Chapter 21 He's Gone Mad, She Wants to Consummate the Marriage? Xu Congjing Breaks Down the Door and Takes Her Away...

Liu Shuangxin withdrew, and Lou Yanxu rushed forward, bringing with her a cool medicinal fragrance. She looked up, a hint of resentment in her eyes, "Why don't you explain?"

Xu Congjing turned his head away, his expression unreadable. "Explain what?"

He walked to the window, still with his usual calm and gentle demeanor, but suddenly turned around, his dark eyes seeming to draw her in, his voice deep and intoxicating, "Explain that you are someone else's wife, bathing in my inner chamber?"

Lou Yanxu was speechless, a sudden surge of anger rising within her. She had clearly come to buy medicine, and he had coaxed and threatened her into letting someone in to heal her wounds. How could he speak as if there was some shady relationship between them?

She suddenly looked at his handsome face, and all the things that had happened between them flashed before her eyes. She couldn't help but recall his drunken and unrestrained words when they first met: "My looks and status are the best in Chang'an. I am willing to be your mistress, whom you cannot see in the light of day."

He wouldn't...use alcohol as an excuse to speak the truth, would he?

Sweat beaded on her forehead. But how could that be? With his looks and status, countless women would want to marry him; why would he have designs on a mere housewife like her?

Despite this, recent events flooded her mind, and she dug her fingernails into her palms, filled with panic and fear.

Xu Congjing observed her ever-changing expressions and sensed the turmoil in her mind. He leisurely sat down to drink tea, and the teacup landed on the table with a thud that struck Lou Yanxu's heart. She snapped back to reality, frowned at him, and said, "If it weren't for your instructions, why would I have to suffer such grievances?"

He leaned back slightly in his chair, looking at her furrowed brows, his eyes slightly upturned. "I care about your injury, and you're still upset?"

"When have I ever needed your attention?" she retorted quickly, looking down at him as he sat down.

"So fierce, he's just taking his anger out on me."

Sunlight streamed down, partially obscuring his handsome face in the shadows, his eyes brimming with a tender, indulgent smile. Lou Yanxu, at first glance, noticed a blush creeping onto the back of her neck, and for a fleeting moment, she and Xu Congjing seemed more like a married couple.

She dared not linger any longer and asked him for the Jade Spirit Pill. He did not make things difficult for her and readily took out the pill. Before he could even speak, she snatched it away, placed the money pouch on the table, and in the blink of an eye, she had vanished.

He smiled casually and shook his head.

Lou Yan's heart pounded as she ran downstairs, where she saw Lu Heng pacing back and forth, unable to wait any longer, wanting to go upstairs to find out what was going on.

After gazing at each other for a moment, he noticed that she had changed her clothes and her face looked extremely pale. He rushed forward and grabbed her shoulders with both hands. "What...what did he do to you?" He had already decided that if the master dared to do anything, he would fight to the death to get him.

She calmly broke free, saying, "Your Highness need not worry. I was taking medicine to treat my rash, which is why I was delayed."

"Really?" He glanced quickly at the back of her neck, and only felt slightly relieved when he saw that the redness and swelling had subsided.

Lou Yanxu nodded absentmindedly, and when she looked up, she saw Wen Jie push the door open and enter.

At this moment, Xu Congjing was fiddling with the money pouch, his expression inscrutable.

Wen Jie snatched it away, looking at him helplessly, "How much longer are you going to act?"

He paused, turning his head to look out the window. Wen Jie sat beside him, warning him with each word.

“You know that she married into the Marquis’s mansion and gave birth to a legitimate son in accordance with her father’s dying wish, yet you still schemed step by step to induce her to divorce, which is to destroy her filial piety; you know that she is deeply in love with you, yet you still plotted to trample on her feelings, which is to destroy her love.”

He wanted to exchange his feigned affection for her true feelings, and then crush them under his foot.

He's going to ruin her!

Finally, Wen Jie's deep voice rang out, "You're relieved that she's not doing well?"

“I love her.” Xu Congjing suddenly spoke up. Wen Jie was stunned. He saw Xu Congjing leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, his face showing bulging veins, revealing his suppressed love.

“But I hate her even more.” He slammed his voice down, reached out and gripped the teacup tightly. Suddenly, he opened his eyes, smashed the teacup on the ground, and glared at it with gritted teeth. “She shouldn’t have used such despicable means to help Yunli get Rou’er, and used her trust to fool my brother and me!”

Faced with such love and hate, Wen Jie could only sigh and say, "I advise you to tell her yourself, whether it's love or hate, you should die knowing why."

"There's nothing more to say. I need her to experience the suffering firsthand before I can quell my hatred."

Xu Congjing stood up abruptly, pushed open the door and walked out. Behind him came Wen Jie's hoarse voice, "Congjing, you will regret this."

He remained silent, his face cold as he looked down. People came and went, but she was nowhere to be seen. He sighed to himself.

At this moment, Lou Yanxu parted ways with Lu Hengzhi and returned to the inn, where she ran into Weng Chuchu.

Lou Yanxu noticed her limp and remembered Sheng Yan mentioning that she had been attacked in the street and was still not fully recovered. The two of them silently went inside.

After dinner, Lou Yanxu sent Qingrui to deliver the Jade Spirit Pill to Suzhou. However, less than half a moment later, there was a knock on the door. She expected that Qingrui would not be there so quickly. When she opened the door, she found the person she least wanted to see.

It is Sheng Yan.

The chill of that day still lingered in her heart. Suppressing her discomfort, she forced a smile and asked, "Why has the young master come?"

He brought over a jar of wine and two wine cups, speaking softly and gently, "That day I argued with you without knowing the facts, and I admit all the mistakes I made. I have come here today to apologize."

Lou Yanxu's heart skipped a beat, her gaze fixed on the jar of wine. If she wasn't mistaken, he intended to murder her tonight.

Lost in thought, Sheng Yan barged in and placed the wine on the table. She closed the door, walked calmly to the incense burner, and lit the incense she had prepared beforehand. The antidote for the kudzu flower that she had been brewing every night finally came in handy.

Sheng Yan had no idea she would do this. He poured himself a glass of wine and drank it all in one gulp. "I'll punish myself with three glasses as an apology to you." He then drank two more glasses in a row.

She didn't smile, but nodded slightly. "If there's nothing else, Your Highness, please return." She was giving him a chance. If he could stop now, she could pretend she knew nothing.

But Sheng Yan poured the wine into another glass, pushed it in front of her, softened his tone and pleaded with her, "My lady, can you forgive me this time?"

Lou Yanxu secretly pondered his series of actions, her eyes fixed on the glass of wine in front of her. It seemed that he had not put the drug in the wine, but had smeared it on the inside of the glass.

She picked up her wine glass in response; the stench was unbearable, nauseating, and she felt like vomiting. How could there be such a shameless husband in the world!

Suppressing her nausea, under Sheng Yan's expectant gaze, she held her wine cup without touching it and suddenly asked, "Your Highness never cares about my feelings, what's wrong with you today?"

Sheng Yan's eyes followed the glass of wine. Unable to achieve his goal, he could only continue to feign ingratiation, "I have thought it over carefully. After all, you are my lawfully wedded wife. As long as you behave yourself in the future, I will ensure your well-being for the rest of your life."

However, if she lost her virginity that night, she would be considered unfaithful and unchaste, and divorce would be a piece of cake. Lou Yanxu sneered inwardly, remained silent for a long time, and then deliberately probed, "In that case, would my husband be willing to consummate our marriage?" She had not forgotten how he had humiliated her in the tent.

He was taken aback, his eyes flickered, and he put one hand to his forehead and the other hand on the table. "As for consummating the marriage, this place is too simple. When we return to the Marquis's mansion, you can have it as you wish."

Lou Yan stared at him intently. She dared not believe a single word he said. He wouldn't let her go, and she shouldn't blame him for being heartless when he woke up tomorrow.

Seeing that he was starting to feel weak, and calculating that the medicine was almost taking effect, she smiled but her eyes were cold. "I will do whatever my husband says."

His eyes began to glaze over. "Drink this glass of wine, and we'll call it even, okay?"

"Okay." She was still smiling, but her hand loosened, and the wine glass fell to the ground, splashing wine everywhere, hitting the back of her hand and her clothes. But Sheng Yan had no time to pay attention to her, and was pounding his head, feeling dizzy.

"Husband, what's wrong?" She went to help him, but he pushed her away. "I'll come to see you another day."

But before he even reached the door, he collapsed heavily to the ground, unconscious.

Lou Yanxu slumped against the table, noticing her palms were damp. Although she had taken the antidote, she still felt dizzy. After a while, she strode over to extinguish the sleeping potion, opened the window a crack, and saw two thieves approaching. Startled, she hid in the wardrobe.

The two men crept into the house, peering around. One of them saw a person lying on the ground, rolled him over, and kicked him angrily. "Boss, weren't you told it was a beautiful young woman? How come it's a man?"

Another person came over and immediately kicked him again, muttering curses under their breath, "Damn it, you dare to lie to us!"

The two searched the bed again, but found no one. In the ensuing silence, a gaze flashed towards the wardrobe, the only possible hiding place. Through the crack, Lou Yanxu seemed to meet the eyes of the person who entered, and instinctively covered her mouth with her hands.

Sure enough, the eldest brother came trotting over.

Halfway there, they were stopped by the younger brother, who scratched his head with a sly look on his face. "Boss, calm down. Hasn't Chen Jiulang run out of new stuff lately? Let's just send him over. What's a young lady more important than money?"

"Money, money, money! All you ever think about is money!" The eldest brother slapped him hard on the forehead, having no other choice. "We'll do it your way!"

Lou Yanxu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She had found out everything about Chen Jiulang; he knew everyone in the South Courtyard, including Xiang Gu, and he had a particular fondness for this kind of thing. Sheng Yan was probably in for a rough time.

As they talked, they put a sack over the person and carried them away. Lou Yanxu opened the closet door and stared at the half-open window in silence for a long time.

Lost in thought, she suddenly noticed a figure outside the door. She opened the door, and Wan Qing'an, her face flushed, let out a hiccup and went straight to bed.

Her room was next door, and Lou Yanxu guessed that she was too drunk to find her way. He patiently helped her take off her shoes and pushed her to lie down inside. Unexpectedly, she suddenly grabbed his wrist, her eyes blurry with drunkenness, and mumbled, "Sir..."

Lou Yanxu was stunned for a moment, then sighed and ignored her.

Because she had just been drinking, Lou Yanxu felt unwell, so she turned her back to the door and took off her collared coat, thus failing to see the tall figure reflected on the door.

Xu Congjing was right outside the door.

He had just witnessed Sheng Yan enter her room, down a jar of wine, and still hadn't come out. He'd unknowingly wandered here. He couldn't hear anything outside. He paced back and forth, his mind racing with fantasies of the two inside, locked in a passionate embrace, driving him almost mad!

Upon closer inspection, his heart tightened, his breathing quickened, and before he could regain his senses, he burst through the door.

"Xu Situ?" Lou Yanxu was dumbfounded.

Xu Congjing saw her taking off her coat, and just then the person inside the tent turned over. His face darkened instantly. He didn't notice the women's shoes in front of the bed, and rushed over. Like a madman, he picked her up and carried her on his shoulder and walked out.

What are you doing!

"Xu Congjing, you're insane!"

She pounded his firm back hard, but he remained silent and walked away steadily.

A note from the author:

I recommend a similar pre-order, "Hate Until Return".

Everyone in Chang'an knows that the Qu and Wei families have an agreement to arrange a marriage between their children across three generations.

From the time Qu Qingwu could remember, she knew that she would marry Wei Yunsui in the future.

She was deeply in love with Wei Yunsui.

She cooked soup for him, sewed shoe soles, and made sachets by hand, treating him with all her heart.

But she also hated him intensely.

The Qu family had fallen on hard times, and her parents, fearing they would displease him, called off the marriage. So they forced her to cater to his preferences and please him, making her eat only what he liked and wear only what he liked. If he wanted to see her, she had to come whenever he called.

She was manipulated like a puppet, having long forgotten what she looked like, and had become a second him.

On the night of the full moon, after being confined to her quarters, she did the most outrageous thing she had ever done in a fit of anger.

She wanted to elope with another man.

However, before they reached the city gate, Wei Yunsui captured them and brought them back.

This incident caused him to lose face completely.

After marriage, Wei Yun hated her to the bone, discarding the gifts she gave him like worn-out shoes and carelessly overturning the dishes she cooked.

He never showed her any pity in private, nor did he ever care about her feelings in front of others.

On his birthday, she made him a bowl of longevity noodles, which he smashed to pieces.

He cornered her against the wall and sneered, "The way you dress and try to please me disgusts me!"

Her heart ached, she bit her lip, lowered her head, and shed a tear.

At her birthday banquet, she hid behind a flower bush and overheard someone asking him when he was going to divorce his wife.

He only said one sentence: "She owes me, and it's a debt she'll never repay."

She immediately collapsed to the ground, her body ice-cold.

It was another full moon night, and Qu Qingwu wandered alone to the city gate.

This time, she finally escaped.

From now on, she wants to be herself again.

Wei Yunsui longed to marry Qu Qingwu.

I long to be with her in perfect harmony, spending the rest of my life together.

He knew all along that she had no feelings for him and was only putting on an act to please him at her parents' behest.

But as long as she is willing to continue acting, he will respect her, love her, treat her with all his heart, and protect her for a lifetime of peace and happiness.

But he never expected that Qu Qingwu, who had always been obedient, would dare to elope with another man!

He was furious and, with a marriage certificate, forced her to move into his house.

After marriage, she was respectful and obedient, and took care of everything, but she was constantly reminding him that she had someone else in her heart.

He was jealous, he was resentful, and he wanted her to love him.

If you don't love each other, then torture each other until you die.

But he did not get his wish.

She ran away, and this time he couldn't find her.

Later, I listened to the conversations of ordinary people over tea.

Wei Yun went mad, crying and begging his wife to come home every day at the city gate.