Fields of Gold

Chapter 678 - Serving Tea

Zhu Junyang couldn’t hold back anymore. He took action and immediately experienced an unprecedented feeling…the incomparable feeling rushed from the tip of his toes to the top of his head.

“Groan…” Zhu Junyang stopped all of his movements when he heard a suppressed cry of pain.

“Does it hurt?” Zhu Junyang lowered his head and kissed his wife’s slightly creased brows.

Yu Xiaocao bit her lips, and with a flushed face, she nodded. But, then, she shook her head. It was inevitable for women to experience this, so things that should come would eventually arrive. For him, this pain was nothing.

The red candles were brightly lit outside the curtains of the bed, and the silhouette of the couple on the bed could be seen. There was a beautiful scenery in the room… Wutong and Meixiang, who were on duty outside the room, heard the faint sound of movement coming from the room. They looked at each other with blushing faces, and then swiftly shifted their gazes.

In the dark blue sky, the vast Milky Way was shining with brilliance. Altair and Vega stood on opposite sides of the Milky Way, looking at each other from afar. Like scattered pieces of jade, the flying stars looked gorgeous. In the yard, the breeze swayed the flower branches, sending wisps of fragrance over. The gentle moonlight shone on the ground…

The wolf, who had devoured the little lamb, personally helped the exhausted lass clean up. Then he stuffed her into the quilt and hugged her tightly. A certain wolf felt restless with the soft, petite person in his arms. However, considering that it was the lamb’s first time, he suppressed the little flame in his heart.

“So good!” Zhu Junyang sighed, and then gently brushed the hair on the lass’s face behind her ear. He softly whispered, “Knowing that you will belong to me completely in the future feels even better than eating hotpot around the stove in the freezing cold weather and eating a slushie during the hottest days of the summer.

Yu Xiaocao, whose face was still hot, couldn’t help but said, “You also have to remember that you belong to me completely! You’re not allowed to use your charming phoenix eyes to flirt with young maidens! You’re not allowed to attract little beauties with your sexy voice! When you’re outside, you can’t smile like right now! Your gentleness is exclusive to me only!!”

“Understood! I, your husband, dare not disobey Wife’s orders! This prince is taken now, so the cold-faced prince’s smile, gentleness, and love…can only belong exclusively to Princess Consort Xu! I guarantee!” Hearing a trace of uncertainty within the lass’s voice, Zhu Junyang hugged her with an aching heart. It turned out that this young lass, who had always been full of confidence, also felt uncertain about the future!

“That’s more like it! I want to sleep——sing a lullaby for me!” Yu Xiaocao’s dimples reflected her happiness. She hugged her husband’s strong waist and rested her face on his chest.

“Sing?” Zhu Junyang was stumped by this request. He struggled for a long time, but he still couldn’t think of a suitable song. When he lowered his head to look at the lass in his arms with an apologetic expression, he found that she had unknowingly fallen asleep.

Her breathing sounded very even and relaxed. With thick and curled eyelashes, she had a small face that was red like an apple, and a sweet smile on her face. When the lass was asleep, she was as obedient as a kitten!

Xiaocao slept very comfortably. The weather in mid-March was still chilly at night. But, since she was hugging a big, warm brazier, her limbs weren’t cold anymore. After a long stretch, she noticed that her body felt sore and tired. When she recalled that she had evolved from a young maiden to a young matron last night, she felt a sense of sweetness within her bashfulness. She turned her head and saw that she was the only one left on the bed. She touched the other side of the bed and noticed that there was no warmth on it anymore. That fellow Zhu Junyang had left without her knowledge. After making an inquiry, she found that Zhu Junyang had gone to train at the training arena. Didn’t they say that men exhausted more energy in the matter between men and women? Why did her whole body feel as if it was scattered, yet that fellow was still filled with energy and completely fine?

She suddenly froze, and then asked the people outside the room, “What time is it now?”

“In reply to Your Highness, it’s a quarter past seven.” Pipa voiced a reply. Yu Xiaocao immediately breathed a sigh of relief. It was just slightly past seven in the morning ah. Good, she wasn’t too late. Today, they were going back to Prince Jing’s Estate to offer tea to her father-in-law and mother-in-law. She was really afraid that she would sleep until the late morning——that would be so embarrassing!

“Is the princess consort awake?” Zhu Junyang’s voice sounded from outside the door. Then the sounds of the maidservants’ greetings could be heard. Pipa replied, “In reply to Your Highness, the princess consort is awake!”

The sound of the door being pushed opened was accompanied by the sound of footsteps. After walking around the glazed, red sandalwood four-season folding screen, Zhu Junyang’s figure appeared in the inner room. Yu Xiaocao, who was still in bed, only wore a thin piece of clothing. She didn’t know how to face the man who now had a physical relationship with her. Thus, she lay straight on the bed, pulled the quilt up to her nose, and pretended to sleep with her eyes closed.

Zhu Junyang chuckled and sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the lass’s slightly fluttering eyelashes. Her breathing was also somewhat rushed. How could he not know that the lass was pretending to be asleep? He pinched her nose and pulled the quilt down a bit. Then he said with a voice so gentle that it could drip out water, “It’s time to wake up, you lazy cat. The sun is about to reach your butt!”

Yu Xiaocao pretended not to hear him and continued to pretend to sleep. Zhu Junyang’s laughter sounded again, “Alright, since you don’t want to get up, this prince will accompany my princess consort to sleep for a while…but should we do something to express our love before sleeping?”

When Xiaocao heard his words, she immediately got up and opened her eyes wide without any trace of sleepiness, “I’m up! You go out first and tell Wutong to come in to help me change!”

“In actuality, I can help you with that!” From the opening of the lass’s collar, Zhu Junyang could see the marks that he had left behind. His gaze became deep and fervent again.

Yu Xiaocao followed a certain wolf’s eyes and looked down to see the red marks around her fair neckline. She grabbed her collar, glared angrily at him, and said, “I dare not accept the service of Imperial Prince Xu! Wutong, Pipa, your miss needs to change clothes and wash up!”

“Miss? You’re not one anymore after last night! My princess consort, if you don’t recognize your own identity, then you shall be lightly punished!” After he said that, he bent down and held his little wife’s chin. He kissed her with his thin lips and gently bit her lower lip. He quickly let go of his angry little wife before the two maidservants came in.

With their heads lowered, Wutong and Pipa ignored their masters’ actions and swiftly helped their mistress wash up and get dressed. Zhu Junyang’s phoenix eyes lit up when Xiaoaco appeared in front of him again.

Today, Xiaocao was dressed in a complicated palace attire. She wore a fitted red silk dress embroidered with linked-flower patterns, and a light bluish-green fine gauze cardigan inlaid with silver threads. She had on a short light pink jacket with water lily patterns, and a pastel pink gauze tied around her waist. Her glossy, black hair was arranged into an exquisite flying cloud bun. In the loosely twisted bun, there was a gilded swaying phoenix hairpin inlay embedded with rubies, jade bits, and pearls. There was an exquisitely carved diamond necklace around her neck. She looked very elegant and gorgeous.

Looking at the western table clock in the outer room, it was already getting late. Xiaocao and her husband hastily ate the breakfast carefully prepared by the kitchen maids, and then went to Prince Jing’s Estate on the same carriage.

Princess Consort Jing had already drunk two to three cups of tea. She looked outside somewhat anxiously and muttered to herself with a frown, “Why aren’t they here yet?”

Zhu Junya, who was sitting beside her lady mother, tittered with her hand over her mouth and said, “Lady Mother, you should be considerate of Younger Brother’s feelings. After guarding her for nearly ten years, he has finally married his beautiful wife. How can he not cherish her? I really didn’t expect that the person who seemed the most violent and impatient in our family turned out to be the one with the most endurance. Younger Brother is indeed a devoted lover ah!”

“I’m just worried that there aren’t any elders by their side who can guide them. That lass Cao’er is delicate and weak, so if your younger brother goes overboard…ay! I don’t know what your lord father told your younger brother about the matter of consummation, and whether he warned Yang’er to take it easy!” Now, Xiaocao had already become a threat to Zhu Junyang’s status in his mother’s heart. Princess Consort Jing expressed concern for her youngest daughter-in-law with both her words and thoughts.

Zhu Junya silently sighed that her youngest sister-in-law’s charm was too great——she was loved by both the young and the old. Not only was she able to get her five sons to talk about her nonstop, but she had also conquered the big boss of the Prince Jing’s Estate——her lady mother. It seemed like Third Younger Sister-in-law didn’t have to worry about the issues between in-laws, which was the biggest concern for women when they got married.

However, when Zhu Junya thought about her own mother-in-law, she wasn’t envious of her third younger sister-in-law at all. Her mother-in-law was also quite good and treated her like her own daughter. She personally taught her how to manage the household, breaking down all the principles for her. Even one’s mother wouldn’t be so thorough. She was fortunate to have met a loving husband, a clever and gentle mother-in-law, and an open-minded father-in-law…

“They’re here! Third Young Master and Third Young Madam are here!!” Lanxiang, whose hair was combed into a matron’s hairstyle, pulled open the curtains and came in. Her voice was full of joy.

Soon, Zhu Junyang and Xiaocao appeared in the courtyard. When they were walking over the threshold, Princess Consort Jing noticed that her youngest son had attentively helped his wife. Looking carefully at Xiaocao, Princess Consort Jing finally felt relieved when she saw that she had a ruddy complexion and appeared fine.

Xiaocao blushed slightly as she kowtowed respectfully to Imperial Prince Jing and Princess Consort Jing. She followed Zhu Junyang to greet her in-laws. Xiaocao had frequently visited Prince Jing’s Estate in the past, so she had seen Imperial Prince Jing and Princes Consort Jing numerous times. They also got along very well. However, this time, Xiaocao, whose identity had changed, was somewhat reserved and shy.

Chunxiang, Princess Consort Jing’s personal maidservant, held a red begonia carved tea tray and stood respectfully beside her. On the tray, there were two white porcelain teacups painted with hibiscus flowers. Yu Xiaocao picked up one of the cups. Just when she was about to serve the tea to Imperial Prince Jing, a clear and resonant voice sounded from outside, “Wait! My granddaughter-in-law just joined the family, so as her grandfather, she should pay respect to me first!”

Imperial Prince Jing almost rolled his eyes at him. ‘Imperial Father, what are you doing here? Why didn’t you come to drink tea when the heir’s wife married into the family?’ The emperor emeritus didn’t care about whether his son was happy or not. He glared at his son to have him add another chair in the middle of the host seats, and thus Imperial Prince Jing and Princess Consort Jing sat on his left and right, respectively. Then he looked at Xiaocao with satisfaction and nodded, saying, “Okay, let’s start!”

Xiaocao pursed her lips into a smile, raised the cup of tea above her head, and called out in a crisp voice, “Grandfather, please have some tea!”