The third morning return home
It was probably due to unfulfilled desires that Li Xī's face looked very gloomy in the afternoon, with a sorrowful and dissatisfied gaze. Rú Qíng felt guilty, foolishly smiled and tried to please him by peeling an apple, peeling an orange, and even removing the seeds from the apple.
Li Xiu was so depressed that she couldn't eat, and she mechanically opened her mouth to take a few bites. She found that she hadn't touched any of them, and couldn't help but ask: "You usually love eating fresh fruit the most, why this time...?"
He didn't say anything, but as soon as he spoke, his emotions burst forth and he couldn't help but feel sad. He stared at the delicious food in front of him with red-rimmed eyes, shooting a resentful glance at him, his face filled with pent-up emotions.
Li Xunzhang and Erniang couldn't understand, and then thought that yesterday in the palace she only ate two pieces and didn't eat again, so they asked out of curiosity.
She glared at him with a sorrowful and resentful look, muttering: "You still say, you still say, I'm working so hard to hold back my words, all for your sake." She was too embarrassed to say it out loud.
Li Xiu was still puzzled and looked blankly at Chen Xiang who was standing beside him.
Chen Xiang's face turned red, but he lowered his head and averted Li Xun's gaze.
Li Xiu was even more curious about this master-slave pair, but seeing his young wife only sulking and not willing to reveal the truth, he thought it was probably a shameful matter and didn't pursue it further. However, at night, he took out his usual tricks, quickly stripping off Ruoqing's top in three or two moves, and after some gentle kissing and caressing, Ruoqing was left panting and unable to sleep. She wanted to give in to him but thought about the poor medical conditions of this era and didn't dare to, fearing she might contract a gynecological disease. In the end, she could only hold back her surging emotions, guarding her last line of defense, but it seemed to have little effect. Seeing Li Xiu still wanting to continue his advances, even pulling down her white cotton pants, Ruoqing was shocked and cried out: "I'm not clean yet, that's not right!"
Li Xue's face was flushed with blood, a crimson hue spreading across her cheeks, as if she had reached the end of her tether. He glared at her fiercely, "I can't hold back anymore, be good and satisfy me just this once."
"It won't do. You can endure hardships, I can also endure hardships!"
Li Xiu's eyes lit up, and his gaze pierced into her eyes, "Really? You too..."
"This big silly girl, she's always thinking about something, and then she says to him, 'I also want to get clean as soon as possible, so I've been avoiding my favorite fresh fruits lately.' When you're on your period, it's best not to eat too much or any raw or cold foods, that way you'll recover faster. If you can't control yourself and keep eating them, then just add two more days to your recovery time." This is Like Qing's own summarized experience.
Li Xiao roughly understood a little, "What's the relationship between eating fresh fruit and this?"
Look at him with a curious and innocent look, as if he felt that he should be pitied, so he explained: "The body is not convenient these days, cold foods are taboo, clean up quickly." In order to satisfy him, she also endured great hardship.
Li Xiao responded with an "oh" and asked: "When can it be cleaned?"
"It should be fine by tomorrow."
Li Xī was overjoyed, but soon painfully said: "But I just want to think now..."
"Don't even think about it."
Li Xiu grabbed her again and coaxed her with a mixture of good and bad temper: "Wife, just pity your husband, I really can't bear it, just this once, just this once..."
I've known this guy for many years, always with an arrogant and proud attitude, but now he's finally humbled himself. It feels great to see him like this, I almost softened my heart and agreed, but thinking of my own well-being, I hardened my heart and refused.
"My grandmother once told me that before one's body is clean, it is forbidden to **, otherwise evil diseases will invade the body and cannot be easily cured."
Li Xue muttered: "Only you have the heart to be so ruthless." His other concubines were not as ruthless as she was.
As soon as he heard the tone of complaint in his words, he knew that he was used to calling for wind and rain. To avoid making him unhappy, he coaxed him with a good tone, "I know that King Wang is the most compassionate person. Well, let's endure it a bit more, just endure it a bit more."
The girl's coquettish voice was like a crispy maltose candy that had exploded, and Li Xiao's entire body went soft, but this little girl didn't know that the more she acted like this, the more he wanted to pounce on her, and he couldn't help but want to swallow her whole.
How could he know that she was secretly struggling, taking out the unbeaten family skill from her childhood to adulthood, shaking his front collar, softening her voice, and whispering pitifully.
She had this trick when she was a kid, once went to ask Zhili for help with something, but Zhili ignored her. She shamelessly shook his sleeve and softly begged him for a while, until Zhili stared at her for half a day before reluctantly agreeing. Although he also scolded her severely afterwards.
Later, she used the same trick on Zhiyi, with equally good results. As she became more skilled, she was able to apply it in various ways, extracting the essence and discarding the dross, and after being refined a thousand times, it became even more effective, always yielding satisfactory results.
Of course, the technique of flirting also depends on the timing and location. It can't be used in front of people, it must be done behind their backs. Moreover, not everyone can use it. For example, within just two days, she had already used it three times in front of Li Xiao, but this time it seemed to have lost its original effectiveness. Look at the man, look at his gaze, as if he was treating her like a delicious dish, and he himself was like a wild beast that hadn't eaten for several days.
As if swallowing a mouthful of water, the man's hands had already begun to move restlessly. Just as the city gate was about to be breached, he could only resort to using his last trick - crying!
"Waaah, waaah, you said you wouldn't bully me, yet you still do this knowing it will make me sick, and now you're forcing me, you heartless person." She cried while kicking and pinching him.
Li Xiu suddenly sat up, his face invisible in the darkness, but a faint red glow could be seen in his eyes. Suddenly, Li Jian stepped down from the bed, and like a lover, he didn't know what he was going to do, sticking to the bedside listening carefully, only to hear the sound of water splashing from the side room, for a moment unable to understand its meaning. Suddenly, he heard a faint inquiry from outside the screen, "Your Highness, are you going out to pay respects?"
How can a man who is so infatuated with his concubine allow her to serve him even in the middle of the night? How disgusting!
A loud roar like thunder came from inside, "Get out!"
As expected, there was no more noise outside, only the sound of water splashing in the side house, as if it was unclear what was going on, but too lazy to care about it anyway. Since there were night watch maids outside, she herself felt her way around and put her inner clothes back on, hugged the soft quilt, and fell fast asleep.
……
On the second day, early in the morning, the rare sun shone through the thin mist of the morning, and with difficulty entered the Longxian residence. A group of aunties habitually entered the main hall, sitting quietly and politely, feeling at ease as they received their greetings. As usual, she cautioned them a few words: "Today, the prince will accompany me back to my parents' home, and it's estimated that he won't return until this afternoon. You all don't have to be restrained, go out and stroll around the shops, or burn incense and clear your minds, just don't forget about the time. If you pass the curfew, then it's not something I can control."
The concubines below hurriedly bowed their heads in gratitude, casting a resentful glance at Li Xiao.
As if pretending not to see, after everyone retreated, she turned her head and smiled brightly at Li Xiao, "It's getting late, Your Highness, let's have dinner together."
Li Xue gave her a glance, and sat down at the round table with ebony inlaid with gold teeth, very kindly laid out dishes for him personally, and served him many delicious dishes, serving him extremely attentively.
From start to finish, Li Xue had a dark face, as if nothing was wrong, and personally took the sour plum soup handed over by Ya Tou. He filled it up to Li Xue's face, "I knew that Wang Ye would get up early with a fiery temper, come, I specially ordered the kitchen to make sour plum soup for Wang Ye, try some, to reduce your fire."
Li Xihu's face turned red as he took over the bowl and drank it all in one gulp.
Chen Xiang and others saw that Li Xiao's face didn't look good, they secretly felt a chill and became even more meticulous in their actions. But after leaving the main house, several maids privately worried: "The king seems to be angry, what can we do? We're about to set off back home soon." If the king's dark face is seen by the Fang family, our own girl will lose face. Especially if it's seen by Second Aunt.
Linglong also looked worried, "I don't know what His Highness is angry about either, he was fine last night."
Last night was the watch of Sinking Fragrance, and the movements inside the house could be heard most clearly. However, I only listened without seeing it with my own eyes, and didn't quite understand. I just whispered: "I don't know how, but King Wang got up in the middle of the night to take a cold shower, and Queen Wang actually let him."
Linglong was shocked, "Is this really happening?"
Chen Xiang's face was full of worry, "Young lady, you really are... Prince Wang took a cold shower, why didn't you stop him? What if he catches a chill, wouldn't the Empress blame you for not serving the prince well?"
At this time, Zhou Mama, who had been collecting everything outside, came in and happened to hear the whispers of these two people. She couldn't help but laugh secretly, but with a stern face, she scolded: "No discipline! Matters between masters are not for you to discuss. Shut your mouths and do what you should be doing."
……
Li Xiu was a man, and he was properly attended to by his servants. He wore a magnificent dragon-embroidered robe with purple gold threads, a light brown warm hat on his head, and in the middle of the hat's brim was embedded a bright, large, round coral stone, which made his handsome face look even more noble. Yu Rong also brought out a black cloak with four-clawed flying dragon patterns on the edges, decorated with black feather tassels, and draped it over his shoulders.
After everything was ready, she turned around and looked at the rose-red skirt with intricate gold embroidery on her body. She slightly furrowed her brow, "You look great in red, why don't you wear bright red?"
With a low head, looking at the shallow purple and crimson double-colored embroidered peony pattern on the collar of her neck, all trimmed with white ermine, and paired with a copper-embroidered luxurious bird's crystal mirror, matched with bright red coral agate hairpins, she was majestic in appearance, unparalleled, how could she not look good?
"I am gentle and elegant in nature, with a refined and dignified demeanor. The bright red color may be too overwhelming, so a lighter shade would be more suitable."
Li Xiu finally couldn't help it, and burst out laughing, "If you're gentle and obedient, I'm afraid the entire Wang Fu might not be able to find anyone more unruly."
It was unclear whether it was the coolness of the early morning, the warm light in the room that made people feel relaxed, or the effect of the sour plum soup, but after having breakfast, Li Xiao finally stopped sulking.
As soon as she saw him, her mood finally improved, and she felt relieved. She didn't argue back, but just smiled foolishly at him.
Li Xiao secretly sighed and scolded himself for being useless. He had always been able to effortlessly charm women, but this little woman in front of him was an exception. She had repeatedly made him kick his own feet in frustration, yet he couldn't bring himself to truly be angry with her.
But this young woman is not to be underestimated, previously thought she was just clever with words and pretending, now finally seeing her ability to adapt to the situation, being reckless and unscrupulous, turning her back on people, and having the ultimate skill of being flexible and yielding.
I'm afraid that in the entire city of Beijing, it's unlikely to find a second person who can interpret the phrase "yielding and adapting" as thoroughly.
……
The Wangfu was far from Fangfu, and even with a fast horse, it would take more than half an hour. Afraid that the horse would run too fast and shake off the golden hairpin adorned with pearls and corals on her head, she only let the coachman drive the horse at a slow trot, which also took about an hour on the road.
Li Xiang rode a high-headed horse today, and as before, he didn't understand why the carriage was so wide inside, but outside it was so cold that only an idiot would ride a horse.
Li Xiao whispered in her ear: "Afraid of losing control and devouring you."
Her face turned red with anger, she glared at him and stopped paying attention to him, dropping the light yellow curtain. Outside, Li Xiao's loud laughter echoed, like a bitter smile on a sunny day. It seemed that he had really cleaned up this morning, but last night was tough, and it was estimated that tonight wouldn't be so lucky.
……
A luxurious black lacquer three-horse carriage with golden dragon-shaped door knockers and embroidered silk curtains arrived at the Fang Mansion, where the brothers of the Zhi Li family and several brothers-in-law were already waiting at the gate.
Li Xiu was polite and courteous to his elder uncle, and after exchanging greetings with his second uncle, he knew that Li Yi's expression was not good, his eyes were like a hawk, scanning Li Xiu up and down, as if he wanted to shoot out several holes.
As if nothing had happened before, the elder brother nodded slightly and said, "Let's go, it's cold outside, everyone is waiting."
Zhī yì zé zhào lì bǎ rú qíng shàng xià dǎ liàng guò biàn, wèn: "tā méi qiān fù nǐ ba?"
Translation:
Then Zhī Yì looked at Rú Qíng up and down as usual and asked: "He didn't bully you, did he?"
"With a faint smile, 'Thanks for your concern, brother, I'm still alive.'"
Li Xiu glared at her discontentedly, but she smiled foolishly and passed by, even winking at the end.
Zhong Jin, Yang Qitai and Li Lüe stepped forward to pay their respects to Li Xiong. Zhong Jin's expression was bright and cheerful, "Today, I'll just call you 'Fourth Brother-in-law'."
Li Xuan smiled, his expression somewhat unnatural. "Fourth brother-in-law? Eldest brother-in-law? Cough, it's really awkward, let's just call each other by name, I'll call you Brother Zhong and you can call me Brother Yang, okay? This brother-in-law and sister-in-law business is something women use to play around with, we men can't be so mushy. Brother Yang, don't you think?"
Yang Qitai burst out laughing, "That's exactly what I was going to say."
Li Feng smiled and said to Li Xiao: "Earlier I called you brother, now the wind has changed direction, you can call me sister-in-law. Haha." Then he turned his head to look at Ruoxi, his expression slightly stiff, and said in a low voice: "Fourth sister..."
With a suppressed emotion, she lowered her head and bowed her body, "Second Brother-in-law."
A gust of cold wind swept through, and the streets were filled with a somber atmosphere. Although it was only two days before the New Year's Eve, the vibrant scene of lanterns and decorations seemed desolate in Li's eyes.
Thinking back to his youthful ignorance and pretentiousness, he smiled awkwardly, knowing that the proud arrogance and haughtiness would only push her further away. He must have learned from Li Xiao, putting aside all his airs and coming clean with a thorough confession.
Li Xiang gazed at everything with a cold eye, quietly putting his arm around Ruo Xin's shoulder and softly saying: "It's cool outside, let's go in."
……
As they entered the backyard and arrived at Songhe Hall, Old Lady Li and others were already seated in a row. The close female relatives of the Fang family had also arrived early. For a moment, the room was filled with chatter and laughter, when suddenly someone said, "The new couple has arrived." The entire hall immediately fell silent. Li Xiang and Ruqing walked in together, first paying their respects to Old Lady Li. Old Lady Li's lips curled into a smile as she gazed at Ruqing with affection. Ruqing looked slightly pale but composed, her movements calm and relaxed. Seeing that Li Xiang was also smiling, seemingly radiating joy from within, Old Lady Li's concerns were slightly alleviated. "Why don't you go pay your respects to your father?"
Li Xue and Ru Qing both bowed in the direction of Fang Jinglan, who was taken aback by the honor. Not daring to show off his authority as the old Taishan, he had not yet knelt down when Li Xue came forward to help him up, saying: "We are already one family, why be polite?" Then he turned to Ru Qing and said: "My daughter is finally married, and I can finally rest easy. The Wang estate is no ordinary household, you must remember your identity, virtue, words, and actions, and not be careless. If you do anything that brings harm to your husband's family, I will be the first to hold you accountable."
As Ruqun nodded and murmured in agreement, Lady Li put on a stern expression and lectured Ruqun, "Miss Fang's family is noble, so you must be careful with your words and actions in the future." Then she turned to Li Xiong and said, "Your Highness, I hope Ruqun has met your expectations?"
As if she was at a loss for words, she wasn't a pet or some kind of business deal, what's with the satisfaction or not? If you're not satisfied, can't you just return the goods? This Li lady, as an official's wife, has become more and more uncouth in social etiquette.
Li Xiu smiled steadily, turning his head to look at Ru Qing, with a gentle expression. "Ru Qing is sensible and reasonable, and all the elders in the family like her. The king and queen both praised her, and it seems that the Fang family really knows how to educate their daughter."
Who would have thought that this guy's fart could be so profound?
Although he knew Li Xiao was just being polite, Fang Jinglan couldn't help but laugh heartily, his eyes scanning his sons and sons-in-law with a mixture of relief and satisfaction. "It's good that all of you have settled down, I can finally rest assured as your father."
"Father, your words are a bit premature. Wait until Second Sister, Third Sister and Fourth Sister give birth to your grandchildren, who knows how excited you'll be then."
Everyone burst out laughing, after which the men all moved outside to chat and talk, while the women moved inside to drink tea and gossip.
The old lady was just about to pull Rujing over, but Zhen took a step forward first, smiling and sizing up Rujing. With a chuckle, she said, "This little girl of yours, usually doesn't show off her skills, but unexpectedly, in the end, it's our sister who got married to the best one. Alas, if I had known this earlier, I shouldn't have been sent away by my mother so early."
Everyone burst out laughing, pointing and scolding Zhen. The old lady smiled and said: "Zhen, you shouldn't be so arrogant, you're the eldest daughter of the Fang family, pampered and loved in every way. Compared to Qing, it's like heaven and earth. You should be content. Qing has suffered enough grievances over the years, and now that she finally has today, don't envy her. The Wang family is a noble household, Qing will probably have to be careful every day." As she spoke, she gently pulled Qing to her side, sighing softly, "I heard that on the day of your grand wedding, a servant gave you a slap in the face, did this really happen?"
"Yes, it's already been taken care of by your grandson-in-law." Although Miao Yin hadn't lost any weight, she had been sent out of the mansion and left the capital. Her mother's status as a purchased concubine was also gone, leaving only Hong Zongguan, the steward of the front courtyard, to hold up the big wooden beam alone, where he didn't dare to be presumptuous anymore.
The old lady let out a long sigh, "Fortunately, Li Xiao still has some sense of responsibility and didn't make you suffer."
"Yes, when I first married into the Zhong family, I suffered a lot of grievances from the servants." But at that time, she swallowed her anger and didn't dare to tell her husband a single word, silently struggling to clean up.
Finally, Zhen asked curiously, "How did you get your brother-in-law to take the lead for you?"
With a charming smile, she said with a blush: "I just asked Linglong to go out and buy some food for me, but unfortunately, Linglong is not familiar with the roads in the palace, so she kept asking people for directions. Ah, and then your brother-in-law overheard it."
"Unexpectedly, you actually have such skills. Indeed, one cannot judge a person by appearance, nor can one measure the ocean with a bucket. Compared to you, I am dull and inferior."
Ruoshan listened quietly, secretly wiping her handkerchief, her face changing unpredictably. Ruomei thought carefully and also felt that Ruoxin's method was indeed sinister but not bad, it could strike the enemy and intimidate others at the same time, a matchless skill.
At that time, Mei also nodded in agreement and walked forward to pull Ruoqing's hand, saying: "You're really capable. You can deal with the servants so easily. What about your parents-in-law? Your younger sister-in-law? Have they been making things difficult for you?"
Ru Zhen poked her forehead, laughing and scolding: "You think Ru Qing is you, only knowing how to go against her mother-in-law and younger sister-in-law. Ru Qing is so clever and sensible, how could she be bullied by her mother-in-law? Am I right?"
Ru Jing smiled slightly and said, "It's okay." Old King Wang and Queen Wang were also not bad, although they didn't overly like her, nor did they make things difficult for her. Everything was just right.
If it's not very satisfactory, looking at the slightly dull face, where would you believe that a humble daughter like Rong could satisfy her parents-in-law? So she asked: "I don't believe they didn't give you a hard time. I heard that Old Master Jing is born with an air of majesty, and ordinary people standing in front of him would tremble with fear."
As if in a trance, "Is it really that exaggerated?" How could she not feel anything?
Ru Mei felt a bit deflated and didn't see Ru Qing's joke coming, which made her feel somewhat sulky.
Finally, it was Ruxuan's turn to speak. She looked up and down at Ruxuan's elegant dress, as well as the golden hairpin on her head with a pendant pearl chain swaying beside her cheek, her eyes shining brightly as she glanced around. On the side of her bun was a green jade hairpin adorned with auspicious beans, while on the left side of her cloud-shaped hairpiece was a gold silk eight-treasure hairpin, and at the base of her hair was a golden mouth pointing to a plum blossom hairpin, as well as a rhinoceros horn made of jade comb. Her earrings were decorated with flowing tassels and coral beads. This entire outfit was luxurious yet not showy, perfectly showcasing the unparalleled elegance of a young woman. Especially the three strands of flowing tassels hanging from the golden hairpin, as well as the coral beads, shone brightly, their exceptional quality rarely seen, truly fit for an imperial tribute. Moreover, they complemented her face, making it radiant and dazzling to behold.
She felt that the purple and gold double-colored morning sun five phoenixes spreading their wings big pendant tassels on her head, as well as the Songhe color sleeve edges shoulder embroidery golden chicken true silk woven golden phoenix feng wrinkle wide sleeves tribute satin clothes on her body were a bit too grand.
Especially look at the wrist of each person wearing a coral bracelet inlaid with peacock patterns, and quickly pull down the sleeve with golden embroidery and five-flower pattern by several inches to cover the too eye-catching orange-gold silk thread bracelet on the hand.
Also saw the coral bead forehead sticker, and then touched the silver-plated gold dot jade inlaid with jade large forehead sticker on her own forehead. Seeing that everyone's eyes seemed to be filled with a sense of realization and some disapproval, she felt extremely sour in her heart. And last night, she heard her mother-in-law, who had returned from the palace, say with a look of sudden enlightenment: "Your younger sister is really clever and resourceful, looking gentle and unassuming, but when dressed up, she's quite stunning." As she spoke, her eyes were sharply fixed on herself, and her tone was coldly sarcastic: "Even if you put all the pearl hairpins and jewelry on your body, it wouldn't be one-tenth of hers."
Rou Qing clenched her fists tightly and looked at Rou Zhen and Rou Mei laughing together, feeling complicated in her heart.
But her mother-in-law's words were like needles, piercing her all over, making her feel completely disoriented and unable to find her bearings. "Look at how you behaved when you first entered the palace, so demure and yet truly elegant, with every move measured and proper, not too loud nor too quiet, just the right amount of shy reserve, even the Empress Dowager liked you, although she didn't bestow many rewards on you, but to those with discerning eyes, it was clear that you were the most favored."
After listening, her heart felt even more distressed. She got dressed up heavily, only to think of covering up her emotions, but unexpectedly this person didn't follow the usual rules. He was simply dressed, but every single piece of jewelry and embroidery on his body was exquisite and unparalleled. Seeing Ruxin's warm smile, calm and unruffled, quietly sitting there, he had a quiet and elegant demeanor.
Suddenly, her chest felt a sour and astringent sensation, as if she had really lost to her...
Digression
This is my group, 45190185. If you guys want to join, just come on in and discuss the plot haha. Say whatever you want, no need to be polite. I'll check it out whenever I have time.
