Chapter 10 :

　She looked back on her father"s fox-like cunning smiling face versus the ice cold face of her forced husband. If the son-in-law did not care about her father"s reputation and dignity, would her father still smile then?

"Hahaha…" This was truly terrible. When did she begin to take joy in other people"s misfortune?

She thought that there was no one around who was paying attention to her stifling laughter, but little did she know that Fu Yanlin, who had abnormal hearing abilities, heard it. He originally did not looked at her at all, but finally made an exception to turn around and saw her expression of restrained laughter.

"A fighting dog meeting a clever fox. Who will win?" she murmured quietly as she pa.s.sed him.

Fu Yanlin"s forehead furrowed together. Seeing her get onto the carriage, he also jumped onto his horse. Leading the carriage and a troop of soldiers, he grandly led the way to the Mu Manor.

Mu Huanqing, who was sitting in the carriage, quietly lifted up the carriage"s curtain to take a peek at her newly wedded husband. It was undeniable that Fu Yanlin today, who dressed in his military garb and riding on a horse, was indeed very awe-inspiring and handsome man. He did not lose out at all to any of the st.u.r.dy and brave men of the north. Just his back alone could create the sense of an imposing military leader. Also, rumors had it that this man was the martial arts top scorer of his year.

Her dad Mu Cangying was once the Crown Prince"s bodyguard and was also a martial artist expert. Now that he was an a.s.sistant minister in the Ministry of War, he had been influenced by the cultured and refined auras of the scholars. However, his fighting soul had never disappeared. Only her, the daughter, who had personally fought against her father, knew of this matter.

However, if these two people fought against each other, who would win? As she thought about how fiery the fight would be, her blood began to boil.

If the two of them fought, it would be great. No matter who lost, she would still be happy. Because her imagination was making her joyful, her lips couldn"t help but curve upwards.

Once the party departed the Marquis Residence, the Mu Manor had received news of their visit. Thus,  the manor"s big entrance doors were currently wide open, and Master Mu stood by the door with his wives and servants, a smile on his face as he waited to welcome his daughter and his new son-in-law.

From far away, Fu Yanlin could see the smile on Mu Cangying"s face. That smile was very offending to him, making him narrow his eyes slightly as a flash of anger pa.s.sed through them.

Humph! This old fox… He suddenly stopped. Fighting dog against a fox?

He immediately turned around to look at the girl in the carriage. She dared to call him a fighting dog?

Mu Huanqing didn"t know that Fu Yanlin was staring at her. When the carriage"s door opened, the servant had already placed a step stool down for her. She lifted her dress, preparing to get off, when suddenly, Zhenyuan Marquis came forward and extended his hand to her.

Normally, there would be maids to help her. Mu Huanqing stopped, glancing at the big hand in front of her. Her heart was in a flurry. Fu Yanlin helping her off the carriage was not only protecting the Mu Manor"s reputation, but also the Marquis Residence"s dignity.

She cooperatively stretched out her hand, placing her hand into his palm.

The big hand grasped hers tightly and helped her off the carriage. She originally wanted to withdraw her hand, but she discovered that not only did he not release her hand, he had actually gripped them tighter. A pinching pain could be felt in her hand.

She accidentally lifted her eyes to meet Fu Yanlin"s angry ones. She had not yet figured out what was going on when he already released her hand and turned around towards Master Mu. Her face was an expression of confusion as she gently ma.s.saged her hand. In her heart, she silently scolded him. Was the guy sick?

Meeting the father-in-law and mother-in-law, Fu Yanlin had switched to a gentle and moderate face. He and Mu Huanqing paid their respects to the two elders. Naturally, Mu Huanqing"s face also had a slight smile.

A party of people was welcomed into the manor. Fu Yanlin followed Master Mu to chat about stuff that men talk about. Mu Huanqing followed the women to the back courtyard. Her mother dismissed the others, pulling her daughter into the room to talk.

Fu Yanlin, don’t hurt our poor Mu Huanqing! *defends angrily*

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Chapter 11 :

Mu Huanqing concealed the matter regarding the bridal chamber and tea serving* because she didn"t want her mother to feel upset for her. Moreover, she was not that weak minded to feel as if her entire world had collapsed just because her husband didn"t want to consummate their marriage nor served the tea with her. Her days would pa.s.s by as usual. However, her mother would definitely not believe her if she were to say everything was going perfectly well. Hence, she chose to answer with a half-lie.

"It"s after all a marriage conferred by the Emperor, he wouldn"t dare to defy the emperor nor provoke father. So he still treats me politely." Thus, this was what she told her mother.

Concubine Li examined her daughter"s face, although she could not find a glimpse of Mu Huanqing being wrongfully treated, she knows her daughter very well; she was someone that would keep things to herself in order to not worry others. She lightly patted her daughter"s hand, and spoke in a soft voice, "No matter what happens in the future, you don"t necessarily have to conceal any big decisions from mother. You know exactly where I stand, right?"

Mu Huanqing gazed into her mother"s serious eyes, and understood what she was trying to convey intuitively. She nodded. "Mother, I promise you that I will let you know if anything big happens."

"That"s good." Concubine Li smiled gently, her gaze a tranquil calm.

As Mu Huanqing looked at her mother, she thought of how much she loved her consideration towards others, as well as the tranquility she gives to people around her. Among Father"s inner courtyard**, mother wasn"t the most beautiful one, but she was the one with the best skin maintenance. Although Mother was now thirty-five, she still looked as if she was in her twenties with fair and tender skin, void of any aging wrinkles, unlike the other concubines who depended on cosmetics to hide their traces of aging.

Mu Huanqing knew why her mother could maintain her youthful look. It was because mother had never envied, nor contend or fight with the others. Also, she would not waste effort to curry favor with Father. Mother lived only for herself; hence, it was why she had such a broad heart and pa.s.sed her days with eating and sleeping well. Once Mother had Mu Huanqing, she begin to live for Mu Huanqing and herself.

After they had lunch in the Mu Manor, Mu Huanqing had to leave as it was not early anymore. When she stole a glance towards Fu Yanlin, she saw him talking and laughing with her father while upholding a fitting bearing, just like how any ordinary son-in-law would treat their father-in-law. There were no peculiarities at all.

She lowered her eyelids to hide the disappointment in her eyes, then sighed with regret.

"Why hadn"t they started fighting yet?"

She thought n.o.body had heard what she said. After bidding farewell to her father and mother, and before she got into the horse carriage, Fu Yanlin stretched his hand out towards her.

As she thought of how this was just acting, she did not act unreasonable and cooperatively placed her hand in his palm to let him help her up the horse carriage.

"You wished to see me fight with your father?"

Mu Huanqing paused at his statement and looked up at him in surprise. She came face-to-face with a pair of ice-cold eyes.

She had not antic.i.p.ated him to suddenly speak to her. Before she could even react, he continued—

　　"Then you will be very disappointed. I am not a pitbull, nor do I have any interest in bickering with a fox. It would only let the other people see a joke.

Her eyes opened wide, and she looked at him dazedly. He saw her flabbergasted expression, then withdrew his arm and turned around to be seated after she had got onto the carriage.

　　Mu Huanqing looked at his retreating back figure. Only once he had gone far enough,  did she pinch her refined brows and whispered, "What I am not a pitbull, your eye is as sharp as a dog"s. You can even hear when I speak so softly?"

The coachman released the reins to set out once he received the order, so the party left the Mu Manor"s gate and had just turned to the main street. When Fu Yanlin as a matter of course, urged his horse on to leave without a word.

Mu Huanqing glanced over at that gradually diminishing silhouette with indifference. Leaning back against the seat, she closed her eyes in meditation to regain her composure.

Once she was back at the Marquis residence, she threw a word of command to her servant. Saying that she wanted to take a nap, and no one was to disturb her. Although that"s what she said, in reality, she took this chance to slip out through the window.

*Serving tea: To express thanks to your elders on one’s wedding day: At the traditional Chinese marriage ceremony, both the bride and groom kneel in front of their parents and serve them tea.

**Inner Courtyard here refers to Mu Huanqing"s father"s numerous concubines.

If this was a paranormal series, I can imagine Fu Yanlin as a vampire with a bat as a pet. He’s cold enough, at least. Maybe he sleeps in a coffin as well, which was why he had to ditch Mu Huanqing.