He Jin stood in front of the bedroom door. He wanted to go in but held himself back. He was afraid that if he went in now, he would kill Su Hele on the spot.
But the moment he recalled the looks his colleagues had given him earlier, his turning steps froze. Finally, he couldn't hold it back anymore and kicked the door open.
"Su Hele!"
Su Mo, who was serving Su Hele medicine, trembled, and the whole bowl of medicine spilled onto the couch. A few drops even splashed onto Su Hele's hand.
For a moment, Su Hele's face showed a fierce look, but it quickly disappeared. Instead, she said softly,
"Husband, you've scared Su Mo."
Then she silently wiped off the medicine on the back of her hand and stared straight at Su Mo.
"Hurry up and clean this up."
Su Mo secretly let out a sigh of relief and got up to get new bedding, but was stopped by He Jin.
"You go out first."
After Su Mo left, He Jin slowly turned to look at Su Hele. He stared at her for a long time without saying a word.
In the silence, Su Hele pulled the bed curtain and tried to move inside while enduring the pain, but failed.
"Su Hele, you said those ladies hit it off with you and regretted not meeting earlier. Why didn't any of them show up for the appointment?"
Different from what Su Hele had expected, He Jin's voice was calm and low. One could hardly tell whether he was angry or not.
But this kind of He Jin made Su Hele shiver all over and feel a sense of unease in her heart.
"Husband, this time I even gave up my favorite chrysanthemums to make friends with the ladies. I also put on new clothes specially. They..."
"I'm asking you, why didn't any of them show up?"
He Jin didn't listen to what Su Hele was saying at all. He just stubbornly asked the same question.
Su Hele lowered her eyes. She also wanted to know. After all, she had given so much.
Seeing that she didn't answer, He Jin walked step by step towards the couch.
A sudden fear rose in Su Hele's heart. She said anxiously,
"Husband, this can't be blamed on me..."
He Jin suddenly pulled open the bed curtain, and Su Hele was so frightened that she didn't dare to say a word.
"Why didn't any of them show up!"
He Jin's voice became low and suppressed. He clenched his fists tightly and straightened his arms, as if on the verge of an outburst.
Seeing this, Su Hele averted her eyes and didn't dare to look at him. At the same time, her mind was racing.
But before she could come up with anything, He Jin bent down. His hand suddenly pressed on her back and he said forcefully,
"Answer me. Why didn't any of them show up!"
As he did this, the stopped bleeding immediately overflowed. Before she could let out a scream, Su Hele fainted.
He Jin glanced at her, then straightened up. He looked down at his palm, casually wiped it on the nearby bed curtain, and then turned to leave.
Behind him, Su Hele's face was covered with wet marks. It was hard to tell whether they were tears or sweat.
...
"Why doesn't the concubine aunt even bother to discipline her? She just lets her act recklessly!"
When He Jin arrived at Yurong Courtyard, his anger hadn't subsided. He waved his arms randomly and paced back and forth in the room.
Concubine Li was also very angry at the moment. She roared,
"I don't discipline her? Haven't I been doing enough these days? I told you not to marry her back then, but you insisted. Now you're blaming me. He Jin, where's your conscience!"
Hearing this, He Jin's movement paused. Then he angrily sat down on the chair and slapped the table hard.
"Back then, she wasn't like this!"
Back then, Su Hele was elegant, polite, proud, and dignified. How could she be so ignorant and stupid now.
"Humph, I've always said that she has a wicked heart and is two - faced. You just didn't believe me. Now you know!"
The angrier Concubine Li got, the shriller her voice became.
If she had known this earlier, she would have tried to stop He Jin from marrying Su Hele even if it meant threatening to kill herself.
He Jin let out a long sigh of pent - up air. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he said,
"Now is not the time to argue about this. We should think about what to do. We can't just wait to be laughed at like this."
This incident had caused such a big stir that it had even reached the government office. It was estimated that it would spread to everyone before long.
They couldn't let this situation continue. They had to find a way to stop it.
"What to do? How would I know what to do!"
Concubine Li gave He Jin an annoyed look.
Of course, she didn't want to be laughed at either, but now that the incident had already happened, what could she do?
The room fell silent for a moment. After a while, He Jin said in a subdued voice,
"I do have a way, but it's not suitable for me to handle it. I'll have to trouble the concubine aunt to do it."
Hearing this, Concubine Li's face lit up.
"What's the method?"
He Jin looked up and said,
"The way to suppress one scandal is to expose an even bigger one so that people's attention will be diverted."
Concubine Li rolled her eyes and murmured,
"An even bigger scandal. But I don't know any bigger ones."
Hearing this, He Jin's eyes darkened.
"I have a colleague..."
He had accidentally witnessed this incident. He shouldn't have mentioned it, but now he had no other choice.
He didn't want to see those looks from others again.
...
The next afternoon, when Su Nansheng just woke up from her afternoon nap, she saw Bi Tao looking hesitant to speak.
Seeing her like this, Su Nansheng had to ask,
"What's wrong?"
Bi Tao immediately beamed and said,
"Madam, there was a big commotion outside this morning. A Master Sima was keeping a mistress outside, and his wife caught him in the act!"
Su Nansheng couldn't help but look at Bi Tao. How did she know such a secret thing?
Seeing this, Bi Tao continued as if encouraged,
"It's absolutely true. It was what Cook Liu heard when she went shopping. The wife made a huge scene when she caught her husband. In less than half a day, the whole town knew about it. The excitement even exceeded that of the other incident."
As she said this, Bi Tao pointed in the direction of Bitao Courtyard.
Su Nansheng raised her eyebrows and sighed silently.
This kind of romantic affair was always the most attractive, especially when the protagonist was a Master Sima of a relatively high rank. The impact was even greater.
In this way, no one would discuss yesterday's banquet anymore. Su Hele was really lucky.
"What happened there yesterday?" Su Nansheng asked.
She really wanted to know He Jin's reaction, but she had been fishing with He Xun all day yesterday and had even fallen asleep in the end. But...
Su Nansheng glanced at the glazed fish tank that still only had five koi.
Next spring, she should sprinkle more fish fry into the lake. The more, the better.
Hearing her ask this, the excited look on Bi Tao's face immediately disappeared, replaced by confusion.
"Speaking of this, it's really a bit strange. The maid in Bitao Courtyard said that although the second young master looked very angry yesterday, he was actually very calm and didn't lose his temper in the end."
Su Nansheng frowned slightly. Su Hele had made such a big fool of herself, but He Jin was calm?
"Is Su Hele still alive?" There was a hint of hesitation in her tone.
Bi Tao: "Ah???"
Seeing Bi Tao looking blank, Su Nansheng felt that her own thought was a bit absurd. So she asked,
"Was there anything else about He Jin other than being calm?"
Bi Tao shook her head. "I didn't hear anything else."
Su Nansheng tapped the table lightly with her index finger. This He Jin was really a bit strange.