"Liefeng, I wonder what Yuanyuan is doing now."
All night long, Shi Yuanyuan, Xiang Wan's personal maid, did not appear. Xiang Wan was very curious. It seemed a bit unreasonable for Shi Liefeng's nominal sister not to do anything after seeing her lover get married.
Shi Liefeng paused, looking a little awkward. Xiang Wan, who had been watching him closely, noticed his every move and couldn't help but add fuel to the fire.
“She should be here too. Yuanyuan is nominally my personal maid, and also your own sister. After we got married, she became even closer to me, but I haven’t seen her yet. Could it be that… she has something on her mind?”
It was my own carelessness; as her sister-in-law, I didn't pay attention to my sister-in-law's emotional changes. No wonder she's hiding and refusing to see me.
Xiang Wan's voice carried a hint of grievance, perfectly establishing her image as a sister-in-law. Shi Yuanyuan's status rose with Shi Liefeng's marriage, and the snobbish servants in the mansion would inevitably develop feelings for her. If she were to win over their hearts so easily, wouldn't that be letting her get away with it?
Shi Liefeng coughed lightly and comforted Xiang Wan, saying, "No, Yuanyuan will only be happy. She's probably dealing with something right now. We're newlyweds, and she might be afraid of disturbing us."
“No, Lie Feng, you don’t understand her. Yuan Yuan always tells me her troubles, but she’s acting so strangely today. Something must be wrong. No, I have to find her. What if she does something rash? I… I can’t bear to think about it anymore.”
Xiang Wan looked anxious and got up to walk out of the bedroom. Shi Liefeng grabbed her wrist and quickly pulled back. Seeing that Xiang Wan was about to leave the room, Shi Liefeng took a step forward and said to Xiang Wan, "Wan'er, you rest, I'll go find her."
"Liefeng, you must talk to Yuanyuan nicely. I asked you to go because I was worried about her. Please don't let her be sad because we neglected her during our honeymoon."
"good!"
Shi Liefeng agreed and turned to stride out of the courtyard.
Xiang Wan closed the door, turned around and sat on the bed, thinking about what had happened when she had just touched Shi Liefeng. The contact was brief, but she could feel that Shi Liefeng's palm was slightly cool, and the moment it touched her skin, it seemed as if something entered his palm, causing him to release his grip instantly.
Could it be that Shi Liefeng doesn't touch Li Xiangwan because he can't touch her?
Xiang Wan carefully examined the wrist that Shi Liefeng had grabbed. It was smooth and white, with nothing amiss. She then searched her body but found nothing unusual, except for a triangular amulet close to her chest outside her underwear. The original owner had always worn it close to her body, but now it looked somewhat damaged.
In the original owner's memories, this talisman had never left her body, and although it hung on her chest, she had never examined it closely. Xiang Wan didn't know if Shi Liefeng's behavior was related to this talisman, but she remembered what the talisman looked like now. If the talisman changed the next time Shi Liefeng touched her, that would explain the problem.
Master Li was in a great mood today and, in a moment of carelessness, drank a little too much. The guests who came were also quite drunk, and when they saw the groom coming out of the bridal chamber alone, they all teased him.
"Hey, groom, a moment of bliss on the wedding night is worth a thousand pieces of gold, are you really willing to come out?"
"Does it mean I need to take a bath first? Hahaha..."
Master Li pulled Shi Liefeng along, speaking incoherently, "Shi, Shi, Liefeng, how, how could you, how could you, leave Wan'er, by herself, by herself in the room? Why didn't you go, why didn't you go to keep her company? What, what were you doing out here?"
Master Li lost his wife early in life and raised his daughter alone. Naturally, he couldn't bear to see his son-in-law leave his daughter behind on their wedding night. He grabbed Shi Liefeng's wrist with a bit too much force, but he was drunk and didn't realize it.
Shi Liefeng frowned, used a clever trick to break free from Li Yuanwai's grasp, and bowed with clasped hands: "Father-in-law, it was Wan'er who sent me out..."
He left the rest unsaid, leaving much to the imagination.
"You, you're talking nonsense. My daughter, my daughter is not that kind of person."
"I have other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave now."
Shi Liefeng left in a hurry, and the remaining guests looked at each other, thinking that the young couple had had some kind of conflict. They all bowed and said goodbye and left the table.
If Xiang Wan were here, she would have to applaud Shi Liefeng's quick wit. He couldn't consummate their marriage for some reason, or rather, he didn't want to, so he used the excuse of looking for someone to pin the blame on her. Xiang Wan was still in the bridal chamber at the moment and couldn't possibly know about this, nor would any servants be so oblivious as to disturb her. Even if she found out later, Shi Liefeng could simply say that she was in a hurry to find someone, so he left in a rush and didn't have time to say the rest, causing this misunderstanding.
It's a pity Xiang Wan isn't here, but even if she knew, she probably wouldn't defend herself. What's the point of explaining? The one who should know is drunk, and the one who shouldn't know will only add to the gossip. In the end, it's still Li Xiang Wan who will be criticized by the world—making her husband lose face and behave badly at home on their wedding night over a trivial matter!
Shi Yuanyuan, who was on the minds of Xiang Wan and Shi Liefeng, was sitting in front of the bronze mirror, doing her makeup with a gloomy expression. She didn't turn around when she heard Shi Liefeng's footsteps.
"What? You're willing to leave your little darling wife?"
The sarcastic remark made Shi Liefeng freeze in place. He turned around and looked outside the door, then closed the door and sat down on the bed.
"Yuanyuan, what's wrong with you?"
Shi Yuanyuan threw the wooden comb on the table, turned around and glared angrily at Shi Liefeng: "What did I do? I gave up everything to suffer with you, endured humiliation and hardship to help you win Li Xiangwan's heart, and this is how you treat me? Wife? Humph! She doesn't even deserve it?"
"Yuanyuan, this is just a temporary measure."
"No expedient measures will do; your wife can only be me! If I find out you've fallen for her, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
As Shi Yuanyuan spoke, a cold glint flashed in her eyes, making Shi Liefeng's heart tighten. He suddenly remembered Xiang Wan's gentle smile and became somewhat lost in thought.
"Shi Liefeng, you can only be mine, and I can only be yours. If you dare to misbehave, even if I don't punish you, Master won't let you off the hook!"
A single sentence jolted Shi Liefeng awake. His expression turned serious, and he reached out to pull Shi Yuanyuan into his arms.
"Yuanyuan, I won't forget."
With this assurance, Shi Yuanyuan relaxed, wrapped her arms around his neck, and whispered in his ear, "In just one month, this Li residence will be ours."
"You did it?"
"Yes, tonight. They won't notice anything. When we've done everything right, we'll be in charge of the Li family from now on."
“…Well done.”
"So...you're staying tonight?"
Shi Yuanyuan's eyes were alluring, she didn't seem like an inexperienced girl at all. Shi Liefeng kissed her on the cheek and said, "Not tonight. Li Xiangwan asked about you, you have to come with me."
"Did she discover something?"
"No, I was just a little worried because I hadn't seen you all day."
"Ha, how stupid. In that case, Ah Feng, you won't blame me for ruining your wedding night, will you?"
"I couldn't ask for more!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
