Ruoyin pulled herself up by grabbing Lord Fourth’s neck, and she tugged at the corner of her lips.
Before she said anything, Lord Fourth took the initiative and made it up to her.
But why did it seem as though there were bad intentions behind his words?
Lord Fourth was strong. As he walked and carried Ruoyin, she could even feel the wind at her feet.
In less than ten minutes, the two had arrived at Yi Lan Villa.
Realizing the situation as Nanny Liu saw Lord Fourth returning with Ruoyin in his arms from a distance, she immediately instructed the servants to prepare the bath.
When they reached Yi Lan Villa, Lord Fourth put Ruoyin down.
A moment later, when the water was ready, Ruoyin helped Lord Fourth to change his clothes.
Perhaps it was because the weather was hot and the water was also warm, Lord Fourth didn’t invite Ruoyin to take a bath with him.
After waiting upon Lord Fourth in his bath, she told the subordinate to wait on her as she bathed.
After the bath, Ruoyin blew out the candle and prepared to lie down.
But when she lay down, she fell into a pair of muscular arms.
Lord Fourth’s arm was the pillow under her neck. The pair of manly palms slid up from her waist…
His sharp nose was laid against her snowy neck as he sniffed her just like a tiger sniffs a rose.
Then, a mild pleasant fragrance entered his nostrils.
It was a seductive womanly scent that always lingered on her.
With her back facing Lord Fourth as she lay in his arms, she felt only a hot wall of meat behind her.
It was so hot that she felt herself go weak as she could only lay paralyzed in his arms.
Soon, the sound of a woman’s melodious sobbing came from inside the house.
A cute manner of protest was also heard. “My Lord, no… I don’t want this compensation anymore…”
Why would she want this when both sides had to compensate?
“Stop being so frail.” In the darkness, Lord Fourth swallowed hard.
Ruoyin could only let out feeble whimpers.
Lord Fourth listened as the woman in his arms moaned softly.
When he admonished her, she wouldn’t listen. He told her to stop being so frail, but she was acting more and more like it!
Soon, Ruoyin was dripping with sweat. The clear drops of sweat oozed from her skin and gave off a charming luster under the moonlight.
The pair of beautiful, dignified eyes had already been bewitched.
On the door, there was the silhouette of two people in an embrace, as though they were performing the most taboo yet most beautiful shadow play, making an interpretation of humans’ most basic instinct…
After some time, when Ruoyin was about to fall asleep, Lord Fourth let out a dull howl.
Then, some subordinates came to prepare the bath.
Ruoyin didn’t want to do anything anymore as she let Lord Fourth hold her and cleanse her body.
At the same time, she couldn’t help lamenting that this was not him making up to her! It was just a punishment in disguise!
The weather was so hot. Couldn’t he take it easy? If they were to carry on like this, taking ten baths a day would still not be enough.
Early the next morning, Lord Fourth was sympathetic and didn’t wake Ruoyin up when he left, and he also forbade the servants from waking her.
But then, Nanny Liu was standing anxiously beside the bed, looking as though she really had something she wanted to say.
After pacing for a while in the same spot, she finally piped up, “Miss, please get up quickly. Her Majesty’s subordinate came by the manor early today, saying that she wants you to go to the palace.”
Ruoyin was very sleepy. But upon hearing of Consort De’s intimidating name, she pried her eyes open.
The last time she entered the palace was more than twenty days ago. Her mother-in-law was telling her to go to the palace again. Just how much did she miss her?
She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and asked, “What time is it now?”
“Mistress, it’s eight o’clock in the morning.” Nanny Liu prepared all her clothes and went up to wait on Ruoyin as she woke up.
Ruoyin nodded in acknowledgment. She had a clock in the main courtyard that she brought to the manor so that she could tell the time easily.
Consort De used to call her into the palace in advance, but this time, it was so sudden that she was left puzzled.
But her intuition was telling her that it was probably a good thing!
After some freshening up and making up, Ruoyin nonchalantly drank the bowl of congee and took the carriage into the palace.
When she arrived at Yonghe Palace, she was received by Aunt Cui.
“Fujin, please take a seat in the hall. Her Majesty is still copying the sutra. Once she starts, she can’t stop. No one can make her stop.” Aunt Cui smiled as she welcomed Ruoyin into the hall.
After Ruoyin sat down in the hall, Aunt Cui poured her a cup of tea and went inside the room.
Ruoyin and Nanny Liu were the only two in the big hall.
From what she said earlier, it seemed like it would take a while as she had expected.
Consort De had arranged to meet with her before she entered the palace. How could she not know that she was coming and still be copying sutras?
Consort De probably didn’t like her for some reason and wanted her to receive a cold reception.
Thus, on this occasion, she waited for quite some time.
An hour later, Consort De finally came out holding Aunt Cui’s hand.
Ruoyin knelt in the center of the hall to greet her. “Paying respects to Mother. May Mother be blessed and healthy.”
Consort De looked down at Ruoyin condescendingly and said mildly, “Get up. When you helped to copy the sutras, you saved me some work. But after you stopped, I have been so busy copying the sutras.”
Hearing this, Ruoyin was slightly stunned. Did Consort De mean to tell her to continue copying the sutras?
But she wasn’t good at copying sutras. She wouldn’t simply take on such a responsibility.
Anyways, Consort De had said that she didn’t want her to copy them. And this time, she didn’t explicitly say that she wanted her to copy them.
Thus, she tugged at her lips and pretended not to understand her. “It’s not about the quantity. It’s effective only if one is sincere. You have to take care of your health, Mother.”
When she heard this, Consort De’s sharp eyes turned to the innocent-looking Ruoyin as she couldn’t refute her words.
Moreover, she didn’t know if Ruoyin was really oblivious to what she meant to say or simply putting on an act. But she replied mildly, “What you said makes sense, but I heard you and Lord Fourth have had a falling-out again?”
“Mother, don’t listen to those nonsense. Lord Fourth had just stopped by my place to sleep last night.” Ruoyin laughed in reply.
She was thinking of how ill-informed Consort De was. It was true that they’d had a falling-out. But that was old news after a day of tangling themselves with each other.
At the same time, she wondered how Consort De, who was in the palace, had come to hear of their falling-out.
She didn’t blow the matter up to the extent that the whole capital knew about it, did she?
At most, only the people in the manor knew about it, and the only ones who could possibly have snitched on her to Consort De were Consort Li and Consort Song.
So, was it them?