FID – Chapter 953

Chapter 953: Wanting Too Much Is a Sin

Shi Xianrou tossed the wedding robe aside with a carefree motion. She picked up two wine cups and walked toward the man whose eyes glimmered with a dark light.

“Drink the nuptial wine, and then we can indulge in broad daylight—hmm?”

“I was waiting for you to say that!” He took the cup, drained it in one go, then took the one from her hand and drank that too. Tossing both cups away, he pulled her into his arms. “Let’s start now. Don’t dawdle. Are you not impatient?”

Four hands tugged at each other’s clothing, tossing pieces one after another onto the bed. “You told the servants not to disturb us, right?”

“I took care of that long ago. No need to remind me—everything’s ready!”

“Are you going to take out your little collection again this time?”

“You think I really don’t dare? I only held back before because I was afraid you’d be shy.”

Her voice carried a hint of laughter. “Yet your face is redder than mine right now.”

“That’s just the wine talking. A spring night is short—talk less and do more.”

The red canopy fell. Inside, the sounds slowly softened… then gradually rose again.

“Shitou,” the man panted, resting against her shoulder, “you waited for me all these years. Did you ever regret it?”

Breathing lightly, the woman closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and let a soft smile curve her lips.“Never.”

She knew that, one day, he would belong to her.

Slow-boiling a frog in warm water: none of her efforts had been in vain.

When affection begins, the heart follows. To love someone this deeply for a lifetime is, in itself, a kind of happiness.

……

The Qian family’s wedding banquet concluded, and the marriage between the general’s daughter and the imperial merchant clan of the Qian family remained the talk of the capital for a very, very long time.

At first, the discussions were mostly ridicule, but gradually they turned into envy.

Rumor had it that after the general’s daughter married into the Qian household, she utterly dominated the young master. In public and in private, the young master of the Qian family behaved like a docile little wife.

Instead of feeling ashamed, he was actually quite pleased with himself.

Rumor also said that all major and minor household affairs were decided by the general’s daughter, and the young master followed her lead in everything. If his wife said one, he would never say two; if she pointed east, he would never go west.

Rumor further claimed that the general’s daughter was forceful in manner, and soon after entering the Qian household, she seized full authority of the family. Even Elder Master Qian and Elder Madam Qian had to watch her expression before acting.

She was hailed as the fiercest wife in the entire capital.

Yet she inspired secret envy in countless maidens and noble ladies.

Listening to Shi Xianrou complain helplessly, Liu Yusheng laughed until she doubled over.

People always judge by appearances.

Clearly, it was Qian Wanjin who, after getting married, turned into a lazy bum—refusing to handle anything, dumping all matters onto his wife, and clinging to her every day like a tail, trailing after her so she would dote on him.

But in other people’s mouths, it became ‘henpecked husband.’

“It’s already December. Snow has begun to fall in the capital. In a few days, the canal will probably freeze over. Are you two going back to Xinghua Village this year?” Shi Xianrou asked.

Winter in the imperial city arrived much earlier than in the south, and its cold was far harsher. Every year, shortly after the start of December, the snow would begin and last nearly three months.

If they wanted to return south for the New Year, they would have to leave early. In another half month, it would no longer be possible to travel by boat.

Traveling by land would take at least a month to reach Yunzhou.

And now, with Badou and Hongdou added to the family, journeying nonstop through the bitter winter was out of the question.

Liu Yusheng nodded. “Of course we’re going back. Feng Qingbai still has some matters to take care of here. Once he settles them, we’ll depart.”

“Is it about investigating Shan Lai’s identity?” Qian Wanjin asked.

He had once heard Feng Qingbai mention it.

The forces behind Shan Lai had always been a hidden threat to Nanling. Although she had escaped, the matter still needed to be pursued.

Feng Qingbai was never one to leave the initiative in someone else’s hands.

Since someone had been keeping an eye on Nanling all this time, he would never sit and wait for death, nor passively wait for the enemy to strike again.

“It’s not just about Shan Lai. There’s also the issue of the Life Link Gu,” Liu Yusheng said. “He wasn’t at ease letting Xue Qinglian head to Southern Xinjiang alone, so he later sent people from the Shadow Guard Battalion after him. On one hand, they can widen the search for a solution. On the other, if anything happens to Qinglian, they’ll be there to help.”

“He really does worry about everything. No wonder he’s so prematurely mature, always looking deep and brooding. Give it a few more years, and he’ll definitely look several years older than me.” Qian Wanjin gloated. After laughing, he added, “Southern Xinjiang is an extremely mysterious place. My people can’t get in, but I’ve sent men to investigate around the borders. We’ll probably get news back after the New Year.”

Both women turned to look at him with equal disdain.

He had just mocked Feng Qingbai, yet wasn’t he doing the exact same thing?

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Qian Wanjin shifted uncomfortably. “I have wide connections and plenty of manpower. It’s just a small effort. It’s not like I’m personally going to help. Besides, I just can’t stand that old bastard Xue Zhong causing trouble. Once Xue Qinglian breaks the Gu curse, I’m going to personally throw him out on the street and let him beg for food!”

Before leaving the King’s Manor, Qian Wanjin had even lowered himself to visit the small side room to take a look at Xue Zhong’s current state.

In the dark, cramped room, the man lying on the bed looked like a puppet—his limbs shackled, his eyes vacant. He was filthy and pitiful, nothing but skin and bones now. The entire room reeked of the stench coming from his body.

One glance was enough for Qian Wanjin to retreat, though he was quite satisfied with what he saw.

Xue Qinglian had been harmed so terribly. If Xue Zhong were still eating well, drinking well, and sleeping comfortably in the King’s Manor, he would have been very displeased.

As the end of the year drew closer, if they didn’t set out soon, the canal truly would freeze over.

By mid-month, Feng Qingbai finally finished delegating all his pending matters. With the two little ones, he and Liu Yusheng boarded the passenger ship taking them home.

Whether they should bring the twins back to Xinghua Village in such weather had caused the couple to wrestle with the Empress Dowager for several days before finally convincing the old lady.

When the passenger ship set off, the Empress Dowager stood at the window in Yangxin Hall, watching the large, drifting snowflakes fall from the sky—her back lonely and solitary.

“Your Majesty, why not go with the King and King’s Consort?” the old maid asked softly.

“I am the Empress Dowager. Being willful once was already enough. How could I simply follow my whims, leaving the palace whenever I wish?” The Empress Dowager’s tone was faint, but between the lines lay a loneliness no one else could hear.

Women of the inner palace must spend their entire lives there—growing old, dying there, their bodies and spirits slowly decaying.

This was the ancestral rule of the royal family.

Entering this place might bring the glory and splendor others dream of, but all of that is bought with a woman’s entire lifetime.

Countless women’s lives were silently buried here.

Compared to them, she was already far more fortunate.

To desire too much is a sin.

To be too greedy invites punishment from fate.

She feared her sins might fall upon the people beside her, so she could only hold herself back.

For this lifetime, she would remain within these four palace walls.

Freedom—she had not dared to imagine it since the day she entered the palace.

Outside the window, snow drifted down heavily, the sky dimmed to gray under the falling flakes.

The whole world seemed to sink into chaos.

To break through this chaos, one could only wait for the coming spring, when flowers bloom and warmth returns.