I realised that I'd messed up when l posted the new chapter and put it in volume one instead of volume two! My bad!
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Bai Lianhua drank some tea and her eyes squinted in satisfaction as the cool tea fought off the heat she was enduring. Then she glanced at Feng Minyan: "This concubine has no opinions. As said before, the master is free to make his own choice."
Li Zhenzhen dismissed them and said they were free to do whatever they wanted for the rest of the day. Bai Lianhua made a beeline for the garden because she was very interested in seeing what a garden in ancient times looked like. "I mean look at those flowers! So beautiful!" All the flowers in the garden were in full bloom and there were vibrant yellows, pinks, purples and reds everywhere. Bai Lianhua bent down and smelt the roses whilst thinking of how leisurely this task had been so far.
She turned to the maid and asked for more tea and cakes to be brought to the pavilion near the garden. The maid respectfully saluted: "Nuo" and then went to the kitchen. Bai Lianhua continued walking through the garden and seeing all kinds of flowers and plants. Then she felt a pair of sturdy arms wrap around her waist and she immediately wanted to scream. The man put a hand over her mouth and then dragged her to an inconspicuous bush in the garden. The bush was big enough to hide behind.
"Mmm!!" Bai Lianhua stared at the man, completely unsure of who this man was. The man whispered in her ear: "You have to promise not to scream and I'll let you speak." Bai Lianhua nodded and he removed his hand from her mouth. He still kept a hand around her waist to prevent her from running away. "Can you take your hands off me? I'm a married woman - l don't want others to misunderstand."
The man laughed but didn't take his hand away. "Don't you see what position you're in right now? If people came, they would blame you not me."
Bai Lianhua cleared her throat and immediately changed the subject: "Anyway, who are you and what do you want?" The man whispered in her ear and her eyes widened in horror. "Why are you here? You're not supposed to be here right now!"
"Oh~ Where am l supposed to be?" The man answered playfully. He even pinched Bai Lianhua's waist. She slapped his hands away and continued speaking: "What do you want with me anyway? I am just a boudoir lady."
"All l am here to tell you is that your plan against Long Aotian will not succeed." Bai Lianhua's heart jumped and her hands trembled. "What plans? I only planned to marry into his backyard and live happily ever after." Even though she said these words, there were countless curses being thrown around in Bai Lianhua's heart. 'Fck! Why does he know? I swear - l literally just said that this was the most relaxed task so far. Bai Lianhua! You always have to jinx yourself!'
She could feel his breath hitting the side of her neck and she felt very uncomfortable. This was the first time that she was in such close contact with a man of unknown origin. What's worse, she can't even do anything. 'This time, when l go back, l must pull out my martial arts cheats and start practicing!'
The man lifted up his hands and stroked the Bai Lianhua's hair. "Actually, you can come with me. We can be together..." Bai Lianhua resisted throwing up and swatted his hand away again. "You're disgusting - l don't even know you and you're acting so intimate. Leave me alone." She had to wonder whether this man was masochistic because even after that insult, the man's temper didn't change. 'Maybe, his personality is just like this?'
Bai Lianhua heard footsteps approaching from the right and she knew it was the maid she'd sent to get her snacks. Feeling braver, she threatened the man and asked him to let her go. "Otherwise, l will shout right now."
The man let her go and left quickly. He didn't forget to tell Bai Lianhua that he'd be watching her.
"Man! Now l know how it feels to have a stalker who is obsessed with you! This man is crazy! What novel does this man think we're in? This is real life ok! Damn! Why do l always meet madmen during these tasks?" Bai Lianhua quickly smoothed her wrinkled clothes out and then walked out from behind the bush. This startled the maid who'd been looking for her.
"Niang, l couldn't find you when l went to the pavilion!"
Bai Lianhua waved her hand impatiently: "Nevermind, let's go back to the courtyard." She didn't feel safe outside knowing that that pervert was still there.
But when she got back to her courtyard, another man was waiting for her.
'This never ends, does it? I never knew l was so popular!'
Long Aotian saw Bai Lianhua walking through the entrance of the courtyard and rushed to embrace her. Resisting nausea, Bai Lianhua smiled sweetly and hugged Long Aotian back. "Msang-gong, why suddenly come here?"
Long Aotian performed using his oscar award-winning acting skills and looked deeply into Bai Lianhua's eyes. "What if l said that l missed you?" Bai Lianhua kissed Long Aotian's lips and was then locked into a passionate kiss that lasted for minutes. When the kiss ended, her face was stained red and she was breathing heavily. 'Damn! My first deep kiss is gone! My virginity is in danger!!'
Long Aotian watched the favorability bar but it didn't go up. It remained at a perfect 0. 'This woman is acting?'
The system popped up and screeched: "Warning! Warning! You're being suspected!"
'What should l do? His system also has a favorability bar! He knows in his heart that I'm acting. Is there any way to counter this?' Bai Lianhua also pulled up her favorability bar and saw that Long Aotian's bar had dropped from 15 to -20. She had to light a candle for the original owner. All those memories they made together only amounted to pitiful 15 points of favourability. That's the same as a stranger!
The system was also stumped. "That...maybe you could try and fall in love with him?"
Bai Lianhua wanted to laugh: "Me? In love with this scum? Don't joke around. I cannot put any sincerity into this relationship. Is there a way to fake my favorability? Or a way for us to manipulate the system?"
The system decided to send an application to the higher-ups first and then get back to Bai Lianhua.
Long Aotian on the other hand was planning to go all out for Bai Lianhua. 'Maybe, I'm not sincere enough. I'll try harder.' He led Bai Lianhua into her room and then motioned for his servant to bring in some ice desserts. Bai Lianhua couldn't resist the temptation and managed to eat everything. Long Aotian looked on and smiled faintly. 'One step at a time!'
Bai Lianhua decided to play around with Long Aotian so she leaned in and whispered: "Msang-gong, when will we consummate our marriage?"
Long Aotian cursed her in his heart. 'A woman who doesn't even like me but wants to sleep with me? HA! Is she worthy? Just an old cow trying to eat tender grass.'