Chapter 2

He crashed into the wall at the bottom of the stairs and died on the spot!

Aunt Wang was still chattering away in complaint. "Ye Heng should look in a mirror and see what he is. He's just a powerless live-in son-in-law. Just because he has the old master's last words backing him, he thinks he can interfere with our Second Young Master? We were only a little strict with him normally. The last time we hung him from the beam for three days and three nights, he still didn't learn his lesson. We beat him and cursed him because he was in the wrong first!"

Every word Auntie Wang said was like an invisible knife stabbing Tang Mingxi in the chest.

After several blows, Tang Mingxi was already barely hanging on. Supporting himself against the bedside cabinet, he tremblingly let out a wisp of soul and completely gave up on the idea of clinging to the male lead's thigh.

Besides, with Ye Heng's cunningly intelligent personality in the original novel, if he tried to cling to him, Ye Heng might immediately discover that "Tang Mingxi" had been replaced.

By then, it would not just be Ye Heng who wanted to kill him. If the Tang Family found out he had usurped someone else's place, they would hunt him down too!

Thinking of this, Tang Mingxi let out a long sigh. My life is more bitter than bitter melon.

"Auntie Wang." Tang Mingxi interrupted her complaints. Thinking of the male lead kneeling in the courtyard, he imitated the original owner's arrogant tone. "Why is Ye Heng kneeling in the courtyard? Is he deliberately trying to let Eldest Brother and the others see him, then accuse me of abusing him?"

Hurry up and let the male lead get up!

Aunt Wang slapped her forehead. "Right, right, right, Second Young Master. You're still the thoughtful one. That little bastard really is full of tricks! I'll bring him inside to kneel right away!"

Tang Mingxi: ? That wasn't what I meant.

Before long, Ye Heng was roughly dragged into the room by the servants and thrown inside, stumbling all the way.

He had knelt for too long, and his knees were badly frostbitten. He lost his footing on the final step and fell straight to the floor.

The loud thud jolted Tang Mingxi awake from sorting through his memories.

Seeing Ye Heng, the male lead of the original novel and the person who would soon kill him, Tang Mingxi would have been lying if he said he was not afraid.

But when he saw Ye Heng's current state, even Tang Mingxi, who had read the original novel, could not help drawing a sharp breath.

There was not a single patch of uninjured flesh on Ye Heng's body. His brows and eyes were gloomy, blood stained the corner of his lips, and his exposed skin was pale as snow, mottled with bruises of varying sizes and covered in wounds.

The youth wore nothing but a thin hoodie as he knelt in the snow for an entire day and night. His lips were cracked and darkened, and only the faintest hint of his future breathtaking looks could be seen.

What was more, when Tang Mingxi saw his face, his heart jolted even harder—his figure had not fully matured yet, and his features were still youthful. In the original novel, he had only just turned seventeen this year and had only recently become engaged to Tang Mingxi, waiting until adulthood to marry him.

And the day of that wedding would be Tang Mingxi's death date in the original novel.

Fine. At least he still had a year to figure out how to get divorced and run away qvq.

Tang Mingxi let out a relieved breath amid his misery, though his expression remained unmoved.

Although Ye Heng was sprawled on the floor, he had his head raised. His overly long bangs covered his brows, his raven-feather lashes trembled faintly, and his peach blossom eyes stared calmly at Tang Mingxi, like a cold venomous snake lurking in the darkness.

Tang Mingxi's scalp went numb beneath his gaze. He felt that behind those eyes lay boundless killing intent and hatred.

Outside the window, a blizzard howled past. The frigid wind raged like sharp blades and swords, carrying frost and snow as it blanketed the entire Tang Family Manor.

Tang Mingxi's room was clearly covered in soft wool carpets, with scorching underfloor heating radiating warmth and making the room feel like spring.

Yet at this moment, under Ye Heng's cold stare.

Tang Mingxi felt that the room was even colder than outside.

Tang Nuo!

The strange silence in the room was broken by Auntie Wang.

Ye Heng was suddenly kicked by her and coughed up a mouthful of blood-tinged sputum, leaving a bright smear at the corner of his lips.

"Second Young Master kindly let you kneel in the room, and now you can't even address him?"

Kindly? Ye Heng sneered inwardly. Tang Mingxi was probably worried that his elder brother, Tang Yun, would see and come looking for trouble.

Tang Mingxi came back to himself. Seeing Ye Heng's frostbite wounds, he took a deep breath. There was only one thought in his mind: he could not let anyone discover that the original "Tang Mingxi" had been switched out!

He casually grabbed a piece of clothing from the bed and threw it to the floor.

It hit Ye Heng squarely.

A clean, sweet scent enveloped Ye Heng, and the warmth brought by the clothing made his limbs

gradually regain feeling.

Tang Mingxi was about to speak when Auntie Wang immediately caught on. She glared at Ye Heng and said viciously, "Who are you trying to disgust with that rotten flesh of yours?!"

He: ...That was not quite what he meant.

Forget it. At least "Tang Mingxi's" vicious cannon-fodder persona had not fallen apart.

Ye Heng's face was pale and bloodless. He struggled to prop himself up, enduring the pain. Right now, he truly had no power to contend with Tang Mingxi.

Besides, his younger sister—Ye Yue—was still unconscious in the hospital and needed the Tang Family's relief funds.

"Go stand over there." Tang Mingxi waved a hand, deliberately making his voice sound impatient.

Aunt Wang shoved him fiercely. "Did you hear that? Second Young Master means you should get the hell over there and kneel. Move it!"

Tang Mingxi choked. Wang Ma's enterprise-level reading comprehension is really generating too much hatred, isn't it qvq.

Over there?

Ye Heng gave the figure behind the bed curtains a cold glance. It was hazy and indistinct, making it impossible to see his face clearly.

There was only a thick layer of cashmere carpet over there, and the underfloor heating was tirelessly radiating warmth.

Before he could figure out what was going on, Auntie Wang pressed down on his shoulders and viciously forced him toward the floor.

Under normal circumstances, the marble floor would have shattered his kneecaps on impact.

But now, the instant his knees touched the ground, there was unexpectedly no excruciating pain like he had imagined.

The carpet was thick and greatly eased his pain, but it also made Ye Heng even more wary.

Behind the bed curtains, Tang Mingxi silently let out a breath of relief.

However, when he looked up and saw the boy's even gloomier, more vigilant expression, Tang Mingxi knew this old... ah, no, this young scheming bastard would not be so easy to fool.

Even if he did something only slightly different from the original owner, Ye Heng could keenly notice it.

After sending him to kneel, no movement came from behind the bed curtains for a long time. That was unlike Tang Mingxi's usual behavior.

Ye Heng considered it impassively. In the past, after kneeling for only one day, he would never have been dragged into the room. At the very least, he would have to kneel until Tang Mingxi's anger subsided. By then, he would probably be dead.

Last night had been the first time Ye Heng had fought back against Tang Mingxi. In a moment of carelessness, he accidentally pushed Tang Mingxi down the stairs, knocking him unconscious.

That scene had frightened the Tang family's servants pale. Before Tang Mingxi woke up, Auntie Wang had followed Tang Mingxi's usual methods and sent Ye Heng out to kneel in the courtyard, waiting for Tang Mingxi to wake and punish him. After making such a huge mistake, even if he did not die, he would lose a layer of skin.

Yet unlike what he expected, Tang Mingxi did not fly into a rage as usual after waking up. Instead, he was acting strangely.

Ye Heng sneered inwardly. Had that useless bastard hit his head when he fell down the stairs?

Just as Ye Heng was thinking it over, the warm air gradually made his mind heavy. The sudden shift from cold to heat caused fine beads of sweat to appear on the young, handsome youth's face.

An abnormal flush spread across his cheeks, especially noticeable against his snow-pale skin.

His long, straight lashes trembled faintly, and his vision darkened in waves.

Tang Mingxi's bedroom spun around in his eyes, while his knees trembled like a sieve.

Thud! Ye Heng's body hit the floor. His consciousness plunged into darkness, and he immediately lost all feeling.

The sound also startled Tang Mingxi, who was calculating how to get divorced and run away. He hurriedly lifted the bed curtains, revealing a slender, well-defined hand with neatly trimmed nails, white with a hint of pink.

A fair wrist emerged as the bed curtains lifted, followed by a face with delicate brows and almond-shaped eyes. The corners of his eyes drooped slightly, his lips were full, naturally