Chapter 549 - 551: The Man Who Touched Her?
Madam Meng noticed that Bai Ruozhu was somewhat intimidated and couldn’t resist bursting into laughter, "I see that you are usually brave. Even when the guards are injured and bleeding, you’re not scared. Why are you afraid of making a gift for the Empress Dowager?"
Bai Ruozhu shrank her neck, saying, "I fear that if something goes wrong, I might lose my head."
Madam Meng looked at her in surprise, "Who told you that? Is the Empress Dowager that terrifying? Even in our Danliang Country, there is no such rule that people’s head is chopped off arbitrarily."
Bai Ruozhu noted her serious expression, she wasn’t joking, and couldn’t help but twitch the corner of her mouth. She had watched many ancient dramas before, where dissatisfaction from the masters in the palace often resulted in beheadings. But it turns out that wasn’t the reality.
"Ah, I see it’s the scare tactic used by the villagers to frighten children." Bai Ruozhu said awkwardly.
The older lady laughed, "You just be bold and make it. Of course, you have to be absolutely meticulous. Otherwise, if you can’t present it well, it would be a disgrace for me."
Bai Ruozhu promptly nodded, saying: "I assure you of my carefulness. I can’t ruin the reputation of Hua Xiangrong." She glanced at the four screens in the old lady’s room, thought for a moment, and said: "The hook needle has different densities, they will let light and wind pass through. Therefore, I thought to make a blue silk bottom layer, weave the word ’longevity’ in the hollows on top, and utilize the hollow effect to accentuate the characters and patterns more."
The old lady nodded approvingly after hearing this, "First, draw a pattern and show it to me. If it’s good then you can start working on it. Don’t rush though, you still have four months to prepare."
Upon hearing there was plenty of time, Bai Ruozhu let out a huge sigh of relief.
"However, I’ve noticed that people usually send very expensive longevity gifts. Won’t a screen woven by me be too simple?" Bai Ruozhu asked again.
The old lady poked her head with her finger, saying, "You silly child, you’re only responsible for the screen’s content, there are still frames and stands to be added outside, won’t it be as expensive as possible then?"
Bai Ruozhu suddenly realized, after all, she was a modern person, she was not familiar with these ancient things.
When she was about to leave, the old lady directly gave her a silver banknote worth two hundred taels, saying it was an advance payment.
Without being overly polite with the old lady, Bai Ruozhu thanked her and left with Little Dengdeng.
She called Wa San to drive to the Wu Residence. Not wanting to attract too much attention, she looked around from the carriage for a while and only got off when she saw no one around and entered the Wu Residence.
The guards had received instructions from Wu Yunfeng and immediately led her to Jiang Yichun’s yard. During the walk, a guard sneakily looked at the baby in her arms and wondered if this beautiful child could be the Third Prince’s kid?
The guard looked at Little Dengdeng again, and thought to himself that the nose indeed looked alike. After taking two steps, he couldn’t help but look again, thinking that the mouth also looked alike, however, the eyes resembled his mother. As he was thinking about this, he glanced at Bai Ruozhu again.
Bai Ruozhu had long noticed that the guard kept looking at Little Dengdeng. She initially thought that her son was too cute and hence they wanted to take several glances. However, the more she looked, the more she felt something was off. She then glanced sharply at the guard, who was startled by her gaze, he quickly forced a smile and said, "Your son really looks like you."
Bai Ruozhu raised her eyebrows, thinking it can’t be that simple. However, seeing that the other party did not show any malice, she was content not to delve deeper.
Before long, the guard led her to Jiang Yichun’s yard. However, the other guards reported that Jiang Yichun had just gone to Miss Wu’s courtyard to counteract the poison. Bai Ruozhu told the guide, "I know the way. I can go there by myself. You can go and do your business."
The guard bowed to Bai Ruozhu and hurriedly left. He had been caught red-handed by Bai Ruozhu and was feeling awkward.
Bai Ruozhu, with Little Dengdeng in her arms, walked toward Wu Wanqing’s courtyard. She walked at leisure, knowing that if she reached there early, they would still be in the middle of dealing with the poison, and she would only be able to wait outside holding Little Dengdeng.
She arrived at the place soon after and a maid came up to say that she was going to inform Wu Wanqing. Bai Ruozhu directly said, "Don’t disturb her while she’s treating the Third Prince. I’ll just sit and wait in the courtyard."
The maid nodded after listening, not daring to unnecessarily disturb anyone.
Bai Ruozhu sat on the stone table she had occupied the day before, playing with Little Dengdeng. Soon, the maid brought over tea snacks again. Bai Ruozhu gave her a reward, then continued her frolic with Dengdeng.
Dengdeng couldn’t hide his craving for the snacks. Seeing his little paw reaching out for them, Bai Ruozhu didn’t want to deny him, afraid he would cry and disrupt the healing process in the room. She could only carry Dengdeng and stroll around the yard, trying to distract him.
She held Dengdeng under a plum tree in the yard, pointing to the plum blossoms for Dengdeng to see. Dengdeng, in response, reached out to touch them. Bai Ruozhu dodged laughingly, when her gaze happened to sweep across a tiny opening from a window thought which she could see inside the room.
She couldn’t help but widen her eyes, because it appeared as if Jiang Yichun had fainted on the floor, and Wu Wanqing was kneeling on the floor, her hand seemingly fumbling on Jiang Yichun’s face!
Bai Ruozhu could only see the side profile of Wu Wanqing, but she could feel the anxiety and desperation in her demeanor. Cold fear gripped her heart as she thought, could Wu Wanqing be taking advantage of the poisonous insect poison’s removal to behave improperly with Jiang Yichun?
The very thought stirred anger within Bai Ruozhu. Was her man someone anyone could carelessly lay hands on?
With that thought in mind, she intentionally teased Dengdeng, tickling him a little. As expected, Dengdeng began laughing boisterously. The delightful sound immediately alerted Wu Wanqing inside the room.
Wu Wanqing quickly stood up, concealing the expression she had a moment ago. For an instant, Bai Ruozhu seemed to see her stuffing something into Jiang Yichun’s mouth, appearing rather flustered upon hearing Dengdeng’s laughter.
Bai Ruozhu felt a lump in her throat. Holding Dengdeng, she returned to the stone table and sat down. After a while, Wu Wanqing opened the door, and Jiang Yichun had already returned to his cross-legged sitting position.
"Senior Brother, you’re awake. Miss Bai is here." Wu Wanqing gave Bai Ruozhu a friendly smile at the door before going back to wake Jiang Yichun.
The moment Jiang Yichun opened his eyes, they met Bai Ruozhu’s. A joyful expression crossed his face instantly, and though he stood up with some difficulty, he hurried over to Bai Ruozhu and Dengdeng.
Wu Wanqing, watching from a distance, diverted her gaze as her eyes darkened.
Bai Ruozhu took note of everything, growing even more suspicious of Wu Wanqing’s actions in the room. As for Jiang Yichun, he didn’t notice the reactions of the two women. All his attention was directed towards Little Dengdeng. He held Dengdeng in his arms, laughing, "Little guy, it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other. Did you miss me?"
Dengdeng mumbled a few times, reaching out to hug Jiang Yichun’s neck before suddenly leaning over and planting a kiss on his face.
Bai Ruozhu was instantly put out. Dengdeng seemed to have made quite some progress recently, but why didn’t he give her a kiss when she got back? The thought instantly kindled a sour feeling in Bai Ruozhu’s heart.
Similarly, a twinge of sourness brewed within Wu Wanqing’s heart as well.
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Dear readers, this is all for today. Without any drafted Chapters in advance, I, Mouka, really feel tormented. My typing speed is only so fast. This afternoon, after having some cool tea, I even threw up, probably because I have been very tired these days. I’ll strive to update five or six more Chapters tomorrow. Lastly, I would like to thank everyone for their support in these few days, motivating me greatly. Thank you all!
I would like to recommend my friend Meng Ruolianhua’s work, "Exclusive Indulgence: Hard to Handle Delicate Wife."
Summary: He is the leader of the Empire, symbolizing power and wealth. He’s cold-blooded, unfeeling, indifferent to women, but cherishes only her, loving her to the bone.
"Husband, you can’t!" "You’ll know if you try." The man finally ran out of patience and started to indulge her during the day, torturing her during the night.