Chapter 206 - 147
Xie Wanqing doesn’t dare to think deeply about how deep this person’s thoughts really are.
Last night, they were intimate, neck-to-neck, and the next day, upon seeing the bite marks on her neck, he could orchestrate such a scheme.
Such a person by her pillow, can she truly have him?
While she was lost in thoughts, the man’s gaze across from her had already descended from her brow and eyes, landing on her slightly flushed lips, and slowly slid down, finally stopping at the jade pendant on her waist.
An entirely black piece of Mystic Jade, she’d never seen him wear it before...
Noticing his gaze, Xie Wanqing also lowered her eyes to look at her own waist, frowning slightly.
Pei Yuqing withdrew his gaze, raised his hand to top up her ginseng tea, and said, "The city gates are closed, we shall stay at the Hot Spring Villa tonight."
"You!" Unable to bear his calm and collected demeanor, Xie Wanqing burned with anger, "After scheming against me like this, is there nothing you want to say to me?"
"I didn’t think it through enough, I’m sorry," his fingertips slightly trembled, "Did he scare you?"
"..." Xie Wanqing looked deeply at him and then dropped her gaze, saying nothing more.
She realized that whether it was between her and Pei Yuqing or her and Lu Ziyuan, she was no match for them.
With Pei Yuqing, she couldn’t be as composed as him, nor did she have his cunning or tactics.
He had committed such an error, she saw through it, yet he waited for her to confront him.
The one emotionally swayed was always her; he was the master of endurance, and she could never see through his true heart.
The emotions he showed were only those he was willing for her to see.
His genuine thoughts, he kept well-hidden.
Lu Ziyuan was even more extreme; he didn’t play tricks, relying only on brute force to break all schemes. As long as he understood his own heart and knew what he wanted, he let others scheme as they wished.
She couldn’t out-think Pei Yuqing, nor could she overpower Lu Ziyuan.
At this point, she truly regretted marrying in haste back then.
Such a man, calculated to the utmost, genuine affection is the rarest of things.
Xie Wanqing couldn’t even be sure if Pei Yuqing had genuine affection for her.
The carriage fell silent.
The two sat facing each other, yet neither spoke first.
Until the carriage entered the Hot Spring Villa and came to a stop.
Xie Wanqing was about to bend down to alight when her shoulder felt heavy, as a raven-blue cloak was draped over her. She glanced sideways at the man whose hand rested on her shoulder.
Pei Yuqing spoke softly, "You can’t catch a cold, don’t be angry with me right now."
They both got off the carriage one after the other.
This place was somewhat a site of their first love, with the Xie family’s adjacent villa next door, and those scenes were still vivid...
The main courtyard was already ablaze with lights, with servants kneeling all around.
This courtyard was not unfamiliar to Xie Wanqing, although she had only visited here once for tea and conversation and had never stayed before.
Returning now, she was already the mistress.
Pei Yuqing untied the cloak from her, saying, "Go and take a bath first to dispel the chill."
Next to the master bedroom, a washroom had an artificially drawn hot spring bath, already prepared by the maidservants.
Xie Wanqing didn’t intend to go against her own body, and walked straight inside.
The steaming bathwater carried a faint medicinal aroma.
She glanced sideways at the maids, "Does he usually bathe like this?"
"Your bath only contains a few ingredients for health preservation, the Princely Heir’s is different," a maid explained, "The Princely Heir’s medicinal bath is prepared by several Imperial Physicians personally for treating heart ailments."
Heart ailments...
Xie Wanqing pursed her lips as she entered the bath, thinking, his body filled with cunning, thinking too much, having heart ailments serves him right.
In the cold winter months, soaking in the hot spring, the cold seeping into the bones was gradually dispelled, and as she was about to drift to sleep, a maid timely reminded her not to stay too long.
Returning to the bedroom, upon seeing the man in nightwear seated sideways on the bed, part of Xie Wanqing’s sleepiness dissipated, and she halted her steps three feet away.
Although they were living separately before at the Duke Mansion, since last night they had consummated their marriage, theoretically they should share a bed thereafter...
However, after all that happened today, Xie Wanqing truly felt estranged and was no longer willing to share a bed with such a deep-thinking man.
Her fingers slowly clenched, "You sleep elsewhere."
The man on the bed paused slightly, turned his head to look at her hesitant unwillingness to come closer, lowered his eyes, and said, "The Hot Spring Villa has no guest rooms."
As his private property, no outsiders had ever visited, why would there be a guest room?
Xie Wanqing stood there, lips pressed together, "Then I’ll go sleep in my family’s estate."
After saying this, she turned to leave, and before taking two steps, her wrist was grasped by the person behind her. Immediately, her waist tightened, and with a dizzying swirl, when she came to her senses, she was already embraced onto the bed.