When Chu Chenyu arrived, Lin Luoluo had just finished bathing, and Chun Tao was drying her hair.
Chu Chenyu took over from Chun Tao and signaled for her to leave. After about fifteen minutes, Lin Luoluo’s hair was mostly dry.
“Why is handsome big brother here?” Lin Luoluo tilted her head up and asked him.
Chu Chenyu didn’t answer. Instead, he ordered the servants to bring in the meal.
The moment Lin Luoluo saw the table full of food, she started eating immediately. The way she moved, the way she ate—it left Chu Chenyu completely dumbfounded.
“Handsome big bwother, why aren’t you eating?” Lin Luoluo mumbled unclearly through a mouth stuffed full of food when she noticed him sitting there in a daze.
“Slow down. No one’s going to steal your food.” Chu Chenyu snapped out of it, picked up a chicken drumstick for her, and finally began eating it.
“Thank you, handsome big brother!”
After dinner and washing up, Chu Chenyu sat by the bed reading.
Seeing that he had no intention of leaving, and too sleepy to care anymore, Lin Luoluo kicked off her shoes and went straight to sleep. Before long, steady breathing filled the room.
“This girl really sleeps without a care in the world. Not even the slightest bit of caution.” Chu Chenyu shook his head with a faint smile, put down his book, removed his outer robe, lowered the bed curtains, and pulled Lin Luoluo into his arms before closing his eyes.
At that moment, Lin Luoluo found herself inside a strange space.
Everything around her was blank and misty. Looking at the basketball-court-sized area, Lin Luoluo screamed in excitement.
“Ahhh! It’s actually one of those magical spaces from novels! I really am Heaven’s favorite daughter!”
Inside the space was a patch of black soil, a thatched hut, and a spirit spring pool about the size of a billiards table.
Lin Luoluo walked into the hut. Inside, there was only a medicine cabinet, a table, and a bamboo bed. On the table lay a jade slip.
She picked it up and examined it, but didn’t notice anything special. Suddenly, a cliché from novels flashed through her mind. Gritting her teeth, she stuffed a finger into her mouth and bit down hard.
“Hiss! That hurts… can’t let this go to waste.”
Lin Luoluo smeared every drop of blood from her finger onto the jade slip before covering the wound and staring at it without blinking, eagerly waiting for something to happen.
Thankfully, the jade slip didn’t disappoint her.
Not long after absorbing the blood, it transformed into a streak of white light and shot into the center of her forehead.
A quarter of an hour later, after digesting the information inside, Lin Luoluo finally understood.
This space had once belonged to a powerful immortal cultivator from ten thousand years ago. Somehow, it had been lost in the river of time, drifting through countless ages before being sucked into a spatial rift. That was why it had struck Lin Luoluo and brought her along when she transmigrated into this small world.
Although this world lacked spiritual energy and cultivating immortality was impossible—which was a little disappointing—the space contained many martial arts manuals she could train in. Self-defense in ancient times wouldn’t have been a problem.
Of course, she had to level up the space first to unlock them.
Lin Luoluo rushed eagerly to the medicine cabinet. After testing it, she discovered that only the first row of drawers could be opened.
The first drawer held only two books: Shadow Without Trace, a qinggong manual, and Basic Introduction to Medicine.
The drawers behind contained Marrow Cleansing Pills, Vitality Nourishing Pills, Detoxification Pills, wound-healing medicine, medicinal powders, and all sorts of strange and mysterious pills.
Clutching the qinggong manual to her chest, Lin Luoluo imagined herself dressed in white, flying gracefully through the sky.
The image made her grin foolishly for half an hour before she finally snapped out of it.
She took out a Marrow Cleansing Pill and swallowed it with spiritual spring water, then sat there waiting for the effects.
One quarter of an hour passed.
Then another.
Still nothing.
“Don’t tell me this thing expired? Forget it, I’m done waiting. If that guy Chu Chenyu notices, I’m doomed.”
With that, she silently exited the space.
Opening her eyes and seeing that Chu Chenyu was still asleep, Lin Luoluo let out a relieved sigh before closing her eyes and drifting off again.
Just before dawn, Chu Chenyu twitched his nose.
A horrible stench woke him up.
The source of the smell turned out to be the mud-covered figure in his arms.
Chu Chenyu shoved the “mud person” away and nearly gagged. After a moment, suppressing his disgust, he grabbed the mud-covered Lin Luoluo and headed straight for the hot spring inside the manor.
Being hauled around so roughly woke Lin Luoluo up.
“Which bastard has no decency this early in the morning? Dragging people out of bed like this—ugh, you’re strangling me!”
As she spoke, she tugged at the collar around her neck.
The next second, she sniffed the air.
“Ugh! What’s that smell? Who fell into a latrine?”
“Hey, you there! Can you put me down? I can walk on my own!”
“The little girl who fell into the latrine finally stopped pretending, hm?”
Hearing Chu Chenyu’s icy voice, Lin Luoluo instantly woke up completely.
“Um… well… handsome big brother, Luoluo hurts. Can you put Luoluo down? Waaah…” Lin Luoluo shamelessly burst into tears.
Chu Chenyu ignored her.
Soon, they arrived at the hot spring. Without the slightest bit of gentleness, he tossed Lin Luoluo into the water.
She flailed wildly, choking on several mouthfuls of water before finally managing to steady herself.
“Wash yourself.”
Throwing out those three cold words, Chu Chenyu turned and left.
The moment he was gone, Lin Luoluo quickly stripped off her clothes and scrubbed the grime from her body with all her strength.
The water turned murky, then clear, then murky again.
Only when the water stayed completely clean, and no more dirt came off her skin, did she finally stop.
Just as she was debating whether she should put the filthy clothes back on, Chu Chenyu walked in.
Behind him followed two maids carrying stacks of clothes. After setting them down, they quietly withdrew.
Chu Chenyu removed his own robes, leaving only his inner pants as he stepped into the hot spring.
Watching him approach step by step, Lin Luoluo hurriedly grabbed a nearby robe and wrapped it around herself.
For every step he took forward, she backed up one step.
Until there was nowhere left to retreat.
Covering her chest with both hands, Lin Luoluo trembled as she asked, “Y-you… what are you trying to do?”
With one swift movement, Chu Chenyu wrapped an arm around her neck, pressing her back against his chest.
“Speak. Who exactly are you? Who sent you?”
He tightened his grip.
Lin Luoluo immediately found it hard to breathe, desperately clawing at his arm.
“Y-you… let… let go…”
Chu Chenyu slowly increased the pressure.
The harder he squeezed, the harder it became for Lin Luoluo to breathe.
Just when she thought her little life was about to end here, he finally loosened his hold.
Gasping for air, Lin Luoluo sucked in breath after breath.
“If you don’t want to experience death again,” Chu Chenyu’s cold, dangerously charming voice whispered beside her ear, “then answer honestly.”
“Cough… cough…”
Terrified, Lin Luoluo looked at him. At this moment, Chu Chenyu seemed like a demon walking straight out of hell.
“Believe it or not, I really am Lin Luoluo. Lin Luoluo is me. I just… regained my senses.”
Chu Chenyu lightly bit the tip of her ear.
“Since you are this king’s (benwang—a royal prince referring to himself) consort, then fulfill a consort’s duties. Otherwise…”
This damned dog of a man! If I’d already started training martial arts—and if I weren’t afraid of exposing the space—would I let him bully me like this? Hmph!
Lin Luoluo silently cursed him in her heart.
“What exactly do you want me to do?” she asked through gritted teeth.
“Naturally… what happens between husband and wife.”
Lin Luoluo mentally cursed him from head to toe.
One second, he wanted to kill her.
Next, he wanted to sleep with her.
Was this man insane?
Suddenly, Chu Chenyu spun her around so she was facing him.
“Let’s begin.”
Lin Luoluo pressed both hands against his chest.
Then, all at once, she burst into tears.
The more she cried, the louder it became, as every grievance she had bottled up finally exploded.
“Chu Chenyu, you’re just a jerk who only knows how to bully me!”
Her fists slammed repeatedly against his chest. As she kept hitting him, she suddenly lunged forward and bit him hard.
“Mmn… hiss—” Chu Chenyu let out a muffled groan.
“Little girl, you’ve got quite the nerve.”
As he spoke, he scooped her up, lifted her into his arms, and kissed the mouth that had been crying endlessly, igniting sparks everywhere as he continued…