As the two of them lay on the bed, the woman closed her eyes, seemingly at peace.
In reality, her head was in a mess.
She was so nervous on her first night with the man, wondering how she should behave in bed.
What kind of sleep posture should I display? How do I look presentable when I sleep? Should I lie supine or prone, or face the side?
Will I come across as ostentatious if it's too elegant? And if I look charming in my sleep, will it lead to something more?
It's so nerve-wracking! How do I pretend to be someone who beds him regularly?!
In her nervousness, his sexy, magnetic voice reverberated in her ear. "You can sleep in peace. I won't touch you tonight."
His words calmed her nerves like magic. Oh, good. I was overthinking.
With her eyes closed, she muttered a soft acknowledgment in acquiescence, "My Lord, thank you for your kind understanding. I'll serve you again when I get well."
At the same time, she inwardly heaved a deep sigh of relief. The real Fujin might have served this man numerous times, but for her, she had yet to give up her first love and kiss.
Besides, her body was really too frail and weak this time.
It looked like this prince was quite a gentleman. Not only did he keep his sick wife company, but he was also able to keep cool by her side and be a considerate Liu
Lord Fourth gave a soft hum of acknowledgment and closed his eyes.
She thought that she would be too excited to rest tonight but was sound asleep within the next minute.
She was happy-go-lucky by nature, and even in the past, there had been nothing that fazed her.
Back then, there had been nothing that could not be resolved after a good night's sleep.
If one night was insufficient, then she made it two.
She would not allow problems to trouble her for more than three days.
What is depression? It can stay far, far away from me!
On the other hand, when the man noticed her breathing had finally turned soft and even, he opened his eyes to study her countenance in awe. She looked so beautiful under the moonlight.
From that night on, he would come to visit her every alternate day.
And then, he was there no more.
This was because the Emperor had gone on a quest away from the capital and left the Crown Prince in charge of the palace.
The Crown Prince wanted Lord Fourth to make a trip to Jinan.
It seemed that there was a serious drought going on in that part of the province.
Although it was not far from the capital, the trip, including the journey back and forth, would still need a month or so.
…
During this period, she excused the need for morning rituals.
In any case, there were only the Li and the Song clans with her, and Consort Li was under house arrest.
However, as a woman of due decorum, Consort Song would still pay her a visit every three to five days even though there was no need for her to pay her respects anymore.
Just when the month was closing in, she received word from the palace that her husband was back from his duty and was currently resting at the palace, preparing to return home.
She gave a tip to the messenger and got the servants to get the place ready, as well as to inform the other two mistresses as well.
Then, she got Qiao Feng to help her to get ready to meet him.
Qiao Feng was her personal maid who had come with her when she got married. The young girl had followed Ruoyin since she was a few years old.
Through the time she was here, the woman realized that the era that she was existing in was quite different from the one she knew from history!
And because she had been eating and sleeping well recently, not only did she look good, she had put on some weight, too.
The chief physician announced that she was well on her way to recovery when he went over to check on her a couple of times.
When she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she could see a lovely face that was identical to the real Fujin's.
The only difference was, the former had a look of ambition whereas she was easy-going.
Now that she had occupied this physical body, her countenance was glowing and carefree.
This did not mean that she was unambitious. She had merely kept it hidden inside her heart.
In her current identity, her looks were her best asset. All she needed to do was hold firm to her title and she would win this race.
The former Fujin must have grown up in a big family. As the child of the first lady in her clan, she would have been exposed to an ambitious educational standard since she was young.
She liked to pull her weight around as the official first wife in front of everyone, including her husband.
This would do only for the servants. There was no point acting high and mighty before the man; after all, her status could not reach above his.
In fact, as his woman, it would do good to act meek and soft with him at times. He was her man, no matter what, and there was no shame in that to speak of.
"Fujin, do you like this hairdo?" Qiao Feng asked the reflection staring back at her.
Looking at her own reflection with the hair neatly piled up on her head, she nodded satisfactorily. "Not bad, I'll stick with this."
After that, she started to apply her make-up on her own.
She was not too excited over the make-up technique over here.
No way could it be compared to what she knew from the 21st century.
After Ruoyin was properly dressed up, Nanny Liu came over to take a look at her brand new hairstyle and attire.
Looking at her mistress' exquisite make-up and refreshing change of style, she sang her praises with a smile. "Fujin, you're looking better now. This should be the way."
Sigh, her mistress had had too much of a stiff-upper-lip in the past. Despite her repeatedly advising her lady to create time for romance with her husband, the latter had ignored her counsel.
In the end, the lord had been so upset with her that he chose to go somewhere else for the night, despite him having dinner at her place at first.
It was good that her madam had finally seen the light after this bout of sickness.
Her hair accessory was changed from a
Indeed, this is how a girl should look.
"Nanny Liu is so honey-lipped." She could understand the nanny's astonishment. After all, there had really been a 180-degree change in her recently.
The real Fujin was still young but she preferred to dress like a solemn, old woman in order to appear stern to the rest of the people.
Ruoyin could sympathize with this mentality, though.
A woman would want to dress maturely when she was young. Once she got older, she would want to dress young. This was life, full of contradictions!
Just like one would question the validity of the choice of food when the order was made.
The former Fujin did not know how to enjoy life. She was only interested in housekeeping, accounting, and chanting sutra.
And when her husband wanted to indulge longer with her physically, she would remind him of the importance of purifying his mind.
Isn't this… dampening for the man?
The real Fujin was a girl who did not like to act her age.
She wanted to come across as mature and wise and liked to busy herself with social niceties to appear important and popular.
This woman here did not share the same opinion, though. To her, she only did what was needed to keep a friendly relationship.
After all, no matter how wide your network might be, only a few could be best friends.
Hence, the former Fujin was a good woman, but her lack of authenticity failed to win her husband's heart.
Ruoyin knew that with her current identity as the Fujin, she had to win his heart soon in order to lead a good life in this household.
If none of the servants would listen to her, she would be worse off than the concubines.
This meant that she would do whatever it took to become his
About two hours later, the eunuch in her service, Li Fukang, reported, "Fujin, Lord Fourth will be arriving soon!"
"Alright," she replied as she held on to Nanny Liu's hand and walked out to greet him.
Soon, they reached the entrance of Zhen Beile
From afar, they could see a horde of people approaching their way.
Consort Song appeared after her. The latter was stunned by her look at first but quickly paid her courtesy. "I pay my respects to you, Fujin."
"You can get up." She waved her hand with a faint smile.
Consort Li appeared much later. She had just been released from house arrest and could not wait to capture the man's heart once more. Her plan was to snare him for the night at her place.