When leaving the Bamboo Forest Garden, Su Changling and Su Changqing escorted Su Huajin to her carriage.
Su Changqing and Su Huajin were born of the same mother and were legitimate children; naturally, he was unwilling to pay any attention to Su Wantang. Although Su Changling shared the same birth mother as Su Wantang, he had been raised at the knees of their legal mother since he was a child. He considered himself much closer to Su Huajin, her brother, and their eldest brother, Su Changxi, and therefore never gave Su Wantang a pleasant look.
On top of the events that had just transpired, Su Changling couldn’t help but admonish his sister, who he felt brought disgrace upon the family: “The eldest sister took you out to gain some experience. You should have been cautious in your words and actions, rather than dragging her down to be mocked along with you.”
Su Wantang glanced at Su Changling and curled her lips into a smile: “Alright then, Changling, you should also strive to study hard so you don’t lose face for our eldest sister.”
Su Changling was an utter academic failure, the type who scraped the bottom of the rankings at the Imperial Academy. If it weren’t for his pedigree, he would never have been admitted at all… Being told this by Su Wantang made him feel instantly ashamed and annoyed.
If it weren’t for the fact that this concubine-born sister looked so pure and harmless, he would have almost thought she was mocking him on purpose.
“Just worry about yourself.” Su Changling said irritably before dropping the carriage curtain.
In truth, he understood in his heart that Su Wantang was his only blood relative, but who told her to insist on leaving with her biological mother, the foot-washing maid who had crawled into their father’s bed, all those years ago.
Over the years, Su Changling had learned the truth clearly: his biological mother had originally been a foot-washing maid in the estate. She had crawled into bed while his father was drunk, conceived Su Wantang, and thus became a concubine in the household.
Their legal mother was generous and did not punish her harshly; she even gave her a courtyard to live in to raise her daughter, only forbidding her from appearing before the Marquis again.
Unexpectedly, that foot-washing maid had ambitions higher than the heavens and actually drugged the Marquis… subsequently becoming pregnant again.
The Marquis and his wife were kind-hearted; they allowed her to give birth to the child before sending her away. That child was him.
At the time, their legal mother had been willing to keep Su Wantang, saying that while the biological mother’s conduct was base, the child was innocent. It was five-year-old Su Wantang herself who insisted on following that foot-washing maid when she left… choosing her own degradation.
For these thirteen years, his legal mother had treated him as her own. His eldest brother, though icy in temperament, was considered mild, and his sister pampered him with endless affection, never having the heart to rebuke him.
When he was reprimanded or punished by his tutors, his sister felt pained and interceded for him. When his father punished him by cutting off his monthly allowance, it was his sister who secretly supplemented it so that his expenses never ran short… Although he was born of a concubine, his food and clothing were no different from the legitimate son’s, and he never felt inferior to anyone else in front of his circle of friends.
Su Changling felt grateful and respectful toward his legal mother and his eldest sister, which in turn made him harbor extra resentment and coldness toward Su Wantang.
Who told her to be so ignorant back then, insisting on following that foot-washing maid away…
Su Wantang was not Su Changling’s sister, so naturally, she felt neither pain nor concern for him. That fool had been raised into a good-for-nothing who could neither write nor fight, knew only how to eat, drink, and play, yet he was perfectly happy in his ignorance.
Let him be, then…
Not long after, the carriage drove into the side gate of the Prince Ding’s mansion. Su Huajin, impatient to see her any longer, dismissed Su Wantang directly.
Upon returning to the Cuiwei Pavilion, Su Wantang threw herself onto the soft couch and let out a long sigh of relief.
Xiaotao hurriedly poured a cup of hot tea for her and asked in a low voice: “Miss, how did it go?”
Su Wantang murmured a sound of affirmation: “There shouldn’t be any mistakes.”
But thinking of Xie Yan’s inexplicable habit of changing clothes, she still felt uneasy and instructed Xiaotao: “Keep an eye out today and see if Xie Yan has changed out of the light purple outfit… If he hasn’t changed, then things should be secure.”
Xiaotao was dumbfounded: “And… what if he has changed?”
Su Wantang: …
She took a deep breath, not knowing whether she was comforting Xiaotao or herself: “He shouldn’t have.”
A grown man wouldn’t change three sets of clothes in one day, would he… Xie Yan shouldn’t be that delicate!
Because she had important business in the evening, Su Wantang did not go to flirt with Zhao Xuanzhen, but she didn’t expect that if she didn’t go to the mountain, the mountain would come to her…
Zhao Xuanzhen hadn’t actually intended to come to the Cuiwei Pavilion.
He knew clearly that Su Wantang’s existence was merely to bear an heir for him and Su Huajin, to stabilize the household, and to ensure that the secondary consort, Lady Xiao, could not use her position to cause trouble.
But continuing the bloodline did not require—nor was it necessary to have—daily… Furthermore, he knew that excessive frequency was actually detrimental to conception.
Therefore, he did not consider his visit to be for that purpose.
During the day, Su Wantang had been stupid, clumsy, and self-righteous, ruining the game of chess to prevent him from losing. After being rebuked by him, she had hung her head with a pathetic and spineless look.
He simply felt that the dim-witted girl had meant well. If she were to become depressed because of his harsh words, thereby affecting her mood and consequently her fertility, wouldn’t that be counterproductive?
So, he was just going to take a look.
The moment Zhao Xuanzhen entered the Cuiwei Pavilion, Su Wantang knew… She had serious business tonight and hadn’t intended to trifle with him, but she hadn’t expected him to be this proactive.
Zhao Xuanzhen was indeed proactive because he had brought a late-night snack, mostly because if he had come empty-handed without an excuse, it would have seemed as if he had ulterior motives.
Once inside, he saw Su Wantang sitting there, hunched over and reading.
Zhao Xuanzhen was astonished: “You enjoy reading?”
Su Wantang was already annoyed. Seeing him say such nonsense, she simply turned halfway, keeping her back to him: “Yes, how rare, right? Even a country bumpkin likes to read.”
Zhao Xuanzhen: …
He heard the resentment in her voice. Thinking of how she had been submissive in front of Su Huajin during the day, yet was so insolent in front of him, he felt both angry and amused. He walked up to her: “What is it? Are you angry?”
Su Wantang snorted: “I wouldn’t dare.”
Zhao Xuanzhen looked at the slender waist of the person hunched over the table with her back to him, and because she was leaning forward, her curves beneath the waist appeared particularly full and rounded. His throat inexplicably went dry again.
Setting the tray on the table with one hand, he pulled her up and into his arms, then sat down on the stool where Su Wantang had been sitting.
At this moment, he also saw the “book” Su Wantang was reading.
“The Amorous Widow and the Rough Blacksmith”…
Zhao Xuanzhen’s brow twitched: “What kind of thing are you reading?”
Su Wantang retorted irritably, pressing her hand firmly onto the book: “Yes, yes, yes, we uneducated country bumpkins only like to read these kinds of things. We can’t learn your refined arts of the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting!”
Zhao Xuanzhen was amused by her sour tone. He raised his hand to toss the dirty book away, then gripped her shoulders to twist her around, meeting a pair of round eyes full of fire.
Even when throwing a tantrum, she looked spineless and pathetic, which was laughable… Zhao Xuanzhen coughed lightly, pulling a straight face: “It was you who were impolite when you deliberately smashed the chessboard earlier. I, the heir, didn’t even punish you; I just scolded you once. Is it really necessary to hold such a grudge?”
Su Wantang was sitting on his muscular thigh, and beneath her palm were his well-developed pectoral muscles. Her previous impatience and annoyance faded away by more than half.
In any case, she didn’t need to do anything for tonight’s affairs; she mostly just needed to watch those people outside and the Purple Night Butterfly. Since he was already here… she was idle for the moment anyway.
She shifted her hips to make herself more comfortable and turned her head away, snorting: “It’s just that I didn’t want the Heir to lose to anyone else.”
With his arms filled with warmth and fragrance, the thought of “just coming to take a look” had dissipated by seven or eight parts.
Su Wantang’s words were truly foolish, yet they came from a place of pure devotion to him. This sense of comfort put Zhao Xuanzhen in a very good mood. A hint of a smile appeared involuntarily on his deliberately stern face as he pinched her delicate chin to force her to look up: “I am not someone who cannot afford to lose; I am not that narrow-minded… It is you who are small-minded.”
Su Wantang’s face fell instantly, and she pushed him away, intending to stand up.
Zhao Xuanzhen had already been stirred by passion; being teased by her like this, his voice began to tighten. He pressed her down firmly: “What are you doing?”
Su Wantang only kept pushing him: “I’m afraid of tainting the Heir with my small-mindedness.”
Zhao Xuanzhen curled his lips: “It doesn’t matter; my heart is broad… it happens to be just the thing to cure your small-mindedness.”
As he spoke, he gripped her slender waist with both hands, lifted her up, and walked directly toward the inner bedchamber…
Su Wantang kicked him, but Zhao Xuanzhen slapped her buttocks and warned her in a hoarse voice: “If you don’t want to suffer, behave yourself.”
He didn’t know why this stupid and small-minded thing always made him unable to restrain himself…