Chapter 76 Farewell: “I’ll be Brother-in-Law’s concubine now.”

Chapter 76: Farewell: "I am going to become my brother-in-law's concubine."

Tian Qin was permitted to visit Xu Junzheng in prison one last time.

Under a gloomy sky with dark clouds and a piercing east wind, Tian Qin wore a modest, lopsided bun adorned with a principal hairpin, a pink butterfly and plum blossom dress, and a long cloud-patterned brocade cloak as she gracefully stepped down from the carriage.

She carried herself with the grace of a noble daughter, meticulously groomed to the tips of her hair, clearly the treasured daughter of some powerful figure, utterly out of place in the dirty, damp prison.

Zhao Ning escorted her all the way, presenting his token, and the guards bowed to let them pass.

In the damp, dark prison, rats scurried and moss grew on the walls, and the air was filled with the half-dead groans of prisoners. The underground dungeon was a true living hell.

Tian Qin carefully lifted her skirt as she walked through the narrow corridors, her heart pounding at the harrowing sights. The hem of her skirt shimmered with a pearlescent luster, like stray starlight fallen into the mud.

It was her first time in such a place, and she was horrified and terrified.

In comparison, the cage of the Xie residence was like paradise—woven with warmth and comfort. Though filled with lies and false affection, it provided food, warmth, and extravagant luxury.

If she were thrown here, she doubted she could survive even a single day.

Zhao Ning walked ahead, holding a torch, and said, "Miss Tian, follow me, there's no need to worry. Master Xu's cell is at the end. The master allows you to speak with him for the time it takes to burn one stick of incense."

Tian Qin acknowledged with a soft hum, and they wound through several more narrow corridors, passing through layers of guards, until they finally reached the cell where Xu Junzheng was held. The location was deep and sunless, the air stagnant, making one dizzy after a while.

Xu Junzheng lay motionless against the wall, slumped and lifeless. In just a few days, he had become skin and bones, his body covered in vicious, festering wounds crawling with maggots. He barely had half a breath left.

Zhao Ning showed no intention of unlocking the cell, letting Tian Qin speak to Xu Junzheng through the bars.

Tian Qin urgently called out, "Xu Junzheng! Xu Junzheng!"

No response.

After a long silence, Xu Junzheng let out a faint cough. Seeing a figure outside the cell, he immediately clutched his head in terror, muttering frantically, "Don't hit me, don't hit me, I'll tell you everything..."

Tian Qin's heart sank. Surviving in Xie Tanwei's hands was already fortunate. Looking closely, she saw his left knee twisted at an impossible angle—he had been brutally broken.

"Xu Junzheng, it's me."

She called out patiently several times, and only then did Xu Junzheng, whose soul seemed to have drifted away, gradually regain his senses. Tears of disbelief filled his eyes, and his hoarse voice was barely audible: "Tian, little sister..."

"It's me, Xu Junzheng. Don't panic."

Tian Qin tried to comfort him. "The capital magistrate has shown you mercy; you'll be released soon. After that, leave the capital and never come back."

Xu Junzheng showed no joy at this news, only a deathly stillness.

"Little sister Tian... you saved me, didn't you?"

He struggled, trying to crawl to her, but his broken leg gushed blood like a spring, and the pain made him faint repeatedly. Every inch of movement cost him enormous pain. Tears and blood stained the cell floor.

"What about you? Will you come with me?"

Tian Qin shook her head, lowering her eyes like a trembling flower, and said heavily, "I... have fallen in love with my brother-in-law. I plan to be with him from now on. You should settle down too, marry a good wife, and forget me. I will forget you as well."

Xu Junzheng, having endured days of humiliation, had already guessed the outcome, but hearing her say it still made him shudder. It was his misfortune that he didn't deserve a woman like Tian Qin. Persisting would be meaningless, only leading to mutual destruction.

"Alright... take care of yourself..."

He spat blood, filled with endless grief and resentment, forced to accept the reality.

"You too."

Tian Qin choked on her words.

With Zhao Ning watching, their words couldn't be too explicit—only hints to convey their intentions. She was the young lady; he was a prisoner. They were never meant to meet.

Zhao Ning timed the visit precisely and reminded her, "Miss, it's time to go."

Tian Qin wiped away the tears that had betrayed her composure, took one last look at the dying Xu Junzheng, and forced herself to leave. The tears fell in the dungeon, still beautiful, shimmering like agates.

Xu Junzheng should never have gotten involved with her. She was now bound by chains at the edge of a cliff, with a terrifying giant lurking in the shadows behind her. Anyone who tried to approach would be crushed to dust.

Under the gloomy early summer sky, layers of gray clouds piled thickly. The distant, faint blue mountains lay in a thin line, and the chill was biting. A broken spiderweb fluttered pitifully in the wind, the spider dangling on a thin thread, homeless.

Emerging from the dungeon, Tian Qin felt as if she had been reborn. Her own power was too small, fragile as paper, insignificant against the torrent of power. If those in power wished it, they could punish her in a thousand ways.

Her once resolute heart of resistance had been ground down by the harsh reality, leaving her sorrowful, weary, and powerless, sinking deeper into the quagmire, resigned to numbness.

She thought that perhaps she would never escape—there weren't so many heroic miracles.

Xie Tanwei was standing by the carriage in the official's courtyard.

The sunlight gradually faded. He was like the bright moon shining alone, snow atop a mountain peak, silently waiting for her return.

The one who controlled it all.

Tian Qin paused, nervously crumpling her handkerchief in her hands, then silently went to his side. Her delicate cheeks were slightly reddened from crying, her posture meek and submissive.

Xie Tanwei pulled her into his arms, shielding her from the evening breeze, and said softly, "Don't cry."

Tian Qin leaned against him numbly, as if lifeless.

"This time, I will truly never see him again. I hope my brother-in-law will keep his promise and spare his life, let him be cast away to fend for himself."

Xie Tanwei hummed lightly, his fingers lazily wiping away her tears. "Better a short pain than a long one. Little sister should cut it off early. After all, your engagement was based on mutual exploitation, not true affection."

He had his own code of conduct and firmly believed in its correctness.

Tian Qin's expression darkened, and she nodded.

Xie Tanwei held her and led her away step by step, into the carriage, and back to the mansion. The sky began to drizzle, but Tian Qin was perfectly protected, not even a drop of rain touching her embroidered shoes. She was like a bird caged in a gold wire mesh, grown with ever more splendid feathers.

...

Xu Junzheng was merely a minor episode amidst the bustling daily affairs of the Xie estate. It came and went, and people only saw him as a petty thief trying to climb the social ladder, a topic of idle chat over tea, gradually fading from memory, with no one dwelling on it.

Spring gradually aged, the grass grew lush, and the bright summer arrived. The sun grew more brilliant day by day; wearing thin gauze, one could feel the noticeable heat. Cicadas chirped like waves, and thunderstorms became more frequent.

The Xie family went on another short trip, but this time not to the hot spring resort, but to a seaside summer villa. The Xie family's estate was vast; there were hundreds of such manors, with luxurious homes all over the land, run by dedicated stewards and tenant farmers who work and maintain them. The masters didn't have to be confined to the capital; they could live wherever they wished.

A few days before leaving, the Duke of Yingguo, Chen Mansion held the full-month banquet for their eldest legitimate grandson. There were countless matters to attend to, and they needed help. Xian Qiu, who was on good terms with the eldest madam of the Chen family, went to help manage the situation, delaying her trip to the summer villa.

"I'll stay at the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion for two days. Husband, go on ahead; I will catch up alone later. Don't worry."

A servant relayed Xian Qiu's message.

Xie Tanwei agreed without objection.

He was calmly trimming a spider plant, his concern was perfunctory, as if it mattered less than the flower branches. Such notification was entirely unnecessary—perfectly normal. Xian Qiu could go wherever she pleased; he would never restrict her.

Tian Qin watched from the sidelines. It wasn't the first time Xian Qiu stayed out overnight, and he always responded with that same indifferent attitude. Despite his pathological need for control ingrained in his bones, he magnanimously tolerated his wife staying out.

Was it an act?

He really treated his wife and concubine differently. When she wanted to go out, he would invent a hundred and eight restrictions out of nowhere. When she visited Su Tiaotiao's home, he sent Zhao Ning to force her back while the afternoon sun was still blazing. When she sought prescriptions at Qianjin Hall, he leveraged the Love Gu as a threat, setting clear limits—if she was even slightly late, she would have to kneel and endure his merciless punishment.

Moreover, if Xian Qiu didn't go to the summer retreat, wouldn't that leave just her and Xie Tanwei on the road?

...A real headache.

Her hand trembled, and she cut the spider plant's leaves wrong, leaving an ugly scar on the beautiful foliage.

Xie Tanwei noticed and lightly rebuked, "So careless, ruining a famous species I brought from Jiangnan?"

Tian Qin apologized, the orchid leaf broken off cleanly, revealing an unsightly mark.

"I didn't mean to."

"Forget it, I knew you wouldn't understand. I shouldn't have taught you tonight." Xie Tanwei lost interest in pruning flowers, put down the scissors, and rubbed her fluffy head, his eyes lingered with a thick, sticky intensity. The red candle burned bright, blazing brightly.

"I'll go wash up."

Tian Qin's eyelids trembled, and she hurriedly rose, escaping from under his hand, fleeing toward the bathroom.

Xie Tanwei calmly watched her retreating figure, a faint tenderness in his eyes.

Night fell. The curtains were drawn, dark clouds shrouded the moon. A crow perched on an overburdened branch, its round eyes peering around, while the thick night mist blurred the red candle's flame.

Xie Tanwei thrust his hips and came down on her like a storm.

Tian Qin clutched the bedsheet in panic, sinking into it, unable to help but crane her neck to kiss him.

He laughed, wiped away his sweat, and whispered something in her ear, making her feel even more relaxed and pleasured.

Tian Qin murmured indistinctly, "Birth control..."

"Don't worry."

Xie Tanwei pushed her head down a little lower.

This was a night when Xian Qiu was not in the mansion, leaving them free to do as they pleased.

In truth, it didn't matter whether Xian Qiu was there or not.

Tomorrow they were to set off for the summer retreat, a long and tiring journey, yet they refused to rest properly, going at it till the moon was high.

She had ruined one of his orchids, so naturally, she had to pay the price.

"Brother-in-law, spare me..."

"Just one last time."

Xie Tanwei's voice was smooth as water, seemingly gentle and accommodating, but in reality, there was no room for negotiation.

Tian Qin was dazed, her expression close to tears, bathed in the pale, duck-egg-blue moonlight, beautiful as a lotus.

From the initial pain, through his patient guidance, she had learned to enjoy the pleasure within it—a great improvement, and he wanted to reward her.

Afterward, both were exhausted, collapsed together in a mess. The fog cleared from Tian Qin's mind, her senses returning. She buried her face in his shoulder and said in a low voice, "Brother-in-law, let's wait for Sister before we go."

Xie Tanwei licked his lips with lingering desire, a unique, wet softness. "Reason."

"One or two days won't make a difference. If Sister comes back and finds we've left without her, she'll surely feel disappointed. Since I'm to serve you long-term, I must cultivate a good relationship with her; I don't want her to be unhappy."

Tian Qin racked her brains to come up with a reason, trying every possible way to avoid being alone with Xie Tanwei.

Xie Tanwei saw through her. Using one hand to pin both her wrists above her head, he exerted an overwhelming pressure, not even deigning to sneer. "Are you trying to avoid me again, little sister?"