Chapter 25 Thinking about seeing His Majesty tomorrow, I felt...
Li Pan lay on the bed, eyes open, staring at the dark ceiling.
The person next to him was already asleep, and fast asleep, completely oblivious to his life or death.
Li Pan couldn't help but punch the bed board.
The heavy bed trembled slightly. She seemed startled, murmured in her sleep, turned over, and nestled against his arm.
Li Pan held his breath, and only when he saw that she had not woken up did he slowly exhale.
Sigh, he felt like he'd been set up.
I used to think that Miss Lou was a scheming woman who wanted to use her beauty to harm him, but I later found out that I was wrong. She not only didn't have any deep scheming, but even when she tried to use scheming, her methods were so clumsy.
But tonight he discovered something else: she was still quite cunning. However, this cunning wasn't about how secretive her methods were, but rather about her open and generous nature—the open and generous nature of a beautiful woman—which lured him willingly into falling into her trap.
If a beautiful woman is willing to scheme against him, it means she values him—he's blinded by vanity.
Beauty can be a terrible vice!
What frustrated him most was that even though he knew she was deliberately seducing him, he still couldn't resist her coquettishness and tantrums.
His self-control, which he had been so proud of for twenty-eight years, was so easily shattered.
This woman has two faces, one in bed and one out of bed. In front of outsiders, she is extremely dignified and virtuous, behaving like a proper lady of the Marquis. But in front of him, she becomes coquettish and clingy, showing no trace of the demeanor of a lady of the Marquis. She is clearly a monster!
Luckily, she likes him. If she liked someone else, would she act like this in front of them?
Thinking of this, Li Pan couldn't help but reach out, wanting to pinch her face hard, but then he was afraid of waking her up, so he just pinched her hair hard instead.
He closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and gradually calmed himself down.
When Lou Xueying woke up the next day, she found Li Pan's arm draped over her waist.
Lou Xueying: "..."
No wonder she felt so tired after her nap; someone had been pressing down on her the whole time. She tried to move his arm, but not only could she not move it, the arm on her waist pressed down even tighter.
"My lord!" she called softly, her tone slightly annoyed.
His voice rang lazily above the back of her head: "I won't touch you, I'll just hug you for a while."
Lou Xueying remained silent and dared not move, fearing that if she moved, she would provoke the man from early morning again.
As expected, Li Pan didn't touch her; he simply held her in his arms. She nestled in his embrace, with nothing to do, and was about to fall asleep when she noticed him pull his arm away and sit up.
Lou Xueying: "Is the Marquis going for his morning exercise?"
Li Pan hummed in agreement.
Lou Xueying then sat up and said, "Let me help you change, Lord Marquis."
She threw a little tantrum last night, but Li Pan was in a good mood and didn't hold it against her. However, that doesn't mean she can keep throwing tantrums. As a wife, she still has to do her duties, and at least her attitude was appropriate. Whether Li Pan lets her do it or not is another matter.
Li Pan: "No need, you go to sleep."
Lou Xueying: "I slept a lot yesterday because I slept less the day before. There's no need to sleep so much today. Anyway, I can rest for a while at noon."
Li Pan thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said, "Alright, then you can do it."
He had never been dressed by a young lady before, and he was curious to see how she would serve him.
Lou Xueying was stunned for a moment. Seeing that he really wanted her to serve him, she had no choice but to get out of bed and take out the clothes that Li Pan was going to wear today from the trunk.
Li Pan leisurely spread his arms. Lou Xueying turned around and found that he hadn't taken off his nightgown and was still waiting for her to take it off. She pursed her lips, hung the clothes in her arms on the rack, and walked over to help him undress.
With her top off but her trousers still on, Lou Xueying looked up and met Li Pan's ambiguous smile.
Lou Xueying: "..."
She remained expressionless as she slowly slipped her fingers inside his waistband.
Li Pan's expression changed. He grabbed her wrist, pulled her hand away, and said awkwardly, "Never mind, I'll do it myself."
He acted swiftly and quickly changed out of his nightgown and into his clothes for the day.
"Alright, I'm leaving." He quickly finished washing up, hastily wiped his face, waved to her, and strode out the door.
Lou Xueying leaned against the window, quietly opened it a crack, watched his hurried departure, couldn't help but curl the corners of her lips, and then closed the window again.
Today was another busy day.
Yesterday, Lü Gui went to the Lou family and borrowed a few maids to serve in Li's mother's courtyard. Lou Xueying went to inquire about the situation today to see how well they were being served.
Mother Li naturally praised them highly, finding no fault whatsoever—the Lou family's maids were well-trained, and many minor issues were noticed and resolved even before she, their mistress, was aware of them.
Even Cui Cui, who was watching from the side, was stunned. She couldn't help but compare herself to the situation and felt deeply ashamed.
Yesterday, Lou Xueying gathered all the servants in the Marquis's mansion and gave them a thorough dressing-down, drafting more comprehensive rules for everyone to follow. Today, we'll see how effective they are and whether there's anything that needs improvement.
Especially in her and Li Pan's courtyard, several clever-looking servants have recently joined, requiring special training. However, she doesn't need to worry about this much; she's left it to the experienced Cai Ling.
Then there are several empty spaces in the Marquis's mansion that need to be properly renovated and transformed into more beautiful landscapes, so that they will not appear too empty and simple when entertaining guests in the future.
Li Pan grinned as he looked at the list Lou Xueying had brought: "I don't even spend this much money in a year at the General's Mansion in the Northwest, and you've spent it all in just two days."
Lou Xueying said, "Prices are high in the capital, and I've already tried to save as much as I can."
She was telling the truth. In her heart, she would only be living in this mansion for half a year. After that, she would go back to the Northwest with Li Pan. There was no need for her to live in such a luxurious place.
But there are still six months left, and the Marquis's mansion can't possibly refuse visitors during this time; it has to maintain appearances. Otherwise, outsiders will all say it's Lou Xueying's fault for managing the Marquis's mansion so poorly.
"Fine, fine, go ahead and spend it," Li Pan sighed.
It was quite a lot of money. If he were just a military general living solely on his salary, he would have already emptied his coffers by marrying Lou Xueying. Fortunately, he also received additional rewards from His Majesty and now has some fiefdoms, so spending a little more in the short term wouldn't be a big problem.
Lou Xueying was busy all day, while Li Pan had nothing to do, so he just followed her around, watching how she managed the mansion.
That evening, Li Pan finally couldn't hold back any longer. He sat on the bed and pulled Lou Xueying into his arms. Lou Xueying frowned and pushed against his chest, saying, "Only once, no more."
Li Pan: "Why?"
Lou Xueying frowned even more deeply: "Tomorrow... I must enter the palace."
Tomorrow is her homecoming day, but her marriage to Li Pan was bestowed by the emperor, so she must first go to the palace to express her gratitude before she can return to her parents' home.
The thought of entering the palace and seeing the emperor made her heart pound wildly.
If only I could feign illness and not go... but I couldn't hide that from Li Pan.
She could only pray to heaven that her entry into the palace would be peaceful and uneventful.
Li Pan thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I won't bother you anymore."
She had never been to the palace before, so she would definitely treat this matter as a top priority, fearing that something might go wrong. If he tormented her like he did last night, causing her to make a mistake tomorrow, she would surely be furious.
So he calmed down a lot tonight.
Lou Xueying's reaction was not as enthusiastic as it had been the previous two days, and her body was much more tense.
Li Pan paused, then asked her, "What's wrong? Are you nervous about seeing His Majesty tomorrow?"
Lou Xueying shuddered suddenly, causing Li Pan to groan.
"You...you hurry up." Lou Xueying urged him, "If you don't rest early today, something terrible will happen if you get up late tomorrow."
"What's there to be afraid of? Servants will come to wake us up naturally."
When Lou Xueying saw him turn his head to suckle her neck, she jumped up and blocked him, exclaiming in alarm, "Don't touch there!"
The weather has been hot lately, and the collars of the clothes she wears are not high. If any marks are left, it's not a big deal to be embarrassed, but the main thing is... she doesn't want the emperor to see her like that.
Even if he didn't know who Su Jun was, she didn't want to.
He had better not have any impression of her at all; she only needed to be a vague "Lady of the Marquis of Wu'an," and he should never recall any details about her.
Li Pan was not entirely pleased. He felt that Lou Xueying was acting strangely tonight, but perhaps this could only be attributed to the fact that she was going to the palace tomorrow and dared not make any mistakes.
"Should I ask His Majesty for a reward, and have him bestow upon you the title of Lady of the First Rank? Hmm?"
He tried to cheer her up, but she shook her head and said, "No need, no need, I don't need anything. Your well-being is more important than anything else."
“What are you saying?” Li Pan said. “It’s as if I’m about to go to war. If I really go to war in the future, you can’t say things like that. People who say things like that usually don’t come back.”
Lou Xueying frowned and punched him.
Seeing that her mind was not on the matter, Li Pan stopped talking and ended the conversation hastily.
After the lights were turned off, he heard Lou Xueying tossing and turning, not falling asleep as quickly as she had in the past few days, so he said softly, "Can't sleep?"
Lou Xueying gave a soft "hmm".
"Why are you so nervous?" Li Pan asked, puzzled. "Even if you've never been to the palace or met His Majesty, you must have met quite a few members of the royal family, right? Is it really necessary to lose sleep over this?"
Lou Xueying couldn't explain it. The moment she closed her eyes, she couldn't help but imagine tomorrow's scene. She feared that the emperor on his throne would call her "Su Jun" and summon her to his side. She also feared that the timing would be unfortunate, and she might accidentally run into the crown prince, allowing him to see her true face...
Seeing that she remained silent, Li Pan continued, "Actually, there's no need to be so nervous. We'll just go and express our gratitude. It won't take long. His Majesty might not even speak to you. Even if he does, it'll just be a few pleasantries. You're the daughter of the esteemed Vice Director Lou; surely you can handle that?"
Lou Xueying could only hum in agreement again.
Li Pan: "Although His Majesty is the emperor, he is also a human being, no different from you and me in essence. This marriage was personally bestowed by him, how could he possibly make things difficult for you? Do you know what His Majesty said to me when he bestowed this marriage?"
Lou Xueying replied absentmindedly, "What?"
“He said Miss Lou is well-educated, gentle, and virtuous. I need a wife like that to help me control my temper,” Li Pan said. “He has high hopes for you, so what do you have to worry about?”
Lou Xueying: "..."
She rolled over and suddenly hugged him tightly.
Li Pan raised an eyebrow.
Lou Xueying: "My Lord."
"Um?"
“When we go to the palace tomorrow, could you…” She bit her lip, pleading with him, “could you…act that you’re truly satisfied with this marriage? Like…don’t just say those polite words of thanks, but genuinely, from the bottom of your heart, that you’re happy with the marriage…”
Li Pan laughed and said, "What, if I only say polite words, are you afraid that His Majesty will think that I am still not satisfied with the marriage and will be disappointed in you?"
Lou Xueying gave a vague reply.
If the emperor still believes that Li Pan has no feelings for her, and if he later discovers that she is "Su Jun," he might try to force her to divorce Li Pan. However, if Li Pan clearly expresses his affection for her to the emperor, then the emperor would probably not dare to act rashly.
"You're overthinking things." Li Pan ruffled her hair. "But I promise you."
Lou Xueying hugged him even tighter: "Thank you, Lord Marquis."
"No need for thanks. I have no complaints about this marriage, so there's no need for any further performance," Li Pan said.
After much persuasion, Lou Xueying finally managed to fall asleep.
As Li Pan listened to her gradually calming breathing, he also became sleepy and fell asleep.
However, he was awakened by a sound in the middle of the night.
He groggily turned his head and found the person next to him curled up in a ball, muttering something incoherently.
He shifted his body, trying his best to hear what she was saying, but after listening for a long time he still couldn't understand.
He frowned, sat up, and stared into thought as he looked at the hazy figures in the night.
The person on the bed seemed to be trembling slightly. Li Pan reached out and touched her face, feeling the almost dried watermarks.
Crying? Why are you crying again? Did you have a nightmare?
Wasn't she happy to marry into the Marquis's family? Why would she have nightmares?
Li Pan's gaze was deep. He lowered his eyes and thought for a moment before lying down again, turning her shoulders and pulling her into his arms.
Lou Xueying clung to him almost immediately, just as she had clung to him tightly when she was drowning that day, and this time she also held his arm tightly.
This time, however, he didn't let her get off him. Instead, he took a deep breath, gently stroked her thin back, and whispered, "It's okay, go to sleep."
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