"How did you come up with the idea of having Princess Yun'an help you with your publicity?"
After hearing the whole story, Chi Yan was overjoyed and collapsed onto the chaise lounge.
Shen Tangning glanced at him lightly, calmly saying, "This wasn't me scheming against her; she came to me herself."
If Yun An hadn't deliberately made things difficult for her, she wouldn't have fallen for his trap so easily.
Chi Yan rested his chin on his hand, looking at her with a half-smile in his eyes: "Aren't you afraid she'll find out later that this shop belongs to our family?"
Most of the shops in Yanjing were owned by powerful and wealthy people, but they hired a nominal manager to help run them. This was an unspoken understanding between them.
Generally speaking, no one will investigate the owner behind the business on a whim, but if someone is determined, they can find out.
Shen Tangning blinked innocently: "What did I do? I opened my business legitimately, without cheating or deceiving anyone, and without violating any laws. So many people here can testify for me. She deliberately made things difficult for me."
She paused, then smiled slightly. "Besides, our family's products are indeed very useful, and she didn't suffer any loss. Even if it goes to His Majesty's ears, I'm still in the right."
Seeing her speaking with conviction, Chi Yan's dark eyes held a smile. It was at times like this that he felt Shen Tangning possessed a certain vibrancy that belonged to her age.
In the past, she was too mature and composed, and every move she made had to be dignified. Every step she took required careful consideration, as if she were carrying a very heavy burden on her shoulders.
Seeing that he remained silent, only staring at her and smiling, Shen Tangning felt slightly awkward: "What are you laughing at?"
Chi Yan stood up and came to her: "Madam, you must be tired after a long day. Take a good rest."
Seeing him walk around behind her, her body tensed up slightly, but she noticed that Chi Yan placed his hand on her shoulder and began to massage it.
Shen Tangning was taken aback, then subconsciously pressed him down, tilting her head slightly: "What are you doing?"
She had removed her hairpins and earrings; her fair earlobes were tinged with a light pink, like a touch of rouge on white snow.
Chi Yan chuckled: "Why are you so nervous when I'm just giving you a shoulder massage?"
He had noticed her rubbing the back of her neck from time to time, probably because she had been busy with the shop opening these past few days and was overworked.
Shen Tangning's eyelashes trembled, instinctively feeling that it was inappropriate: "There's no need to trouble you with something like this."
"Trouble?" His voice was deep and husky, unlike his usual flippant tone. "Shen Tangning, we're husband and wife. Why are you always being so polite with me?"
Her lips moved, her eyes showing a hint of confusion: "But if this gets out and outsiders find out, I'll be criticized."
Throughout history, it has always been the wife who serves the husband; she has never seen a husband who serves the wife.
Just like the phrase "raising the tray to the eyebrows" is used to praise a woman's respect for her husband, she didn't think it was a beautiful phrase.
When a wife brings food to her husband, she holds the tray as high as her eyebrows, which has become a symbol of harmonious marital relations.
Is this a sign of affection?
Shen Tangning never felt that way; she felt it was more like a form of discipline for women, forcing them to define themselves and thus deeply binding them under such rules and regulations.
Although she subconsciously felt that this was wrong, it seemed that everyone else was doing it this way...
Chi Yan didn't stop what he was doing, and scoffed lightly: "We're just living our own lives behind closed doors, what business is it of anyone else? As husband and wife, we should support each other. It takes give and take to make a relationship last. If it's just one-sided giving, even the strongest feelings will fade."
Shen Tangning listened thoughtfully; this was the first time she had heard Chi Yan's explanation.
Chi Yan felt a little embarrassed after she finished speaking. Was her talk too cheesy? Would she think she was just being presumptuous?
She pondered for a long time, then said in a serious tone, "Okay, then you finish massaging me, and then I'll massage you."
"Pfft"
Chi Yan couldn't hold back; he really hadn't expected that what she had been agonizing over for so long was actually this.
Shen Tangning's cheeks flushed slightly: "Didn't we agree on a back-and-forth exchange? What are you laughing at?"
Chi Yan thought to herself, calling her a little old-fashioned is really true. So rigid and inflexible, where did her usual cleverness go?
"It's not about being petty or calculating in your interactions. If you're going to weigh every gain and loss, you're not a couple, you're business partners."
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