Chapter 3 Male Concubines

A subtle fragrance wafts through the air, and the curtains are warm with springtime warmth.

In her dazed state, Li Rong felt as if she were in the Spring Begonia Garden.

He always liked to bother her when she was still asleep.

Even the sense of fulfillment that comes with being bothered is very clear.

"Rongrong".

His voice, carrying an barely suppressed low pleasure, echoed in her ear, and his palm lingered from her reluctantly revealed brows to her cheek.

He looked down at her and gently pinched her cheek.

"Time to get up."

He gently lifted her lower back with his palm, sinking deeper into her desire.

Men often find it hard to resist the allure of women they like.

Li Rong was shaken awake.

Upon opening her eyes, she was met with a pair of gentle, deep eyes filled with possessiveness and longing.

The man's burgeoning masculine aura almost overwhelmed her.

She asked, "Where is this?"

Her voice still had a nasal tone, as if she had just woken up.

His eyes were languid and hazy.

His expression was pure and blank.

He couldn't suppress his excitement and was completely captivated by her.

"My dear Rong'er, if you take my body, you must give me a title."

*

As usual, Cheng Guo opened the door just as Li Rong was about to wake up.

He lifted one foot, stepped over the threshold, and leaned his body into the room with the movement.

The next second, she abruptly pulled her foot back from the threshold and slammed the door shut.

Turning around, he ordered, "Everyone, leave this courtyard!"

The maids following behind looked at each other in bewilderment, then turned and went down the corridor.

The courtyard was cleared out in no time.

While delivering the letter to Li's mother, Cheng Guo also arranged for someone to bring water to the bathhouse.

Inside the bed curtains, Li Rong's hands involuntarily thrashed about.

Her gaze was fixed on the mauve-colored bed curtains, and her eyes slowly cleared.

Before she could react, Lin Xiaocong pressed her wrist down with his palm.

"Rong'er, please ease my longing."

"Do whatever you want afterward."

Li Rong, already adrift on the pirate ship, felt both ashamed and angry.

You bastard!

Hearing that seemingly coquettish yet reproachful scolding, his soul almost flew away.

"My dear Rong'er, you look even more beautiful when you're embarrassed and annoyed than you did 105 days ago."

"Shameless scoundrel!"

"He has teeth, and they're white and straight."

"roll!"

"I don't want to, I want to be with Rongrong."

Li Rong felt that meeting this guy was her calamity.

"Hmph..."

He held the person tightly in his arms.

The voice seemed to come from the depths of the heart.

"Rong'er, do you know how much I miss you?"

Outside, Chengguo stood guard for an hour, and Changfu, the nanny sent by Li's mother, also stood guard for an hour.

Someone from Jimin Pharmacy delivered a bundle to Lin Xiaocong.

When there was no movement from the bathroom, Chengguo knocked on the door.

A deep, masculine voice came from inside: "Come in."

Chengguo and Granny Changfu exchanged a glance and pushed open the door to enter.

Before the dressing table, a well-dressed gentleman who had climbed over the wall was styling a woman's hair.

Li Rong looked at the man behind her through the bronze mirror.

The crossbow bolt wound on the man's face was no longer visible.

The way he styled his hair was quite convincing.

Chengguo stepped forward: "Let me do it."

Lin Xiaocong refused: "Your cooking skills are not good enough."

The professional orange vendor looked on incredulously.

Granny Changfu tidied up the room briefly: "Second Miss, Madam wants you to have dinner at Changhe Hall."

Lin Xiaocong inserted the pearl flower into Li Rong's hair bun.

"My mother's reason for not wanting me to stay with Rongrong is too far-fetched."

"She should have finished eating and taken Pengdi for a walk by now."

Granny Changfu kept her eyes down and her mind focused.

That's true.

Lin Xiaocong: "Rongrong and I are a match made in heaven, no one can separate us, even the Lord of the North is willing to grant us our wish."

Li Rong's gaze fell on the pearl ornament in Tong Jing's hair bun: "I like gold."

Lin Xiaocong removed the pearl flower and picked out a gold hairpin.

"I like hair ornaments with dangling ornaments."

Lin Xiaocong changed to a gold hairpin.

"Never mind, I'll stick with the beaded hairpin."

Lin Xiaocong is funny.

"Don't laugh."

Lin Xiaocong pursed his lips.

After Lin Xiaocong stopped, Li Rong got up and started to walk outside.

"Your craftsmanship is excellent. I'll reward you with two coins, Mr. Lin."

Lin Xiaocong chuckled and stuck to him, saying, "I learned this by pulling out 260 hairs from Qiu Chan."

Granny Changfu ruthlessly raised her hand to stop Lin Xiaocong.

"Young Master Lin, Madam instructed you to return the way you came and not to come again."

Lin Xiaocong stopped and glanced at Li Rong's retreating figure, then at Granny Changfu's hand.

He promised that as soon as he left, Li Rong would be hidden away.

Chengguo stepped forward, gave him two coins, and then followed Li Rong.

Lin Xiaocong smiled at Granny Changfu while holding two coins between his fingers.

She stepped forward: "Rongrong~"

Following Li's mother's instructions, Granny Changfu forcefully blocked his way.

There was a loud "Ouch!" followed by a loud crackling sound.

Li Rong turned her head and saw a handsome man with blood trickling from the corner of his lips slumped on a flower table in front of the imposing Granny Changfu.

The flowers on the flower stand had fallen to the ground and shattered.

Lin Xiaocong raised his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his lips, then looked up at Li Rong with a pitiful expression.

"Rongrong, my old injury hasn't healed yet, please don't let anyone bully me."

Granny Changfu's eyes widened: "!"

"Second Miss, this old servant merely stood in front of Young Master Lin and did not touch a single hair on his head!"

Lin Xiaocong straightened up, steadied the flower stand, carefully bypassed Granny Changfu, and hid next to Li Rong.

"She's the one who pushed me!"

Li Rong glanced sideways at Lin Xiaocong, expressing her skepticism about the swindler.

Lin Xiaocong seemed oblivious to Li Rong's gaze, pulled out a handkerchief from his sleeve, and coughed with a frown.

"Coming to find Rongrong always comes at a price..."

The statement is vague and ambiguous.

“I’ve suffered at home, now it’s my turn to suffer at home.”

His gaze fell into her eyes: "For Rongrong, I am willing."

Li Rong reached out and took the handkerchief from his hand. After confirming that the blood on the handkerchief was fresh, her heart tightened.

But she didn't say anything, she just asked Chengguo to serve the food.

They took Lin Xiaocong to the dining room for a meal.

Lin Xiaocong followed behind Li Rong, a smile playing on his lips.

Once inside the dining room, his expression returned to its usual calm.

He sat down next to Li Rong.

Li Rong finally asked him about his affairs.

Why did you come to the South?

Lin Xiaocong's hand crossed the line and touched her hand.

She took a picture of him.

Even after he was filmed until he was red, he wouldn't let go.

He stared straight at her and said, "I've come to find my beloved."

She pulled her hand away.

Explain everything clearly.

Lin Xiaocong then recounted how, after leaving Li Rong's ship that night, he was monitored day and night by twenty imperial guards sent by Xiao Cong.

"Rongrong has excellent taste."

When he mentions these things, he reverts to his usual gentle, humble, and confident demeanor.

He leaned back in his chair, his hand holding her sleeve, twirling it between his fingers, looking at her tenderly.

"Lord Xiao knows that even heroes like me are susceptible to the charms of beautiful women, so he is extremely wary of me."

"An edict has been issued stipulating that if he dies, his three elder brothers, born of the Marquis of Weiwu, shall be buried with him."

"This plan is extremely vicious. Not only does it exploit my weakness, it also makes me the only legitimate heir of the Marquis's mansion."

Breakfast was served, and Chengguo led the serving of dishes, while a maid brought the two of them handkerchiefs to wash their hands.

He lowered her sleeves, washed his hands, and then served her food.

"Is it not disgusting that I have to step on the corpses of my three brothers to create chaos in the North and reunite with you?"

He commented, "I have never seen such an insidious person in my life."

Li Rong pushed aside the plate he was serving food, picked up a piece of Eight Treasure Cake, and ate it in small bites.

"Fortunately, he's not stupid and is willing to get along peacefully with your third sister's husband."

"Otherwise, if the Zhou family in the south were to fall into chaos, the Hu people in the north would certainly not behave themselves either."

"At that time, the Xiao family's empire will be caught in a pincer movement between the north and south, and they may not even have this territory north of the Huai River."

He served her a bowl of Seven Treasures Vegetarian Porridge.

“Previously, the situation between the North and the South was tense. He was afraid that I would go south and join forces with your third brother-in-law, and he was even more afraid that the Lin family would turn against him.”

"Using the Lin family to coerce me into completely severing ties with the South."

"Now that there is no war between the North and the South, I am not so important."

“Now, I have volunteered to be banished from the North and come to find you all by myself.”

As he spoke, he looked at Li Rong with a pitiful expression.

“Rongrong, I am all alone here now, with no relatives or friends, only you.”

Li Rong stuffed the last bit of pastry in her hand into her mouth: "So, you can't go back to the North."

"For Rongrong, I am willing to leave my hometown."

Li Rong got up and served him a bowl of porridge.

Lin Xiaocong accepted it with gratitude.

Waaaaah, his Rongrong is so kind, so gentle, and so easy to coax.

He picked up a spoon and ate his porridge: "Rongrong, when are you going to give me a proper status?"

Li Rong drank her porridge without even looking up.

“My Li family has just established itself in the south, and I cannot get involved with you.”

Lin Xiaocong's good mood vanished instantly: "I'll marry into your family!"

“If I marry into the Lin family, I won’t be a member of the Lin family of the North anymore. There will be officials who question the Li family. I can’t cause trouble for my third sister.”

"A married son is like water spilled from a bowl; no one will question that."

Anyone who questions us will be poisoned.

He emphasized, "After I marry into the family, I will be the only male member of the household, and I will protect you all."

Li Rong shook her head again: "I have a better solution."

Lin Xiaocong asked expectantly, "What method?"

Li Rong looked up at him and said, "Mingxu, don't worry. Although I can't give you a formal title, I promise I will spoil you the most from now on."

The bean stuck in Lin Xiaocong's back molars was instantly mashed into a paste: "You spoil me the most?"

Li Rong: "Yes, the 'pampered' in 'male concubine'."

Lin Xiaocong laughed, and the spoon in his hand began to crack.