I Refused The Male Lead And Got Claimed By His Triplet Sisters [GL]

People coped with heartbreak in different ways, for Shen Yexue it was drowning out her sorrow with alcohol.

The wine in her veins softened the edges of the night as she made her way back to the palace from the village market.

She’d drank until the stalls and the smell of oil from the street food vendors hung stubbornly in the air.

Her steps were slow...unhurried.

There was no one waiting for her.

Usually she’d look forward to going back to the palace and hoping she could catch a glimpse of Lin Yuexin as she went on her usual evening walks.

It was the only part of her day that she thoroughly enjoyed. But now? Even something as simple as that had been ripped away from her without mercy.

That was the thought in Shen Yexue’s head when she saw a figure dressed in all black slip into the small space between the armory and the bathhouse for the soldiers.

She was immediately alert, her gaze sharpening.

Shen Yexue recognized that form even in the dark. She’d run her hands along the planes of her sides several times in the past enough to recognize it even in the darkness of the night.

Why was Han Shuying sneaking around?

Ordinarily she would go after her, but something made Shen Yexue decide against it. Instead she went the other way to try and find out what she was hiding.

Just as she was rounding the bathhouse she heard the sound of someone groaning. With a hand on the hilt of her knife she went in.

Nothing could’ve prepared her for the sight before her.

Ru Yi was on the floor, hand pressed to her stomach. Yet, it did nothing for the blood that was still gushing out.

This was the point Shen Yexue should’ve turned around. Acted like she saw nothing. But Ru Yi must’ve heard her and raised her head.

In a fading voice she whispered, "Please...help me. I don’t want to die."

That was precisely what Shen Yexue wanted. Hadn’t she killed the woman she had loved in secret for years?

This was payback. She deserved to die in the same manner.

She took a step back—

"Please..." Ru Yi raised a bloody finger. "I’ll do anything you want."

Shen Yexue finally responded. "Anything?"

Ru Yi was about to answer when she lost consciousness, her hand falling to the ground with a thud.

Shen Yexue panicked, immediately bending down to the dying girl in front of her. It was too late to take her to the healers.

With careful movement, she raised Ru Yi’s head slightly so she wouldn’t choke on her own blood.

"I can’t believe I’m doing this," Shen Yexue muttered to herself. She’d have to transfer energy to Ru Yi and restore her qi flow.

With a sigh Shen Yexue bent forward, her other hand pressing gently on the wound. Then—slowly, she pressed her lips to Ru Yi’s.

She stayed in that position for a couple seconds, momentarily stunned by the softness of Ru Yi’s lips.

Something in the air shifted when she finally moved her mouth, gently prying Ru Yi’s open. The energy transfer started, the warm hum underneath Shen Yexue’s skin flowing into Ru Yi.

It was a while before the bleeding stopped and Ru Yi stirred in her arms but didn’t open her eyes.

Shen Yexue knew she should’ve stopped then, the wound was already healed on the inside. But she couldn’t...didn’t want to.

Maybe she’d blame it on the alcohol later, but for now she was more intoxicated by the taste of Ru Yi’s lips.

-

-

Shen Yexue had just put Ru Yi down on her bed when her sisters burst into the room. Shen Lieyin had a bored expression as always, but Shen Qingyue looked troubled.

"What happened?" Shen Qingyue asked, taking in the blood stained robes that Ru Yi was still wearing.

"Found her in the bathhouse bleeding out on the floor." She said nothing about seeing Han Shuying coming out from there seconds before. "I healed the wound already."

"This is getting complicated." Shen Qingyue sighed, "If she really is the killer then she might’ve been acting on orders. Explains why they want to kill her after Zhao Chen convinced the court to run a proper investigation."

"He did what now?" Shen Yexue asked, "Seems like he intends to stop her execution."

"Word on the street is she’s carrying his child." Shen Yexue finally moved from her spot at the door. "The whore really had this planned out."

Shen Yexue shook her head, looking at Ru Yi. "There’s no way she’s with a child. There was no other heartbeat when I healed her earlier. I would’ve felt it."

Shen Qingyue tapped her chin. "Do you think he’s just trying to save her?"

"There are other ways to do it," Shen Yexue replied.

Lieyin laughed. "Sorry, but he’s not the brightest person I know."

"We’ll have to wait till she wakes up, there’s more to the story. I spoke to one of Lin Yuexin’s personal maids, according to her Lin Yuexin had plans to meet someone at the inner palace. And it wasn’t Ru Yi."

Shen Yexue was getting sober, but the headache was coming in. "You think the maid was framed?"

"More than likely. We’ll get her to tell us everything she knows since she was seen visiting Lin Yuexin several times."

"Lets not forget that Lin Yuexin was kissing up to the maid," Shen Lieyin said, eyes trained on Shen Yexue, "Maybe they were having an affair."

Shen Yexue scrunched up her nose. "Lin Yuexin has taste." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Explains why she never kissed you," Shen Lieyin replied with a smirk. "If we’re done playing detective..." she walked to the door, "I need to retire for the night."

They watched her leave.

Shen Qingyue waited till the door was tightly shut before speaking again. "No one must know she’s here. I’ll leave you to clean her up." She squeezed Shen Yexue’s shoulder before leaving.

"Why do I always have to clean up after them?" Shen Yexue groaned.

She looked at the limp figure that was probably staining the sheets with her blood.

If she was going to keep her stay a secret, then she’d have to clean her up herself instead of summoning her personal maids.

Shen Yexue trusted no one.

But it was fine, she didn’t like the thought of someone else seeing the maid’s fair skin more than she liked the idea of cleaning up all that blood.

As she peeled off the bloodied robes down Ru Yi’s smaller frame, she knew that she’d be cashing that debt Ru Yi owed her sooner than she’d planned.