Zhao Luoning pretended to wipe off the rouge with a towel and smeared a lot of powder on it. Naturally, the more she wiped, the more fragrant her face became.
Busy covering her face, when Ji Shisu asked about the origin of the rouge, Zhao Luoning answered casually without even thinking.
"I developed it myself."
Ji Shisu stared at Zhao Luoning, looking utterly incredulous. Was there really anything that Zhao Luoning couldn't do in this world?
Looking at the face in the bronze mirror that she herself didn't even want to see, Zhao Luoning was quite satisfied with her masterpiece. When she faced Ji Shisu with such an extremely ugly face, Ji Shisu was still inevitably startled.
"Stop wiping. Go ask Caixue to fetch some water to wash it off."
Zhao Luoning was just waiting for Ji Shisu to say this. She gladly accepted Ji Shisu's suggestion and ran to find Caixue for help with her heavily painted face.
When Caixue opened the door and saw Zhao Luoning, she was also greatly frightened. It took her a long time to recognize Zhao Luoning.
"Miss, you scared me to death."
Caixue took a long time to calm down. Then she fetched water and washed off the rouge on Zhao Luoning's face.
"Has the incense been lit?"
Just now, she had already asked Caixue to go into the room to light the incense under the pretext of delivering tea.
Caixue nodded and placed the clean water in front of Zhao Luoning.
"Yes, it's lit. I'm sure the Second Master will sleep soundly. Miss, you'd better wash off the rouge quickly. It's quite scary looking like this."
While washing off the rouge, Zhao Luoning replied to Caixue.
"It's all because Ji Shisu came uninvited."
"Miss, are you still going to sleep here with me tonight?"
Zhao Luoning shook her head.
A few days ago, the old matriarch had come to talk to her about this. Although she didn't explicitly blame her, she indirectly hinted that she should share a room with Ji Shisu.
Although Furongyuan was her residence, it was still in the Ji family after all. There must be many pairs of eyes watching her and Ji Shisu.
Sleeping in separate rooms all the time was indeed not a solution.
So she could only go and buy a lot of calming incense to guard against Ji Shisu.
Zhao Luoning asked Caixue to go into the room first. Only after Caixue was very sure that Ji Shisu was sound asleep did Zhao Luoning dare to step into the room.
Caixue snuffed out the incense, opened all the windows, and then left the room.
Looking at Ji Shisu sleeping soundly on the bed, Zhao Luoning sighed. She took off her shoes, carefully stepped over Ji Shisu, and huddled close to the wall like a little puppy. Then she fell asleep.
The Next Day
Caixue, who had an important task, got up earlier than usual. She opened Zhao Luoning's door and saw Zhao Luoning curled up in the corner of the bed while Ji Shisu was still sleeping sweetly.
"Miss, Miss."
Caixue gently pushed Zhao Luoning and tried to lower her voice as much as possible so as not to wake Ji Shisu up.
"Um."
Zhao Luoning, who was still drowsy, opened her eyes, looked at the sky, and asked.
"What time is it?"
Caixue replied in a low voice.
"Miss, you should get up. If you're any later, the Second Master will wake up."
Only then did Zhao Luoning remember that there was someone sleeping beside her. She instantly woke up.
Caixue had already prepared the washing water. Zhao Luoning carefully stepped over Ji Shisu and got out of bed.
When Ji Shisu woke up, there was no one beside him. He looked at the still early sky. If it weren't for the warmth of Zhao Luoning in the quilt, Ji Shisu would have suspected that Zhao Luoning had run off to squeeze into a room with the maid again.
Two words popped into Ji Shisu's mind: What a pity.
He had no impression of what had happened last night at all. He didn't even know when Zhao Luoning had gone to bed and when she had left.
He only remembered that not long after Zhao Luoning had gone out, Caixue had come in and said that it was the calming incense that Zhao Luoning must light every night.
He didn't know if it was the effect of the calming incense or for some other reason, but Ji Shisu had slept so sweetly for the first time.
"Second Master, you're awake."
It was Caixue who pushed the door open. She was carrying a washbasin and also brought Ji Shisu's clothes.
"Where's Luoning?"
"Miss woke up a long time ago. She's reconciling the accounts with the old maid in charge of the servants' monthly allowance now."
Ji Shisu looked at the sky. It was still very early. Zhao Luoning had actually gotten up so early? Did this mistress of the family really have so many things to do?
For several days like this, Ji Shisu secretly swore before going to bed every day that he wouldn't sleep too soundly, but every time he couldn't hold on and dozed off, which made him feel very regretful every morning when he woke up.
And Zhao Luoning's habit of "getting up early and coming back late" made Ji Shisu feel a lot of sympathy for her.
It seemed that being the mistress of the Ji family was really torturous.
Not long after Ji Shisu and Zhao Luoning officially "shared a room", the old matriarch sent someone to say that Zhao Luoning only needed to go and pay respects for three days at the beginning of each month. Then, according to the ancestral rules, she just needed to receive Ji Shisu's concubines and maintain peace in the family.
Zhao Luoning naturally understood what the old matriarch meant. She was pushing her into the limelight and forcing her to assert her authority in front of Ji Shisu's other women.
Zhao Luoning had no choice but to follow the old matriarch's wishes and start taking over Ji Shisu's backyard.
Today was the day when Zhao Luoning, the "vase" of the main wife, first met all the concubines.
"Miss, they're here."
Caixue kindly reminded Zhao Luoning, who was "fishing" (dozing off).
Since sharing a room with Ji Shisu, Zhao Luoning had been going to bed late and getting up early every day, so naturally she didn't get enough sleep.
Sure enough, after dressing up neatly, instead of sitting upright and waiting for Ji Shisu's concubines to come and pay their respects, Zhao Luoning propped her head up with one hand and openly dozed off in the main hall.
"What did your Second Young Mistress do last night?"
Caixue replied with a nervous smile, avoiding Ji Shisu's eyes.
"Last night, when the miss was checking the accounts, she found that some of the accounts didn't match, so she went to bed a bit late. I'll wake the miss up right away."
It took Caixue a lot of effort to wake Zhao Luoning up. Although Zhao Luoning opened her eyes, she still looked half - asleep.
"Miss, the people who came to pay their respects have been waiting outside for a long time. Should we call them in?"
Only then did Zhao Luoning remember the important matter. Yawning, she waved to Caixue, indicating for her to bring them in.
Zhao Luoning's cute appearance surprised Ji Shisu. The more familiar he got with Zhao Luoning, the more surprises he could find in her.
Before Ji Shisu had time to enjoy the sight enough, Zhao Luoning instantly收起 all the tired expressions on her face and showed her usual expressionless face. There was no trace of the charming and sleepy look from just now.
Her speed of changing expressions stunned Ji Shisu.
Coming to his senses, he found it funny.
So every time he thought Zhao Luoning was cold, in fact, there was such a charming and lovely side behind it?
Cold as ice was just a mask, while charming and lovable was her true nature?!
"Greetings to the Second Young Mistress."
The "they" Caixue had mentioned had arrived.