No Love Left for You - Chapter 2
That night.
Li Jinyu didn’t come home.
He had probably stayed with Liu Ruxue.
Liu Ruxue had been born into far better circumstances than mine.
Her father had been a censor in the capital. Accused of concealing books written by remnants of the former dynasty, he had brought disaster on his family: all the adult men were executed, and the women were sold.
Madam Zhang had bought Liu Ruxue for her exceptional beauty.
She told everyone that Liu Ruxue was of noble birth, learned, and accomplished in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
As for her looks, she was a fairy descended to earth, a beauty without equal.
On the day Liu Ruxue made her debut at fifteen, half the men in the capital crowded into the house.
Even members of the imperial family offered fortunes to buy her.
But Madam Zhang had learned her lesson. She refused to sell her outright.
That only made Liu Ruxue more famous.
She announced that she sold her art, not herself.
Every man who visited Hongfang House wanted her company for poetry, qin music, or painting.
A single appearance cost a hundred gold pieces.
…
In Hidden Beauty Courtyard.
I took a deep breath, rose, and opened the window.
Outside, the moon shone clear and bright. A light breeze brushed my face.
Somewhere beneath that same moon, Li Jinyu must have been saying to Liu Ruxue all the things he had once said to me.
My heart hurt so much.
It was like being gouged out, inch by inch, with a blunt knife.
I pressed a hand to my chest.
Suddenly, I remembered what Madam Zhang had said when I left Hongfang House. “Young Master Li may seem devoted now, but the truth is, you’re a novelty. It won’t last.”
“If you have any sense, get some money into your own hands. Leave yourself a way out.”
Li Jinyu had not been ungenerous.
Pearls from the north, Shu brocade from the south, gems from the western regions—his gifts came in an endless stream.
On our wedding night, he had even given me my redemption papers.
“Zhaozhao, you’re my wife,” he had said. “I give you your freedom.”
But after that night, he changed.
He still called me Zhaozhao.
He never called me his wife again.
Still, it didn’t matter.
I had come out ahead.
At least without Li Jinyu, I would be free—and wealthy.
The next morning, at first light.
I laid out paper and brush and wrote a farewell letter.
“The night is black as ink. Alone at the window, I remember our days together, beneath flowers and moonlight, our hearts in harmony.”
“I once thought that with your undivided love, we might grow old hand in hand through the long years.”
“But your heart has changed, as all things in this uncertain life must change. I feel unworthy of you; it is better that we part.”
“May you fare well after this farewell.”
Once the ink had dried, I put the letter in my dressing case. Then I gathered some jewelry to take to the pawnbroker.
As I stepped into the courtyard, I heard a maid’s clear voice outside. “Young Master, you’re back.”
I looked up.
The sunlight stretched Li Jinyu’s shadow long across the ground.
Beside him, Liu Ruxue clung like a creeping vine.
She wheedled sweetly, and Li Jinyu bent his head to answer.
The color drained from my face.
Hidden Beauty Courtyard.
He had bought this place especially for me.
Now he had brought another woman here.
Liu Ruxue seemed to notice me only then. She covered her mouth in feigned surprise. “Sister Zhaozhao, you live here?”
“I thought Brother Jinyu would have brought you into the duke’s household in a bridal sedan carried by eight bearers.”
“But I suppose that was never possible. How could a family with a century of distinction admit someone so lowborn and impure?”
Li Jinyu frowned slightly. “Ruxue, don’t talk nonsense.”
She covered her mouth and apologized at once. “I’m sorry, Sister Zhaozhao. I’ve always spoken my mind.”
“But I’m so glad to see you here. We can serve Brother Jinyu together from now on.”
I lowered my eyes.
Bitterness spread from the root of my tongue into my heart.
Li Jinyu patted Liu Ruxue’s shoulder. “Your room is in the west wing. Have a maid show it to you.”
Reluctant to leave him, she asked him to come and keep her company later.
He rubbed his brow and agreed.
After she left.
Li Jinyu reached to embrace me. I turned aside.
In the past, I had always let him do as he pleased.
Now I didn’t want to.
He despised my origins.
I despised his faithlessness.
Sensing my resistance, he laughed softly. “Jealous?”
I lowered my eyes and shook my head. “No.”
To him, I was only someone he had bought. What right did I have to be jealous?
Plainly displeased, Li Jinyu caught my wrist.
He pulled me into the bedroom.
I used to think he loved me, and I had swallowed every grievance to please him.
Now I wasn’t willing to put up with it anymore.
I turned my face away and said nothing.
He had never cared whether he humiliated me. Only when I cried would he offer compensation, promising me anything I wanted.
None of those gifts had ever erased the hurt.
When I remained still, his displeasure showed. “What’s wrong with you today?”
I was foolish again. I couldn’t hold my feelings in. “You said I would be the only woman kept in Hidden Beauty Courtyard.”
“Why have you brought someone else here?”
His grip on my wrist loosened a little.
He gave me no answer.
Losing interest, he rose and said coolly, “I did say you were my wife. But what family would accept an impure woman as its lawful wife?”
I was shaking all over.
He didn’t look at me again. He rose and swept out.
Toward the west wing.
