Rebirth: the Journey of a Wife Spoiling Her Husband

Chapter 5: Xie Chuchen's Forced Marriage

The young man at the doorway dressed in a crimson festive robe had a beautiful countenance with ruby lips and pearly white teeth. His inky black hair fluttered around him, toyed by the cool breeze. Although it was tied back with a red ribbon several strands still managed to float in front to caress his rosy cheeks, bringing attention to his sharp eyes and enticingly kissable lips.

Xiao Wan gazed at him in a daze. She tried to reconcile the image of the him in front of her with the image of the crazed emaciated him she remembered at the execution grounds. She was shocked at the difference a year made. The Xie Chuchen in front of her now would make anyone's heart speed up. The orange light of the setting sun reflected off his smooth hair giving it a lustrous sheen. The warm light gave his cheeks a becoming rosy glow and accentuated his smooth ivory and jade like complexion. He looked like a flower in full bloom, an incomparable beauty.

The Xie Chuchen in her memory was sickly, with dry short hair and a pale haggard appearance. His eyes were deep pools of melancholy and the air around him always seemed stagnant.

My goodness! What did I do to him to make such a fine man turn into such a ghost?! Xiao Wan silently cursed herself out in her heart: Weren't you the Young Miss who encouraged everyone to treat him poorly, to deliberately make things hard for him, to humiliate him at every turn, to annoy him so much he would be forced to leave? Who else do I have to blame but myself?

She glanced at the guards by the back door with savage eyes, scaring them shitless. In a panic they went to remove the fire pan.

Before the guards could do so, a flicker of red flashed across Xiao Wan's field of vision. Xie Chuchen had leapt like a butterfly over the pan despite the roaring fire. He was like a moth to a flame, knowing full well the danger but refusing to let it stop him. He wanted to start off on the right foot even if it meant putting himself in harm's way. The image of Xie Chuchen's fluttering sleeves passing over the fire would engrave itself in Xiao Wan's mind forever. It was a beautiful gesture and it showed his dedication.

Just then Xie Chuchen fell down and the hem of his robe smouldered catching on fire. Xiao Wan was shocked. She rushed forward and stamped desperately on the hem trying to put out the fire. After extinguishing it Xiao Wan gave Xie Chuchen a once over, checking to make sure he was OK.

She became angry when she saw the calmness that was reflected on his face. After taking a deep breath to unsuccessfully sooth her anger she yelled at him. "Why did you jump over the fire?! The guards were about to move it out of your way. Fortunately the flame that caught on your robe was tiny, had it been bigger..."

Xiao Wan fell back several steps at the realization of what could have happened. It had truly caused her heart to panic. The memories came back to her and she remembered.

It was the day before her marriage to Ji Shumo and she had been over the moon making final preparations. Xie Chuchen had shown up that day wearing the Xiao House's jade pendant. This was problematic for Xiao Wan as the Xiao House would not recognize Ji Shumo's status as her main husband without it.

The pendant was an heirloom piece passed on to the first born daughter of the main wife. The daughter would hold on to it until the day she found the man she wanted to take as her main husband, at which time she would have the jade piece delivered to him. He would then return the jade when he formally entered the House.

The heirloom served to represent a promise: that she would take him and him alone as her main husband. It was a custom a previous Head of House set up ages ago in order to guard against a future Xiao House female from being careless and breaking faith.

Xiao Wan had actually dropped the jade somewhere and lost it some time ago. She looked everywhere but couldn't find it. In the end she gave up and secretly had a duplicate of it made hoping that when the time came it would fool everyone.