Fourth Master frowned, unusually offering unsolicited advice: “Eating too much will cause indigestion, and your stomach will ache tonight.”
Only then did Lin Mingyan remember the evening’s affairs. Today was definitely going to involve that, so she really shouldn’t eat any more.
Otherwise, if she ate too much and couldn’t digest it, it would be uncomfortable pressing against her stomach during the, uh, activities!
She let Du Juan attend to her, wiping her mouth, but her eyes remained fixed on the dishes on the table.
Watching the little eunuch about to take away a plate of cold sliced beef, her eyes were filled with reluctance.
In her previous life, she rarely had the chance to eat beef freely—this was such a waste!
Seeing her blatant expression, Fourth Master suddenly spoke up: “Leave it there, don’t clear it away.”
The eunuchs didn’t understand why he said this, but they obeyed absolutely. Upon hearing his words, they put down what they were holding and filed out.
Yay~
The beef is saved!
Lin Mingyan breathed a sigh of relief: “Ye, shall I accompany you outside to walk off the meal?”
She noticed Fourth Master rubbing his stomach slightly and guessed he might have overeaten too.
Fourth Master had indeed eaten too much, but outside it was pitch dark—what kind of walk could they take?
Lin Mingyan had someone light two lanterns in the courtyard and started playing “dryland curling” with him.
Four fairly regular-looking circles, nested together, resembled a target lying on its side.
Then, using materials at hand, she took a few stones from the courtyard.
They were about the size of a small teapot; she had noticed them while strolling around the courtyard that morning.
She had Su He flatten their bottoms, thinking she could play with the maids when bored.
Now, Fourth Master got to experience it first.
Since it was on dry land, friction was certainly greater. These stone “curling stones” were relatively small and could be struck with a stick.
Anyway, it was just for fun to walk off the meal. They didn’t know the original rules either, so they’d make do.
After explaining the scoring rules, Fourth Master couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.
Interesting.
Lin Mingyan demonstrated first, but her strength was insufficient, failing to get the stone into the circle.
Fourth Master: …I thought you were so skilled.
He observed for a moment and took the lead.
First stone: directly into the center. Everyone cheered.
Lin Mingyan waved her hand: “Now that we’ve tried it, let’s form teams!”
“We can’t have all your people on one team and mine on another. Let’s draw lots.”
“And Ye should offer some prizes, otherwise it won’t be any fun!”
If her people were on one team and Fourth Master’s on the other, her courtyard servants would surely hold back, and it wouldn’t be interesting.
Fourth Master chuckled: “Alright, then I’ll offer some gold and silver ingots.”
For the servants, monetary rewards were most suitable.
Sure enough, everyone became eager upon hearing this.
Each team had five members, and they began drawing lots.
The results were unexpected: Lin Mingyan, Fourth Master, Su He, and two young eunuchs from the main courtyard were on one team.
Opposite them, led by Su Peisheng, were Du Juan, Ling Lan, and two other young eunuchs.
Zhao Lesheng served as the scorekeeper.
Lin Mingyan couldn’t help but laugh out loud. This way, there was absolutely no pressure—wahaha!
Seeing her cheerful, exuberant demeanor, most of the gloom Fourth Master had felt throughout the day dissipated.
When the match began, Fourth Master hit the center directly, while Su Peisheng barely made it into the fourth ring. Fourth Master’s team scored one point.
Then… Lin Mingyan used too much force and knocked Fourth Master’s stone out of bounds.
Lin Mingyan: Σ(°△°|||)︴ She didn’t mean to!
Fortunately, Du Juan was clever and knocked Su Peisheng’s stone out as well.
After one round, neither team had scored any points.
Round two, Fourth Master still performed steadily. Lin Mingyan didn’t dare use too much force this time, and the small stone pot stopped halfway.
Su Peisheng was also clever—he couldn’t let them win too obviously, so he added a bit more effort.
After two rounds, Su Peisheng’s team scored three points.
Round three, Fourth Master remained very steady. Lin Mingyan performed exceptionally well this time, firmly blocking at the third ring.
…
Anyway, without worrying too much about the rules, as the scores were recorded round by round, everyone became a bit competitive.
In the end, Fourth Master’s team lost by one point due to Lin Mingyan being the troublemaker.
“You~” Fourth Master was covered in sweat, feeling thoroughly refreshed, and tapped Lin Mingyan’s head.
Since childhood, whenever he played competitive games with servants, they would always let him win. This was the first time he had lost.
However, he wasn’t unhappy. With a wave of his hand, he said, “Su Peisheng, go and collect the reward.”
The prize had been agreed upon beforehand: ten gold and ten silver ingots for the winning team.
Lin Mingyan watched as Su Peisheng brought a small box, counted out the gold and silver from it, and distributed them one by one. She was green with envy.
She tugged at Fourth Master’s sleeve, full of regret. “Ye, it’s all my fault!”
That was ten taels of silver plus ten taels of gold!
She had less than ten taels in total on her—what a huge loss!
o(╥﹏╥)o~
Fourth Master had laughed too much today. After Su Peisheng finished distributing the rewards, he called him over to bring the small box.
He handed it to Lin Mingyan. “Take it. You deserve the reward the most!”
They say exercise is the source of happiness, and it’s true. Fourth Master, who had been unhappy earlier, was now in a great mood.
Lin Mingyan was dizzy from this windfall, happily hugging the money box and laughing as she thanked him repeatedly.
What followed was only natural. After all, covered in sweat, one had to wash up.
After washing up, it was time to slip under the covers.
Once under the covers, with dry wood meeting fierce fire, it was bound to ignite.
Only then did she finally get a clear look at what Fourth Master looked like—handsome as could be.
Tall, good figure, handsome, rich, and willing to spend on her.
Hmm, skilled in bed too.
This was the kind of man Lin Mingyan wouldn’t have dared to dream of in modern times, even though he wasn’t hers alone now.
But if she didn’t seize this immense fortune, even heaven would strike her down!
In modern times, she never thought about love and didn’t want to suffer by having children. Being alone was just fine.
In ancient times, she didn’t fantasize about “one love for a lifetime” either. As long as she could have a few sweet years, leave behind a child to enjoy life, that would be a happy ending.
On her very first day as Fourth Master’s concubine, Lin Mingyan quietly revised her goals.
She wanted to eat well, drink well, sleep (?) well, have a child, and live to 107. Was that too much to ask?
Fourth Master was also very satisfied. During this period of moving out of the palace to establish his own residence, he was not only busy with his own affairs but also had to help look after his two younger brothers, leaving him swamped.
On top of that, the rear courtyard had been like a boiling oil pot due to Madam Song’s pregnancy, so he hadn’t visited in a long time.
But Lin Shi was indeed different. He couldn’t quite put his finger on how, but it was probably because he felt very at ease with her.
Very good.
When Lin Mingyan woke up the next day, Fourth Master was long gone. She sat up in shock. “Du Juan! Du Juan!”
“Yes, Gege, you’re awake?” Du Juan had been waiting outside the door and entered with a joyful expression upon hearing her voice.
Oh, so she’s a Gege now?