Wading into Spring - Chapter 1

1

When the first few comments appeared, I did not really believe them.

Wen Tan and I had been married for four years. He had always been so cold, so indifferent, so utterly devoid of desire. How could he possibly be that twisted?

For once, I had found something to attack him with. I could not resist pressing my advantage.

“Wen Tan, whenever we share a bed, there’s always this strange smell. It keeps me tossing and turning all night.”

“Now I finally know. That fishy snake stink comes from you.”

He said nothing. Beneath his robes, though, his hands slowly clenched into fists, and veins began to show at his temples.

【Our villainess is fearless. She really knows how to make it personal. No wonder the second male lead locks her up.】

【Sweetheart, could you stop hurting him? He’s suffered enough. Married to you for two years and too scared to touch you, yet you still humiliate him every chance you get.】

【He loves you so much. However happy he was to marry you, that’s how miserable he’s been since. Once he snaps completely, babe, you’ll be crying your head off.】

Amid all those comments, one piece of information caught my attention.

Wen Tan loved me?

How was that possible?

2

I had known for a long time that my world was a novel.

Wen Tan was the devoted second male lead. I was the villainous supporting character.

The book ended with its hero and heroine living happily ever after.

To ensure I could never interfere with their relationship again, Wen Tan sent a marriage proposal to my family.

My reputation was in ruins after I framed the heroine. The Wens had been wondering how they would ever marry me off.

They and Wen Tan immediately struck a deal. Just like that, I became the chancellor’s wife.

But he did not love me. In two years of marriage, he had never touched me.

I hated him too. I opposed him at every turn and dreamed up ways to make him miserable.

As I wondered, more comments scrolled past.

【Heads-up: the second male lead’s darkness level is 99. One more word and you might send it off the charts.】

【Excellent. Study play is about to begin. We’re saved!】

Looking at his dark expression, I swallowed the insult on my tongue, changed course, and said stiffly:

“Actually… snakes are quite cute.”

He remained expressionless. After a bland glance at me, he turned away with his bedding in his arms.

“I’ll sleep in the study tonight. Out of your way.”

【Aw, he’s hurt. Off to play with her underthings in his study again.】

【She doesn’t know, does she? Every time she bullies him, he steals a piece of her underwear. What a pervert.】

【It’s not just underwear. The things in that study would make even a seasoned smut reader like me blush.】

Wen Tan had a study no one else was ever allowed to enter.

He said it held government documents. I had no interest in those and had never gone inside.

But that comment stirred my curiosity, and I followed him.

Late that night, when all was quiet, I poked a hole in the window paper and peered in.

My portraits covered every wall. The desk was piled with undergarments I had worn.

Wen Tan, normally so pure and untouchable, buried his face in my underthings. His fingers brushed my painted face, and a cold smile touched his lips.

“Yanyan, what am I going to do with you?”

He took out a dagger that glinted coldly, a cruel chill entering his expression.

“I want to carve my name into every part of you, so everyone knows you’re mine.”

Then his lips curved. He lowered his head and pressed one burning kiss after another to my underwear.

Was this really the chancellor who never looked at women, as remote and immaculate as an immortal banished to earth?

My face burning, I turned away, unable to keep watching.

But his broken murmurs still reached me, faintly hoarse, intimate and lingering, his voice catching in a muffled groan.

“Yanyan…”

【She actually saw him? Aaaaah, second male lead, how will you ever live this down?】

【Relax. Doesn’t matter if she sees. According to the extra chapters, she’ll be locked in that study tomorrow anyway.】

【Tomorrow’s a major turning point. She pushes him too far, and the male lead completely snaps.】

【See that long, thick iron chain? Tomorrow it’ll be around our girl’s wrists!】

After seeing Wen Tan like that, I no longer doubted the comments.

For my own safety, I decided to watch every word and steer clear of him.

By deliberately avoiding him, I got through the entire next day without meeting him once.

Just as I breathed a sigh of relief and went to bathe, I walked into the bathing room—and found Wen Tan there, stark naked.