Chapter 17: Visiting the Bride’s Family (1)
When Chu Lian heard Mingyan’s voice out of the blue, her eyes widened in shock. It took her a while to react, and when she did, she quickly grabbed a dry cloth hanging on the screen nearby to cover her chest. Immediately after, she could hear the sound of He Changdi’s heavy footsteps coming closer and closer.
In the midst of his rage, He Sanlang simply charged right in.
The bathroom was filled with dense steam, and a nice fragrance lingered in the air. Water splashed out of the bathtub as the girl inside hid in a corner of the tub, panicking as she clutched a wet cotton cloth to her chest that barely protected her modesty.
However, Chu Lian didn’t realise that this cotton cloth meant for drying off after a bath was very thin. Once it got wet, it was practically translucent. By placing the nearly transparent cloth over her chest, it was a hundred times more enticing than if she hadn’t used it at all.
Although she was submerged in the water, due to to her intense panic, her chest was heaving from her heavy breathing. The shapes of rounded peaks and small pink dots bobbed up and down underneath the wet cloth cover, playing a game of hide-and-seek.
This unintentionally captivating sight shocked He Changdi so much that, upon seeing her, he was rooted to the spot. All of his reckless fury had been completely drained out of him.
Mingyan stomped her foot and, with a troubled expression on her face, was about to chase after him, but she was held back by Senior Servant Gui.
“What are you doing? It’s Young Master who went in, not some stranger!” Senior Servant Gui warned her in a low volume.
Mingyan tried to speak up. “But…”
“But what? Quick, come out with me.”
He Sanlang’s fair face was covered all the way up to his hairline in a deep blush, just like a cooked lobster. The heat that he had been feeling had come back at some point, and a certain part of his lower body was currently standing at attention.
Chu Lian was angry. He was the one who wasn’t willing to consummate their marriage, and he had even gone out of his way to humiliate her on their wedding night. However, now he was the one who was staring at her stupidly while she was taking a bath. What was this guy trying to do?
At this point, she could honestly care less. Chu Lian simply picked up a bar of soap and threw it at him, her lovely voice raised in anger as she shouted, “You… Get out!”
After regaining his senses thanks to Chu Lian’s delicate shout, He Sanlang’s body stiffened as he noticed the desire that shouldn’t have even existed in his mind. His face immediately turned as black as an inkstick.
Grimacing, he glared at Chu Lian and shouted back, “You tried to seduce me with looks like that? Dream on!”
On that parting note, He Sanlang tossed his sleeves and spun on his foot, striding out with as much dignity as he could muster, albeit a little stiffly.
If he had managed to match his icy tone with an equally icy expression, then Chu Lian might have been angered enough to hop right out of the bathtub and pick a fight with him. However, his face had been completely red and his actions extremely unnatural. Adding on the bulge sitting at a certain part of his body that should not be described, he just seemed like a haughty cat pretending not to be embarrassed.
Thanks to He Sanlang’s actions, Chu Lian’s anger and tension completely dissipated. Once he left the bathroom, she couldn’t hold back anymore and the corners of her lips twitched upwards in soundless laughter.
By the time she had finished changing into some clean clothes and had come out of the bathroom, He Changdi was no longer in the room.
With a blush on her face, Mingyan passed a cup of warm water to Chu Lian before helping Chu Lian brush her slippery wet hair.
“Where’s my husband?”
“Third Young Master left the courtyard ten minutes ago. This servant doesn’t know where he went.”
Chu Lian took a sip of her water and shook her head. She really couldn’t understand He Sanlang at all. Instead of trying to, she casually picked up a book left on the wooden sofa and started reading.
Meanwhile, He Changdi, who had left in such a rush, was now in the outer court’s study room 1.
He had downed two cups of cold tea in quick succession the minute he returned, but that strange heat in his heart couldn’t be suppressed. When he closed his eyes, the scene of Chu Lian sitting in the bathtub appeared in his mind: her hands holding a cloth to her chest as she watched him with widened, teary eyes of shock.
“Damnit!” He cursed. How could he feel anything for that wicked woman! All he wanted to do was kill her immediately! In this moment, He Changdi hated himself. He punched the table, shaking a small tray used for washing brushes.
The fire in his body refused to go down. In the end, He Sanlang went to take a cold shower with a dark expression.
1. Ancient Chinese estates were divided into the outer court and the inner court. Guests were usually entertained in the outer court. The inner court was reserved for the womenfolk and immediate family members. It was strictly prohibited for male strangers to enter the inner court, as the good name of unmarried young ladies living there would be at stake.
