Ten Months On

Chapter 1: One more month

One more month.

One month left till Su Chen and Ninth Prince, Rui Wang's contract ends. One more month till their marriage ends. She will no longer be Rui Wang Fei and he... he will welcome a new official wife.

She had tried her best to make her love him in the last 9 months. She had done her best to make connections for him, run his house,  please his parents, serve his concubines... But none of it was enough for him.

Rui Wang (whose real name was Sun Rui) was betrothed to Su Chen before she was even born. Her mother was the Empress' playmate and good friend. Despite only marrying a third rank official, the Empress had begged the Emperor to make Lady Sun's unborn child, her firstborn's fiancee. Unable to bear the tears of his young Empress, the Emperor had acquiesced to her desperate pleas to tie the Sun family to the imperial family.

It was unfortunate that Lady Sun passed away after giving birth to Su Chen and the young baby was titled second rank princess in honour of her mother. Everyone in the capital knew from then on that the Eldest Miss from Sun family was the two year old Ninth Prince's Future Princess Consort.

17 years later, no one expected that the young Princess Consort would be divorced only 10 months after their marriage.

***
"Rui Wang..." a gentle voice called out.

Sun Rui frowned in displeasure at the voice.

"What does my Wang Fei want from me?"

Su Chen grimaced at how he spat out such cordial words with so much displeasure at her voice. However, none of her emotions showed on her expressionless face.

Su Chen stared at her handsome husband who sat elegantly at the table sipping tea. Even just sitting there, he looked as if he belonged in a painting.

"This wife would like to ask if Rui Wang will be dining at Orchid Courtyard today?" Su Chen asked gently.

Sun Rui sneered at her words.

"Wang Fei is really trying hard!" He slammed his palm onto the table. The sound of the table breaking shocked Su Chen.

The servants quickly removed the table and a new tea table with a warm pot of tea appeared as if nothing had happened.

"Wang Fei knows that there is one more month till our contract ends. Is Wang Fei trying to break her promise? If she is, let me warn you that my means to end this marriage would not be as simple as just a divorce."

Su Chen trembled slightly as she bit her lips. Her tears threatened to fall as she gripped her handkerchief tightly. However, she kept grip on her emotions as she forced a gentle smile onto her face.

"Rui Wang. You are mistaken. Chen Qie has no reason to break the contract we set 9 months ago. It is just that Imperial Mother has asked Steward Mo if you have been dining at my courtyard recently. I had thought that you would not want Imperial Mother to notice our... relationship and to ruin our plans."

A sharp laugh cut through the awkward air.

"Now I know that my Wang Fei is joking," Sun Rui grinned at Su Chen but his eyes held no humour.

"What does it matter to this Prince if Mother knows? A Wang Fei that can't bear a child, who would stop me from divorcing such a Wang Fei?" Sun Rui smiled sadistically as he sipped from his cup.

Su Chen looked down. How could she be pregnant with just one night with him? Even then, he was so drunk that she wasn't even sure they even completed the act. But the blood on the bed seemed to indicate otherwise. At the sight of the bloody bedsheets, Rui Wang had grabbed her by the neck. His cold eyes as he stared at her was unblinking. She would have gone to the underworld that morning if a maid had not knocked upon the door to assist them in their morning ablutions.