Originally, all they had to do was ask the other party involved. But as luck would have it, Liu Xuan was blind and hard of hearing, and she did not even know Li Ying’s identity. As far as she was concerned, her husband had only ever been one man from beginning to end. If she learned the truth and someone asked her again who exactly her husband was, she would likely be so ashamed and furious she would want to die.
Marquis Yongyu suddenly felt the whole matter was absurd. Regardless of who was real and who was false, among the two brothers, one of them had taken advantage of the girl’s blindness and poor hearing to impersonate the other and steal her away. That was already an undeniable fact!
He glanced at Liu Xuan, yet felt it was somewhat understandable. After all, such a beauty was something one could only encounter by chance and never seek by design.
Li Heng frowned and looked at Marquis Yongyu and Madam Yin. “You two do not believe me?”
Whether it was the Crown Prince or him, neither was someone a declining marquis’s household could afford to offend. Marquis Yongyu could only say, “Young Duke, you misunderstand. I was merely somewhat shocked. So this was how it was.”
Li Heng gave a hum of acknowledgment. “I came today precisely to explain things clearly to you both. Once Xuan’er and I achieve our happy ending, I will certainly not forget the great kindness you two have shown.”
Marquis Yongyu hurriedly smiled and said it was nothing worth mentioning, while Madam Yin kept looking at Liu Xuan, distracted.
Since his goal had already been achieved, Li Heng said, “May I ask where Xuan’er’s residence has been arranged? She is a little shy around strangers. I will take her there.”
Hearing this, Madam Yin took the initiative to speak. “The Young Duke is not familiar with the marquis’s manor either. Let me escort the Young Duke and Xuan’er over.”
Li Heng glanced at her and said with a smile, “Since Madam is so warmhearted, then Xuan’er and I will not stand on ceremony.”
Madam Yin nodded slightly. “Please.”
Madam Yin personally led the two of them toward the rear courtyard. On the way, she was no longer as taciturn as before. Instead, she became much more talkative, like a mother who had truly just found her daughter, beginning to show concern for Liu Xuan’s past. “I heard that although you grew up in Liujia Village, you are not actually from Liujia Village?”
Liu Xuan nodded and replied obediently, “In answer to Madam, I was picked up by my father. Back then, my father was hunting in the mountains and happened to come across me after I had been abandoned, so he carried me back.”
The hand inside Madam Yin’s sleeve tightened. She pressed on, “Do you know what the mountain where you were abandoned was called?”
Liu Xuan was just about to answer when Li Heng suddenly said from the side, “Is Madam not asking a little too much in detail?”
“It is only idle conversation.”
Madam Yin smiled at him. “Since Xuan’er is soon to be registered under my name, if anyone asks, I must at least be able to answer.”
“Is that so?” Li Heng looked at Liu Xuan, then at Madam Yin. “In that case, this heir has been meddlesome. Please continue.”
After his interruption, Madam Yin did not ask further. She merely led them to the courtyard, introduced the servants there to Liu Xuan, and then left.
Perhaps because Liu Xuan was blind, quite a few servants had been arranged for her. Besides the old women for rough work and the second- and third-rank maidservants, there were also two personal maids named Ziyi and Zilan.
Both of them were bondservants born in the marquis’s household. They had only just introduced themselves before Li Heng dismissed them.
This man was truly in the way!
Liu Xuan could not help asking, “Does Husband not have matters to attend to?”
Why was he staying at her place all the time? And Li Ying too—even if he could not come personally, he should at least send someone to get this unlucky thing away. Could it be that what she had done just now was too mild, so he had not felt anything?
That should not be. Was his waist not one of his sensitive spots?
Li Heng reached out and drew her into his arms, wrapping an arm around her waist as he lowered his eyes to look at her. “What? Do you find your husband in the way?”
If you know you are in the way, why are you not leaving?
Liu Xuan nestled into his embrace and said coquettishly, “Of course not. I also wish Husband could stay with me all the time. But did Husband not say that after returning to the capital, you would be very busy?”
Li Heng smiled faintly. “I am busy, but a day apart feels like three autumns. Your husband merely wants to keep you company a little longer. Does my wife not miss me?”
Since he put it that way, how else could she answer?
She could only suppress her irritation and say sweetly that she did.
Hearing this, Li Heng chuckled and lifted her chin. “Where do you miss me?”
He tapped her red lips. “Do you miss me here?”
Before she could answer, his gaze moved downward. His fingers slid lightly and tapped her high, soft bosom, his voice turning low and hoarse. “Or here? Or perhaps…”
His gaze continued downward, his meaning self-evident.
He kept flirting with her with filthy words at every turn. It seemed these past two days had truly stifled him badly.
Liu Xuan extended one slender jade-like finger and drew circles on his chest. Instead of answering, she asked, “Then what about Husband? Where do you miss me?”
A tingling numbness spread little by little from his chest, finally turning into a ball of fire that rushed straight toward his lower abdomen. Li Heng’s dark eyes instantly grew deep and shadowed. The way he looked at Liu Xuan seemed to form a whirlpool, as if it would suck her in.
He pulled her toward himself, pressing her tightly against his lower abdomen and making her feel him. Lowering his eyes to her charming expression, he said hoarsely, “What do you think?”
Liu Xuan blushed slightly. “Husband, you… did you not leave only after eating your fill yesterday?”
Hah!
The one who had eaten his fill was Li Ying, not him!
Thinking of the torment he had suffered these past two days, Li Heng’s expression immediately darkened somewhat. He licked his back teeth and looked at her. “Your husband is exceptionally gifted. No matter how much I eat, it is never enough.”
“But it is daytime now.” Liu Xuan’s beautiful little face was full of difficulty. “And I have only just entered the manor today…”
Of course Li Heng knew it was daytime, and that it was her first day returning to the manor. Even without these reasons, he could not truly do anything with her. After all, she was ultimately Li Ying’s woman. He had not yet sunk so low as to…
“Mmph!”
Li Heng suddenly let out a muffled groan and looked down in disbelief. “You…”
Liu Xuan’s face was red as she moved slightly. “But I cannot bear to see Husband suffer either. Why don’t I… Husband, be quick.”
As her words fell, her fair and beautiful little face had already flushed so red it seemed it might drip blood.
Li Heng looked at her, his Adam’s apple bobbing as reason and impulse warred within him.
Reason told him that a person had to have a bottom line. She was Li Ying’s woman. He should not, and could not, truly do anything with her.
Moreover, if he truly wanted a woman, what kind of woman could he not have? Why did it have to be her?
But impulse said that this could not be considered truly doing anything. Besides, the suffering he had endured, when traced to its roots, was still because of her. At most, he was merely collecting a little interest now.
Furthermore, how could she be considered Li Ying’s woman? She had neither name nor status, nothing more than a plaything for amusement. Even singing girls and concubines could be gifted back and forth, so what did she count for?
Most importantly, the woman before him was far too beautiful. If she had approached Li Ying with some ulterior motive, then he could even say he was doing this for Li Ying’s own good!
While the battle between heaven and man within Li Heng had yet to reach a conclusion, Liu Xuan did not stop. His breathing grew heavier and heavier, and the changes in his body became increasingly obvious.
Li Heng had already endured to his limit, but at that very moment, she suddenly exerted a little more force.
Li Heng let out another muffled groan. More than that, the string in him called reason snapped outright. He looked at her with dark, heavy eyes, then suddenly lifted her into his arms and strode toward the room.