After getting married, she spent every night alone in her room; when she asked for a divorce, he kne

Those disgusting images haunted her once again, like a ghost.

She struggled desperately to drive the images away, but they wouldn't leave her alone. They kept pulling at her limbs, grabbing her hair, and even trying to strip her naked!

Liu Yuansheng's face turned deathly pale. She opened her arms and hugged herself, muttering something under her breath.

Seeing that she was about to be possessed by the nightmare again and turn into a walking corpse, Yuan Shi not only did not stop provoking her, but also rubbed salt into her wounds.

"I heard that you had lovers before you married Jinghan. Could it be that those lovers came looking for you to settle old scores? Yuansheng, I don't mean to criticize you, but now that you've become the daughter-in-law of our Duke Zhenguo's mansion, you must behave yourself and not give others cause for gossip or cause any shame."

The sharp and venomous words made Liu Yuansheng's vision go black, and her body swayed slightly before she fell straight backward.

"Third Young Mistress!"

Li, the wet nurse holding Yan'er, screamed, startling Yan'er into tears. Two nannies rushed forward to support Liu Yuansheng, but they were too late; Xiao Jinghan had already braced Liu Yuansheng's waist.

No one saw how Xiao Jinghan entered. He was as light as a swallow and as swift as the wind. Every move he made was a skill he had honed in his youth when he roamed the martial world.

The servants in the room stood there dumbfounded, and Madam Yuan looked extremely embarrassed, her eyes scanning Xiao Jinghan up and down, but she didn't say a word.

Xiao Jinghan still steadily supported Liu Yuansheng's waist. Her waist was so thin, it seemed even thinner than the dancers who performed the Jade Waist Dance in the Jiaofangsi, and incredibly soft.

He looked down at her and saw that her eyes were slightly closed, her long eyelashes trembling, and she looked shaken. He moved his hand to her waist and put his arm around her, asking, "Are you alright?"

Liu Yuansheng was under a spell, her emotions teetering on the brink of collapse. She couldn't distinguish between reality and illusion, and just shook her head blankly.

"Look at you, you're only just starting to feel better, and you're already getting out of bed and wandering around. Didn't the physician tell you to rest more?"

Xiao Jinghan helped Liu Yuansheng to sit down by the bed. "You should sleep for a while and rest up. We'll go visit Grandma later. Grandma doesn't know you're sick yet, so you must cheer up and not worry her."

After instructing Liu Yuansheng, he then ordered the nanny, "Go and fetch Ying'er. Why is she out eating in broad daylight instead of staying in her room to serve you?"

The nanny nodded and immediately went to find Ying'er. Xiao Jinghan got up and walked to Li Nanny, taking the wailing Yan'er from her arms. "Yan'er, why are you crying again? Are you scared? Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, Daddy's here."

He was busy in the room, either comforting Liu Yuansheng, coaxing Yan'er, looking for Ying'er, or ignoring Yuan Shi, treating her as if she were invisible.

Madam Yuan's face turned pale and then white, then pale and then pale again, but she always maintained a faint, polite smile. Seeing that Xiao Jinghan ignored her, she slowly stood up and said, "I'm relieved to see that Yuan Sheng is alright. I still need to visit your grandmother, so I'll be going now. I'll come back to visit Yuan Sheng and Yan'er later."

"Don't come back again. My child is shy and afraid of strangers."

Before Yuan Shi could leave, Xiao Jinghan said coldly.

Madam Yuan paused, slowly stopping in her tracks, and said, barely suppressing her anger, "Jinghan, I'm still your stepmother, and this is how you talk to me?"

"You also think I've been too nice to you?" Xiao Jinghan pondered for a moment and said, "Then how about this: from today onwards, you and the people in your courtyard are not allowed to step into Chenxiang Courtyard even half a step, how about that?"

Yuan suddenly looked up, her face pale as she glared at Xiao Jinghan.

She stared at that arrogant yet excessively handsome face for a long while before finally suppressing her anger and saying calmly, "What you're saying makes no sense. Since your marriage, when have I ever stepped into Chenxiang Courtyard? Today, I only came to see her out of kindness because I heard from the servants that Yuansheng had been wronged outside and was ill."

Xiao Jinghan snorted coldly, "You've really gone to a lot of trouble."

"Yuan Sheng is, after all, the daughter-in-law of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. As the mistress of the mansion, I naturally have to take good care of her." Madam Yuan clenched the handkerchief in her hand, her tone suddenly changing to a sarcastic tone, "I heard that Yuan Sheng was kidnapped by two men? I hope nothing bad happened. If she lost her virginity to another man, she would be committing the crime of adultery, which would disgrace the family."

"If you really care about the Xiao family's reputation, then mind your own business," Xiao Jinghan said disdainfully. "My affairs are none of your concern, an outsider."

Upon hearing this, Madam Yuan's brow twitched, and she gripped the handkerchief in her hand tightly, sneering, "Very well." She stared at the medicine box beside Liu Yuansheng for a moment, "I'll remember what you said today."

After saying that, he left Chenxiang Courtyard without looking back.

Xiao Jinghan: "Go light some sandalwood incense to drive away the bad luck in this room."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The servants quickly lit sandalwood incense, and Xiao Jinghan took a deep breath before walking to Liu Yuansheng's bedside.

Liu Yuansheng had huddled in the corner of the bed at some point, her eyes red and trembling.

Xiao Jinghan had seen people like that before.

Liu Yuansheng could at least regain his senses. He had seen people who had truly lost their minds and gone completely insane because of their painful past experiences. Some had even committed suicide out of excessive grief, losing all attachment to the world and resolutely taking their own lives.

His mother committed suicide, choosing a tragic yet cruel method—drowning herself in a lake.

Distant and painful memories flooded back, and Xiao Jinghan nearly lost his mind. He clenched his fists, barely managing to regain his composure, before saying to Liu Yuansheng, who was stuck in the mire, "Instead of torturing yourself, why not pull yourself together and torturing others? They peel a layer off your skin, so you should find a way to pull out a couple of tendons from them. It's only fair if there's an exchange, don't you think?"

Liu Yuansheng was still lost in thought when she heard Xiao Jinghan's words. She slowly turned her face and stared at him.

Although she was staring at him, her misty eyes were too ethereal, as if veiled by layers of something, making it impossible for him to see clearly.

In a daze, Liu Yuansheng suddenly asked, "Why are you only arriving now?"

Why did it take him so long to arrive?

Shouldn't he have come sooner?

Xiao Jinghan didn't understand her meaning, but simply followed her words and replied, "I had some business at the yamen, and I came back as soon as I finished dealing with it."

"You've become an official? That's great, you've finally achieved your goal."

"Huh?" Xiao Jinghan blinked. "You mean me?"

"I'm so happy you got what you wanted," Liu Yuansheng said. "You said you'd set off fireworks for me when you passed the imperial examination with flying colors. Do you remember that promise?"

Xiao Jinghan: "I don't like fireworks, how about a lion dance?"

Liu Yuansheng: "Fireworks fade quickly, but I really like that moment of brilliance."

Xiao Jinghan couldn't continue making up the story.

What a mess this is!

This is completely irrelevant.

Xiao Jinghan didn't know who Liu Yuansheng, who was currently acting out, mistook him for, but he could deduce from Liu Yuansheng's reply that this person was definitely not a good person, so he sneered and said, "Alright, alright, I'll go prepare the fireworks for you, you wait."

After saying that, he got up and left.

Ying'er, who had gone to serve the meal, returned with the food box. Seeing Xiao Jinghan strolling leisurely out, she asked, "Young Master, where are you going?"

"Go prepare medicine for your young lady," Xiao Jinghan said.

-

Because of Yuan's arrival, Liu Yuansheng was not in a good mood all day.

During this time, Li, the wet nurse, brought Yan'er to visit her several times. When facing Yan'er, Liu Yuansheng could be briefly sober for a moment. As soon as Yan'er left, she would revert to her absent-minded state, lost in thought, not knowing what she was thinking.

Ying'er and Granny Li sighed repeatedly, their hearts filled with anxiety, and they had no choice but to call the royal physician over again. After examining Liu Yuansheng's pulse, the physician suggested acupuncture, but as soon as he opened the acupuncture box, Liu Yuansheng screamed and burrowed into Ying'er's arms, trembling uncontrollably like a frightened bird.

Ying'er hurriedly told the physician to put away the acupuncture kit. "I don't want acupuncture! I don't want acupuncture! Physician, please take these things away!"

The physician packed up his medicine chest and hurriedly left. The wet nurse, Li, asked in confusion, "What's wrong with the Third Young Mistress?"

Ying'er hugged Liu Yuansheng tightly, angrily saying, "Back in the Prime Minister's residence, Aunt Su kept pricking Miss with needles, saying that if Miss dared to complain to the Prime Minister, she would sew Miss's mouth shut with needles!"

"Heavens! How could a stepmother treat the legitimate daughter like this!" exclaimed the wet nurse, Li.

Ying'er grew increasingly indignant, her little face turning green with anger. "Aunt Su is so wicked! Because my mother was the late Madam's confidante, when she gets angry, she even pricks me!"

She glanced down at Liu Yuansheng, who was still trembling, and said, "Look how scared my young lady is!"

Looking at Liu Yuansheng in Ying'er's arms, Li's wet nurse also felt sorry for him. Just as she was about to step forward to comfort him, a maid came in and said, "Madam, the young master requests your presence at the Begonia Courtyard."

"What are you going to the Begonia Courtyard for?" Ying'er asked.

"The young master said he wants to set off fireworks," the maid said.

"It's not a festival, and no one's having a birthday, so why set off fireworks?" Ying'er refused without hesitation. "Go tell the young master that Miss isn't feeling well, so she won't be going to see the fireworks."

Having just refused the maid's request, Liu Yuansheng struggled to her feet and asked in a daze, "Fireworks?"

Ying'er: "Yes, it's fireworks. Would you like to go see them, Miss?"

"He set off fireworks for me." Liu Yuansheng grasped Ying'er's hand. "I want to go see them!"

-

A thunderclap resounded, and countless sparks bloomed across the sky.

Without even entering the Begonia Courtyard, Liu Yuansheng could see the sky ablaze with brilliant fireworks, a dazzling display of light that burst across the night sky and bathed the world in its glow.

"How beautiful, Miss!" Ying'er exclaimed, tilting her head back. "I haven't seen such beautiful fireworks in so long!"

Liu Yuansheng stared intently at the fireworks overhead, her mind flashing back to past scenes.

"Young lady, are you also contemplating suicide? What a coincidence, me too."

"Miss Liu, I don't believe you are that kind of woman. You don't need to be sad because of those people, because they are not worth it."

"Yuan Sheng, I like you. Do you like me back?"

"Ah Sheng, wait for me to come back. For you, I must pass the imperial examinations and achieve fame! So you can live a good life."

Every word and every sound was a call for her.

She searched everywhere, but couldn't find him.

He's not here.

He wasn't by her side.

Therefore, this fireworks display was not something he prepared for her.

Realizing this, Liu Yuansheng finally came to her senses.

Those tangled, unsolvable, and painful memories seemed to have been shattered into fragments by the fireworks and vanished into thin air.

The gates of the Begonia Courtyard slowly opened, and a young man dressed in black, holding a handful of starry sky in one hand, walked towards them.

Fireworks soared into the sky, light and shadow swirled, illuminating everyone's faces.

It was Xiao Jinghan.

Liu Yuansheng tried opening her mouth and finally uttered a real sound, "Your Highness."

"You recognize me now?" Xiao Jinghan said happily. "What the imperial physician couldn't do, Yan Hua actually did. Next time you act up again, I'll set off two firecrackers in Chenxiang Courtyard, and it'll definitely work."

Although Liu Yuansheng had regained consciousness, she was still somewhat dazed. Even when Xiao Jinghan teased her, she couldn't react and just stared blankly at him.

"Why are you looking at me?" Xiao Jinghan pointed to the sky. "Watching the fireworks."

Liu Yuansheng did not look up, but looked at Xiao Jinghan with clear eyes and said, "I'm sorry, I've been confused these past two days and have caused trouble for the young master."

Her voice was already soft, and it was almost inaudible because of the sound of the fireworks, but Xiao Jinghan heard every word she said and replied, "It's not a hassle. Setting off fireworks is a lot of fun, and my mother likes them too."

Unlike Xiao Jinghan, Liu Yuansheng didn't have good hearing, so she stepped forward, got closer to him, and asked, "What did the young master say?"

A faint fragrance dispelled the lingering smell of gunpowder in the air, seeping into Xiao Jinghan's seven orifices. Xiao Jinghan lowered his eyes and saw a long, slender, snow-white neck.

In order to hear Xiao Jinghan's words clearly, Liu Yuansheng tilted her head and put her ear forward, but Xiao Jinghan didn't say anything.

He was gazing at the expanse of white snow.

Although it is said that one should not look at what is improper, Liu Yuansheng was his lawfully wedded wife.

So Xiao Jinghan stared at Liu Yuansheng's neck for a long time before giving a fair assessment.

"Liu Yuansheng".

"You have a long neck."