Chapter 2: All Eight of Your Wives and Concubines Have Remarried

In the first half-hour after transmigrating, Xue Qingyin had seriously considered whether she should strategize a chain of plans to eliminate He Songning, the male lead, once and for all, leaving no future trouble behind.

But after careful thought…

…No, she didn’t have the brains for such scheming.

He Songning was, after all, the protagonist.

Not only did he have the protagonist’s halo, but he was also suspicious and ruthless—even his own father had been meticulously plotted against and killed by him.

No chance of outwitting him.

So, Xue Qingyin decided to lie flat and accept her fate.

He Songning, seeing her remain motionless, found his anger subsiding by about three parts.

What was the point of fussing with a fool?

“Don’t recognize me?” He Songning asked coldly.

Xue Qingyin nodded lightly.

…She really didn’t recognize him?

Grinding his teeth, He Songning said, “I’m your eldest brother.”

Xue Qingyin nodded again.

Only then did He Songning release her.

At that moment, the maid outside was coming in with a lamp.

“Tell her you’re fine,” He Songning urged.

But it was too late.

The maid peeked around the screen. “Ah! Who’s there?”

Xue Qingyin quickly replied with a clear conscience, “Didn’t you see? It’s my eldest brother.”

He Songning: “…”

The maid, unbothered, exclaimed in delight, “Oh, it’s the eldest young master!”

She hurriedly lit the lamp.

The light illuminated He Songning’s face.

His features were sharp and handsome, his downcast gaze carrying an alluring, devil-may-care charm.

Seeing him, even the maid blushed.

After all, he was the eldest young master of the household, and any of the maids here might one day become his concubine.

“I didn’t mean to disturb Qingyin’s rest; I only came to check on her. I didn’t expect to wake her,” He Songning smoothed over his midnight intrusion effortlessly.

The maid found this touching.

He truly cared for his sister, even in the middle of the night.

“I’ll prepare some tea for the young master,” the maid said hurriedly.

“No need,” He Songning declined.

He had things to say, but not in the maid’s presence.

Turning to Xue Qingyin, his gaze darkened like the night, making her uneasy.

But He Songning quickly smiled, adjusting her blanket and patting her shoulder gently. “Go to sleep. Tomorrow, I’ll take you out of the manor.”

Leave the manor?

Where to?

Oh, yes. She vaguely remembered the plot.

After He Songning returned from a trip, he took Xue Qingyin to a poetry gathering hosted by Prince Wei.

Then he asked her if she’d like to marry Prince Wei.

Prince Wei already had 18 wives!

Who would want to marry into that?!

Xue Qingyin looked visibly unenthused.

He Songning narrowed his eyes slightly, smiling. “I’m taking you out to have fun. Aren’t you happy?”

His eyes betrayed suspicion.

So paranoid.

Already suspecting something’s off with her.

Xue Qingyin bit her lip, muttering one word: “Tired.”

He Songning’s expression softened slightly.

It seemed she really was ill.

“Rest well, then.”

“Mm.” Xue Qingyin thought for a moment before pretending to ask, “Did I just… hit you? I’ve been having nightmares lately, and for a moment, I couldn’t tell reality from dreams.”

He Songning, pretending to care as an elder brother should, asked, “Nightmares?”

Xue Qingyin clung to his lapel, burying her face in his chest and crying softly.

“I dreamed you married eight wives and stopped caring about me.”

He Songning: “…” As if he ever cared in the first place.

“Then I dreamed you went off to war and got killed—arrows everywhere, looking like a hedgehog. It scared me to death.”

“…” Why did this feel off?

“And after you died, your eight wives all remarried. In the end, I was the only one who remembered you…”

“…” Dead and cuckolded in her dream? He Songning’s temple throbbed.

“I also dreamed—”

“Enough!” He Songning clamped a hand over her mouth. Enough dreaming!

He forced a smile. “Now that you’ve seen me today, you won’t have nightmares anymore. Stop overthinking. Your marriage hasn’t even been arranged yet. How could I marry anyone?”

“Oh,” Xue Qingyin murmured and lay back down.

He Songning sighed in relief.

Xue Qingyin was becoming increasingly troublesome.

Hiding his distaste, he turned and left.

The maid sighed, “No wonder the young lady has been so out of sorts lately—she dreamed the eldest young master died. How terrifying…”

Xue Qingyin looked at her.

What an innocent girl.

Better not fall for He Songning, that black-hearted man.

He Songning walked away, but did not go back to his room to rest immediately. Instead, he took a detour to see Xue Qinghe again.

A dim light was on in Xue Qinghe’s room, probably because she knew that He Songning would come.

The maid guarding the door was dozing off, and she was immediately overjoyed when she saw He Songning.

“Eldest Master?”

The maid didn’t know why the eldest master, who was born of a legitimate family, treated their second girl better than his own sister.

But the mistress treated her harshly, and it was because of the eldest master that their lives were better.

The maid hurriedly welcomed the person in and made tea for them.

Xue Qinghe was sitting under the lamp reading a book. She didn’t put down the book when she saw him come in.

He Songning went forward and took the book away: “The candlelight is dim, be careful not to hurt your eyes.”

Xue Qinghe raised her head, bit her lip, and said nothing.

Xue Qinghe was also a beauty. She

even looked three times more delicate than Xue Qingyin.

She was not like Xue Qingyin, who never said anything when she suffered.

That made her more pitiful.

He Songning took out something from his sleeve and handed it over: “Gift.”

Xue Qinghe asked: “Didn’t you give it all to your sister?”

“This one is reserved for you alone.”

Xue Qinghe didn’t take it.

He Songning saw this and insisted on giving it to her.

He leaned over and put a hairpin on Xue Qinghe’s finger.

“It’s a hairpin made of colorful jade. You usually dress plainly, and you should add some color.”

The maid poked her head in from outside the door: “Colorful jade? That… is so precious!”

Xue Qinghe looked confused.

But the maid knew more about this than she did, and said hurriedly, “The day before yesterday, the wife of the censor, whose surname was Lin, wore colored jade on her head. It is common to see jade without emerald green, or emerald green without jade. It is rare to see two colors of jade, and three colors are the best. The eldest son gave the young lady a three-color jade hairpin.”

The maid laughed as she spoke.

So what if the eldest lady is a biological sister? After all, she is not as lovable as their illegitimate daughter!

Xue Qinghe suddenly said, “Why is your collar dirty?”

He Songning looked down.

There were traces of tears left by Xue Qingyin on it.

“Nothing.” He Songning said lightly, not wanting to mention Xue Qingyin at all.

Xue Qinghe’s eyes flickered, but suddenly dimmed.