Night had deepened. Golden Hall Street was much quieter than during the day, though pedestrians could still be seen walking along it.
The lights in the Small Courtyard in Twin Osmanthus Alley had gone out, but faint voices could still be heard:
"I was a little injured that day and was meditating here. He just barged in without a word..."
"This was the house I rented."
"Yunli and I got here first and thought nobody lived here. You'd already moved in, but the place was bare walls without a stick of furniture. How was I supposed to know someone had rented it?"
"I only had two taels of silver to my name back then, and I spent it all renting the house..."
Inside the Main House, the bed curtains were still closed.
Since Baijin was pregnant and Ning'er's fighting strength was rather low, Ye Jingtang had stopped fooling around and simply lay on his pillow, listening to Ning'er recount the past.
Xue Baijin lay on the outside, held in his arm, resting sideways against his shoulder. Her soft mounds pressed against Ye Jingtang's chest as she listened with her eyes closed, looking quite serious.
Ning'er leaned against his other side in the same position. Her little watermelon was still in Ye Jingtang's hand, and her cheeks were faintly red as she spoke softly.
Chatting late into the night with a woman in each arm, with Ning'er unresistant and Ice Lump not chasing him away, Ye Jingtang naturally felt happiness brimming over. Barring any surprises, he could hold them until they both fell asleep, then get up together at dawn.
But after they had spent who knew how long in such harmony, soft footsteps suddenly sounded in the alley outside.
Baijin, who had barely joined the conversation, opened her eyes