Chapter 3 — Learning to Behave
The birthday banquet finally came to an end. Lady Jiang personally saw each madam and young lady out before returning inside.
Before long, the inner residence fell quiet again.
Xue Ning secretly took the wine flask away with her and slipped off to a secluded corner, emptying every last drop of wine inside.
The small pavilion stood not far from her Qiyun Pavilion.
A narrow stream flowed down along the artificial rockery, winding its way into Mirror Lake—the largest lake in the marquis estate’s rear garden.
She couldn’t wait for Baochan to come help her deal with it, so she had no choice but to wash the flask herself in the river water, carefully scrubbing away every trace.
She had just finished and risen from beside the stone bridge when a sudden chill crept up the back of her neck.
Turning around, she found herself face-to-face with a sharply handsome man standing amidst the falling snow.
Her heart leapt straight into her throat.
“Brother?”
The man narrowed his eyes. “What are you doing?”
Clutching her chest, Xue Ning’s small face turned pale. “You scared me half to death…”
“Doing something guilty?”
Su Zhan stood beneath the snow in a black cloak embroidered with dark cloud patterns. His tone was icy, his brows severe. That already cold, expressionless face looked even more intimidating now.
After all, this was the man she had once shared a marriage bed with.
No matter how much she tried, Xue Ning couldn’t remain unmoved in front of him.
Her lips pressed together. Memories of the years she had spent married to him resurfaced—of the methods he used against her, of the fear he inspired. The old closeness was long gone. All that remained now was fear.
“N-No…”
Su Zhan arched a brow. His dark eyes were filled with suspicion and pressure.
“You like this wine flask that much?”
Xue Ning scrambled for an excuse. “I… I thought the design on it was beautiful. I wanted to wash it clean and keep it for my collection…”
Su Zhan let out a cold laugh.
“Xue Ning. You think you can lie to me?”
Her face went bloodless.
“I’m not lying…”
She had forgotten.
Though Su Zhan had only just come of age this year, he already enjoyed the emperor’s favor and had entered the Ministry of Justice as an assistant minister. Who could possibly lie under his gaze?
Back in her previous life, whenever she waited for him to return home from work, she could always smell blood on him.
And now, standing this close, it was the same.
Step by step, he closed in on her.
The cold scent of suhe incense clinging to him mixed with the lingering smell of blood from the prison cells of the Court of Judicial Review. It chilled her to the bone.
Unable to come up with another excuse, Xue Ning tightened her grip on the flask handle.
Su Zhan’s indifferent gaze swept over her reddened fingers, stiff with cold.
Then he reached out to take the flask from her hands.
The snowfall was heavy, the wind biting cold.
Already standing unsteadily near the riverbank, Xue Ning was startled badly by his sudden movement. Terrified of even the slightest physical contact with him, she instinctively leaned back—
—and slipped straight into the freezing river.
The icy water surged over her neck in an instant, cold enough to make her entire body tremble.
She couldn’t swim.
Her body sank rapidly beneath the water.
Half-conscious, she felt as though she’d returned to those years at the old Yongzhou residence.
Every winter there had been unbearable.
There was never enough charcoal for warmth. Sometimes they didn’t even have enough food to eat, so she and Baochan would disguise themselves and sneak out to catch fish in the river.
Once, she had accidentally fallen into the water and been rescued by a passing stranger. But the cold had seeped into her body afterward, leaving her coughing for an entire month. She had ruined her throat then, and her health had never truly recovered.
Back then, she wrote letter after letter to the Marquis household in the capital, begging Su Zhan to spare her even a little concern.
Even medicine for her illness would have been enough.
Even visiting her once at the old residence would have been enough.
But toward her, he had always been indifferent. Silent. Uncaring.
Eventually, she stopped hoping for anything from him at all.
Xue Ning refused to die like this.
She had only just been reborn. In this life, she hadn’t even begun to live for herself yet.
How could she die here?
She struggled frantically in the water for a while before she saw the man who had stood motionless on the shore finally jump in after her.
At that moment, she truly wanted to die.
If she had to be saved by Su Zhan, she might as well drown.
…
Xue Ning remained unconscious for nearly half an hour before finally waking groggily.
Above her hung the familiar embroidered bed curtains from her youth, patterned with sparrows perched on flowering branches.
Her chamber was delicate and luxurious, overflowing with fine silks and brocade—a world apart from the drafty, crumbling old residence.
The contrast felt unreal.
Lady Jiang sat beside the bed, pressing a hand to her feverish forehead. The room was crowded with maids and older servants fussing anxiously over her.
“How could you be so careless? Falling into the water in weather like this—what if something had happened?”
Xue Ning lifted her heavy eyelids and caught sight of the man seated behind Lady Jiang.
He had changed into a dark robe.
The moment she saw him, her heart shuddered.
In her previous life, she would have already been punished and thrown into the ancestral hall by now. There was no way she would have been resting comfortably in her own chamber.
Falling into the water had never been part of her plans.
And even more unexpected was the fact that Su Zhan—cold and heartless as he was—had actually rescued her.
From the riverbank back to Qiyun Pavilion was not a short walk. There would have been servants all along the way.
Meaning…
Everyone must have seen him carrying her in his arms.
She and Su Zhan weren’t truly blood-related siblings after all.
She had no idea what he’d told Lady Jiang.
Feeling suddenly uneasy, Xue Ning lowered her eyes. “Madam, I’m alright…”
Lady Jiang smiled warmly. “Child, if Zhan’er hadn’t happened to be nearby, who would’ve saved you?”
Xue Ning frowned and glanced toward Su Zhan.
Leisurely holding a cup of hot tea, he took a slow sip. His dark eyes remained unreadable, devoid of emotion.
Unable to discern anything from his face, she turned back toward Lady Jiang in confusion.
In her previous life, when she and Su Zhan became entangled, Lady Jiang had clearly been disappointed, unwilling to let her get close to her son.
But this time, despite Su Zhan carrying her back himself, Lady Jiang showed not the slightest trace of blame.
“Madam… I truly didn’t do it on purpose. I slipped by accident and fell in…”
Lady Jiang patted her hand reassuringly.
“I know it wasn’t your fault. Zhan’er already explained everything to me. You slipped accidentally, and he simply helped save you. That stone bridge is narrow to begin with, and winter snow makes it slippery. Your health is already weak—you should avoid going there from now on.”
So Su Zhan had explained it clearly.
Xue Ning quietly let out a breath of relief.
“Yes, Madam…”
Thankfully, Lady Jiang was reasonable. As long as Xue Ning didn’t deliberately try to seduce her son, she wouldn’t be disappointed in her.
A faint smile tugged at her lips as she turned politely toward Su Zhan.
“Thank you for saving me, Brother.”
Su Zhan’s tone remained flat. “It was nothing. Don’t dwell on it.”
Xue Ning understood that he wanted to avoid any improper association with her, so she obediently replied,
“Even so, I should still thank you. From now on, Ah Ning will be more careful and won’t cause Brother or Madam so much worry again.”
“That’s more like it.” Lady Jiang smiled. “You’re a young girl living in the Su household—just think of the marquis estate as your own home. Don’t be so restrained all the time. If you liked that wine flask so much, you could’ve simply asked Baochan to fetch one from the storeroom. Why risk your life over something so trivial? Later, I’ll have Nanny Zhou send over a few fine pieces for you to choose from.”
Xue Ning felt warmth flood her chest at Lady Jiang’s genuine affection.
“Madam…”
Throwing herself into Lady Jiang’s arms, she finally burst into sincere tears.
“Ah Ning understands now… I’ll behave from now on.”
Lady Jiang stroked her back with a helpless smile. “Why are you crying all of a sudden?”
Su Zhan drank another mouthful of hot tea, the warmth driving away the lingering chill in his body.
Then he lifted his gaze toward the delicate girl weeping quietly in his mother’s embrace.
She had only just come of age this year.
Beautiful beyond words, with luminous features and skin as soft and smooth as peeled jade.
Now flushed with fever, her cheeks glowed pink beneath the candlelight, making her resemble a vulnerable little kitten.
For some reason, remembering the way she had lain unconscious in his arms earlier—cold and limp—stirred an unfamiliar panic in his chest.
Fortunately, the river hadn’t been deep.
She had simply slipped in the water and lost her footing in her panic.
Otherwise, he might have suspected she had done it intentionally to attract his attention.
After all, she had always been reckless and clueless about boundaries.
Constantly bringing him pastries. Tea. Flowers.
Always trying to make him look at her a little longer.
And yet…
Everything about her behavior today had felt strange.
Especially by the river.
She would rather fall into freezing water than let him touch her.
Su Zhan narrowed his eyes slightly, a faint, indescribable unease surfacing in his heart.
Before this, Xue Ning had always been so eager around him.
