Chapter 3

If I were jealous, would I have tolerated an orphaned cousin living here for two years in the name of recuperation?

If I were cruel, she would have been beaten to death, not merely slapped twenty times.

“Your Highness is joking.”

I rose and straightened my sleeves.

“I’m only teaching your household the difference between ranks.”

“In two years of marriage, have you ever spoken to me this way?”

Supporting Liu Ruyue, he advanced on me step by step.

“Just because your father is the General Who Guards the Realm?”

So everything I did was abusing my family’s power.

He had never seen my patience or hurt.

“Yes.”

I admitted it calmly, meeting his eyes.

“I thought husband and wife were one. Your dignity was mine. I respected you, so I gave way.”

“Now I understand.”

“You don’t need my respect.”

“You need a puppet who will smile while your precious cousin does whatever she pleases.”

“Unfortunately, Shen Qingning cannot be a puppet.”

My words cut through the false peace he had tried to maintain.

He went pale.

“What… what nonsense? There is nothing improper between Ruyue and me!”

“Nothing improper?”

I gave a cold laugh.

“An unmarried woman tugging at her cousin’s husband all day, her clothes disordered—is that proper?”

“When you’re ill, she attends you night and day. If people hear, will they praise her devotion or call me useless, unable to keep my own husband?”

“Whenever I speak to you, she interrupts. Is that how a guest behaves?”

“At today’s banquet, I am the mistress of this household. She is a guest. Yet she dresses more splendidly than I do. Why?”

With each sentence, he grew paler.

He knew all of it.

He had merely thought these were little things and I made too much of them.

Now, exposed before every guest, they became blades aimed at his dignity.

“Enough!”

At last, he roared.

“Not enough.”

I looked at him.

“Today’s twenty slaps are her lesson.”

“And your reminder.”

“Know your own position, Xiao Jingyan. And know mine.”

“I am your consort and the mistress of this residence.”

“As long as I am here, no one else has leave to run wild.”

I didn’t look at him again.

Turning to the still-stunned guests, I bowed slightly.

“I regret this embarrassing spectacle.”

“An unpleasant household matter has spoiled your enjoyment.”

“I’m not feeling well and will retire. Please make yourselves comfortable.”

With my maids and guards, I left the Spring Garden, head high, through a suffocating silence.

I never turned back.

But I could feel his burning gaze fixed on my back—angry, shocked, and holding feelings even I couldn’t understand.

Back at Qingning Residence, I removed all my hairpins and ornaments and changed into simple, elegant clothes.

Chunhe brought hot water for my hands, seeming to hesitate.

“Your Highness, you…”

“I’m fine.”

I knew what she meant.

“Grind ink. I want to write home.”

Her eyes brightened. She understood immediately.

“Yes!”