Jiang Xuening was still shocked by the enormous profits a single salt certificate could bring when the document suddenly disappeared from her hand.
Shen Yi snatched it away, and his slightly teasing voice brought her wandering thoughts back.
“Do you still think my money is dirty now?”
Jiang Xuening immediately changed her answer.
“It’s not dirty.”
“Do you still want the jewelry?”
She immediately pulled the three boxes of head ornaments back into her arms.
“I want them.”
Since his money was clean, there was no reason for her to refuse jewelry worth more than a thousand taels.
Shen Yi suppressed his laughter and leaned back against the armchair, leisurely watching her.
“Is there anything else?”
She straightened her posture and lowered her head slightly, appearing somewhat bashful.
“There is.”
The corners of Shen Yi’s lips curved upward.
She had hurried away last night without giving him a flirtatious look or throwing herself into his arms. Apparently, she had remembered it today and had come back to pester him again.
He had given her the jewelry merely so that she would not embarrass the Marquis’s Residence when attending banquets. It was not because he liked her.
If she intended to flirt with him again, he would definitely reject her harshly.
“Husband…”
She placed both hands on the writing desk, her expression humble and sincere.
“I don’t understand anything about these ways of making money. Can you teach me?”
“Hm?”
Why was this different from what he had expected?
Hadn’t she spent several days at Zuifeng Tower learning all kinds of techniques? Why wasn’t she using what she had learned there on him?
“What do you want to learn?”
“You mentioned tea certificates, salt certificates, and certificates for aromatic medicines just now. How does one do business in this field and make money like you do?”
So she had her eyes on this particular way of making money.
Shen Yi did not mind explaining a little more to her.
“To enter this business, first, you need sufficient capital. Second, you need connections and channels. Third, you need to know how to read the situation and be good at calculating.”
It sounded simple, but there were countless intricacies hidden within. It was not something she could learn in a short period of time.
Moreover…
He glanced at her, intending to make her back down.
“Do you have these three things?”
She did not even have the most basic capital.
Jiang Xuening lowered her eyes and thought for a long while before looking up at him.
“If I don’t have capital, I can find a way to raise it. If I don’t know how to calculate, I can learn. As for connections and channels…”
Her eyes turned toward him, bright and earnest.
“Husband, aren’t you my connection and channel?”
Her eyes were as clear as a mountain stream, yet Shen Yi felt as though a flame had singed him. His heartbeat once again became uncontrollable.
His “heart ailment” had acted up again.
He really needed to find a physician.
Shen Yi slowly calmed himself down and reflected on what he had done that night.
He had given her jewelry and even explained the business of these certificates to her. Clearly, he had been too pleasant toward her, which was why she had become so emboldened.
“Sixth Miss Jiang, it seems you still haven’t recognized your own position.”
He withdrew the smile from his lips, once again becoming cold and distant.
“Outwardly, you are the Heir Apparent’s wife of the Jingning Marquis’s Residence. Privately, you and I are not truly husband and wife. I am neither someone you can rely on nor your connection or channel. Don’t expect me to help you…”
His words reminded Jiang Xuening of something.
They were not truly husband and wife, so naturally, he had no reason to help her.
In that case, wouldn’t it be enough for them to become a real married couple?
She finally remembered the techniques of seduction and flirtation she had learned at Zuifeng Tower.
She turned slightly to the side, rolled her shoulder, fluttered her dark lashes, and cast him a flirtatious look.
“Husband…”
Across from her, Shen Yi was caught completely off guard by that sudden glance. His expression froze instantly.
Perhaps her eyes were simply too clear. Even though she had deliberately adopted such a seductive pose, there was not the slightest hint of allure on her face.
Instead, she looked awkwardly innocent and adorably naive.
That was it?
This was the flirtatious look he had been thinking about for two days?
Shen Yi almost burst out laughing.
But he remembered that he had just spoken harshly to her and absolutely could not allow himself to laugh at this moment.
So he desperately flattened the corners of his mouth and maintained a cold, indifferent expression.
Jiang Xuening held his gaze for a while. Seeing that there was not the slightest ripple on his face and that he merely looked at her quietly, completely unmoved, she became puzzled.
Was this look not seductive enough?
She would try again.
Jiang Xuening turned her back to him and secretly practiced for a moment. Then she turned around, lightly bit her lip, and cast another flirtatious glance at him.
There.
Surely this one was seductive enough?
Shen Yi raised a hand to his forehead, covering half of his face and conveniently hiding the fleeting smile at the corner of his lips.
When he looked at her again, his expression was still distant and indifferent.
“This is what you learned at Zuifeng Tower? It’s nothing special.”
Nothing special?
When Jiang Xuening had watched the young women at Zuifeng Tower make such expressions, the male guests had all been delighted.
Why had she only received a dismissive “It’s nothing special”?
Had she done something wrong?
“Not everyone can play the seductive temptress.”
Seeing her unconvinced expression, Shen Yi kindly pointed out where the problem lay.
“You’re not suited for it.”
Compared with a bewitching temptress capable of captivating men’s souls, she was more like an adorably clumsy little cat.
“I’m not suited for it?”
She abandoned the pose and suddenly leaned toward him.
“Husband, were you really not even a little bit tempted by me just now?”
The writing desk was not particularly wide, so she instantly moved right in front of him, leaving only a thin layer of air between them.
Shen Yi’s heart gave a heavy thump.
Those crystal-clear eyes stared at him without blinking. In her eyes, Shen Yi could see his own stunned reflection.
Their eyes met.
After a brief moment of astonishment, Shen Yi lowered his gaze to avoid hers, but his eyes accidentally fell upon her lips.
Her lower lip had just been bitten, giving it a moist sheen. As she spoke, her lips opened and closed, occasionally revealing her pearly teeth.
“Am I really incapable of being a seductive temptress? Husband…”
Shen Yi’s Adam’s apple unconsciously bobbed.
For some inexplicable reason, he suddenly remembered that night at Zuifeng Tower, when he and Jiang Xuening had hidden behind the screen and heard the sounds of passion that had been difficult to suppress coming from the other side.
A strange impulse surged within him.
At that moment, he suddenly wanted to do the same thing to her.
The instant he realized what he was thinking, Shen Yi abruptly turned his face away.
Unfortunately, at that very moment, unwilling to accept his answer, she moved another inch closer.
Caught completely off guard, his lips brushed against the red lips he had just been secretly thinking about.
It was only a light touch.
The soft, warm sensation disappeared in an instant, like a bird skimming across the surface of the water, the tip of its wing lightly brushing the calm lake before gracefully flying away, leaving only ripples spreading outward in circles.
The air seemed to freeze at that moment.
Jiang Xuening touched the place where his lips had brushed against hers, bewildered.
It had only been an accidental touch, so why had it left a tingling sensation that seemed to spread continuously from her lips?
However, the strange feeling soon disappeared, and she was still preoccupied with the question from before.
“Husband, you still haven’t answered me.”
Shen Yi remained with his head turned away, leaving only one completely red ear facing her.
The next moment, he suddenly stood up.
“I still have something to do. I’ll go back to the study first.”
“Husband, where are you going?”
She grabbed him as he tried to leave.
“Isn’t this your study?”
“Uh…”
He awkwardly sat back down and rubbed his forehead.
“You should go back first. As for your idea of learning the certificate business, I’ll give it some serious thought.”