Chapter 88 Chapter 88 "You are jealous." ...
"My wife."
Madam Du looked at her, shook her head in disapproval, and said earnestly, "You and my husband are now one."
Sheng Puzhu paused slightly, her voice as faint as a wisp of smoke: "Mammy, what happened in Luoyang is over."
"Even if there were any rumors in Chang'an, they were deliberately spread by someone with ulterior motives. Besides, I was only a few years old at the time. He was kind to me, and I just treated him like my brothers. Who knew that the Pei clan would take notice of my status and develop other ideas?"
"Besides, everything between Pei Xuzhi and me is innocent. Why should I go to you to explain?"
Aunt Du sighed, as if lost in memories.
Chen Yu, the daughter of the largest merchant family in Luoyang at that time, married into the scholarly Pei family. It was such a glorious life! This marriage made her become the envied Mrs. Pei San.
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. No matter how prosperous the Pei family seemed on the surface, they were certainly not even a bit richer than the Shen family.
The year after Shen Yu gave birth to her eldest son after her marriage, the couple separated.
Chen Yu also guessed from the few words of the Pei family that she was able to marry into the Pei family only because the Pei family members were attracted by her generous dowry.
After her husband got married, he had many concubines. In addition, the elders in the family did not like her birth. Chen Yu could no longer bear it and asked for a divorce. Unfortunately, it was easy to marry into the Pei family, but it was extremely difficult to divorce.
It was not until the eldest son was three years old that Shen Yu bribed the pulse examiner and announced to the public that she had injured her body due to childbirth and might not be able to get pregnant again in the future. Only then did the Pei family agree to a divorce, but the prerequisite was that Shen Yu could not take away any dowry.
She got married at the age of seventeen and returned home alone at the age of twenty.
No matter how much the two elders of the Shen family hated each other, they were just a trading company and could not possibly fight against the Pei family. After the divorce, Shen Yu devoted himself to managing the Shen family business for his parents, but no one expected that fate would be so wonderful.
When Shen Yu was 21 years old, the Shen family's ship was about to sail out to sea from Dengzhou, and she met Sheng Juyong in Dengzhou.
The eldest son of the Sheng family is over thirty years old. His younger brothers have all married and had children. As for his marriage, the elders of the Sheng family think that he is pure in mind and may become a monk one day, so they don't hold out any hope at all.
So when Sheng Juyong wrote to his family, saying that he had taken a liking to the eldest daughter of the Shen family, his family checked and found out that she had divorced him and that he had a son with her ex-husband.
The old man of the Sheng family, Sheng Baiya, did not sleep all night and rushed to Luoyang in person.
Not long after that, it was reported that the eldest daughter of the Shen family who married into the Pei family was not divorced, but died of illness.
The Shen family's elders missed their daughter so much that they adopted Shen Yu as their daughter again.
The Shen family's roots are in Luoyang, and the Shen family's business employs hundreds of workers, so it is impossible to just abandon them.
Therefore, every summer, Sheng Juyong would take his wife and daughter to Luoyang to stay for more than a month to escape the heat.
As for the Pei family, ever since Chen Yu married into the Marquis Mingde's Mansion, the Pei family naturally changed their initial attitude and wanted to recognize Chen Yu as their own daughter.
Chen Yu still has a son in the Pei family, so naturally he would not break off relations with him.
But no one expected that after the two families had lived in peace for many years, Pei became more and more daring and even set her sights on Sheng Puzhu.
Although Pei Wulang is a good person, there are many bad people in the Pei family.
Thinking of this, Madam Du let out a long sigh and said helplessly, "Madam, you don't explain many things clearly, so my husband can only guess on his own. If he guesses wrong, it will only lead to deeper misunderstandings."
Sheng Puzhu frowned and put down the cotton handkerchief. She pressed her white fingertips on her temples and said in a faint voice, "The year my father passed away, my grandparents also passed away. Didn't I get through all the difficulties back then on my own?"
"As for the gossip in Luoyang."
"I was innocent when I married. My husband married me, and he didn't ask any questions. How can I explain myself?"
"Forcing myself to tell him would only make me look guilty, and I don't want him to know about my mother's situation in Luoyang."
The wrinkles on Madam Du's face were all squeezed together. After hesitating for a long time, she finally sighed: "This old servant knows that my wife is protecting the lady in her heart, but sometimes, husband and wife also need understanding and consideration."
"But after all, with my husband's temperament and deep thoughts, it's difficult for you to guess. Some things you think are just a passing breeze, but perhaps they become a thorn in your heart. Today, your encounter with the fifth son of the Pei family is a coincidence. In the future, when my husband of the Pei family serves as an official in Chang'an, you will inevitably meet him again."
"What if my husband gets jealous and thinks too much?"
As the night deepened, the last ray of sunlight outside the window sank under the eaves. The lights in the room were on, emitting a dim glow.
Sheng Puzhu took off the pearl and jade hairpins on her head and let her long black hair fall. She was silent for a long time, and then asked in a gentle voice: "How could someone like my husband be jealous?"
Madam Du saw that she must have heard it, so she quickly added fuel to the fire: "In all my years, I have never met a man who wasn't jealous."
Sheng Puzhu lowered his eyes, and his eyes seemed somewhat deep and difficult to discern under the light.
She knew very well that what Madam Du said was not unreasonable.
It’s just… after having been fighting for so long, I’ve become accustomed to suppressing all grievances and right and wrong, and digesting them slowly.
When it came to confessing her feelings to others, especially to a husband who might not completely trust her, and explaining those unfounded troubles, Sheng Puju felt a deep sense of powerlessness and a cowardice that even she herself could not understand.
Even though she thought so, Sheng Puzhu still smiled, as if she had really taken Madam Du's words to heart. She said in a soft voice, "Take a bath first. After that, I'll go to the study."
"Just be at ease, Mammy. I will explain everything to my husband."
"Why."
"I will prepare it right away."
Nanny Du happily agreed and quickly ordered the kitchen to prepare hot water.
Sheng Puzhu took a slow bath and made an excuse of being very tired, asking Nanny Du to massage her. Only after Nanny Du was tired did she take Naidong out.
"Madam, you haven't even reached the study yet, why...are you going back?"
Naidong is the most introverted and quiet among the maids. She doesn't talk much and is naturally easy to fool.
Sheng Puzhu pursed her rosy lips and smiled softly, "I only agreed to it because I was afraid that Madam would worry."
"But what Madam said doesn't make sense. Madam sometimes gets angry and is very stubborn." Naidun's face wrinkled. "I'm not just talking nonsense. Our ancestors have said this about you."
Sheng Puzhu couldn't refute it, so she could only explain softly, "It's just that you know my personality. I've been proud since I was a child. I'm not angry, but I think even husband and wife can have their own secrets."
"Besides, how could a man like Langjun be jealous?"
"I don't believe it."
It was late at night and everyone was asleep. Xie Zhiyan entered the inner room, covered in sweat.
He had already taken a bath in the study, and there was a hint of coldness and indifference in his eyes. He did not carefully look at his sleeping wife as usual, but lifted a corner of the quilt and lay down silently.
Sheng Puzhu had not yet fallen asleep and could clearly feel the sinking of the bed beside her and the lingering coldness around the man.
Silence spread between the two of them, and the uncontrollable heartbeats echoed in their eardrums.
Suddenly, Xie Zhiyan turned over and faced her.
Even with his eyes closed, Sheng Puzhu could still feel that gaze, as real as substance, falling silently upon him.
"Madam, do you have anything to ask or say?" His low voice sounded from the darkness. No emotion could be heard from it, but it carried a sense of oppression as if a storm was about to come.
Sheng Puzhu's heart tightened, but she forced herself to remain calm: "What does my husband want to ask, and what does he want me to say?"
Xie Zhiyan suddenly chuckled softly, "Then what was Madam doing wandering outside the study for so long?"
"Could it be that because the night is so beautiful today, you specially found that place to admire the moon?"
study?
Sheng Puzhu's voice suddenly choked, and his eyes widened in the darkness.
She took Naidong with her, fearing that Nanny Du would become suspicious, so she walked back and forth in the corridor in front of the study several times.
It was already dusk and no one was around.
She thought no one would know!
how!
He was so good that he actually sat in the study and watched her walk back and forth in the corridor like a fool.
When Sheng Puzhu thought of that scene, she forgot all about Luoyang and the Pei family. She felt like she was going to die of anger. Her voice was inevitably filled with sarcasm: "What about my husband? What is he admiring in the study?"
"I am a common person, and I cannot be as leisurely and elegant as you."
Xie Zhiyan frowned.
Why did he stay in the study for so long? Wasn't it because of her?
At that time, the servant came to report, and he waited and waited in the study, but she never showed up.
When I came out of the study and took a look, I almost laughed out of anger.
She was just pretending. When the time was almost up, she turned around and left with her maid without even glancing at him.
At this moment, Xie Zhiyan could hardly suppress his emotions. He closed his eyes and suddenly raised his arms, turned over and trapped Sheng Puju under him. His tall body did not leave her any chance to struggle.
"Then tell me."
"What's going on between you and Pei Xuzhi?"
Sheng Puzhu bit her lip lightly and asked after a while, "Can you please not tell me?"
She looked up at him, and their eyes met in the darkness, neither of them able to see the expression on the other's face.
But she could clearly feel that Xie Zhiyan's aura became extremely aggressive in an instant.
"I have nothing to do with him." Sheng Puju took a deep breath and felt her throat blocked. She felt lost and felt that he did not trust her.
"Nothing to do with it?" Xie Zhiyan seemed a little angry. He raised his palm slightly as if he wanted to touch her face, but stopped abruptly, clenched it into a fist, and veins appeared on the back of his hand.
"I heard that the fifth son of the Pei family in Luoyang grew up with you as childhood sweethearts, admiring peonies in the spring and boating on the lake in the summer. Can you call that completely unrelated?"
"Thank you Zhiyan!"
Sheng Puzhu was so angry that she was shaking, her eyes instantly red: "You actually sent people to investigate me. In your heart, am I not trustworthy at all?"
Xie Zhiyan's face was frozen. He grabbed her struggling wrists, his eyes red.
"When did I not trust you?"
"I just don't want any man near you except me."
"I'm a man, I have emotions too, I'm not as generous as you think."
Sheng Puzhu was stunned. The restraint on his wrist was far less impactful than every word he said.
The man in front of her was no longer his usual calm and composed self. Undisguised jealousy rolled in his deep eyes.
She had never imagined that he would be so blatantly jealous.
He must be jealous.
Sheng Puzhu was a little unsure again.
The smell of gunpowder in the air had not yet dissipated, but it was suddenly mixed with an indescribable bitterness.
Xie Zhiyan's chest heaved violently. Inside the low-hanging curtain, there was a dead silence except for the two people's rapid breathing, which could be clearly heard.
"You're jealous."
"Is that right?" Sheng Puzhu raised her neck, just wanting to see the expression on his face clearly, but she didn't expect that she used too much force, and her soft lips brushed against his chin and slid past.
Xie Zhiyan was stunned, and the strength in his palm loosened a little. His fingertips unconsciously stroked the wrist that could be broken with a little force. He lowered his body and kissed her.
From the initial light touch of the probe, to later using the tip of his tongue to force open her lips and teeth, kissing her deeply, as if wanting to take away all her air.
"Answer me first." Xie Zhiyan kissed her for a while, then let her go. The strong emotions in his eyes slowly faded away, gradually settling into something deeper, heavier, and almost suffocating.
Those dark eyes were filled with blatant, almost stubborn jealousy, burning like fire.
"So what if we were childhood sweethearts? I don't care." His voice was hoarse, and every word seemed to be ground out from the depths of his throat. "That was before you married me, but from now on, you are not allowed to see him."
"Pearl." Xie Zhiyan kissed those soft lips again, changing from heavy sucking to light biting, and their hot breaths intertwined.
Sheng Puzhu's eyes were red, and she didn't even realize when she started crying, until Xie Zhiyan stopped and stared at her: "Are you still angry?"
How can I not be angry?
She couldn't remember how long it had been since she had cried like this. She felt wronged from nowhere and was sweating all over. He held her tightly in his arms.
"I was wrong." Xie Zhiyan's Adam's apple rolled, and his tone was filled with caution that he himself was not aware of.
"Stop crying, please."
"Even if I'm wrong, you're not allowed to see him again."
When Sheng Puzhu smelled the refreshing scent of cypress nuts on him, the ice in her heart quietly cracked.
Xie Zhiyan's previous temper was such that he wouldn't frown even if the sky fell. In the court, he could drive people to despair with just a few words, but now he lost control in front of her like a trapped beast.
"My dear, do you want to hear about my childhood?"
"In Luoyang, and Dengzhou."
"He and I are not what the rumors say."
Sheng Puzhu took the initiative to hold his hand, and her voice was still nasal from crying.
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