She Holds the World After Being Reborn
Chapter 96: Brother-in-law, let’s not tell my sister, okay?

Chapter 96: Chapter 96: Brother-in-law, let’s not tell my sister, okay?

"Do you know how she slanders me when I’m not around?" Li Chengxiang pouted petulantly.

Wa Chengnan patted her back gently to soothe her, "My dear wife is wise and virtuous. Why lower yourself to her level? It’s simply not worth it."

As Li Chengxiang listened to Wa Chengnan belittle Li Chengyuan as nothing of importance, she finally felt at ease. She nestled into his embrace and acted coyly while he, seizing the moment, scooped her up in a lazy hold and walked towards the inner room.

...

Meanwhile, Li Chengyuan was growing impatient, not seeing Wa Chengnan return. She understood what his absence implied.

She looked at the maidservant trembling in the corner and flashed a smile, "Go, fetch a basin of cold water for me."

"Miss, what do you need cold water for?" With the weather so cold, the maidservant was truly baffled.

Li Chengyuan glanced at her, "Is that a question a slave like you should ask?"

The maidservant, having been previously beaten, was terrified of Li Chengyuan and hurriedly trotted out to fetch a basin of cold water. Soon after, she watched Li Chengyuan walk into the courtyard, pour the cold water over herself from head to toe, and then return to her room to change her clothes.

That very night, Li Chengyuan came down with a slight fever.

She wrapped herself in a blanket, refused medicine, and endured until dawn. Only then did she send the maidservant to her elder sister’s quarters for help, "Tell Li Chengxiang to fetch a doctor for me, and while at it, let the people of the Princess Residence know I’ve caught a chill."

She looked at the lampshade by her bedside, "There’s Silver Coin there; take it out and see to the arrangements."

The maidservant, despite holding the Silver Coin, dared not act. She simply didn’t understand why the Third Miss had become like this.

Seeing her immobility, Li Chengyuan’s face turned cold, "Are you asking to be beaten again?"

"I wouldn’t dare!" The maidservant quickly knelt on the ground.

"You should know that the only reason you were spared last time was because you said you could prove your loyalty. Now is the time to do so."

The maidservant bit her lip and rose to her feet, holding the Silver Coin as she walked out.

She had no choice. If she disobeyed, death was the only thing waiting for her.

Li Chengyuan in a frenzy was too terrifying.

She never wanted to experience that again in her life.

Li Chengyuan looked around the eerily quiet room, a profound and inscrutable smile on her face.

"Since I have been brought to this era, how could I content myself with being a useless woman in the inner court, only skilled in needlework and poetry?" Li Chengyuan pondered, more convinced of the steps she must take next.

The maidservant waited quite a while in Li Chengxiang’s quarters before she finally got up, intending to go inspect the shops.

When Li Chengxiang heard the news that Li Chengyuan had caught a chill, she finally exhaled in relief.

"Served her right!" she scoffed, yet she still ordered the maidservant to call a doctor for her.

She was quick to anger, but her fury faded just as fast; she never carried a grudge overnight.

If it hadn’t been for Li Chengyuan’s act of crawling into a man’s bed last time, Li Chengxiang wouldn’t have thought of having someone teach her a lesson.

Seeing the black and blue marks on the maidservant, Li Chengxiang felt a twinge of pity, "Did she hit you?"

The maidservant nodded then immediately shook her head.

Li Chengxiang sighed, "Would you like me to have you reassigned back here?"

"Thank you, Miss. I... I don’t need it," the maidservant said, thinking of the look in Li Chengyuan’s eyes when she stared at her; no matter where she went, so long as she was still within the Li Family, to betray Li Chengyuan meant death was the only outcome left.

Having been refused, Li Chengxiang nodded, "As you wish then. I’ll have them give you extra Monthly Silver this month."

Wa Chengnan had been quite vigorous the day before, so today Li Chengxiang was glowing with health and good spirits, to the extent that even the tedious task of inspecting the shops no longer irked her.

Li Chengxiang had just left when Wa Chengnan followed him out the door.

He returned quite early, and as soon as he did, he was stopped by a maid waiting by the side.

"What? My younger sister has caught a cold?" Wa Chengnan frowned and asked.

The maid nodded her head, her expression very anxious, "The doctor has already prescribed medicine, but the young miss refuses to take it."

"How can this be? If she has caught a cold, she must take her medicine, how else can she get better?" Wa Chengnan said as he lifted his foot to go over there, but halfway through, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, "I can’t go, if I do, my wife will get angry again."

The maid was so anxious she was about to cry, "Please, son-in-law, be kind. The elder miss is not here, you should go and persuade the third miss. As you know, she always listens to you the most."

That was true, Li Chengyuan had always listened to Wa Chengnan.

Thinking of this, Wa Chengnan sighed and continued towards that direction.

As soon as he entered, he could hear the sound of a woman’s sobs, plaintive enough to tug at a man’s heartstrings.

Wa Chengnan thought of how Li Chengyuan, at such a young age, had lost her mother and was neither cherished by her father nor valued by the Li family for earning money like Li Chengxiang, having to live all alone in such a yard, and not long ago, she was beaten because of him, which made him feel even softer in his heart.

The harsh words he wanted to say, when faced with Li Chengyuan’s teary eyes crying out "Brother-in-law" in a blur, completely dissolved on his tongue.

"The servants told me you refused to take the medicine," Wa Chengnan walked over, naturally picked up the medicine on the table, and scooped a spoonful with the spoon, blowing on it, "Without medicine, how can a cold get better?"

"But it is so bitter," Li Chengyuan said in a low, pitiful voice.

Wa Chengnan laughed, "Oh my, like a little puppy, such a big person, yet still afraid of bitterness like this."

Li Chengyuan pouted her lips, wrapped up in blankets, her whole person small and pale, looking quite pitiable.

Wa Chengnan’s heart softened yet a few degrees more.

When he chose to be with Li Chengxiang, it was mostly because she was capable and met his aesthetic for a wife, and back then, Li Chengyuan was too shy to do anything but hide afar and admire him from a distance, their interactions limited to discussing classics and histories through letters.

Never before had there been days like these few, where Li Chengyuan kept following him, admiring him with the worshipful eyes of an innocent young girl, drawing near him.

To be honest, his pride as a man was fully satisfied.

"Be good, take the medicine."

"I don’t want to!" Li Chengyuan directly threw a tantrum.

Wa Chengnan wasn’t impatient, instead, he found her quite adorable, "Take the medicine, and brother-in-law will agree to a request of yours."

"Really?" Li Chengyuan’s eyes widened with excitement.

Wa Chengnan nodded.

Li Chengyuan moved closer wrapped in her blanket, coming before Wa Chengnan, and seeing he didn’t move away, a hint of sarcasm flashed in her eyes, but it was quickly replaced by the ignorance of a delicate young lady.

"Can this request be a bit too much?"

Wa Chengnan, feeling the sweet breath of the woman before him, did not back away an inch, "How much is too much?"

"So much that sister would get angry, is that allowed?" Li Chengyuan moved in closer, her breath nearly spraying upon Wa Chengnan’s face.

In her heart, she thought, thankfully this brother-in-law was good-looking, otherwise, she would never be able to go through with it.

Wa Chengnan remained completely unmoved.

Seeing this, Li Chengyuan gave a pitiful look, "Brother-in-law, how about we don’t tell sister, alright?" As she spoke, she lowered her head like a little puppy and began to lick the medicine from the bowl.

Wa Chengnan, looking at the black hair hanging on his wrist, swallowed hard.