Chapter 48 Jealousy: “Only smile for me.”

Chapter 48: Jealousy: 'You Can Only Smile at Me.'

Winter slowly passed, and the footsteps of spring drew near. The mountain manor was warm, with sunlight like liquid gold, and trees sprouting earlier than those outside, a faint mist of green gently veiling the surrounding hills.

The Lord and Lady had gone to inspect the fields, leaving Tian Qin alone in the manor, her range of movement restricted.

The manor was filled with tenant farmers, and even the Manor Lord was a relatively capable tenant, a servant who had served the Xie family for generations.

Tian Qin stepped out of her room, lifted her head to take a deep breath, and basked in the late winter and early spring sunlight. This rare freedom was a comfort, and she secretly hoped that Xie Tanwei and Xian Qiu would stay away and leave her alone forever.

She scolded the maids who followed behind her, saying that after all she couldn't even step out of the Five Finger Mountain, so what were they worried about—that she would sprout wings and fly away?

The maids also looked down on this wild and arrogant cousin, standing far off to the side with cold sneers.

The flowers and plants planted in the manor bloomed in clusters, their petals full and plump, trembling slightly in the cool but not cold east wind, exuding a deep fragrance, splashes of dazzling bright colors that made people pause.

Tian Qin's range of activity was small. She crouched among the flower fields, tending to the plants, quietly watching large butterflies flutter gracefully.

She wore a simple, elegant lotus-pink pleated skirt, and her half-coiled hair carried a hint of girlish tenderness, as if she had turned into a creeper flower, attracting the butterflies to linger.

The Manor Lord's son happened to witness this, was stunned by her beauty, and mistook her for a high-ranking maidservant. He fell in love at first sight and sent someone to deliver a love poem.

Soon after, he learned that she was the master's younger sister, a hidden prostitute kept by the wealthy family, not a pure maiden at all. His dream shattered, and he was drenched in cold water, crestfallen.

Not long after, Xie Tanwei and Xian Qiu returned.

Xian Qiu hurried to the accounting room to keep the books, while Xie Tanwei went straight to the flower fields.

Tian Qin was crouching, silently trimming a side stem of a camellia, when her chin was suddenly lifted by a bony hand, carrying the chill of winter and a very unusual implication.

"Brother-in-law." She recognized him, her voice hoarse.

Xie Tanwei was silent for a few breaths, his tone unreadable. "You know the Manor Lord's son?"

It was a classic accusatory tone.

Tian Qin's internal alarm bells rang loudly. She frowned. "I don't know him."

"Then how did he write a love poem to you?" He smiled faintly. "Doesn't matter. If you like him, just say so."

"I really don't know him."

Her voice was thin as silk, as heavy as death. "We happened to meet. Just exchanged a few words."

This was a trap. He was asking if she liked other men—essentially a test of loyalty. She absolutely could not say she liked anyone, no matter how kind and magnanimous he appeared on the surface. If she did, both she and that man would die so thoroughly that not even their bones would remain. In years of confrontation, she had already learned the survival skills, forced to learn how to survive.

"A few words need you to smile, and smile so sweetly?"

No detail seemed to escape his eyes. He leaned down to her ear. "You don't know him, but you smiled at him—"

Tian Qin's hair stood on end.

Her gaze froze. She could no longer crouch and collapsed onto the fragrant flower field.

"Brother-in-law, I didn't. Don't misunderstand."

Xie Tanwei's reprimanding expression was contemptuous, as if she had committed an unforgivable sin. Tian Qin was paralyzed with fear, trembling in place. Whenever he wanted, he could make her roll on the ground in pain under the lash of the Love Gu.

"Little sister doesn't understand brother-in-law's rules."

"Last night, you were still riding me passionately in my arms, and today your smile blooms for a stranger,"

he lectured without joy or sorrow, his words dripping like water droplets in the stifling silence, stepping on her heartstrings, his terrifying gaze filled with unyielding and overwhelming coldness.

"I've said it many times—I will choose a good husband for you, but I won't allow you to act on your own. Has little sister gone deaf, taking brother-in-law's words as going in one ear and out the other?"

Tian Qin was in a very difficult position. To be fair, it wasn't entirely her fault. The Manor Lord's son had approached her first.

She had lived in endless darkness for so long, longing for someone to pull her out and let her escape. She wasn't wrong. Even if she had actually done something with the Manor Lord's son, it wouldn't have been wrong.

She didn't belong to Xie Tanwei—not as a concubine, not as a sister, not as private property. She should have her own freedom.

She remained silent to delay, but Xie Tanwei's harshness pressed on like waves of north wind toppling pines. "Speak. Have I been too soft-hearted?"

"What does brother-in-law want?" she was forced to the end, sharp nails digging deep into her palms.

"Brother-in-law, this isn't fair. Sister also talks normally with male subordinates."

Xie Tanwei easily caught her, lowered his head, and bit her ruthlessly, hurting her so much she almost fainted.

"She is who she is. You are who you are. You are not the same."

"This time I can forgive you, but there will be no next time. There are many bad people outside. You need my protection."

He held her tightly in his arms, the absolute darkness that devoured even sunlight, the absolute, twisted possession, their bones branded together, a knot tied for eternity.

His look treated people like objects, constantly showing that he regarded her as his private possession—destroy it, smash it, but never give it to others.

"Tian Qin, be good."

The early spring's clear light enveloped the two like evening mist. Xie Tanwei was like a ferocious demon wandering the human world, belonging to hell, wearing a handsome, refined exterior.

"You can only smile at me."

Xie Tanwei's deep, solemn lead-colored eyes were calm and cold. His pale fingertips smeared her lipstick slightly, reckless and unbridled, some morbid darkness, as if he wanted to crush her.

"Do you understand?"

His tone had shed its tenderness, revealing his true, ferocious face.

Tian Qin's remaining resistance was worn down by the Love Gu. Her jaw was already sore and swollen. She helplessly hoped he would let go quickly, mumbling "I remember," but her flustered heart didn't know what she was saying.

When she was finally taken away from the flower field, Tian Qin was dazed, her tears blurring the road, as if she had had a nightmare. The beautiful early spring scenery lay in pieces, shattered.

"What's wrong with Tian'er?"

When Xian Qiu saw her, she was surprised and wanted to ask, but Xie Tanwei nonchalantly stopped her: "Nothing. She fell and cried."

Xian Qiu laughed about how delicate she was, took Xie Tanwei's arm, and chattered about the account checking. Even the most boring daily account entries turned sweet when she talked to him.

Tian Qin watched their receding figures, her throat choked and sour. He was a demon in human skin, all smiles, with a heart that was pitch black. After brutally controlling her with inhuman cruelty, he could still switch seamlessly, acting as the gentle, perfect husband in front of Xian Qiu and the commoners. She was alone, cast into the abyss of eternal damnation, gradually becoming more twisted within this twisted relationship, like a prisoner whose voice had been taken away.

She felt she was about to break down.

The Manor Lord was summoned, given a large sum of money, and his whole family was expelled from the manor, leaving the capital. The wealthy life they had earned through generations of servitude, the high status of Manor Lord, vanished in an instant.

The Manor Lord wept bitterly, not understanding why the master had made such a cruel decision. The onlooker sees the game best. The fact that the Manor Lord's family could leave with their lives and even get money was already Xie Tanwei's rare mercy, out of consideration for his old servant's loyalty.

The Head of the Xie Family was a reasonable man, not one to kill indiscriminately.

Those who act in ignorance are blameless—the Manor Lord's son did not know Tian Qin's identity, nor did Tian Qin know the Manor Lord's son; their encounter was a total accident, so they could be let off lightly.

Conversely, if the two had acted with premeditation, the punishment would be a thousand times more terrifying than what it is now.

As for the maids who had slighted Tian Qin, they were dragged away and given fifty strokes of the rod, left at death's door.

...

The next day, while soaking in the hot springs, Tian Qin had dark circles under her eyes, was listless, and her eyelids were slightly swollen. Floating up and down in the restless water, she felt drowsy all over.

The stifling, steamy air made her drowsy.

Suddenly, Xian Qiu's whisper, as faint as a mosquito's buzz, shattered the silence: "Husband, kiss me."

Xian Qiu seemed oblivious to the cage she was in, completely unaware of how deep and twisted her husband's possessiveness was.

Seeing Tian Qin pretending to sleep in the distance, leaving only the couple, Xian Qiu quietly rose on tiptoes in the water and leaned close to Xie Tanwei's ear.

Tian Qin was not asleep; Xian Qiu's soft request for a kiss had clearly drifted into her ears. She felt a slight unease, her innocence shattered, and instinctively tried to avoid it, but was caught in a dilemma, afraid of tipping him off if she stirred, so she stayed behind the rock, continuing to pretend sleep.

Xie Tanwei seemed to chuckle; whether he kissed her or not was unknown—there was little movement, as if the action were extremely light.

After a moment, Xian Qiu complained with sour disappointment, still asking, only to hear Xie Tanwei say softly, "Alright, Tian'er is still here; she'll laugh at you."

"Tian'er is asleep," Xian Qiu argued.

He replied with a straight face, "A gentleman watches his behavior even in private; it's not proper to overstep bounds."

Tian Qin, curious about what they were saying, kept up the facade of sleep but couldn't resist peeking through a slit in her eyelids.

She saw Xie Tanwei push Xian Qiu away, his movements gentle, his smile still warm, but his refusal was written plainly.

Xian Qiu coaxed and kept begging, but Xie Tanwei kept shaking his head.

Tian Qin laughed inwardly at Xian Qiu—he was a clean freak who hated kissing; Xian Qiu was truly overreaching.

Still, if Xian Qiu could be cured and serve him in bed, that would likely be a different story.

"Is Tian'er awake?"

Hearing this, Tian Qin quickly closed her eyes, breathing evenly, pretending to be lazily asleep in the hot spring. With a splash of water, Xian Qiu waded over and pushed her shoulder. "Tian'er, Tian'er, wake up, don't fall asleep soaking in the hot spring."

After two pushes, Tian Qin slowly rubbed her sleepy eyes, stretched, and said, "Second Sister..."

Xian Qiu told her to get up: "We're going back."

Tian Qin seemed out of it, while Xie Tanwei, seemingly nonchalant, was soaking in the water, swirling a small vortex in his palm with a knowing look in his sharp eyes—he had long noticed she was awake.

Tian Qin's heart was in turmoil, and she nearly tripped.

Xian Qiu quickly caught her. "Be careful."

Tian Qin's face was ashen, and Xie Tanwei gave a soft, ghostly chuckle, tilting his head to repeatedly look her over with amusement, taking his time, with a touch of teasing.

Tian Qin hurried ashore, not daring to look back, but her back felt cold—his gaze lingered on her, following like a specter.

Even amidst the hot steam, Tian Qin shivered repeatedly.

Xian Qiu, thinking she had caught a chill from sleeping, wrapped a robe around her shoulders. Only when Tian Qin was completely out of Xie Tanwei's sight did she ask, "Isn't Brother-in-law coming with us?"

"He's going separately." Xian Qiu closed her eyes tight, as if giving up. "If we stay too long, we'll catch cold; let's go first."

Tian Qin murmured an "oh," emotionless.

Looking closely at Xian Qiu's lips, her lipstick was perfectly in place, with no sign of being kissed at all—only a row of faint teeth marks, bitten in frustration.

At that moment, Xian Qiu was clenching her jaw, too.

On the surface, her husband seemed so loving and devoted, yet he had personally destroyed her family, was cold-hearted deep down, having an affair with his sister-in-law, begrudging her even a kiss—and still, pathetically, she loved him, without even the right to complain.