Chapter 30: Is it fish maw? There’s a palace banquet, accompany me.

Qingzhu Garden.

Meng Huan stared at the fish maw in the ice basin with a complex expression. He had rarely used that thing even in modern times, but now he had to actively get it. Times had really changed…

But he had no choice. His menstruation was about to end, and Wen Zhaoyin was not a vegetarian. It was already good that he wasn’t being fed all sorts of strange medicines. Refusing that matter? Absolutely impossible.

This time, he had carefully asked Wen Xi. People in this female-dominated society didn’t even know that there was such a thing that could prevent pregnancy. If he was careful, he should be able to deceive Wen Zhaoyin, right?

Whether he could deceive her or not, he had to try. What if he succeeded? Then he wouldn’t have to worry about getting pregnant all the time in the future.

“What are you making? Fish maw?” Wen Zhaoyin suddenly appeared behind him, staring at the things in the basin with a puzzled expression.

She squatted down with him, looking at the fish maw undulating between the ice cubes, and asked, “It doesn’t look much like it either. What’s it for?”

Meng Huan felt a little embarrassed the moment she came over. After all, this thing had a special use, but she mistook it for a dish…

“No, no, it’s not.”

“Then what is it for?” Hearing that it wasn’t for eating, Wen Zhaoyin raised her hand and poked at the ice cubes in the basin. The coldness touched her fingertips, and she immediately withdrew her hand.

She turned her face to look at him, “I saw you sneaking around and followed you, thinking you were going to run away. I didn’t expect you to come here just to stare at a basin.”

Meng Huan was uncomfortable whether he squatted or stood because of what she said. He was afraid of her discovering it too early, so he had asked Wen Xi to secretly put this thing in the side room.

Who knew that he had already seen her go to the study to work, and then he quietly sneaked over, but was still discovered.

“Who said I wanted to run away! Can you stop mentioning this one thing?” He suddenly stood up and glared at her, intending to divert her attention.

Unfortunately, he had squatted for a bit too long. When he stood up in a hurry, he felt dizzy with snow floating in front of his eyes. His feet were unsteady, and he staggered forward.

Fortunately, Wen Zhaoyin didn’t dodge but stood up to catch him, also getting hit by him.

She no longer stared at the basin, but supported him to walk out of the side room and towards the main house, “I was just saying, with the way you are, even if I open the door wide for you to run, you still won’t be able to escape.”

Meng Huan supported his head and looked up at her, his face full of dissatisfaction, “I think you’re implying that I’m weak, but I’m not as weak as you say.”

Seeing that he still had the strength to say these things, Wen Zhaoyin raised her eyebrows and smiled lightly. She raised her hand and was about to let go of him, but before she could fully release him, he showed a tendency to fall to the ground again.

She didn’t say anything, just supported him again and walked forward with a smile on her face. She heard Meng Huan making dissatisfied grunts from his nose, and her mood was quite good.

The more she interacted with him, the more she could discover the points that were different from other men. He was very, very unique. Wen Zhaoyin dared to say that there was no other man in this world with such a special mind.

He seemed to never admit defeat and always thought that men should be superior to women. Occasionally, he would even say some shocking words, which was quite interesting.

Wen Zhaoyin thought that such a domineering flower was different from the ordinary canaries that people kept at home. He needed to be exposed to wind and rain. He probably always wanted to run out, which was also closely related to his personality.

She could imprison him for a time, but she couldn’t confine him for a lifetime. If she didn’t let him see the sunlight, he would lose his original color after a long time.

“The day after tomorrow, there’s a Hundred Flowers Banquet hosted by the Empress herself. I can bring one person into the palace, so you can accompany me to go.”

The Hundred Flowers Banquet, a royal banquet, was not something that ordinary family members could attend. Now Meng Huan still had no official status in the Wen family. This time, Wen Zhaoyin wanted to take him to the palace to attend the banquet, which was a roundabout way of acknowledging his identity.

If he could perform well at the banquet, he might be directly promoted to a concubine after returning to the Wen family.

This was a good opportunity that many men from merchant families couldn’t ask for in their entire lives. If he were truly a man in this female-dominated society, he should be overjoyed by now.

However, after hearing this, he just nodded and asked in return, “You really allow me to go out? Or are you testing me?”

Wen Zhaoyin patted his head, looking exasperated, “Do I need to deceive you?”

“But this time, it’s entering the palace. You have to be obedient, don’t say anything too outrageous, and don’t do anything too outrageous. Just stay by my side, understand?”

This Hundred Flowers Banquet was held on a grand scale, and almost all the high-ranking officials were invited. Although she was highly valued by the Empress, she would be seated according to official rank and would not be arranged in the main hall, but in a side hall.

At that time, she could only hear the Empress’s voice from a distance and couldn’t see the Empress herself, so she considered taking Meng Huan there. After all, in such a situation, even if something went wrong, it wouldn’t be too serious.

“Are you really taking me out?” Meng Huan tried his best to stare at her face, observing her expression, fearing that there was some trick in it.

After all, he had been confined in the Wen family for more than half a year and had never gone out, and he was even constantly guarded against running away. She actually said she wanted to take him to a banquet, which was too abrupt.

Wen Zhaoyin pressed him on the couch and poured him some sugar water. After handing it over, she said, “Just kidding.”

Meng Huan took the sugar water but didn’t drink it and directly put it on the table. He quickly grabbed her hand and said, “You’re a woman, you can’t go back on your word!”

His action was too big. Although he grabbed the person, he accidentally knocked over the water on the table. The cup rolled off, and the sugar water spilled on both of them.

Wen Zhaoyin’s sleeves and waist were wet with a large patch, and his own clothes didn’t escape either, with the front and waistband wet.

She looked at him helplessly, “Should I let Wen Shu come less often? How can you be so careless like a child?”

Being told like this, Meng Huan also felt that his actions were too childish, and the words he used to repeatedly confirm just now were also quite stupid. He had never been like this before, how did he become like this after being confined for a long time?

No, he couldn’t be assimilated by that clumsy Wen Xi! He had to have the demeanor of a man!

“It’s just accidentally spilling water, changing clothes will do. Come, come, I’ll help you change.”

He reached out and untied her sash, directly throwing away the waistband, and pulled her outer robe down…

Just at this moment, Wen Xi walked in from outside. Seeing their appearance and actions, he didn’t even put down the tray in his hand and ran out with a red face.

Meng Huan saw his flustered appearance and felt that something was a bit off. He turned his head to look at Wen Zhaoyin, who was enjoying the show, and then at his own hand that was on her inner garment. His mood instantly became unpleasant.

What was that Wen Xi thinking about all day? He had improper thoughts just from seeing someone undressing, he was too indecent!

“Go change your clothes in the study yourself! I’m going to change too!”

After saying that, he got up, bypassed her, and walked towards the bedside. He randomly found a piece of clothing in the wardrobe and was about to change without a second word, but then he found that Wen Zhaoyin was walking towards him.

He stopped what he was doing, “There are no clothes for you here, yours are all in the cabinet in the study. What are you coming to me for…”

Before Meng Huan could finish his words, he was pulled and turned around, and hugged from behind. This hug was quite sudden, and he was stunned on the spot, not dodging.

Then he heard Wen Zhaoyin say in a low voice in his ear, “I’ve always disliked foolishness, but I never thought that you being foolish would be so interesting.”

What was this all about! This woman wasn’t flirting with him, was she! She even had the nerve to say such cliché words to him?

He struggled to pull away from her a little, “Stop talking nonsense, don’t get the water on me.”

“…” Wen Zhaoyin felt choked by his words. Wow, he really had a wooden head.

She instantly lost the feeling of finding him pleasing to the eye just now, and only thought that people were different after all. When she said such things to Huan Huan, she always received enthusiastic responses.

But what about him? He didn’t even want to listen, which made her angrier the more she thought about it.

“Then you change, I’ll go to the study.”

“Wait, wait, the knot on my sash is stuck and I can’t untie it. Help me untie it.”

Seeing her change her expression, Meng Huan quickly called her over.

Wen Zhaoyin looked back at him and raised her hand to call Wen Xi outside, but was preemptively intercepted by him, “No, I want you to help me untie it!”

“…” She glanced at him indifferently, then put down her raised hand that was about to call someone. She lowered her head to search for the knotted sash on his clothes, only to find that his lapel had long been open and there was no knotted sash to untie.

Meng Huan took advantage of her momentary daze and secretly kissed her lips. It wasn’t a deep kiss, just a brief touch, but it left her stunned.

“It’s untied now!” He looked at her with a smile full of joy. Seeing her expression gradually softening, he secretly let out a sigh of relief.

He couldn’t provoke this woman now. He not only had to coax her to agree to use the fish maw, but also wanted her to take him out for a walk the day after tomorrow.

Provoking her now would not lead to any good results.