Lotus in a Bottle - Chapter 3

Chapter 4

When I woke the next morning, I was alone in bed.

I instinctively sniffed the air. There didn’t seem to be any strange smells, and nothing felt wrong with my body.

This was nothing like what the wedding matron’s illustrated booklet had described.

Hmm… So the heartthrob really was the one on the bottom.

I sank into deep thought.

I was wondering whether I could use this as an excuse to ask for a divorce when Tan Lian pushed open the door.

Morning light spilled over him, yet Tan Lian’s beauty outshone even the rising sun. I was so dazzled that I lost myself for a moment.

And just like that, I missed the perfect opportunity to bring up divorce.

Seeing me staring blankly, Tan Lian smiled. “Good, you’re awake, my lady. It’s time for us to be on our way.”

Me: ?

I shuddered. “On whose way? Are you sending me on my way?!”

All I’d done was take a few liberties with him. Surely that wasn’t a capital offense?

It wasn’t until I had climbed into the carriage in abject terror that Tan Lian leisurely explained what was going on.

On the second day after a wedding, a new bride was normally expected to serve tea to her parents-in-law. But Tan Lian’s mother had passed away long ago, and the Tan Family observed rather unusual customs.

Thus, upon marrying into the family, a new bride had to visit Fengguo Temple and personally light an offering lamp for Madam Tan.

Only after offering that lamp could she be considered truly accepted by the Tan Family.

And in the plot I’d seen in my dream, no second person had received this “honor,” even by the time the story was nearing its conclusion.

In other words…

“A living target… The most hateable living target imaginable…” I moaned, utterly despondent.

I hadn’t spoken loudly, so Tan Lian probably hadn’t heard me clearly. He raised his eyes toward me.

“Hm? What did you say, my lady?”

Struggling, I turned my head away from his devastatingly beautiful face and pleaded in a strained voice, “Could you stop calling me ‘my lady’…?”

As if I didn’t already have enough people hating me.

Tan Lian was taken aback by the baffling request. Then he gave me a look that said, My wife is actually this shy, and indulgently changed his form of address.

“Very well. Then I shall call you by your given name… Baoping?”

My ears grew hot, and I silently cursed him.

Someone really ought to bring a certain prince here and show him who the real seducer was.

Chapter 5

When we arrived at Fengguo Temple, several excited young monks surrounded Tan Lian and led him away to prepare everything needed for the lamp offering.

I, the actual star of the ceremony, was shoved to the sidelines. Seeing that no one was paying me any attention, I slipped into the main hall to pray.

I’d heard Fengguo Temple was remarkably effective at granting prayers.

I was still debating whether to donate some incense money when a deliberately loud “whispered” conversation drifted over from behind me.

“So she’s Young Master Tan’s wife?”

“She seems thoroughly ordinary. No poise whatsoever. Her face is passable, I suppose, but who knows how many layers of powder she’s wearing?”

“She’s only a merchant’s daughter. What kind of poise did you expect?”

Wonderful. They were gossiping about me right to my face.

They’d taken me for an easy target, and to be fair, they had chosen correctly.

I stood up at once and turned to look for Tan Lian, only for some young noblewoman to slam into me from behind.

Was this some kind of staged accident?

Her friends immediately swarmed around us. Some supported her while the others blocked my way.

“You blind fool! Do you have any idea who you just ran into? Luoyue is the young lady of the Minister’s Residence. You’d better hope the Minister doesn’t punish you for this!”

Something clicked in my mind, and I immediately began recalling the plot.

The Minister… Right. All six ministers were white-bearded old men. None of them were potential rabid supporting male leads.

Safe.

My relief must have been a little too obvious, because the young ladies instantly misunderstood.

“You’re nothing but a merchant’s daughter, yet you dare look down on the Minister’s Residence?”

“How ignorant…”

I stared at these young ladies, who only ran their mouths without raising a hand, and felt as though hundreds of sparrows were chirping directly into my ears.

They were so noisy, but there was nothing I could do. Their fathers were powerful officials, after all.

A few insults wouldn’t hurt me anyway. I might as well wait for Tan Lian to come and retrieve me.

Just as I was about to give up and let them say whatever they wanted, Zhou Luoyue, standing at the center of the crowd, looked down her nose at me.

“The daughter of The Xie Family of West City? How can someone as ordinary as you have the nerve to marry Brother Tan? The two of you don’t even belong in the same world.”

As expected of a noble young lady. Even her insults were delivered in a soft, gentle voice, yet hers cut the deepest.

The vague ache in my chest that had lingered ever since that dream was viciously prodded once again. I stared hard at Zhou Luoyue and couldn’t stop myself from speaking my mind.

“Miss Zhou, instead of coming after me in private now, why didn’t you work harder to pursue Tan Lian in the first place? Did you not like him? Now look what happened. Everyone is miserable. Are you satisfied?”

Only crying over spilled milk after the fact.

If any one of them had taken the initiative and proposed marriage back then, Tan Lian had been so desperate for a wife that I would never have had to become this living target!

Zhou Luoyue took my words entirely as gloating, and her lips trembled with rage.

“Y-You…”

She raised her hand, clearly intending to slap me.

I was about to dodge backward when her expression suddenly changed. The slap never fell. Instead, her tears did.

“Brother Tan, I only came over to say hello. Why is Miss Xie humiliating me like this? What did Luoyue do wrong?”

I wiped a hand over my face and turned around. Tan Lian was standing a short distance away, watching me with an unreadable expression.

Wait a minute. What was this routine?

It felt like they were working together to set me up.

I couldn’t be sure. Better keep watching.