“Wangye….” Despite Gong mama lowering her voice, a bit of sharpness still penetrated through.
Li Hong Yuan turned his head and dully glanced at her. That glance made Gong mama’s heart instantly jump to her throat, blocking all the words she was about to say. Gong mama frowned. In those eyes, exist a dense and undissolvable possessiveness, like a wild beast marking its territory. Whoever dares to stop him, or dares to try snatch away his ‘prey’, will immediately be pounced on and ripped to shreds.
“Either get lost, or shut up.”
Gong mama’s expression stiffened, and after a few breaths, finally spoke. “If Wangye truly loves Miss dearly, before doing anything, no matter what, please always think for Miss’s sake.” Afterwards, she curtsied and retreated out of the room. Regardless of her mood, she will always never forget her etiquette. She has always been strict towards herself, yet towards others, she had ample tolerance. And towards Jing Wan, she can be said to be meticulous. Although Jing Wan’s servant girls revered her, majority of the times, they treated her like a close relative. At certain times, she was just the perfect example.
During the day, she’d already reminded Li Hong Yuan once before. This was the second time, and also the last time.
Some words to some people were all the same, spoken or not. Li Hong Yuan, this previous master, had a bad temper, often doing outrageous things, and has always did as he pleased. If it was some other matter or some other person, one really shouldn’t expect him to restrain himself. Yet, when that person was her own Miss, Gong mama instead had a very deep trust towards him. Just based on that level of care he had towards her, it really was to hold her in the palm of his hands, and to place her at the tip of his heart. She sometimes even felt that if he had to choose between the throne and miss, he would always pick Miss. That level of adoration definitely wasn’t fake. After all, even Miss herself didn’t even know, and naturally it was further impossible for him to be acting for people like them to see.
For him to be able to do this much, how could he do something unfavorable to Miss at this crucial juncture. And if he really did lose control in the moment and possessed Miss’s body, he would undoubtedly also think of every possible way to deal with the repercussion, and won’t let Miss’s reputation be damaged.
Once Gong mama convinced herself of this bit, she didn’t continue to loiter around, inciting a certain someone’s dislike.
Whether Gong mama went out or not, Li Hong Yuan truly didn’t care.
He leisurely took off his shoes and socks, then his outer gown, and then his middle garment. The entire process was really quite pleasing to the eye. Lastly, he took down his head piece[1]. A head full of fine black hair that didn’t belong to Jing Wan scattered down…….
(T/N: Ancient Chinese attires are usually broken into three parts: outer gown, middle garment, and inner wear.)
Speaking of which, Gong mama had similarly used a bit of something on Jing Wan. Else, with just this scene, Jing Wan really couldn’t guarantee that she herself won’t just directly pounce on him. After all, with an appearance that was off the charts, and also a body that appeared very praiseworthy, such a super good-looking man, in this dead of night, a man and a woman alone together, even finding one in this most fanciful place, doing such alluring things. And most importantly, the depths of his eyes were filled completely with you, how many were able to refuse him? Jing Wan felt, she more or less would also in that moment turn into a common person.
Unfortunately, Jing Wan was deeply asleep. And because the addition of the nerve-calming medicine, she didn’t even dream, so naturally she didn’t have the least bit of awareness towards the outside world.
Li Hong Yuan placed his hand on the collar of his inner wear, hesitated for a moment, and slowly pulled open his inner wear. His slender yet powerful body, a wheat colored skin, even if he was a man, because he lived lavishly, in addition to his meticulous maintenance, it equally appeared exquisite.
Li Hong Yuan lifted open the brocade quilt and was just about to slip in when his body instinctively stiffened, because the situation under the blankets was far different from what he’d imagined. On top she appeared to be sleeping appropriately, but underneath was not the least bit ‘proper’.
(T/N: Like shocked stiff and not the other kind of stiff….different verb is used in Chinese to describe that)
Because Gong mama was a practitioner of martial arts, her hearing far exceeded the average person. In the outer room, when she heard the faint movement sounds coming from inside, she suddenly recalled her Miss’s uncorrectable ‘bad’ habit. Originally already a starving wolf, now with this….she really was a bit nervous.
Jing Wan, who originally didn’t have any perception towards the outside world, hazily opened her eyes, coincidentally meeting with Li Hong Yuan’s eyes, as two pairs of eyes face one another.
Perhaps because Li Hong Yuan also didn’t think that Jing Wan would wake up, he was somewhat startled, unsure how he should respond. However, Jing Wan, because she was uncomfortable, just rubbed herself against him. This response made Li Hong Yuan instantly realize that Jing Wan wasn’t really awake. Else, an unmarried young lady, suddenly encountering this kind of situation, wouldn’t have reacted like this.
Li Hong Yuan let out a breath, and at the same time was also somewhat regretful. He was rather prepared to be discovered by Jing Wan, just, some things weren’t easy to explain. He still hoped to wait until after their wedding, and after a period of getting along, before telling her. Then afterwards, even if some of the things he did were somewhat out of bound, he can still boldly and shamelessly say it was love at first sight. However, he, Li Hong Yuan, wasn’t a saint, having secretly helped her with almost everything, yet she didn’t know any of it, still was just a bit upsetting.
Jing Wan’s eyes were covered in layer of mist, and the corners of her eyes were dyed with an unusual blush….
Since she was ‘awake’, then Li Hong Yuan will just take it as them having mutual feelings….
That especially pleasant sounding voice endlessly called out “Wan Wan” by her ears.
Li Hong Yuan had experienced through past life and present life, tasting the joys and sorrows of life, treading through wind and frost, fallen and risen, and experienced things that countless people will never even experience in their many lifetimes. That’s why, his rationality definitely exceeded anyone’s expectation. Even if he’d sunk into depravity, he was still aware that right now wasn’t the time. Thus, he didn’t completely indulge himself either.
Gong mama waited outside for two hours, before finally hearing the living Enma calling for her to come in.
Even though she was mentally prepared, after hearing him, Gong mama still quickly walked in, having somewhat lost a bit of her usual calmness.
Li Hong Yuan’s outer wear loosely draped over his shoulders. Using the quilt, he had Jing Wan wrapped in a bundle, holding her in his arms as he sat atop the soft recliner to the side. His hair scattered down his shoulders, and his eyes half closed, carrying a bit of laziness in his expression. His usual viciousness and gloominess were completely gone, his entire person softened up. It was also because of such that he appeared even more attractive. Even when Gong mama saw him, she couldn’t help but stare blankly for a moment.
But it was also just a very short moment. After seeing Jing Wan’s peaceful sleeping face, Gong mama quickly went over to the bedside and pushed aside the muslin veil. Looking at the messy bed, she felt unbearably anxious inside. Fortunately, she didn’t find any bloodstains.
Gong mama swiftly had the things on the bed changed, and then turned around to look towards Li Hong Yuan, “Wangye, this servant has let your people go back to get a change of clothes for you, and poured some water for you, why don’t you go to the cleaning room and temporarily wipe yourself clean?”
Li Hong Yuan opened his eyes and glanced to her. Carrying Jing Wan in his arms, he got up and had her placed onto the bed.
Gong mama added some warm water for him and placed it in the cleaning room. Then, she turned back to have Jing Wan wiped clean too. In order to not alarm the others, she naturally couldn’t have her take a bath.
Gong mama lifted open the quilt and saw that there was also no markings on Jing Wan’s body. She didn’t know whether she should praise him for his strong restraint, or doubt his feelings towards Miss. The so called ‘deep feelings, difficult to control’. Even if a man’s lower half didn’t work, it still wouldn’t hinder him in leaving behind some markings either right? However, it was apparent that Gong mama’s thoughts were somewhat premature. When she flipped over Jing Wan to wipe her back and saw those densely dotted markings, Gong mama nearly fainted from anger. Seemingly, there wasn’t a single normal spot on her skin. Inside some markings, there was even a more darker color needle sized small red dot. If she doesn’t apply medicine, when Miss wakes up tomorrow morning, she’ll certainly notice.
This made Gong mama nearly unable to restrain herself, wanting to do something ‘offensive to her superior’.
When Li Hong Yuan came out from the cleaning room, Gong mama was wiping the medicine on Jing Wan. There was anger in her heart, so naturally she didn’t give him a good look. Li Hong Yuan although only tasted a bit, he was still very far from full. However, right now, his mood was still quite good, so he was too lazy to bother with her.
She properly tided up Jing Wan, including neatly combing her hair, and most importantly, putting on her inner wear for her. Then seeing that Li Hong Yuan wasn’t going away anytime soon, after tidying things up, Gong mama left again. If she can’t see him, she won’t feel annoyed.
Li Hong Yuan support his head with one hand and laid on his side as he stared at Jing Wan, playing with her hair with his fingers. “This prince originally wasn’t planning on doing anything, it’s Wan Wan that tempted this prince first, so you can’t blame this prince either right?”
If Jing Wan could hear him, she would probably explode—-Jin Qinwang, where’s your face?
Perhaps because the one he wanted the most in this life was currently in his arms, Li Hong Yuan slept very well afterwards. Only when Gong mama entered the room, directly walked to the bedside, and softly called out to him twice did he finally wake up. This for Li Hong Yuan can be said to be a first.
[1] ‘Head Crown’ – Those hair accessories used to hold up men’s hair; when a young men turns 19 they’ll have a coming of age ceremony where they’ll officially get to put their hair up with one. Similar to a girl’s hairpin ceremony.
