Chu Yue had already forgotten why she argued with the monk, and all her anger had disappeared when she met him again. Their feelings for each other were just as great as before.
They did not stay all the time in the house. They came out from time to time.
Thus, Eunuch Feng saw someone like his master making a snowman for the widow.
And the insatiable widow even regarded that snowman with disdain. "Master, your skills are quite bad. All the ice sculptures I saw in Xiang City were very lively, while here you are, with your snowman looking like this."
The monk remembered the young master the widow had gotten to know. That good-for-nothing was very skilled in all these deviant arts that were great for making women happy.
As for him, he did not know such stuff, because he did not need to make women happy. They were the ones who learned things to make him happy. Though there was an exception—the widow.
She alone had the audacity to be discontent, and she even looked down on him.
The monk cast her a glance.
Eunuch Feng could tell right away that his master was displeased.
Then, the widow actually had the gall to grab snow and smear it all over his master's face. She also said something treacherous. "How could you pull a long face at me? I've spoiled you rotten!"
Eunuch Feng glared at her. He stepped forward to stop her, but Yingda appeared and covered his mouth and dragged him to a corner.
Eunuch Feng was livid. "What are you doing?! Didn't you see the widow acting preposterously?!" She was lording over his master!
"Our master likes it," Yingda said and hid again.
Eunuch Feng was angry. What did he think their master was? How could he like it when he was treated like this?
But if he went there right now, his master would definitely direct his anger on him. Hence, he shrank into a corner and continued watching the widow playing with fire.
The monk did not expect that the widow would treat him this way. In truth, she was actually treating him in various ways he had never been treated before.
She had thrown a tantrum at him and kicked him. Then, he had to travel two days to look for her. When he found her, he had to coax and pamper her. And now, despite him being angry that she talked to other men, she did not apologize and even smeared his face with snow.
She even said that she had spoiled him rotten!
"You truly have no respect for anything."
The monk was so angry that he laughed. Driven by impulse, he did something incredibly stupid. He trapped her in his arms and rubbed his snow-covered face against hers.
The widow giggled before saying harshly, "Stupid monk, hurry up and let me go! How could you do this to me? I'm going to teach you a lesson!"
"And how are you going to teach me a lesson?"
The monk was originally rather angry, because no one had ever treated him like a normal man before, but when he saw her laughing freely, most of his anger disappeared.
The widow drew closer to him and said a few words.
The monk felt his heart flutter, and he hugged the lustful widow even tighter.
Eunuch Feng covered his eyes. He could not bear to watch anymore.
He finally understood how the widow managed to catch his master's fancy.
She was a spirit from the mountains. There was nothing she did not dare to do. Her tricks were things that his master had never experienced before, which was why he found them novel and liked them.
The two people held hands and started walking in the snow.
As for the monk's displeasure when he had snow smeared all over his face? It had long since evaporated until it turned into gas and became the colorful clouds in the sky.
When Chu Yue saw that it was about time, she made red bean soup for the monk. She ate with him and stayed for a while more before she went to make dinner for him. Then, she went back.
She had wanted to stay a little longer with him at first, but decided against it. It was late now. She should not keep Hupo waiting so long that she started panicking.
When Chu Yue returned to the top of the mountain, she ran into Grandmaster Jingmian, who was like a spirit.
"Grandmaster Jingmian, were you waiting for me?" Chu Yue asked with the ghost of a smile.
The nun had to have received something good from Prince Qin's mansion, because she was keeping a tight watch over her. She was probably looking for evidence that would get her rewards.
Grandmaster Jingmian did not like Chu Yue's coquettish looks, so she went straight to the point and asked, "Female Patron, where did you go recently?"
"I went back to my husband's house for the New Year celebration," Chu Yue said.
Grandmaster Jingmian knew that Chu Yue was lying because she did not go back to her husband's family. After all, the nun had connections with the people from her husband's family.
"Grandmaster Jingmian, if you have no other business with me, I will head back first." Chu Yue smiled. Then, she walked back in a delicate manner.
Her demeanor was an eyesore to Grandmaster Jingmian. She gritted her teeth and said, "I'd like to see how you act so wildly when your belly grows after this winter!"
Yet even so, Grandmaster Jingmina immediately wrote a letter to Prince Qin's mansion.
When Mrs. Feng received the letter, she immediately sent it to Secondary Consort Li.
Once Secondary Consort Li read the letter, she smiled asked, "Are we certain that the imperial consort didn't go back to her maternal grandparents' house for her New Year celebration?"
"I'm certain of it. She definitely did not go back to her house," Mrs. Feng said.
Secondary Consort Li smiled. When she was about to say something, the servant outside greeted her. She put her letter away, and a man walked in.
If anyone took a look at the man's face closely, they would find that he was the man who had been with the young man who had carved the Kun-peng during the end of the year. He had gone to Xiang City to woo women.
"Greetings, Your Highness." Secondary Consort Li bowed to him respectfully.
Prince Qin raised her up and said with a smile, "You do not have to be so polite with me."
Secondary Consort Li covered her mouth and smiled. Then, she said in a slightly angry tone, "We cannot disregard etiquette."
When Prince Qin saw how pretty his secondary consort was, he said, "I will stay here tonight."
Secondary Consort Li was delighted. She said to Mrs. Feng, "Prepare some pottage for His Highness."
Mrs. Feng left. Soon, she sent some pottage over. Prince Qin held Secondary Consort Li's hand so she would sit with him. They ate supper together and went to bed together.
Once they were done, Secondary Consort Li leaned into Prince Qin's embrace and said, "Your Highness, when you went out to relax your mind, I took care of everything in the mansion, but I am still just a secondary consort. We need the imperial consort in the mansion to manage the house so that everything can be done legitimately."
"Do you want me to bring her back?" Prince Qin asked.
"Your Highness, the imperial consort is the imperial chancellor's daughter, no matter what. The Jiang family is also her mother's family. If we end up on bad terms…" Secondary Consort Li persuaded him in a soft voice.
"Even if we end up arguing, it's nothing. Without my permission, even if that woman stays in Shangqing Temple for the rest of her life, they will have to endure it!" Prince Qin snorted coldly.
"But we cannot have the primary consort missing all the time," Secondary Consort Li said.
"You can just take care of the matters in the mansion. I know it troubles you, and I'm sorry that you have to suffer because of it," Prince Qin said.
Secondary Consort Li was naturally happy. As for the matter she spoke about, she had just mentioned it in passing so that she would not become a subject of gossip and get accused of not trying to persuade the prince as the secondary consort.