Hongdou had guessed early on that this matter was complicated, but she hadn’t expected it to be this dangerous. She choked for a moment, then looked again at He Yunqin—though his tone was one of explanation, his attitude subtly carried a dominant edge, clearly showing he didn’t think his methods had been improper at all. The anger in her chest, which had subsided somewhat, came surging back up.

“You’re always like this! I asked you before why you had to measure the dimensions of my mother’s family’s study—you must have known I’d eventually guess your intentions, so why couldn’t you just tell me beforehand? Why would you rather scheme against us than tell me the truth? Do you think I’m easy to fool, that even if I found out, all you’d need to do was condescend to explain a few words, and if I still refused to calm down, it must mean I was being unreasonable?”

He Yunqin had thought that once he explained the reasons, Hongdou would understand him. He hadn’t expected her temper to flare this badly. Believing himself blameless, he refused to back down either: “When did I ever say you were being unreasonable?”

“You might as well have written those words on your face.”

He looked at her. “Though I’m not certain whether there’s really a problem with that house belonging to your mother’s family, I was worried that if my mother-in-law and elder brother-in-law kept living there, it could be dangerous. What’s wrong with advocating that they move out as soon as possible?”

Hongdou felt her chest constrict with anger. “Yes, in your eyes there’s only ever right and wrong. As long as you believe something is right, you insist on doing it. But do you know that some things aren’t a matter of right or wrong at all? I have my own thoughts, I have my own will. If I hid something from you and did something I believed was right, then explained it to you afterward, how would you feel? Besides, this matter wouldn’t be an issue if it didn’t involve my mother and brother—but it does involve them, and that’s exactly why it’s not acceptable.”

Her chest tightened. “The world outside says I got lucky marrying into the He family, that I married above my station. But I’ve told you plainly—what I want is a partner who’s sufficiently my equal, not a husband I have to live at the mercy of. If you think that whatever decisions you make on your own, I should support and tolerate without limit, then you are dead wrong!”

With that, she shoved him away hard and strode quickly to the door, pulling it open.

He Yunqin blocked her path. “It’s so late—where are you going?”

“Tongfu Lane.”

He Yunqin paused. “Fine, I’ll go back with you.”

Hongdou’s face went blank with astonishment. “Do you not know we’re in the middle of a fight?”

“I know.”

“You know, and you’re still going back to my family home with me? What are you going to do there, following along? I don’t want you there.”

“Husband and wife don’t hold overnight grudges. Wherever you’re staying, of course I should stay there too.”

She choked for a second. “You—”

He Yunqin had already opened the door. “I’ll go have them prepare the car.”

Hongdou stamped her foot behind him. “He Yunqin.”

He didn’t even turn his head. “Besides, the bed in your childhood room is plenty big enough for the two of us.”

Hongdou was so angry she bit her lip. It was getting late, and if the two of them went back to Tongfu Lane to stay, they’d surely start arguing again—with only a wall between rooms, her mother would be bound to find out what they were fighting about.

She furiously slammed the door shut. How could there be such a shameless person in this world.

There was a sound behind the door—he’d finished his phone call and come back. He stood by the door looking at her. “Changed your mind?”

She ignored him completely, went into the bathroom to wash up hastily, then came out and climbed into bed with a stony face.

He also went into the bathroom, and like her, came out and went straight to bed afterward.

She had already closed her eyes, but hearing him approach, she opened them to look—he seemed utterly unbothered, about to climb into bed as if nothing had happened. She quickly propped herself up and sat up. “He Yunqin.”

He was wearing a silver-grey set of sleepwear underneath, the robe’s sash loosely untied, water droplets clinging to his forehead that he couldn’t be bothered to wipe away. Hearing her, he feigned confusion. “What is it?”

She studied him for a moment—his expression was calm, without a trace of apology, clearly having decided he was in the right and determined to brush this whole matter aside. Combined with the last time, this was the second time the two of them had fought. If they muddled through this one too, the next time they argued it would only grow colder and colder between them. Tonight she had to make things clear, no matter what—she had to make him truly understand.

She lifted the covers to get out of bed. “You sleep here then. I’ll go to the study—it’s quiet there, and it’ll do us both good to cool down and think things over.”

He froze. “This is our bed, both of ours. Am I not even allowed to sleep in it?”

“I’m giving it to you.”

The study only had a couch, with no bedding set up, and the nights had already turned cold. If Hongdou went to sleep there, she’d surely catch a chill.

He hastily pulled her back, stuffing her back under the covers. “You sleep in the bed. I’ll go.”

With that, he glanced around—there was a French-style chaise longue in the corner of the room, fortunately wide enough to just about fit him. He turned off the light, walked to the couch, retied his robe sash, and lay down in his clothes.

Hongdou lay quietly in the dark for a good while. She didn’t hear He Yunqin get up from the bed to fetch another blanket, nor did she hear him call for a servant to bring bedding. Did he really intend to sleep on that couch all night like this?

Though there was a small fireplace in the room, the two of them had always run hot, and in their two stays here, they’d never once had the servants light a fire.

It was deep into the quiet night, and late autumn besides—she knew perfectly well how cold the room would get in the second half of the night. She tried to force her eyes shut, but her heart simply wouldn’t settle. She lay there reluctantly for a while, but in the end got up, slipped on her shoes, gathered another blanket in her arms, and felt her way through the dark to the couch.

He lay on his back on the couch with one leg bent, and she couldn’t tell if he was asleep or not.

Swallowing her anger, she set the blanket over his legs and turned to leave. The moment she moved, he grabbed her by the arm. She tried to jump back, but his movement was too quick—after a brief struggle, she ended up tumbling onto him, a “thump” sound suggesting she’d bumped his chin.

The couch was narrow and small; she writhed like a goldfish, but before she could struggle for more than a couple of moments, he silently flipped her over and pinned her beneath him, his hot breath close against her, their chests pressed together. In the darkness, each of them could feel the other’s every breath and heartbeat clearly. She only heard him say in a low voice, “I was wrong. What will it take for your anger to go away?”

She tilted her head back and bit down hard on his shoulder.

He hissed, then found her shoulder and bit down too, though with far less force—more like nibbling, light and teasing, tickling all the way into her heart.

His whole body pressed down on her, his movements growing more and more excessive. Not content with just biting her shoulder, he continued down along the open collar of her nightclothes. She gradually found it hard to breathe and had to release her bite, kicking out at him instead. “You bastard, let go of me, you’re going to crush me to death.”

He raised his head to look at her—his eyes had long since adjusted to the dark. Moonlight reflected the bright shimmer in her eyes, like starlight glinting silver on a deep blue sea.

He rolled over, letting her lie on top of him instead. “Then you can crush me.”

His arm circled her waist; she struggled a few times without breaking free.

He said, “I was wrong. I’m sincerely apologizing to you.”

She turned her head away coldly, still ignoring him.

“You’re right, I’ve been too self-important, too disrespectful of you. I hadn’t realized this flaw in myself before now. I’ll change going forward, alright?”

Hongdou’s gaze drifted toward him, then quickly retreated again.

He caught her fingers. “I went to Germany when I was still in my teens. All these years studying abroad on my own, I’ve truly grown accustomed to deciding everything for myself.”

She was startled for a moment, then quietly settled to listen to him speak, her ears practically pricked up like a rabbit’s.

He restrained the urge to pinch her cheek. “My mother is the youngest daughter in her family, raised pampered and coddled—she doesn’t like to think too deeply when problems arise. My sister takes after her, her temperament leaning innocent and carefree too. I care a great deal about my mother and my sister, terrified they might suffer any grievance. No matter what happens, if I can resolve it quietly on their behalf without a fuss, I will.”

Hongdou said nothing. As for the matter with her father-in-law and Chen Baidie, her mother-in-law still seemed unaware of it to this day. If He Yunqin hadn’t had someone deliver evidence of Chen Baidie’s fabricated scandal to his father, the two of them might still be seeing each other. This Chen Baidie was someone with very deep scheming intentions—she hadn’t even properly entered the household yet and already dared to slander the second son and his wife. If left unchecked, it would only bring endless trouble later. He Yunqin had eliminated this looming threat for his mother-in-law, yet had never once mentioned it in front of her.

As for He Zhuyun, one only had to see how he always carried candy with him to know how much he doted on this younger sister.

“I’ve grown used to taking care of my mother and sister. After marrying you, because I care about you, I couldn’t help but treat you and your family the same way—whenever I believed something was right, I’d often act on my own without asking your opinion. But I forgot that you’re different from them. You and I are husband and wife—we should be of one heart and one body.”

He paused. Besides, she was so intelligent and independent—what she needed was far more than just his protection; she needed recognition and harmony on a soul-deep level.

Hongdou braced her arms against his chest, gazing at him. Without her realizing it, her anger had eased somewhat.

“Do you actually know why I’m angry?”

He Yunqin caught the scent of reconciliation, and along with his relief came a rush of tender affection. She was his wife—it was because she loved him that she cared about him in every matter, and it was because of that love that the knot between them could so easily be undone. “I know. The matter with my mother-in-law and elder brother-in-law—I shouldn’t have handled it this way, and I especially shouldn’t have kept it from you at every turn.”

As far as he’d seen, only young married couples had the chance to encounter this kind of pure, genuine affection—hard-won, not to be squandered, worth cherishing with his whole life. And so he strove to dissolve every knot left in her heart. “As for the matter of the house, whatever you want to know, I’ll tell you everything. As for the phone calls—since they involve certain confidential matters, I don’t want you exposed to these dangerous things, and I don’t want you answering them. Not just tonight—going forward it may still not be possible for you to take those calls. But I promise you, something like tonight will be the last time.”

Hongdou fell quiet for a moment, then slowly settled into his embrace. “You said it yourself—’of one heart and one body.'”

As she spoke, she extended a finger, first tapping his lips, then tapping the spot where his heart beat. “This of yours, and this—they all belong to me. As long as you’re one with me at every moment, whatever you can tell me, I’ll listen to, and whatever you can’t tell me, I won’t ask. Tonight, you know perfectly well why I was angry. I’m no muddled fool being ‘unreasonable.'”

He said apologetically, “You’re not the fool. I am.”

She gave a small snort through her nose. “Good that you know it.”

The two of them were quiet for a while, then he said softly, “Hongdou.”

She hummed in response.

He raised an eyebrow. “You missed a spot.”

Hongdou didn’t understand. “What?”

He caught her hand and guided it downward.

Hongdou pulled her hand back as if scalded, hurrying to scramble off him. “How can you just switch like that, you absolute scoundrel.”

He pulled her back, flipping her beneath him again, undoing her clothes as he spoke. “You were the one making a fuss about coming to stay here, and then once we got here you banished me to the couch.”

Hongdou opened her mouth to argue, but he lowered his head and kissed her.

When he finally released her, she squirmed to show her displeasure, and seeing there was no escape, she tried several times to flip him over instead. “No, every time it’s me on the bottom—this time I want to be on top.”

He Yunqin was stunned for a moment, then thought this was exactly what he’d hoped for. Afraid she’d change her mind, he quickly rolled over, holding her as she settled on top of him, and made a show of allowing himself to be dominated.

Before long, the couch began to creak, louder and louder, accompanied by other telling sounds.

But it wasn’t long before Hongdou, gasping for breath, said, “He Yunqin, I can’t do it anymore, you take over.”

He Yunqin felt so satisfied every pore of his body wanted to open wide. Sensing she was about to get off, he froze for a moment—how could this woman do this, leaving him hanging in midair like this. He quickly caught her by the waist, saying hoarsely, “This is called giving up halfway.”

She waved a hand. “Too tired, can’t, can’t.”

He felt both exasperated and helpless with tenderness, flipping her back down onto the couch, taking control. “All that soft, pampered flesh—good to look at, useless in practice.”