After the banquet ended, Song Jiaren led Li Nuo to a room in the Song Residence.
The nights in Daxia were subject to curfew, which although started a bit late, around ten o'clock in the evening, without a legitimate reason, one couldn't just wander the streets.
Violators of the curfew, if caught by the patrolling Imperial Guard, could expect at worst a beating or, more seriously, imprisonment.
Although it wasn't yet curfew, some guests lived far away, and some, due to drunkenness, could only stay overnight at the Song Residence, causing a shortage of guest rooms. Consequently, Li Nuo and Song Jiaren could only make do with sharing a room.
However, even if there were plenty of rooms tonight, they would still have to share one. After all, they were legally married, and if they slept in separate rooms, others might suspect discord between them.
This would be a misunderstanding.
Li Nuo and his wife were not in discord; they were simply unacquainted.
This room seemed to be Song Jiaren's private quarters, as she was very familiar with it. She took a new set of bedding from the closet and laid it on the ground in front of the bed. Li Nuo said nothing, although he longed for the large and soft bed back in his own room at home. He had often slept in cramped, foldable beds that neither accommodated his head nor his feet, so sleeping on the ground with a proper blanket and mattress was luxurious for him.
Since the two were nominally husband and wife only, Li Nuo didn't see this arrangement as an issue.
At the moment, the most important thing for him was just one: to stay alive.
As for a normal marital relationship...
That would have to be left to fate.
Li Nuo, of course, wasn't averse to his wife, who was not only stunningly beautiful but also formidable in martial arts. If affection grew over time and they could live together, that would be fine. If they failed to spark any affection, they could amicably part ways, without holding each other back.
Of course, all of this was for the future. As a newcomer with no say, he couldn't change anything right now.
It was getting late, so Li Nuo removed his shoes, socks, and robe, preparing to read a bit before sleeping.
He had just lain down on the bedding on the ground when Song Jiaren glanced at him and pointed to the bed, saying, "You sleep on top."
Li Nuo was slightly surprised; as a man, to sleep on the bed and let a fragile woman sleep...
Realizing that the term "fragile" applied only to himself in this scenario, Li Nuo didn't object and climbed obediently onto the bed. Although they had met only two days earlier, he knew that his wife's decisions were usually unchangeable.
Lying in bed, he felt surrounded by a faint scent.
It was his wife's fragrance—indeed, this was her room.
He sat up cross-legged and pulled out a thin book from his bosom.
When he left home, Li Nuo conveniently brought a book on Legalism, intending to read it before sleep.
Time was precious to him, and he couldn't afford to waste even a moment.
However, he hadn't read more than two pages before sounds of moaning came from the neighboring room. Earlier, he had seen Song Qian and her husband enter there. He hadn't expected that Song Jiaren's cousin, who appeared so composed and ladylike, harbored such a contrast behind closed doors. The content of her cries made even Li Nuo blush...
Fortunately, her cries stopped in less than three minutes and silence returned to his ears.
Song Jiaren lay on the floor, her delicate face flushed with an added touch of charming coquettishness amidst her usual cold demeanor, though Li Nuo on the bed did not see this.
To ease the awkwardness, Li Nuo spoke up, "Wife, do you and Song Qian have some conflict..."
Song Jiaren fell silent for a moment, then said lightly, "She's disliked me since we were children..."
After a brief moment of thought, Li Nuo understood. Coming from the same Song Family and only a few years apart, one with no merits and the other beautiful with a natural talent for the Martial Path, it was inevitable that they would be compared. No surprise that Song Qian wouldn't like her.
Following their brief exchange, the room returned to silence.
But soon after, a head popped up from the bed. Li Nuo, pointing at a character in the book, asked, "Wife, what is this character?"
He had not brought the bulky Shuo Wen with him and was at a loss for the meaning of several characters, unable to connect them with the context. With no other option, he sought his wife's help.
Song Jiaren glanced at it and replied lightly, "I don't recognize it."
"And what about this one?"
"I don't recognize it."
"This one?"
"I don't recognize it."
"And this..."
"..."
Silence, a prolonged silence.
Li Nuo felt that she wouldn't hide her knowledge of the characters from him.
He lay by the bed, staring at this exquisitely beautiful face, and exclaimed in surprise, "No way, could it be that my wife, you cannot read?"
Song Jiaren's gaze faintly met his.
Li Nuo retreated back to the bed, smiling and said, "No matter, it's a trivial thing. Being illiterate doesn't matter, we complement each other, you with your poetry and I with my martial skills. Living well is what matters most..."
...
Song Residence.
In the room separated by a single wall from where Li Nuo was intently reading.
Song Qian sat at the head of the bed, glancing dissatisfiedly at her husband who lay limp on the bed, a fire of frustration with nowhere to vent within her.
It was a fire of desire as well as a fire of irritation.
Song Jiaren's foolish husband wasn't foolish anymore, which was irritating enough for her, and on top of that, she no longer had any advantage over Song Jiaren. Not only was he no longer a fool, but during the Old Lady's birthday banquet, they drew all the attention, receiving the Old Lady's rewards not once but twice, diminishing her and her husband.
She could have let this go, but her father had just sought her out, his words implicitly suspecting her of stealing the gift Song Jiaren had prepared for the Old Lady.
This made Song Qian both depressed and angry. Even if she didn't like Song Jiaren, she wouldn't do something like that during the Old Lady's birthday banquet. Muttering those few words was just a way of expressing her dissatisfaction.
From what her father said, it seemed the gift prepared by Song Jiaren had been replaced with stones.
As a result, her husband had, on the spot, composed two poems to save face and also helped bring the Old Lady's birthday banquet to a successful conclusion.
That Li Nuo, not only was he not a fool, he was also very clever.
Not just clever, but handsome too!
Thinking of that handsome face, and then looking at her own ineffectual husband, Song Qian was even angrier!
Why is my life so miserable...
Unable to vent the flames inside her, she could only take out a Jade Silkworm from under her pillow.
In the room next door, just as Li Nuo turned a new page, his body trembled slightly, he turned his head and said helplessly, "Here we go again..."
Meanwhile, at the Song Residence.
The Old Lady's sixtieth birthday celebration had concluded perfectly, and tonight was one where both hosts and guests were happy, but the maids and servants of the Song Family had to clean up the aftermath, which was especially busy.
During this time, several maids were summoned by the second master and questioned for a long while, causing a shortfall of hands. Only at midnight did they finish tidying up, dragging their weary bodies to a deep sleep.
In Song Lian's room.
He sat at the table, furrowing his brows, muttering, "Who could it be?"
He had questioned each maid who might have had access to the gifts, had servants search their rooms while they were questioned, but all to no avail. His intuition told him that it wasn't the work of a maid from the residence.
They didn't have the guts, nor did they have the capability.
The room where the gifts were stored was heavily guarded, and no thief, no matter how skillful, could have committed the act. Even a master of the Martial Path would have difficulty sneaking in, unless they were a practitioner of the Object Manipulation Realm or higher, capable of retrieving objects from the air silently.
But surely a practitioner of the fourth realm of the Martial Path wouldn't lack silver, and considering the value, there were many other gifts more valuable than the pair of Jade Ruyis. Why would someone choose something not so valuable? Clearly, the target was Jiaren.
Although Qian'er was highly suspect, she was just an ordinary person, with neither the time nor the ability to commit such an act.
But then, who could it be?
A moment later, Song Lian shook his head. Since there were no leads, he decided not to think further on it. After all, it was just a pair of lost Ruyis. The most important thing was that the Old Lady's birthday banquet had been a resounding success.
Speaking of which, they really owed Li Nuo for tonight.
Jiaren was someone he had watched grow up, and he had always been unsatisfied with her marrying a fool, even if that fool's father was a powerful court official.
But tonight had completely changed his perception of Li Nuo. Whether his past idiocy was feigned or he had suddenly become enlightened, these no longer mattered.
What mattered was that the couple could be happy together.
Having resolved one of his concerns, Song Lian extinguished the lamp and lay on the bed.
He had spent so much energy preparing for the Old Lady's birthday banquet days, hardly having a good night's sleep for many days. Now, with everything finally over, he lay on the bed, not even undressing, his head barely touching the pillow before he fell asleep...
As time passed, the lights in the various rooms of the Song Residence gradually went out.
Only the lanterns hung along the paths continued to emit a dim light.
Just two hours before, the lively birthday hall was now completely empty, shrouded in darkness.
On the rooftop of the birthday hall, a figure crouched at the corner of the eaves, taking the two Jade Ruyis next to them, looked out at the darkness-swamped Song Residence, tugged at the corner of their mouth, revealing a charming smile, and whispered softly, "So he's not a fool, huh? Interesting, very interesting..."