Chapter 31: Caught in the Act

Liu Fuying brought over a small bamboo stool and sat down by the bed.

Resting her chin in one hand, she gazed intently at Pei Zhouwu’s handsome face.

As she watched, the corners of her lips unconsciously curved upward.

His breathing was shallow; if one didn’t look closely, it seemed as if he had fallen into a deep sleep, with no breath at all.

She pulled the stool closer and reached out a finger, tracing the outline of his nose and the bridge of his nose, then moving up to his brow bone, forehead, and the side of his face. After carefully tracing a full circle, her finger finally landed on his lips.

Before, she never knew she could be such a lustful person.

But Pei Zhouwu was simply too captivating.

What a pity, though—Pei Zhouwu was severely injured and unconscious, unable to do anything, wasting such a precious night alone together.

She withdrew her hand, her gaze shifting downward to the thick iron chain hanging from his waist.

She had never examined it closely before. Today, upon closer inspection, she noticed that many parts of the chain had rusted. For some reason, Liu Fuying recalled the words Mother Pei had spoken to Pei Zhouwu in this room earlier.

Mother Pei had urged him to endure, to hold back even the greatest grievances.

Thinking of this, Liu Fuying suddenly felt a pang of resentment.

She felt resentment on Pei Zhouwu’s behalf.

If Pei Zhouwu had endured and allowed himself to be humiliated last night, he might have already lost his life by now.

And yet, they still blamed him for not enduring enough—he had already endured to the extreme for the sake of the Pei family.

Realizing she was pitying Pei Zhouwu, Liu Fuying quickly shook her head, determined to cast aside such unnecessary thoughts. What was her purpose in clinging to Pei Zhouwu? Wasn’t it just to bear his child? Pitying a man was no better than pitying herself.

She wasn’t truly going to stay with him for a lifetime.

The more pitiful Pei Zhouwu was, the more advantageous it was for her, wasn’t it?

Withdrawing her finger, she lightly tapped the bamboo bed and lazily uttered a sentence only she could hear.

“I’m not a good person.”

At this moment, Pei Zhouwu had indeed fallen into a deep, unconscious slumber. He had already lost consciousness earlier when Liu Fuying went out to wash the gauze.

Shen Xiunian, galloping on horseback toward Xiangshan without stopping, had already arrived at Changmingguan.

He did not ask a Taoist priest to summon Liu Fuying out for him but instead prepared to enter himself.

Yet he himself was unaware of how inappropriate his desire to catch them in the act was. He hadn’t come here to catch them in the first place, and besides, he had permitted Liu Fuying to meet someone outside. So, whoever the adulterer was, he should have simply asked someone to summon Liu Fuying out. After all, he had come to take Liu Fuying back for his mother’s sake.

At this moment, he hadn’t even realized it himself.

He actually wanted to see what the adulterer looked like. Perhaps he was still stung by Liu Fuying’s words from the morning: “I don’t fancy you.”

“So you are the husband of the benevolent Lady Liu. Lady Liu is kind-hearted, and her husband is also a great filial son.”

Shen Xiunian used the excuse that his mother was gravely ill, falsely claiming that a jade pendant blessed by the Taoist priest had been left behind in the temple by Liu Fuying. His mother was crying and making a fuss, demanding the pendant back, which was why he had rushed here.

“Lady Liu left the mountain before sunset the day before yesterday. Perhaps she left in a hurry and forgot the pendant. Don’t worry, I’ll take you to the courtyard where Lady Liu rested to look for it.”

The Taoist priest led the way ahead, his expression calm and his face wearing a gentle smile.

Shen Xiunian knew the Taoist priests in this temple must be unaware that Liu Fuying was secretly meeting someone in the backyard. To engage in such acts right under the eyes of deities and immortals—if discovered, the consequences would be unimaginable.

If word got out, the reputation of the General’s Mansion would also be ruined.

Therefore, as he approached the residence, Shen Xiunian intended to dismiss the priest and enter alone.

“But there are several rooms in that courtyard. They were all personally purchased by the benevolent Lady Liu for quiet prayer and blessings. When she’s not here, no one enters. It’s pitch dark inside, and you might not even find the candles or lamps. It would be better if I accompany you to help you search.”

Shen Xiunian paused mid-step. From the priest’s tone, did he mean Liu Fuying wasn’t here?

But…

Could it be that she had slipped in secretly to meet her lover, and the temple priests didn’t even know she was here?

How could this be!

Shen Xiunian dared not imagine the scene if the priest discovered them later.

No matter what, he still stubbornly believed that Liu Fuying was inside with her lover, engaged in a secret rendezvous.

“There’s no need. I have a fire starter with me and wouldn’t dare trouble you, Priest. It’s so late already, and I feel uneasy disturbing you, fearing the deities might blame me. I’ll go in alone.”

Since he put it that way, the priest had no choice but to relent. After pointing out the door, he turned and left.

Shen Xiunian hurried forward but came to an abrupt halt just before the door.

If he entered now, he might witness an utterly disgraceful scene. Was this really the right thing to do?

When he saw Liu Fuying and her lover in disheveled clothing, wouldn’t he, as her husband, feel humiliated?

His mind was in turmoil, and he couldn’t help recalling the incident in the bathing chamber that morning. At the time, Liu Fuying hadn’t fully dressed yet, and in his rage, he had nearly dragged her to the ground.

Back then, he had said many harsh things.

Only after sending her away did he realize he had wronged her, and his actions had even worsened his mother’s illness.

She wasn’t the one at fault!

According to their pre-marital agreement, the Shen family’s estate was entrusted to her, and in return, she would care for his mother and fulfill filial duties on his behalf.

But if his second uncle’s branch truly seized the family estate on the grounds of lacking an heir, the agreement between him and Liu Fuying would come to nothing. Moreover, he would soon return to the battlefield—what would happen to his mother then?

He would never touch Liu Fuying, so the so-called affair was something he had tacitly allowed.

Now, why was he making such a fuss?

What fault did Liu Fuying have?

After calming down, he hesitated and took two steps back, abandoning the reckless impulse that had driven him here.

After some thought, he simply raised his hand and gently knocked on the door.

The maid Jin Li was with Liu Fuying. If Liu Fuying was inside with her lover, Jin Li would surely be keeping watch in the courtyard. At the slightest sound, Jin Li would immediately alert her.

He waited for a while, intending to give Liu Fuying and her lover time to tidy up.

After a moment, he knocked on the courtyard gate again.

He waited once more, but another long stretch of time passed.

Shen Xiunian gradually began to sense something amiss. Logically, to placate the person knocking, Jin Li should at least respond to prevent them from barging in directly.

But it had been so long, and there wasn’t a single reply from inside.

He pressed his ear against the courtyard gate and listened for a while. Inside, it was completely silent, with no sound at all.

His suspicions grew heavier. He decided to wait no longer.

Pushing the door open, he found it was indeed pitch dark inside, just as the priest had said.

Could it be… she really wasn’t here?

Or had they slipped away the moment he first knocked?

He strode across the threshold, lit a fire starter, and carefully inspected each room, paying particular attention to the one with a bed. The bedding was tidy, and the quilt was neatly folded, showing no signs of having been slept in.

He reached out and touched the bed—it was cold, devoid of any warmth.

The room, long uninhabited, carried a faint musty odor, with no trace of human presence.

“Hah.” He lowered his head and let out a bitter laugh.