HXC Chapter2

Ji Zhen returned to his courtyard, fuming, in the light rain.

 

His personal attendant, Ji An, had been anxiously waiting by the courtyard gate with an umbrella. When he saw that Ji Zhen’s clothes and dark hair were damp with mist, he rushed to shield him from the rain.

 

Ji Zhen stormed into the main room, holding his breath, and sat down angrily on a mahogany chair, his breathing a little ragged.

 

Ji An knew he had been rejected by Shen Yanqing again, so he didn’t dare say much. He arranged for a maidservant to bring hot water and a dry cloth and then went to the wardrobe to find a set of dry clothes for his master to change into.

 

It was late spring, and most ordinary households had already put out their charcoal fires. But Ji Zhen was sensitive to the cold, so a high-quality silver charcoal brazier was still burning in the courtyard, filling the air with warmth. Even with the moisture on his body, he didn’t feel cold.

 

When he first married Shen Yanqing, Ji Zhen had the idea of installing underfloor heating in the courtyard. Having lived this way since he was a child, he considered it a normal thing. But the moment he brought it up to Shen Yanqing, he was cut off with just one sentence: “The Shen family forbids luxury and extravagance.” Having no choice, he had baskets and baskets of good charcoal delivered to the courtyard, which saved him from the bitterness of freezing every winter.

 

Ji Zhen tossed the outer robe he had taken off to Ji An and dismissed the maidservants in the room. He then changed into his new undergarments and quickly burrowed into the quilt, which had been pre-warmed with a hot water jar.

 

Ji An poked the charcoal higher in the brazier and asked, “Young Master, do you want to rest now?”

 

Ji Zhen sat cross-legged on the couch, glancing out at the quiet courtyard. Thinking of Shen Yanqing’s attitude just now, he was filled with rage. Yet, in his heart, he genuinely hoped the other party would return to the room soon. His tightly pressed lips relaxed slightly, and he said, “Send someone to ask Shen Yanqing to come. Just say… just say that I caught a cold and feel dizzy.”

 

Ji An inwardly thought about how many times his master had used this trick before, but when had Lord Shen ever truly worried?

 

That’s what he thought, but he still agreed, opened the door, and told a servant boy to go invite Shen Yanqing.

 

Ji Zhen actually knew that Shen Yanqing might not care, but he still had to find an excuse to get him to come back. Although he hadn’t truly seen Yi Zhi in the study and had been provoked into leaving by Shen Yanqing, what if Yi Zhi was hiding? Wouldn’t that be playing right into their hands?

 

He sat on the bed, looking at the flowing tassels hanging from the bed frame, and reached out to pluck the scarlet tassels. Then he stared blankly at the wedding quilt with its intricate embroidery of mandarin ducks.

 

This wedding bed was custom-made by his elder brother for a high price. It was made of camphor wood, so it gave off a faint scent of wood. The carvings on the wooden frame were personally done by the most famous craftsman in the capital, and every flower was lifelike. Embedded in the side of the frame were two gleaming, ruby-red stones as large as goose eggs. Just one of them could buy the best estate in the city.

 

Though the wedding quilt had been changed, each one was embroidered with painstaking Su embroidery, stitch by stitch, and was filled with a hundred ounces of goose down, making it both light and warm.

 

This level of extravagance naturally made Shen Yanqing unhappy. Ji Zhen could give in on other things, but he insisted on keeping this wedding bed. It was a wedding gift from his most beloved elder brother, and he had no reason to refuse it.

 

Three years ago, Ji Zhen insisted on marrying Shen Yanqing despite everyone’s objections. His father and elder brother held a grand wedding banquet for him, but he was the only happy person among the newlyweds. The other person involved, Shen Yanqing, seemed like he had been dragged there. He simply offered a slight smile and a toast to the guests’ blessings, but his eyes showed no sign of joy at all.

 

Who could genuinely smile at their own arranged marriage during the wedding banquet?

 

The tassel swayed and swayed with Ji Zhen’s plucking. He was lost in the memory of the wedding day, it was a mix of joy and bitterness. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Everything was something he had forced into being, so no matter how aggrieved he felt now, he couldn’t blame anyone else.

 

But Ji Zhen had never regretted it. All he ever wanted was Shen Yanqing.

 

Just as he was quietly reliving the bittersweet memory, Ji An’s voice rang from outside the courtyard, greeting someone, “Lord Shen.”

 

As soon as he heard that Shen Yanqing had arrived, Ji Zhen immediately put away his melancholy thoughts, wrapped himself in the quilt, and lay down.

 

The door creaked open, and he caught a glimpse of a tall, slender figure entering the room. Shen Yanqing had changed into a set of plain, off-white casual clothes. Without any accessories, he looked elegant and clean, like a pine tree or a clear spring. He was also like a cold moon quietly entering the room, making people want to keep the moonlight.

 

Shen Yanqing looked good in white, but Ji Zhen’s favorite was when he wore scarlet. If it hadn’t been for that brilliant red back then, blazing into his heart like a ball of fire, he wouldn’t have become so obsessed and strayed down this twisted path.

 

Ji Zhen closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. Shen Yanqing came to the bed and looked down. “You caught a cold?”

 

There seemed to be a hint of concern in the other party’s words. Ji Zhen’s gloomy mood immediately vanished. He tremblingly opened his eyes and gazed at the cold moon, which was backlit. He pursed his lips and gave a muffled “mm,” with a nasal tone.

 

As soon as the last syllable fell, a small porcelain bottle was thrown onto the bed. Ji Zhen sat up and opened it. A pungent smell immediately assailed his nose. He held it away in disgust and asked, “What is this? It smells awful.”

 

“A pill formulated by the Imperial Medical, specially for cold air entering the body. Take it.”

 

“Why would you give me this out of nowhere…” Ji Zhen didn’t want to eat something that smelled so bad. He was about to argue but then remembered he was pretending to be sick. He was momentarily speechless.

 

Shen Yanqing looked at him with a knowing expression.

 

Ji Zhen steeled himself and said, “I’ll eat it, then.”

 

He poured out a pitch-black pill, closed his eyes, and stuffed it into his mouth. He didn’t even dare to hold it in his mouth, swallowing it down his throat with a gulp.

 

“The imperial physician said this pill is made with scorpion tails, snake bile, spider legs, cockroaches, and centipede heads. It’s a great tonic.”

 

Shen Yanqing’s casual remark sent a shock through Ji Zhen’s face. His stomach churned. He yanked back the quilt, jumped off the bed, ran to the table, and gulped down a cup of tea.

 

No matter how much tea he drank, a strange medicinal taste lingered in his mouth. Ji Zhen glared at him. “You did that on purpose.”

 

Shen Yanqing was perfectly at ease. “Since you’re sick, you should take your medicine. How is that on purpose?”

 

Ji Zhen slammed the teacup on the table, unable to find a word in rebuttal. Shen Yanqing was a genius who had passed the highest imperial examinations with honors. His written work was legendary, and his eloquence was out of this world. Ji Zhen could never get the better of him in any argument, so he could only swallow his anger.

 

“I’m asking you, was that really Yi Zhi in the study just now?” Ji Zhen couldn’t let it go and had to get to the bottom of it. “What were you two talking about? Has he leave?”

 

“I told you, there was no one else in the study.”

 

Ji Zhen actually wasn’t certain either, but he refused to give up. The issue with Shen Yanqing and Yi Zhi had been bothering him for a long time already. Now he was just using this as an excuse, determined to make Shen Yanqing personally admit that there was nothing between them so he could be at ease.

 

“Fine, don’t talk about tonight. Then what about before? What did you and Yi Zhi talk about in the study before?”

 

Shen Yanqing looked at him in silence, as if he was dissatisfied with his persistent aggressiveness. He took a step, intending to leave.

 

Ji Zhen blocked him with his hand. “Are you feeling guilty?”

 

Under Shen Yanqing’s gaze, which was as cold as a spring, he anxiously pursed his lips, wondering if he should continue to press the issue and risk incurring the other party’s disgust.

 

“Do you really want to know?”

 

Ji Zhen’s breathing hitched slightly. He had a vague feeling that the answer was not what he wanted to hear, but he still stubbornly replied, “Of course I do.”

 

“Yi Zhi and I discussed history, the imperial court, and scholarly texts. We talked about poetry, the refugees in the nearby countryside, and the war a thousand miles away in the northwest,” Shen Yanqing said, watching Ji Zhen’s face gradually turn pale. “Do you understand any of this?”

 

Ji Zhen’s hand, which was raised, fell. He was speechless.

 

He naturally didn’t understand any of it, which was why Shen Yanqing was unwilling to say a single word more to him.

 

But he didn’t believe that when the two of them were alone, they only talked about serious matters and never about romance. Besides, Yi Zhi was so beautiful that countless men and women were infatuated with him. Did Shen Yanqing truly not have any other thoughts?

 

Even if he was judging a gentleman with a villain’s heart, the more he loved Shen Yanqing, the more he worried that the other party would become interested in someone else.

 

Ji Zhen asked again, “What else?”

 

Shen Yanqing closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, there was only indifference. “That’s enough. Tonight, I will sleep in the east wing.”

 

Their courtyard had a main room and two side rooms, one east and one west. Whenever they argued, Shen Yanqing would sleep in a separate room from Ji Zhen.

 

Ji Zhen had been eagerly awaiting Shen Yanqing’s return; there was no way he would let him leave so easily. He snapped, “You’re not allowed to go anywhere.”

 

Shen Yanqing’s footsteps didn’t stop. His hand was already on the door latch.

 

Ji Zhen panicked and, without thinking, blurted out, “If you walk out that door, I will…”

 

Before he could think of the right words to stop the other party, Shen Yanqing turned back with a cold laugh. “What, this time are you going to run to your father or your elder brother to complain so they can impeach me in court again?”

 

Ji Zhen hadn’t thought of that, but he had indeed done something like that in previous years, making it difficult to retort.

 

“What would you impeach me for?” Shen Yanqing lifted his gaze, his expression as cold and sharp as a sheer iceberg. “For sleeping in a separate room from you, or for suspecting me of having an affair with someone else? Ji Zhen, what else can you do besides using the Ji family’s power to pressure people?”

 

Ji Zhen’s face flushed from green to red, filled with both shame and anger.

 

Shen Yanqing looked away. “If you feel so wronged, you shouldn’t have come to provoke me in the first place.”

 

With that, he opened the door and left without a backward glance.

 

It was Ji An’s turn to keep watch tonight. He had heard the argument inside from outside and had covered his ears, not daring to listen closely. Now, seeing Shen Yanqing come out, he was startled and didn’t dare to stop him. He only slowly shuffled into the room after Shen Yanqing had walked far away.

 

He saw Ji Zhen standing there with red-rimmed eyes. Ji An was used to it and sighed, “Young Master, Lord Shen has left.”

 

Ji Zhen took a deep breath. He wanted to smash the porcelain in his hands, but he was afraid that his tantrum would reach Madam Shen’s ears and he would be sent to kneel in the ancestral hall again. He held it in and simply clenched his fists, saying, “He left? Does that mean I can’t follow him?”

 

Ji An tried to persuade him, “It’s late. You should talk to Lord Shen tomorrow.”

 

But Ji Zhen refused. He stomped to the side of the bed, loosely draped his outer robe over his shoulders, and casually tied it.

 

Ji An had been assigned to Ji Zhen by his elder brother. He was the same age as Ji Zhen but much more mature in temperament. Seeing Ji Zhen procrastinate without going out, he stepped forward and said, “Young Master, you should rest.”

 

Ji Zhen lowered his head and whispered dejectedly, “He truly hates me.”

 

Ji’an wanted to offer some comfort, but Ji Zhen had already forced a bitter smile. “But so what if he hates me? He still bowed to the heavens and earth with me, and our marriage horoscopes were matched…”

 

After death, they would be buried together in a husband-and-wife tomb. Shen Yanqing would never be able to get rid of him in this life or the next.

 

Thinking this, Ji Zhen didn’t feel so sad anymore. He quickly adjusted his outer robe and, ignoring Ji An’s helpless gaze, went out to follow Shen Yanqing.

 

The author has something to say:

Lord Shen, if you don’t sleep with your wife now, your wife will sleep with someone else later (just kidding!)