Chapter 496 - Moving from One Place to Another on the Wedding Night
Ning Xueyan did not expect that she did not spend her wedding night in the Pear Flower Garden, but in the Fragrance Garden, which was the courtyard of the mysterious favored concubine of Prince Yi’s Manor. No one but Ao Chenyi and his henchmen could enter this place.
As for the princess and the consort who stayed in the bridal chambers of the Great Wisdom Garden and the Pear Flower Garden respectively, both of them lost the favor, and the lonely candles in their chambers were on throughout the night.
Others only saw that Ao Chenyi left before staying too long in the Pear Flower Garden. Although Prince Yi did not go to the Great Wisdom Garden of Commandery Princess Xianyun, there was nothing to be proud of for the Pear Flower Garden that Prince Yi visited but left. In contrast, the Fragrance Garden, where the most mysterious favored concubine of Prince Yi lived, was said to be brightly lit. After coming out of the Pear Flower Garden, Prince Yi went straight to the Fragrance Garden.
It was obvious that he went to comfort his favored concubine, so that the other concubines paid a special visit to the Pear Flower Garden because of their quarrel, but the lodgers had already gone and the courtyard was empty.
Ning Xueyan was secretly taken here and there by Ao Chenyi. The so-called favored concubine was her, and she was the favored concubine, so she did not feel embarrassed about living in the Fragrance Garden, and before she had time to say anything at that time, she had been wrapped in the quilt and carried out by Ao Chenyi. When she was out, she subconsciously held Ao Chenyi’s neck and waist tightly, of course.
The decoration in the Fragrance Garden was indeed the same as that of the Pear Flower Garden—a pair of bright red dragon and phoenix candles, bright red double happiness characters, a bright red bed, bright red quilts…
Everything was bright red, and some parts of the decoration were even more beautiful than the decoration of the Pear Flower Garden. If Ning Xueyan had not clearly known that this favored concubine did not exist, even she herself would have felt sad, for it was shocking that a favored concubine without an honorary title could also get a “bridal chamber” of the same ceremony the day when the two ladies got married as the emperor’s imperial edict required.
Surely, Ao Chenyi’s love for this beloved concubine had already reached the point of ignoring the decorum.
It was indeed an act of arousing hatred.
“What? You are not sad anymore?” Ao Chenyi put Ning Xueyan on the bed. Ning Xueyan sat wrapped in the quilt on the bed, looking blank. She was really cute in this state, and the stiffness and fright she had just now had long disappeared at this moment. Satisfied, Ao Chenyi touched Ning Xueyan’s delicate face with his hand.
Looking at his beautiful, charming face, Ning Xueyan couldn’t help having a weird sense of disharmony. She blinked her watery eyes and then saw the environment on this side clearly. “Prince, this is the place of your ‘favored concubine’, isn’t it?”
Although Ning Xueyan did not know that this was the Fragrance Garden, her brain had returned to the normal way of thinking and begun working. After looking at the surrounding environment, she asked gently after a long time.
The teardrop that was shed just now when she was excited was still on her face and glistened in the candlelight, making her white and tender skin look more lovable.
“Yes, so sleep now. I heard that you didn’t sleep well last night but woke up early in the morning, and then you fainted twice. Now you can sleep, and let me take a bath first. Do you want to bathe together with me?” As he spoke, Ao Chenyi took off the bright red wedding robe on the bed. There was a small mark on the corner of the robe, which was specially left by Ning Xueyan when she made the robe.
She bit her lip, blushed again, and turned her eyes away uncomfortably.
“You do it first, prince!” Ning Xueyan’s face turned quite red.
“Well, let me do it first, and let Xinmei serve you in a while.” Ao Chenyi did not force her and swiftly glanced at her face that had a little embarrassment with his faintly smiling beautiful eyes. He went out from the side door and entered the bathroom on the side.
As soon as he left, Xinmei lifted the door curtain and walked in with two cups of tea. “Mistress, you drink tea first, and let me help you get prepared and bathe in a while.”
“Where can I get clothes to change?” Ning Xueyan was silent for a moment, but still couldn’t help asking.
Xinmei put down the teacup in her hand with a smile and pointed to a set of clothes on the side. “The prince has asked me to bring the clothes you need to change with. In a while, I will just need to send back the clothes you take off, mistress.”
“It turns out that they have been all prepared.” Ning Xueyan’s eyes glittered, and she silently wiped away the tear marks on her face with her handkerchief. She even cried on the wedding night. Now she felt a little ashamed. “Are there any books? Let me read them.”
The sound of water came from the bathroom. It seemed that he would not finish bathing in a short time. Ning Xueyan did not think that she should always sit without doing anything, so she asked her maid.
When books were fetched and she looked at them, Ning Xueyan was completely speechless. “Aren’t these books the ones I loved to read when I was at home previously?”
When Ning Xueyan had flipped through half of a book, Ao Chenyi came out, and Eunuch Zhu who served him bathing left the room. Now it was the turn of Xinmei and Ning Xueyan to go in.
When Ning Xueyan came out of the bathroom, Ao Chenyi was leaning against the outside of the bed. Dressed in a white shirt, he put away the grimness and ruthlessness he used to have, looking as nice as jade and as gentle and elegant as water. If this was not revealed, who would expect that the man present, who was almost as handsome as the immortal coming down from heaven, turned out to be the legendary bloody and ferocious King Ashura?
He was so elegant, and his handsome look was unparalleled.
Ning Xueyan suddenly realized that if he were willing to show up in public in this way, he would be more shining and elegant than Ao Mingyu.
Ao Chenyi leaned against the bedside, flipping through the book she had just read. When he saw her coming, he waved to her, signaling to her to come.
Xinmei retired silently. Ning Xueyan had no choice but to step forward. As he pulled her hand, half of her body fell into his arms. Ning Xueyan blushed. It seemed that when the two were together, there were few normal situations because they were always close together. It used to be like this, and it was still the case now.
“Well, come in and sleep.” Ao Chenyi threw away the book in his hand, pointed to the inside, and barely closed his eyes. In the candlelight, his expression was gentle and harmless.
Ning Xueyan propped up herself slightly with her hand and measured the distance with her eyes. If she wanted to go in, she would have to climb over him. Of course, she could not cross over him. But now her hand was tightly held by his, so it was impossible for her to climb in. Helplessly, she shook her hand and then looked inside, signaling to him to let go of her hand.
Seeing that she was completely relaxed and she no longer stiffened or trembled, Ao Chenyi suddenly smiled, lowered his head to her side, and firmly held her waist with the other hand. Before she exclaimed, Ning Xueyan had been turned over and happened to fall on the inner part of the bed, and then she was pulled down and just partly lay prone on him.
Hearing the heartbeat in his chest, Ning Xueyan stiffened once again subconsciously.
“Don’t worry. I’m very tired now. I need to have a good sleep.” Ao Chenyi’s faintly smiling voice came from above her head. “Last night, when I remembered that I was going to get married, I didn’t sleep most of the night.”
He seemed to be talking seriously, and he also specially heaved a sigh, but when his words came to Ning Xueyan’s ears, she felt that they had an unspeakable meaning. She blushed, a little ashamed and annoyed. “What a man he is! I do want to bite him!”
Unable to answer him for a moment, she simply closed her eyes, ready to sleep. After such a toss, she was tired indeed. For a while, she did not have time to think about fear. Instead, she felt at ease. Yawning a little, she was really sleepy.
“Do you feel it is hot?” Semi-consciously, she was pushed by someone and opened her eyes, staring blankly at the magnified handsome face in front of her eyes. Now she did not know where she was.
She answered subconsciously, “No!”
“I feel it is hot. Go a little further inside.” Looking at her dazed watery eyes, Ao Chenyi suddenly felt that the depression of just now was totally gone. He raised his thin, long eyes and spoke leisurely. When his eyes fell on the corner of her mouth she had bitten just now, his eyes became a little deep, and he touched the scar there gently.
The scar was extremely deep. Even now, it still had some faint bloodstains.
Climbing out of bed and sitting up, he pulled the semi-conscious Ning Xueyan to sit up with him. “Put some ointment here.”
As he spoke, he let go of Ning Xueyan, ready to look for the ointment.
“Don’t bother like this. It’s nothing. I’ll cover it with rouge tomorrow. That’s enough,” Ning Xueyan held Ao Chenyi’s hand with hers and said. She could not see her scar, so she did not think that it was big and it was necessary to care about it so much.
Suddenly, Ao Chenyi no longer insisted and smiled wickedly. “If you don’t feel too much pain, we don’t have to put any ointment there. Anyway, you will have to go to the palace tomorrow.”
Now Ning Xueyan was confused about what he said and opened her misty eyes, staring at Ao Chenyi blankly. She did not know what he meant by saying so.
Seeing her obediently sitting on the bed with confusion in her beautiful eyes, Ao Chenyi said with a smile, “If those in the place see that you are in this state, they should be happy.”
There was some evil coldness in his lazy voice. He sat down on the bed again and touched Ning Xueyan’s head with his hand.
“Should I have to pretend to be in this state? Or is it that those in the palace do not even want him to enjoy himself in this kind of thing?” Inexplicably having such ideas, she extended her hand involuntarily and took his hand. “Okay, I will go to the palace like this tomorrow.”
“Does it hurt? Put some ointment on it first, okay? It won’t cause a lot of trouble.” Extending her hand to him was a behavior that pleased Ao Chenyi so much that the coldness on his face disappeared completely. When he felt that behavior of hers, he looked at the scar at Ning Xueyan’s lips again but with uncertainty and asked her.
“It doesn’t. I’m fine. I am young and ignorant, and I’m not generous enough. It’s normal for me with resentment to cause some trouble,” Ning Xueyan smiled and said softly. Taking the handkerchief handed by Ao Chenyi, she lightly touched the corner of her mouth with it and looked at the light red color. Fortunately, she rubbed it again, and the color became much lighter.
Just now, she did not know why she was so scared.
Just like when she woke up from a nightmare. Previously, she thought that she had completely forgotten this experience of the past, but now she found that the fear caused by it had not been completely eliminated.
“It’s swollen!” Ao Chenyi looked at her deeply.
“It’s good that it’s swollen, and they’ll believe that we’re not acting.” Ning Xueyan put on a faint smile on her light-colored lips. She was soft and a little embarrassed, but she was very determined. Since she married him for the sake of helping him, of course, she needed to do small matters such as acting.
“Then go to sleep!” Ao Chenyi lay down first, pulled Ning Xueyan down with his hand, took her to his arms, and closed his eyes.
“Prince, you said it was hot just now, didn’t you?” He held Ning Xueyan so tightly that she felt a little uncomfortable. Just now, she dozed off for a while, so she did not feel so tired now. She moved a little bit and could not help asking him in a whisper.
“It’s not hot now. This is just right. Don’t move around,” Ao Chenyi said lazily, showing a bit of evilness and enchantment. “But if you keep moving around, I can’t guarantee that I can fall asleep. Maybe I will do something that I do when I can’t sleep.”
With these words said, everything went quiet!