Chapter 1: Ex-Wife

A cool, proper little lady.

“You dare?!”

“I’ll kill you! Xing Yue!”

“From now on, this Miss is widowed, I have no ex-wife! I want you dead!”

These were the final exchanges between the wife and wife. Ten years ago, when Xing Yue proposed divorce, she was cold and composed, resolute in her decision to leave. No matter how the Bu family, head of the four-generation elite, threatened her, Xing Yue still signed the divorce papers.

There was only one reason: she could no longer tolerate Bu Yao.

The ornate palace, carved railings and jade inlays, reeked of money. Every Roman column was inlaid with emeralds. The extravagant black-gold floor tiles were trampled underfoot without a care.

Very much in line with the Bo family’s style: decadent, extravagant, and indulgent.

“Tonight is my engagement banquet. Don’t tell me you came empty-handed.” A serpentine green tail coiled along a tree vine, its tip playfully, almost imperceptibly, hooking a leaf. The voice’s owner asked for a gift with graceful poise.

Snakes, aside from mating joy, generally do not easily reveal their tails in front of others, unless it’s someone close.

Bo Wuxue hung upside down from the tree, her tail poking the woman sitting on the swing.

Examining Xing Yue from such an odd angle, the person’s beauty before her eyes was still flawlessly perfect—

Tonight, Xing Yue wore a pure black, form-fitting sheath dress. A small, exquisite belt, its vintage metal buckle adding a unique flair. Frameless glasses rested on her nose bridge, her entire being exuding a gentle and graceful aura.

Her thick, wavy curls were casually tied into a low ponytail. Beneath the sheath dress were form-fitting, semi-transparent black stockings and mid-calf boots. At a glance, it was all legs, a veritable leg fairy.

Xing Yue was beautiful, a mature beauty, a wife-like beauty.

Compared to the other guests attending tonight’s engagement banquet, her attire was exceptionally low-key.

“I won’t even give you a single leaf until I’m sure you’re satisfied with this marriage match,” Xing Yue refused decisively. The engagement gift she had prepared for her good sister came with blessings of lifelong union.

For this kind of emotionless family arranged marriage, her blessing gift felt more like a curse. Better not to give it.

Xing Yue pushed off the ground with her toes, setting the swing in motion.

Bo Wuxue had no real concept of marriage. For generations, her family’s lifelong matters had been arranged by the elders: “Oh, is free love fun?”

She asked curiously.

In her impression, among her close friends, only Xing Yue’s marriage hadn’t been arranged by her parents.

Suddenly asked this question, Xing Yue was speechless for a moment, unable to really say anything.

Ten years ago, by a chance act, she accidentally picked up the shed skin of the Bu family’s Eldest Miss. The Bu family directly proposed marriage.

Coupled with the fact that she had just reached marriageable age, her family kept pressuring her to marry, and the Bu family’s reputation was thunderous, being prominent figures in business and politics. The family’s cherished daughter was delicate and beautiful.

In that instant, Xing Yue coveted the Eldest Miss Bu’s beauty, and the two families had a flash marriage.

Within less than a year of marriage, their quarrels intensified. Bu Yao exercised her Missy Temper to the fullest, strictly forbidding Xing Yue from going out after 8 PM, and commanding she be available at her beck and call, replying to messages instantly, answering calls immediately. She even tightly controlled what color socks Xing Yue wore.

If anything slightly displeased her, she wouldn’t stop until Xing Yue bowed her head and admitted fault.

That marriage was too pathological. Until their final quarrel, Bu Yao’s words, “Two little female snakes can’t be together,” hit Xing Yue completely off guard.

She didn’t want to continue this marriage anymore. She had never been happy, except for the flutter of attraction at their first meeting. She didn’t have the slightest bit of affection for Bu Yao.

Even on the day she left, Bu Yao was still domineering and arrogant, clamoring for her death, screaming she’d kill her…

She had chosen free love, yet it seemed to have turned out worse than the arranged family matches. At least the latter mostly treated each other with respect. She, on the other hand, had her dignity trampled daily by her ex-wife.

Bo Wuxue suddenly remembered that her father and Father Bu were close friends. At such a grand banquet tonight, Bu Yao should have come too.

“Want to go see your wife?” She descended from the tree, her tail transforming into legs upon landing. Her skirt support was large, the fluffy princess dress crowding Xing Yue. “My dad says Miss Bu passed the bar exam, quite capable. Seems her temper isn’t what it used to be, just that she’s become a bit less talkative.”

There was no need to hear it from Uncle Bo. Although Xing Yue had never deliberately eavesdropped, she often heard others discussing Bu Yao. It would be hard for her not to know.

In recent years, Bu Yao had been a prominent figure in elite legal circles. Especially knowing Bu Yao had a particular affinity for same-sex divorce cases, Xing Yue’s heart grew even tighter…

“Not going,” Xing Yue refused flatly. “Haven’t seen her in ten years since the divorce. What’s the point of seeing her now? Just because she’s pretty? To feast my eyes?”

Soon enough, Xing Yue’s own words slapped her in the face.

Three minutes ago, she was dismissive. Upon entering the ball’s main hall, her gaze was tightly locked onto that flash of red.

Bu Yao had changed significantly in recent years. Early on, magazines often labeled her as willful, arrogant, fiery-tempered, and supercilious.

Now, the evaluations had completely shifted — a talented woman from law school, the Guardian of Same-Sex Marriage Law, a cool beauty, even publicly recognized as Red on High Mountain Snow, a red camellia planted on an iceberg.

Xing Yue initially thought outsiders were exaggerating. She never expected Bu Yao had truly undergone such a transformation…

With barely-there, plain-water makeup, she outshone the crowd of beauties. At twenty-eight, she was still like the tenderest, centermost bud in a flower.

Proper and neat in a simple moon-white qipao, so plain it couldn’t be plainer. Yet even with her head of fiery hair, blazing like sunset clouds, deliberately tucked away, she still drew all eyes.

Bu Yao was listening to her father chat and laugh with others, occasionally nodding politely towards those showing goodwill. Where was even a trace of that headstrong, fiery arrogance from years past…

Xing Yue sat in the shadows, quietly watching. She had specifically chosen a dark corner seat. The wine in her mouth seemed to have lost its fragrance, yet the more she looked at Bu Yao, the more flavor she found.

A cool, proper little lady.

She couldn’t help but recall how Bu Yao was in bed… those were truly two complete extremes.

Just as Xing Yue was reminiscing about something, a scorching gaze swept straight towards her.

Caught off guard, Xing Yue’s eyes met Bu Yao’s. There was no furious outburst as she’d expected, no losing composure and charging at her. Bu Yao maintained her seated posture without moving, her slender jade-like fingers resting on her knees, curling her lips slightly at Xing Yue…

This kind of detached, unfamiliar way of greeting felt like a world apart to Xing Yue. For some reason, she actually found herself somewhat nostalgic for the pathologically obsessive Eldest Miss Bu from before.

She must be mad.

Xing Yue found it amusing. She turned and walked into the crowd, disappearing from the ball.

This palace was Bo family property. Xing Yue and Bo Wuxue had grown up together, so she could come and go freely. She knew the building’s layout like the back of her hand, able to find her way blindfolded.

Not seeing Bo Wuxue on the first floor, she went upstairs, planning to find her so they could greet the other protagonist of today’s engagement banquet together.

Suddenly, a soft, moist, smooth sensation wrapped around her ankle. Xing Yue assumed it was Bo Wuxue and nudged it with her boot: “If your fiancée found out you’re doing this to me, wouldn’t she be mad, little sister?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, the delayed warmth finally transmitted, spreading over her skin. Scorching, burning hot…

Xing Yue was instantly stunned. This wasn’t Bo Wuxue. The Bo family species is the Green Stone Snake; their body temperature is cool. This temperature belonged only to a Fire Snake!