My Husband Is a Bit Crazy - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Chen Chongli’s father was the Governor of Huizhou, and when we were children, our families were neighbors.

As a boy, he was cold and withdrawn.

My younger sister, Chi Wan, was lively and clever, like a little skylark, always flitting around him. Sometimes she could even coax a smile out of him.

Chen Chongli’s father worried that his son’s personality was too unlikable, while my father was set on attaching himself to the powerful. The two fathers hit it off at once and arranged a childhood betrothal between them.

But the world is fickle, and fate is rarely kind.

The older Chen Chongli grew, the stranger his temperament became. At ten, he nearly killed his own younger half brother and lost his father’s favor completely. But he was fortunate enough to catch the eye of the Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, who had come to Huizhou incognito on an inspection tour. The Grand Tutor accepted him as his final disciple, making him the Crown Prince’s junior fellow apprentice.

At seventeen, he placed as Tanhua in the imperial examination.

But who knew what absurd thing he did to offend both the Grand Tutor and the Crown Prince? Before long, he was sent off to take up a post in the bitterly cold Changzhou Commandery.

After much effort, he finally achieved some results and returned to the capital, only to encounter the Crown Prince’s failed rebellion. The Crown Prince was defeated and took his own life, the Grand Tutor killed himself before the palace gates, and the Crown Prince’s faction was purged on a grand scale.

Though Chen Chongli had never been well liked among his fellow disciples, he was still implicated. He was stripped of office and dismissed from his post, reduced to a commoner.

That year, he was twenty. Both his parents were dead, his family was in decline, and he had neither clan nor teachers to shelter him, nor so much as a minor office to support himself.

That was when I married him.

Chi Wan had fled the wedding. Even if she had not, my father and stepmother would never have been willing to marry their precious youngest daughter to him. Yet they did not want to break their word and lose face, either, so they had no choice but to offer me as compensation.

It was the first time in many years that my father had looked me in the eye. But when he tried to call my name, he hesitated, his mouth opening and closing, unable to remember what I was called.

Considerately, I curtsied and said, “Your daughter Changxi is willing to ease Father’s worries.”

My stepmother let out a breath of relief.

My father stroked his beard in satisfaction and praised me with a single word. “Good!”

My obedience earned me twice the dowry.

By then, my business had already begun to prosper, and I was quite well-off.

After Chen Chongli was dismissed from office, he boarded Prince An’s pirate ship, helped him bring down his own elder brother, Prince Qi, and successfully assisted him in ascending the throne. For his efforts, Chen Chongli was appointed Left Chancellor, a first-rank official.

He had power. I had money.

In the years since I married him, I had never suffered hardship, much less exhaustion. More than half the famous shops in Lin’an City were mine.

With Chen Chongli at my back, my life was smooth and prosperous. I even borrowed his influence to have my father and stepmother demoted to Lingnan to suffer, while promoting the younger generation on my maternal grandfather’s side. My days were thriving, flourishing, and getting better all the time.

And now Chi Wan regretted it and wanted to take my place? She could keep dreaming!

A blaze rose from the bottom of my heart. I let out a cold snort and could not stop myself from slapping the table.

The tea in Chen Chongli’s hand spilled from the fright.

He carefully stole a glance at me, then picked up a grape from the plate and tentatively offered it to my lips. I sighed, and he immediately withdrew his hand, looking timid and shrunken.

I pressed a hand to my forehead, somewhat unable to understand him.

Outside, he was elegant, upright, and spirited, admired by everyone. But at home, in front of me, he was always doing childish things.

Of course, it was all an act. In truth, he was a dark, deranged lunatic.

Harmless to man and beast in public; harmful to both behind closed doors.

The knife I had chopped into the table was one he had not examined closely. Perhaps he had long since forgotten it. It was the very knife he had used two years ago when he personally killed the former Left Chancellor.

The former Left Chancellor had embezzled funds, taken bribes, and murdered innocents, with irrefutable evidence against him. As the presiding judge, Chen Chongli took his past contributions into consideration and sentenced him to exile. The former Left Chancellor’s faction was so grateful they nearly wept.

On the day of the exile, Chen Chongli had been waiting on the road out of the city before dawn.

That night, rain poured down. Each stroke of his knife was extremely slow and extraordinarily meticulous, as though he were carving a work of art-if one could ignore the wails filled with boundless terror.

Lightning split the sky. In that brief flash of light, I caught sight of him, eyes bloodred, kneeling in the rain-soaked earth, hands clasped together as he leaned back and chanted softly.

Devout. Cruel.

…

I had gone there to bring him an umbrella. During those days, he had been hinting, both openly and subtly, that I was not considerate enough.

In the end, the umbrella was never delivered.

After he left, I went forward to take a look and was instantly furious.

That fool! That muddleheaded idiot!

How could he leave the murder weapon at the scene? He was beyond saving!

My maid Fusang and I cursed up a storm as we cleaned up his mess. There was no other reason for it: that knife had been bought from my shop. Its craftsmanship was exceptional, and it was selling like hotcakes.

If people found out that a kitchen knife meant for cooking had been used for that… how was I supposed to keep my shop open?!

Thinking of the past worsened my mood all over again, and I glared viciously at the culprit.

He was just shifting a plate of peeled grapes toward me, blinking his big innocent eyes. “Your younger sister and I grew up together, and we did have a betrothal to begin with. Besides, she is only asking to become a concubine…”

I shot to my feet and slammed the table, furious beyond measure. “Chen Chongli, in your dreams!”

But he smiled, his eyes clear and bright. “Madam, are you jealous?”