The lights in the room went out, and darkness fell in front of them. Wei Shao’s hand reached over and wrapped her around him. His strong palm tightly squeezed her waist. Fear of waking up Fei Fei, under silent suppression, they made love.

When they separated, Xiao Qiao was soaked, and Wei Shao lay on his back beside her, panting heavily. The room was dim, but Xiao Qiao could still see the outline of his chest rising and falling violently.

Later, they went to the bathing room to cleanse themselves and lie down again. Wei Shao seemed to have fallen asleep quickly and not moved again.

Xiao Qiao, however, could not sleep. She opened her eyes and listened to the sound of the man beside her and Fei Fei’s breathing on the crib not far away, unable to sleep.

After that night, the relationship between Xiao Qiao and Wei Shao has been like this one tonight.

Can’t say that it is not good, but even if no one else is around, just the two of them, even if they do things like that, they can no longer be as intimate as they were in the past.

In the past few days, the topic they talked about most was Fei Fei. Wei Shao seemed to be avoiding other matters and had no desire to chat with her.

Tomorrow morning, he will be leaving again. This time, how long it takes for him to return?

In the three years since she married him, she has gone from being a 14-year-old girl to Fei Fei’s mother, but they have separated numerous times. Perhaps these circumstances will continue.

……

Late at night, Xiao Qiao was finally tired and was in a daze. When she was about to fall asleep, suddenly someone tapped the door.

The knock was very soft for fear of waking Fei Fei. But Xiao Qiao woke up immediately and raised her shoulders.Wei Shao seemed to wake up first, went down, and opened the door.

The person who tapped the door was the old servant who was on duty this night. She was slightly frightened and said softly: “Master, Old Huang from Madam’s side came, saying that after Madam returned from her birthday banquet, she had disappeared. I was afraid of disturbing Old Madam, so I had no choice but to come looking for you.”

Wei Shao was stunned and immediately went back to the house. Xiao Qiao also heard it, wore her clothes, and lit the lamp.

Wei Shao quickly wore his clothes and hurriedly left for the east house. The people in that courtyard were all awake, and when they saw Wei Shao coming, they looked scared.

Wei Shao entered Mrs. Zhu’s room and took a look. The quilt unfolded. It seemed the person had gone to bed but got up and left in the middle.

Old Huang knelt: “After the birthday banquet, Madam looked drunk, so I served her to sleep. Madam had the habit of waking up in the middle of the night to drink warm water, so I came in to refill the water, but Madam had disappeared. It would be inappropriate to alert Old Madam, so I report to Master. It’s all this servant’s negligence. Please forgive me ……”

Wei Shao raised questions about a few places, Old Huang shook her head and said she had already gone looking at those places.

Wei Shao frowned slightly, out of focus for a moment, remembering something, turned around, and quickly left.

……

Wei Shao pushed open the half-open red lacquer door. The family temple has incense and candles offered day and night. Usually, there are only two candles on the left and right of the table.

In the middle of the night, the candle flame wavered in the night breeze, which did not dispel the shadows, but added a bit of darkness.

When Wei Shao stepped inside, he saw his mother kneeling behind the offering table, mourning and chanting.“…… husband, after you left, this Wei family has changed …… Why did your mother choose the daughter of the Qiao family who had harmed you and Da Lang? That Qiao’s daughter is a curse! One day, even my son will ……”

She whimpered intermittently, her voice echoed in the empty dark temple, creepy. Suddenly, as if she sensed something, she turned around and saw Wei Shao standing outside the threshold. Shocked, her face showed fear, and waving her hand in panic: “Shao’er, don’t take it to heart! I’m drunk. I’m talking nonsense. Please, don’t blame me. I have long stopped hating Qiao’s daughter ……”

Wei Shao looked at his scared mother, and unspeakable emotions welled in his heart. He stepped inside and said, “Mother, remember to tell the servants before coming out. It is late at night. Let me send you back.”

……

In the second half of the night, Fei Fei woke up once, and after she fell back asleep, Wei Shao still did not return.

Xiao Qiao sent Old Lin to the east house to ask, and she said that the Master had found Madam in the family temple. Madam seemed to be drunk, and Master accompanied her.

Xiao Qiao no longer waited for him and sent the others to their respective rooms to sleep. After gazing at her daughter’s face for a while, she leaned down to kiss her forehead, turned out the light, and went to bed.

She felt tired, closed her eyes, and slowly fell asleep. Her sleep was restless, and she kept dreaming.

At first, the dream was vague, but then the scene became clear. A young man in a dragon robe with a distorted face, his gaze wild and desperate, holding a long sword dripping with blood, was approaching her step by step.

She cowered on the ground in fear, trying to move backward, but could not retreat.

Suddenly, the eerie gaze of that young Consort Liu and Zhang Pu’s severed head seemed to overlap.

Blood spurted toward her, instantly swallowing her whole. She could barely breathe and kept trembling and crying, constantly telling herself that it was just a nightmare and to wake up quickly. But no matter how hard she struggled, she could not wake up. The tip of the sword had already pierced her chest.

Once again, she felt the terrible experience of having her warm heart pierced by a cold blade. She had experienced it countless times before in her dreams and never wanted to have it again.

“Don’t–”

As she hissed and shouted, tears streaming down her face, an anxious voice suddenly came to her ears, “Man Man! Man Man!”

A pair of solid arms held her tightly, and the nightmare instantly dissipated.