Rong Xi actually had a shadow in her heart about this. After all, before Mu Huai had been made into a ranked prince, his personality was very aggressive and rough. There were a few times she had almost hurt her throat, and as a result, she had felt humiliated.
After becoming the legitimate wife, she felt that she was even more prone to feeling her gains and losses. Her actions this morning were originally done out of fear, it could even be thought of as her way of venting.
Unlike before, she did it this time because she really did want to help Mu Huai relieve himself.
For such a lofty man like Mu Huai, he could easily procure a bed servant, even taking in another concubine would be very normal.
Rong Xi slowly closed her eyes. She didn’t feel very comfortable as tears slowly welled up in her eyes. As she quietly sniffled, she thought that sooner or later, Mu Huai would have other women. She could not act as she did this morning, feeling embarrassed and reluctant just because of the hurdles in her heart.
Mu Huai had already given her the seat of the main wife. Now, she was the Crown Princess Consort, as well as the future Empress of Great Qi that didn’t have a noble background or a maternal clan to lean on.
Actually, many empresses in the previous dynasties did not come from very powerful backgrounds either. The empress’s maternal family only needed to be clean. For example, the current Empress Di that is under house arrest had a good maternal family, but their power did not threaten the power of the imperial family.
After all, all emperors were afraid that the power of governance would fall into the hands of side relatives, or afraid that their side relatives and the inner palace would collude together and cause the court to become unstable.
If she did it well and helped Mu Huai organize the affairs in the inner palace, she would not be breaking any rules or taboos. Even if ten years passed and she had become old and yellow, and Mu Huai no longer pampered her, he would still leave her some face and let her sit stably on the seat of the empress.
The seat that every woman in Great Qi wanted, she got. She really didn’t have anything to complain about.
However, what if a power concubine came along and pushed her off of that seat?
Rong Xi didn’t dare to think further along this line of thought. The uneasiness she felt inside was actually because the position that Mu Huai had given her had amplified her turmoil.
Adding on the discomfort her body felt, her tears fell even harder.
It was becoming too tiring to continue licking and swallowing him. Rong Xi was about to stop blowing him and replace her mouth with her hand when Mu Huai had already grabbed her wrist with a sullen expression.
Raising her head, Rong Xi’s watery eyes helplessly looked at the man. Tears hung off the ends of her lashes, making her look very pitiful.
When Mu Huai saw this, he became even more sullen.
Just by the way his brows were furrowed, one could tell that he had almost reached the peak, but it was not completely resolved.
Mu Huai quickly straightened his clothes and in a restrained voice, he asked, “What are you crying for? If you don’t want to do it, why force yourself?”
Rong Xi hiccuped. Standing up, her eyes were downcast as she deliberately avoided the man’s angry yet confused gaze. Stuttering, she said, “This…this concubine…”
Mu Huai stared at her, “What are you scared of? Scared that I’ll have sex with another woman?”
Seeing her thoughts immediately exposed by the man, Rong Xi suddenly felt as if she lost all the strength in her body.
It was pointless to try to explain herself. As a wife, how could she be so intolerant?
Rong Xi admitted her wrongdoings in a small voice, “This…this concubine shouldn’t get jealous, and even more, shouldn’t harbor the desire to have Husband all to myself…in the future, this concubine will definitely reflect and will never harbor such thoughts ever again.”
Hearing Rong Xi’s words, Mu Huai’s original anger dissipated.
Being tortured and clung onto by this vixen so early in the morning, he felt both sleepy and unsatisfied. Yet, he also couldn’t bear to actually have sex with her, making him feel even more aggrieved.
However, it seems like this woman said that she wanted to monopolize him.
She used that soft and chirpy voice of hers to say such domineering words.
Mu Huai carefully recalled what she said.
Wanted to have him all to herself.
Heh, how interesting.
A sense of delight and happiness sprouted in his heart.
Seeing the woman trying hard to restrain herself from crying, Mu Huai’s slender hand already covered the top of her head. Petting her as if she were a kitten, he rubbed her head in different directions, messing up her original smooth hair into tangles.
Rong Xi was afraid to move, only hearing his low voice gently saying, “What a little vinegar jar1
When Rong Xi heard this, she looked down again.
Wasn’t it true that she was a vinegar jar? Mu Huai hadn’t even taken in any other concubines yet, but her overactive imagination had already given her countless pretend enemies.
Rong Xi raised her hand, wanting to wipe away the tears on her face. The man had already placed her on the bed and gotten a soft pillow to protect her round belly. She slightly panicked and her slender wrist had unconsciously supported her waist.
Mu Huai hovered over her as he whispered into her ear, “Continue to eat vinegar. As long as you don’t harm your body because of it, I’ll spoil you.”
Rong Xi felt her ears itch. But because of the man saying that he’ll spoil her, her tears slowly stopped.
Naturally, she figured out what he was scheming and her cheeks turned pink as she said, “Husband…you want…”
Mu Huai bit her earlobe and said hoarsely, “In the future, don’t provoke me so early in the morning, understand?”
Rong Xi nodded her head, “En, this concubine knows. Then, Husband, you should release this concubine first…”
Seeing the woman wanting to escape, Mu Huai didn’t act as aggressive or rough as before. Instead, he lowered his voice as he whispered into the woman’s soft ears, “My good Xi’er, be good, let Husband spoil you.”
******
Since the two people had woken up early, even after going a round, there was still more than an hour before court.
Originally, Mu Huai wanted to let Rong Xi continue to sleep; however, Rong Xi knew that since she was now the Crown Princess Consort, she also had to uphold herself to certain standards. She could not act as lazy as she did before. She had to portray the image of the female master of the Eastern Palace, at the very least.
This morning, Mu Huai had made her very happy. She could even go so far as to say that everything he did was to pleasure her.
Afterwards, she had let out a cry, and she had also resolved herself to not be as cowardly as she was today. When Mu Huai called himself her husband, her heart jolted. When he said it, only then did Rong Xi finally feel that she had really become his wife. Now, she finally felt confident when she called Mu Huai her husband.
Dan Xiang and her other palace maids helped brush her hair and put it up in a crown, then put on graceful make up for her. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she felt that not only did she not look old, her clean and fair face had a hint of nobility about it.
Tilting her head, the tourmaline earrings hanging from her lobes swayed from side to side.
Dan Xiang praised her, “The Crown Princess Consort suits all kinds of makeup. Even without any foundation or rouge, there be few women in Bianjing that could compare to you in terms of looks.”
The other palace maids also sincerely flattered her.
Just as Rong Xi was about to say something, she saw one of the eunuchs that usually served in Mu Huai’s inner hall’s side hall come over to remind them, “Ten thousand blessings to Crown Princess Consort, His Highness sent this small one here to remind you to go eat breakfast.”
Rong Xi saw the hunched appearance of the junior eunuch through the mirror. Nodding elegantly, she had also lowered her voice as much as possible as she answered, “I understand, I’ll go over now.”
After she stood up, she kept think that even though she had tried to make her voice as deep as possible, it was still higher and lighter than most women. Rong Xi could only helplessly shake her head and walk to the side hall.
Mu Huai was already dressed in his court robes. The dark indigo robes were extravagant and solemn, making Mu Huai’s originally youthful appearance look much stricter.
The man usually didn’t like to speak much or smile, always emitting a cold and intimidating air. However, just by looked at his outer appearance, no one would ever think that he was actually such a passionate and lusty man.
When she thought of what happened earlier, Rong Xi felt her face blush and her heart race.
The servants saw she had arrived and bowed in respect, “Ten thousand blessings to Crown Princess Consort.”
Mu Huai heard the sounds and looked in her direction.
It was clearly just a fleeting glance, but Rong Xi’s face reddened unknowingly. When Mu Huai saw this, his lips curved up in a smile as he secretly felt it was a little funny.
An exquisite breakfast was laid out by the servants on the table. Much of it was made according to Rong Xi’s preferences, the desserts being the key point. There were sticky rice balls, fried rice cakes, royal jelly, etc. There was even red bean mochi, steamed meat buns, and honey pancakes. In addition, there was also porridge as well as the mixed rice made with rose, citrus, and osmanthus that the palace concubines recently liked to eat.
Mu Huai personally picked up a carved wooden spoon and filled a bowl of porridge for Rong Xi. When he stretched out his arm, a row of deep teeth marks could be seen, some areas even had the skin broken.
At the side, Dan Xiang was arranging the dishes when she accidentally glanced over and saw it. She instantly understood how and where the wound on the Crown Prince’s arm came from.
As a daytime servant, she naturally got up earlier than the master in the morning. Dan Xiang and the other senior palace maids detected that the masters inside the hall had woken up and had waited outside early on, waiting for their masters to call upon them. But after a while, they suddenly heard the Crown Princess Consort’s soft and coquettish cries.
The palace maids who were present all heard it and their faces had reddened. They all knew what had happened inside.
Rong Xi also saw Mu Huai’s arm and the wound she had inflicted on him. She carefully observed his expression. On the other hand, Mu Huai didn’t seem to notice it at all, looking distracted instead.
His brows were furrowed as he was thinking about his past life. Kingdom Gu’s Luolu Kehan and his adopted son, Tuoba Yu, had appeared during the third year of his reign. The year he had ascended the throne, Kingdom Gu and Great Qi’s relationship was quite cordial, and the two countries often exchanged goods. Because Kingdom Gu were barbarian lands, its soil was not suitable for crops. Yet Great Qi was not only the largest manufacturer of tea leaves within the four kingdoms, they also had the ones with the best quality and most varieties. As for the imperial family of Kingdom Gu, none of them could part with tea, and every year Kingdom Gu’s royal offspring would enter Great Qi, resulting in the two countries having a flourishing trade exchange.
In his past life, in order to restrain the monarch of Kingdom Gu, he had the yet-to-marry King Chen, Mu Tao, marry the monarch’s most beloved daughter, Tuoba Yue. His original intentions were to keep her as a hostage princess under the guise of marriage. However, such an action harmed his third brother, Mu Tao. That Tuoba Yue was a troublesome person and had caused many accidents under his watch. Even more, that Tuoba Yue had also secretly raised a few boy toys.
No matter how gentle and mild-mannered Mu Tao was, he could not stand this kind of woman. However, for the sake of the relationship between Qi and Gu, although Mu Tao and Tuoba Yue’s relationship was estranged, he had still bore with it.
At that time, Mu Huai and Yin Cheng had set out on a military expedition for Kingdom Ye, and the domestic government affairs were temporarily handled by Yan Juxu. As a female from Kingdom Gu, Tuoba Yue knew some martial arts. Taking advantage of this opportunity, she entered the palace under the pretense of visiting the Empress Dowager and Dowager Consort De. Sneaking into Ganyuan Hall, she had stolen Great Qi’s jade seal2. Thankfully, Yan Juxu had discovered it in time and had blocked Tuoba Yue before she left Yongxi Palace. However, he also didn’t dare to punish Tuoba Yue either.
Seeing that she had failed, after returning to King Chen’s estate, Tuoba Yue escaped back to Kingdom Gu in the dead night.
The few years she was in Great Qi, she had caused numerous troubles using her identity as a princess from Kingdom Gu. Moreover, she was always looking for Great Qi’s government secrets, so that she could relay it to the monarch of Kingdom Gu.
What a scourge.
With a second chance at life, he definitely could not let Mu Tao marry such a scourge as his wife again. However, he ultimately still had to come up with a way to keep one of Kingdom Gu’s royal descendants as a hostage.
Mu Huai gradually stopped thinking about it. Seeing that the woman in front of him didn’t really eat much for breakfast, she was instead using her glassy eyes to look at him.
He was unhappy and asked, “Why aren’t you eating?”
Rong Xi rubbed her stomach and answered, “This concubine doesn’t have much of an appetite this morning.”
Mu Huai frowned and picked up the bowl of red bean mochi and placed it in front of her. In a deep voice, he said somewhat impatiently, “Even if you don’t have an appetite, you have to finish it.”
Rong Xi turn her head away. Not only did she not listen to him and eat it, she even let out a coquettish pout, “Hng~”
Although this movement was small, all the servants in the palace heard it.
The Crown Prince ordered the Crown Princess Consort to finish the bowl of red bean mochi. The Crown Princess Consort not only didn’t eat it, she even threw a little hissy fit.
They were afraid that Mu Huai would get angry and they all carefully held their breath, waiting for the Crown Prince to scold the Crown Princess Consort.
However, none of them expected that although the Crown Prince looked angry, his voice was quite calm as he asked again, “Eating or not?”
Rong Xi continued to look away, her sweet and soft voice was a little annoyed as she said, “…Then if Husband feeds this concubine…this concubine will eat it…”
When Mu Huai heard this, he also let out a cold snort.
With a dark face, he angrily held up the bowl of red bean mochi and stirred it a couple time with the spoon. His movements looked as if he was about to force them into the woman’s mouth.
The servants standing at the side observed through the corner of their eyes, so shocked they were tongue-tied.
Only then did Rong Xi tilt her head down and obediently bite down on the ceramic spoon.
Mu Huai had a dumbfounded look in his eyes but she could see hints of happiness and pleasure in them. She had previously learned some seduction techniques. It was said that no matter how strong and domineering a man was, they all had a little quirk, that was, they liked to be abused. It was not good for a woman to always be obedient and follow whatever a man says, as he’ll eventually feel that this kind of woman was boring. Sometimes, men liked it when women threw a tantrum or acted coquettish, and he liked it even more when a woman would act pretentious in front of him.
Chewing the sweet mochi, Rong Xi looked up to peek at Mu Huai’s expression. When Mu Huai stared back at her, Rong Xi immediately looked down again. She secretly thought that Mu Huai, this arrogant and domineering man, was not so invincible after all.
When she bit his arm this morning, not only did he not get angry, he even got a little excited. Just now, she had acted spoiled and threw a little tantrum, and although this man acted as if he was very angry, in reality, he felt a deep sense of pleasure from feeding her.
It seems like in the future, she had to change flavors to spice it up for Mu Huai.