Zhu Wuyang did not come back that night.
Linlang didn't care. She was more comfortable sleeping alone.
Early the next morning, the maidservants dressed and groomed her. She was very calm and collected throughout the process.
"Furen, the master is waiting in the front hall to dine with you." A man dressed like a butler said with a blank face.
Linlang looked at him several times.
If you can ignore his gloomy expression, those beautiful eyebrows, and thin red lips...
Linlang's expression said she wasn't convinced of his gender.
The man seems to know what she was thinking. Out of that dead fish expression came the words, "Does Furen require a confirmation?"
Linlang answered calmly, "If you wouldn't mind."
Butler: "..."Please read this at onemachineshow.blogspot.com
I must have met a fake lady.
"My surname is Gong. Furen may call me Xiao1 Gong. If there is anything, you may call on me at any time." The staunch butler made it clear that he would not take the bait and carried on as if conducting official business.
Linlang held back a smile, but her eyes seemed to glisten. "Xiao Gong sounds too courteous. Would it be all right to call you Lao Gong2?"
The butler was silent for a while.
He didn't know why this woman smiled so strangely.
Was there something wrong with 'Lao Gong'?
Then again, few people dared to call him this way.
As the chief steward who stood by the city lord, he was second in command of Wushuang City. Others could only respectfully call him 'Sir Gong'.
A magnificent flower shadow was swaying outside the window. That person supported her chin on one hand as the red tassels bumped slightly against her pink powdered cheeks. A faint glow seemed to be emanating from them.
The butler lowered his eyes.
"If it makes Furen happy."
He led her to the front hall. A girl in a pink dress was tugging at her brother like a baby. "Brother, I'm this old, yet I have never been to the temple fair. Can you let me go this time?"
The brother was breathtakingly handsome but...
Linlang sighed. How disappointing.
She thought she would see a peerless beauty.
"No, your body is too weak to stand the jostling. What if someone runs into you?" Zhu Wuyang patted his sister's shoulders in comfort. "Jinse, listen to me on this. If you want a sky lantern, Brother will have someone get it for you. Be it ten or a hundred, you may have as many as you'd like in our courtyard."
At that moment, the butler glanced at the city lord's new wife.
She lowered her face, and in those bright eyes was a trace of sadness.
Anyone would feel hurt, would they not?
It was their wedding night, but the husband chose to stay in his sister's room. They finally meet again, only to see him like this.
"No, I'm going outside."
"If you keep acting this way, Brother will be angry."
"Wuwu, you're too much! Jinse refuses to acknowledge you!"
She stomped her foot and ran away.
Zhu Wuyang frowned. "Stop the young miss. Do not let her run."
After saying this, he followed after her.
In the quiet hall, the servants hung their heads low. This was obviously the norm.
"Furen..." The butler hesitated.
"I'm not hungry for the time being. I wish to go back to my room and rest."
She mustered a faint smile and was about to go back when suddenly a bad idea flashed in her mind.
Just like that, the woman turned pale and passed out.
The butler managed to catch her in time.
In his arms was a fragrant beauty. Her skin was slightly cool to the touch.
It was also... soft?
The butler's delicate face glowed red as he stiffly shifted his arms.
He seems to have touched something he shouldn't have.
Fortunately, the lady had fainted.
The butler was quick to adjust his posture.
However, while the butler was chiding himself, Linlang was secretly smiling.
It turns out he really is a little brother.
His pretty face does make it hard to believe.
Feeling satisfied, she continued to act muddled and ate some tofu3 in the process.
Just when Zhu Wuyang was about to give chase, he suddenly heard a few exclaims and couldn't help but turn around.
She was like a fragile porcelain doll as she rested weakly on the butler.
The man's heart tightened.
He directed a hesitant glance towards the girl running away before he ultimately carried Linlang and instructed the butler. "Call for the physician."
In less than half the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the physician arrived with an apprentice. After a diagnosis, he said that her pulse was weak. It might be that she worked too strenuously before and did not have a good night's sleep.
Zhu Wuyang saw her eyelashes trembling lightly. She was about to wake up.
"Fujun?"
Her misty eyes seemed affectionate.
"Why did you stay up all night?"
His expression was calm, but he couldn't understand where the irritation came from. It irked him that she didn't care for her body.
In fact, he felt a bit alarmed, and the feeling made his heart palpitate for some reason.
"I—I was waiting for Fujun's return."
She looked down as if she had done something wrong.
"My mother waits for Father to come home like this every day.
"If he doesn't return, Mother won't sleep.
"It has been that way for half of their lives.
"So..." Linlang bit her lip, "I also want to be a good wife like Mother, but I might have made a mistake." She raised her head and said pitifully, "Fujun, don't be angry. I-I'll be sure to retire earlier in the future."
As she said this, her eyes drifted away. She didn't dare to look at him.
At first glance, one could see that the girl was not good at lying.
The city lord seems to have just realized this was a girl of sixteen this year, the same as his younger sister, and five years younger than him.
Zhu Wuyang touched the pink cheek with his fingertips, and he swallowed back the original reprimand instantly, softening.
"A foolish Niang Zi."
The address unconsciously escaped his lips.
He feared was the kind to count the money for the ones who sold her.
"I am not foolish. My parents say Bao'er is very clever. If Fujun says it again, I will get angry." The little girl's cheeks swelled in dissatisfaction.
Haha, she loves pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger.
Fujun, you're the foolish one.
"All right, all right. Bo'er isn't foolish. Now, drink the medicine." Zhu Wuyang inadvertently took on a manner of coaxing her.
His little lady wrinkled her face in disgust. "I am not ill, so there's no need to drink it."
She turned her head to the side and said, "I think Fujun's sickly complexion would benefit more from this drink."
Ah, so she's another little ancestor.
Her former gentleness refined mannerisms were all pretend, weren't they?
Zhu Wuyang unapologetically grabbed her face and poured the medicine into her mouth.
She coughed until tears welled up. Her aggrieved expression was practically denouncing him for his 'brutal crime'.
Suddenly, something flitted across her eyes.
A strange smile appeared on her face.
Zhu Wuyang suddenly had a foreboding feeling.
Before he could think to dodge, she clung to him and pressed her lips against his. The smell of medicine permeated the air.
In a flash, his entire body resembled a roasted shrimp.
"Dis—disgraceful!"
He furrowed his jerky eyebrows. His body was beginning to feel sluggish.
He seemed out of breath.
Yi, is there something wrong?
Linlang looked down at the man whose eyes were closed. His flushed cheeks were shockingly warm.
Did he faint?
What!
She only kissed him!
Is he that fragile?
Linlang quickly asked someone to call the physician back.
The old man's expression was very curious.
After a few needle pricks, the person finally regained consciousness. The residual heat on his face made it look like a monkey's butt. Linlang pitied the idiot who forgot how to breathe during a kiss.
It's unbelievable.
The physician had seen his share of things, and like a man entrusting his foolish son, he said to Linlang with a worried voice, "The city lord is not yet enlightened in romantic affairs. Furen, please pardon him until he does."
The Lord of the City was stupefied.
N—not yet enlightened?
After hesitating for a moment, the physician beckoned her over. "Furen, a word."
Linlang raised her eyebrows and followed after him.
The physician mysteriously pulled out something wrapped in black cloth from the chest of medicines.
"This book was for my foolish son who is soon to marry, but this old man sees that the lord requires it more urgently. This will be handed over to Furen. Be sure to study it carefully."
Linlang took it and rubbed it.
The smile on her face deepened.
"Don't worry, I will treat him dearly."
Dear enough to make him cry.
Linlang sent the old man away.
She couldn't help but smile as she flipped through the book. That old man is quite a character.
This "rare book" is equivalent to a modern romance manga. A young aristocratic man and woman go up the mountains to learn martial arts, and taking advantage of this opportunity, they embark on a sweet, sweet daily life of embracing one another.
At most, they kissed, but the drawings expressed the lovers' intimacy so vividly, it felt palpable.
It was certainly enough to tease the city lord. She will definitely get some unexpected results!
Zhu Wuyang had already fixed his attire. The abnormal blush on his face was gone, and he had recovered his usually cold expression, seemingly in an attempt to maintain his lofty identity.
"What are you holding in your hand?" he asked, trying to make himself appear uninterested.
"Exceptional martial arts." Linlang deadpanned without a change in her expression.
"Oh?" His expression revealed his skepticism. Why would a practicing physician carry a rare martial arts book? What secrets could it have? If there was such a secret, how could he, as city lord, not know about it?
"If this succeeds, our harmonious swords will be unparalleled on this earth," Linlang said solemnly.
She looked like she genuinely meant it.
Whenever Linlang made a bluff, she was more serious than anyone else. Even the dead can be said to be alive.
Zhu Wuyang's heart was stirred.Please read this at onemachineshow.blogspot.com
"Would it be possible to have a look?"
He took the bait.
"Of course, but this book is a bit special. It needs to be read in the dark."
"It is so mysterious?" Zhu Wuyang was more convinced.
After looking around, he finally locked it inside a long mahogany cabinet.
The cabinet was used to store a few books. It had been cleared a few days before, but it was still empty as there hadn't been time to fill it with new books.
And so, he pulled her inside.
"All right, now. Take it out." The man said impatiently.
Linlang smirked as she lifted the black cloth.
A ray of sunlight shone through the gap between the doors. Zhu Wuyang moved closer to see.
Hm, what martial arts posture is this?
He had never seen it before. It was unique.
He hesitated for a long time before asking, "Why must they draw their faces so close when learning martial arts?"
"Look, Fujun, this is a trick called 'To Make Eyes'. It requires them to be more intimate."
The city lord laughed dryly.
"Is that so."
His attention was drawn to another page.
Linlang explained them one by one.
"This is the 'Unyielding Affection Blade'."
"This is the 'Strike of Undying Love."
While the man was frowning, she stood on tiptoe to kiss his forehead.
"Fujun, your nose is bleeding."
"Fujun? How could you just faint again!"
Linlang chuckled.
My foolish Fujun.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––
The author has something to say:-
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Alright, now let's talk about how to kill the male lead.
What do you all think about drowning him in a pig cage?