The incense burner in the bedroom was giving off a faint watery fragrance. The decor of the room made it clear that it belonged to a lady. He Changdi took in the entirety of the room in one glance and frowned, as if he wasn’t satisfied with how the room was only suffused with her taste. He decided that he would have to add his own touch to this room in the near future and turn this living space into a mix of their styles.
He Sanlang’s gaze finally landed on the desk in the room. There was a lotus lantern on the desk, lighting up the plain brocade-lined surface. A stack of opened red envelopes and a small pile of banknotes and silver ingots, as well as a slightly opened purse, were placed on the table. It looked like she had stopped in the middle of opening the purse.
Chu Lian looked around the room as well. The whole courtyard was small, so even though this was the main room, there wasn’t much space inside. There were only the most basic furnishings: a bed, closet, chairs and a desk. There wasn’t even a single chaise here.
He Changdi’s thigh was wounded so he couldn’t sit down. Thus, she could only have him lie down on the bed that she used.
Chu Lian had no other choice but to help He Sanlang over to her bed. She gave him a long cushion to lean against.
“Take off your cloak.”
He Sanlang stretched his arms upwards to let Chu Lian take off his cloak, which she then hung over a nearby screen.
When she turned back, Chu Lian noticed that her husband was staring at the pile of red envelopes on the table with creased brows. She explained with a smile, “Uncle Qian and the others gave those to me as a blessing when they came over to eat!”
As she was saying this, her eyes sparkled. He Sanlang could tell that she was truly happy over receiving these red envelopes despite how there weren’t even fifty taels of silver in total.
He Sanlang couldn’t help asking, “Didn’t you receive red envelopes in the past?”
Chu Lian blurted out the truth without thinking, “It’s been years since I last received a red packet.”
It was only after speaking that she remembered that she was supposed to be House Ying’s Sixth Miss and not Chu Lian from the modern world.
An awkward silence ensued, causing Chu Lian’s happy expression to cool off into indifference.
He Sanlang was absolutely stunned by what she had said.
He had heard about things to some extent and he had even sent someone to investigate her after he reincarnated, so he definitely knew about her situation back when she was still in the Ying Estate. Her birth mother had died earlier and her birth father was absent from her life. Her stepmother was harsh towards her. There were plenty of children in House Ying and the old Duke and Duchess favoured boys over girls, so Chu Lian had never gotten much love from her family. Even though she had her loyal and caring nursemaid Senior Servant Gui by her side, Senior Servant Gui was just a servant after all.
It felt as if a thousand needles were pricking his heart. In the past, he had wished for her to receive all of the suffering in the world, but now he couldn’t bear to listen to even a single one of her bad experiences.
He adjusted his expression and waved at Chu Lian, who wasn’t too far away.
When Chu Lian saw that he wasn’t going to pursue that line of conversation, she quickly walked up to him, wanting to bury the earlier topic.
He Changdi caught her wrist and pulled her into his embrace.
While his tone remained cold, there was a hint of warmth when he spoke, “I’ll give you a red packet every new year from here on out.”
Chu Lian was frozen stiff. She hesitated for a moment before turning her head to meet his gaze. Her heart was full of self-reproach and warmth at the same time.
Here she was afraid of exposing her true identity, yet he was trying to soothe her past wounds.
Actually, this lunatic husband of hers was a true tsundere- a person with a sharp tongue and a soft heart.
Even the rational Chu Lian had a sour feeling in her heart. She scolded the past ‘Chu Lian’ angrily in her mind: ‘You stupid idiot! Why did you abandon such a good husband? You were really dumb!’
However, she was glad that this good husband was now all hers.
Chu Lian blinked in an attempt to stop the warm tears in her eyes from spilling.
She sent a pout to He Changdi and couldn’t hold the back the urge to tease him when she saw how serious he was.
“How much are you going to give me then? I don’t want it if it’s too little.”
He Sanlang had a sincere expression on his face as he reached out to touch her soft and delicate face gently, “I’ll give you everything that I have.”
Chu Lian had only been trying to tease him; who could have expected words like that to come from He Sanlang’s mouth? Chu Lian gaped a little from her astonishment, “Are you stupid? If you give me everything that you have, then what about yourself? Most men usually think of ways to hide their money instead. What if I’m a spendthrift and I end up spending all of the money you give me?”
A rare burst of laughter spilled out from He Changdi. He tightened his hold around her and enjoyed the warmth of her soft body against his. “If you spend it all, then so be it! You’re my wife anyway. If you really spend it all, you’ll have to go out and beg for food with me.”
Chu Lian rolled her eyes. This naive He Sanlang was assuming that she wouldn’t leave him in that case, just because they were married on paper.
The two of them continued hugging for a while before He Changdi finally took out the long, exquisite wooden box that Laiyue had given him earlier.
“This is for you.” He Changdi looked down at her with love and devotion in his eyes.
Chu Lian was astounded, “So there was really a present for me?”
When he had ignored her in the outer room after she had demanded that he take his present out, Chu Lian had assumed that he was only using that as an excuse to visit her.
