It was He Erlang who bid his goodbyes first. Following that, He Dalang stood up with a flourish of his robes, bowed towards the matriarch, and left the parlour just like that. Madam Zou bit her lip after watching He Dalang’s burly silhouette disappear behind the curtains of the entrance. Finally, she let Senior Servant Qiao help her up and they left together.
Only Matriarch He, He Ying, and Miss Pan were left in the originally lively parlour.
Matriarch He waved at her daughter in dismissal. “It’s getting late. Why don’t you go to bed too?”
He Ying had been intending to stay back to discuss something with her mother. However, seeing the fatigue on her mother’s face, she swallowed her words. She bobbed her goodbye together with her daughter, Pan Nianzhen, and left.
By the time He Changdi and Chu Lian left Countess Jing’an’s courtyard, it was already dark.
There were lanterns hanging on either side of the path, lighting up the estate with a warm glow.
Xiyan and the other servants followed behind the young couple.
After experiencing what had happened earlier, Xiyan kept her eyes on the ground and walked slowly, lagging behind her masters until there was some distance between them. She had trained the younger maidservants behind her well enough that they understood her actions and followed exactly as she did.
He Changdi held onto Chu Lian’s soft little hand and walked in front of her. It was still February, so the night was a little cold.
Chu Lian’s hand was completely enveloped by He Changdi’s. She held up the hem of her heavy dress with one hand and stumbled occasionally as she was tugged along by him.
She wanted to pull her hand out from his hold, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t.
He Changdi suddenly paused in his steps and glanced at her, his eyes a pair of bottomless wells. Chu Lian looked up and caught sight of his pressed lips before her hand was abruptly released.
In the midst of her surprise, He Sanlang had already bent down and grabbed hold of her slender waist with one arm while the other went under her knees. Following that, with a slight application of force, Chu Lian was now curled up in his arms in a bridal carry.
Chu Lian let out a gasp in shock. When she finally regained her senses, she beat at his solid chest with a tiny fist, scolding him angrily. “He Changdi! What are you trying to do? Put me down now!”
He Sanlang looked down at the woman in his arms and lowered his head to plant a quick kiss on her soft, fair cheek. His magnetic voice rumbled close to her ear with a warning. “Behave yourself.”
Chu Lian was extremely vexed, but she knew that hitting him was only going to make her hand hurt.
In the few months that they had grown close together, Chu Lian had already gotten a handle on his strange temperament.
Thus, she pleaded in a soft tone, “Husband, put me down and let me walk on my own. Xiyan and the others are right behind!”
When the two of them were alone, Chu Lian would rarely call him ‘husband’. Most of the time, she simply addressed him as ‘He Sanlang’ or ‘He Changdi’.
Hearing such a tender, loving call from his wife, especially when she was curled up in his arms, sent a bolt of electricity racing down He Changdi’s body. He stiffened up completely for a whole second. His deep gaze darkened even more until his eyes were like pools of ink, and his thin lips pressed into an even finer line as his strides quickened.
All Chu Lian heard was his husky response. “Don’t worry. It’s night time now. They won’t be able to see what they’re not allowed to.”
When his breathing changed, Chu Lian finally realised what had happened.
She wailed inwardly to herself. She hadn’t used the right solution after all; she had just provoked the beast!
Since she could feel the changes in his body, Chu Lian was in an absolute state of awkwardness.
She kept a tight hold on the lapels of his shirt and gave up on trying to get him to set her down. Lying obediently in his arms, she tried negotiating instead.
“Then could you put me down when we reach the corridor right before we enter our courtyard?”
There were so many servants around Songtao Court. It would be so embarrassing if they spotted her like this!
He Changdi kept his expression cool as he struggled with himself in his mind. Finally, he nodded and agreed to her request.
Actually, his wife’s body was all nice and soft. She felt so comfortable in his embrace that he didn’t want to put her down at all. He wanted to carry her all the way to the bed in their room…
