“I’m the nanny of Princess Susu of the Jing mansion, surnamed Zhang. Princess has specially asked me to present this invitation to lady Mo to attend this year’s peach blossom party…”

While introducing herself, she handed the invitation to nanny Mo, who took it over and greeted back, “Thank you.” Somehow nanny Mo took out a purse and slipped it into nanny Zhang’s hand.

Both of them were veterans in the noble society and familiar with these ‘courtesies’, so nanny Zhang didn’t refuse and accepted it with a thanks.

Mo Qianxue didn’t know princess Susu, but judging from nanny Zhang, she didn’t seem to mean harm.

If she meant to hurt her, she wouldn’t have sent a close nanny here.

After nanny Mo received the invitation, Mo Qianxue thanked her, “Thanks for princess’s hospitality, but recently I need to obverse mourning at home. It’d be improper to attend a party, so please pass my apology to princess Susu. After the mourning, I’ll personally visit her!”

Nanny Zhang didn’t mind her rejection, as if she had anticipated this, and smiled, “Don’t hurry in refusing. The peach blossom party will be in seven days. By then, the mourning period is over and the grounding is lifted too. It won’t be a problem anymore. Lady Mo may accept it now.”

Having just arrived in the capital, Mo Qianxue had no knowledge of this peach blossom party, so she glimpsed at nanny Mo who inconspicuously nodded at her.

Nanny Mo wasn’t a reckless person, and prince Jing had just helped her in the palace, so this princess Susu shouldn’t have an evil intention.

Several thoughts flashed by, and Mo Qianxue rested assured, replying with a smile, “Then…please pass my words to princess that I’ll be there on time.”

Once the invitation was accepted and the task was completed, nanny Zhang shouldn’t stay longer and said goodbye. Mo Qianxue asked nanny Mo to walk her to the door.

When nanny Mo came back, Mo Qianxue asked, “Nanny, who is this princess Susu? And what’s peach blossom party?” Then nanny Mo began to tell one by one about the princess and the party.

The peach blossom party is a grand event for noble ladies in the capital. Only the imperial ladies had the right to send invitation, and princess Susu of the Jing mansion was one of them.

All those who received the invitation were either noble ladies or ladies of high officials. Hence, the invitation wasn’t a mere letter but in fact a symbol of identity and glory.

If a lady of similar social status didn’t receive the invitation, she would be laughed at and looked down upon by other ladies.

As for princess Susu, she was the apple of prince Jing’s eye. As a daughter that he had at an old age, she was also the only legal daughter of the mansion. Her three brothers of the same mother also dearly loved her.

Yet, this a little spoiled princess wasn’t a bad person, although she was quick-tempered.

A servant somewhat resembled his

/her superior. From nanny Zhang, Mo Qianxue could tell the character of princess Susu.

Being the close nanny of the most beloved princess, nanny Zhang wasn’t arrogant but courteous. Hence, her princess must be of a good nature. Even though short-tempered, she must be a reasonable person.

Short temper, from another perspective, meant straightforwardness and candidness, depending on the way the be-holder interpreted it.

*

The Founder mansion in the evening was quiet. Zihua and Ziye of the three lords turned off the light early, which was rare.

In the midnight when Mo Qianxue was in her dream, she felt someone pushed her and whispered to her ear, “Qianxue, move inward.”

“You come so soon?” Hearing Ning Shaoqing’s voice, she didn’t open her eyes, muttering and moving a little inward subconsciously, “Today’s dream is so real. I can feel you.”

Dream? Ning Shaoqing smiled bitterly in the dark. He, a living person, lay next to her, and she thought it was a dream!

But at the thought of these arduous days, Ning Shaoqing felt distressed for her. Tapping the tip of her nose with his index finger, he smiled, “Did you dream of me last night?”

Mo Qianxue turned over and hugged him at once, “It’s so nice I dream of you when I just fall asleep. It’s so nice to have you here!”

Ning Shaoqing drew out his arms to hug her, gently stroking the gauze on her forehead, angry and distressed, “Do you miss me?”

Mo Qianxue murmured in her dream, “Yes.”

He leaned forward and gave her a kiss, and she praised, “Your lips are warmer than last night. But can you not make clouds before you disappear? Let me feel you longer.”

Ning Shaoqing wanted to both cry and laugh.

So bitter and helpless Ning Shaoqing was. How could he not know that she had spent the whole night searching for him that day?

He had been just in the shadow and couldn’t come out. Before in the dark, there was another pair of eyes fixing on her. It wasn’t a hitman, but only a pair of surveillance eyes.

Yet, the shadow guard, best at hiding, felt his breath and existence, even though he hadn’t captured the whole person.

He shouldn’t put her in danger.

He must continue the play.

He needed to deceive the opponent and at the same time told others that Mo Qianxue wasn’t the most important to him and that he didn’t care about her death.

In this special time, the cruel method would make Mo Qianxue safer.

Ning Shaoqing sighed, stroked her head and said seriously, “I wouldn’t disappear without telling you again.”

Mo Qianxue hugged his waist and cried in his arms. Although he said the same thing in her last dream, she still chose to believe him.

Seeing Mo Qianxue still thought it was in her dream, Ning Shaoqing, eyes glistening, took a bite at her face and said, “Xue, this is not a dream.”

These words and the pain in her face finally woke her up.

Or in other words, she had been awake but was so exhausted after this day and last dream. She feared that this was her dream again and didn’t want to face the possibility that Ning Shaoiqng would disappear again.

Not a dream?! Mo Qianxue woke up and was about to scream with joy, when her mouth was blocked by warm lips. The room heated up in an instant.

Moonlight poured down into the room through windows to fill the room with warm yellow light. In fact, the couple only hadn’t seen each other for two days, but they felt like life-long. They missed each other so much…

At first, the kiss was domineering…then it became gentle and soft…

It carried mostly lovesickness without lust.

In a long while, Ning Shaoqing, gasping, moved his soft lips away from hers and arrived at the scar on her forehead. Lowering his head, he gently pressed his lips on the scar, like a dragonfly dotting on the water surface, his eyes full of love and tenderness.

“Does it still hurt?”

“Yes…” Mo Qianxue had a sweet voice, and after they had just made other, it turned more lovable, “It hurts badly…”

The voice contained both complaint and softness, making Ning Shaoqing couldn’t help loving her more and felt even sorrier.

Ning Shaoqing held her face with both hands and slightly rubbed the gauze with his lips, “Little fool. Don’t you know to escape? Don’t do this next time.” The autocratic tone contained more love than blame and command.

“Yes.” Mo Qianxue snorted, feeling sweet that she was cared. Actually, although the scar looked scary and bled a lot, it didn’t hurt at all after she came back and nanny cleansed it and applied medical cream.

She claimed it hurt only to let him care and worry about her.

This was the retaliation against his disappearing without telling her in advance and letting her search for him for the whole night. Even though she knew there must be a reason, she just couldn’t digest her annoyance at once…

Even when she was saddest, she had promised to herself that as long as he was well, she would forgive him no matter what.

However, sense was one thing while sensibility was another.

With her forehead being rubbed by Ning Shaoqing’s lips, she could feel his warm breath and became annoyed at the fact that she was somehow turned on by him again.

Gritting her teeth, she lifted her leg to kick Ning Shaoqing off.

Yet, this time she didn’t get her way.

The moment she lifted up her leg, Ning Shaoqing smiled at her while his right hand moved away from her cheek and grabbed her ankle. What a wild cat! Having separated for so long and just had a sweet moment, now she wanted to kick him off again.

Her ankle in the grip of his hand, she struggled to shake it off. Yet, her attempt was fruitless! She was annoyed. If this leg didn’t work, then try the other one.

He used one hand to grab her ankle and the other to support his body. Could he have a third hand?

To her surprise, just as she lifted the leg, Ning Shaoqing leaned over by moving aside a little, and then his body sank in between her legs.

Now one of her legs was grabbed and the other was lifted up high by him, in a gait which couldn’t be more embarrassing.

Ning Shaoqing naturally also found it embarrassing, and his had certain reaction already.

Damn it. This wasn’t the right time. Besides, she was injured in the forehead. The damning emperor who knew she was his woman and hurt her. In the future, he must let him pay.

He had to let go of her leg. His eyes glistening with a flash of cunningness, the perfect-shaped lips forming an arch of teasing, he didn’t try to conceal his desire, “This time you’re lucky. Next time, if you dared to kick your husband off again, I’ll…eat you up…”

Then, he rolled away and sat up. He didn’t dare to press against her body any more for fear that at any moment, he might get out of control. Facing her, he became less and less able to control himself than before.

Ning Shaoqing sat up and naturally reached out to rub the ankle he had grabbed, “Does it hurt?”

Although his hand was massaging, his brain was thinking: this was a nice gait. We could have a try in the future.

However, now it wasn’t the right time. It seemed that he must speed up.

Rubbing her ankle, he looked at her gauze and felt sorry again, “If he smashed at you, then escape. No matter what you’ve done, you have me behind you.”

No matter what you’ve done, you have me behind you! Only this single sentence dispersed the faint complaint of Mo Qianxue who explained, “At that time, the emperor was furious. If I escaped, he would become more irritated. Then everything would be out of control.”

Ning Shaoqing squinted and disclosed a sign of danger, “Don’t you trust me?”

She hadn’t distrust him, but… Alright. She hadn’t thought of him at all. What in her mind had been how to solve the crisis on her own instead of putting her life in the hand of others.

It had nothing to do with whether she trusted him or not in terms of saving her life in the palace.

Probably, he was an arbor, but she wasn’t a vine who lived by twining around him. With time, she would become an arbor too and protected him from wind or rain.

It was him who had run away, now he was threatening her? Mo Qianxue said deliberately, “I thought you were dead…”

Ning Shaoqing, expression frozen, became speechless. Could a creek wash him away?

“…Sorry!” Thinking of the night that she had spent in search of him, Ning Shaoqing apologized earnestly, but he thought to himself: even if I had to die, I would arrange for you a carefree life…

Then he sighed helplessly, “Actually I dropped a hint to you in advance. After you got out of the creek, I arranged you a horse carriage and new clothes. Didn’t you see that?”

She was clever and thought fast. He had believed that her first reaction after losing his whereabouts should be sadness and the second reaction be recalling of the hint that he had dropped. He had never expected her to search for him for the whole night…

At the thought of that, Mo Qianxue felt her heart involuntarily squeezed again, “I got less smart when I cared too much. I couldn’t rest assured without witnessing by my own eyes that you were safe…”

Seeing her sad countenance, Ning Shaoqing released her ankle and moved closer, saying seriously, “Your husband wouldn’t die so easily.” “…” Mo Qianxue rolled eyes at him.

“Could a creek wash me away?” Ning Shaoqing stroked her cheek, trying to wipe out her sadness.

Looked down upon by her, he had planned to tickle her as punishment as well as a way to make her relaxed and laugh, but now it was late night, “I’ll punish you next time.”

Receiving the threat, Mo Qianxue wasn’t afraid at all but subconsciously move her waist away from his hands. She pressed the bed with two hands and sat up.

Ning Shaoqing reached out and took her into his arms, her back clinging closely to his chest, and whispered to her ear, “Be careful in every action. Even thought the emperor released you, he has sent people to keep an eye on you.”

“Um…” Her ears became itchy and shivering by his warm breath, yet the words were such a wet blanket. Her back turning stiff, she worried, “How do you know? Wasn’t you discovered by them when you got in, did you?”

It was easy to tell that now the emperor regarded the Ning family as a nail in the eye. When too many greedy eyes were cast, possessing too much wealth also became a kind of fault!

Why did she always doubt his ability? Ning Shaoqing took a bite at her earlobe. She escaped and he laughed, “Don’t worry. The hidden guards have distracted them away. The shadow guard is out there right now. He’ll let me know if anything happened.”

The shadow guard? That cool guy with a scar on his face? That cuckoo bird?

This cuckoo bird had ruined the air for them many times and also sent for hidden guards in the nick of time. She would be stupid if she still didn’t discover it.

Yet, was it alright to let a man listen to them at the wall everyday?

“Where is Shiwu?” Tonight, Shiwu was on duty.

“I let Shiwu take a rest first. When I leave, she’ll wake up.”

“You…” Mo Qianxue was a little angry. Of course he meant that he had hacked Shiwu with his hand and made her pass out. Yet, now it wasn’t time to argue with him over this. The less people aware of his arrival, the better.

Thinking it through, Mo Qianxue stopped being angry and asked, “How’s your father?”

“Father’s condition isn’t as bad as I thought, but he is sick after all…” He hadn’t thought that the bitchy mother and son could act so boldly. Outside, the familiar cuckoo rang.

Certainly, this sound was urging him to leave because of a new situation. Ning Shaoqing pulled his face, and Mo Qianxue didn’t want him to leave either.

Ning Shaoqing kissed her cheek and enjoined, “If anything happened, let Asan and Awu visit the Tingfengquan in the capital. Uncle Yu is here too.”

Mo Qianxue hugged him and said gently, “Yes…”

“Take care. I’ll come again.” Releasing Mo Qianxue, Ning Shaoqing got up and was about to fly out through the window. But before he did so, he remembered another thing and turned back to warn her, “Don’t stay too close to Su Qi.”

As a matter of fact, he had planned to come a few days later after he made more preparations and sorted things out. Nevertheless, he heard that she was injured and Su Qi and Feng Yuchen escorted her back to the mansion. Hence, he couldn’t sit relaxed.

She had made clear that she didn’t like Feng Yuchen and only felt owing him something.

However, as for Su Qi… Although he had never seen anything from her eyes, he had witnessed them together in the same bathing barrel…

This scene was enough to make his eyebrows leaping involuntarily. And then at the thought of her teeth print on Su Qi’s neck, he wished to break it up.

Yet…but for Su Qi…

Hence, he not only couldn’t break his neck up but also had to thank him. The anger must be swallowed.

Mo Qianxue found his vinegar-soaked face funny and wanted to tease him.

She hid her unwillingness and smiled, slightly rolling her seducing eyes and saying slowly, “Are you jealous? In fact, although Su Qi looked frivolous, he is quite a reliable friend…”

Anyway, he was in a hurry to leave. It would be interesting to make fun of him.

**

Upon returning to his own mansion, master Mo came to realize that the girl was a tough one.

He hated himself for not having understood it when sensing the pressure from her.

To take back the land, silver, stores and properties? No way! If she dared to do so, he could do some little tricks to expel her out of the clan and justifiably seize over the dukedom.

After contemplating for a night, a malicious scheme formed in his mind.

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!!!????