Back at the mansion, Long Aotian walked from the front of the house, straight to Bai Lianhua's courtyard. Poor Bai Lianhua was drinking some tea ironically and enjoying the beautiful sunset and clean air that was unique to ancient times. Her thoughts at the time were: 'Things are so calm and quiet here! I really could get used to this.' She was very relaxed until she saw the corner of Long Aotian's robe. Bai Lianhua sighed, truly tired of dealing with Long Aotian and all the drama that he brought with him but she still mentally prepared herself for what was to come.
'Ugh, here he comes again.' She gathered her skirts and stood up to greet him as nicely as she could. 'If looks could kill, l want to kill him with kindness.' Bai Lianhua smiled as disgustingly sweet as she could and then latched on Long Aotian's arm. "Msang-gong, I'm so happy you came to see me the moment that you came back from court. Do you want to stay the night here?"
She then leaned her head on his shoulder and her refreshing bamboo scent floated all the way to the tip of Long Aotian's nose. Long Aotian's mind wandered a bit but he didn't forget what he came for.
"No need to rush, I'm just here to ask you something. I just saw a delivery boy coming from the front of the mansion and he said he was here to deliver some very expensive tea to you. Who's it from?" Although Long Aotian asked this question using a casual tone, his eyes still looked at Bai Lianhua penetratingly as if he wanted to peer into her soul and see all her secrets. Bai Lianhua was slightly unnerved by this look but since she knew she'd done nothing wrong, she continued acting cute.
"Msang-gong~, actually, l don't know who sent me the tea. I have never met this man before and as the empress' closest dowry men, the only 'men' l met before were all eunuchs. So how could l have met this man?" She pouted and teared up showing sadness at Long Aotian's lack of trust.
Long Aotian patted her head softly and apologised: "I am sorry for doubting you. I just wanted to make sure there was nothing going on instead of making assumptions and having my reputation tarnished in the future." Bai Lianhua led Long Aotian to the table and he took a seat at one of the stools there. She also personally made and served hot tea and cakes. Using Fang Lianhua's memory, Bai Lianhua's tea making looks so pleasing that Long Aotian unconsciously relaxed. 'Yes, this is what married life is supposed to be like. No wonder so many characters in novels like to have harems! I can enjoy all types of personalities and care!'
If Bai Lianhua knew what Long Aotian was thinking, she would have slapped him very hard. What harem? She's not part of it ok! She's just here to do her job. Because Long Aotian was in a good mood, he voluntarily gave Bai Lianhua a reward. "Lianhua, if you want anything, you should ask me and l will give it to you! No matter what it is, be bold and tell me!" Bai Lianhua knew her opportunity finally came to make some progress in her mission and she would take it with both hands. Of course, she couldn't be so direct about her intentions.
She lifted up her teacup, gracefully used the lid to move some of the mist from the hot tea and then took small sips. Long Aotian waited in anticipation – he didn't know what she would ask of him. The last time he asked the other concubines this question, they all insisted that they needed nothing else but his love. He felt very proud that his wives all loved him that much, at least more than material benefits.
The more they loved him, the more luck he had.
The only anomaly was Bai Lianhua! Bai Lianhua put her teacup back on the wooden table and then lifted her head to look directly at Long Aotian. "Msang-gong, l don't want too much, just to serve you soup in the study every day. Can l?"
Long Aotian was taken aback. "Serve soup? Personally?" Bai Lianhua cocked her head to the side and asked whether that was allowed. He nodded although he was still confused: "It is allowed. Since you want to send me soup, no one else can send me soup until the mid-autumn festival has passed." Bai Lianhua smiled brightly but in her mind, she was calculating how much time she would actually have to discover whether Long Aotian hid anything in his study.
Her current plan was to take advantage of her current low favourability to squeeze Long Aotian as much as possible. In lieu of Long Aotian's agreement, Bai Lianhua increased her favourability from 15 to 30 in one whole swoop.
Long Aotian was so happy! 'Maybe this is the way to win her heart! Just act like a husband in love and pander to all her requests! Women love that right?' His system rolled its eyes wondering how he came to that conclusion since he wasn't a woman. 'Did l pick the wrong host? Even though he has been doing so well, he's failing when it comes to this woman!' It checked its energy meter and knew it still had some reserve energy left. 'Worst comes to worst, if he can't conquer her, we'll have to eliminate her.' The system hid its reserve energy from Long Aotian as well – it didn't want Long Aotian to feel too relaxed or comfortable.
Since both people were happy with the gains they'd made, they treated each other courteously and intimately. Bai Lianhua broke a piece of cake and fed it directly to Long Aotian. He also played along and ate the cake as if it was the most delicious thing he had eaten in his life. Bai Lianhua blushed and that made her look like a teenage girl in the throes of love. She also tried to blink less so that her eyes looked watery and limpid. When she looked at Long Aotian, he was given a crit because of her youthful loving look.
By the time Long Aotian left Bai Lianhua's courtyard, it was already nighttime. Bai Lianhua really couldn't be bothered to host him for dinner so she said that she wanted to rest a bit before dinner was served and Long Aotian left her to herself whilst he went to the study. Now, do you all remember the abandoned courtyard where a certain maid went to deliver some suspicious things? Yes, that place was where a meeting was taking place between a pair of accomplices.
Qing Li somehow managed to make it into Long Aotian's house! How did he do it? He paid for a very expensive skin mask from an underground market and the mask allowed him to cover his real facial features. He also bought some voice changing medicine from a barefoot doctor which made his voice even deeper than it was. All in all, he became a completely different person! Even Wen Lili's outer maid couldn't recognise him initially. But after a few codes had been exchanged, they both knew who the other was. Qing Li heard some footsteps and motioned for the maid to be quiet. They both went and hid behind an old cabinet and waited for the footsteps to fade away. After a few minutes, Qing Li couldn't hear a thing but he was still very nervous and he could hear his own heartbeat. Still, no one came in and Qing Li felt that it was safe enough for both of them to come out.
Wen Lili's maid blushed profusely since this was the first time that she'd been in close proximity with a man who she knew to be extremely handsome and charming. Qing Li had that melancholy beauty that arose from his unrequited love that made everyone want to make him smile and give him the stars. Wen Lili's maid was not spared from this feeling either. Still, she knew that she had to prioritise her mistress' affairs first. The first thing that Qing Li asked was unsurprisingly about Wen Lili.
"Is she eating well? Does she have enough clothes? Do you need me to buy anything or send anything?" Wen Lili's maid was so touched by Qing Li's care that she really couldn't understand why her mistress rejected him. Even now, Qing Li was still helping!
"The master made sure that she didn't have food in the first days of the confinement. Now all she has to eat are the small snacks in her dowry and the rice gruel and vegetables the small kitchen sends once a day. The mistress is very hungry all the time and doesn't have a lot of energy to curse. She spent the entirety of yesterday sighing." Qing Li punched the wall in frustration. "Dammit! He promised that he would treat her well! Why is he doing this now? Isn't love about accepting all the other person's faults? Why is he punishing her for such a little thing!"