Chapter 4: You Are My Wife

The room went dead silent.

Lin Shen nearly choked on his own spit.

How was Third Miss Yun not playing by the script? She’d called out Aunt Wu and Xiaomei, stood her ground so firmly—he really thought she was going to keep pushing… and then this.

Lin Shen snuck a glance at Yun Manxia, thoroughly shocked.

Their Ninth Master had that cold, terrifying aura. She’d just marched right up and coquettishly called him "husband"—only Third Miss Yun had ever had the guts to do that! The previous wives could barely even stutter when they spoke to him…

Yun Manxia thought to herself: I’ve got a big shot to cling to. Why waste breath arguing with Aunt Wu?

She blinked up at him, her features soft and sweet.

"Hubby?"

Bai Hedu’s gaze settled on her. His handsome jaw tightened hard, his expression cold and unreadable.

When he didn’t answer for so long, Yun Manxia’s nerves got the better of her. She felt a quiet flicker of disappointment—right, this wasn’t her past life after all…

Xiaomei the maid couldn’t help but sneak a mocking smirk.

Ninth Master had let her get away with it once when he was in a good mood. Did she really think she was special? With Ninth Master’s temper—

"She can come in."

Xiaomei: …

Yun Manxia’s face lit up instantly. She curved her eyes and couldn’t help but ask, "Can I come in any time after this?"

"You’re my wife. You can come in any time."

All the maids: …

Lin Shen: …

So this is what double standards look like, huh? None of the previous wives ever got a privilege like this…

"Thank you, hubby!"

Even though she’d been able to walk in and out of his bedroom whenever she wanted in her past life, getting this promise out loud still made her giddy. She leaned in and hugged his arm quickly.

The man’s whole body went rigid instantly. Yun Manxia thought he wasn’t used to it, flushed pink, and pulled away quickly.

"I’m going back upstairs to change," she said softly.

Bai Hedu glanced at the bathrobe she was wearing, and spoke in a calm, even tone to Aunt Wu: "You didn’t have Miss’s clothes ready?"

He’d already shown favor to Yun Manxia twice now. Aunt Wu didn’t dare push back. "They’re ready!"

He nodded, then gave another order: "Clean out the guest bedroom next to my suite for the Madame."

He didn’t even bother asking what room Aunt Wu had assigned her before. He just gave Yun Manxia the room he wanted.

Aunt Wu’s face shifted. That room was already promised to her daughter—but she swallowed the words back down. "…Yes, sir."

Yun Manxia was even happier. "Hubby, I’m heading up!"

Her bright footsteps tapped tap-tap-tap up the stairs and vanished.

Bai Hedu looked away, and unconsciously touched the arm she’d just hugged. The soft, warm sensation still seemed to linger there…

"Don’t let something like 'pointing to the wrong room' happen again," he said cooly.

Xiaomei’s face went bone-white. "Yes, Ninth Master…"

Yun Manxia got upstairs, and only then remembered she hadn’t explained anything. But when she thought it over—he hadn’t seemed angry, right? He probably wouldn’t overthink what Yun Yiyi had said. She let out a quiet breath of relief.

With Bai Hedu’s order, Xiaomei quickly brought up several sets of new clothes. "The guest bedroom won’t be ready for a little while longer. Sorry to make you wait, Madame."

Yun Manxia was in a good mood. She just smiled at Xiaomei. "It’s fine. I’m not in a hurry."

Xiaomei held back her irritation and hurried out.

"Did Madame give you a hard time?"

"First day here and she’s already this arrogant, really thinks she’s something special…" Several maids huddled together, voices sharp with resentment, then disdain.

"Ninth Master already said the engagement didn’t need to go through, and she still came crawling here. Who doesn’t know what her family’s after?"

"Right! I heard her family contacted Ninth Master asking for favors the second she got here. Tsk tsk…"

A soft, clear voice cut in suddenly:

"Looks like you all know quite a lot, don’t you?"

The maids jumped out of their skins. They spun around and saw Yun Manxia standing in the hallway corner—how long had she been there? Every single one of them went pale.

"Madame…" They all bowed quickly, cold sweat running down their backs.

Yun Manxia’s expression was calm. She said to Xiaomei: "You forgot to bring me my shoes."

Xiaomei: "I’m sorry, Madame! It was my mistake. I’ll go get them right now…"

"We’re going back to work too." The maids were all guilty. They scattered in a second.

Yun Manxia’s eyes darkened.

Asking for favors? Yeah, her piece-of-trash father who sold his daughter for power would absolutely do that. She’d have to remind Bai Hedu later. Even if someone was going to sell something, even if there were benefits to hand out—they should go to her, what did Yun Hong have to do with it?

She turned back to her room. A few minutes later, Xiaomei brought the shoes. Yun Manxia glanced over them casually. "Leave them here. You can go."

Xiaomei turned to leave, and cast a dark, lingering glance at the guest bedroom door. She thought it over, pulled out her phone, and sent a message:

[Xiaoya, when are you coming back?]

Wu Xiaoya was Aunt Wu’s daughter.

Yun Manxia hadn’t been in her room long before a maid came to call her down for dinner. It was her first time eating at the same table as Bai Hedu since she’d been reborn—she was excited, and hurried down… only to find the dining table completely empty.

"…Where’s Ninth Master?"

"He went out."

"Oh." Yun Manxia felt a flicker of disappointment. Bai Hedu couldn’t walk easily right now, and he still went out—whatever he was doing must be important. She knew boundaries and didn’t ask any more questions.

She ate alone, then headed back upstairs. She’d just been reborn, and there were still a lot of memories she needed to sort through and organize.

Around nine o’clock in the evening, Bai Hedu came back. She hadn’t left her room yet when she heard a loud crash from next door, followed by Bai Hedu’s furious roar.

"GET OUT!"

Yun Manxia’s heart clenched. She wrenched her door open immediately.

She had a lot of things to fix this second time around, and the most important one of all was Bai Hedu’s illness.

The despair of being trapped by fate, waiting step by step for death—it could drive anyone crazy. Bai Hedu hid it well on the surface, never let anyone see how bad it was… but he was already on the edge.

Yun Manxia stepped out and ran straight for his room.

If there was one thing she’d gained from the years she’d been used by Bai Chengxuan in her past life, it was this—she was actually a pretty skilled doctor.