Jiangnan Gaiden - Capítulo 22
"No. Su Guangping himself is uneducated and has never hired a private tutor to teach his children to read. He can't even write his own name properly."
Shi Wuji was taken aback for a moment, then said:
"Follow me." Could Huan'er be an imposter? Leng Gang's words didn't match the Huan'er he knew at all. This chaos made him involuntarily anxious! Everything was so strange.
Huan'er was hurriedly led to the front hall by the maid. She was quite annoyed. Wuxia had come to her with a heavy heart, and she was about to comfort her when Shi Wuji summoned her. She was extremely unhappy. Wuxia had never looked like this before. As a woman herself, seeing Wuxia's distress pained her, and she wished she could pluck the stars from the sky to make her smile. But now she had to leave her behind and rush to "meet" her husband. Her displeasure was absolutely inevitable. In her anger, she forgot to step over the high threshold when entering the front hall, and ended up falling forward. This time, Shi Wuji couldn't save her; he was too far away. By the time he arrived, he could only catch her.
"Has no one reported to you that this threshold is a potential trap for murder? If I fall on it a few more times, I'll definitely become an idiot." She kicked the tall wooden board angrily.
"Does it hurt?" he asked worriedly, helping her to the head seat.
"It doesn't hurt." Luckily, there was a long-haired Persian carpet inside the door. "What do you want?" Her gaze shifted, and she saw a man sitting to her right with a sexy, bright red scar on his left cheek. Not handsome, but stylish and full of masculinity. Curious, she approached him, about to touch his scar, but Shi Wuji immediately grabbed her from behind, his cold, stern face turning away. She looked at Shi Wuji defiantly. "I just wanted to touch it to see if it was real. Who has a scar that's so evenly and beautifully red?"
Now, Shi Wuji not only has to doubt her true identity, but also determine if she has an unusual sense of aesthetics. Ever since Leng Gang got that scar, no one has dared to look directly at his already frightening face; even a maid fainted from fright. The Shi siblings never thought she was ugly, only that they felt guilty. So far, the only one who has said she is beautiful is Huan'er.
"Huan'er! You don't think your husband can tolerate his wife touching other men, do you?" He warned her, then made her sit back down.
"Of course—okay." This applies to both ancient and modern times. If a husband truly cares for his wife, he won't tolerate it.
"He is Leng Gang, my brother, we grew up together," he introduced.
"Hello, I'm Su Huan'er." She greeted him cheerfully, seemingly wanting to verify whether the injury was real, so her eyes lingered on the scar.
Shi Wuji turned her face away, clearly annoyed.
"Not angry anymore?" I clearly saw her furious just now, how come she's completely forgotten about it after just one fall? Impressive!
The fact that he spoke to her so casually suggests he considers Leng Gang family. He's cold and ruthless even with the servants, but not with Leng Gang. She only spoke after Wuji reminded her:
"Wuxia was waiting for me in the room, looking very sad. I wonder if she's sick; she's always so gentle and quiet, never appearing so forlorn. If there's nothing else, I'll go back to the room and check on her. I'll let you know if she needs a doctor." She was about to stand up when she suddenly caught a glimpse of concern in the cold, stern man's expression. Not quite understanding it at first, she quickly dismissed the thought, smiled at her husband, and retreated to the backyard.
"How is it?" Shi Wuji asked after Huan'er had gone far enough.
"The same face, but completely different personalities," Leng Gang said incredulously. After thinking for a moment, he added, "The day before her wedding, she attempted suicide by hanging but failed."
What does this even mean? It's not exactly a clue, is it? Who can provide an answer? Shi Wuji smiled wryly. Regardless, his heart only beat for Huan'er before him. A gentle, timid, typical rich young lady—someone he once thought he would be attracted to, but now politely declined. Huan'er was so wonderful! Unique, perfectly suited to his taste—that was enough. For now, this was all he could do; he would investigate this strange event slowly after everything else was settled. He shook his head and said to Leng Gang:
“Let’s go back together. You haven’t been back to Aolong Fort for three years, and Uncle Leng misses you terribly.”
Leng Gang remained silent, but his expression was complex. Shi Wuji sipped his tea, his gaze fixed on the vast expanse of blue sky and white clouds outside the window, his mind calm. He had done everything he could to say and do to Leng Gang; if he didn't accept, there was nothing more Shi Wuji could do. Of all the things in this world, love is the most painful.
Back in the room, Huan'er found Wuxia weeping uncontrollably. Huan'er quickly sat down beside her, asking, "What's wrong? What's wrong? Tell me!"
Wuxia was a typical well-bred young lady, always polite and proper. Such a loss of composure was unprecedented! Huan'er touched her forehead and hand; nothing seemed amiss. What was the reason for this sudden sorrow? Should she express it? she wondered. She'd just have to wait until she finished crying. A beautiful woman's tears were an art in themselves; the phrase "pear blossoms with tears" probably referred to this. Huan'er often forgot that she was no less beautiful than Wuxia, yet she was always drawn to Wuxia's appearance. So beautiful! Her crying was pitiful, a different kind of beauty that tugged at the heartstrings.
Seeing Huan'er staring at her so intently made Wuxia too embarrassed to indulge her emotions any longer.
"Sister-in-law!" she whispered shyly.