At dinner time, Li Ling got up and nudged Jing Xiu, saying, “Time to get up and eat.”
Jing Xiu turned over and mumbled, “You go eat, I still want to sleep.”
Li Ling then got dressed himself and went out to dine.
When Zi Yun saw Li Ling come out, she was happy the couple had made up, but couldn’t help feeling pity for her young mistress: she didn’t even come out for meals, she must have been tormented enough by the young master.
When Bi Lü saw the young mistress didn’t come out, she was also extremely worried, muttering to herself: the young master couldn’t have gone too far and crippled the young mistress, could he?
Li Ling glanced at the two maids with their different expressions and instructed, “Later, tell the kitchen to stew some bird’s nest porridge. When the lady wakes up, bring it to her.”
Zi Yun hurriedly agreed and left. Li Ling dined alone for dinner, then went out.
When Jing Xiu woke up, the moon was already high in the willow branches.
Zi Yun brought in the bird’s nest porridge. After eating it, Jing Xiu handed the bowl back to Zi Yun, stretched her body lazily and said, “You can go rest. I still want to sleep some more.”
Zi Yun advised, “You just ate something, why don’t you get up and walk around a bit to help digest the food.”
After saying this, she regretted it. If she couldn’t even get out of bed to eat, how would she have the energy to walk around?
Seeing Jing Xiu lying listlessly on the pillow, Zi Yun said sympathetically, “I advised you earlier not to be angry with the Young Master. Look what happened, in the end, you’re the one suffering.”
Jing Xiu lay on the pillow with her eyes closed, not even wanting to speak anymore.
“But at least the Young Master came to pick you up himself today. You didn’t see how envious those noble ladies were.” Zi Yun leaned in and said in a low voice, “Especially that Third Miss Zhou, she was staring so greedily her eyes were about to pop out. She saw you and the Young Master’s carriage leaving, and she was leaning against the carriage curtain, gawking.”
“He just happened to be going the same way,” Jing Xiu mumbled.
“It’s still a rare thing for the Young Master to make that gesture. Miss, you were so angry with the Young Master, I was worried you might lose his affection because of it.”
The two were still talking when Li Ling entered. Zi Yun immediately stopped and respectfully withdrew.
Li Ling walked to the bedside, hung his outer robe on the rack at the foot of the bed, and asked, “Feeling better?”
How dare he ask that? When he was clinging to her in bed earlier, he showed no mercy.
Jing Xiu didn’t respond, turning her head away.
Li Ling didn’t say more. After washing up in the bathroom, he got into bed.
Seeing she was only showing her back to him, he hugged her from behind and softly asked next to her ear, “Are you still not over it?”
“What do you think?” Jing Xiu asked back.
Li Ling was silent for a moment, then replied, “It’s because I didn’t control myself properly.”
As he spoke, he pulled her into his embrace and turned her face towards him. “You kicked me out of the study room these past two days. I was bitten terribly by mosquitoes, so we’re even now, right?”
Jing Xiu raised her head, her almond-shaped eyes glaring at him. “You’re turning it around – how was it me who kicked you out of the study? Clearly you went there yourself.”
Li Ling argued, “But it’s the same thing, if you hadn’t been angry with me, how could I have gone to the study?”
Jing Xiu scoffed, “Just because I didn’t accompany you to the Marshal’s manor, that means I was angry with you? Clearly you’re the petty one.”
She actually called him petty?
This new bride really is difficult to handle!
Fearing he would enrage her again like last time, Li Ling didn’t argue further.
But Jing Xiu refused to relent, “If you like sleeping in the study so much, I’ll have them hang the mosquito nets there right now. You can just stay there from now on.”
With that, she broke free from his embrace, shifted the pillow inwards, and turned her back to him again.
Li Ling moved closer and hugged her from behind, his face pressed against her neck as he said hoarsely, “Don’t be angry anymore, okay?”
That last line was said very lightly as if coaxing her.
Jing Xiu turned over to face him and said seriously, “If you ever throw a tantrum again and move out to live separately, then don’t bother coming back.”
“Mmm.” Li Ling nodded solemnly.
As he spoke, he pulled her back into his embrace and repeated next to her ear, “I understand.”
Jing Xiu believed that he would follow through with his words. Since he had made such an effort to reconcile with her, she truly wasn’t angry anymore. She snuggled obediently in his solid embrace feeling gentle and content.
However, he put his arms around her soft, slender waist while the other hand started misbehaving under the covers.
Jing Xiu was not fully awake yet. She grabbed his hand groggily while yawning, “Don’t start, I still want to sleep.”
He finally behaved himself a bit, leaning over to ask by her ear, “Does it feel better there?”
Feel better where?
It took Jing Xiu a dazed moment to understand. Startled awake, she hurriedly sat up and said to him, “It’s the 15th today, we need to go pay respects to Grandmother. Get up quickly.”
(End of this chapter)