Shen Yi had expected this answer from his grandmother already, but it still surprised him that his uncle had really planned such a thing. For him to decide to give Sun Mingai the ring that was only for the wife of the firstborn son of the Shen, it was still a shocking revelation.
Neither he nor Lu Xinyi knew what they were supposed to feel over the matter. The woman had caused them a lot of trouble, especially Lu Xinyi. Eyeing his wife at the corner of his eyes, Shen Yi wondered what was running on her mind.
“So the ring in Xinxin’s possession…” he trailed off.
“…Is still hers. I thought that your Uncle Jin might have lost this ring so I commissioned someone to replace it with the same design. This ring is pa.s.sed through generations; it was really a pity that I had to replace it with a new one,” Matriarch Shen explained.
Because it was too late for them to drive their children back to Imperial Residences, Shen Yi decided to stay the night with his wife. After their late dinner served by the servants after their talk with Matriarch Shen, Shen Yi led Lu Xinyi to his bedroom.
Like the one he had in his previous house which was next to Shen Xue’s, Shen Yi’s bedroom was s.p.a.cious. It was decorated simply but exquisitely with the color of cool tones.
This wasn’t the first time Lu Xinyi would be sleeping here so she didn’t have to worry about a change of clothes. She grabbed her pajamas from the closet and headed to the bathroom for a shower.
Meanwhile, Shen Yi sat on the couch, leaned his back, and took a deep breath. He was still in disbelief that his Uncle would do such a thing. A few minutes later when Lu Xinyi stepped out of the bathroom, this was the scene that greeted her.
Shen Yi shot his eyes open when he heard her footsteps.
Lu Xinyi sat on the foot of the bed and started drying her long hair with a towel, eyeing him. She could tell that he was somehow bothered with the news but chose not to comment on it. She continued to dry her hair but groaned when some of her tresses slipped out.
“Let me help you with that.” Shen Yi moved to sit on her side and took the towel in her hands.
She looked up unto him and watched as he skillfully dried her hair and lightly ma.s.saged her scalp in the process. As his fingers were tangled in her long hair, she was certain that he was pleased with how fast her hair grew back on its previous length.
“What do you plan to do now?” She asked.
“It’s none of my concern. The ring belongs to you now.” Shen Yi responded flatly. There was no way in h.e.l.l he’d acknowledge Sun Mingai as its owner.
Lu Xinyi wanted to argue that the ring shouldn’t be hers, but seeing the slight frown on his brows, she conceded. She decided to keep the ring for the meantime.
After Shen Yi helped her with her hair, he went to take a shower while she got on the bed and settled in the center. Staring at the blank ceiling, she wondered what else could be changed upon discovering the real intent of Shen Yi’s uncle in marrying Sun Mingai.
She was starting to feel sympathetic towards the woman. True, it wasn’t Sun Mingai’s fault to be born from Sun Liuxian’s mistress, but what she had become was her own doing. From the moment she lost her lover, everything collapsed for her.
Lu Xinyi didn’t think she’d be able to endure to live long if she lost the other half of her heart the way Sun Mingai lost hers. It must be a living h.e.l.l to drown every day in misery.
—-
Three sets of eyes watched as Shen Yi sat on the swing he made himself at the tallest tree in their garden. He kept an arm around Qing Qing as she sat on his lap. The girl was still too young to sit and swing by herself, but she loved playing in the swing with her daddy.
She giggled as the light breeze ran on her hair.
Shen Yi looked down at his little girl with a small smile on his lips.
“Higher, Qing Qing?” he asked. Lu Xinyi didn’t like it when he went too high while Qing Qing was with him, but luckily, his wife was busy arranging the celebration for the twins’ birthday the next day.
“Higher, Daddy!” The girl demanded with glee, her round brown eyes sparkling with excitement as she looked up to her father.
“Daddy?”
He looked at her again, the glint on her brown eyes reminding him of his wife’s mischievousness. Shen Yi really hoped that she wouldn’t cause enough mischief when she grew up.
The idea of Qing Qing turning into a great beauty was good enough to scrunch his nose. No boys would be good enough for his little princess.
“Yes?”
“I luv you.”
Shen Yi’s eyes widened a little. He stopped the swing as she tried to adjust herself on his lap to touch his face. Sudden warmth filled his chest as he held his daughter. It wasn’t the kind of warmth that his wife had given him, but it was enough to make his eyes sting.
“Really?” He asked.
The girl nodded but cupped her chin instinctively like her mother. Although her looks very much came from the Shens, her mannerisms were more like her mother’s.
“Yeah, but Qing loves Mommy more,” came Qing Qing’s muddled response, and with a low voice, she whispered, “Qing’s heart is still small.” She lifted her fist to show it to her father. “Daddy, would it explode from too much love?” She blinked.
Shen Yi’s sudden burst of laughter caught the guards on the garden off-guard. What the h.e.l.l? Were they hearing things? Was the demon king they’d been serving for a long time just laughed?
Several meters away from them, the Fu Siblings and Zhang Qing watched the father and daughter. They had never seen this kind of gentleness from Shen Yi except when he was with his wife and children. Truly a wonder how love could change a person for better or for worse.
“Feng Zexian is back in the capital. Guess where he’s staying right now,” Fu Shuren asked the other bodyguards.
Zhang Qing slightly tilted her head towards him, her eyes narrowing. It seemed that Li Yuren had forced the man to retreat back to the capital. She could still remember the day their miss was taken by Feng Qianyu and how she ended up injured with Jiao Jiao.
If Shen Yi hadn’t killed that b.i.t.c.h, Zhang Qing would hunt that woman down herself.
“Where is he?” Fu Rui demanded. They should deal with this vermin once and for all.
Zhang Qing agreed with him. Now that Shen Lingqing was here, it would be better if they could remove the threat in her life as well as Lu Xinyi’s. This was long overdue if one would ask her.
“Apparently, he’s staying at the Sun Estate. It is certain that he wouldn’t be able to run away anymore. Li Yuren had destroyed all his sources for the past months; going after Sun Mingai was his last desperate attempt,” Fu Shuren explained.
Fu Rui snorted at that. “He’s really a coward for hiding behind a woman for protection. Does he really think Sun Mingai would be able to help him?”