Chapter 18: The Tranquility of Night, I Want to Go Out to Find My Wife-Master

The sunset glow reflected on the horizon, revealing a fiery red brilliance.

Li Ruantang walked slowly towards the Hu family’s house. Before she got close, she saw a leg tentatively stretching out from the back window.

Judging by the color of the clothes, who else could it be but Chouchou?

Without a foothold, the young gentleman could only press his toes firmly against the wall. His arms clung to the window frame as he tried to stretch out his other leg, preparing to jump down in one go.

“Chouchou, I’m coming in.”

Just at this moment, Hu Youning brought in the brewed tea, and the thin wooden door was about to be pushed open.

The young gentleman gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, loosening his fingers that were gripping the window frame.

He fell down, partly jumping, partly tumbling.

However, the expected pain did not come. When Meng Jun opened his eyes, he saw Li Ruantang’s pained expression.

“Wife-master?”

Seeing her suddenly, the young gentleman couldn’t contain the joy in his heart. He tightly hugged Li Ruantang, who was pressed to the ground, “Is it really you?”

His messy bangs brushed against her neck, and his clear voice carried a slight tremor, “I’m glad you’re alright.”

“Silly Chouchou, didn’t I tell you to wait for me in the room?” Li Ruantang gently patted his back, secretly taking a breath as she looked at the window more than a person’s height off the ground.

In the capital, young men were usually kept in the inner chambers. Chouchou’s legs were visibly shaking earlier, clearly showing he had never done this before.

“I wanted to come out to find my wife-master,” the young gentleman’s voice lowered. “We agreed to return to the capital together. I can’t help with things outside, but I…”

But what, he wasn’t really sure. However, since they had made a pinky promise, he should be by her side.

“Silly boy,” Li Ruantang chuckled softly. “Who says Chouchou can’t help?”

“If it weren’t for that day when we went to the riverside together to wash clothes, I wouldn’t have known about the relationship between Cao Rui and Wang Wuniang. Come to think of it, all of this is because Chouchou is my lucky star.”

“Oh?” Meng Jun’s heart melted.

“Li Ruantang, I actually trust people easily,” those beautiful phoenix eyes brightened and curved. “Since you say so, I’ll take it to heart.”

“Mm, I’m not lying to you.”

“Then you—” Before the young gentleman could finish, Hu Youning’s anxious low call came from inside the room.

“Ah, it’s Ah Ning.” Meng Jun got up from Li Ruantang’s arms a bit embarrassedly and waved towards the room on tiptoe.

“Chouchou, how did you climb out the window!” Hu Youning quickly leaned out of the back window, “If Lady Li finds out…”

Below the back window, the woman he was speaking of was patting the dust off her clothes. Her smiling eyes were still following Chouchou’s figure.

Hu Youning’s worried words were pressed back by his tongue, swallowed back. He quietly watched as the shadows of the two were cast together by the setting sun.

“Ah Ning?” The young gentleman waved his hand in front of him, “Are you still angry with me?”

“How could I be?” Hu Youning came back to his senses and put on a smile, “Since Lady Li is back too, you should come in quickly.”

“Mm.” The young gentleman nodded happily, following behind Li Ruantang.

The sunset elongated the shadows of the figures walking away.

“Ning’er.”

Zhou Fulang’s voice came from the doorway. Hu Youning hurriedly closed the back window and responded, walking to the door. But he stopped in his tracks, looking at the flower wreath placed in a corner.

Especially the wreath Li Ruantang gave to Chouchou, which had many red, blue, purple, and yellow flowers.

He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and plucked a red flower, quietly holding it in his palm.

Outside, Zhou Fulang had already opened the courtyard gate.

Back in the room.

The young gentleman had noticed early on that her walking posture was a bit stiff. Could it be that cushioning his fall had aggravated her injuries?

He looked rather worriedly at Li Ruantang, who was washing her hands, “Why don’t I help you massage where it hurts from the fall?”

Ah Ning had just brought over some clear water, and also said that Hu Sanniang and Miss Cao had been waiting for her in the main hall for a long time. If Li Ruantang went over like this, who knows how long she would have to endure the pain while sitting.

Those beautiful phoenix eyes were intently looking at her waist and back. Li Ruantang felt her cheeks burning faintly.

She slowly shook her head.

“Wife-master, after all, you’re in pain again because of me.” The young gentleman didn’t give up. He held onto Li Ruantang’s sleeve, “Actually, I can just blow on it for my wife-master.”

A waist and back injury was different from her forehead or finger injuries, it would probably take a long time to blow on it.

But he wasn’t afraid of his cheeks getting sore from blowing for a long time, as long as Li Ruantang could get better soon.

“Chouchou.” Li Ruantang’s eyes darkened as she looked down at him.

“Mm, don’t be afraid, wife-master. I’ll just blow on it and it’ll be fine.” The young gentleman’s eyes were bright and sparkling, as if they held thousands of stars, shining brilliantly in the night.

He nodded very affirmatively, patting the spot beside him for her to lie down.

“……”

Li Ruantang’s ear tips turned red. She took several deep breaths before leaning close to the young gentleman’s ear and whispering, “But Chouchou, my injury—”

She paused, pursing her lips rather resignedly, “is below my waist and back.”

“Below the waist and back?”

The young gentleman dazedly continued her words and looked down, confused. His expression suddenly turned as red as the sunset, coloring his eyes and brows.

Heavens! What had he just said!

“Chouchou, just remember to help me apply medicine at night.” Li Ruantang watched as his handsome face gradually turned completely red, unable to help but curl her lips, “As for my injury there, it’s not a big deal.”

She reached out to ruffle the young gentleman’s hair, then slowly walked out.

As she closed the door, she could faintly see her young husband rolling back and forth on the kang bed in frustration.

Li Ruantang curved her lips. Silly Chouchou.

In the main hall, Hu Sanniang was excitedly talking with Cao Rui. Upon seeing Li Ruantang, both of them stood up at once, hurriedly smiling and exchanging some pleasantries.

Throughout the meal, the three of them were quite harmonious.

As the wine warmed them, Cao Rui didn’t forget her purpose for coming. She held her cup with both hands and toasted Li Ruantang, saying, “Lady Li, this student has an unreasonable request, and hopes that the lady will grant it.”

“Please speak, Miss Cao.”

“This student has been studying since childhood, now for thirteen years. In our Great Jin, all scholars aspire to attend Qingshan Academy.”

“Unfortunately, five years ago when this student took the entrance exam, I failed to pass. Now this student is fully prepared, but lacks only a person to recommend me. I wonder if Lady Li would be willing to involve herself in such a mundane matter?”

She asked humbly. Li Ruantang used tea instead of wine, smiling slightly. After pondering for a moment, she said, “This is not a difficult matter. Since Miss Cao has studied diligently for so long, she should indeed be given another chance.”

“However, Miss Cao should also know that having someone recommend you does not guarantee that you will pass the entrance exam. Qingshan Academy has always upheld true talent and real learning.”

“This student understands. In that case, this student thanks Lady Li in advance.” The stone in Cao Rui’s heart dropped, and she hurriedly served dishes and poured tea for Li Ruantang.

When the moon rose above the treetops, the tipsy Cao Rui finally stumbled out of the Hu family’s house. Hu Sanniang, who had a good alcohol tolerance, was still clear-headed despite drinking a lot. She insisted on sending Cao Rui back.

Zhou Fulang couldn’t help but worry, so he also followed with a lantern.

For a time, only two rooms in the Hu family courtyard had lights on.

Li Ruantang had been sitting all evening. Not only did her waist and back hurt, but she also felt dizzy from the alcohol fumes.

When she pushed open the door and entered the room, she saw her young husband lying on the bedding, counting the flowers on the wreath.

Earlier, when the women were dining in the main hall, the men had all gone to Hu Youning’s room.

He didn’t know if it was his imagination, but Meng Jun felt that Ah Ning seemed a bit distracted tonight. So he didn’t stay long and returned to the room early.

Originally, he was counting the flowers out of boredom, but after counting several times, the number of small flowers on the wreath was always wrong.

He had counted again just this morning, so it couldn’t be that he remembered wrong.

“Wife-master, do you remember how many small red flowers you used when you made the wreath?” Meng Jun sat up and showed her the wreath.

There was a hint of anxiety in his eyes. Li Ruantang felt a sweetness in her heart and couldn’t help but tease him, “Why are you counting them?”

“Eh?” The young gentleman was stunned.

Yes, why was he counting them?

He couldn’t give a reason, so he could only follow his original intention and say, “Because… because it’s from my wife-master.”

That’s why he couldn’t help but want to touch the small flowers on it, and after touching them over and over, he remembered the number. But now, one of his small red flowers was missing.

The young gentleman lowered his head sadly, thinking it must be because he didn’t put enough water droplets on it this morning. The small flower had withered and fallen on the table, then been blown away by the wind.

“Silly Chouchou.” Li Ruantang picked up a red flower from the flower basket he had placed on the table and gently put it into the wreath. “I used nine small red flowers. See, isn’t it the same as before now?”

Not only did the number match, but even the position was exactly the same.

Meng Jun carefully took the wreath, suddenly realizing something, “Does wife-master mean that the number of each type of flower was planned in advance?”

But why were they all nine?

The candlelight in the room flickered, casting a dim yellow light on the ground, hiding the barely noticeable blush.

Li Ruantang nodded, her almond eyes glancing away slightly as she said softly, “Because ‘nine’ and ‘Chou’ sound similar.”

Her voice was gentle, like a feather falling on a cloud.

The young gentleman was stunned for a moment. A thought flashed through his mind but quickly slipped away, leaving him feeling confused and frowning.

Even while soaking in the bathtub full of flower petals, Meng Jun was still deep in thought.

However.

The young gentleman scooped up a handful of clear water, looking at the fragrant flower petals in it, then secretly glanced back at Li Ruantang who was arranging the pillows.

Why did she give him the name “Chouchou” in the first place?

Was it because he was crying so loudly at that time?

Many thoughts rushed through the young gentleman’s mind. He shook his head vigorously. Forget it, what did all this have to do with him, Meng Jun!

He reached out to lift his hair and sniffed it. Hmm, it indeed had a faint sweet scent. He just wondered if it could linger a bit longer.

The young gentleman curved his lips into a smile and came out wearing his clothes. At a glance, he saw the buckwheat pillows placed close together on the kang bed.

Being so close, did this mean she was going to sleep while hugging him?

His hair still had small water droplets, but fine beads of sweat were gradually appearing on the tip of his nose. Meng Jun’s heart skipped a beat as he secretly glanced at the figure behind the clothes rack.

How could he have forgotten about this? It was all because of those people who came to make trouble during the day.

The young gentleman sat on the edge of the kang, feeling as if he was sitting on a pile of fire. It burned his handsome face with boundless beauty. His mind was filled with the seventy percent certainty she mentioned in the afternoon.

What excuse should he come up with?

Meng Jun’s heart was pounding rapidly. Seeing that Li Ruantang was about to get out of the water, the young gentleman hurriedly kicked off his shoes and hid himself completely under the covers.

He quickly closed his eyes, pretending to be fast asleep.

Li Ruantang dried her hair and turned around to see her young husband, his black hair not yet completely dry, already tired and sleepy, lying face down on the pillow and having fallen directly into a dream.

She felt quite sorry for him and gently propped the young gentleman up, leaning him against her embrace. Her hands were light and soft as she wrung out his hair.

During this time, whenever Chouchou’s breathing changed, Li Ruantang would cautiously stop, afraid of waking him up.

“Chouchou.” After all, he was sound asleep. Li Ruantang held him a bit longer before quietly murmuring to herself, “I’m afraid many people won’t be able to sleep peacefully tonight.”