If I call you stupid, you really are stupid.
The renovated main house has been filled with more luxurious items, making it seem as if you've stepped into the Dragon Palace of the East Sea, a place described in folk tales as a place where treasures from all over the world gather, exuding the smell of money everywhere.
In the morning, I rode my horse from the military camp back to Lingzhou City, then spent the afternoon wading through the mud in the lotus pond. In the evening, I was exhausted from all the activities in the bathhouse. Even a person of iron would be too tired to keep their eyes open.
Jiang Yanhui, unusually, had no time to nitpick about the quality of the items. She untied her hair ribbon and casually hung it on the rack. Ah Chou, who was right behind her, caught the outer robe she had taken off and neatly folded it under the rack.
"You don't need to stay on night duty tonight. Go back and get some rest."
Ah Chou paused in his straightening up motion, then shook his head respectfully, politely declining Jiang Yan's offer of understanding, feeling a warm glow in his heart.
Jiang Yanhui raised an eyebrow in surprise, looking Ah Chou up and down. "Are you alright?"
Seeing that the man insisted there was no problem, Jiang Yanhui had no intention of saying anything more and let him be.
When not doing that kind of thing, Jiang Yanhui usually only drew one side of the bed curtain. Not long after lying down, she heard a faint rustling sound. The bed curtain was touched by something and swayed, then stopped abruptly.
After a while, it seemed that the person who made the noise had made sure that she hadn't been woken up, and then started fiddling with things again, thinking they were being quiet.
"Whoosh—"
Jiang Yanhui pulled back the curtain, sat cross-legged on the bed, and lazily propped her chin up, watching Ah Chou, who was facing away from her, sticking out her buttocks and tidying up the cushions.
His lowered eyes held weariness, curiosity, and amusement, but none of the annoyance or anger of being disturbed from his rest.
Ah Chou breathed a sigh of relief after finally setting up her bed for the night. Before the smile on her face could fade, she turned around and met Jiang Yan's gaze. Like a puppy caught doing something wrong, she didn't dare to move.
"Is it laid out?" Jiang Yan asked back.
Ah Chou slowly knelt down, his round, dark eyes darting left and right, his hands resting on his knees as he nervously fiddled with the embroidery on his clothes.
Jiang Yanhui was not used to having someone guarding her when she slept, so the servants on night watch stayed behind a screen in the outer room to ensure they could hear the king's orders in time and to minimize the disturbance to the king's rest.
Before tonight, Ah Chou had been keeping watch in the outer room as usual, and when he first came to serve in the main house, he liked to hide behind the screen in the outer room to avoid Jiang Yan Hui's gaze.
Now, he has been actively moving his night watch supplies into the inner room. Feeling that he is not close enough to Jiang Yanhui, he has laid his things out on the headboard, intending to guard under Jiang Yanhui's bed from now on.
"Go to sleep," Jiang Yan replied.
Ah Chou, pleased with his success, revealed a faint smile. As he lay down, he stared wide-eyed at the swaying bed curtains. Before Jiang Yan could pull the curtains back, the smile on his lips widened even further.
In the inner room, only a floor lamp emitted a faint light, rendering the furnishings in a hazy and dreamlike state, and my pounding heart gradually returned to its normal rhythm.
The floor was covered with a high-quality carpet, soft and dense, so that you wouldn't feel cold or hard even if you just lay on it, not to mention there was a thin mat underneath.
Ah Chou lay flat on his back, not sleepy at all. His big eyes blinked in the night, and when he thought of something exciting, his fingers couldn't help but curl up shyly.
The person already asleep in bed turned over, and Ah Chou carefully held her breath, her gaze uncontrollably fixed on a strand of black hair hanging down the edge of the bed, her heart pounding again.
He raised his hand as if possessed, and the moment his fingertips touched the black hair, a tingling, electric-like sensation made him shudder.
Ah Chou continued to follow her heart, slowly propping herself up, and gently placed a kiss, devoid of any lust, on that section of black hair.
As a faint light appeared on the horizon, the servants, who were gradually waking up, rushed to the front yard, clasped their hands together, and prayed to heaven that they would be assigned an easy task today.
The servants in the main courtyard dressed themselves neatly and properly, carrying wooden buckets, feather dusters, or brooms, and began their day's work.
The Prince's mansion, which had been silent all night, came alive again.
After catching her breath, Jiang Yanhui slowly opened her eyes, feeling refreshed after a long night of dreamless, highly efficient sleep.
When he got up and saw Ah Chou curled up like a little shrimp sleeping soundly under the bed, he rested his chin on his hand and looked at his unruly sleeping posture with great interest.
Ah Chou must have been really tired yesterday, because his biological clock failed to wake him up, even though he should have been up early to serve his master. He just smacked his lips and was lost in a sweet dream.
Jiang Yanhui, with her keen ears and eyes, could not miss the slightest movement in the courtyard. Hearing the servants greeting Uncle Ban after he had finished assigning tasks, Jiang Yanhui condescended to stick her leg out from under the brocade quilt and stepped on Ah Chou's upturned buttocks.
"Still not awake? Uncle Ban is here."
The person in the middle of the night suddenly opened their eyes, subconsciously looked at the bright sky outside the window, picked up the things for keeping watch, rolled them up, rushed to the outer room, and stuffed them under the low shelf.
Ah Chou hurriedly ruffled his messy hair, still sleepy, and stumbled back to Jiang Yan Hui's side, trying to open his eyes wide, looking every bit the dedicated and selfless worker.
Jiang Yanhui chuckled and pointed to the side of her face. "There's a red mark here."
Ah Chou was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes widened in disbelief.
“I know how to eliminate it,” Jiang Yan replied.
Without the slightest hesitation, Ah Chou squatted down in front of Jiang Yan Hui. The cheek he had been lying on while sleeping had the pattern of the cushion imprinted on it. The tuft of hair on his head stood up stubbornly, and his dark, yet exceptionally clean and clear eyes stared nervously at Jiang Yan Hui.
She's a bit silly, but not annoying, Jiang Yanhui thought.
Just as Ah Chou thought Jiang Yan Hui had some special method to remove the red mark that others didn't know, and was taking a serious learning attitude, he saw Jiang Yan Hui cup his face in both hands and knead it back and forth like dough.
Her beautiful features distorted as her cheeks rubbed, and her pouting lips, combined with Ah Chou's blank expression, made Jiang Yan Hui's eyes crinkle with amusement.
Jiang Yan released her hand, her tone light and cheerful, "All done."
The red mark was no longer visible on Ah Chou's face, because her whole face was as red and shiny as a cooked shrimp. If Jiang Yan Hui continued to rub it, Ah Chou would probably be so ashamed that her head would be steaming and her eyes would go blank.
Uncle Ban received Jiang Yan's permission to come in. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ah Chou, whose head was almost buried in his chest. He could cover his face by lowering his head, but his bright red ears were exposed, making it hard not to notice.
Jiang Yan stood up and said, "Let's serve breakfast."
Uncle Ban withdrew his gaze, stepped forward, straightened his outer robe and draped it over Jiang Yan Hui, carefully tying the belt before stepping back to call a servant to prepare the meal.
"If you don't want to stay, Uncle Ban will serve you your meal later."
Jiang Yanhui's gaze swept over Ah Chou's fluffy head, lingering for a few more seconds on that stubbornly sticking-up ahoge. She rubbed her fingertips, which still retained a delicate feel, and casually looked away.
The fluffy head shook, and Ah Chou raised her rosy cheeks. Her eyes were watery and bright, perhaps from the fever, and they were quite eye-catching.
After letting go of her inner turmoil, Ah Chou couldn't wait to be by Jiang Yan Hui's side all the time. Just seeing her made her happy, and she couldn't help but smile foolishly.
Ah Chou thought he would just wash his face with cold water to cool it down, and as long as Jiang Yan Hui stopped flirting with him, he definitely wouldn't blush.
Before Uncle Ban returned, Ah Chou calmed down his face, breathed a small sigh of relief, and consciously rolled up his sleeves to stand beside Jiang Yan to serve the meal.
The kitchen delivered a wide variety of meals every day, sometimes going several days without seeing the same dish twice. Only after serving him attentively did Ah Chou realize that he had no idea what flavors Jiang Yan Hui liked or which cuisine he preferred.
Often, they only taste a few bites of each dish, and some are even taken away without being even looked at.
Ah Chou felt that he was really not a qualified admirer. How could he not even know what Jiang Yan Hui liked to eat? So he focused his attention and kept his eyes wide open.
Jiang Yan Hui noticed a very noticeable gaze falling from above, seemingly fixed on the shrimp dumplings on the plate.
After a two-second silence, he picked up a shrimp dumpling and said, "Open your mouth." He then threw it into the mouth of Ah Chou, who was unaware of what was happening but obedient.
The other servants and Uncle Ban, who were waiting on the side, were completely unprepared for this situation. The atmosphere in the room suddenly froze, and even their breathing became very soft and slow.
Ah Chou's big, bright eyes stared blankly into space, his tongue carefully pushing the dumpling into his cheek as he secretly observed Uncle Ban's expression.
In contrast, the experienced Uncle Ban quickly adjusted his state, not paying too much attention to his master's affairs, and lowering his eyes to preserve enough private space.
Only then did Ah Chou dare to chew the dumpling a couple of times before swallowing it whole.
The dramatic breakfast ended after Jiang Yan Hui put down her chopsticks. She lazily half-reclined back on the soft couch, while A Chou respectfully saw Uncle Ban out, looking exactly like a child who had made a mistake.
Uncle Ban stood at the courtyard gate and gestured for Ah Chou to stop there, but Ah Chou hesitated, clutching his clothes, and didn't move for a long time. Uncle Ban then waved his hand, letting the waiting servants leave first.
Standing in the windy spot, Uncle Ban's wide sleeves billowed in the breeze. His gaze calmly fell upon the slightly shy Ah Chou, his expression softening as he slowly began to speak.
“Ah Chou, I know what you’re trying to say. The matter between you and Wang Zun doesn’t need my understanding as a fellow servant. What you need to do is be loyal to Wang Zun.”
Uncle Ban paused for a moment before placing his outstretched hand on Ah Chou's head, like a wise elder speaking sincerely to a junior: "Just remember, loyalty to the King is the most important thing."
Jiang Yanhui, who had just turned two pages of her book, looked up and saw A Chou hopping back. Her cheerful demeanor made it seem as if she had found some treasure.
The moment their eyes met, he seemed to remember something, and his approaching steps changed, heading towards the desk.
Having not seen Ah Chou for two months, Jiang Yanhui became curious about what Ah Chou wanted to say. He closed the book in his hand and waited quietly for Ah Chou to finish writing.
A moment later, Ah Chou stood in front of Jiang Yan Hui holding up the calligraphy of Chu Jian Feng Gu. In stark contrast to the handwriting, Ah Chou had a silly, expectant smile on his face.
What do you like to eat?
This is how it was written on the Xuan paper.
Jiang Yanhui couldn't help but laugh, her fist pressed against her lower lip, her chest vibrating with laughter. Her curved eyes seemed to hold scattered stars, making Ah Chou's hands, which were gripping the corners of the Xuan paper, clench up, unable to look away no matter what.
After laughing enough, Jiang Yanhui said, "Don't you know that someone in a high position like me wouldn't casually reveal their likes and dislikes?"
Jiang Yanhui's attitude changed abruptly. She narrowed her eyes and scrutinized him, "Or do you want to find out the details so you can poison my food? Or sell the information to someone who wants me dead?"
What Jiang Yanhui said was something A Chou had never thought of before. Her face turned pale with fright, and she immediately crumpled up the Xuan paper and shook her head repeatedly.
He simply wanted to know what Jiang Yan Hui liked and to understand her better. If revealing this would lead to his death, it was best not to say anything.
He would observe carefully and remember it well, keeping it to himself and never telling anyone else.
Seemingly having frightened the person too much, Jiang Yan pulled Ah Chou's wrist and led him to sit in her lap, her half-encircling behavior an unconscious manifestation of possessiveness.
She fiddled with the pearls hanging from the jade hairpin, saying, "It's not that I don't like it, so why am I wearing it again?"
Still preoccupied with the fact that Jiang Yanhui's life was in imminent danger, Ah Chou had no mind to answer irrelevant questions. She pulled Jiang Yanhui's hand down and held it, her brows furrowed with worry.
Without needing to speak or write, Jiang Yanhui understood what A Chou meant.
Jiang Yan sighed, her heart touched by a gentle touch. "You really are silly."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
