At the time of Hai (9 - 11 p.m.), lanterns were lit in the corner of the ten - thousand - character flower wall. Xiao Rencheng's horse arrived at Wutong Courtyard.
The maid said that Lan Jinqin had been in the purification room for a long time. So he walked straight there and pushed open the door.
The vast scenery that greeted his eyes made the man's eyes turn extremely dark.
By the bathtub, Lan Jinqin was sleeping. Her long black hair was tucked behind her ears, and a large expanse of her fair skin was exposed. The mottled red marks on her body were all traces of their passionate night last night.
Xiao Rencheng walked silently to her side and looked down at her. He saw a thumbprint on her chin.
But he had only gently pinched it at that time. She was really too delicate.
He reached out to test the water temperature. It had gone cold.
He sighed, bent down and picked her up. Lan Jinqin woke up with a start and instinctively flapped her hands a couple of times. After their eyes met, she relaxed and obediently hung on him. "My lord is back."
Xiao Rencheng responded, took off his outer robe, covered her with it, and carried her back into the room.
Lan Jinqin shivered from the cold and tightened her clothes.
She had been naked just now and subconsciously thought he would do something. But he just put her down and turned around to go out again.
Lan Jinqin stared blankly with a puzzled look in her eyes, thinking rapidly.
Was the clue she provided yesterday useless?
Or was Xiao Rencheng in a bad mood because of troubles in political affairs?
Or... was it because of the matter of the Lan family? Had Song Yinghuai changed his mind and refused to help?
Just as Lan Jinqin was feeling anxious and restless, the door was pushed open.
Xiao Rencheng walked in. The little maid behind him was holding a bowl of ginger soup. She placed it on the table and then backed out.
This was...
Lan Jinqin looked at the amber - colored ginger soup in slight surprise.
The strong smell of ginger wafted in the air.
Xiao Rencheng picked up the bowl and slowly stirred the spoon. "You didn't know to come out even when the water in the purification room had gone cold. You are already in poor health. You'll easily catch a cold. Drink some ginger soup first to drive out the cold."
He scooped up a spoonful of ginger soup, blew it to a suitable temperature, and brought it to her lips. "Open your mouth."
Lan Jinqin stared blankly at the spoon in front of her lips, suddenly filled with mixed feelings.
Since she married into the Wen family, she had always served Wen Linshi and Wen Zilong and had done her best to be a good wife.
When the mother - and - son of the Wen family were sick, she served them tea and water and waited on them by the bedside.
When she was sick, it was Liuli who served her.
She never knew that a husband could have this function.
No, this man was not her husband yet. He was just a master who kept her.
Seeing Lan Jinqin in a daze, Xiao Rencheng raised his eyebrows. "Hm?"
Lan Jinqin suddenly came back to her senses and met Xiao Rencheng's gaze.
The man's lips were curved in a smile. His eyes were like deep and shallow amber, amorous yet cold, more attractive than gold, jade, pearls, and stones.
Like a person under a spell, Lan Jinqin slightly opened her lips.
The temperature of the ginger soup was just right, neither too hot nor too cold. It soothed every pore on her body and flowed into her heart.
After coaxing her to finish the bowl of ginger soup, Xiao Rencheng got up.
But just as he turned around, his hand was grabbed.
Xiao Rencheng turned his head and looked at the fair little hand that was holding his. His eyes were full of confusion.
Lan Jinqin bit her lip and finally asked, "Did my lord go to discuss matters with His Highness the Prince of Yan today?"
What she really wanted to ask was whether there was any progress regarding the matter of the Lan family.
Xiao Rencheng nodded. "We did. I'll tell you the details after I take a bath."
After he went to the Prince of Yan's Mansion, he went out to investigate a case. His body carried the stench of corpses. He even felt dirty himself, so he naturally wanted to clean up quickly to avoid passing it on to Lan Jinqin.
But Lan Jinqin misunderstood.
She thought that if she wanted Xiao Rencheng to help her, she must offer herself again for him to reveal the truth.
It was really just a deal.
Lan Jinqin loosened her fingers and smiled self - deprecatingly.
The little bit of touch she had just now was really redundant.
"My lord, go ahead. Your concubine will wait for you in the room."
Naturally, Xiao Rencheng didn't know that his image in Lan Jinqin's heart had become even worse. He quickly took a bath and then returned to the bedroom.
The lights in the room were inexplicably turned off. Only the palace lantern hanging outside cast a dim light on the large canopied bed.
Lan Jinqin had already gotten into the quilt.
Xiao Rencheng was slightly stunned. He lay down next to Lan Jinqin and wrapped her in his arms from behind. "Why did you turn off the lights so early?"
Lan Jinqin didn't answer. She just turned around in his arms so that their chests were pressed together.
Xiao Rencheng's breath caught in his throat, and his body tensed up.
Facing the woman he loved, he had tasted the sweetness yesterday. But seeing that she seemed to have caught a cold today, he originally had no such intention and was going to directly discuss the matter of the Lan family with her.
But what was going on now...
Xiao Rencheng felt the woman's hand slide down slowly from behind his ear. Her fingertips landed on his wrist and played with his palm.
"My lady." Xiao Rencheng's voice was hoarse, and his Adam's apple kept bobbing. "You're not in good health..."
Lan Jinqin leaned forward and pressed her lips against his Adam's apple. The man's eyes darkened suddenly, and his strong chest tightened.
It was like a solid copper wall.
"Your concubine is fine." The woman's lips were warm and moist, and her breath was like orchid fragrance. Her black and smooth hair made his body tremble. "Doesn't my lord want to?"
Xiao Rencheng took a sharp breath, then held her chin and kissed her lips, blocking her words.
He threw all his scruples out of his mind.
It was she who took the initiative to provoke him.
The man loosened his lips and answered honestly, "I do, but I'll be gentle."
He still remembered the marks on her body that he saw in the purification room just now.
He had been too rough last night.
He was afraid that she would get tired of him.
Xiao Rencheng leaned back slightly. His big palm rested on the woman's waist above him and squeezed it gently. His phoenix eyes were filled with tiny glints of light. Then his thin lips opened and he took her sensitive earlobe into his mouth.
Different from yesterday's eagerness, he patiently did enough foreplay to make her better accept him.
The bodies separated by two layers of cloth were getting hotter and hotter. The rolling heat flowed through their bodies.
The light gauze fell to the ground. The moon - white belt was blown to the corner by the wind. The magnificent scenery in front of him shattered the man's strategy and his cold and aloof demeanor.
The man's palm covered with calluses wound along her shoulder to her waist. When it passed over her back, it felt numb. Lan Jinqin trembled slightly.
Inside the green curtain, all the clothes were taken off. Before they knew it, the man had taken the initiative. When the beautiful woman in his arms looked up at him, her eyes sparkled under the dim light from outside, and her eyebrows were full of charm.
After the passionate lovemaking, Xiao Rencheng lit the lamp. As usual, he carefully wiped Lan Jinqin's body and then went to clean himself up before coming back.
In fact, he was a man with a strong possessive desire. These things that could originally be done by a maid like Liuli, he didn't want anyone else, not even a maid, to see Lan Jinqin's beauty. So he preferred to do it himself.
Moreover, this could also be regarded as a kind of fun in the boudoir.
Even though Lan Jinqin had experienced this last night, when the man's hand wiped her body with a handkerchief, she still blushed and covered her face.
A low laugh escaped from the man's throat. "We've been so intimate. There's nothing to be shy about."
Lan Jinqin didn't answer. She felt even more embarrassed by his teasing words.
After Xiao Rencheng finished taking care of everything, he lay back on the bed and held Lan Jinqin in his arms. Then he started to talk about business.
"My lady, I discussed a plan with His Highness the Prince of Yan today."
"On the sixteenth of this month, the Princess of Nan'an will organize a hunting activity in Mulan Mountain Hunting Ground. My lady needs to do something before that..."
Hunting was one of the outdoor activities loved by the royal family and nobles of all dynasties. Especially after some customs of the Tartars from the grasslands were introduced into the Great Ye Dynasty, this activity became even more popular.
As soon as the Princess of Nan'an sent out the invitation letters, all the prominent figures in the capital were willing to accept the invitation.
But on the eve of the sixteenth, an unexpected guest came to the Changchun Palace of Empress Ma.
Lan Jinqin entered the palace to meet Empress Ma in the capacity of the divorced wife of the Minister of War. She presented the divorce letter from Wen Zilong and cried,
"Your concubine also knows that she has not given birth to a child in seven years and has violated the seven reasons for divorce. But Lord Wen was deeply in love with your concubine at that time, and everyone in the capital knew it. Your Majesty the Empress has mentioned many times at the palace banquets that your concubine and he were a model couple in the Great Ye Dynasty..."
"Unexpectedly, he took a mistress, and he even divorced your concubine a few days ago... Lord Wen didn't want to make this public, but it's a shame for your concubine. Your concubine is willing to take the risk of being laughed at by the whole world today. She just wants to enter the palace to beg Your Majesty for mercy and seek justice for your concubine."