Chapter 15: Sending Some Snacks (1)
He Sanlang finished the last piece of venison with all his might and immediately felt his stomach rebel. He quickly covered his mouth to keep in whatever he had just eaten. Due to the pain of holding back from hurling, his fair face turned an unsightly red and his expression contorted.
When he saw the teacup before him, he immediately picked it up and gulped the water down, beyond caring that it was Chu Lian who had poured it for him.
Chu Lian looked at him with a combination of surprise and shock, eyes widening.
Once he had finished swallowing it all down, He Changdi turned his fierce glare onto Chu Lian. He wore an extremely unnatural expression, like that of a man trying to flaunt his Pyrrhic victory. Finally, he left the parlour in a hurry.
Right after He Sanlang left, Chu Lian made a noise of sympathy in the direction he had gone. That guy had run so fast, he must have gone to look for a place to throw up.
As expected, after He Sanlang strode out of the courtyard, his usual handsome self was nowhere in sight as he held onto a camphor tree and puked his guts out. The poor guy felt like he was about to throw up everything in his stomach, including the food he had eaten at the wedding banquet yesterday.
After he had purged from his gut all the venison that he had scarfed down, He Changdi looked up with a pale face and rubbed away the remnants of vomit from the corners of his mouth. He stared in the direction of the courtyard with a deep and serene look. Upon recalling Chu Lian’s extremely aggrieved expression and how she had stopped herself from speaking, the pain he had gone through felt almost worth it.
When he had reincarnated back into this life, it was already too close to the wedding day, so he couldn’t change their marriage. However, as long as he existed, that wicked woman had better think twice about passing her days in peace!
Meanwhile, the object of He Changdi’s curses and bad thoughts was currently bored stiff, staring at the still-full dishes on the table with a blank face.
Senior Servant Gui used the serving chopsticks to place some fish in Third Young Madam’s bowl, her eyes slightly red. “Third Young Madam, Third Young Master isn’t here anymore. You didn’t eat enough, so please eat a little more!”
Chu Lian shook her head, “I’m not eating anymore, I’m already full. Just clear the table!”
Mingyan hurriedly tried to persuade her otherwise. “Third Young Madam, please don’t worry. Third Young Master went out and he won’t be back so soon. Although this perch isn’t as delicious as the venison, it’s still something we don’t get to eat very often! Why don’t you try a small mouthful?”
Chu Lian finally realised what was happening. She looked up at Senior Servant Gui and the maidservants, stupefied. She smiled and sighed, helpless in the face of their concern. “Did you think that I didn’t dare to eat because I was scared of my husband?”
Senior Servant Gui looked at her with concern. The look in her eyes confirmed Chu Lian’s suspicions.
Chu Lian held her forehead in her hands and explained, “You were thinking too much! I didn’t eat much because these dishes aren’t to my taste.”
Although Senior Servant Gui hoped that she could convince her to eat a little more, as Chu Lian’s servant, she couldn’t possibly force the matter. Since Chu Lian was insistent, she could only instruct the maidservants to clear the table.
In the late afternoon, Matriarch He specially sent one of her most trusted servants, Senior Servant Liu, over with some nourishing soup. With Senior Servant Liu watching from the side, Chu Lian couldn’t reject it; the only thing she could do was force herself to drink it down. The soup tasted extremely strange… Who knew what had gone into it? After Senior Servant Liu took her leave, Chu Lian had to drink three cups of water and eat two candied kumquats to remove that strange taste from her mouth.
After that torture, Chu Lian lost all interest in even taking a nap.
She recalled the candied kumquats she had ordered Xiyan to make earlier, so she got Senior Servant Gui to arrange them on some pretty plates. Chu Lian then personally set off to send them to Matriarch He and her mother-in-law, Countess Jing’an.
Matriarch He had the habit of taking an afternoon nap, and was still sleeping when Chu Lian arrived at Qingxi Hall. Thus, she passed the candied kumquats to Senior Servant Liu.
When she reached Countess Jing’an’s courtyard, Chu Lian only spent ten minutes there before leaving, afraid that she would disturb her mother-in-law’s rest.
After returning to her own courtyard, she asked for He Changdi’s whereabouts. When she heard that he was in the study at the outer court, she decided not to disturb him and went to take a nap, Xiyan by her side.
It was currently spring, right at the time when the air was starting to warm up and the flowers were starting to bloom. The temperature outside was comfortable. The bridal chamber faced the direction of the morning sun, so sunlight was streaming in from a nearby window, warming her up. Xiyan let down the thin, red curtains on the sides of the bed and left her alone, lying in the exquisitely made bedchamber.
Chu Lian rolled about on the soft, fragrant bed, carefree and relaxed. Following that, she placed her arms behind her head and stared at the auspicious drawings on the roof of the bedchamber.
Although the husband she had married was completely different from the novel’s ‘He Changdi’, Chu Lian didn’t feel any regrets or fear. She was naturally optimistic and independent, and had never ever been pessimistic in her life.
Back in the modern world, she had been an orphan who had built her own business from scratch. However, she hadn’t made many friends, and had never found her better half. Although she had come to the Great Wu Dynasty by accident, living here or living in the modern world was all the same to her!
Besides, she was ten years younger here and had even gotten a free handsome husband to boot! Although it was true that her husband was a little strange, Chu Lian wasn’t discouraged.
If she could easily pass her days with her husband, then she would do her best to do so. If they really couldn’t get along, she could just live as a layabout as a member of the Jing’an Household. She would be fine as long as she didn’t do anything stupid like the original female lead had.
As for He Changdi, if he really didn’t like her, there was nothing she could do.
She had transmigrated into this world on her wedding day, so everything had already been set in stone. In this ancient era, cancelling a marriage contract, especially one involving the alliance of two families, wasn’t something that could be done by just signing a divorce certificate at some bureau.
So far, there was no danger in staying in the Jing’an Estate. Her top priority now was to improve her lifestyle. Right, she should start with her food!
Dressed in a thin nightgown, Chu Lian had her legs crossed while lying down on the bed. While thinking up some plans to improve her meals, she wiggled her little feet, completely comfortable in her new environment.
However, for some reason, she began to feel hot all over…
