Volume One, Chapter Nine: Sharing a Bed and Sleeping Together

As soon as those words were spoken, a sudden surge of hostility radiated from Qi Jinshan.
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
He gripped Xie Mingyue’s hand, directing all his cold fury toward Lady Yun.
He had long known his mother disliked his wife, but seeing with his own eyes that the bracelet Lady Yun gave Xie Mingyue contained a sterilizing poison stirred a cold rage boiling within him.
He was supposed to protect her, yet his birth mother was secretly and shamelessly harming her.
It was his failure.
“Mother, is there anything more you wish to say?”
The corner of Lady Yun’s mouth tightened bit by bit.
She disliked Xie Mingyue because this woman had bewitched her son too deeply.
She had struggled as a widow alone until now, and she would never allow anyone to threaten her place in her son’s heart.
Xie Mingyue absolutely could not remain by her son’s side!
“Jinshan, I am your mother,” Lady Yun said with a pale face, swaying weakly with the support of the servants. “Do you truly believe such slander?”
“But Mingyue is my wife,” Qi Jinshan said calmly to Lady Yun.
“If Mother insists that what Nurse Bai said is untrue, then why don’t we go to the front hall and have someone check with the apothecary to see who actually purchased this medicine?”
It had been purchased by one of her own people—what was the point of investigating?
Seeing that Qi Jinshan showed no mercy, Lady Yun’s face turned ashen. “I have been unwell recently; I cannot endure such commotion.”
“Mother has long suffered from chronic illness. It seems the condition has worsened today. It would be best to keep you confined in the courtyard to rest for a while. The affairs of the main household can be left to Mingyue.”
Without a blink, Qi Jinshan effectively placed Lady Yun under house arrest in the courtyard.
He then turned to Xie Mingyue, who smiled faintly at him. “Very well, since Mother is unwell, your daughter-in-law is willing to share the burden.”
Although Xie Wanqing had handed her the account book, most of the main household’s servants were still under Lady Yun’s control. Now, with Qi Jinshan’s order, it would be far easier for Xie Mingyue to manage the servants.
No matter how unwilling Lady Yun was, it was useless. Nurse Bai had betrayed her. If the matter of the sterilizing poison given to her daughter-in-law blew up, it would be disastrous for her. The Luo family would surely seize the opportunity to relentlessly attack her.
But a few months of confinement was nothing serious. When she first entered the Hou residence, she had nothing, yet she had risen step by step until she was on equal footing with the Luo family.
As long as she remained Qi Jinshan’s mother, she naturally held superiority over Xie Mingyue.
Thinking this, she cast a grudging glance at Xie Mingyue and sulkily retreated to her quarters.
The maids who aided her had all been dealt with. Xie Mingyue glanced at the valuables found on the floor and shook her head.
The people Lady Yun hired were truly incompetent; they even dared to be greedy for such things. Qi Jinshan had given her only the finest items—though not imperial gifts, they were unique. If sold, the trail would inevitably lead back to them.
Truly greedy and short-sighted; no wonder they were all dealt with alongside Lady Yun.
She pursed her lips in a smile. Qi Jinshan noticed and mistakenly thought she was lamenting over the gifts.
“I will give you more in the future. These are tainted now; you need not look at them again.”
He hesitated for a moment, then wrapped his arm around Xie Mingyue’s waist.
“It’s late. Go rest.”
Xie Mingyue halted. “Lord, why drag me back to your quarters? My own rooms are right here.”
As she tried to pull away, Qi Jinshan gripped her slender waist firmly and looked deeply into her eyes.
“Aren’t you afraid there might be poisons in your rooms?”
His words froze Xie Mingyue’s expression.
Indeed, she was not certain if her rooms had been tampered with over the past ten years.
After a brief hesitation, Qi Jinshan smiled faintly, almost imperceptibly.
“Come rest in my quarters tonight. Tomorrow I will order a thorough inspection of Qionghua Courtyard inside and out.”
Upon hearing this, Xie Mingyue’s face flushed crimson.
They were husband and wife, and sharing a bed was only natural, but now... she was simply not prepared.
She shuffled reluctantly to Qi Jinshan’s Qihai Residence. Seeing her reluctance, his expression darkened.
“You sleep here; I will take the side chamber.”
He turned and walked away. Xie Mingyue only managed to grasp the edge of his robe before he strode out the door.
Judging by Qi Jinshan’s face, he was clearly displeased. Understandably so—who after ten years of marriage would be sent away to the side chamber by his own wife?
Looking around the room she had commandeered, the joy of escaping trouble was quickly replaced by a heavy gloom.
The person she had just been irritated with yesterday had become her husband overnight. Who could adjust that quickly?
Yet, thinking of Qi Jinshan’s eyes, bloodshot from exhaustion, Xie Mingyue softened.
He seemed to treat her well.
In the Xie family before, her grandmother tormented her mother, and her father often sought to mediate, but Qi Jinshan, for her sake, confronted Lady Yun without hesitation.
Enough.
“Wutong, quickly fetch Lord Jinshan back,” she sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. “Tell him I’m afraid of the dark and dare not sleep alone in his room.”
Wutong’s eyes sparkled as she left the room. After a while, a cold breeze swept in, and Qi Jinshan returned.
“Afraid of the dark? When have you ever had such a fear in ten years?”
He circled the screen and strode toward Xie Mingyue step by step.
Nervously swallowing, she admitted, “I’ve always been afraid, I just never told you.”
She decided to endure it this once for how hard he had been working.
Qi Jinshan loosened his outer robe, revealing the slightly damp undergarments beneath.
He had already bathed; his jet-black hair fell to his chest, softer and warmer than when tied up.
Seeing him sit on the edge of the bed, Xie Mingyue quickly curled inward, lying stiffly on the inner side, her limbs numb with tension.
Unbeknownst to her, this was the first time in ten years they would share a bed.
“Sleep,” he said, his expression calm.
After lowering the canopy, he lay down quietly on the outer side, maintaining a slight distance between them.
Xie Mingyue inhaled the steady scent of cold wood beside her, her mind filled with fleeting memories.
Earlier, she had deliberately dropped the bracelet. Qi Jinshan had clearly seen it but pretended ignorance, playing along with her.
“Qi Jinshan,” she could not help but speak, “you’re not angry with me? She is your mother.”
When two clever people spoke, many things did not need to be said aloud.
Qi Jinshan was silent for a moment before slowly replying, “Mother has her husband; I am your husband. I must protect you.”
He knew well that today’s events had been orchestrated by Xie Mingyue.
But without this marriage, she and Lady Yun would be strangers. Because of him, she was forced into her mother’s hatred and poisoning.
In this household, if not for him, who else would protect her?
Lost in thought, a warm breath suddenly pressed against Qi Jinshan’s side.
Wrapped in the quilt, Xie Mingyue moved closer, touched by the moment. “Thank you, Qi Jinshan. You are truly good to me.”
“You are truly good.”
The words overlapped with a memory from many years ago, stirring an uncontrollable impulse within Qi Jinshan’s calm heart.
Suddenly, he flipped over, pinning Xie Mingyue beneath him.
“Is that so?” In the darkness, a flicker of fire ignited deep in his black eyes. “Then what reward does the lady offer?”
Xie Mingyue felt a hand slip beneath the covers, grasping her slender, cold wrist.