Ruan Jiaojiao watched longingly as her wretched little shack receded into the distance. There was a saying: "A golden nest or a silver nest is never as good as one’s own dog kennel." No matter how dilapidated it was, it had been her home for two years, and she had grown genuinely attached to it.
"Brother, Pei Huaiyu, Huaiyu, my husband..."
Ruan Jiaojiao’s hands were bound by a rope, the other end of which was held by Pei Huaiyu. She had assumed she would at least be tossed into the carriage or, if they were being cruel, made to ride a horse. She never expected that after five years of marriage, this man wouldn't even grant her the decency of a ride, forcing her to trot along on foot while he sat comfortably inside the carriage.
"Say what you have to say."
Ruan Jiaojiao realized that he hadn't even lifted the curtain; Pei Huaiyu truly did not want to look at her.
"Can I go back inside and grab something?"
Pei Huaiyu didn't answer, but the carriage came to a halt. Ruan Jiaojiao hadn't expected him to agree. It was amazing what being the Prime Minister did for a man—he didn't even have to speak; his subordinates simply knew his intentions.
"Your kindness is too great to repay; I shall repay you in the next life!" As soon as the rope was loosened, Ruan Jiaojiao bolted, only to be promptly apprehended by the guards. Her escape attempt having failed, she let out a whimpering sound.
"You have exactly one cup of tea's time." The man’s voice lacked even a hint of warmth.
Ruan Jiaojiao took a deep breath and sprinted down the slope in front of the townsfolk, with several soldiers in hot pursuit.
Pei Huaiyu’s aide leaned in respectfully. "My Lady is likely retrieving the token of affection she shared with you, Prime Minister. I saw it when I entered the shack. Despite her destitution, she never pawned the jade pendant you gave her. It shows she still has feelings for you."
Pei Huaiyu had seen the token, of course. He wanted to be indifferent, but the words slipped out. "Since when is Ruan Jiaojiao worthy of the title 'My Lady'? Pass the word: if I hear anyone addressing her as such, they will receive ten lashes and be expelled from the estate." He could never admit that he still cared.
"I got it!"
To his surprise, Ruan Jiaojiao came sprinting back, clutching two large jars of wine, while a subordinate followed behind carrying several more. She seemed determined to take every drop of her private stash. "Pei Huaiyu, let me tell you, this is the new brew I’ve been working on. I’ve lived off selling this wine for the last two years, but these jars are so precious I couldn't bear to sell them. I have to take them!"
An infuriated Pei Huaiyu threw back the curtain, looking as if he wanted to devour her alive.
"Smash them all."
"No, no, no! Pei Huaiyu, how can such icy words come from your 37-degree mouth?"
"..."
As it turned out, the only thing colder than his words was the fact that he truly made her walk the entire way back to the Capital. She had gone to great lengths to hide in a remote town over a hundred miles away just to get away from him, and now, she was exhausted to the point of collapse.
Ruan Jiaojiao wheezed, "Pei Huaiyu, what kind of revenge is this? Is your goal to force me into losing weight?"
Pei Huaiyu gritted his teeth. "My goal is to make you live in regret forever. I want to make your life worse than death."
"Good brother, good husband, why don't you let me get in for a bit? If that’s not possible, just give me a glass of water. Add ice and sugar—you know I like brown sugar, thank you!"
*Snap.*
The rope on her wrists was thick, rough hemp. The man inside the carriage gave it a sharp, deliberate tug, and Ruan Jiaojiao felt as though the skin was being torn from her flesh. She was yanked so hard that her face nearly pressed against the carriage, her tiptoeing reaching its limit.
Pei Huaiyu slowly parted the curtain and leaned toward her. His obsidian eyes shimmered with a chilling, soul-stealing coldness, his gaze like that of a demon from the abyss. "Ruan Jiaojiao, do you really think I brought you back to be a high-ranking official's wife?"
Ruan Jiaojiao felt suffocated. The person before her—the boy, the man—had truly changed. She had originally been a bright-eyed college student from the 21st century who had inexplicably transmigrated. She had been born into this world, and having been an orphan in her previous life, she had accepted it easily enough, just scraping by.
She had spent ten years in the modern era and ten in this ancient one. Perhaps because she hadn't suffered much, her mentality remained that of a teenager—immature and unwilling to grow up. When she married him at seventeen, the eighteen-year-old boy hadn't even dared to look her in the eye when he lifted her veil; his hands had shaken, and his face had been as red as a monkey's bottom. She had laughed at him plenty back then.
But now... he was so crude. And yet, he had certainly matured. He wasn't so easily fooled anymore.
Even after all her coquettish behavior, Pei Huaiyu remained hard-hearted, watching his beautiful ex-wife collapse on the road until she blacked out from exhaustion.
When she woke, she found Pei Huaiyu pressing down on her. She had been jolted awake by pure, sharp pain.
"Pei Huaiyu, you bastard!" Ruan Jiaojiao couldn't take his madness; she shoved against him, trying to force him away.
"Does it hurt? Does it hurt as much as it did for me? Open your eyes and look! You did this! The mark of your betrayal is still here!"
"I kept this scar to remind myself every moment of the hatred I have for you! Ruan Jiaojiao, you really are cold-blooded!"
"When I was locked in that dungeon, I didn't even doubt you. I did everything in my power to escape just to hear your explanation. But you? Thinking I wouldn't die, you decided to drive the blade in again?!"
"Too bad, your blade was too shallow. I didn't die, so now I'm here, alive, to make you suffer!"
The man was practically possessed. He grabbed Ruan Jiaojiao's hand, forcing her to feel the scar she had left on him all those years ago. It was a clear, searing, and painful mark.
Ruan Jiaojiao’s nose stung, and her heart felt as if it were being sliced into pieces. Yet, that blade from years ago had not only wounded Pei Huaiyu. Perhaps staying away from him had been the best outcome—the one that would cause him the least amount of pain. But whenever she wanted to give up, Pei Huaiyu would look at her like this. Why, despite how she had treated him, did he still hesitate? That trace of love occasionally flickering in his eyes would be her eternal shackle.
Ruan Jiaojiao whispered, "So? Pei Huaiyu, why don't you just drive a blade into my chest and let me go? After all, I gave birth to your son. I don't owe you much. Can't you be the bigger man and just let me go?"
After a few seconds of silence, Ruan Jiaojiao suddenly felt a chill in her abdomen. The malevolent look in the man’s eyes was dangerous.
"You think giving birth to a son wipes the slate clean? Ruan Jiaojiao, do you want to carry another life? Maybe then we can call it even."