Rong Shu slept for a long time, and when she woke up, the lights in the room were already on.
When she saw the person holding a book on the chaise lounge under the window, she rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
People often say that a beautiful woman is best appreciated under the lamplight.
Rong Shu felt that this statement was also very appropriate for Song Wenjing at this moment.
A refined and reserved temperament, a figure as graceful as a pine or bamboo.
Then there’s her beauty, which is praised by young and old women in Jiangzhou.
It was truly a feast for the eyes.
She hadn’t been looking for long when Song Wenjing noticed that she had woken up.
When he got closer, Rong Shu finally reacted, and her stunned expression made Song Wenjing frown almost imperceptibly.
Does it still hurt?
His voice was deep yet pleasant to hear, like a clear spring striking jade.
But Rong Shu quickly realized, how could he be there?
He should be at the academy at this time.
“What are you doing here, Third Master?”
Song Wenjing frowned even more deeply; he wasn’t unaware of the surprise in Rong Shu’s words.
“Something came up that delayed my return to the academy.”
His eyes were fixed on Rong Shu’s slightly open collar.
She naturally took off her old clothes when they got dirty, and after applying medicine, she only changed into her undergarments. Now, because she had slept all afternoon, the collar of her clothes had been rubbed open.
When Xie said her injury was on her shoulder, Song Wenjing reached out and pulled open her collar.
The cool fingertips touched her delicate skin, and Rong Shu couldn’t help but flinch.
Apart from in bed, she had never been so close to Song Wenjing anywhere else.
Sensing her resistance, Song Wenjing didn’t think of anything else, assuming that her clothes were rubbing against her wound and causing pain.
He tried to soften his voice as much as possible when he asked her, “Does it hurt a lot?”
Rong Shu shook her head somewhat awkwardly.
This was the first time in both of her lives that she had heard Song Wenjing show concern.
She sensed that he seemed a little different today.
“After applying the medicine, it doesn’t hurt as much anymore.”
Song Wenjing recalled what Xie had said: “Your wife has suffered an undeserved disaster. Women are most afraid of having scars on their bodies. The soup is still boiling hot.”
He continued what he was doing, ignoring the surprise in Rong Shu’s eyes, and pulled down her collar.
The room was lit, and the candlelight illuminated her porcelain-white skin, making the red mark, about half the size of a palm, stand out even more.
Song Wenjing’s eyes were as still as a lake. Knowing that it was cold now, he pulled her clothes up properly.
“I’ll go and have Mei Yun come in to serve us. We’ll go back together later.”
Rong Shu nodded blankly, completely unaccustomed to this side of him.
When Mei Yun came in after receiving instructions, she saw Rong Shu sitting up and quickly took some clothes for her to put on.
Recalling the way that man had left, she couldn’t help but ask, “Did you and the Third Master have a disagreement, Madam?”
Rong Shu said, “No, what’s wrong?”
Mei Yun told her, “This servant just saw that the Third Master looked rather frightening.”
His face was grim, and his gaze was so sharp it seemed he wanted to kill someone.
Rong Shu didn’t know that, after being married for so long, her understanding of Song Wenjing was limited to his lifestyle habits.
As for who his friends were at the academy, and what other pastimes he had besides studying, she knew nothing about them.
After getting dressed, she realized that perhaps she was in a bad mood because she had overslept and missed going to the academy.
She heard from Mei Yun this morning that Song Wenjing woke up more than half an hour later than usual today.
You should know that Song Wenjing is very self-disciplined.
Think again about why he woke up late…
She lowered her head, feeling a little embarrassed.
Not long after, Song Wenjing returned. Seeing that Rong Shu was dressed, he said, “Let’s go.”
Rong Shu got up and followed him out.
The main courtyard was brightly lit, and Rong Shu followed two steps behind him.
Mei Yun, carrying a lantern, leaned against her; the road wasn’t hard to spot.
But Song Wenjing was tall and had long legs, so he walked fast. Rong Shu could only grit her teeth and let Mei Yun hold her hand to keep up.
We arrived at Songtao Garden.
Before even entering, Mei Yun remarked, “Why aren’t the lights on in this courtyard today?”
Rong Shu saw it too.
She has night blindness, not too severe, but she still can’t see clearly at night if the lights aren’t bright enough.
When she first married into the family, she had dinner in the main courtyard, and she had difficulty walking back afterwards.
When Xie found out, he ordered that the number of lights in Songtao Garden be doubled, and that the lights be lit before dark.
Because of this incident, even though Xie was usually quite strict with her, she never resented her mother-in-law.
Who would dare to change the things the mistress tells them to do without the master’s permission?
She went to the main courtyard before noon and only returned now, so it’s obvious that Song Wenjing must have given the order.
She felt a tightness in her chest.
Then she thought, since he rarely stays at home anyway, she could just have more lights lit after he leaves tomorrow.
She didn’t have dinner, and the main kitchen in the manor had long since passed the time for serving dinner.
Songtao Garden does have a small kitchen, which is rarely used. It is only used when Song Wenjing comes back, so that we can prepare a late-night snack for him, in case he is tired from studying at night.
Mei Yun asked her what she wanted to eat so that she could have it made.
Normally, Rong Shu would have said it was too late and there was no need to bother; she would just have a few pastries.
Now she doesn’t want to wrong herself like that anymore.
After Song Wenjing returned, she went to the study and said, “Just prepare an extra portion of the midnight snack that was prepared for Third Master.”
Mei Yun should go down.
There were three lamps lit in the room, so it wasn’t too dark.
Rong Shu walked to the dressing table and carefully pulled aside her collar to look at the scalded area.
The palm-sized red mark looked shocking next to her fair collarbone.
But it’s much better than being battered and bruised in my previous life.
Moreover, in her previous life, after her head was smashed open, the doctor had just bandaged her up and hadn’t even had time to write a prescription when she was called away.
It wasn’t until the next day that Mei Yun called the doctor back.
She sighed as she looked in the mirror.
In this life, she changed the situation regarding Shen Ying’s miscarriage, so things shouldn’t be as chaotic as they were in her previous life.
In the Song family, although the mother-in-law was strict and the husband was indifferent, the sisters-in-law each had their own ulterior motives.
But in fact, before Shen Ying lost her child in her previous life, she lived a peaceful life.
She felt that her mother-in-law’s attitude towards her had improved a lot in the past two days.
As for Song Wenjing, she has come to terms with things after being reborn.
She had forced this marriage in the first place.
She had initially come to the house with a token of her father’s and Master Song’s verbal marriage agreement from their youth.
Master Song kept his promise and allowed Song Wenjing to marry her.
She could understand his reluctance to marry her.
Rong Shu couldn’t help but think of her deceased father, and her heart ached.
If her father were still alive, she wouldn’t have acted so boldly because her mother was frail and her younger siblings were young.
She has never been very brave since she was a child.
Only when she was truly desperate about this marriage with Song Wenjing did she bring the tokens of marriage to his door.
Song Wenjing stood outside the inner room door, watching his wife sitting in front of the mirror, lost in thought.
He thought for a moment, then turned and went out, calling his attendant over.
“Go to the Zhou residence and tell Zhou Can to bring a bottle of Jade Skin Cream.”