Chapter 79 Envy: “Brother-in-Law, do you love me?”

Chapter 79: Jealousy: "Has Brother-in-Law Fallen in Love with Me?"

The next day, the sky over the mountain villa remained overcast and did not clear, so everyone hid in the pavilions to avoid the rain.

Young Master Gao insisted on riding his horse, but the horse stepped into a muddy pit on a hill, causing both horse and rider to fall. Young Master Gao broke his back and, though his life was spared, he was confined to bed from the waist down. Miss Gao, also on horseback at the time, scraped her knee and became lame.

Seeing both of her children suffer such misfortune, Madam Gao wept uncontrollably.

It turned out that Xie Tanwei, while composing poetry, had mentioned a peculiar sight of tides by the seaside, leading Young Master Gao to take his sister to watch in the rain, resulting in this unexpected disaster.

Afterward, Xie Tanwei lamented, "It's my fault for speaking too much," shedding tears in the wind. He hired a sedan chair to send the injured Gao siblings back to their residence, bestowed gold, silver, and rare medicinal herbs, and promised to arrange marriages for them in the future: a Xie daughter would marry the disabled Young Master Gao as his wife, and a Xie son would take the lame Miss Gao as a noble concubine.

The Xie family had done all they could, leaving people sighing in regret.

As the maternal clan of the Grand Empress Dowager, the Xie family was the foremost noble house, immensely influential. Marrying a Xie daughter or taking a Xie son as a husband was considered an unattainable honor.

The Gao parents were dealt a blow, then given a sweetener, leaving them speechless with bitterness. They had hoped their daughter would climb the social ladder by seducing Xie Tanwei, but now both children were crippled.

Yet Xie Tanwei was flawless, holding a huge moral and public opinion advantage. The Gao family wanted to argue but had no grounds, infuriating Old Master Gao so much that he fell ill and lay on his bed, with little time left.

Thus, Xie Tanwei had nearly taken three lives, without expending a single soldier, merely with a flick of his hand.

Tian Qin witnessed everything, seeing him stand on her side for the first time, supporting her.

His sharpness was like a double-edged sword: when turned on Tian Qin herself, it left her scarred; when directed at others, it cut through iron as if through mud, invincible. Whether facing her or his enemies, his heart was equally dark and ruthless.

What he gave her was a cup of sweet wine laced with deadly poison. At first sip, the sweetness numbed her tongue; the liquid slid smoothly down her throat, so delicious it made her unable to stop. But by the time she realized it was poisonous, it was too late.

Tian Qin clearly knew that he disciplined others for her not because he loved her deeply, nor because they had established some kind of kinship. It was merely because she was obedient now, and he was repaying her.

He could hold her while sleeping, kiss her, chat about the day's events, but that was all—no deeper relationship. He was the Xie Clan Lord, and she was a sister who was neither wife nor concubine. They stood forever on opposite banks of a river.

She touched her left leg; the large bruise had begun to spread and turn yellow, as if the wound were still there.

Under the cold wind, the rain mist fell like layers of light gauze curtains from the sky. The rain turned into wind, chilling to the bone.

Tian Qin found the room dark, stuffy, and hot, so she wanted to take an umbrella and go out into the rain, perhaps to gaze at the distant sea.

Despite the precedent of Young Master Gao falling from his horse in the rain, she knew the villa's grass wasn't that muddy; Young Master Gao had been set up. The estate was actually safe.

Xie Tanwei was reading an official document by the lamp. Without looking up, he said succinctly, "Heavy rain, knee injury, not allowed."

Tian Qin's interest instantly crumbled. "It's just a scraped knee, it doesn't affect walking. Besides, I have an umbrella, and most of the path is along the covered corridor. Heavy rain is perfect for listening to the rain."

Xie Tanwei put down the book and raised an eyebrow. "Don't you understand what I said?"

Tian Qin lowered her head in submission. She dared not defy his orders; the Love Gu would torment her until she wished for death, which would be far worse than just a scraped knee.

"Brother-in-law controls me day and night, planted such a precious pair of Love Gu in me, keeping me bound by his side at all times. Could it be that you're tired of my sister and want to put me in her place?"

She took a breath to suppress the surging Love Gu within her, forcing a faint smile, and provocatively challenged him, "Has brother-in-law fallen in love with me? How? Are you going to break our agreement not to love each other?"

Xie Tanwei chuckled softly. "Is that what little sister thinks?" His expression was as if he had heard some hilariously absurd joke.

"Don't laugh."

Tian Qin was momentarily angry, wanting to see through his heart, but she hadn't intended to anger him.

Of course, Xie Tanwei wasn't angry. He leaned lazily against the round pillow behind him, his expression clear, with a cold arrogance. "I didn't know little sister had such a preference—being manipulated by a Love Gu, locked up day after day, forced to give herself, and calling the perpetrator's actions 'love.' If that's the case, I wouldn't mind loving you a bit more."

Tian Qin felt as if snow water had been poured down her spine, chilling her from head to toe. She had made a fool of herself. But it didn't matter; she had known the outcome. She grinned and said, "No, 'love' easily overflows. Brother-in-law should just let me fend for myself, like in the past life."

"What have you mistaken for love? Tell your brother-in-law."

Xie Tanwei pondered for a moment, stroking her smooth chin, his attitude ambiguous.

Tian Qin said confidently, "Kisses, sleeping together, hugs, standing up for me—these things. Also, brother-in-law is handsome, wealthy, powerful, and gentle to me. Any girl would take it as love."

Xie Tanwei listened thoughtfully, as if on the verge of asking something, a subconscious thought he himself didn't realize. But after a moment's hesitation, his innate arrogance and coldness prevailed, turning into a phrase ashen and frosty: "I think the word 'love' overestimates the nature of our relationship."

His cold smile was like the wind resting on a winter branch.

Tian Qin also smiled. What was love or not love? "No wonder brother-in-law kept his distance from Tian'er in the past life."

In her past life, she had been so naive, constantly agonizing over love.

Xie Tanwei repeatedly examined his own heart, convinced that such a thing as love didn't exist; otherwise, he wouldn't have made that pact of not loving each other with her yesterday. Love was trouble, a shackle that would bind him in turn. His orderly life didn't allow such chaos. He could like someone, favor someone, but he would not love anyone in this life. Love leads to total defeat.

The reason he kept her by his side now was partly as punishment for her secretly planning to marry Xu Junzheng in this life, and partly because of his obsession with her early death in the past life. He was a normal man, needing a suitable temporary companion for relief.

Just as he had promised her, when the fate was exhausted, they would naturally part.

Even with the Love Gu, there was no such thing as a lifelong person or affair in this world.

He did not have that deep emotion called love for her, but she did belong to him. Just as one doesn't fall in love with the stationery in the study, but the stationery does belong to the owner.

If an outsider maliciously damages it, the owner will naturally protect his belongings, punish the destroyer, and demand compensation. This isn't out of protection for the stationery itself but out of protection for what is owned.

So one couldn't say that a person loves stationery to the point of being perversely obsessed with it; that would be a fetish. Such was the case with him and Tian Qin.

...

Two days later, after the rain cleared, Xian Qiu finally arrived at the villa, having finished her social engagements in the capital.

She knew a little about the incident where Tian Qin's knee was scraped by the Gao family's horse polo. Unexpectedly, Xian Qiu didn't care for Tian Qin as usual, instead subtly blaming Tian Qin for causing trouble.

The Gao family had been officials for generations and were not easy to deal with. If Xie Tanwei's reputation as a pure, virtuous, morally flawless man were damaged, ten Tian Qins wouldn't be able to compensate. This younger half-sister seemed less like a benefit to help her bear children and more like an unseemly burden.

On a deeper level, what dissatisfied her even more was that Tian Qin spent every day alone with Xie Tanwei, inseparable, sleeping in the same bed, riding the same horse, receiving personal lessons from Xie Tanwei on chuiwan, and meeting friends of the Xie family of equal status—vaguely suggesting she was surpassing the legitimate wife.

What did that make her?

Xian Qiu was uneasy, filled with great fear.

Fortunately, Xie Tanwei was just playing around and hadn't taken Tian Qin as a concubine. Otherwise, if Tian Qin really gave birth to a child one day, disaster would befall the wife, overshadowing her.

Xian Qiu and Tian Qin shared a common master—Xie Tanwei. Though Xian Qiu was dissatisfied, she dared not throw a tantrum in front of her husband. She could only humble and tactfully deal with Xie Tanwei, hoping he would consider their marital bond.

"It's not that I'm nagging, but handling the Gao family's matter was too risky, husband. I was sweating in fear for you. The Gao family, though not a wealthy clan like the Xie family, has a group of retainers—actually, they're street thugs, ruthless men who don't value their lives. For Tian Qin's minor leg injury, you crippled both their children. They will surely hold a grudge, slander you before the Emperor, or even worse, ambush you on your way to and from work, harming you. What then?"

Xian Qiu wept and coughed, her frail body made worse, playing the role of a worried, virtuous wife.

"If something happens to you, my world will collapse."

Xie Tanwei smiled helplessly and handed her a handkerchief to dry her tears, scolding her for making a mountain out of a molehill. "I was wrong. My apologies. Dear wife, stop crying. How can a dignified imperial official be afraid of a few thugs? As for the Emperor, I'll give him an extra piece of candy when I hold him."

Xian Qiu couldn't help breaking into laughter, playfully hitting Xie Tanwei with the damp handkerchief. "Husband, you're always joking. I'm being serious. You only care about Tian'er, completely disregarding my feelings."

Hearing such jealous words, Xie Tanwei didn't respond directly, only said, "Wife, rest assured. I know what I'm doing."

He was always lukewarm, never taking the initiative to be close to her. After years of marriage, there was little physical contact. Her calls to him were always met with silence, as if lost across a great distance.

He seemed to only be drawn to someone like Tian Qin, yet clearly she and Tian Qin shared the same father, and she bore some resemblance to Tian Qin.

Xian Qiu suddenly felt intense self-disgust, and then nearly retched at the realization she had subconsciously compared herself to the daughter of a courtesan.

Xian Qiu's heart churned with turmoil, her mind feverish and dizzy, losing all sense of direction. She felt deeply pained and jealous—Tian Qin effortlessly possessed everything she envied, and the only trace of warmth in Xie Tanwei's icy nature was reserved for Tian Qin.

Back then, Xie Tanwei ruined the Yu family—all for Tian Qin. Tian Qin broke off the engagement, conducted clandestine meetings, ran away, and showed disrespect to elders—he could forgive everything.

He personally designed a garden to enshrine Tian Qin, even indulging Tian Qin's fear of pain and allowing her not to bear children.

Fate, so unjust.

Xian Qiu glanced at Xie Tanwei. He was leisurely playing with the cheap half-moon jade bi that Tian Qin had given him, catching the bright sunlight, his faint smile as gentle and serene as the sky above.

He completely ignored her words.

Her jealousy and complaints went in one ear and out the other.

The precious Buddhist prayer beads she had previously asked the master of Mount Wutai to consecrate were casually tossed aside by him, while he toyed with cheap street-stall trinkets.

Xian Qiu was so bitter that she felt like crying, but she forcefully restrained her emotions, urging herself to stay calm, stay calm—once the facade was torn, there would be nothing left. She took the initiative to lean on Xie Tanwei's shoulder and probed, "Husband, if... I mean if, Tian'er one day turns against me, who will you choose?"