When they returned to Prince Jing’s residence, under the excuse of being “excessively worn out” during the past few days and being in a poor mood because of meeting Jiang Miao Lan, Wei Luo washed up and went to bed early. Zhao Jie wanted to be affection with her, but he could only helplessly smile after seeing that she was already wrapped up in the quilt and sleeping. He rubbed the soft, delicate earlobe that was exposed and said, “So fragile.”


  Wei Luo couldn’t hear his words. She only felt that silk quilt wasn’t as warm as Zhao Jie’s chest. She turned over, wiggled her way into his arms until she found a comfortable position, and continued to sleep.

  Zhao Jie’s arm was placed behind her waist and he conveniently held her a little bit tighter. He knew that he had tired her out during the past few days, so he only lowered his head to kiss her forehead and didn’t do any undue actions.

  Zhao Jie thought of the words that Wei Luo had said at the spice shop’s entrance today. She would rather leave with her children and remarry than accept sharing her husband with another woman. This little fellow normally looked so delicate, but she was actually more assertive than anyone else. He had experienced this a long time ago. She had told him her bottom line because she believed in him.

  She wasn’t like other girls. Other girls would accept unjust treatment for the person they loved. They would take a step back and keep retreating until their bottom line was thousands of miles away from their starting place. But, as soon as Wei Luo saw that her bottom line had been touched, she would immediately breakaway without any leeway for staying.

  Just like what had happened today with Jiang Miao Lan.

  Since Wei Luo had decided to not forgive her, then she truly wouldn’t forgive her. She would rather act like they were strangers than accept this incompetent mother.

  It was both ruthless and left other people without any other alternatives.

  Zhao Jie’s fingers slid across her soft cheeks and he faintly smiled. How could he give her the opportunity to remarry? He had expended the upmost effort in obtaining her. There wasn’t even enough time in the day for him to feel satisfied with caring and loving her. How could he allow other men the opportunity?

  Wei Luo had a rare night of peaceful sleep where Zhao Jie didn’t torment her. When she woke up, she felt refreshed and discovered that Zhao Jie was practicing martial arts in the courtyard.

  This was Wei Luo’s first time seeing Zhao practicing martial parts. She was wearing a thin moon white gown embroidered with magnolia flowers and had slipped into a pair of embroidered satin slippers. Leaning against the window frame, she openly admired Zhao Jie’s straight and healthy back. The weather was cool in autumn, but there was a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. Under the shining morning sun, the sweat dripped down from his eyebrows to his chin, then flowed into his clothes. This outlined his deep facial features and made him seem even more aloof and handsome.

  Wei Luo supported her cheeks in her hand. She wasn’t in a rush to wash up. Her large black eyes circled around him

  After Zhao Jie finished practicing, Yu Suo walked out from the verandah. Holding out a silk handkerchief, “Your Highness, how about wiping your sweat?”


  Just as Zhao Jie was going to take the handkerchief, he suddenly thought of something and put down his arm. “You don’t need to attend to this prince when I’m practicing martial arts in the future. Go serve the princess consort. She should be awake at this time.”


  Although Yu Suo had misgivings, she still nodded in acknowledgment.

  When Zhao Jie walked back to the room, he saw Wei Luo standing by the window while only wearing a thin robe with her ankles exposed. His face couldn’t help looking more serious, “Why aren’t you dressed properly?”


  Wei Luo curved her large, round eyes. She said with a cute smile, “I was too engrossed with looking at you, so I forgot about changing.”


  Even though Zhao Jie knew that she was deliberately fawning over him, he still couldn’t resist smiling. He leaned over, wrapped an arm around her slender waist and carried her onto a nearby couch.

  Suddenly remembering something, Wei Luo said, “Ah! You’re covered in sweat. It rubbed off on me.”


  Zhao Jie finished putting on her shoes for her. His fingers lingered over her slender ankles before he looked up and smiled at her. “Hmm? Do you not like this prince’s sweat now? The past few times…”


  Wei Luo guessed what he would say next and hurriedly covered his mouth.

  When they had been stuck together doing that thing before, Zhao Jie’s sweaty body had rubbed against her until her body became wet too. Although Wei Luo loved cleanness, who would be able to think about cleanness under those conditions? So, Wei Luo didn’t say anything to him at the time. She didn’t think that he would have the nerve to mention this.

  Wei Luo pursed her lips and changed the topic, “Why didn’t you accept Yu Suo’s handkerchief?”


  Zhao Jie opened her hand and gently kissed it. “Ah Luo’s words from yesterday has scared this prince. How could this prince dare to have any contact with other women? What would this prince do if your jar of vinegar is overturned and you take this prince’s son away and remarry?”


  Wei Luo took her hand away and scolded him, “Glib tongue.”


  Seeing that his face was covered in sweat, she used the edge of her sleeve to pat dry his forehead. As she wiped his sweat, she said, “I’m not an unreasonable person… It’s fine as long as you don’t overstep the bounds of what’s proper.” Then, she paused to think. Not feeling satisfied with her earlier words, she changed her mind and said, “Never mind. Only let servant boys come close to you and attend to you in the future.”


  Zhao Jie chuckled. He suddenly held her hand, moved closed to her ear, and said, “Don’t worry. What this prince has accumulated over twenty years will only be given to you.”


  Wei Luo blushed. She pushed him away and said, “Shameless!”


  But, what was the use of acting proper in front of the girl that you liked? In this world, what married couple acted properly in private? Even if there was such a couple, they most likely weren’t in love with each other.

  After breakfast, Zhao Jie went to the study in the outer court. Wei Luo originally wanted to try the spices she had purchased yesterday, but Zhao Jie wouldn’t allow her to stay in Zhang Tai Courtyard by herself. Since he was in the study, he had her sitting on the couch next to the southern window to practice writing. He even justified his actions by saying, “Didn’t imperial father give you a set of calligraphy tools recently? Use that to practice writing. If you’re not willing, you can also grind ink for me.”


  Wei Luo couldn’t stand to hear the word “grinding”. She glared at Zhao Jie, who was smiling with wicked intentions, and said, “… I’ll practice writing.”


  Zhao Jie smiled and didn’t continue to tease her. Seeing that she was obediently practicing writing, he started his own work.

  Before their wedding, Zhao Jie had handled his current matters in advance, so that he could relax while accompanying Wei Luo for a month. However, a problem had popped up over Prince Ru Yang’s matter and he had to handle it as soon as possible.

  Zhao Zhang had hidden over ten thousand weapons in Xu Zhou’s southern mountain. Zhao Jie was preparing to spread this information to lure Prince Ru Yang to the southern mountain, then communicate with Xu Zhou’s prefectural magistrate to coordinate plans. At that time, there would be irrefutable evidences. Even if they wanted to argue, they wouldn’t be able to. It would be a serious setback for Zhao Zhang to lose Prince Ru Yang, his right-hand man.

  In addition, Zhao Zhang would be found guilty of secretly storing weapons. Emperor Chong Zhen would be vigilant against him and would never promote him to an important position.

  But, Prince Ru Yang had somehow heard some news. Zhao Jie had no choice but to put his plan in motion earlier.

  After Zhao Jie finished thinking a thorough plan, he wrote his letter, sealed the envelope with sealing ink, handed the letter to Zhu Geng, and said, “Deliver this letter quickly to Xu Zhou’s prefecture magistrate. He’ll know what to do.”


  After Zhu Geng left, Zhao Jie’s gaze swept over to the couch next to the window. Wei Luo was wearing a light pink silk outer robe embroidered with lotus flowers, which was paired with a brightly colored pomegranate skirt. Underneath the shining sun, the pomegranate skirt was spread out on the couch like a bright, blossoming pomegranate flower that was full of beautiful vitality.

  Zhao Jie admired this wife for a while. But then, seeing that Wei Luo still wasn’t paying any attention to him, he couldn’t help feeling slightly jealous. He walked forward and asked, “What are you writing? Why are you so focused?”


  Wei Luo raised her head to look at him. She blinked, “The Heart of the Wisdom Perfection*.”


  * (Note: This is one of the most popular and well-known Buddhist scriptures.)

  Seeing her beautifully written words in regular script, Zhao Jie couldn’t help saying a few sentences of praise.

  Wei Luo brushed his hand away. As she lowered her head and prepared to write the remaining lines of the scripture, Zhao Jie had already sat down behind her and extended his long arm to pull her closer, “You haven’t told me what Fourth Madam told you yesterday at Duke Ying’s residence. Why was your face so red?”


  Wei Luo froze after hearing these words. She very quickly thought of the method that Qin-shi had taught her. After struggling to think of an answer, she said, “Nothing much…”


  Zhao Jie naturally didn’t believe her. If it was nothing, why was her face so red? His hand covered her curves and he interrogated her with his mouth next to her ear, “En, are you going to say or not?”


  Wei Luo shrunk a bit. Her cheeks were slowly stained in a layer of red, “It really was nothing.”


  Zhao Jie’s black eyes deepened and his hand became more forceful. Wei Luo whimpered and conceded, “I’ll tell you tonight.”


  That night, as Zhao Jie pressed Wei Luo’s body beneath his and leaned his forehead against her forehead, he breathed heavily and hoarsely said, “Are you trying to kill me…”


  Wei Luo’s little face was covered in sweat. Her entire body was trembling like a little boat. This boat was being unceasingly struck by the sea’s waves. Fourth aunt must have lied to her. She said that if she tightened and squeezed, then a man would quickly surrender… But it was taking even longer tonight! Was this method really effective?

  After going through this night, Wei Luo’s little waist that had finally recovered started to feel sore again.

  ——-

  When Jin Lu and Bai Lan cleaned the bed in the inner room, they would be so embarrassed that they couldn’t raise their heads. They hurriedly rolled up the quilt on the bed and left. Without even looking, one could guess that that the bedsheets had been unsightly with damp spots.

  Wei Luo really hated Zhao Jie. Why couldn’t he show more restraint? The skin on her face had thickened. She had learned to keep her expression the same when she was faced with the servant girls’ ambiguous eyes.

  ——–


  Wei Luo received a letter for Zhao Liuli today. It was invitation to take a trip outside the capital.

  The letter didn’t mention the specific location. Wei Luo was slightly puzzled. When Zhao Liuli invited her to go somewhere, it was usually inside the capital. Where did Liuli want to go?

  Around noon, Zhao Liuli came to pick her up.

  Wei Luo entered the carriage and asked Zhao Liuli where they were going, but Liuli stayed reticent and was much quieter than usual. Liuli would normally be lively and energetic. What was going on today? Noticing that Liuli’s strange behavior, Wei Luo didn’t continue to question her. The carriage past the capital’s gates, traveled many kilometers, and stopped at a hillside.

  There was a man and a horse at the hillside. Wei Luo looked into the distance and saw that the person was Yang Zhen.

  There was a vast army beneath the cliff. The soldiers were wearing zhao jia armor and heading towards south.

  Wei Luo suddenly thought of the rebel band running amuck in the south. Previous kings had used their soldiers for their own use and hadn’t cared about the poverty-stricken citizens that were in an abyss of suffering. This army was heading towards Guang Dong to bring order to this disaster.