Liu Lu opened the door and Song Liang Zhuo stumbled into Liu Lu’s bedchamber.
Qian Xiao Qi sighed a dozen times, but Song Liang Zhuo didn’t understand and he refused to leave.
Qian Xiao Qi bit her lips, got out of bed and patted Liu Lu’s hand. ‘Hehe… Liu Lu have a good sleep.’
Qian Xiao Qi bowed her shivering head, and silently followed Song Liang Zhuo outside.
Qian Xiao Qi sat in front of the table and poured a cup of tea.
A long time later, Qian Xiao Qi still didn’t disrobe Song Liang Zhuo. He turned around and saw her drinking tea. Reluctantly he disrobed.
Qian Xiao Qi kept her eyes on Song Liang Zhuo’s uniform. She felt shy to look at his face. ‘Official Song, you should sleep first. I… I’m thirsty. I want to drink tea for a while.’
Song Liang Zhuo laid straight on half of the bed to save room for Xiao Qi.
Qiao Xiao Qi clenched her hands. How could she love a man like Song Liang Zhuo? After he married her, he still had an ambiguous relationship with another woman. She raised her hand to hit the table, but stopped her hand midway.
Qian Xiao Qi drank a whole pot of tea, propped her head on the table and yawned.
Qiao Xiao Qi jolted awake. She had planned to sleep on the table, but she couldn’t deny a bed was more comfortable.
Song Liang Zhuo frowned. ‘There’s another blanket in the chest.’
Qiao Xiao Qi wrapped the blanket around her body, walked toward the bed while looking wearily at Song Liang Zhuo and blowing out the candles.
‘Xiao Qi, how can you forget what’s inside the bedchamber?’ Song Liang Zhuo asked. ‘Wasn’t it you who brought the chest here?’
‘Is it something serious?’ Song Liang Zhuo asked.
Song Liang Zhuo felt like summer was quickly approaching, and he remembered his promise with his father-in-law.
Song Liang Zhuo thought for a while about what was making Qian Xiao Qi worry.
‘I don’t care if you and she have a brotherly and sisterly relationship,’ Qian Xiao Qi said and yawned. ‘I’ll go see my father and explain everything. I won’t make things difficult for you two.’
‘What’s the matter?’ Song Liang Zhuo asked. ‘Are you still angry because I hit you?’
Qian Xiao Qi wanted to say she disliked Song Liang Zhuo, and that she wished they could live their own separate lives away from each other. But she was sleepy, and couldn’t open her eyes after she laid on the bed. In the end she didn’t know if she opened her mouth to tell him the truth before she fell asleep.
Song Liang Zhuo couldn’t see Qian Xiao Qi’s face clearly in the dark.
Song Liang Zhuo slid an arm under Qian Xiao Qi’s rabbit fur blanket. She didn’t stir so he pulled her body close to his body, took a deep breath and kissed her lips.
Song Liang Zhuo covered Qian Xiao Qi’s mouth. ‘Don’t scream, it’s me.’
‘Don’t be scared,’ Song Liang Zhuo coaxed. ‘We’re only having a wedding night.’
‘I’ll take my hands away but you can’t scream,’ Song Liang Zhuo said. ‘What will people think if they can hear you screaming outside?’
Song Liang Zhuo let go of Qian Xiao Qi. She moved away from him, jumped out of bed, sat on the floor and wrapped the rabbit fur blanket tighter around her body.
Song Liang Zhuo didn’t know how to answer an awkward question. What did he want? What should he say? Should he say he wanted to have a wedding night with her?
The words husband and wife coming out of Song Liang Zhuo made Qian Xiao Qi angrier.
Qian Xiao Qi propped herself off the ground. Her legs got tangled in the rabbit fur blanket and she fell on the ground.
Qian Xiao Qi raised her knees to kick her legs. But Song Liang Zhuo carried her. She was angry and embarrassed. She banged her head against his chest, jumped down and landed on her back again.
Song Liang Zhuo stopped laughing, and squatted next to Qian Xiao Qi. ‘Stop being noisy. Does it hurt?’
‘Wait,’ Song Liang Zhuo said.
‘Father-in-law won’t agree,’ Song Liang Zhuo said.
‘He won’t let me divorce his daughter after a couple of days of marriage because he doesn’t want his household’s reputation blemished,’ Song Liang Zhuo said.
Song Liang Zhuo shook his head and laid back on the bed. ‘You should sleep. It’s almost morning.’
Song Liang Zhuo turned his back toward Qian Xiao Qi.
Qian Xiao Qi sighed. Song Liang Zhuo must have been forced to marry her. She needed to go home soon and tell her family that she didn’t want to be married to him. She was only seventeen, and was shocked to find out he was twenty-four. They had a seven year age difference. Seven years!
Qian Xiao Qi climbed onto the table, curled herself into a ball, closed her eyes and slept.
End of Chapter Three