Pei Yuanshao put down the book in his hand and looked at the hourglass not far away. He turned his head to see the woman beside him still spirited and focused. When she saw him close the book, a trace of regret even flashed across her face.

Pei Yuanshao’s sharp lips parted, swallowing back the “Let’s continue” that was about to slip out.

He irritably pinched his tear mole, not knowing what kind of poison this woman had recently put on him. Whenever she showed a regretful expression, he uncontrollably wanted to satisfy her.

Pei Yuanshao looked at her suspiciously, wondering if it was because he found her too pitiful?

Alone in the world, with a thin frame, and bullied by horrible relatives, truly a little pitiful thing.

If so, it wasn’t surprising that he felt compassion.

Pei Yuanshao’s eyes involuntarily showed two parts of pity: “If you want to hear me read to you in the future, every night is fine. It’s getting late tonight, reading under candlelight for too long can damage your eyes…”

Liu Changning hesitantly nodded at him, yawned, and then thanked him: “Listening to you speak is better than studying for ten years, truly enlightening, thank you. It’s late, shouldn’t we be going to bed now?”

Pei Yuanshao’s mouth, which had curled up from being praised, suddenly froze on his face. His mind went blank for a moment, he stepped back two paces and said warily: “Go to bed? We? You… want to… share a bed with this young master?”

Liu Changning looked up, a hint of amusement in her tea-colored eyes, teasing: “Is that okay?”

“Indecent woman!” Pei Yuanshao met her gaze, a flash of bewilderment passing through his eyes, pretending to be fierce as he raised his voice to scold.

He saw her turn away, lowering her head, her tea-colored eyes fixed tightly on the ground.

There was a puddle of water on the ground, and her cloth shoes were wet. Because there were no extra embroidered shoes at home, to avoid being presumptuous, she hadn’t changed them while in his room.

When Pei Yuanshao was explaining geography and culture to her earlier, he had casually asked about it.

Now as his gaze fell on her soaked cloth shoes, he couldn’t bring himself to say any more harsh words.

Pei Yuanshao thought to himself, knowing she wasn’t capable, had he been too harsh in scolding her as an indecent woman earlier?

Thinking of this, and looking again at the unsightly puddle of water by her feet.

After hesitating for a good while, he said with a reluctant face: “It’s not impossible for me to let you sleep in my bed tonight, but there must be a wooden pillow between us. If you dare to cross the line, I’ll…”

He snorted coldly: “I’ll whip you to death.”

Liu Changning had originally planned to make do with sleeping on the eight immortals table in the cheap husband’s outer room for the night, feeling regretful that if there was a moon tonight, sitting in meditation would be better than sleeping sprawled out. She didn’t expect the person opposite to suddenly be so friendly, not only voluntarily teaching her to “read”, but even allowing her on the bed!

She raised her head in shock to look at him, her usually indifferent eyes flickering with unusual emotions.

Seeing this farm woman’s grateful expression, the corner of Pei Yuanshao’s lips curved slightly, a flash of amusement passing through his eyes. He coughed lightly and said coldly: “What are you looking at? Even though this young master is handsome and kind-hearted, you’re not allowed to stare directly. If you want to have the demeanor of a scholar, you should know that a woman who stares at a young man is definitely not a good female monarch.”

Liu Changning: …

—

Outside, the wind howled and the rain poured down.

The two finished washing up and went to sleep, separated by a wooden pillow, each with their own quilt.

It was an extremely large wooden bed, big enough for two people to roll around in.

Liu Changning slept on the side near the wall, while the cheap husband slept fully clothed near the edge of the bed.

Tonight, the moon was covered by dark clouds, and there was no light in the room.

In the pitch darkness, Liu Changning could clearly hear the rapid breathing of the person beside her.

She found it a bit amusing, turning to her side, causing the wooden bed to emit a creaking sound.

The man beside her became increasingly tense as she turned.

Liu Changning curled her lips, reassuring him: “Don’t worry, I’m just borrowing the bed. I promise I won’t do anything inappropriate.”

The two were already on the same bed. As Liu Changning turned to her side, her breath brushed against Pei Yuanshao’s ear, causing him to shiver sensitively.

His eyes suddenly widened, not daring to turn his head, staring straight at the ceiling as he warned in a hoarse voice: “You… turn to your side and sleep.”

His words seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

Having gained an advantage, Liu Changning was now extremely patient. She didn’t say much more to him, just turned around and closed her eyes facing the earthen wall.

This bed had a soft mattress, neither as stifling as quilts nor lacking in softness.

It had been a long time since Liu Changning had slept on such a comfortable bed. She closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.

Pei Yuanshao listened to the even breathing beside his ear, stiffly pressed against the bed board like a fish out of water, breathing rapidly.

The shameful part below showed no signs of fatigue, remaining spirited.

There was an inexplicable fire in his body, feeling unbearably hot even after throwing off the quilt.

Pei Yuanshao pursed his lips, thinking that his act of kindness had become self-torture. Tomorrow, he would have to drive this farm woman out of his bedroom.

–

In West Qiao Village, after yesterday’s downpour, today’s country roads were full of potholes and difficult to walk on due to the mud.

The village head was extremely busy at the moment.

Following behind her was a group of refugees; she had to arrange proper accommodation for these people in every household.

Lang Huan Prefecture was located at the border between the Golden Phoenix Dynasty and the Northern Rong, where rebellions often occurred. Due to the war at the front, many villagers from the border would flee and scatter to villages like theirs that were far from the conflict.

The previous Empress had decreed that refugees fleeing due to war must not be driven away by any prefecture or county.

So for many years, whenever war broke out and refugees poured in, the village head would start bustling about.

Allocating these people to each household was, for the West Qiao villagers, a matter of exchanging an extra bowl of food for a laborer, and many villagers were willing to accept this arrangement.

By the time all the refugees had been arranged, it was already high noon.

The village head turned around and asked the last man in shabby clothes, looking like a beggar: “Are you sure you want to go to Liu Changning’s house in the west village for temporary accommodation?”

The tall man slightly pursed his full lips. He lowered his head and gave a soft “Mm” in response.

The village head sighed, fingering the bit of silver that this man had just given her as a gesture of goodwill in her purse. She couldn’t help but say a few more kind words: “Have you thought it through? That niece of the Liu family in the west village isn’t very capable. If you stay at her place, you might not even get enough coarse rice to eat your fill.”

The man in coarse linen clothes looked up towards the direction with the sun at his back: “Village Head, just take me there.”

“Alright then. If you really can’t get enough to eat later, you can come find me. I suppose I could help you find another household to stay with.”