He Sanlang’s eyes shone with the light of the stars as he stared fixedly at Chu Lian with a flushed face and heavy breathing.
Chu Lian’s own face was turning more and more red as she felt his gaze on her.
All of a sudden, He Sanlang actually broke out into a smile and let out a peal of relaxed laughter. That spontaneous and genuine smile shocked Chu Lian silly.
He Changdi was well-known for his outstanding appearance all over the capital.
Ever since Chu Lian had arrived in the Great Wu Dynasty, all she had seen of him was his aloof and haughty side. He always kept a cold aura cloaked around himself to repel everyone away from him. She had never seen such an unguarded and unrestrained smile from him before.
That rare display of emotions from him drew a profound change in her own heart; it was as if an ancient wall of ice had melted under the strength of the sun. It felt warm and comfortable.
Compared to his usual cool facade, Chu Lian felt that this agreeable and warm look suited He Sanlang more.
When she thought back to the original story’s description of him, this was likely how He Changdi had been before he had gotten married!
A pang of sympathy surfaced in her heart when her thoughts led her to that reminder.
Although she didn’t know why he was fighting so hard, she knew that he must have some sort of reason for his actions.
Now that Chu Lian had broken the strange mood that had been hanging over them, a little of He Sanlang’s rationality had returned. He suppressed the desires in his heart, but kept Chu Lian close to him.
Due to the passion from before, his voice was still a little husky. “Yes, I’m horrible. It’s my bad, I shouldn’t have lied to you.”
Chu Lian had already suffered several rounds of fright ever since waking up this morning. Her life was terribly exciting.
She stared at He Changdi, mouth agape. So this stubborn man actually had times when he would apologise?
She pulled out her hand and rested it on He Sanlang’s forehead, murmuring under her breath as she did so, “That’s weird, he doesn’t have a fever…”
The warmth on He Sanlang’s expression immediately faded away, exchanged for frustration.
He replied with a mix of shame and anger, “Chu Lian!”
Chu Lian laughed sheepishly, “Ehe. So you’re actually normal sometimes, my dear husband?”
“When have I been abnormal?”
“You’ve always been abnormal.” Unfortunately, Chu Lian only dared to speak these words in her heart. She wasn’t so stupid as to provoke the bear who had her in his clutches right now.
When He Sanlang looked down and noticed that her eyes were sparkling with humour at her own thoughts, he had to urge to rub his cheeks against hers.
The moment the urge came to him, he acted it out without any restraint.
Chu Lian suffered the stabbing and prickling of stubble on her tender skin and quickly shook her head, trying to dodge his face.
She raged, “He Changdi, you haven’t shaved!”
The air between the couple had turned harmonious all of a sudden.
By the time He Changdi had his fill of snuggling, the two of them were panting for breath.
He Sanlang cradled the back of Chu Lian’s head with his palm, pressing her head on his broad chest. He took a deep breath to gather his determination before declaring, “Chu Lian, once I’m fully healed, let’s get together. If… that’s alright with you?”
This time, Chu Lian didn’t shove his words back in his face like she had done previously in the army camp. She gripped his collar tightly as she rested her head on his chest. After a moment, her low and muffled voice resounded.
There weren’t any words in her reply; just a simple affirmative ‘mm’ mumbled into his shirt.
The anxiety in He Sanlang’s heart instantly transformed into a burst of fireworks, overwhelming him and giving him the urge to fly up into the sky.
Fifteen minutes later, He Changdi pulled Chu Lian away from him with his strong arms, tugging her slender body out from his embrace.
It was rare for them to have such a warm and peaceful moment, so Chu Lian didn’t want to move at all. She looked up with confusion at He Changdi, asking with her soft voice, “What’s wrong?”
He Sanlang leaned over to place a kiss on her tender pink lips. “Be good for me and get off the bed first. I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold back any longer.”
A blush returned in full force to Chu Lian’s face and she quickly scurried out of his arms awkwardly.
She put on her embroidered shoes again and straightened out her clothing before shooting a ‘fierce’ glare at He Changdi.
“I’m going to find a razor. You have to shave your stubble now.” After giving herself a shoddy excuse, Chu Lian turned and made her escape from the room.
After they had finally agreed to be together, even though their following interactions weren’t very intimate, it took He Sanlang a lot of effort to control his physical reactions so that it wouldn’t cause more embarrassing incidents.
He Changdi was a very restrained person in the first place. Although it was hard for him to hold his bodily reactions back, when he thought of how Chu Lian had finally agreed to be with him, this sweet torture felt like nothing.
Chu Lian didn’t give much thought to their snuggling at all. As a woman, she didn’t have much in the way of sexual needs.
Instead, she rather enjoyed the sweet closeness they shared.
When Chu Lian finally found a razor and returned to the room, He Changdi didn’t let her do it for him and shaved his own stubble. Later on, with Chu Lian’s help, he wiped down his body and washed his hair.
He couldn’t take a bath due to the position of his injuries, so he could only make do.
Once the twenty-seventh had passed, New Year’s Eve soon arrived.
There was a touch of celebration in the air, even in the frigid north.
Naturally, Liangzhou City was the most festive compared to the other cities nearby.
Chu Lian had gotten up early in the morning to start preparing dinner for the New Year. Wenqing and Wenlan were also so busy that they didn’t have any time to rest. Manager Qin and his subordinates finally returned to the He Estate in the afternoon.
Wenqing and Wenlan knew that Manager Qin had gone out on Third Young Madam’s orders, but they didn’t know what exactly he had gone out to do. However, they weren’t too curious about it. They knew that anything done on Third Young Madam’s instructions was definitely good for their household and good for Third Young Master, so there was nothing for them to worry about.
Chu Lian had ordered Wenqing to start cooking a large pot of braised pork in the morning. Wenqing had found it strange and asked, “Third Young Madam, even if we give a whole bowl of this to everyone in this estate, we won’t be able to finish this up!”
Chu Lian smiled secretively, “You’ll know why when it comes to dinner time.”
Since Chu Lian had already explained it like that, Wenqing dropped her line of questioning.
Chu Lian found it funny. She refused to believe that Captain Guo and the others wouldn’t come over to the He Estate to beg off a free meal when faced with such a great excuse.
