Their eyes met.
Candlelight flickered in their gazes, and the air was filled with an indescribable tension—and… a faint, almost imperceptible awkwardness.
Huo Shiran cleared his throat, attempting to recover his usual carefree, unruly manner. But the slight redness at the tips of his ears betrayed some of his true feelings.
Lu Jiaojiao was the first to look away. She turned her head to the side, refusing to look at him any longer.
She tried her best to maintain an outward appearance of calm, but her faintly trembling lashes and the moisture at the corners of her eyes gave her away.
Huo Shiran took in her subtle resistance and the lingering flush around her eyes. For some reason, something lightly pricked at his heart.
It did not hurt.
But it itched.
He quickly suppressed his own discomfort. As though trying to hide something, he deliberately adopted the lazy, teasing tone he so often used to provoke her.
“Tsk.”
He clicked his tongue and took a step closer, tilting his head as he looked her over.
“I thought that, with Third Miss Lu’s proud and arrogant temperament, you’d have found someone to take your place and get into that bridal sedan for you.”
As expected, the moment Lu Jiaojiao heard this, the hands folded in her lap clenched tightly.
Her knuckles turned white from the force, and she wrinkled the sleeves of her magnificent wedding gown in her grip.
She abruptly turned back.
Those beautiful eyes, which had just moments ago been lowered to conceal her emotions, now glared fiercely at him. A familiar fire flared within them, sweeping away all traces of vulnerability.
In its place was the anger of someone who had been provoked.
“Huo Shiran, you—!”
The retort that nearly burst from her lips circled on the tip of her tongue before she forcibly swallowed it back.
She took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling slightly.
In the end, she remembered her mother’s instructions—and the occasion they were in.
She could not possibly get into a fight with him on their wedding night.
Even though she desperately wanted to.
Watching her cheeks flush with anger, looking like a pufferfish with its cheeks puffed out, yet forced to restrain herself, Huo Shiran felt no guilt whatsoever.
Instead, the inexplicable gloom in his heart instantly dissipated.
In its place arose a strange sense of amusement.
There.
That was the Lu Jiaojiao he knew.
That quiet, fragile girl from earlier, delicate as a porcelain doll, had made him feel strangely uncomfortable.
“What about me?”
He pressed his advantage and moved even closer.
He could almost smell the faint, delicate fragrance of a young woman emanating from her, entirely different from the rich scent of the wedding incense.
The amusement in his voice became even more obvious.
“Did I say something wrong? I seem to remember someone saying that whoever married me would be unlucky for the rest of her life.”
Lu Jiaojiao ground her teeth.
Looking at his infuriatingly smiling face so close to hers, she truly wanted to punch him.
But her clenched fist loosened, then tightened.
Tightened, then loosened.
Finally, she merely forced out a sentence through gritted teeth.
“Third Miss Lu would never do something like that. Since the imperial decree has been issued, I dare to accept what has been decided. From now on, I will personally settle your household, guard your home, and establish your legacy!”
She practically spat out the last few words through clenched teeth.
Watching her expression—which practically screamed, I’ve put up with you for far too long, but for the sake of our families, I have no choice but to endure it Huo Shiran felt his mischievous satisfaction grow immensely.
He was just about to say something else when Lu Jiaojiao suddenly seemed to remember something.
A sly glint flashed through her eyes.
Then she released her tightly clenched hands and even leisurely smoothed down the sleeves of her gown, which were not wrinkled in the slightest.
Afterward, she lifted her eyes to meet his.
The corner of her lips curved into an almost imperceptible smile—one that nevertheless carried an unmistakable sense of retaliation.
In a light, airy tone, she said,
“Besides, if I really had found someone to marry you in my place, wouldn’t that have been a terrible waste of the letter opener that Young General Huo so thoughtfully ‘kept’ for me?”
Her smile deepened ever so slightly.
“We would have had to face each other every day. With such ‘deep and profound affection’ between us, if I hadn’t come, wouldn’t I have let all that devotion go to waste?”
At her words, Huo Shiran let out a soft laugh.
It was low and pleasant, carrying the laziness and smugness of a man who had been drinking.
He cast her a sidelong glance, his eyes astonishingly bright.
“If this young master hadn’t been clever and quick enough that day, I really might have let you succeed.”
As he spoke, it seemed as though he had finally exhausted all the strength holding him upright.
He turned around and, without the slightest ceremony, collapsed onto the cushioned daybed beside them.
His long limbs sprawled comfortably across it as he let out a satisfied sigh.
Then he turned his head and looked toward Lu Jiaojiao, who was still sitting upright at the edge of the bed with her back perfectly straight.
One brow rose.
With three parts shamelessness and seven parts teasing amusement, he drawled,
“Well—well. Such ‘deep and profound affection.’”
His tone stretched lazily.
“So, Madam, what about you? Aren’t you going to come over and pour your husband some tea? Can’t you see that your husband has had too much to drink and has a terrible headache?”
He wore the expression of a man who considered himself completely justified in acting like an uncle demanding service.
He might as well have had the words—
“Come and wait on me.”
written across his face.
In the candlelight, his features were strikingly handsome.
The corners of his eyes were flushed from the alcohol, and the sharp lines that usually defined his face had softened.
For once, he displayed an almost boyish sort of shameless playfulness.
The contrast between that childish, roguish behavior and his tall, imposing figure was strangely captivating.