Chapter 1 Dreamlike Dream The man in her dream was none other than her fiancé's elder brother...
"Thump—"
Water splashed everywhere.
Shen Xi's wrist was grabbed and she was suddenly pulled into the bath. Her thin nightgown was soaked and clung to her body, outlining her graceful figure.
Suddenly, a large, well-defined hand reached out and caught her steadily, then wrapped around her waist, pulling her firmly into its embrace.
Behind her, the man slowly lowered his head, his rapid and heavy breaths hitting her neck repeatedly, and then, just as skillfully as before, he nibbled downwards, leaving a string of fine, dense red marks.
Her youthful body was on the verge of collapse. Chen Xi was forced to tilt her head back, and a soft moan escaped her throat.
In the past, she had always kept her back to him and had never seen the man's face clearly, but this time Shen Xi was more cautious.
His gaze subtly shifted backward.
Steam rose from the bathtub, and only a pair of clear, indifferent eyes could be glimpsed in the shadows.
Before I could see any more clearly, a low, hoarse murmur suddenly sounded in my ear: "Xi'er..."
The familiar low call was like a thunderclap in broad daylight, instantly waking Shen Xi.
Her clothes were soaked with a fine layer of sweat, and the chill of late autumn belatedly crept in. She frowned, lost in thought.
It's him again.
For many days, Shen Xi had never seen the man's face clearly, only remembering his ever-clear eyes, deep and cold, which inexplicably bewitched her and made her fall into them.
Today, it's just a hair's breadth away.
She couldn't help but lightly punch the bed in frustration.
Just then, the maid Qingqiu heard her get up and went inside to serve her a cup of tea.
She had a fever all night last night, and Chen Xi's throat is terribly dry and hoarse.
What time is it now?
"It's past Chen Shi (7-9 AM)."
Shen Xi rubbed her temples. A few days ago, she had a high fever for some unknown reason. It came on suddenly and lingered for a long time. The medicine was ineffective, and the fever would rise again and again every night, only to subside at dawn.
Dragged down by her illness, she slept in a daze for several days, without any energy or spirit, like a sycamore leaf in the courtyard that had been battered by wind and rain all night, swaying precariously.
Shen Xi cleared her throat and ordered someone to prepare water for a bath. When she looked up again, she noticed some extra things on the table and casually asked, "What are those?"
Qingqiu said, "These are things sent by Young Master Xie. When he heard that you were ill, he came to see you yesterday morning. You were asleep at the time, so I took the liberty of accepting them for you."
Upon hearing this name, Shen Xi blinked slightly.
Xie Er, Xie Wenlang, the second son of the Duke of Wei, can be considered her nominal fiancé. Unfortunately, the two have not yet formally settled their marriage. Xie Wenlang personally visited her home and only managed to obtain a verbal engagement.
"Young Master Xie cares most about the young lady. He even went to the east of the city early in the morning to personally buy some pastries from the young lady's favorite shop, just in case she was sick and wouldn't eat properly."
"Not only that, there's more..."
Qingqiu kept praising Xie Wenlang, but Shen Xi didn't listen any further, only giving a flat "hmm": "Since he sent it, let's just leave it."
"yes."
Qingqiu said no more and followed her wishes to fetch water for her bath.
As Shen Xi undressed and entered the water, amidst the rippling waves of the bath, an unbearable scene suddenly surfaced in a corner of her mind, causing her head to buzz and her face to turn completely red.
"Young lady, are you running a fever again?"
Startled, Qingqiu hurriedly reached out to check Shenxi's forehead temperature, but she turned her head away, saying, "It's alright, you can go out first."
After Qingqiu left, she closed her eyes and carefully recalled the ecstatic dreams she had experienced during the previous few nights of high fever.
Although the Shen family was not a prominent or noble family, they were still a respectable official family, and they were quite strict in their upbringing and discipline of their children.
Shen Xi was not yet married and had never experienced the pleasures of love between men and women. As for why she had been having such dreams for several days in a row, she herself did not understand.
But she couldn't resist her curiosity about that man...
Who is it that makes me dream of sharing a bed and making love with him every night?
Shen Xi pondered, her face flushed and her ears burning.
It wasn't until Qingqiu came over to remind her, "Miss, Young Master Xie has invited you out of the manor today, and it's almost time," that she was reminded.
The makeup couldn't hide Shen Xi's haggard and sickly appearance. She still deliberately chose an ivory-white long dress with a dark floral pattern, making her look even more frail.
But Xie Wenlang always liked to see her wearing these simple and elegant clothes.
Qingqiu straightened Shen Xi's clothes, but paused slightly when her gaze fell on her neck: "Why hasn't it gone down yet? What should we do?"
Gently lifting her collar, Shen Xi glanced into the bronze mirror. Several abrupt and glaring red marks lay across her fair neck, still faintly throbbing with pain.
"Young Master went too far. It's been so many days, and the wound on the young lady's neck still hasn't completely healed."
Upon hearing this and considering the reasons behind it, Shen Xi pursed her lips tightly, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing her collar.
After a long pause, he spoke in a cold voice: "My elder brother wished I would disappear as soon as possible, but now that he hasn't strangled me to death and has left me alive, he clearly went too far."
Qingqiu paused for a moment, then changed the subject: "It's all my fault for being so incompetent. I couldn't stop the young master, and the young lady was so badly injured and has been sick for many days."
Shen Xi turned her collar up again, hastily covering the finger marks on her neck.
"It's not your fault. No one could stop a crazy person who's throwing a tantrum for no reason."
She was already used to it, and calmly stood up, saying, "Alright, let's go."
It was late autumn of the eighteenth year of the Taixing era.
The lingering rainwater gathered into tiny streams that rolled down the dark tiles, hitting the frail leaves of the sycamore trees in front of the window, eroding the vitality of all things in the capital city inch by inch.
Outside the Shen residence, Xie Wenlang had been waiting for a long time.
Upon seeing Shen Xi emerge, Xie Wenlang, who had been casually boasting to others, immediately composed himself, strode forward, smiled at her with a smile, and personally helped her into the carriage.
Xie Wenlang was born into the Duke of Wei's family and was the youngest son. He was pampered by his parents and brothers from a young age and was unruly in the capital. He was used to being fawned over and flattered. Over the years, the only person who could make this arrogant young man willingly lower his head and help him was Shen Xi.
Fortunately, he didn't notice anything amiss.
Shen Xi boarded the carriage with her own thoughts in mind, while Xie Wenlang rode alongside on a tall horse, partly to avoid suspicion and partly to show off.
He was the same age as Shen Xi, and they were both at the age where they were full of vigor and couldn't hide their feelings. If they liked someone, they liked them. Like wildfire, they didn't hide it and wanted the whole world to know.
He did the same to Shen Xi, and he did the same to this horse, constantly muttering to it along the way.
"When my elder brother gave me Tafeng back then, it was just a little colt that couldn't even stand up properly. I've taken good care of it all these years, and now it gallops with the wind in its hooves. I'll definitely let my elder brother see it with his own eyes later. But he's been away from the capital for so long, he probably won't even recognize Tafeng anymore."
“Ta Feng…” Chen Xi murmured softly, “It’s a good name.”
Xie Wenlang was even happier than if he had received praise himself: "Of course, how could the name my elder brother chose be bad?"
"My eldest brother is skilled in both literature and martial arts..."
When it comes to his elder brother Xie Chengyan, Xie Wenlang could talk for three days and three nights without stopping, as if he wanted to praise him to the point that he was the most outstanding person in the world.
Shen Xi had heard him mention it many times.
The two are siblings born of the same mother, but their experiences are vastly different.
Xie Chengyan was sent to the frontier to train from a young age, struggling amidst the yellow sand and the clash of swords. He rarely returned to the capital. However, at the age of twenty, he led troops to reclaim thirteen lost cities, dealt a heavy blow to the enemy, and completely wiped out the barbarian threat, thus becoming famous overnight.
He was Xie Wenlang's most respected and unparalleled elder brother.
Earlier, he had been eagerly clamoring to bring Chenxi to meet his elder brother.
It just so happens that Xie Chengyan won a great victory and returned to the capital for a short rest. He had arrived in the capital a few days ago, but Shen Xi suddenly developed a high fever that day, which delayed the arrival of his wife until today.
The carriage stopped in front of a vermilion-lacquered mansion, a general's residence bestowed upon Xie Chengyan by the emperor.
“My elder brother had lived on the frontier for a long time. After returning to the capital, he couldn’t get used to living in the Duke’s mansion, so he moved out on his own.”
Xie Wenlang helped her out of the car while explaining.
The boundless sky was like an inverted ink painting, its edges blurred with varying shades of gray, pressing down with a damp and gloomy atmosphere.
Shen Xi looked up at the endless sky and felt a sudden wave of depression rising up in her heart.
Just then, a short, powerful hoofbeat came from behind. A figure galloped away on horseback, his robes fluttering in the wind, like a sharp blade from afar, piercing through the dark clouds.
"Big brother!"
Xie Wenlang, who was standing next to him, recognized the person who had come and excitedly waved and shouted.
Shen Xi looked in the direction of the sound, and as the figure drew closer, she was caught off guard by a pair of deep and familiar eyes.
The owner of those eyes had called her by her maiden name tenderly on several occasions when she was in a daze.
The last autumn rain of the eighteenth year of Taixing had been brewing for a long time, and it began to fall in a light drizzle the moment their eyes met.
A thunderclap seemed to rumble across the sky, and her heart tightened suddenly.
Shen Xi finally received the answer she had been pondering for so long.
The man in her dream was none other than Xie Chengyan, the elder brother of her fiancé.
"Big brother, you've come back just in time!"
While Chen Xi was still in a daze, Xie Wenlang strode into the rain and ran excitedly to Xie Chengyan's side.
While the brothers were talking, she couldn't approach them, so she stood under the eaves with her hands tightly clasped together.
Despite being deeply shocked, Shen Xi couldn't help but glance at Xie Chengyan a few times.
Through the fine, interwoven rain and mist, the man's face in my dream gradually became clear.
With long eyebrows and slender eyes, and a pine-like posture, Xie Chengyan had been tempered by years of experience on the frontier. He was profound and dignified, possessing a cold and resolute demeanor that most young men from the capital lacked. Even his younger brother Xie Wenlang, who resembled him by five or six points in appearance, could not match him in any way.
But ironically, it was this very person who entered her nightly, absurd and decadent dreams.
Just as I was about to take a closer look, a gaze suddenly fell upon me with a deep intensity.
Shen Xi quickly lowered her head guiltily, avoiding eye contact.
Unlike the burning passion in his dreams, Xie Chengyan in reality was sharp and dignified, distant and indifferent, especially his eyes, which were like the snow on a high mountain that never melts, exuding a chilling indifference.
Xie Wenlang noticed his brother's actions and looked back in the direction he was looking, only to find that Shen Xi seemed a little uneasy.
He couldn't help but complain, "Brother, your serious demeanor is frightening Xi'er."
After saying that, Xie Wenlang ran towards Shen Xi without hesitation, his smile light and bright: "Xi'er, this is your first time meeting my elder brother. He may seem serious, but he treats me very well in real life. You are the person I like, so my elder brother will naturally not make things difficult for you."
We were intimate in bed in my dream last night, so it can't be said that it was our first time meeting.
But she had to keep this dream, which was too embarrassing to talk about, hidden deep in her heart and not lose her composure in the slightest, especially in front of Xie Wenlang.
He gently held her hand to comfort her; the boy's palm remained warm despite the chilly autumn rain. Shen Xi smiled in response.
Seeing her finally smile, Xie Wenlang turned around, unable to hide his unrestrained pride: "Brother, this is Xi'er, whom I often mention to you and with whom I have an engagement."
engagement.
These two words pierced the darkness in her heart.
Shen Xi's fingers curled slightly, and she dared not meet Xie Chengyan's eyes even more. She lowered her head and softly said, "Please thank General Xie for his good health."
She had not yet married into the Duke of Wei's household, so she shouldn't call him "elder brother" like Xie Wenlang. Xie Chengyan had not yet been granted a title, so she couldn't call him "heir apparent." After some thought, only this form of address was reasonable.
Xie Chengyan, on the other side, did not respond.
Shen Xi felt uneasy. Out of the corner of her eye, she looked down and saw a pair of cloud-patterned black boots slowly approaching, the light rain carrying a faint scent of ebony as it passed in front of her.
Xie Chengyan walked straight into the mansion, seemingly not intending to pay any attention to this future sister-in-law who was not of proper status.
Shen Xi breathed a sigh of relief. Given the current situation, ignoring it was the best course of action.
But as he drew closer, just a few steps away, Shen Xi subtly detected a familiar aura from him, as she had in her dream, and instinctively took a few steps back.
However, it was this retreat that made Xie Chengyan stop in his tracks, stopping right in front of her.
Before she could even catch her breath, she was hoisted up again. Shen Xi's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she dared not look up.
All that could be seen was a pair of slender hands, slowly and methodically adjusting a riding crop.
He was quite patient, straightening and smoothing the brown short whip in his hand, then slowly tightening it section by section and clenching it in his palm. The simple movements made the knuckles of his fingers stand out even more.
Until the last whip was tightened, that indifferent voice finally descended from above.
"Afraid of me?"
The voice was exactly the same, but it was cold and indifferent, unlike the hoarse voice that sounded like someone lost in a dream.
Shen Xi felt a chill run down her spine, and a thin layer of sweat instantly broke out on her back.
A note from the author:
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[Forced acquisition + wife-chasing tragedy]
When Cheng Zhuoyan accompanied her husband to the capital for business, she inadvertently offended Lu Sui.
Lu Sui was the Marquis of Dingyuan in the current dynasty. At a young age, he became a close minister of the emperor, enjoying immense prestige and maintaining his integrity.
The only thing he looked at was his unexpectedly dark gaze.
It was only later that I learned that Lu Sui had been engaged to Meng Jingtang, the youngest daughter of Prince Duan. Unfortunately, the Prince's family was loyal and brave, and many years ago, the entire family died for their country, with no one surviving.
That person was the white moonlight in his heart.
And she looks exactly like Meng Jingtang.
She thought the two were just connected by a coincidence, but on the day she left the capital, Lu Sui used swift and decisive means to detain her husband.
In the dim light, Lu Sui leaned down and stroked her face inch by inch with his fingertips: "I can let him go, but you stay and be my wife."
"Keep me here because I look like her, right?"
Lu Sui's eyes churned, and the two fingers gripping her chin tightened suddenly: "No."
Cheng Zhuoyan naturally didn't believe it.
She knew that Lu Sui regarded Meng Jingtang as a celestial being in the clouds and the moon, while she was nothing but mud on the ground and roadside grass, contemptible and clumsy, not worthy of being presented on stage, and barely even a substitute.
But in the end, she was forced to submit to him.
From then on, he lowered his status and followed Lu Sui's preferences, forced to imitate Meng Jingtang's every move.
However, Lu Sui covered her eyes, his breath hot and his malice making her unbearable, but his tone was cold: "She's all form and no spirit. She's never been like this before."
*
Cheng Zhuoyan gritted her teeth, enduring all the ridicule for her poor imitation, and occasionally she would secretly pray: "Whether it is true or not, just forget about her."
Only then can she feel better.
Until one day, Lu Sui was drunk and, in his hazy state, he grabbed her wrist: "Mingyou, don't go."
Mingyou was Meng Jingtang's childhood name.
Meng Jingtang was ultimately a mountain she could never overcome.
After plotting for many days, Cheng Zhuoyan finally escaped from her prison and returned home to find her husband.
However, upon opening the long-awaited gate, one sees the Marquis's soldiers, their armor gleaming coldly against the snow, crowding the entire courtyard.
Behind the gleaming swords and spears, only one person stood with his hands behind his back, his face ashen—it was Lu Sui.
That night, the red candles flickered, her clothes were disheveled, and he gripped her ankle tightly as he leaned in, his eyes fierce.
"These legs are really disobedient."
"You care about him that much? Since you haven't learned your lesson, then tonight you'll use your body to remember who your husband is."
*
Lu Sui knew very well that every time Cheng Zhuoyan said "forget her," she was saying goodbye to him.
But he refused.
They could only be separated by death, not by life.
Consumption Guide:
1. Double C, he
2. Early on, it's a story of forceful acquisition; later, it's a dramatic tale of chasing after one's wife. Readers beware of this melodramatic plot.
3. The male and female leads are not perfect characters.
4. No stand-ins, always 1v1
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