I was pampered like a treasure after being married off to the young marshal, but my father and broth

After a long while, he still didn't say anything.

Shang Sheyu gritted her teeth and walked over with a stiff upper lip.

"Third Master."

She walked to his side, her voice a little tense: "It's getting late, let me... help you undress."

Quan Tuo raised his head, his dark, deep eyes gazing silently at her.

Shang Sheyu felt a chill run down her spine from his gaze, and the rumors circulating outside involuntarily surfaced in her mind.

Master Quan was a ruthless killer with a violent temper. He would go mad at night, and countless people had died at his hands.

Although I've gotten to know him over this period of time and found him to be less terrifying than the rumors suggested, in this enclosed space, facing such an aggressive man, that instinctive fear still welled up from the bottom of my bones.

She reached out her hand, trembling, her fingertips touching the cold buttons of his suit.

Quan Tuo did not move, letting her do as she pleased.

But Shang Sheyu's hands were shaking so badly that the little button seemed to be working against her, and she couldn't undo it no matter what she did.

Her breathing became more and more rapid, fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, and her face turned somewhat pale.

She was afraid of him.

Quan Tuo keenly noticed this.

He saw fear in her eyes, the kind of instinctive, undisguised trembling that a small animal feels when facing its predator.

Quan Tuo's eyes darkened.

He suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand, which was still struggling with the button.

His palm was burning hot, so hot that Shang Sheyu trembled all over. He subconsciously tried to pull his hand back, but it was firmly held by him.

Are you afraid of me?

A deep, magnetic voice sounded above him, revealing no emotion.

Shang Sheyu swallowed hard, not daring to look him in the eye, and could only lower her head and whisper, "No...no."

"lie."

Quan Tuo released her hand and stood up.

A towering shadow instantly descended, carrying a powerful sense of oppression.

Startled, Shang Sheyu took a step back, her lower back hitting the edge of the table, with nowhere left to retreat.

She thought he was going to get angry, or...

However, Quan Tuo only gave her a deep look, then reached out and straightened his collar, which she had just messed up.

"I still have some military affairs to finish."

"I'm going to the library first. You should get some sleep."

After saying that, he didn't look at Shang Sheyu again, turned around and strode out of the room.

The curtain was lifted and then fell back down, bringing in a gust of cold wind.

Shang Sheyu stood there, stunned, watching the figure quickly disappear into the night.

gone?

He just left like that?

She blinked blankly, her tense nerves relaxing, and leaned softly against the table.

For a fleeting moment, she truly believed...

"Miss?"

Xi'er pushed open the door and came in carrying a copper basin. When she looked up, she found that only Shang Sheyu was left in the room, and she was immediately stunned: "Where is the son-in-law? He was just here a moment ago."

Shang Sheyu snapped out of her daze and rubbed her temples wearily.

He said he had official business to attend to and went to the library.

"what?"

Xi'er looked disappointed and put the copper basin on the shelf, feeling somewhat aggrieved for her young mistress.

"What official business needs to be dealt with so late at night? Son-in-law, this is really..."

As she spoke, she knelt down to help Shang Sheyu take off her shoes and socks.

The warm water washed over my ankles, dispelling the chill from my body.

Looking at Shang Sheyu's pale face, Xi'er sighed and whispered, "Miss, I actually think that although the young master looks cold, he cares about you."

"Look, he placed bets on you at the Medical Academy to support you, and today he even accompanied you to the banquet and protected you in front of so many people."

Shang Sheyu soaked his feet in hot water, listening to Xi'er's rambling, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

But she knew in her heart that this marriage was a transaction from the very beginning.

"Xi'er, don't think like that."

She closed her eyes, her voice ethereal: "I was a bride sent in exchange for a marriage, and I am the daughter of a merchant. The Quan family married me to use the merits accumulated by generations of doctors in the merchant family to offset the sins he committed."

"He protected me only to save face for the Quan family and not want others to laugh at them."

Upon hearing this, Xi'er looked at her young mistress with heartache, opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end, it turned into a sigh.

"Miss, you're just overthinking things."

"No matter what, now that you're married, you have to keep going. Your son-in-law is a very upright man. As long as you treat him sincerely, even a stone can be warmed."

After washing up, Xi'er took the water and went out.

Shang Sheyu lay on the bed, staring blankly at the exquisite embroidery on the canopy ceiling.

Is it true?

She gave so much sincerity in her past life, but in the end, it all became a sharp blade that pierced her.

The red candles in the room had burned down to almost nothing, their flickering flames casting a dim, yellowish glow throughout the room.

She turned over and listened intently to the sounds outside.

It was late at night.

strangeness.

Shang Sheyu frowned.

In the first few days after she married into the family, she could vaguely hear strange noises coming from the East Garden late at night.

But in the past few days, the sound seems to have disappeared and has not appeared again.

As he pondered, drowsiness overcame him, and Shang Sheyu drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, inside the library.

The lights were on in the study on the second floor.

Quan Tuo sat behind a large rosewood desk, holding a copy of "The Art of War" in his hand, but the pages had not been turned for a long time.

His gaze was fixed on the pages of the book, but his mind was filled with the scene that had just unfolded in the West Garden.

The woman's trembling hands, pale face, and eyes filled with fear.

Is he really that scary?

Quan Tuo muttered a self-deprecating remark and tossed the book in his hand onto the table.

He stood up, walked to the window, and opened it.

A cold wind blew in, ruffling the stray hairs on his forehead. He looked towards the West Garden, where the lights were off and it was pitch black.

He knew about the rumors circulating outside.

Living Yama, murderer, and even worse terms.

He never cared about such things; a man accustomed to fighting on the battlefield had long since disregarded matters of reputation.

But tonight, seeing how scared she was, he felt inexplicably irritated.

He didn't want to see her afraid of him.

I don't know how long I stood there before I sat back down in my chair, looked at the book on military strategy, and forced myself to calm down.

There is ample time.

She is his wife, and he can never escape her in this lifetime.

As for that courage...

Take your time to raise it; it will grow big eventually.

The next morning.

Shang Sheyu turned over in the brocade quilt and opened her eyes groggily.

"Xi'er?"

She sat up, clutching the blanket, her voice hoarse.

The curtain in the outer room was lifted, and Xi'er quickly walked in carrying a basin of hot water.

"Miss, you're awake."

Xi'er placed the copper basin on the shelf and then quickly stirred the silver frost charcoal in the charcoal basin.

"It's just past Chen Shi (7-9 AM), and it's snowing heavily outside. It started snowing last night, and now the snow is almost ankle-deep."

Shang Sheyu rubbed her throbbing temples, then threw back the covers and prepared to get out of bed.