Chapter 64: A Red-Faced Discovery in the Courtyard

After Fan Chuan finished bathing, she returned to the bedroom.

By then, Shen Lingwei had already washed up and was sitting by the round table, drinking tea while waiting for her.

 

Seeing Fan Chuan return, Shen Lingwei quickly stood up to greet her.

“Marshal, you’re back.”

“Mm.

Have you been waiting long?

I’ve already sent someone to prepare breakfast.

We’ll eat first, then talk.

If you get bored, you can go read in the study, or bring some books back to read, or take a walk around the residence.

Anything is fine.

No need to be so formal.”

Fan Chuan said with a smile.

Although she couldn’t trust Shen Lingwei, she could at least provide her with good food and drink.

 

After all, since they were already married, all she could do now was wait for the old emperor to allow them to leave.

“Alright.

I’ll go take a look at the study in a while.”

“Mm.”

Fan Chuan nodded slightly.

As the two were speaking, maidservants had already brought the morning meal.

 

After Fan Chuan and Shen Lingwei had breakfast together, Fan Chuan went out.

The dozen or so guards by Shen Lingwei’s side were all the old emperor’s men.

If she wanted to arrange certain things, she naturally had to avoid them.

 

Fan Chuan had Yun Heng send people to gather information.

But she couldn’t rush this matter of leaving.

In three days, according to the Great Zhou’s customs, she would have to accompany Shen Lingwei on her return visit home.

She could only leave after that.

 

On the other side, Shen Lingwei took Xiao Tao to the study in the courtyard.

Fan Chuan’s study was very large, with an entire wall of bookshelves, quite imposing.

However, most of them were military strategy books.

But there were also some travelogues that Shen Lingwei hadn’t read before.

 

She was a bit curious about the military books.

Since she had nothing else to do, she simply took a few to read, along with some travelogues.

 

Xiao Tao saw that the study door was closed and there were no outsiders around.

She couldn’t help herself and leaned in to ask quietly, “Young lady, what are we going to do?”

 

Shen Lingwei was amused by her words.

Her fingertips gently turned the pages.

“Things are fine now.

We came, so we’ll make the best of it.”

“But, young lady, did she bully you last night?”

Xiao Tao was almost in tears.

Her young lady was so delicate and frail.

She didn’t know if Fan Chuan would be gentle, or if she might hurt her young lady.

 

Shen Lingwei naturally understood Xiao Tao’s meaning.

She smiled faintly and shook her head.

“She’s quite nice.

Very polite, as you could see.

What are you still worried about?”

“But right now we’re in the capital.

Who knows, she might be pretending.

What if once we get to the northern border, she changes her tune, young lady?”

Xiao Tao asked urgently.

She had been with Shen Lingwei since childhood and had always valued her young lady’s life more than her own.

 

Hearing Xiao Tao’s words, Shen Lingwei closed the book in her hands and spoke seriously for once.

“Then we’ll have to rely on ourselves.

Don’t worry too much.

Fan Chuan won’t harm us, mistress and servant.”

 

Moreover, when Shen Lingwei was with Fan Chuan, she didn’t seem to be pretending.

Of course, some people were very good at disguising themselves.

Xiao Tao’s worries had merit.

But worrying more was useless.

For now, they could only take things one step at a time.

 

***

 

Wei Lan had spent these past few days basically in her workshop, busy carving jade.

Ever since she had thoroughly beaten Chen Ji Bookstore, Wei Lan had refocused her attention.

One reason was that her own hands were itching to carve jade.

Another was that Xiao Nanyan was pressing her for goods.

She hadn’t supplied Xiao Nanyan in a long time.

People who wanted to buy her jade couldn’t find Wei Lan, so they all went to bother Xiao Nanyan instead.

 

Xiao Nanyan had no choice but to send people to urge Wei Lan twice.

So Wei Lan had been diligently producing goods these past few days.

 

She had already carved a set of Qiemo blue twelve zodiac jade plaques, plus five or six small hand-held landscape or animal pieces.

But she still felt it wasn’t enough.

She decided to carve a few more ornaments and such.

Otherwise, making Xiao Nanyan wait this long was really embarrassing.

 

Wei Lan was now carving a landscape and figures ornament from a piece of lotus-pink jade material.

She had already reached the step of carving the design, which meant carving the figures and landscape on the jade’s surface.

 

She used the drill bit to carefully carve patterns on the jade’s surface, one stroke at a time.

Wei Lan’s hands were very strong.

All this carving had caused some calluses to form on her fingers in places.

Of course, she was used to it; carving jade would give you calluses.

 

The lotus-pink color was very beautiful, and the landscape ornament she was carving was also very elegant.

Of course, Wei Lan didn’t plan to throw away the small pieces of lotus-pink jade either.

In a few days, when she went to see Xiao Nanyan, she would borrow her tools and turn all those small scraps into beads.

 

It wasn’t easy to carve such a large landscape ornament into shape.

Wei Lan held this piece of lotus-pink material and carved it all day, even rushing through lunch, just taking a few bites before running back to carve.

 

She finally managed to finish the design carving step before dark.

But she didn’t have time for the other polishing steps.

 

Wei Lan had only eaten a few bites at noon before going back to work.

By now, she was starving.

She simply brushed the dust off her clothes, washed her hands, and started dinner early.

As for her bed, the blanket was spread open, and inside were her small hand-held pieces and the twelve zodiac plaques.

 

People could nourish jade.

And Lu Zijin had been busy again lately.

After all, autumn was the harvest season, and a major pillar of the Lu family’s business was grain trading.

So at this time every year, Lu Zijin would send people to various places to buy fresh grain, and she would also go to supervise.

Thus, Lu Zijin had been busy for five or six days and hadn’t come to see Wei Lan.

 

Lu Zijin was busy, and Wei Lan was busy too.

They were each busy with their own things.

So Wei Lan thought Lu Zijin probably wouldn’t come these days.

She missed her wife, but was afraid that if she went to see her, she might disturb her.

So she decided not to see each other for a few days.

After all, they were married and had a lifetime ahead of them; there was no need to rush these few days.

 

Therefore, she had been sleeping with her jade for several days.

Today was the same.

Wei Lan planned to have dinner and then go back to sleep with the jade in her blanket.

But unexpectedly, just as she was halfway through her meal, Lu Zijin arrived.

 

When Wei Lan saw Lu Zijin, her eyes lit up.

“Wife, why are you here?

I heard you’ve been very busy lately.

You must be exhausted.

Sit down.

Have you eaten dinner?

Would you like to have some with me?”

 

Lu Zijin saw how obedient the little dog was, and her eyes curved slightly.

“Mm, I have been a bit busy.

But I hadn’t seen you in days, so I came to check on you.

What have you been up to?”

“Carving jade.

I was so busy fighting with Chen Zhou’s shop before that I haven’t sold any jade to Xiao Nanyan in a long time.

She sent people to urge me several times.

I’ve been working hard these past few days, trying to produce as much as possible.”

Wei Lan quickly said.

 

Lu Zijin nodded.

“Mm.

You eat first.

I’ve already eaten.

I’ll stay here with you tonight, okay?”

“Mm-hmm!”

Wei Lan’s eyes lit up.

If she had a tail, it would definitely be wagging like a propeller.

“So good.”

Lu Zijin looked at Wei Lan’s obedient appearance, and the fatigue of the past few days melted away.

 

She had already eaten dinner, so she wasn’t hungry now.

She looked around Wei Lan’s bedroom.

Seeing that Wei Lan’s blanket was spread open, she instinctively asked,

“Why didn’t you have someone fold the blanket?”

“Oh, I’m about to sleep.

I just opened it when I got back.”

Wei Lan said, swallowing her food.

“Alright.

I’ll have someone prepare water first.

I’ll bathe first.

You can bathe after you finish eating.”

Lu Zijin walked slowly to Wei Lan’s side, reached out and touched Wei Lan’s cheek.

She had missed Wei Lan too.

Now that she saw her, her hands itched to touch her.

 

Wei Lan obediently pressed her cheek against her hand, but still reminded her, “Wife, I haven’t changed my clothes yet.

I might get yours dirty.”

 

Lu Zijin gave her a faint smile.

“It’s fine.

I’ll be changing anyway.”

 

Since heating the water would take a while, she sat down next to Wei Lan, picked up a bowl and spoon, and asked softly, “What would you like to eat?

I’ll serve it and feed you.”

“This is so embarrassing.

Hehe.

I want that fragrant and spicy pig’s trotter, mixed with some rice.”

Wei Lan said she was embarrassed, but she wasn’t about to miss the opportunity.

Her wife rarely fed her; of course, she had to take advantage!

 

Lu Zijin smiled gently at her.

She used the spoon to scoop up some spicy pig’s trotter and some rice, mixing them together.

The trotters were boneless, stewed until soft and sticky.

Mixed with the rice, the aroma of carbs and meat mingled, whetting the appetite.

 

Lu Zijin scooped up a spoonful and brought it to Wei Lan’s lips.

Wei Lan immediately ate it happily.

Whether it was psychological or not, food fed by her wife was really delicious.

“Mm-hmm, delicious.

You’re so good to me, wife.”

“Eat slowly.

No one’s competing with you.”

Lu Zijin smiled and shook her head, then scooped up another spoonful and brought it to Wei Lan’s lips.

 

Wei Lan continued to accept her wife’s feeding, her doggy tail practically pointing to the sky.

 

The maidservants were now pouring hot and cold water into the tub.

Several young maidservants saw their young lady feeding the master and blushed.

 

But they also knew that the young lady and the master had a good relationship, so they didn’t think much of it.

 

Lu Zijin fed Wei Lan the last piece of trotter meat from the bowl and said softly, “I’m going to bathe now.

You finish the rest yourself, okay?”

“Mm.

You’re so good to me, wife.

I like you the most.”

Wei Lan didn’t forget to say her daily sweet words to her wife.

Sure enough, Lu Zijin was very pleased and laughed.

 

Lu Zijin reached out and gently lifted Wei Lan’s chin.

“Good.

I like my little dog the most too.”

 

Lu Zijin stood up and touched Wei Lan’s hair.

“You continue eating.

I’ll go wait for you in bed.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Wei Lan hadn’t slept with her wife in days; her eyes lit up at the thought.

 

Lu Zijin saw Wei Lan staring at her with burning eyes and gave her a brilliant smile.

 

Wei Lan continued eating.

Perhaps because Qiankuns were naturally big eaters, plus she hadn’t eaten enough at lunch, this dinner took Wei Lan an especially long time.

By the time Lu Zijin came out after bathing, Wei Lan was still drinking soup.

 

After Lu Zijin dried her hair, she planned to get into bed and wait for Wei Lan.

She was tired after a long day, so she walked to the bed and said, “I’ll get into bed and wait for you.

Bathe quickly and come over.”

 

Wei Lan, hearing that her wife was waiting for her in bed, immediately felt an itch in her heart.

She urged the maidservants to change the water quickly; she needed to bathe now.

 

Lu Zijin saw the little dog’s hurried appearance and the smile on her lips grew wider.

She pulled back the blanket and lay down as usual.

But as soon as she lay down, her brow furrowed.

The bed curtains hadn’t been lowered yet, and she could see Wei Lan still sitting at the table, drinking soup.

 

The smile disappeared from Lu Zijin’s face.

She lifted the blanket and saw the scattered jade pieces inside.

Lu Zijin was stunned.

She frowned at Wei Lan.
“Wei Lan, what are all these things in your blanket?”

 

Wei Lan, hearing her wife call her name, immediately sensed trouble.

She had thought Lu Zijin wouldn’t come these days, so she had put her carved jade in the blanket, planning to sleep with it.

 

Wei Lan quickly got up and trotted to the bed.

“Wife, I thought you wouldn’t be coming these days, so I put the jade in the blanket to sleep.

People can nourish jade.

Sometimes, wearing jade can make it smoother and more lustrous.”

 

Wei Lan explained as she watched Lu Zijin’s expression.

Then she realized that the more she explained, the worse Lu Zijin’s expression became.

 

Lu Zijin glared at Wei Lan, pointing at the various scattered pieces in the blanket, and said coldly, “Which do you want?

Me, or these?

If you want these to sleep with you, I’ll leave right now.”

 

Lu Zijin’s chest heaved with anger as she made to get up.

Wei Lan quickly blocked her.

She obediently crouched by the bed and began to swear her loyalty.

“Wife, I was wrong.

Of course, I want you.

You’re much more important than these jade pieces.

Don’t be angry.

I’ll get rid of them all right now.”

 

Wei Lan gave Lu Zijin a few awkward smiles, then began pulling jade pieces out from under the blanket.

One, two, three…

 

Every time Wei Lan pulled out a piece, Lu Zijin’s brow twitched.

When Wei Lan had finished pulling them all out, Lu Zijin counted.

Wei Lan had actually put nearly twenty pieces of jade in the blanket.

 

Lu Zijin was so angry she pinched Wei Lan’s cheek.

“So this is why you haven’t come to see me these days.

You’ve been sleeping with your jade instead.

What, are these worthless stones more comfortable to sleep with than me?”

 

Wei Lan stood by the bed, listening to her wife scold her, then quickly shook her head, afraid that shaking too slowly would anger her further.

“No, no.

I was wrong.

Don’t be angry, wife.

I’ll take them all away right now.”

 

As she spoke, Wei Lan immediately found a large cloth, bundled all the jade pieces into it, and placed the bundle on the dressing table.

 

After doing this, she quickly ran back to the bed to appease her wife.

“Wife, I’ve taken them all away.

Don’t be angry.”

 

Lu Zijin glared at her, then curled her finger at Wei Lan.

Wei Lan immediately leaned down and leaned in.

“Wife, what is it?”

 

Lu Zijin tugged at the ‘little dog’ plaque on Wei Lan’s chest and pinched Wei Lan’s ear with her other hand.

“A disobedient little dog needs to be punished.

In the future, will you dare sleep with those things again?”

 

Wei Lan immediately admitted fault.

“I won’t dare.

I won’t dare again.

I’ll never bring them into the bedroom again.

I’ll only sleep with you, wife.”

 

Hearing Wei Lan say this, Lu Zijin felt a little better.

She tugged at the ‘little dog’ plaque again and pinched Wei Lan’s face a few times before saying flatly, “Go have someone change the blanket.

And you, go bathe quickly.”

“Okay.

I’ll call them in to change it right away.”

Wei Lan, seeing that Lu Zijin had calmed down, finally relaxed.

She quickly went out to call the young maidservants to change the bedding, while she herself hurried off to bathe.

 

Lu Zijin waited for the maidservants to finish changing the bedding, then lay sideways on the bed waiting for Wei Lan.

The little dog had misbehaved, so tonight she wouldn’t feed her.

 

Thinking this, Lu Zijin’s eyes curved.

She loved teasing the little dog, loved seeing her anxious expression when she couldn’t get the meat.

 

Sure enough, because she was in bed, Wei Lan bathed very quickly, even drying her hair in a rush.

 

When Wei Lan rushed to the bed, she saw Lu Zijin lying on her side, smiling at her.

 

Wei Lan couldn’t take her eyes off her.

Her wife looked so beautiful when she smiled.

She unconsciously leaned in, gently kissed Lu Zijin’s lips, and then buried herself in her wife’s chest, acting spoiled.

“Wife, I missed you so much.

I dreamed about you every night.”

Wei Lan hummed and whined, nuzzling against Lu Zijin, her doggy paws reaching for Lu Zijin’s garment sashes.

 

Lu Zijin naturally noticed.

She reached out and pressed down on Wei Lan’s hand, raising an eyebrow at her little Qiankun in her arms.

“What are you doing?”

 

Wei Lan gave an appeasing kiss to the corner of Lu Zijin’s lips, then nuzzled against her, acting spoiled.

“I want to play with the little phoenix.

It’s been days since I touched it.

Can I?”

 

Lu Zijin smiled kindly at Wei Lan.

Wei Lan, seeing her smile, thought she had agreed, and her eyes lit up.

Then, the next moment, she heard Lu Zijin’s icy voice.

“No.”

 

Wei Lan sniffled, shaking Lu Zijin and acting spoiled.

“Why not?

It’s been days since I touched it.”

 

Lu Zijin reached out and pinched Wei Lan’s cheek.

“Because a certain little dog misbehaved again.

Sleeping with jade behind my back.

Why don’t you ask your worthless stones to be your wife?

Hmm?”

“I was wrong.

I’ll never dare again.

Can’t I just play for a little while?”

Wei Lan continued playing pitiful, her doggy paws still reaching for Lu Zijin’s sashes, not withdrawing.

 

Lu Zijin patted Wei Lan’s hand and smiled faintly.

“No.

A disobedient dog doesn’t get the meat.”

 

With that, Lu Zijin pushed Wei Lan, turned her back to her, and prepared to sleep.

 

Wei Lan’s heart felt like it was being scratched by countless kittens.

She almost cried.

The little cherry was really delicious, and she loved it.

But her wife wouldn’t let her eat.

 

Wei Lan could only sniffle and look pitifully at Lu Zijin’s back.

In the end, she fell asleep without getting to eat the little cherry.

 

Early the next morning, Lu Zijin got up very early.

She didn’t even have breakfast at Wei Lan’s place, rushing off.

It seemed that because of the grain acquisition, she had to meet with various managers.

 

Wei Lan also got up early.

She had breakfast, then went to the dressing table to get the jade pieces she had pulled from the blanket the night before.

She pointed at the jade and muttered, “It’s all your fault.

If it weren’t for you, my wife wouldn’t have stopped me from touching.

I’m throwing you all into the workshop.

Hmph.”

 

With that, she carried the cloth bundle to the next room.

She still hadn’t polished yesterday’s lotus-pink landscape ornament; she needed to do that quickly.

 

But the wooden wheel and leather wheel steps were fast.

Wei Lan finished them in less than a morning.

She left the carving in the workshop, then went to bathe and took a walk in the courtyard.

 

After all, carving jade required long hours of sitting, which was bad for the back.

Walking around regularly was good for the body.

 

As Wei Lan was strolling in the courtyard, she saw Xi Ye, her face red, hurrying into the courtyard with a few books in her arms.

 

Wei Lan smelled something fishy and called out, “Xi Ye, where are you running off to so early?

What’s that you’re holding in your arms?”

 

Xi Ye, hearing this, started like a frightened bird.

She immediately hid the books behind her back, her face flushed as she looked at Wei Lan.

“Master, it’s nothing.

Just some ordinary books.”

 

As she spoke, Wei Lan had already walked closer.

She had never seen Xi Ye so flustered before.

After all, she was a military person, usually very composed.

 

Wei Lan thought something was off.

She had a sudden inspiration and pointed behind Xi Ye.

“Boss Zhou, when did you get here?”

 

Sure enough, Xi Ye immediately turned her head to look.

Wei Lan had already reached out and grabbed the books hidden behind Xi Ye’s back.

“Hand them over.”

 

Xi Ye was holding on very tightly.

Wei Lan only managed to pull one out.

She grabbed it and quickly ran off.

 

Xi Ye, seeing she was missing a book, was horrified and almost in tears.

“Master, those are mine!

You can’t read them!

Oh dear, they’re not ordinary books!

You can’t read them!”

 

Wei Lan was amused.

“What book can’t I read?

Don’t be so stingy.

I’ll just take one look and give it back.”

 

She wasn’t really trying to take them from Xi Ye, just teasing her.

 

Wei Lan smiled and looked at the cover, then pointed it out to Xi Ye.

“Isn’t this just a copy of the Analects?

You think I’ve never read the Analects?

Hmph.”

 

Xi Ye ran over to stop Wei Lan, but she was too late.

Wei Lan had already opened it.

 

Wei Lan’s gaze fell on the content inside.

The smile on her face froze, followed by her earlobes and cheeks turning bright red.

 

This book in her hand was not the Analects at all!

It was a picture book, filled with illustrations of various sexual positions.

After flipping through just two pages, Wei Lan’s face was already flushed.

But shy as she was, she still wanted to keep flipping.

However, the book was already snatched back by Xi Ye.

“I told you, you can’t read it!”

Xi Ye said excitedly.

 

Wei Lan rubbed her burning earlobes, then slung an arm around Xi Ye’s shoulder.

“Um, Xi Ye, let’s talk.

Could you lend me these books to read?

I think they’re actually quite interesting.”

 

Xi Ye was shocked.

She looked at Wei Lan with an expression that said, “So this is the kind of master you are.”

 

Wei Lan cleared her throat and made an excuse.

“Well, you’re not married yet anyway.

These books won’t be of much use to you.

Why don’t you lend them to me for a few days?

I’ll return them, I promise.

Don’t worry, I won’t damage them.”

 

Xi Ye hadn’t expected Wei Lan to actually want to borrow them.

She had originally found these books to be a hot potato.

Now, hearing Wei Lan ask, she gritted her teeth and said, “Don’t you regret it.

Take them, take them.

Take them all!”

 

Xi Ye immediately stuffed all six picture books into Wei Lan’s arms, then, her face red, ran back to her room and bolted the door.

 

She hadn’t bought these picture books.

Zhou Yufu had forced them on her.

 

The story went back to the past few days when Xi Ye had nothing to do.

Wei Lan was carving jade in the residence, so Xi Ye, as her guard, was idle.

After all, the residence’s defenses were tight, so she had nothing to do.

Xi Ye had been going out for walks on the street these days.

 

Who knew that just now on the street, she had run into Zhou Yufu?

Zhou Yufu had insisted on inviting her to her rouge shop.

There were many people on the street, and Xi Ye hadn’t wanted to embarrass Zhou Yufu, so she had followed her there.

 

She had sat on pins and needles, awkwardly chatting with Zhou Yufu.

Finally, when she couldn’t take it anymore and was about to leave, Zhou Yufu said she wanted to give her a few books.

She hadn’t been able to refuse, so she had taken the books and left.

 

She hadn’t opened them.

Only when she returned to the Lu residence did she feel something was off.

Zhou Yufu didn’t strike her as someone who liked reading.

Why would she give her books?

 

So Xi Ye opened one.

That one look was all it took; she nearly exploded.

These books were not the classics at all!

She had known it!

Zhou Yufu couldn’t be that well-behaved.

 

So, like a thief, she had hugged the picture books to her chest, afraid of being caught.

But she had been discovered by Wei Lan anyway.

Fortunately, she had stuffed all the picture books into Wei Lan’s arms.

Those naughty things had nothing to do with her anymore.

 

Wei Lan, on the other hand, was very interested in them.

She was still at the stage of just playing with the little phoenix with Lu Zijin.

She felt she knew roughly what else to do, but was still a bit hazy.

Now, with these picture books, she could study them properly and better please her wife.

 

Just thinking about it made Wei Lan so happy that she ran and jumped, hugging the picture books as she raced back to the bedroom.

She decided not to work this afternoon, but to really study these picture books!

 

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