoarse from crying and slightly tipsy from drinking, made her even more pitiful.

Liu Ruolan had already walked over quickly, her sharp gaze sweeping back and forth between Shen Qingci and Huo Yunzhan, her tone carrying a hint of scrutiny, but her voice was soft and gentle: "Yunting, what's wrong?"

"Why are you and your sister-in-law talking here? And why... is your sister-in-law looking like this?"

Her gaze fell on Shen Qingci's slightly red eyes and disheveled clothes, a hint of jealousy and anger flashing in her eyes.

Before Huo Yunzhan could speak, Shen Qingci quickly explained, "Sister-in-law, it's all my fault. Today, when I passed by this peach blossom grove and saw that the peach blossoms were in full bloom, I thought of... I thought of my deceased husband, and I couldn't help myself, so I drank a couple more cups."

"I was a little drunk just now," she said, raising her hand to wipe her eyes. "I lost my footing and almost fell, but thanks to the Marquis's quick thinking and reflexes, I was caught and a disaster was averted."

Then, Shen Qingci lowered her head and gently stroked her slightly protruding belly, her voice filled with lingering fear and relief: "Fortunately, the Marquis was here. If I had really fallen, I... I'm afraid the child in my belly would have suffered as well. Thank you, Marquis."

Her words explained her earlier lapse in composure, subtly emphasized that she was pregnant and it was impossible for anything to happen between her and Huo Yunzhan, and incidentally justified Huo Yunzhan's action of helping her up...

Huo Yunzhan was filled with mixed emotions as he watched Shen Qingci respond so flawlessly, but he could only shake his head and say, "Sister-in-law, there's no need to be so polite. I am Yunzhan's elder brother, and it is my duty to protect his child."

As he spoke, his gaze swept across Shen Qingci's face with a complex mix of emotions, and then he glanced at Liu Ruolan almost imperceptibly.

As Liu Ruolan listened to their back-and-forth, seemingly logical and well-founded argument, she was already seething with anger and burning with jealousy.

She clearly saw the ambiguous atmosphere between the two of them just now, and Huo Yunzhan's gaze towards Shen Qingci was definitely not innocent!

But their explanations were so convincing that she couldn't find any fault with them, and she couldn't lash out on the spot. She could only forcefully suppress her anger and resentment, forcing a gentle smile onto her face.

"I see. It's only natural for you to miss Yun Zhan, sister-in-law. But it's best to drink less wine, especially since you're not feeling well these days."

Liu Ruolan spoke softly, took a step forward, and affectionately took Shen Qingci's arm, "It's windy in this garden, sister-in-law, why don't you come back to the courtyard with me to rest, so that nothing else might happen, and you won't catch a cold from the wind."

On the way back, Liu Ruolan casually mentioned, "By the way, I've been thinking lately that we should go to the temple in the mountains to burn incense and pray for the Marquis to have an heir. I wonder if you would be interested in coming along, sister-in-law? It would be a good way to relax."

Shen Qingci sneered inwardly, knowing that Liu Ruolan had finally taken the bait and couldn't hold back any longer.

Her face showed a mixture of emotion and sorrow, and she sighed softly, saying, "Sister-in-law, you are so kind. To be honest, I was just thinking of going to the temple to light an everlasting lamp for Yunzhan and pray to the Bodhisattva to bless him... to bless him so that he may have a peaceful and healthy life in his next life."

As she spoke, her eyes reddened slightly again.

Upon hearing this, a barely perceptible glint flashed in Liu Ruolan's eyes, and she quickly said, "That's perfect, let's go together, so we can have company."