Chapter 25: How to Deal with Turning White Too Quickly

At the hour of Shen, the two sat at the eight immortals table and had their meal.

Since the economical husband took the initiative to cook, after finishing dinner, Liu Changning stood up very consciously to clean up the leftovers on the table.

Pei Yuanshao stood to the side, his outstretched hand paused in midair. His lips moved, as if he wanted to take the bowls and chopsticks from her hands, but when he met her gaze, he quickly withdrew his hand.

He averted his eyes, his lips moving, and said earnestly, “This kind of thing is not for a lady to do. Well, anyway, we’re now living together, so it’s not a big deal. But you must remember, women should stay away from the kitchen. What should be done by the husband must be done by the husband, otherwise, with your usual temperament, you’ll eventually be nagged to death by your future husband.”

Liu Changning looked at him amusingly and joked, “Wasn’t I almost nagged to death by you? What sarcastic remarks. Between wife and husband, we are one, sharing household chores together, isn’t that how it should be?”

Pei Yuanshao choked, he looked at her in surprise, his eyes darkening a bit.

He grumbled awkwardly, “You’re too kind-hearted. If I leave in the future, you’ll have to find another husband to live with. I’m reminding you now, don’t be too considerate of your husband, or you’ll suffer for it.”

“Oh, thanks for your concern. If you and I can endure it, others will get along even better.” Liu Changning replied casually, finished cleaning up the bowls and chopsticks, and walked out of the main hall with her back turned.

Little did she know, the young man in the main hall stared blankly at her disappearing figure, a trace of bewilderment flashing in his ink-black eyes.

He looked at the flame of the candle, the flickering light reflected in his eyes, just like his current obscure mood.

If in the future, he left, she might marry another husband, showing this gentleness of bowing to pick up bowls and chopsticks to another man.

Thinking about such a person in the future, occupying her life, sharing joys and sorrows with each other.

Pei Yuanshao suddenly felt his heart starting to ache again, he shook his head, deliberately ignoring this dangerous emotion. He quickly returned to his room.

In the bedroom, two black-clothed guards stood with their heads bowed.

Pei Yuanshao opened the door, seeing the two at a glance, he narrowed his eyes imperceptibly, he walked to the desk with his hands behind his back.

His gaze focused on one of the black-clothed guards: “Dark Three?”

Dark Three was the spy Pei Yuanshao had planted by Jing Huan’s side. If it wasn’t for an urgent matter, he should be by Jing Huan’s side at this moment.

The black-clothed guard named by His Highness stepped forward two steps. He fell to the ground with a thud: “Your Highness, please forgive me, I have failed in my duty. Today… today I lost track of the Chief.”

Pei Yuanshao tapped on the table, his ink-black eyes flickering.

The warm yellow candlelight cast a halo on his sharp-featured profile, softening his facial lines somewhat, but the chilling aura around him suddenly increased dramatically.

Dark Three was skilled in concealment and tracking, with extremely high adaptability. For the past year, hidden in the shadows, he had never failed.

Now to have lost track of Jing Huan…

Pei Yuanshao frowned and asked, “How did you lose her? Explain in detail.”

“After Your Highness left the inn today, the Chief immediately gathered her confidants to discuss matters at the inn. Half an hour later, the Chief and all the guards left Huashi Town on horseback at full speed.”

Dark Three paused, his face grave: “I discovered that in the upper room of the inn, there appeared two identical Marquis of Zhennan, one leading the confidants out of the city. The other was wandering in the market. Having been hidden in the shadows for many years, I am very familiar with the Marquis of Zhennan’s features, so I could tell that the person staying in the city was her true self. Unfortunately, after following the Marquis of Zhennan around the market for a while, I completely lost track of her…”

Dark One pressed his lips, lowering his head: “I have failed in my duty, please punish me, master.”

Pei Yuanshao gripped the celadon pen holder in his hand, his eyes deep. He was silent for a while before sighing softly, “Forget it, this is not your fault! Jing Huan has always been cautious, it’s not surprising even if she discovered you. Stand up and speak.”

Seeing Dark Three rise, Pei Yuanshao turned his head to look at Hong Zhu, who was bowing with his head down, and asked in a low voice, “Has the matter on Guan Yunyun’s side been handled properly?”

“Lady Guan asked me to convey a message, the death guard sent by Pei Yunzhi was caught by the Chen family. Today, under severe torture, they traced the thread and found out about the Second Prince’s scheme in the capital, which framed the Chen family and forced them to marry their daughter to the magistrate of Beihuan County. The Chen family was furious, smashing a room full of celadon vases. And they ordered someone to ride at full speed to deliver a message to that Tai Fu in Jinling.”

Pei Yuanshao nodded, his tightly knitted brows not relaxing. He stood up and paced back and forth in the simple bedroom. After a moment, he ordered the two people in the hall, “Dark Three, follow the fake ‘Jing Huan’ and carefully see what her purpose is for this golden cicada shedding its shell. Hong Zhu, continue to have people keep a close eye on the Chen family. Although she has withdrawn her surveillance on me now, shifting her attention to Pei Yunzhi. You must never wait for me in the bedroom like today, be careful above all.”

“Yes!”

――

When Liu Changning finished washing the bowls and chopsticks and walked out of the kitchen, the candle in her economical husband’s room was still lit.

She had no time to worry about him, she finished washing up in the bathroom and went straight back to her room.

Tonight was the night of the full moon, a good time for meditation. She started the nourishing qi technique, sitting cross-legged in meditation.

An hour later, she suddenly opened her eyes. Whether it was because of the full moon night, or the effect of the medicinal bath from the past few days.

This meditation session had actually produced a thin layer of impurities on her body.

She went to the bathroom again, fetched water, and took a bath. When she returned to her room, a tall shadow was stretched long on the paper window of her economical husband’s inner room.

Liu Changning looked at the pitch-black sky, thinking of that person’s injury.

She reached out to pull the door ring, knocked twice, standing outside the door, and said lightly, “Sleep early.”

The person inside was obviously stunned for a moment, his voice deep and aloof, snorting, “The wife-master is too controlling, you go to sleep first.”

Having delivered the courtesy, the person didn’t listen, so Liu Changning didn’t linger, she turned and went back to the woodshed.

With her back turned, Liu Changning didn’t see that the person who was originally writing a letter, stared at the wooden door, hesitated for a moment, and put aside the wolf-hair brush that had already been dipped in thick ink.

He stood up and blew out the candle.

The bedding in the woodshed had been changed to new ones. Liu Changning took off her long robe and lay down on the wooden bed with thick padding, closing her eyes.

Moonlight poured into the room from the wide-open window, her face exposed in the soft moonlight.

It was an ordinary face, having shed most of its sallowness, it appeared smooth and lustrous under the moonlight.

If an acquaintance saw this face, the features would be no different from before, but at first glance, the skin had whitened a bit, as if transformed like a pearl shedding its dust.