No Love Left for You - Chapter 1

The young gentlemen’s teasing voices drifted out of the private room.

“Jinyu, Lin Zhaozhao came from Hongfang House. Doesn’t that bother you?”

Li Jinyu tipped back his cup. “I only keep her around to amuse myself.”

I went rigid.

Not long before, Li Jinyu had taken me to worship at Hanshan Temple.

On the way back, a downpour had caught us.

In the carriage, I had asked him, “Jinyu, do you love me?”

He hadn’t answered directly. He had only said he couldn’t bear to part with me.

At the time, I thought that probably meant he loved me.

Yet here he was at Hongfang House, making entertainment of me and letting them say whatever they pleased.

Someone else asked, “How long do you plan to keep her?”

A faint smile touched Li Jinyu’s lips. “Until I tire of her. Then we’ll see.”

“Sometimes I look at her and want to strangle her.”

The young men laughed. “A beauty like that? Could you really bring yourself to do it?”

He gave no answer.

My face was white as paper.

Madam Zhang of Hongfang House had raised me with great care from childhood.

The year I came of age at fifteen, she brought me out before the guests, hoping to sell me for a high price.

The capital’s powerful men competed to bid for me.

In the end, my buyer was Li Jinyu, the duke’s great-great-grandson.

He paid Madam Zhang a fortune to buy my freedom.

The night he bought me, Li Jinyu told me he had fallen in love at first sight.

He also said he wanted to treat me with all the respect due a wife.

The next day, he invited the capital’s most celebrated fortune-teller to choose an auspicious date for our wedding.

The fortune-teller chose a day one month away.

Throughout that month, Li Jinyu was extraordinarily gentle with me.

…

A month later, in Hidden Beauty Courtyard.

The appointed hour had arrived. Red candles burned brightly.

I thought I had finally found a home.

But that very night, Li Jinyu’s expression suddenly changed.

On the strength of a sign that proved nothing, he decided I had deceived him.

“Madam Zhang said you’d never taken a client. So that was a lie.”

My heart sank.

Madam Zhang had warned me that some men believed only what they wanted to believe. She had even taught me how to fabricate the so-called proof they demanded, so I wouldn’t be falsely accused.

But I had thought Li Jinyu and I loved each other. I had made no such preparations.

Tears filled my eyes as I explained, again and again.

Li Jinyu wouldn’t believe me. He was convinced that no one from Hongfang House could be trusted.

That night, his tenderness turned to cruelty.

For a long time afterward, I couldn’t bear to think about it.

I had thought that if I could only explain, he would believe me.

He still didn’t.

Back in the private room.

A rough voice spoke up. “Jinyu, if you despise Lin Zhaozhao so much, why not give her to me?”

Someone immediately objected. “She still belongs to Jinyu. How can you even ask?”

A woman’s coy voice joined in. “Sister Zhaozhao used to be the house’s star attraction. She’s met plenty of clients.”

Li Jinyu frowned slightly.

Liu Ruxue continued in her soft, coaxing voice. “Young Master Li, I’m not like Sister Zhaozhao.”

The whole table burst out laughing.

“Then would you be willing to go with Jinyu?”

Liu Ruxue affected a bashful air. “I’m fond of Young Master Li. Of course I would.”

The rough voice spoke again. “Jinyu, what about my offer?”

Li Jinyu was silent for a moment.

Then I heard him give the softest laugh. “Of course.”

“When I don’t want her anymore, I’ll give her to you.”

It felt as though a wad of waterlogged cotton had lodged in my chest.

…

Only last night, after drinking, Li Jinyu had told me he loved me.

He had said the past no longer mattered.

The next day, he had agreed to give me to his friend.

So all those promises had been nothing more than passing whims.

The more I thought about it, the tighter my chest became. I turned and fled.