Midnight Misty Shadow

After the banquet ended, Song Jiaren led Li Nuo to a room in Song Manor.

Great Xia had a curfew at night, though it was a bit later, around ten o'clock. Without a valid reason, one couldn't wander the streets.

Violating the curfew, if caught by the patrolling imperial guards, could result in a severe beating at best, or imprisonment at worst.

Although it wasn't yet curfew time, some guests lived far away, and others, due to intoxication, had to stay overnight at Song Manor. This led to a shortage of guest rooms, forcing Li Nuo and Song Jiaren to share one.

However, even if there were no room shortages tonight, they would have had to share anyway. After all, they were a legally married couple. If they slept in separate rooms, people might think they were on bad terms.

Isn't this a misunderstanding?

Li Nuo and his wife weren't on bad terms; they were just unfamiliar with each other.

This room seemed to have originally belonged to Song Jiaren. She was very familiar with it and took a new set of bedding from the closet, spreading it on the floor in front of the bed. Li Nuo didn't say anything when he saw this. Although he missed the large, soft bed in his own room back home, he had often slept on cramped, foot-exposing folding beds before. Sleeping on the floor with a quilt and mattress was already considered luxurious.

The two were already a couple in name only, so Li Nuo didn't feel anything was wrong with this arrangement.

Currently, for him, there was only one most important thing: survival.

As for a normal marital relationship...

He could only say it depended on fate.

Li Nuo certainly didn't object to his wife, who was incredibly beautiful and equally powerful. If feelings could develop over time and they could live together, it wouldn't be bad. If they couldn't spark any chemistry, they could also part ways peacefully without hindering each other.

Of course, these were all future possibilities. Right now, as a newcomer, he had no say in anything and couldn't change anything.

It was getting late. Li Nuo took off his shoes, socks, and outer robe, intending to read a book before sleeping.

As he lay down on the bedding he had spread on the floor, Song Jiaren glanced at him and pointed to the bed, saying, "You sleep up here."

Li Nuo was slightly taken aback. As a grown man, he should sleep on the bed, leaving a frail woman to...

Considering the "frail" nature of their relationship, the word "frail" could only describe himself. Li Nuo didn't argue and obediently climbed onto the bed. Although he had only known her for two days, he knew that decisions made by his wife were usually difficult to change.

He lay on the bed, feeling enveloped by a faint fragrance.

It was the scent of his wife. This was indeed her room.

He sat up cross-legged and took out a thin book from his embrace.

When leaving, Li Nuo had coincidentally brought a book about the Legalist school, intending to read it before bed.

Time was precious to him, and he couldn't afford to waste a single moment.

However, he hadn't even read two pages before sounds of moaning and groaning came from the adjacent room. When he entered earlier, he had seen Song Qian and her husband go in. He hadn't expected his wife's cousin, who appeared composed and elegant like a lady from a distinguished family, to be so different behind closed doors. The content of their moans made Li Nuo blush...

Fortunately, it stopped after less than three minutes, and quiet returned to Li Nuo's ears.

Song Jiaren lay on the floor, her pretty face slightly flushed, a hint of charm adding to her usual cool demeanor. However, Li Nuo, lying on the bed, couldn't see it.

To ease the awkwardness, Li Nuo asked, "Wife, do you and Song Qian have some kind of conflict...?"

Song Jiaren was silent for a moment, then said faintly, "She's disliked me since we were young..."

Li Nuo thought for a moment and understood. Both were women from the Song family, and their ages weren't too different. One was mediocre, while the other possessed exceptional beauty and martial arts talent. They must have been constantly compared, so it was no wonder Song Qian disliked her.

After their brief exchange, silence returned to the room.

However, soon a head poked out from the bed. Li Nuo pointed to a character in the book and asked, "Wife, what is this character?"

The Shuowen was too thick, and he hadn't brought it with him. There were several characters whose meanings he couldn't understand, and he couldn't figure them out from the context, so he had to ask his wife for help.

Song Jiaren glanced at it and said faintly, "I don't recognize it."

"What about this one?"

"I don't recognize it."

"This one?"

"I don't recognize it."

"This one..."

"..."

Silence, a long silence.

Li Nuo felt that she wouldn't pretend not to know a character if she actually did.

He leaned over the edge of the bed, looking at her exquisite face, and exclaimed, "No way, can it be that you're illiterate?"

Song Jiaren's gaze calmly fell upon him.

Li Nuo retreated back to the bed, smiling, "It's okay, it's not a big deal. Being illiterate is nothing. We have one civil and one military; as long as we live our lives well, that's all that matters..."

Song Manor.

In the room separated by a wall from where Li Nuo was diligently reading.

Song Qian sat at the head of the bed, looking displeased at her husband, who was limp on the bed. A fire burned within her, with nowhere to vent.

It was both lust and frustration.

Song Jiaren's foolish husband was no longer foolish, which already made her very unhappy. Now, she had no way to surpass Song Jiaren. If he hadn't been foolish, it would have been one thing, but their couple had stolen the spotlight at the Old Madam's birthday banquet, receiving two gifts from her consecutively. She and her husband had been overshadowed by them again.

Originally, this matter would have passed, but her father had just spoken to her, and his words implied he suspected she had stolen the gift Song Jiaren had prepared for the Old Madam.

This made Song Qian both depressed and angry. No matter how much she disliked Song Jiaren, she wouldn't do something like that at the Old Madam's birthday banquet. Her muttering those few words was just to vent her inner dissatisfaction.

Hearing her father say it seemed Song Jiaren's prepared gift had been replaced with stones.

Therefore, her husband composed two poems on the spot, saving face while also ensuring the Old Madam's birthday banquet concluded perfectly.

That Li Nuo wasn't just not foolish, he was very smart.

Not only smart, but also good-looking!

Thinking of that handsome face, and then looking at her own incompetent husband, Song Qian became even angrier!

Why was her life so bitter...

Unable to vent the flames within her body, she could only take out a jade silkworm from under her pillow.

In the next room, Li Nuo had just turned a new page when his body trembled slightly. He glanced over and said helplessly, "It's starting again..."

At this time, in Song Manor.

The Old Madam's sixtieth birthday banquet had concluded successfully. It could be said that the guests and hosts were all pleased that night. However, the maids and servants of the Song family still had to clean up the aftermath, appearing exceptionally busy.

During this time, several more maids were called away by the Second Master and questioned for a long time, causing a shortage of manpower. They didn't finish cleaning until midnight, and only then did they drag their exhausted bodies to sleep.

In Song Lian's room.

He sat at the table, his brows furrowed, and murmured, "Who could it be?"

He had questioned each of the maids who had access to the gifts. While questioning them, servants had also searched their rooms, but found nothing. His intuition told him that this matter wasn't done by the maids in the manor.

They lacked the courage and the ability.

The room where the gifts were stored was heavily guarded. Even the most skilled thief couldn't have acted, and it would be difficult for even a Martial Arts Master to infiltrate. Unless it was a powerhouse above the Object Control Realm who could remotely take the items, they couldn't have stolen them so silently.

But someone in the Fourth Realm of Martial Arts would certainly not lack money. Moreover, in terms of value, there were too many gifts more precious than that pair of jade Ruyi. Why would he specifically choose something not so valuable? It was clearly targeting Jiaren.

Although Qian'er was highly suspected, she was just an ordinary person with neither the time nor the ability to do this.

But then who could it be?

A moment later, Song Lian shook his head. Since he had no clues, he stopped thinking about it. It was just a lost pair of Ruyi; the successful hosting of the Old Madam's birthday banquet was the most important thing.

Speaking of which, tonight was truly thanks to Li Nuo.

He had watched Jiaren grow up and had always been dissatisfied with Jiaren marrying a fool, even though the other party's father was a powerful minister in the court.

But tonight, it had completely changed his impression of Li Nuo. Whether his previous foolishness was intentional or a sudden awakening, none of that mattered.

What mattered was that they, as a couple, could be well.

Having resolved a concern, Song Lian extinguished the lamp and lay down on the bed.

To prepare for the Old Madam's birthday banquet, he had spent countless hours and had not slept well for countless days. Now that everything was finally over, he lay on the bed without even taking off his clothes. As soon as his head touched the pillow, he fell asleep...

As time passed, the lights in various rooms within Song Manor gradually went out.

Only the lanterns hanging along the paths of the manor still emitted a faint glow.

Two hours earlier, the birthday hall, which had been bustling with activity, was now empty and completely dark.

On the roof of the birthday hall, a figure knelt by the eaves, put away the two jade Ruyi placed beside them, and looked at Song Manor in the darkness. They curled their lips into a captivating smile and said softly, "So he's not a fool after all. Interesting, very interesting..."