When she reached outside the room, Bai Yu Yan who came in a hurry, suddenly stopped outside the closed door. Just a moment ago, she was taking large strides to rush there but when she actually arrived, she felt all her energy drain away from her body, leaving her unable to take a single step forward. Taking a deep breath, she raised her hands to push the wooden door. A part of her was telling herself to open the door and see what is on the other side while the other part was pulling herself from doing it as if it didn't want to see what's inside.
Amidst the conflicting emotions, Bai Yu Yan pushed the door which felt much heavier than it should have. Before anything else, the first sight she saw was of the man who had been heavily weighing in her mind. Her eyes immediately met Lu Tong Xiao's who was lazily sitting on the chair with his legs crossed. When he saw her, she could see in his eyes were some hidden turbulence of emotions that she couldn't decipher, not that she had the mind to, given the moment.
With his usual handsome face, Lu Tong Xiao didn't have a single hair out of place. In fact, he even had a pot of freshly brewed tea on the table at the side and the teacup which he seemed to have just taken a sip from. She didn't understand why it relieved her to see him that way but she let out the breath she didn't know she was holding.
Unbeknownst to her, it wasn't just her who silently breathed a sigh of relief. Under the clothes of the man who seemed to be sitting with calmness, his muscles invisibly relaxed when he saw her enter.
Only after making sure that he was fine did she realize there was another person in the room beside them which wasn't out of her expectation. Bai Yu Yan lowered her eyes to look at Bai Chun Hua who was sitting on the floor with her upper body propped up on one of her hands. She was wearing a pastel pink low cut hanfu which was loose around the collar that gave easy access to the view of her full bosom. Moreover, it was a semi-transparent one, leaving very little to the imagination. Her perfectly brushed makeup was ruined by the stream of tears that had still not dried.
Bai Chun Hua didn't react when Bai Yu Yan came inside the room but just sat there in a daze. Bai Yu Yan slowly walked towards the girl to close the gap between them. Then turning the girl's face towards herself, she raised her hand and swung her hands in full force towards the girl's face.
Seeing Bai Yu Yan's palm inch her face, Chun Hua squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the wind brush the side of her cheek. She was getting ready to brace the stinging pain but even after a moment had passed, the expected impact did not occur. Confused, she opened her eyes and looked at Bai Yu Yan who was standing before her, looking down at her.
Meanwhile, Master and Madame Bai arrived at the door looking all anxious. They were informed by one of the servants stationed outside the room that Bai Yu Yan had entered the room where there were Lu Tong Xiao and Bai Chun Hua. They had come to catch the two in the middle of the act. Just the thought of it made Madame Bai thrilled with excitement she could barely contain.
However, as soon as they entered the room, they saw the flower vase on the table was knocked down and Bai Chun Hua sitting on the ground beside the table. Her perfect hair and makeup was a mess with the trail marks of tears running down her face.
"W_What's happening here? Why is our Chun Hua on the floor?" said Madame Bai while she tried to rush to her daughter when she was suddenly stopped by Master Bai who grabbed her arm.
She looked at her husband who was stopping her from helping Chun Hua in doubt. "Husband, what are you doing? Don't you see what Bai Yu Yan is doing with our daughter?" She furiously pointed at Bai Yu Yan who had her hand raised as if she was about to slap Chun Hua who also had some bruise mark on her forehead. "It's His Excellency who likes our daughter. Who is she to stop them? How dare she beat up my daughter!" Madame Bai gritted her teeth in anger. For noblemen, it was normal for them to take concubines or bed warming servants as long as they had resources to take care of them all. Their legal wife could not stop them from doing so. What more, a nobility of the topmost hierarchy like Lu Tong Xiao could take as many concubines as they wanted and no one could say anything about it as it was perfectly normal. So when Madame Bai saw the bruise on Chun Hua's forehead, she automatically thought she was beaten by Bai Yu Yan when she caught them in bed together.
The anxious Master Bai who had assessed the situation when he entered the room, wanted to slap his wife for her stupidity. He jerked her arm and pointed inside the room.
Being pulled so hard, Madame Bai winced in pain and looked at the neatly dressed Lu Tong Xiao which made her eyes widen in shock. She didn't understand why he was sitting there fully clothed when he should be in bed. Contrary to what she had in mind about his appearance, the man didn't even have a wrinkle on his clothes.
Madame Bai silently gulped as it finally dawned on her what was going on. She looked at the perfectly made bed in the inner side of the room like it hadn't been used by anyone and clutched her husband's robe in fear. It wasn't that difficult to see that their plan had failed.
"Do you know why I didn't slap you?" Bai Yu Yan who was standing lowered her body a little so that her head was right above Chun Hua's who was looking at her with a mix of hatred and confusion. Hatred for Bai Yu Yan was the reason why Chun Hua was in this situation and confusion for why Bai Yu Yan's hand didn't drop to her cheek when it had the power to do so.
Bai Yu Yan looked at the surge of hate in Chun Hua's eyes and said, "Because even if I slapped you, the pain in your flesh would compare to nothing as to what you are feeling here." Bai Yu Yan's finger pointed at Chun Hua's chest, right where her heart was. "See what you have done to yourself. Is there any lower you can get?"
Chun Hua looked at Bai Yu Yan's eyes, which unlike hers, was clear and without any haze covering it and heard her say, "I don't hate you, Bai Chun Hua. I pity you."