The lingering warmth beside her gradually faded. Jiang Fuyue sat alone in the vast empty room, her heart filled with nothing but grievance.
She had only complained to him a few more times about the rules the Countess of Pingning had forced her to follow. Why did Qing'an have to give her the cold shoulder like this?
It was already deep into the night, and Qing'an had just walked out of her room like this. What would the whole mansion say about her, the wife of the heir apparent, tomorrow?
I'm afraid all the servants would mock her for not even being able to keep her husband!
Jiang Fuyue bit her lower lip tightly and made up her mind.
No matter what, she must coax Qing'an back to her room tonight!
Even if they did nothing, as long as Qing'an stayed in her room and she didn't become the laughingstock of the whole mansion!
With this in mind, Jiang Fuyue immediately summoned two maids. "Chunhua, go and cook a bowl of velvet antler congee that Qing'an loves most!"
"Qiuyue, quickly help me dress up! I'm going to the study to find Qing'an!"
"Yes!"
Half an hour later, Jiang Fuyue, all made up, led two maids to the door of the study.
The moment he saw her, Mo Ling's face flashed with a hint of panic.
"Madam, why are you here?"
"Why can't I come?" Jiang Fuyue gave him a cold look and ordered, "Open the door. I've come to bring Qing'an some food."
Mo Ling blocked the door firmly. "Madam, you can't go in."
Jiang Fuyue lost her patience. "Qing'an didn't say I'm not allowed to enter today. I'm Qing'an's lawfully wedded wife. Why can't I go in? Get out of my way!"
Mo Ling remained silent, showing his determination with his actions.
Jiang Fuyue stared at him with wide eyes, glaring at him fiercely.
As the two sides were at a standstill, a delicate scream suddenly came from inside the study.
"Ah~ My lord, what are you doing~"
Jiang Fuyue's face instantly changed.
She must see Qing'an tonight!
"If you dare to stop me again, I'll tell Qing'an that you tried to assault me!"
For a servant to assault the master was a great disrespect.
The lightest punishment would be expulsion from the mansion, and the severest would be being beaten to death with clubs.
Mo Ling hesitated and stood there, not knowing whether he should still stop her.
Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Jiang Fuyue strode forward, pushed him away with one hand, and kicked open the door.
"Bang!"
The door opened, and the scene inside the study was clearly visible.
Pei Qing'an was sitting in front of the desk, with a disheveled and gasping maid on his lap.
The mystery of why Qing'an had been staying in the study for many days was instantly solved.
Jiang Fuyue's eyes were ablaze with anger as she stared at the maid.
She recognized at a glance that this maid was Yuehua, who usually was in charge of cleaning Qing'an's study.
She had always thought Yuehua was a careful and down-to-earth girl and often told her to clean the study well.
But what had she done?
She had seduced Qing'an behind her back!
"I'll tear you apart, you fox spirit!" Jiang Fuyue was burning with anger and pointed at her, scolding.
As a result, Yuehua clung to Pei Qing'an's neck and shrank her body. "My lord, this servant is scared~"
"You still have the nerve to be scared!" Jiang Fuyue was so angry that her whole body trembled. She gave an order, "Come here. Catch this fox spirit and drag her out of the mansion to be sold!"
Chunhua and Qiuyue were about to step forward upon hearing the order when Pei Qing'an, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke in a cold voice.
"Have you had enough of your tantrums!"
Jiang Fuyue looked at him in disbelief. "Qing'an, where did I throw a tantrum? It's clearly this fox spirit who doesn't know her place and seduced you..."
She herself couldn't just enter Qing'an's study at will, but this fox spirit could.
Not only that, but she could also entice Qing'an to abandon her and come to the study!
Jealousy and hatred burned more and more fiercely, almost devouring Jiang Fuyue's reason.
"Qing'an, it must be her who seduced you and tried to drive a wedge between our husband and wife! A fox spirit like her deserves to be thrown out of the mansion, drowned in a pond, or sent to a brothel..."
Seeing that she was going too far, Pei Qing'an interrupted her coldly. "You shut up! Yuehua doesn't need to go anywhere. She'll stay in the mansion!"
Pei Qing'an tightly protected Yuehua and looked at her coldly. "A man should have three wives and four concubines. Yuehua is already mine. I'm going to elevate her to the status of a concubine!"
Jiang Fuyue immediately refused. "I won't agree!"
Not to mention that she couldn't stand sharing her husband with this fox spirit Yuehua. In her previous life, when Jiang Fuying married Qing'an, there was only Jiang Fuying in Qing'an's backyard!
Why now, less than two months after their marriage, did Qing'an want to take a concubine?!
But Pei Qing'an didn't even look at her. He nodded at Yuehua. "Go and offer the concubine's tea to the madam."
Yuehua immediately held the tea cup and walked gracefully to her side with a charming smile. "Madam, please have some tea."
Looking at the tea in front of her and then at Pei Qing'an sitting in front of the desk, Jiang Fuyue felt a chill in her heart and refused to take the tea.
If she drank the concubine's tea, there would be another fox spirit competing with her for Qing'an's favor in his backyard. She didn't want that!
Seeing her like this, Pei Qing'an was furious. "Look at yourself now. Where is there any trace of a proper wife?"
The disgust in his eyes was undisguised, stabbing at Jiang Fuyue's heart.
She hadn't completely won Qing'an's heart yet. If she made Qing'an dislike her, what would happen?
Yuehua moved the tea cup closer to her hand. "Madam, please have some tea."
This time, Jiang Fuyue stretched out her hand tremblingly.
She knew that she had no choice tonight.
If she refused to take the concubine's tea, she would only be more disliked by Qing'an.
So she endured the nausea and drank the most unpalatable cup of tea in her life.
...
How could Jiang Fuying not know about the farce next door in the middle of the night?
Early the next morning, she listened as Caipu recounted the whole thing.
When she heard that Jiang Fuyue had returned to her room after drinking the concubine's tea and had thrown a huge tantrum, a mocking smile appeared on Jiang Fuying's lips.
I'm afraid Jiang Fuyue believed the rumors from her previous life and naively thought that there was only one proper wife beside Pei Qing'an!
But that was far from the truth.
Pei Qing'an was very good at pretending. He always pretended to be chaste and in love with his wife in public, but only she knew how dirty he was inside!
He secretly kept several beautiful concubines under the guise of personal maids. Every night, he would enjoy their company in the study, living a carefree life!
Lu Huaizhou, who was tinkering with the glass mirror beside them, heard the mistress and her maid talking about the next-door mansion and curled his lips. "I told you that guy was a hypocrite."
A look of surprise flashed across Qiushui's eyes.
Pei Qing'an had hidden his activities in the study very well. If one didn't get along with him for a long time, they would never know about it. But this Young Master Lu...
Not noticing the strange look on her face, Lu Huaizhou continued to complain to himself. "In my opinion, whether male or female, everyone should be chaste. That guy already has a wife, but he still wants to take a concubine. How shameless."
Jiang Fuying was stunned by his words.
It turned out that he didn't know about Pei Qing'an's activities in the study beforehand.
But his words "both men and women should be chaste" refreshed her understanding of him once again.
She suddenly remembered that even after marrying him for so long, she had never seen any women in his backyard.
Even his pageboy had quietly told her, "Madam, the Young Master has always been chaste and doesn't allow women to get close to him."
Now it seemed that this Young Master Lu was truly... consistent in his words and deeds.
After Lu Huaizhou's impassioned complaint, he didn't forget to express his stance. "Miss Jiang, you can rest assured. I will never be like that guy!"
Waves of emotion welled up in Jiang Fuying's heart.