The noble ladies had a great time and didn't bid farewell and leave the mansion until evening. Shi Ning'an had accompanied them and stuffed herself with plenty of tea and snacks. After seeing off her friends, she felt a bit exhausted and had to lean on Lu'er for a while before she had the strength to walk back.
Lu'er asked curiously, "Miss, why have you been feeling especially tired these two days?"
Shi Ning'an lowered her head and kept silent, her face flushing. She didn't know why. Since the day she dreamt that Rong Sui kissed her, for two consecutive nights, she had those strange dreams. In the dreams, there were not only kisses but also other intimate actions. Every time she woke up, she would be in a sweat and find it hard to fall asleep again.
Although she had been reborn, her soul was not that of an innocent girl. In her previous life, she never thought there was anything good about the relationship between men and women. Instead, she always found it tiring and troublesome. But in these days' dreams, it was extremely lingering and tender. The Rong Sui in the dreams...
Shi Ning'an felt ashamed and naturally dared not mention the scenes in the dreams to those around her.
Actually, it was okay before. These days, Rong Sui seemed to be busy with something and hadn't been home for three consecutive days. Since she didn't see him in person and only met him in dreams, her sense of shame wasn't so obvious. After all, it was just a dream.
But today, her embroidered shoe just kicked Rong Sui on the head, and he even caught her foot and helped her put on the embroidered shoe himself.
At that time, Shi Ning'an was stunned. But later, she didn't know if it was her imagination, but she actually felt that Rong Sui seemed to be caressing her foot faintly through the sock, and she felt a flutter of excitement.
Others only thought Rong Sui was gentle, but at that moment, Shi Ning'an combined the slightly domineering Rong Sui in the dream with the one in reality. She was so ashamed that she didn't know what to do.
Lu'er continued to mutter, "I'll tell the madam later. Let her not arrange for the young ladies to come over these days and let you have a good rest."
Shi Ning'an blushed even more. If she had nothing to do and just lay in bed every day, the dreams might become even more intense.
She coughed and said, "Well... there's no need for that. I may be... uh, my cousin is here. I have to accompany her, right? Zheng Chi and my cousin had such a fight today. Later, I have to organize a gathering to reconcile them."
Lu'er wondered, "Didn't you used to say that people of different kinds don't need to force themselves to be together?"
Shi Ning'an stammered a few times and then smiled, "By the way, Zheng Chi's wedding is set for May. I have to think about what gift to prepare for her when I'm free."
Lu'er clapped her hands and said with a smile, "That's just right. The third master will have a day off the day after tomorrow. Why don't you go shopping on the street with the third master?"
Shi Ning'an's face changed greatly and she shook her head repeatedly, "No no no. He... it's rare for him to have a day off. I'm going to prepare a gift for a girl. What does a big man like him have to do with it?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Lu'er had already stepped aside and bowed respectfully.
Shi Ning'an looked up and saw Rong Sui's thoughtful face. Her eyes widened. Obviously, he had heard all her words just now. He might misunderstand that she didn't want to be with him. What should she do?
Moreover, it wasn't just Rong Sui. All the guests from today were following behind Rong Sui.
At this time, Rong Sui led today's guests out. Unexpectedly, they met at the door, and he happened to hear his fiancée's words that seemed to be concerned but actually wanted to avoid him.
Rong Heng laughed and said, "Tsk tsk tsk. Cousin is really considerate. She's afraid that my brother will be too tired. Well, cousin, you can go and pick out the gift tomorrow and stay at home to accompany my brother well the day after tomorrow."
After such a teasing remark, the gentlemen behind Rong Sui all laughed appropriately. Only Wei Hongmiao's face became paler and paler. He stared blankly at Shi Ning'an and couldn't move for a long time.
His hands were tightly clenched into fists, and his fingers dug into his palms. If he were to raise his hands now, one could surely see that his palms had been scratched by his fingernails due to too much force, and the flesh was in a mess.
The young girl in front of him was now shyly lowering her head, just like when he first saw her - no, even more charming than then.
When he first saw her, she was also shy, but every time he recalled it later, he seemed to be able to detect the intentionality in it. He always deceived himself and thought that he hated her for being heartless. But it was not until now that he understood that this was how she would be when she truly liked someone.
But in a trance, he always had the feeling that Shi Ning'an had once been so sincere to him. Even, she had once worn a red wedding dress and had her veil lifted by him. Just like here now, her face was red, without a trace of falsehood, and she shyly raised her eyebrows to look at him.
He should have been moved. But he hated her intentionality even more.
Such a charming girl was just a little bit away from him. Just a little bit, and she would have been his.
Until now, he still couldn't understand why everything had changed. It was actually Rong Sui.
Wei Hongmiao took a deep breath. It didn't matter. It was just a matter of time. One day, he would make her completely his own. He would personally cut off Rong Sui's head in front of her!
The evening breeze was gentle. Rong Sui's eyebrows were calm. He seemed not to like others' teasing. He asked Rong Heng to see everyone out and then lifted his legs and walked towards Shi Ning'an.
Prince Yu stretched out his hand to stop him and smiled slightly, "Commander Rong, today the emperor ordered you to accompany us to tour the capital. Are you going to abandon us like this for a woman?"
The tone was understated, but everyone present could hear the gunpowder in it.
Everyone knew that Prince Yu of Northern Qi had taken a fancy to Shi Ning'an of the Rong family at first sight in the palace hall. However, the Rong family had acted too decisively. First, Shi Ning'an herself had requested in the hall that her marriage be decided by herself. Then, the news spread that the Rong family was going to betroth Shi Ning'an to Rong Sui.
As long as one wasn't a fool, one could know that the Rong family had no interest at all in the position of the princess of the Northern Qi prince. Even though this prince would most likely ascend the throne in the future and the Rong family girl would rise in status and become the queen.
The queen of Northern Qi, although of the same rank as a princess, was from a country after all. It was just that in the past few decades, Northern Qi had been no match for the Great Zhou and had become a vassal king attached to the Great Zhou. The queen was even the mother of the country.
So, it was not clear whether Rong Sui had snatched the prince's concubine that Prince Yu had taken a fancy to or whether Prince Yu wanted to snatch the only daughter of the Rong family now.
Rong Sui's expression became even colder, and a sneer appeared on his lips, "Oh, which of the requests that Prince Yu made today didn't I fulfill? Even the Rong family mansion, I brought you here just at Prince Yu's word. As for now, it's already time to get off work. If Prince Yu is not satisfied... A Heng, there's no need to see them off. You weren't even on duty originally. Please help yourselves."
It was only because Rong Sui said such words that others weren't too surprised at how shameless this was.
Even so, Rong Ping standing behind Rong Sui was still secretly shocked. He wasn't shocked that his superior had ignored his status for a beauty. Instead, he was shocked at the level of disgust his superior had for this prince of Northern Qi. You should know that this famous third young master of the Rong family had followed the crown prince since childhood and had joined the Yulin Guards at the age of fifteen. He had always been diligent and dedicated. When had he ever ignored his official duties for personal matters?
Rong Ping thought to himself that today, it was probably false that Rong Sui was doing this for his fiancée, and the real reason was to intimidate the prince of Northern Qi.
In the end, Rong Heng wasn't embarrassed to follow his brother's words and still sent everyone out properly.
However, Rong Sui really ignored them. He walked up to Shi Ning'an, took off his outer robe, and carefully put it on her, "Your maid is not careful enough. As the sun is about to set, it's getting cooler. You should add a piece of clothing. You've always been in poor health. How can you catch a cold?"
Shi Ning'an lowered her head and tightly grasped the lapel of her clothes. The closer he got to her, the more she seemed to be able to smell a scent on him. It wasn't the fragrance on others, but a scent similar to sandalwood.
It seemed that there was also this hint of sandalwood in the dream.
Shi Ning'an's face turned completely red. When he got close to her and put the clothes on her, she almost couldn't stand steadily. The entanglement in the dream seemed to come into reality. It seemed that he was about to give her a long and gentle kiss in an instant. It seemed that his hand wasn't putting clothes on her but opening her belt.
The more she thought, the more something seemed wrong.
Rong Sui also noticed this strangeness. He frowned and asked, "Ning'an, are you not feeling well?"
Shi Ning'an stammered and shook her head, "No."
Rong Sui was silent for a moment and didn't ask any more questions. He just accompanied her towards the inner courtyard.
Lu'er was smart and had already run away somewhere early. At dusk, the servants of the Rong family seemed to have disappeared. It seemed that there were only the two of them in the world.
Rong Sui stretched out his hand and held her wrist through the sleeve. His thumb even rubbed her wrist for a moment.
Even through the sleeve, Shi Ning'an still felt a jolt in her heart. She... was so strange.
Shi Ning'an took a deep breath. How could the dream be the same as reality?
"Is it... your grandfather who forced you?"
Rong Sui was stunned for a moment, and Shi Ning'an's hand naturally slipped out of his palm. Without realizing it, she took half a step to the side and kept a half-step distance from him.
He said in a low voice, "It wasn't a force."
The coolness was gradually approaching. The faint fragrance on Rong Sui's clothes made Shi Ning'an's mind a bit clearer. She said self - deprecatingly, "But it was also your grandfather's request, wasn't it?"
Rong Sui took a step forward and wanted to hold her hand again.
Shi Ning'an took another step back, "Third cousin... boys and girls should not sit together after the age of seven. It's inappropriate for us to be like this."
Rong Sui frowned tightly and asked after a moment, "Ning'an, do you think I was forced to agree to marry you?"
Her eyelashes covered her eyes and eyebrows. Shi Ning'an looked a bit aggrieved, "I was just saying. I know you're doing this for my good."
"Is Ning'an blaming me for not proposing to marry you actively?"
Before Shi Ning'an could answer, Rong Sui continued, "It's my fault, Ning'an. I should have done it earlier, even earlier."
"But I was a bit worried, worried that you would be unhappy."
"Ning'an, our relationship was too hasty, but I couldn't think about it so much at that time. That night when we... after that, I thought you would understand."
Shi Ning'an suddenly raised her head and looked at him in shock, stuttering, "That... what night..."
Rong Sui's eyes showed a moment of surprise, and then they became calm again. He just looked at her quietly.
They were just walking into the inner courtyard. In the large inner courtyard of the Rong family, only Ning'an lived there, so her courtyard wasn't far from the outer courtyard.
The trees on both sides were lush and green, reflecting the sunset glow. The cool wind was gentle, and the spring scenery was intoxicating.
Rong Sui reached out and held Shi Ning'an's neck, and then his lips pressed against hers.
Shi Ning'an's eyes widened. Was he... was she still dreaming now?
This time, it was just a light kiss. Rong Sui let go of her lips but didn't let go of his hand. He still stayed close.
His voice was a bit hoarse and full of temptation, "That night was just like this. Have you forgotten?"