Chapter 34◇

◎The feeling of being teased◎

For some reason, Qin Lianhua felt a little jealous of Feng Ran.

She had always looked down on Duan Jingchuan, thinking he had no future, but at this moment, she truly envied Feng Ran.

The pampered princess consort in the courtyard, who didn't have to bear any responsibility or care about anyone's feelings, lived a carefree life in the Marquis's mansion. But alas, different people have different fates.

Unlike Feng Ran, she didn't have a privileged background, so she could only scheme and try every means to stay in the Dingbei Marquis's mansion. Qin Lianhua lowered her eyes to hide the complex emotions in them, and after a moment, a gentle smile appeared on her face. Standing at the entrance of Jinghua Courtyard, she softly called out, "Princess Consort, may we come in and clean up a bit?"

Feng Ran, who was resting with her eyes closed, warming herself by the stove, and eating pastries, opened her eyes, tilted her head, and looked at Qin Lianhua and the others at the door, quite puzzled, "Is my place dirty?"

Taking advantage of the distance, Qin Lianhua curled the corners of her mouth, the mockery on her face flashing by, and replied gently, "This is a New Year's custom; every courtyard must be cleaned."

Feng Ran rolled her eyes and finally dug out the original owner's memories of the New Year from the corner. It was really nothing to celebrate.

Feng Ran is usually quite easy to talk to, and even Qin Lianhua didn't think Feng Ran would say much.

However, this time Feng Ran refused, "No, you can't come in."

Qin Lianhua's throat tightened, and she raised her voice slightly, "Is the Crown Princess afraid that my cousin will blame her? Don't worry, this was personally promised by the Lady of the Marquis. Every year, someone will come to clean this place for my cousin."

After saying that, she made a move to come in directly. The servants behind her moved very quickly, following Qin Lianhua's footsteps, and entered Jinghua Courtyard in a sparse manner.

Every year, the servants of the Marquis of Dingbei's mansion would vie for the opportunity to sweep and clean the Jinghua Courtyard during the New Year festivals, as the Jinghua Courtyard was the most luxurious and elegant place in the Marquis of Dingbei's mansion.

Seeing a group of people just going through the motions of greeting her without even getting her permission before entering, Feng Ran's brows furrowed with annoyance. She jumped off the recliner with a bang, waved her hand, and flung open the curtains blocking the wind around her. "Stop right there!"

The servants who had been hiding around Jinghua Courtyard also ran out and quickly blocked the group of people three steps away from the entrance of Jinghua Courtyard.

There were only four people who came out, and each of them looked tall and strong, skilled in martial arts. Feng Ran raised her eyebrows; this was the first time she had seen the guards of Jinghua Courtyard.

Qin Lianhua was stopped, her face pale and her anger barely contained. She gripped her handkerchief tightly in her hand. "What does the Princess Consort mean by this? Does she intend to disobey the Lady Hou's orders?"

Seeing that someone was blocking her way, Feng Ran was no longer in a hurry. She casually cracked open the melon seeds in her hand and threw the shells directly into the small wastebasket that Xiu'er had prepared beforehand.

"Lotus, that's not right of you. My place is so clean, and you still want to come in and clean it? Are you suggesting we clean yourselves?"

Seeing that Feng Ran had directly compared them to trash, Qin Lianhua was panting heavily, her smile twisted into a vicious grin. "I think the Crown Princess must not be used to the rules of the Dingbei Marquis's residence. Everyone's courtyard has to be cleaned. Why is it different here? Please do me a favor, Crown Princess. I still have many courtyards to take care of later."

Before Feng Ran could reply, Qin Lianhua couldn't help but retort, "This should have been the Crown Princess's responsibility, but my aunt valued my attentiveness and assigned it to me."

Feng Ran didn't take Qin Lianhua's second half of the sentence to heart at all; what upset her was the first half.

They're using rules as an excuse again.

Feng Ran's relaxed expression turned impatient. She wanted to find a socially awkward person to breathe in, rather than talk to these smoky people. She simply said, "Anyway, you can't come into this courtyard. Every blade of grass and every tree is carefully cared for by my husband. If you damage them, can you afford to pay for them? Close the gate and see them out."

Having given the order, Feng Ran ignored Qin Lianhua behind her and turned around, calling out in a wronged tone towards the study, "Husband, your cousin is bullying me!"

Qin Lianhua's face flushed red from the shout, but she couldn't go in to argue with Feng Ran. She could only watch helplessly as Feng Ran disappeared from sight, unable to even enter the gate of Jinghua Courtyard.

The study was quite far from the entrance to Jinghua Courtyard, and Duan Jingchuan didn't hear the argument at the door. Feng Ran's shout pulled him out of his book. Ignoring the unfinished article in his hand, he casually put down his pen and rushed out the door.

As soon as he opened the door, he was caught in a tight embrace by Feng Ran, who had just entered.

Duan Jingchuan's face flushed slightly, and he tried to push Feng Ran out of his arms.

Unexpectedly, Feng Ran used the force to wrap her arms around his waist, stood on tiptoe and buried her face in his neck. Her warm breath sprayed against his ear, burning Duan Jingchuan and making him feel itchy inside.

For a moment, he was at a loss. His hand, which had been on Feng Ran's waist, was now awkwardly placed, unsure whether to put it down or hug her. He was completely stiff.

Feng Ran didn't care about any of that. Duan Jingchuan had long since lost his stress response to her. Taking advantage of her fear of social isolation, she simply hugged him to her heart's content.

The fluffy head moved around, burying its head in its nose to inhale, and exclaimed, "Husband, you smell so good."

Feng Ran and Duan Jingchuan have a significant height difference. She needs to stand on tiptoe to reach Duan Jingchuan's neck, but after a while, she gets tired, so she simply hangs her entire weight on Duan Jingchuan, which makes her even more satisfied.

Duan Jingchuan's slightly flushed face showed helplessness, but he couldn't push the person in his arms away directly. He held the person loosely in his arms, letting the other person rub against him.

After this period of training, Duan Jingchuan is no longer the frail boy who couldn't lift a finger or carry anything on his shoulders. Now, he can even carry Feng Ran for ten laps, so Feng Ran feels perfectly at ease hanging on him.

Xiong Qi and Xiu'er exchanged a smile at each other at the door, then turned their eyes away, not wanting to disturb the two of them being all lovey-dovey.

Feng Ran finally got tired and couldn't hold on any longer, so she slid down along Duan Jingchuan.

Duan Jingchuan, still somewhat unsatisfied, tightened his grip on Feng Ran's slender waist, pulling her close to his chest once more.

Feeling the pressure on her waist, Feng Ran looked at Duan Jingchuan with a puzzled expression.

Because of the height difference, she could only see Duan Jingchuan's slightly red chin and his heavy breathing. Feng Ran felt a little embarrassed and said, "Husband, are you uncomfortable because I'm too close? I'll move away from you."

Feng Ran inwardly berated herself. She had forgotten that her husband didn't like close contact with people. She had hugged him and started kissing him wildly without his permission. The fact that her husband hadn't pushed her away was a testament to his good upbringing.

Upon hearing this, Duan Jingchuan did not immediately let go, but loosened his grip slightly and replied in a hoarse voice, "It's alright."

Then, he lowered his head and slowly pressed his face against Feng Ran's shoulder, concealing the strange look in his eyes and the possessiveness on his face.

Feng Ran was confused, but since the little socially anxious boy had taken the initiative to hug her, how could she let this opportunity pass? So she nestled comfortably in Duan Jingchuan's arms and continued to suckle.

After hugging for a long time, Duan Jingchuan felt a little shy. Just as he was about to let go of Feng Ran, he found that Feng Ran was nestled comfortably in his arms, without the slightest bit of shyness. Her eyes kept darting around, clearly not taking this embrace to heart, as if he were just a little toy that he usually held.

Duan Jingchuan felt somewhat frustrated again. It seemed that his wife really didn't understand matters between men and women. He sighed and thought, "Oh well, let's take it slow!"

Seeing Feng Ran clinging to him with such reluctance, Duan Jingchuan curled the corners of his lips and said, "Has Madam had enough?"

This tone was one that Feng Ran had never heard before. She turned her head slightly, which was buried in her neck and shoulders, and moved it a few inches away, just in time to see Duan Jingchuan's lowered head and the slightly upturned corners of his mouth.

Feng Ran asked rather innocently, "Husband, why do I feel like you've turned bad?"

The two were very close at the moment, their breaths mingling. Duan Jingchuan could easily capture her constantly opening and closing crimson lips with a simple lowering of his head. After being fed for some time, Feng Ran was no longer the thin and sallow little girl she once was. Her face had become rounder and more radiant, with a fair complexion and a plumper figure. Yet, her temperament remained that of a child.

Suppressing the desire in his heart, Duan Jingchuan carefully concealed the lust in his eyes and resumed his usual tone, "Madam is mistaken."

"By the way, Madam, you just said that my cousin came over. What's going on?"

Feng Ran was quickly changed the subject, "Oh, right, I came to see you because of Qin Lianhua."

"Husband, Mother said that Jinghua Courtyard needs to be cleaned every New Year, but I don't want so many people coming in. Xiuer worked hard every day to have people clean up my little courtyard, and you worked hard to transplant those plum trees from other places. Was it easy to raise them like this? If they come in and ruin the scenery of this garden, it will be a great loss. Can you please tell them not to come in? I chased them out in a fit of anger just now, but if Mother comes, I won't be able to stop her. What should I do, husband?"

Feng Ran was already tired of standing, but before saying this, she didn't forget to half-hug Duan Jingchuan's waist, push him onto the soft couch, and continue to snuggle in his arms to complain without any guilt.

Duan Jingchuan looked up at the sky speechlessly, somewhat helpless.

This woman really doesn't treat him like a man. Why does he always feel like he's being teased?

Hearing Feng Ran's incessant complaining, Duan Jingchuan couldn't help but feel annoyed. He glanced at Feng Ran's soft, boneless little fists and said with a hint of sympathy, "Does Madam still fear those people?"

He had witnessed it firsthand. There was a huge rock in the small garden of Jinghua Courtyard, not far from the crooked tree, blocking Feng Ran's swing path. He had gathered several people, but they were all helpless with the rock. Unexpectedly, Feng Ran cracked the rock with a single punch. And Feng Ran's hand was completely unharmed, which showed how strong she was.

From then on, everyone in Jinghua Academy was terrified whenever they saw Feng Ran's little fist, fearing that it might hit them at any moment and they might lose their brains.

What normal person would have that kind of strength? But Duan Jingchuan didn't say much, or even ask any questions. He just secretly gave everyone in Jinghua Academy a gag order, forbidding the matter from being spread.

It wasn't unheard of for someone to easily break his father's silver spear on the battlefield; anyone with a bit of skill could do it. But to shatter a half-person-high artificial mountain with a single punch was unheard of.