Chapter 20 Startled by the Sound of Rain, Wife-master, Are You Done?…

Meng Jun hurriedly crawled out from under the covers, grabbed his outer clothes and draped them over his shoulders, then ran towards the door.

Jade is a symbol of noble women from aristocratic families. With this jade by their side, even male consorts without their wife-masters present need not fear oppression from outsiders, as they are protected by law.

If they suffer even the slightest grievance, they only need to report to the government office, and the testimony of the jade bearer will be taken as primary, resulting in severe punishment.

For a hundred years in the Great Jin, due to this law, very few noble women have gifted their personal jade to their husbands.

Unless facing death or great calamity.

The young gentleman didn’t want to hear either of these two possibilities. He yanked open the door abruptly.

Outside, the incessant rain had already soaked the entire world, with mist faintly visible all around.

No, he had to find Li Ruantang no matter what. Without time to think further, Meng Jun roughly tied his belt and lifted his foot, about to rush into the rain.

“Jiu jiu?”

Li Ruantang, who had just brought hot water from the kitchen, looked up to see her husband running out as if his life depended on it.

His hair was disheveled, his hastily thrown-on clothes hung loosely, without a trace of his usual noble air. In the rain-soaked earth, a bare foot clearly stepped into the mud.

Her heart leaped, and in a few strides, she crossed the muddy courtyard, scooping up the young gentleman in her arms. “You—”

Before she could finish her question, the young gentleman, who had been stunned just moments ago, suddenly came to his senses. Those slightly reddened phoenix eyes suddenly filled with grievance, and he bit down hard on Li Ruantang’s shoulder.

He used force, yet held back.

The low whimpers mixed with the pitter-patter of raindrops, enough to break one’s heart.

Li Ruantang gently patted the young gentleman’s back, smiled apologetically at Hu Youning who was holding the hot water, and turned to carry him back to the room.

In this back and forth, both were half-soaked by the rain. Especially the young gentleman sitting on the edge of the kang bed, his feet were muddy and red from the cold.

But he didn’t seem to care at all, only staring fixedly at Li Ruantang who was busily adding hot water to the bath tub.

Her back looked thinner than when they were in the capital. Although the wound on her forehead had scarred over, it still needed careful protection.

She clearly still needed someone to take care of her.

Meng Jun tightly clutched the mutton-fat jade in his palm, sniffling.

“Next time, no matter how urgent, you must put on shoes. Men’s bodies are naturally delicate, going barefoot in such cold weather could easily lead to fever and discomfort.”

Li Ruantang instructed the still sniffling young gentleman while testing the water temperature with her hand.

Jiu jiu was clever, he must have guessed her intentions.

Li Ruantang sighed quietly, it seems today was indeed as Hu Sanniang said, not suitable for any affairs.

Originally, they should have gone out early to investigate, but Zhou Fulang’s leg was acting up with rheumatism, too painful to walk. Hu Sanniang had to go to the back of the mountain to get some herbs to apply on it first.

This back and forth had taken quite some time.

If Li Ruantang went alone, she might not have had the physical strength to endure. Moreover, she never expected Jiu jiu to wake up so early.

She took a clean, soft towel and crouched in front of her young husband. As soon as she grasped his ankle, the coolness made Li Ruantang frown slightly.

“Wi-wife-master.” The young gentleman’s voice stuttered.

Her palm was warm, touching his ankle felt like a layer of fire, burning Meng Jun’s ear tips suddenly red. He wanted to pull his foot back, but Li Ruantang held it firmly, her movements gentle.

Those beautiful phoenix eyes glanced down briefly, then darted away nervously, paused, and sneakily looked back.

The soft towel in her hand was gently wiping away the mud on his feet, following Li Ruantang’s fingers.

The young gentleman’s handsome face flushed with embarrassment, and the soles of his feet tingled as the towel lightly brushed over them, causing an irrepressible tickle. He gripped the bedding tightly with his supporting hands, barely suppressing the laughter that threatened to escape.

“Wu, wife-master, are you done yet?”

The clear voice still carried a crying tone, but those handsome brows and eyes were neither bent nor straight, looking both sad and happy.

Inexplicably, it made one want to see more expressions on that fairy-like, picturesque face.

Li Ruantang’s hands paused, she hurriedly turned her back, “Do-done.”

Her tone serious, she pointed at the bath tub behind the bamboo screen and added, “You just caught a chill, go soak for a while first.”

With that, Li Ruantang stepped towards the door.

“Wife-master!” The young gentleman, not understanding, grabbed her arm, “Where are you going?”

“Are you going to leave Jiu jiu alone again?”

He asked urgently, the corners of his eyes that had just reddened were welling up with tears again.

“How could that be?” She still had her back turned, but even a few glances could see the tension in her shoulders.

The young gentleman’s eyelids twitched again. Usually, Li Ruantang would have sat down with him by now, comforting him.

Meng Jun gripped Li Ruantang’s sleeve tightly, annoyed, “Don’t try to fool me, wife-master.”

“I…” Li Ruantang’s chest tightened, but she couldn’t explain clearly to him. She only turned her face slightly to look at him and said, “I really won’t leave. Aren’t you going to bathe? I’ll just wait outside for a while.”

These past few days, whenever Meng Jun bathed, she indeed would go out to avoid it.

But now was different from before. Who knows if she might disappear once he sat in the bath tub.

“I don’t believe you!” The young gentleman was stubborn. He rolled his eyes, after all, Li Ruantang hadn’t done anything improper these past few days.

And she hardly understood matters between women and men.

Meng Jun steeled his heart and said softly, “Actually, wife-master doesn’t need to go out every time I bathe.”

“…” Li Ruantang’s ears instantly burned to the core.

The young gentleman clutching her sleeve was still oblivious, only softening his voice, “Wife-master, your outer skirt is wet, why don’t you take it off too and put it on the bamboo rack?”

Without the outer clothes, let’s see how she could sneak out.

The more Meng Jun thought about it, the more feasible this plan seemed. He had been wanting to soak in hot water for a long time, as his body was already chilled. Now that he had an idea, his hands moved even faster. Tugging at Li Ruantang’s sleeve, he headed towards the bamboo rack.

“Jiu jiu, Jiu jiu, wait, you…”

Li Ruantang’s ear tips reddened again and again, but she didn’t dare use force to hurt the young gentleman who was struggling with her belt. Half-pushing and half-following, she walked to the bamboo rack.

The warm steam hit her face, making Li Ruantang’s earlobes seem about to drip blood. But the head buried in her lapel was still nuzzling back and forth restlessly.

Li Ruantang’s fingers, hidden in her sleeves, clenched until they turned white, only then did she suppress some inappropriate thoughts.

“Wife-master.”

At this moment, the young gentleman, who had been struggling for half a day, still couldn’t untie her belt. He looked up slightly, pouting discontentedly, “I can’t undo it.”

His clothes were already loose and disheveled. Now after all the fussing, the collar that should have been neatly tucked was slightly open, half-concealing the delicate skin beneath. Like that piece of mutton-fat jade she had specially gifted to Jiu jiu, one glance was enough to know it would be smooth to the touch.

“Wife-master?” The young gentleman urged the dazed Li Ruantang, “Help me, otherwise the water will get cold.”

That clear voice carried an unnamed grievance, like a small hook,

Li Ruantang hurriedly turned her head, not waiting for the young gentleman to say a second sentence, she quickly put her outer clothes in his hands.

She turned around extremely fast, as if some flood or beast was chasing her from behind, hurriedly walking towards the door, “I, I’ll still wait for you outside.”

“Wife-master!” The young gentleman chased a few steps, suddenly noticing her reddened earlobes. Strange, he hadn’t said anything improper.

He couldn’t understand, and peeked a few more times at Li Ruantang standing at the door looking at the sky. Only then did he feel at ease. The young gentleman let out a light sigh, casually draped her outer clothes on the bamboo rack, turned his head, and saw the bath tub full of small red flowers he had picked yesterday.

Meng Jun’s heart warmed, his eyes curved as he sat in it, cupping the flower petals and sniffing them again and again. Then he gently touched the brocade clothes hanging on the bamboo rack.

From time to time, he would call out to Li Ruantang a few more times, and hearing her response, the young gentleman’s tense nerves would gradually relax.

However, that part of her skirt hem, who knows when it had torn a hole.

Meng Jun frowned slightly, leaned forward to look closer, the damage wasn’t big, but it would take some care to mend. They say women pay the most attention to clothing, and now that he bore the title of her husband, there was no reason to pretend not to see it.

There were needles and thread in this room. However, the young gentleman was also very self-aware of his own skills.

He hurriedly wiped his wet hair, hugged Li Ruantang’s outer clothes and sat at the table, frowning and gesturing again and again.

What should he embroider?

While the young gentleman in the room was lost in thought, Li Ruantang outside the room had been blown by the cold wind for quite a while, and the burning sensation all over her body had just barely subsided.

She sighed softly, covering her face with some frustration.

Just now, in that moment, that “not yet” that almost slipped out broke her self-restraint.

She never knew that such a clear voice could be so soft and tender. Moreover, she never expected that deep down, she would want that crying tone to last a little longer.

Li Ruantang closed her eyes, reproaching herself for having such thoughts. Especially towards Jiu jiu, who clearly didn’t understand such matters.

“Wife-master.”

Her young husband, who hadn’t noticed anything, suddenly opened the door and pulled her inside mysteriously for a few steps, “Look!”

The half-wet long robe was hung on the bamboo rack by Jiu jiu. He was wearing the cloth clothes bought from Zhou Fulang a few days ago, excitedly holding up the mended skirt hem for her to see.

The total word count of this book is: 589,323 words “This little rabbit is a bit round.” He glanced at Li Ruantang beside him, seeing no dislike from her, the corners of his lips immediately curved high, “But it still looks very cute, right?”

The skirt hem that came into view had been carefully embroidered with a small grey rabbit.

Before Li Ruantang could speak, the young gentleman hurriedly added, “If wife-master doesn’t like it, I can embroider something else.”

“However—” he lowered his eyes in frustration, “There’s only grey thread here.”

Originally, he wanted to embroider a snow-white little rabbit.

“In my opinion, the little grey rabbit is very nice.”

“Really?”

Li Ruantang nodded, and the young gentleman immediately became joyful again.

She looked tenderly at Jiu jiu who was dealing with the loose threads, her heart sweetening, and said seriously, “It’s indeed very cute.”

Clearly knowing she was praising the little grey rabbit, the young gentleman’s cheeks still couldn’t help but flush red and hot. He secretly looked up, just to hear Li Ruantang say solemnly, “Jiu jiu, there’s something I’ve been hiding from you.”

She paused, then said in a low voice, “Actually, I’ve pretty much recovered my memories.”