Chapter 9: I Had Better Be the First to Turn to Darkness

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Your tolerance for alcohol is really terrible... Chen Xingmiao felt the figures before her multiplying until she finally collapsed face-first onto the table.

“Hmm... my tolerance is really pathetic,” she mumbled, subconsciously pursing her lips twice.

Seeing this, Xiao Ziyu gently smiled as he set down his cup.

How could someone admit to being drunk after drinking? Could she be pretending to trick him?

“Wife?” he softly called out, testing the waters.

Chen Xingmiao’s eyelashes fluttered faintly but she gave no response.

Xiao Ziyu moved a chair closer to her side, lowered his gaze to look at her, then noticed her fingers, pale from being soaked.

She must have soaked her hands until they whitened while washing the vegetables for such a big meal.

Slowly, he lifted his hand and gently poked her cheek with his index finger.

“Hmm...”

Chen Xingmiao let out a light hum, prompting Xiao Ziyu to quickly withdraw his hand and look away.

When she remained still, he turned his gaze back to her.

“What a troublemaker,” he muttered, though he carefully lifted her and laid her on the bed.

After tucking the quilt around her, he called Old Chun Tao to clear the table before returning to the bedside.

Chen Xingmiao turned over, draping one whole leg over him.

Xiao Ziyu tried to move her leg away but found she wouldn’t budge.

“What a nuisance,” he complained again.

She wrapped her arms around him, burying her head in his neck and shifting about, while Xiao Ziyu helplessly stared at the dark ceiling.

Sigh...

When she woke the next day, a sharp headache struck, yet surprisingly Xiao Ziyu was still asleep.

Seeing herself still holding onto him, Chen Xingmiao’s heart skipped a beat.

Oh no, she had spent the whole night clinging to the little villain.

But... his figure didn’t seem so bad after all...

Her hand lightly traced over him, just as Xiao Ziyu suddenly opened his eyes, his cold gaze scanning her up and down.

Chen Xingmiao wished she could disappear into a crack in the floor.

She quickly recoiled her hand like she’d been shocked and sat up abruptly.

Damn it, why did he have to wake up at this moment!

“Wife, so lively this early in the morning?” Xiao Ziyu sat up, calmly putting on his shoes with a faint hint of mockery in his tone.

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Chen Xingmiao dared not even look at him, lowering her head and letting her hair cover half her face.

Seeing this, Xiao Ziyu bent down and gently pinched her chin, a playful smile tugging at his lips.

“Get up. Today’s the formal visit; of course, I will honor the agreement, my... dear wife.”

Chen Xingmiao frowned slightly, feeling as if she was being flirted with.

Clearing her throat twice, she quickly changed the subject.

“Husband, the second outfit on the left is our couple’s set. Ours are together.”

After handing her the clothes, Xiao Ziyu left the room and didn’t reappear until she finished dressing.

“That’s strange. Why has the young master been borrowing the carriage for so long?” Chun Tao muttered, peering through the window into the courtyard with confusion.

“What time is it now?” Chen Xingmiao asked.

“Miss, it’s already the hour of the Snake,” came the reply.

The hour of the Snake was nine o’clock. If it got any later, Aunt Zhou would surely make a big fuss over it again.

Xiao Ziyu was naturally suspicious and sensitive; if he gave anyone any reason to slander him, wouldn’t he spiral further into darkness?

No, this old hag must not succeed!

Thinking this, Chen Xingmiao gasped sharply and sprang up from her chair.

“Chun Tao, come on, let’s find him!”

Together, they hurried to the courtyard and found a servant building a wall to lead them, rushing with quick, anxious steps toward the main hall.

Unexpectedly, just as they stepped into the main courtyard, they saw a frail figure kneeling at the entrance to the hall.

Chen Xingmiao’s face darkened. This scumbag father and stepmother were relentless, always stirring trouble.

But she had just finished the agreement; this was outright bullying her now!

“Husband!”

Xiao Ziyu, who had been bowing his head, suddenly lifted it and turned to look.

Chen Xingmiao ran toward him, her face full of worry and faint anger—there was no pretense in her expression.

Upon hearing the call, Xiao Yinsheng and Hua Liyin, who were sitting inside, also came out and exchanged a glance.

Xiao Yinsheng seemed to comfort her, lightly patting Hua Liyin’s hand and straightening his posture.

“Why have you come?” Xiao Ziyu asked.

Chen Xingmiao didn’t answer but instead grabbed the man’s hand and pulled him up forcefully.

“A man’s knees are worth gold; how can you kneel so casually?”

Xiao Ziyu pressed his lips together, unsure how to respond.

But seeing the painful expression on his face and his legs instinctively wanting to bend again, it was clear he had been kneeling for a long time.

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“Chun Tao, quickly help the husband up.”

Chen Xingmiao said this, flicking her sleeve and coldly glaring at the old couple still gloating nearby.

“Tell me, what crime has my husband committed to deserve such torment on the day of the formal visit?”

Before Xiao Yinsheng could reply, Hua Liyin snorted coldly.

“Since you married into the Xiao family, you are their daughter-in-law. It’s one thing to disrespect tea offerings this morning, but now you don’t even call your elders ‘father-in-law’ and ‘mother-in-law,’ and you dare to defy them so boldly!”

Her eyebrows arched as her words turned sharper and more caustic.

“Is the Miss Chen from the Chen family really unrefined, or does the Chen household simply lack any rules?”

Chen Xingmiao’s eyes brimmed with disdain as she steadily met her gaze.

“Madam seems to have forgotten that it’s clearly written in black and white: we have separated households. To me, you are nothing but bullies abusing your power.”

Xiao Ziyu gripped her hand gently, shaking his head.

News of the Xiao family’s new daughter-in-law separating households right after marrying had already spread; he didn’t want this woman to be branded unfilial because of him.

Besides, she was too foolish—if she dragged him down...

[System notice: Villain’s favorability decreases by one.]

The abrupt mechanical voice of Xiao Liu startled Chen Xingmiao, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her, leaving her stunned.

Then, an anger flared fiercely from her heart, quickly spreading through her whole body.

Is there anyone who cares? Does anyone care at all?

After working so hard, every day so cautiously and thoughtfully, the favorability ended up at negative three—was this even humanly possible?!

“How dare you!” Xiao Yinsheng’s eyes blazed with rage, his chest heaving violently as he shouted.

“I’ve been defiant for several days now!”

Chen Xingmiao’s teeth clenched, eager to vent her frustration.

She raised her hand, pointing straight at Hua Liyin and Xiao Yinsheng, venting without restraint.

“You, an old man who ruined your wife for a concubine, dare to act like head of the family in front of me? And you, wanting me to offer tea respectfully—a third party who rose to power, what right do you have to be the matriarch?”

Chen Xingmiao trembled with fury.

She could not be intimidated by the villain; she wasn’t afraid of these cannon fodder.

Chun Tao stood frozen, witnessing her lady’s fiercest outburst ever.

Looking at the man beside her, thinking of his silence and the fact that he lowered her favorability, Chen Xingmiao’s anger flared anew.

Xiao Ziyu, I think you better not fall into darkness—if you do, I’ll be the one to embrace it instead.