Chapter 217: Chapter 203: Divorce Is a Must! (Part 2)
Xu Shu was woken up by the cold.
His head throbbed painfully due to a hangover, and as he sat up rubbing his temples, he realized something was off.
He wasn’t wearing clothes.
Not wearing clothes was one thing; he wasn’t even wearing underwear.
Not only was he without underwear, but he was lying directly on the wool carpet, covered only by a thin blanket.
He wasn’t sure if he had moved around while sleeping or whether those serving him hadn’t done their job properly.
Xu Shu felt that the blanket was carelessly thrown over him, almost as if the person covering him hated him so much they were grudgingly attending to him.
The dragon and phoenix wedding candle on the candlestick made a soft crackling sound, drawing back Xu Shu’s wandering thoughts.
He became more clear-headed and glanced to the side.
It was still dark outside, with the glow of snow filtering in through the plum blossom window frames.
His clothes were scattered chaotically all over the floor.
Outer robe, middle garment, inner garment, underwear...
The large canopy bed had its wedding curtains drawn down tightly and securely.
Even without lifting the curtain, one could easily imagine the person inside sleeping soundly.
A surge of anger shot up to his head, and Xu Shu stood up, bent down to pick up his clothes hastily, and stormed over to the canopy bed, yanking open the curtains and glaring at the woman with a peaceful sleeping face.
"Song! You’ve gone too far!"
Even if you don’t care for him, don’t want to consummate the marriage, this is his house; how could you let the esteemed Young Master of the General Mansion sleep on the floor?
And taking advantage of him while he’s drunk, who knows what you’ve done?
This woman is really...
The more he thought about it, the more his temples throbbed violently.
Song Fang opened her eyes, meeting his angry, red eyes filled with bloodshot from drinking and lack of rest.
Knowing this fool was probably woken up by the cold in the middle of the night, she didn’t say anything, just shuffled over, leaving room for him while covering her ears to continue sleeping.
"Hey!" Xu Shu was ready to overturn the canopy bed, "Keep pretending to sleep, and I’ll throw you on the floor too!"
Song Fang removed her hands from her ears; it seemed hopeless to continue sleeping.
She sat up, leaned against the bedhead, wearing pajamas of the same color as her wedding attire, casually pulled the wedding quilt up to cover herself.
After slowly and deliberately completing these actions, she lifted her eyes to look at Xu Shu, "Young Master Xu, who’s pretending—me sleeping or you playing dumb?"
"???" Xu Shu: "What do you mean? Make it clear."
Remembering earlier events in the bridal chamber, Song Fang was both embarrassed and annoyed, "Let me ask you, your father didn’t want you to go into the military and sent you to the Imperial College to study literature because you faint at the sight of blood, right?"
This was Xu Shu’s most fatal weakness, one he never discussed with outsiders, especially not in front of Song Fang. He couldn’t admit it, "Don’t bring up irrelevant stuff; on our wedding night, and it’s freezing outside, why would you toss me off the bed?"
Even if you toss him off, you should at least let him wear his clothes properly?
Song Fang was quite angry initially, but seeing his fierce and quarrelsome demeanor, she found it amusing, "Ah, you really don’t remember what happened?"
"Nonsense! If I remembered, would I let you succeed?"
He’s never touched a woman in twenty years, hasn’t even browsed those illustrated books. A few days ago, his father had someone bring him several, and he disdainfully ignored them.
Unexpectedly, having remained chaste for twenty years, he was treated this way while drunk?!
...Intolerable!
"Are you really sure you want me to tell you what happened?" Song Fang blinked, leisurely watching him.
"If you don’t say, I’ll throw you down, let you taste spending the rest of the night on the floor."
Song Fang made a "hum" sound and somehow produced a white cloth from somewhere. The cloth had a dried red stain.
"Do you know what this is?" Song Fang asked as she waved it readily.
"If you don’t say, how would I know?"
"First cloth, have you heard of it?"
Xu Shu frowned, clearly clueless in these matters.
Song Fang suppressed her speechless feelings and directly explained that this was used by brides on their wedding day and showed to their mother-in-law the next day.
Xu Shu’s earlobes turned red.
He’s usually quite outspoken, but in reality, he knows very little, especially about this; without Song Fang saying so, he was completely in the dark.
Song Fang politely smiled, "I don’t mind, just think of it as being bitten by a dog, but I never expected that the dog would faint at the sight of blood."
Xu Shu: "......"
After a long pause, he burst out with, "Impossible!"
How could he, a Young Master of the General Mansion, be so cowardly?
Song Fang raised an eyebrow, "If you don’t believe me, I can describe every detail to you, especially the part where you fainted from blood."
"Shut up, just shut up!" Xu Shu covered his ears, his face turning crimson as if he was about to bleed.
Him, faint from blood?
He actually fainted on the wedding night because of this?!
Xu Shu couldn’t accept it at all.
Seeing him like this, Song Fang almost couldn’t hold back her laughter.
She not only didn’t expect him to faint from blood, but also didn’t expect the dignified Young Master of the General Mansion, having lived for over twenty years, to be clueless about these things, and not even have a concubine by his side.
Cleanliness is cleanliness, but in some aspects, he’s like a fool.
Before getting married, Song Fang at least got a few pointers from her aunt and sister-in-law. She didn’t expect her husband to be clueless, and on top of that, to faint before anything even started.
...
Song Fang felt a bit guilty watching Xu Ersha’s frantic expression, so she quietly lay back, turned her back to him, intending to continue sleeping.
The room was silent for a while.
Just as she was wondering if Xu Ersha had fainted from anger, he suddenly spoke, "Everything you said is just one-sided, I don’t believe it."
Song Fang was too sleepy to argue, "Suit yourself then!"
Xu Shu’s dignity was severely hit, and all he could think about was how to fix Song’s dark impression of the wedding night; he pulled her into his arms before she could react.
...
At daybreak.
When Song Fang awoke, she heard snowflakes hitting the window frame.
Outside, it was freezing cold, but inside the room, the underfloor heating made it comfortably warm.
Xu Shu was not in the room, presumably having gone out early.
Song Fang put on her clothes and sat at the dressing table, looking at her reflection in the bronze mirror.
Overnight, she transformed from a girl to a woman, youthful inexperience faded inside and out. Now, with a blushing complexion, every frown and smile was full of charm.
The door creaked softly, and Xu Shu entered briskly, wearing a gray mouse fur cloak. He walked directly behind Song Fang, bent over, and met her gaze in the mirror.
He had been outside too long, bringing back the chill, which made Song Fang shiver involuntarily.
Xu Shu seemed to notice and moved slightly away from her, taking a long time before speaking, "Wife, you must promise to forget what happened last night, or I’ll deal with you."
Thinking of her weakness upon waking up, Song Fang cursed through clenched teeth, "Xu Shu, are you a fool? Spreading rumors about my husband fainting on our wedding night is beneficial to me?"
"That’s more like it!" Having received her promise, Xu Shu came back to life, raising his eyebrows at his reflection in the mirror.
Song Fang really wanted to give him a slap.
Calling him stupid, he’s truly stupid, clueless even when faced with things.
Calling him cowardly, he’s really not cowardly, sober and full of strength.
The angrier she got, the more Xu Shu could sense his regained dignity, "Wife, from now on, we’re truly husband and wife, right?"
Song Fang: "...Get lost!"
Xu Shu instantly turned serious, "You better not kick me out, or I won’t be polite."
Song Fang weakly said, "Can’t you have some self-respect?"
Having the upper hand, how did she not notice this trait in him before?
Xu Shu: "You think after last night’s incident, I can still have face in front of you?"
"..."
Song Fang didn’t want to hear him anymore, she slumped on the dressing table, "Don’t make noise, let me sleep for a while, I have to serve tea to the parents at 5 a.m."
"If you don’t promise me, I’ll keep making noise."
Childishness overtook Xu Shu, he refused to leave her alone.
"Are you done yet?" Song Fang, catching him off guard, gave him a slap.
Xu Shu was quick, pinning her wrist, and took the chance to plant a kiss on her cheek, "If you don’t speak, I’ll take that as a yes."
After speaking, he cheerfully pushed the door open and left again.
Song Fang: That bastard! Must get a divorce!
Bothered by this man, Song Fang couldn’t sleep anymore, tidied herself up, opened the door and saw Xu Shu outside building a snowman. He was holding the snowman’s head in place, he turned around at the sound of the door, grinned at her, "Wife, do you like it?"
Building snowmen was something Song Fang wouldn’t do for years, now seeing him foolishly building a big one and looking at her as if expecting praise.
Song Fang felt something indescribable in her heart.