Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
It had been days since they last met.
He was still as charming and suave as ever, catching the attention of zealous reporters and photographers with every action of his. They would vie for the chance to snap a bunch of photos of him. In fact, he was almost as newsworthy as the royals.
Although he had married and divorced the same woman twice, he was still a highly-coveted and swoon-worthy bachelor.
An Xiaoning looked at him while he shook Tuoba Gucheng’s hand, only to find that he did not take a single glance at her.
It felt as if they were truly strangers.
He seemed rather energized and full of vitality, with no under-eye circles at all.
He must have enjoyed a lot of sleep.
Seems like the divorce did not quite have an impact on him.
Well, he was the one who initiated it, after all.
Perhaps to him, I’ve already become a highly-detestable woman whom he no longer wanted to have anything to do with , a dejected An Xiaoning thought to herself.
The mere thought of it never failed to make her feel miserable.
They were so in love with each other. Just how did things come to this?
Jin Qingyan casually glanced at An Xiaoning, who was standing behind Tuoba Gucheng with her head hung low. Due to the fact that she was wearing a mask that concealed her expressions, he could not quite tell what her true emotions were.
By the time she looked up, he had already walked past her and left.
An Xiaoning felt like she was just stabbed in her heart. She stared at Jin Qingyan’s receding back view with tears in her eyes, overwhelmed with a mix of emotions.
They were no longer related to each other.
That was the case, without a doubt.
“What are you looking at?” Tuoba Gucheng asked, noticing that her eyes had turned red.
“Nothing.” She hurriedly looked away.
Tuoba Gucheng walked behind and said, “Let’s go over there.”
An Xiaoning quickly followed behind him.
On this day, An Xiaoning had to put on a pair of heels because it was a special occasion, causing an unbearable discomfort in her feet.
As much as she detested wearing stilettos, she had to don them for an entire day.
By the time the wedding ended at night, her feet were already hurting immensely.
Blisters had already formed on her soles and the back of her feet. She dragged her feet back to the mansion in excruciating pain, which caused her to almost tear up as she stared at the large, red lantern on the door.
Once she returned to her room, An Xiaoning kicked off her heels right away, without even locking the door.
She walked around the room barefooted.
At this very moment, she felt a true sense of relief.
Having perspired profusely, she grabbed a fresh set of clothes and headed to the bathroom.
After taking a comfortable shower, An Xiaoning dried her hair with a hairdryer and exited from the bathroom, clad in a long, white dress.
She sat on the bed and stared at the blisters on both her feet.
She then poked the blisters with a needle, wiped the fluids with some tissue paper, applied some ointment, and covered them with plasters.
After lying down in bed to get some rest, she decided that she ought to make a trip to Tuoba Shuo’s mansion since the situation was different tonight.
She immediately went to the bathroom to put on her mask again and exited with the necessary self-defense tools.
The moment she stepped foot out of the door, she was greeted with the sight of Tuoba Gucheng and Lin Shishi making their way upstairs.
He had drunk quite a fair bit of alcohol today, though he seemed to be rather sober since he had drunk some hangover broth in the afternoon.
However, his voice was extremely hoarse.
Noticing that she was wearing a white dress, he asked, “Where are you going?”
An Xiaoning remained silent since Lin Shishi was right beside him.
Instead, she nodded and went downstairs.
“Your bodyguard is so peculiar. I’ve never heard her speak before. Is she mute?”
Tuoba Gucheng shook his head and answered, “No.”
They then entered the newly-decorated and refurbished bedroom, which was very much to the liking of Lin Shishi. The decor of the room suited her preferences.
Their wedding photos were hung on the wall.
There were double happiness stickers pasted onto the wall as well.
“I fell in love with the theme of the room when I came in earlier on to change into a different gown. Who was the one who decorated it?” asked Lin Shishi, who was dressed in a red gown and beaming with joy.
She thought he would say that he was the one. To her surprise, he answered, “It was my bodyguard.”
“Wow, she did a surprisingly-splendid job,” Lin Shishi exclaimed in a tone of satisfaction.
“Go take a shower. The bathroom’s over there,” said Tuoba Gucheng, pointing at the bathroom.
Blushing red with shyness, Lin Shishi picked up her silk pajamas and entered the bathroom.
He sat on the bed, feeling a little jittery.
Though he was a normal, straight man, he was not in the least bit aroused at all, despite hearing his wife take a shower.
Was this abnormal?
Tuoba Gucheng was filled with an inexplicable feeling at the thought of what was going to happen tonight.
“Your Highness.” The servant entered with a glass of milk.
He would down a glass of milk every night.
It had already become his nightly routine.
In the past, he would never drink milk at night. However, he had developed a habit of doing so, ever since An Xiaoning began serving him milk while she was on duty every night.
He stared at the glass of milk.
Tuoba Gucheng walked toward the dressing room and returned with a white substance, which he then poured into the milk.
He picked up the glass and gave it a few swirls.
By the time he came out of the shower, Lin Shishi had already chugged the glass of milk out of her own accord and fell asleep on the bed.
He stepped forward to pull the duvet over her and put on his clothes before switching off the lights.
He then subconsciously headed to An Xiaoning’s room next door.
The room was empty and she was nowhere in sight.
Instead of leaving, he stood by the window and waited for An Xiaoning to return.
An Xiaoning was greatly taken aback by the sight of him inside her room. “Your Highness, you should be consummating your marriage tonight. What are you doing here in my room?”
“Come here,” he instructed, gesturing for her to come forth.
An Xiaoning stood in front of him and asked, “What’s the matter?”
He grabbed her by her arm and pulled her onto his lap.
Flabbergasted, An Xiaoning sprung up and exclaimed, “Your Highness, please respect yourself, the Princess Consort is just next door!”
She then struggled to break free from his embrace and stared at him.
Today was the day of his wedding, what was he trying to do now?
“So what if she is? Would you like to have a few drinks together?” he asked nonchalantly with raised brows.
“Your Highness, you’ve already had too much to drink in the day. Besides, I can’t hold my liquor well. It’s better that we abstain from drinking. The Princess Consort is still waiting for you in your room. It’s not very appropriate of you to be in my room,” An Xiaoning said coldly.
“I’m just asking you to have a couple of drinks with me. Why are you getting so worked up? Don’t forget, you’re my subordinate and you are to do whatever I tell you to.” Tuoba Gucheng then walked out of the room. An Xiaoning thought that he was going to return to his own room and thus followed behind in a bid to lock the door after he left. To her astonishment, he warned, “I’m going to get some liquor. I’ll be right back.”
An Xiaoning stayed put on the ground.
There was no way she could defy his orders.
He returned a minute later with a bottle of liquor and two goblets.
He poured half a glass of liquor for her and a full one for himself.
An Xiaoning took a look at the label on the liquor bottle to find that the alcohol content was rather high.
Although she was not weak to the point of being knocked out after downing just a glass of liquor, her alcohol tolerance was indeed rather mediocre.
If they were to share the entire bottle between themselves, she would probably pass out before he even got tipsy.
Thus, she stopped drinking after half a glass.
Noticing that she was no longer drinking, Tuoba Gucheng thought that it would be rather boring and pointless to drink alone. Thus, he put the bottle down and just gazed at her.
The way he was staring at her sent a shiver down her spine.
She could not figure out exactly what was on his mind.
Just as she thought he was about to speak up, he stood up to leave without saying another word instead.
An Xiaoning hurriedly locked the door from the inside, filled with anxiety.
He can’t possibly have fallen for me, can he?
If not, why did he pull me onto his lap?
But that can’t be the case. Lin Shishi was so much prettier than her mask.
He was not blind either.
An Xiaoning was perplexed and bewildered. She put on her earphones and closed her heavy eyelids.
