Heart's Devotion

This night was a bit too long.

I couldn't say anything in front of Chu Ziling. When we entered the yard, I couldn't help but say, "Qi Zhan, what's wrong with you? Are you crazy?"

Qi Zhan sneered again and said in a strange tone, "Brother Ziling? No wonder you dressed up so carefully. So you went to see your good brother."

"You're being ridiculous! I went to see my second brother, and Brother Ziling is also my brother. What's wrong with him caring about me?"

I was very angry at his tone and started to speak without thinking. "I regard Brother Ziling as my brother. What about you? Do you regard Xuanxuan as your sister too? Qi Zhan, do you have the right to say that about me?"

Qi Zhan's eyes darkened when I mentioned Xuanxuan, and a flame seemed to burn in his pitch-black pupils, as if he wanted to burn someone to ashes. "Yun Chu, do you really care about Xuanxuan's identity to me?"

He walked towards me step by step, pinched my chin, and made me look directly into his eyes. "Yun Chu, for so many years, if you had asked me about Xuanxuan's identity, I would have told you the truth. But you didn't care at all."

"Yun Chu, do you have a heart? Have you ever cared about me a little bit in your heart?"

His words suddenly seemed like a language I couldn't understand. My heart was beating violently, and I didn't know how to react for a moment.

I stared stiffly at his face approaching. His warm breath intertwined with mine, and finally, a cold touch came on my lips.

His tongue pried open my teeth, like a sudden violent storm, seizing every breath in my mouth.

I felt like a fish out of water, suffocating and struggling helplessly on the shore, or like a person floating on the sea about to drown.

I thought Qi Zhan had really gone crazy.

After a long time, I finally pushed him away, panting slightly, my ears red as if they were about to drip blood.

My mind was in a mess, and Qi Zhan didn't give me time to react. He picked me up horizontally and carried me back to the room.

I subconsciously wrapped my arms around his neck and suddenly felt a bit scared. I said, "Qi Zhan, you... put me down. Let's talk properly, okay?"

He did put me down, but on the bed. His voice was a bit hoarse. "Yun Chu, you asked for this."

11. This night was a bit too long.

I was tossed around so much that I didn't even have the strength to curse him as a beast. I could only bite his shoulder to vent my anger, leaving a tooth mark, but in his eyes, it probably felt like a tickle.

I was half-conscious and thought, this is really what I asked for. Why did I provoke him...

The next morning, I woke up from a breathless dream and found Qi Zhan's warm lips rubbing against mine. His tongue gently licked my lips before he left, and his voice was lazy. "Awake?"

A series of inappropriate images flashed through my mind, and my face turned red. I pushed him away a little and buried my head in the quilt.

He stretched out his long arm and pulled me back into his arms. He whispered in my ear, "Yun Chu, you won't turn your back on me after sleeping with me, will you?"

"..." I found that I really couldn't be as shameless as he was, so I muttered, "We're still arguing."

He chuckled softly in my ear. "Yes, I haven't forgiven you, this heartless woman."

"What..." I remembered what had happened before and got a bit angry again. I elbowed him. "Qi Zhan, you're so unreasonable. What does your business with... that person have to do with me? How can you blame me?"

After last night, I didn't dare to mention Xuanxuan's name, afraid of touching Qi Zhan's nerves again.

Fortunately, he was in a normal mood now and said, "Even if not before, now you're my wife. Don't you have the right to ask?"

... I've never seen a husband ask his wife to check on him like this.

It's not that I haven't thought about asking him about this, but I don't think it's necessary.

On the one hand, I was the one who brought him to see Xuanxuan. I can say that I knew the situation very well from the beginning. As for the hidden details, since he didn't say anything at that time, why should I ask?

On the other hand, I didn't have any feelings for Qi Zhan before. It didn't seem to matter to me who he was with. After getting married, I also subconsciously avoided thinking about this matter.

So does he think I don't value him enough now?

I glanced at him with the corner of my eye and compromised. "Okay, then tell me about Xuanxuan."

"You really want to know?"

"..." I was impatient. "If you want to say it, say it. Are you done yet?"

Qi Zhan hugged me tighter, and I could feel his chest vibrating slightly. "Then come closer, and I'll tell you..."

"Xuanxuan is my sister."

"..."

If his tone hadn't been so serious, I would have thought he was mocking me for what I said before.

I turned around to face him and said seriously, "Qi Zhan, if you don't want to say it, it's okay. You don't have to make up a sister."

"It's not made up." He also became serious. "Look, you don't believe me at all."

... That's because he has lied to me too many times before.

But I didn't have the energy to argue with him again, so I closed my eyes and listened to his explanation.

Xuanxuan is indeed his sister, but only his cousin. She is the illegitimate daughter of Qi Er Ye, Qi Zhan's second uncle.

Qi Zhan said that she was more refined and polite than me, and there was a reason for that. After all, the first ten-odd years of her life were cultivated according to the standards of a young lady of the Qi family. I hadn't seen her much before because she was weak and sickly and didn't go out often.

That year, Xuanxuan's identity was exposed. Qi Er Furen was furious and couldn't accept her existence no matter what. In the end, she drove her out of the Qi family and only claimed that she had died of illness.

Qi Zhan wasn't very close to his second uncle's family, but he had seen this sister a few times. When he heard the news, he felt something was strange, so he investigated privately and finally found out where she was. Then he went to the Spring Breeze Pavilion.

He was a step late. Xuanxuan had already signed a contract of servitude with the Spring Breeze Pavilion, so he could only use his identity as Qi San Gongzi to protect her safety and hide her true identity.

I was silent for a while after hearing this and asked, "Then why didn't you redeem her?"

"She didn't want to. She said that at the Spring Breeze Pavilion, she could just be Xuanxuan and wouldn't have to think about being the illegitimate daughter of the Qi family."

I replied dryly, "Oh," not knowing what to say.