The uncontrollable fire burning him parched his mouth.
Using brute force, he ravished her tongue, sucking out the sweetness that was uniquely hers.
Yunshu struggled in vain, unable to break free, resigned to his will.
Yet his other hand was not idle, wandering up her waist with an unmistakable intent.
She finally managed to free one hand to stop that hand from climbing higher.
Immediately, he grasped her wrist from behind, the scorching warmth pressing every inch of her skin.
He released her lips and began biting down on her neck, one bite after another…
At noon, beneath a cloudless blue sky, the carriage arrived at the Pei Manor gate just before the exact hour, delivering the two new brides back for their post-wedding return.
Shen Yunshu, dazed, stepped down from the carriage.
Waiting at the gate, the maid Tinglan hurried over.
“Missus, your neck…”
Tinglan immediately noticed the red marks on her neck.
Yunshu realized that Pei Huaian—the scoundrel—had left bite marks on her neck.
She raised her hand to cover it, feeling guilty.
“It’s just a mosquito bite…”
“Missus, your hand…”
Tinglan’s five pale fingers were all marked with bright red teeth marks.
Yunshu quickly hid her hand inside her sleeve.
Pei Huaian did not get off the carriage.
Before falling into a deep sleep, he had instructed Qing Wu to take him to Da Xiangguo Temple.
After Yunshu got down, Qing Wu drove the carriage away with his master.
Yunshu ignored him and turned to check on her sister’s carriage.
Qingjian set down the carriage step and lifted the curtain, revealing Pei Huaijin holding their third sister, walking steadily down.
Yunshu was stunned.
“Wasn’t he so drunk he couldn’t walk?”
Huaijin glanced at the already-distant carriage and then looked quietly at Yunshu.
“Second Sister, come to Yunzhi Courtyard in an hour. I have something to ask you.”
Yunshu tensed.
“Yes, Brother.”
Huaijin carried the third sister into the manor.
He originally intended to confront Seventh Young Master, but since he had fled, and Yunshu seemed aware of what happened, questioning her was just as effective.
Of course, he had to carefully interrogate the person sleeping in his arms.
Yunzhi Courtyard.
Huaijin laid her on the bed, dismissed Danruo who had accompanied them, and ordered that no one be allowed in without his permission.
Only the two of them remained in the room.
Huaijin stood by the bedside, looking down at the person with closed eyes.
She should have already awakened but was pretending to sleep, her eyelids twitching slightly.
“Stop pretending and get up. I have questions for you.”
Youran kept her eyes shut and couldn’t see his expression.
His voice was cold, indicating he intended to interrogate her.
She wasn’t ready to explain and chose to ignore him.
Not getting a response, Huaijin’s gaze swept down her tightly bound waist.
He sat on the bedside and lightly squeezed her waist.
Instantly, she jolted up like a startled fish.
“Alright, I’m not pretending anymore…”
She was ticklish, especially around her waist.
He had found her weak spot so quickly.
Youran sat up, feeling awkward, embarrassed, and guilty.
She dared not meet his gaze and instinctively curled up, but when she moved her legs, Huaijin pressed down on her right ankle.
“You have an injury. Don’t move it.”
“What’s wrong? I just want to kiss you whenever I see you…”
“Oh.”
Youran lowered her lashes and whispered, “I know what you want to ask. I didn’t mean to kiss you; I don’t know why I suddenly wanted to.”
Little did she know how terrifying the scene was when she woke gradually in the carriage, tightly held in his arms.
More terrifying was the sight of his chapped lips and her memories of what she had done to him—like a lustful hungry ghost, kissing and biting him fiercely.
“You were drugged,” Huaijin said calmly, revealing the truth.
“It was an aphrodisiac.”
“Drugged? … An aphrodisiac?”
Youran widened her eyes in disbelief.
“When did this happen?”
“In the backyard of the Lu family, when you were alone with Seventh Young Master…”
He didn’t yet know if she had truly met him in secret there; this was a test.
As expected, she answered in line with his suspicions.
“Ah? I was drugged then?”
She was both shocked and confused.
“Who drugged me? How?”
Ha! She had indeed secretly met with Seventh Young Master again.
“Shen Youran, how did you promise me earlier that you wouldn’t meet Seventh Young Master in secret anymore?”
His grip on her ankle tightened unconsciously.
No matter how magnanimous Huaijin was, he couldn’t tolerate her repeatedly testing his limits.
“Don’t you have any shame?”
Youran cried out in pain.
“Secret meeting? I didn’t. I just happened to meet Seventh Young Master. He was lost, so I led him…”
She was about to say she was leading him to their sister when she suddenly remembered something and fell silent.
Since waking in the carriage, she had been puzzling over a strange matter.
When she brought Pei Huaian to find their sister, she hadn’t seen her sister’s figure anywhere.
Instead, she found Lu Yi in the guest room with his head smashed by a vase.
At that moment, she was so eager to question whether Lu Yi was the one trying to snatch her fiancé that she neglected one important detail: she had seen her sister enter that courtyard but never found her afterward.
Was it her sister who had attacked Lu Yi?
Why would her sister harm her stepbrother?
Could her sister have already suspected Lu Yi was the mastermind behind the betrothal plot and was confronting him, accidentally injuring him?
She had thought that her sister was defending her by attacking Lu Yi, but now that Huaijin said she and Huaian had been drugged while together, she recalled the strange incense scent she’d smelled when entering the guest room.
Perhaps the drug had been hidden in the incense?
Who tampered with the incense?
Could it have been Lu Yi?
If Lu Yi drugged the incense, what was he scheming for?
He liked her, didn’t he?
Then why lock her and Huaian in the room when leaving?
One question after another overwhelmed Shen Youran, who clutched the quilt tightly.
An answer loomed in her mind: if Lu Yi didn’t like her and really tampered with the incense, then his target was actually the person who entered that courtyard before her…their sister.
If he liked their sister, and the person he tried to snatch on that day was also their sister…
Youran was terrified by this absurd yet plausible conclusion.
But her sister was his stepsister—how could he like her?
It was too frightening.
It couldn’t be true.
It must not be true!
Pei Huaijin stared unblinking at her, watching her expression change from hesitation to confusion, then dread, as if she had thought of something unbearable.
“Have you thought it through? What explanation will you give me?”
He knew the words she was about to say would not be truthful.
Youran dared not speak further.
If she told the truth, Huaijin’s sharp mind would quickly uncover everything, potentially embarrassing their sister.
But Huaijin was still waiting for her explanation.
Pressured by his gaze, she couldn’t raise her head.
After much thought, she could think of no reasonable excuse, so she took all the blame onto herself.
“It’s me…”
She raised her tearful eyes.
“I deliberately led the lost Seventh Young Master into the guest room. I tampered with the incense beforehand. I planned to harm him—I was wrong. I won’t do it again. I’m willing to stay indoors and reflect, copy out The Etiquette for Women, eat leftovers…wuwu…”
By the end, she was so aggrieved she wanted to cry.
She didn’t fear Huaijin exposing Lu Yi because Huaian had guessed that Lu Yi was the man who tried to snatch her after hearing him admit his feelings, and out of sympathy promised to keep the secret, pretending not to have seen Lu Yi that day.
In the end, she bore the entire burden alone.
Before she could continue, Huaijin already knew she was fabricating lies, but hadn’t expected her to go this far.
He was both annoyed and amused.
Did he look as foolish as she?
How could he believe such nonsense?
She clearly had her reasons for hiding the truth.
Seeing her resolute determination to shoulder all the blame, Huaijin stopped pressing.
He hoped that when Shen Yunshu arrived, she could give him a satisfactory answer.
“Calm down first. I’ll ask Danruo to come in and dress your wounds.”
Huaijin stood and left.
At the door, he suddenly remembered something and turned back to ask, “Since you and Seventh Young Master were both drugged, did either of you cross any boundaries?”
“No,” the flushed figure on the bed replied with a bit more confidence than before.
“The medicine hadn’t taken effect yet when sister found us.”
That seemed truthful.
Huaijin opened the door and stepped out.
He instructed Danruo to fetch the ointment from Qingjian, then went to the study to be alone, turning Shen Youran’s words over and over in his mind.
Soon, Shen Yunshu arrived.
Though her face was made up, Huaijin couldn’t help but notice the suspicious red marks on her neck.
He had accidentally left similar marks on Shen Youran’s neck on their wedding night and understood what they signified.
As Yunshu’s eldest cousin, he awkwardly averted his gaze.
“I’ve already questioned her about today’s events,” Huaijin said directly, not bothering with pleasantries since Yunshu was clearly involved.
“She said she deliberately lured Seventh Young Master to the guest room and drugged the incense. What do you think about that, sister?”
From the moment Huaijin carried their third sister down from the carriage soberly at the Pei Manor gate, Yunshu knew the day’s events could not be hidden from him.
He had given her an hour, and during that time, her first thought was how to weave a half-truth to cover up the incident.
But no matter how hard she tried, she could find no foolproof excuse.
Finally, she gave up lying and decided to tell Huaijin the truth, hoping that out of concern for their sister’s innocence, he would help her deal with Lu Yi—the source of all trouble.
She came to Yunzhi Courtyard prepared to confess everything, only to hear that their third sister had already taken all the blame upon herself.
Though she still didn’t know why Youran and Huaian had been in the guest room, it was clear Youran suspected something and wanted to bear it all alone.
Such a foolish sister.
Yunshu smoothed her sleeves, solemnly bowed to her eldest cousin, and said, “It’s not like that, Brother. The fault lies not with Youran but with me…”
Huaijin studied her face, so similar to Shen Youran’s, and said, “I know she’s lying. I hope you won’t…”
Meanwhile, at Da Xiangguo Temple, the runaway youth knelt before the Buddha, confessing his sins.
“Please, Buddha, guide me through my confusion. I’m fickle, capricious, and easily swayed. Who do I truly love…”