Before they knew it, the two had been chatting for a long time. Seeing the scorching sun now hanging high in the sky, Mother Li let out an exclamation.
“Oh, look at me! I was so engrossed in talking to you that I haven’t even prepared lunch yet! And I don’t even know if the Young Master will be back.”
“I have delayed you.” Yun Juan escorted Mother Li to the door. She had taken a great liking to this warm and talkative old woman.
Mother Li smiled and said, “What are you saying, Young Mistress? That you are willing to ask this old servant about these things makes me happier than words can say.”
Her eyes grew slightly red with emotion as she sighed, “For so many years, the Eldest Young Master has always been all alone in this estate. He may look prosperous on the outside, but in truth… it breaks this old servant’s heart to watch. Now that he has finally taken a wife, I am overjoyed! Before this, I was worried that you and the Young Master might not get along well, but now that I’ve met you, all my worries have vanished!”
Mother Li glanced around, then took Yun Juan’s hand and said, “Young Mistress, this old servant is bold enough to ask a favor of you.”
“Please, speak.”
Mother Li leaned in and murmured a few sentences into her ear. Yun Juan’s expression shifted, looking deeply conflicted. “This…”
“You can do it, Young Mistress. This old servant has the sharpest eye for reading people,” Mother Li said with a chuckle. “Based on your facial features and the lines on your palms, you and the Eldest Young Master are a match made in heaven. He will surely listen to your words. This old servant will head back now. If there is anything about this courtyard you are unsure of, feel free to come and ask me anytime.”
Although Mother Li was a cook, she also held the highest status among the managing nannies in the Eastern Yard.
Yun Juan could only temporarily agree to her request to gently coax her away.
As it was her first day after the grand wedding, Yun Juan had nothing much to do. Once she had eaten and drunk her fill, she picked out a book from the curio shelf to read.
Though the book was in her hands, her mind was entirely elsewhere. Staring blankly at the words, she couldn’t help but recall everything Mother Li had told her.
Neglected by Madame Qin in his youth, ostracized by Xiao Mingyu, and slighted by the servants—even the Marquis of Yingchuan hadn’t looked after Xiao Lanting much at the beginning. Yet, he had successfully fought his way upstream against the current until today, where no one dared to underestimate him. Yun Juan’s heart beat rapidly, as if she were reading a thrilling biography of a hero; she felt admiration, but also envy.
Her own past experiences were strikingly similar to Xiao Lanting’s, yet she lacked his capabilities.
“Spending the time it takes to drink a cup of tea on a single page… tell me, is this page really that beautiful?”
A teasing voice rang out from behind her. Yun Juan turned her head and quickly sat up straight.
“Why are you back?”
“To rest at midday. Besides, I am still on my wedding leave; there is no need for me to stay at the government office the whole time anyway.”
Xiao Lanting stood with his arms crossed over the window frame in a lazy, relaxed posture, looking like a napping lion. Behind him was the pristine white snow and winter jasmines blooming in full splendor. Yun Juan’s fingers twitched slightly; she suddenly felt a strong urge to pick up a brush and paint this scene.
Years later, whenever she looked back on this moment, her heart would still skip a beat for the exceptionally brilliant man before her eyes.
The book in her hands slipped from her fingers. Her long, fan-like eyelashes fluttered rapidly as she leaned over to retrieve the book, repeatedly smoothing out its pages.
When people are nervous, they always tend to make themselves look intensely busy.
Leaning beneath the window, Xiao Lanting watched her with great interest, a fluid light shifting in his peach-blossom eyes as his crisp, cool voice slowly commanded, “Come here.”
“…Mm?”
Yun Juan looked at him, hesitating for a brief second before shifting herself across the heated brick bed toward the window. “What is—”
Xiao Lanting leaned down and pressed a kiss onto her lips. His lips were cool, but the tip of his tongue was burning hot, tracing the contours of her lips bit by bit before parting them to sweep inside with wild abandon. Before she knew it, his iron-grip arm had wrapped tightly around her waist. Half of Yun Juan’s body was pulled out of the window; the sheer intimacy and shame left her entire body burning hot.
It wasn’t until Yun Juan was completely out of breath that Xiao Lanting finally released her.
Bang!
The moment Xiao Lanting opened his mouth to speak, the latticed window in front of him slammed shut. The flying snow kicked up by the impact clearly conveyed Yun Juan’s shame and fury.
Xiao Lanting made his way into the inner chamber. Yun Juan was sitting by the small table, holding her book rolled up, pretending to read intently while the flush on her face had yet to fade.
As their eyes met, Xiao Lanting couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“What is so funny!” Yun Juan hurled the book straight at him.
Even though she kept reminding herself that they were merely a married couple on the surface and that she shouldn’t act willfully, Xiao Lanting always managed to push her boundaries time and again, igniting her temper.
She had clearly been someone with a very stable emotional state back in the Yun family.
“Did you forget what I told you this morning?”
Xiao Lanting picked up the book and walked slowly toward her. He had a tall, commanding stature with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and the taut muscles beneath his brocade robe carried an immense aura of pressure. When he wasn’t smiling, he looked no different from a hunting wolf; even that pair of affectionate, gentle peach-blossom eyes looked as sharp as a cold blade.
Alarmed, Yun Juan couldn’t help but shrink back. Xiao Lanting suddenly quickened his pace, lunging forward to pin her down onto the brick bed.
His hands locked her wrists while his legs firmly pinned hers down—a thoroughly intimate yet dangerous position.
“What are you doing!”
“You don’t need to be afraid; I don’t strike women. I just want to help you remember what I told you this morning.”
Yun Juan knew full well that she could never break free from his strength. She bit her lip, her watery eyes glaring at him with resentment.
Xiao Lanting arched an eyebrow. “Still can’t remember? Then I can only…”
Seeing him leaning closer and closer, Yun Juan cast aside her shame and shouted at the top of her lungs, “I remember! I remember!”
Xiao Lanting stopped just an inch away from her lips. She could even feel his tightly restrained breath.
Shifting his direction, he lightly kissed his way along her cheek all the way to her earlobe, catching it between his teeth to graze it gently.
He murmured indistinctly, “So you had better get used to it early. I don’t want you throwing a tantrum at me over this kind of thing again.”
The moment Xiao Lanting let go of her, Yun Juan practically bounced up from the brick bed. She scrutinized him up and down; at this moment, she found it utterly impossible to associate him with the celibate, aloof, and high-and-mighty man from her past life.
“Are… are you a nymphomaniac?” Yun Juan felt herself going crazy inside.
Xiao Lanting smiled radiantly. “I said before, we are husband and wife. Aren’t these exactly the things a married couple should do?”
“Furthermore… last night, it was you who took the initiative to come to me, demanding that I fulfill my marital duties first.”
As his smile widened, Yun Juan only just noticed that Xiao Lanting actually possessed prominent canine teeth. Such a boyish feature on him only made him look even more dangerous.
Yun Juan wanted to cry but had no tears. Had she really kicked herself into this living hell with her own two feet?
If she had known earlier that Xiao Lanting was such a rogue, she would have preferred to stay in an empty room!
Looking at Yun Juan’s brooding, regretful expression, the impulse in Xiao Lanting’s heart grew even stronger.
However, he decided against taking things any further. In broad daylight, he wasn’t starved to that extent.
“Are you going to eat?” Xiao Lanting asked.
“I just had breakfast.” Yun Juan turned her face away, still visibly huffing with anger.
“Then keep me company while I eat.”
“Hey, you!”
Yun Juan was forcibly dragged off the brick bed by Xiao Lanting and pulled all the way to the outer room. Lunch had already been laid out, and Mother Li was watching them walk out hand-in-hand with a beaming smile.
Feeling self-conscious, Yun Juan tried to pull her hand away, but Xiao Lanting refused to let go. Only after the two of them sat down did the servants dismiss themselves.
Thanks to Mother Li, Yun Juan knew that this was because Xiao Lanting disliked having outsiders around when he dined.
Wait a minute.
Did she not count as an outsider to him?