If Lu Meng’s hair weren’t so long, it would probably be standing on end right now.
Wu Linxuan let out a sharp yelp and sprang up instantly. Lu Meng quickly backed away to keep her distance. Seeing the pain etched across his face, she immediately turned and dashed toward the door, terrified that if she was even a second too late, she’d get beaten.
You have to understand, even in modern socialist society there’s domestic violence, and the police can only mediate. But in ancient times, hitting a woman wasn’t like cracking sunflower seeds for fun.
She had just scalded his most sensitive spot!
Lu Meng reached the door and was about to call for the maid, thinking that with Wu Linxuan’s injury, a whole crowd rushing in would make him too embarrassed to hit her.
Sure enough, the moment Wu Linxuan saw her heading for the door, he knew she was going to get help. He simply couldn’t lose face like this.
His face looked like he’d been drinking some royal palace elixir—red, green, black, and blue all mixed together. Not caring about the burn, he tore at his robe so it wouldn’t cling to his skin and shouted, “Come back here!”
Good grief, even his “Your Highness” dignity had been scalded away.
Lu Meng’s hand was already on the door when his shout startled her into freezing in place. Then she quickly switched from a triumphant smirk to a worried expression as she turned back to him. “Your Highness... you need to call the maid quickly.”
Wu Linxuan’s face darkened so much it looked like it could drip water. Call the maid? Was he supposed to lose even more face?
Watching him rip at his robe, the veins on his temple throbbing wildly, Lu Meng immediately realized he must be in terrible pain. Then a bright idea struck her—
She dashed to the washroom and grabbed the basin of cold water the maid had hurriedly brought in after she’d just washed her hands and eaten fruit. The water hadn’t even been poured out yet.
Without a word, she splashed the cold water straight onto the spot where Wu Linxuan had been burned.
“Hiss...” Wu Linxuan gasped sharply, sucked in by the sudden chill.
It was summer, and in ancient times there weren’t many ways to cool down—either you kept a few ice cubes indoors or drank something cold. Ice was extremely rare, and Lu Meng’s side chamber definitely didn’t have any, so her way of cooling off was with well water.
Freshly drawn, ice-cold well water. Perfect for washing hands, soaking a cloth to wipe your neck or face.
So the water Lu Meng had just used was still icy cold to the bone. Splashing it without warning on his most sensitive spot? No matter how good-natured Wu Linxuan was, he was furious.
Especially since Wu Linxuan wasn’t exactly known for a good temper.
After gasping, he immediately roared, “What do you think you’re doing? You’ve got some nerve!”
Lu Meng was still holding the basin and almost snapped back, “You idiot, I’m saving you!”
But of course, she didn’t dare say that. Instead, her mind raced as she quickly threw down the basin and said, “Your Highness, I’m helping to relieve the burn. When I was a child, I was mischievous and knocked over my mother’s teacup. She treated it the same way—with cold well water—and the pain went away.”
Lu Meng felt pretty clever as she tilted her head slightly and asked, “Does Your Highness feel some relief from the burning?”
Wu Linxuan, still fuming, didn’t have time to really process it, but after being doused, the burning sensation had indeed eased a little.
The two of them stood facing each other in silence for a moment. Seeing that Wu Linxuan didn’t seem intent on hitting anyone anymore, Lu Meng quickly said, “Your Grace, please follow me. There’s plenty of cool well water in the washroom behind us. This rinsing process will take at least—”
Lu Meng almost said “an hour,” but she caught herself and quickly corrected, “At least one tea session.”
Wu Linxuan’s face was grim, but since the injury was in such a sensitive place, he refused to call any maid. So, with a stiff expression and an awkward posture, he followed Lu Meng into the washroom.
After a while, the two stood inside. Wu Linxuan remained expressionless, holding his robe in his hand. Lu Meng rolled up the sleeves of her loose garment, scooped water with a small ladle, and carefully poured it over the important area of Wu Linxuan’s trousers.
Her serious expression and concerned gaze were completely genuine, but Lu Meng was laughing inwardly so hard she could barely hold it in. Every time he startled and grabbed her hand, she thought to herself, “I bet he’ll never want to touch me again in his life—hahaha…”
Lu Meng was practically rolling on the floor inside, grinning wildly, but on the outside, she kept a straight face and asked, “Your Grace, how does it feel? Does it still hurt?”
Wu Linxuan frowned at her question, clearly unwilling to answer. His lower half was soaked through, and his boots squelched with every move.
But since the burn was a serious matter, he had to reply, “I don’t know. I’ve already lost all feeling.”
He was numb from the cold.
Hearing this, Lu Meng immediately lifted her sleeve, buried her face in it, and crouched down. If she delayed any longer, she was sure she’d burst out laughing right then and there.
Fortunately, the wide sleeves of ancient robes were so voluminous that once she hid her face inside, no one could see a thing. Lu Meng suppressed her laughter, chuckling muffledly into her sleeve until tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Are you laughing?” Wu Linxuan’s tone was so dark it was almost terrifying.
Lu Meng’s spine shuddered. She covered herself with her robe sleeve, pinched her own thigh, and then let the tears flow freely—half from the pain, half from laughter.
She looked up, her face flushed red, tears shimmering in her eyes, a delicate beauty with a face like a pear blossom in the rain—fragile and heart-tugging.
“Your Grace, I’m just worried about you…” she sniffled.
Lu Meng wiped her nose, stood up, and put down the ladle. “It should be fine now. Your Grace, please change your clothes and take a look. If it’s still injured, we’ll summon the imperial physician…”
Wu Linxuan pressed his lips tightly, then flicked the corner of his robe, sending a splash of water onto both their faces. Lu Meng immediately fell silent.
She hunched her shoulders, sensing the icy numb anger rising again in Wu Linxuan. She cautiously stepped back.
She was still afraid he might lose his temper and strike her.
Of course, Lu Meng didn’t remember whether the male lead in this story ever hit the female lead. But in old novels, there were even scenes where the male lead gouged out the heroine’s eyes or caused her to miscarry with his own hands.
Better safe than sorry.
Lu Meng subtly retreated again. Once the icy numbness faded, Wu Linxuan really couldn’t feel the burn anymore.
Now, he was ready to settle old scores and new grudges with Lu Meng.
Lu Meng stepped back, and he stepped forward. With nowhere left to retreat, the tips of their soaked shoes were directly facing each other.
Their faces were so close that if they looked up, they’d practically kiss. Luckily, Wu Linxuan didn’t press the side of the screen against Lu Meng’s cheek; otherwise, this would have been a classic wall slam.
Lu Meng felt a bit breathless under the oppressive presence of Wu Linxuan, whose towering height and imposing aura were overwhelming. She thought to herself that when it’s time to back down, there’s no need to put up a fight. Immediately, she lowered her head as far as it could go and took the initiative to admit her mistake: “Prince, please calm your anger. I was wrong!”
“Hmph.” Wu Linxuan sneered coldly.
He had realized it—his dream wife was genuinely afraid of him. Since their wedding night, she had been so terrified that even a light touch from him made her want to crawl away in panic.
But he wasn’t some monstrous beast. Since she married him, shouldn’t she be eager to cozy up to him, flatter him, and beg for his love? After all, he held absolute power in the Prince’s Mansion and might even consider elevating her status.
It wasn’t surprising that Wu Linxuan thought this way. In this era, women were expected to obey their fathers before marriage and their husbands after. The husband was like the sky itself; if she didn’t cling to him and flatter him, how could life go on?
From Wu Linxuan’s perspective, if she was this afraid of him, she must have some other motive...
What he didn’t know was that his dream wife had no ulterior motives—she just wanted to cling to him differently from other women.
So he stared at her and asked, “What exactly did you do wrong?”
Lu Meng immediately replied, “I was wrong in every way!”
Wu Linxuan was momentarily taken aback by her answer, then narrowed his eyes and said, “Then you truly deserve to die a thousand deaths.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Meng promptly sat down on the floor.
Though she was disgusted by the damp ground, it seemed she had no choice but to sit. She sat in what looked like a kneeling position—one of those popular “eight-character” sitting postures online. Her young, tender, and supple new body made the pose look natural.
It was like kneeling but not quite kneeling; anyway, she didn’t believe Wu Linxuan would lift her skirt just to check her sitting posture.
“Prince, please forgive me. I truly know I was wrong,” Lu Meng said again, repeating a classic line from TV dramas.
Wu Linxuan looked down from his lofty height at the top of Lu Meng’s head. From this angle, he could clearly see the terrifying bruises on her neck, dark purple and blue, spreading down into her collar.
He had lost an important mission because of those marks. He came here today to demand an explanation.
Yet his dream wife didn’t even try to explain—she just knelt and admitted her guilt. Could it be that she still had feelings for that rogue, Fourth Young Master, and was deliberately setting him up?
Wu Linxuan thought of many ways to punish her, but he knew he had to get the facts straight first.
So he fixed his gaze on the top of Lu Meng’s head and asked, “What happened to the marks on your neck?”
Lu Meng immediately understood—so this was what the boss was here to ask about today.
She didn’t intend to hide anything; after all, as his “employee,” she needed to be honest. Showing she was on the same team would make it easier to accept his protection in the future.
So Lu Meng said, “I caused them myself.”
She lifted her head, her cheeks flushed with tears, looking at Wu Linxuan with eyes full of admiration, and said, “Prince reminded me this morning to prepare myself. At first, I didn’t understand.”
She continued, “But when we reached the Empress Dowager’s hall, the messenger didn’t come out for a long time, and the sun was scorching. I am weak, and I feared that kneeling too long would make me ill.”
Lu Meng cleverly pulled Wu Linxuan into her explanation: “If I got sick, I wouldn’t be able to get up early to light the lamp for you, Prince.”
“So I pretended to faint by messing with my neck,” Lu Meng said, half truth, half lie. “I didn’t expect to overestimate my own body and actually pass out.”
And indeed, she really did faint afterward. That wasn’t a lie; fainting is fainting, after all.
Lu Meng paused, then added a bit of professional flattery: “I owe it all to Your Highness. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known the proper etiquette. If I had met the Empress Dowager in that state, I would have embarrassed you terribly. After this, I’m sure the Empress Dowager will never want to see me again in her life, which actually spares a lot of trouble.”
“Your Highness is truly wise and farsighted. I am utterly in awe.”
Lu Meng used every idiom she remembered from junior high—no idea if they fit—but the flattery was delivered, the story told, and now it was up to the male lead to decide if she could be spared.
Of course, Lu Meng had no idea that by messing around so recklessly, she not only lost the prized catch that the male lead had fought so hard to win over, but also gave the princes a handle on his secret penchant for… rough play.
Had she known, she’d realize her flattery had hit the wrong target entirely. No matter how she flattered or in what manner, it was all aimed at the wrong place. Right now, Wu Linxuan was covered in metaphorical bruises.
He was like a wild stallion—touch him, and he’d kick.
Wu Linxuan frowned deeper as he listened to Lu Meng’s words. Her explanation actually made sense—after all, she couldn’t have predicted that the emperor would arrive just as she fainted, accompanied by a group of princes.
Nor could she have foreseen that the emperor, seeing her faint from the Empress Dowager’s harsh treatment and then being “tormented” by him, would fly into a rage and storm off.
After all, the current emperor, Emperor Yan’an, was not one to dote on women.
His anger today was directed at the Empress Dowager for flaunting her authority in front of him, and at his own son for bringing shame upon him.
Wu Linxuan thought long and hard, then finally made a decision—he bent down and personally helped Lu Meng to her feet.
His demeanor was surprisingly gentle. The gentle Wu Linxuan made Lu Meng feel as if he was about to quietly kill her. She said, “If it’s for self-preservation, how could I blame you?”
“You’re right. The Empress Dowager probably won’t want to see you again in her life.”
Huh?
Lu Meng, already trembling from being grabbed by the arm, realized that the “real me” who had been scalded wasn’t back yet.
The two of them were uncomfortably close. According to the rule that whenever the male and female leads are close, they’re likely to start kissing, Lu Meng had nowhere to hide. She quietly pulled her arm back, wishing she could bury her head inside her ribs, and said, “Please understand, Your Highness.”
“Don’t be so distant with me. Since you married me, you are my wife.”
Wu Linxuan smiled—truly a picture of elegance and unmatched handsomeness. His phoenix-like eyes narrowed softly, the slight upward curve at the corners of his eyes was both charming and dangerous, like he could pull a piece of flesh right off you.
Lu Meng looked up at him. The impact was so strong her vision blurred.
Luckily, it was just a blur, not stars. Wu Linxuan’s charm was like a spell, but it couldn’t enchant someone like her who was wholeheartedly trying to salt her own wounds.
Lu Meng easily caught the coldness in his eyes—sharp and biting like an ice pick, as if it could shatter her skull.
“Prince…” Lu Meng’s voice trembled as she called out, feigning gratitude.
But in her heart, she thought, Don’t try to fool me. A secondary wife is at most a concubine!
In ancient times, wives had no rights; secondary wives and servants differed only in whether they could be slept with at will. And yet he still wants to deceive me!
“Prince,” Lu Meng, afraid of being ensnared by his charm, quickly changed the subject, “I shall call the maid to come in and attend to Your Highness’s bathing and dressing.”
Wu Linxuan studied Lu Meng’s expression but found no cracks on her face.
This woman is either truly foolish or terrifyingly cunning—calculating every move to stay by his side and destroy his foundation...
Wu Linxuan was in no hurry; a fox always reveals its tail eventually.
“Hm.” He nodded.
Feeling rescued, Lu Meng hurried to the door to summon the maid. She herself was dripping wet, having sat on the floor, leaving water stains on her clothes, so she took the opportunity to change.
However, the prince had already bathed, but there were no spare clothes here for him. This place was absurdly far from his own courtyard. Lu Meng knew he deliberately placed her here to keep her away—she was secretly pleased with the peace.
But without his clothes, someone had to fetch them. So Lu Meng instructed the new nanny, “His Highness’s clothes and shoes were soaked just now. Nanny, please go to the main courtyard and bring a set of casual clothes for the prince.”
Xin Ya was truly shocked. She had served Prince Jian’an for quite some time, and he had always been a man of strict self-discipline... Yet here he was, genuinely doting on this Dream Lady snatched from the Fourth Prince’s hands, and it was broad daylight, right after she returned from the palace.
Looking at Lu Meng’s delicate face, always pleasant and smiling, Xin Ya understood—this prince had truly grown up; he was a real man now.
Assigned to serve Dream Lady, Xin Ya had initially hesitated, thinking the prince only wanted her to keep an eye on Lu Meng. But now it seemed the prince genuinely cared for Dream Lady.
Dream Lady would be her mistress from now on, and Xin Ya felt a genuine happiness for her success.
She bowed deeply to Lu Meng and sincerely said, “Congratulations, Dream Lady, on winning the prince’s favor.”
Lu Meng smiled vaguely, not fully understanding.
Xin Ya soon went to fetch Wu Linxuan’s clothes. When Wu Linxuan finished bathing, he checked the places that had burned him—only a slight redness remained, and his anger had finally subsided.
He was done bathing, and the sun was already leaning west. Lu Meng asked the maid; dinner was about to be served. Yet when Wu Linxuan came out, he sat back down at the table, not in a hurry to leave.
He wanted to observe Lu Meng some more. Wu Linxuan was extremely suspicious, his mind filled daily with all sorts of messy intrigues and power struggles.
While bathing, he had considered many possibilities. He even suspected that this secondary wife might have burned him on purpose.
Although he had investigated her, what if she had been pretending all along in the Secretary’s mansion?
After all, her mother was dead, her father favored his concubines and destroyed his wife, her eldest sister had fled to the frontier, and a weak woman like her had somehow survived the torment of being a concubine in the Secretary’s mansion. Who could say she truly had no schemes?
Who knew if her meekness was an act—or real?
During the brainstorming session, Lu Meng found her mind wandering—not to work, but to what she would have for dinner tonight, and why the male lead still hadn’t left...
There was absolutely no common ground between them. Sitting there in silence was unbearably awkward!
Everyone knows that a good employee never gets too close to their boss. Besides, Lu Meng wasn’t one to flatter ancient gentlemen; her vocabulary just wasn’t up to the task...
Luckily, dessert came before dinner.
Lu Meng’s eyes lit up when she saw red bean porridge—this stuff was delicious!
She eagerly turned to the male lead and said, “Prince, you have to try this red bean porridge. It’s really good.” Then she hoped he’d finish quickly and leave.
As she spoke, she scooped some porridge for him, intending to share it.
But when Wu Linxuan saw the red bean porridge, his pupils suddenly contracted. Ha, his fox tail was showing!
Red bean porridge was traditionally served only after a couple had consummated their marriage.
He deliberately heated the porridge to keep him there while he bathed and changed, just so the servants would misunderstand and think they had become husband and wife!
Lu Meng’s attention was caught by the food, so she ignored the male lead and lifted the red bean porridge in front of her, taking a quick sip.
But then her mouth twitched, and her eyes widened in surprise, her brow furrowing.
Spitting it out would be too rude—it didn’t fit her refined lady persona. So she swallowed hard and then asked the maid who had brought the porridge, “Um... why is this raw?”
Xin Ya smiled knowingly, like an auntie who knew all the secrets.
Lu Meng thought she was the only one who had bitten into a raw bean, so she turned to Wu Linxuan and asked, “Prince, what do you think? Is it undercooked?”
Wu Linxuan laughed bitterly.
Perfect—she was not only scheming but also hopelessly deluded, already dreaming of bearing his child.
