The next day, Lan Murou woke up early, while the person beside her was still asleep.
She carefully lifted the covers, intending to get out of bed.
But before she could get up, her body was tightly held by him, and she was pulled back.
"Sleep a little longer."
"Aren't you going to court?"
Tantai Ye held her with his eyes closed, nuzzling her.
"It's my day off."
Lan Murou didn't want to sleep anymore. She twisted her waist and pushed him.
"Aren't we going to Yunmengze today? Don't keep others waiting."
Tantai Ye didn't want to bother with so much. He held her and refused to let go, burying his face in her neck and kissing and sucking.
"Rou'er, you smell so good."
Lan Murou couldn't push him away and looked numb. She simply closed her eyes.
The two of them slept until the sun was high in the sky before waking up.
The sunlight filtered in sparsely, causing them to open their eyes.
"Heavens, it's almost noon."
Lan Murou quickly pried his hand from her waist and got out of bed to wash.
Tantai Ye lifted the curtain and got up. He looked at her bare feet walking around, immediately got out of bed, and swept her up in his arms, startling her.
"What are you doing?"
"Why aren't you wearing shoes? You'll complain of pain when your period comes."
Lan Murou was thin-skinned and mumbled sheepishly.
"The weather is nice today."
Tantai Ye carried her back to the bed. "Put on your clothes and shoes before you come down."
Lan Murou coughed lightly, put on her shoes, and went to the washroom at the back to freshen up.
The two of them went there on horseback. Upon arrival, Tantai Ye handed the horses to the guards and pulled her towards the pavilion.
On the way, he discussed wanting to remove the white silk.
Lan Murou ignored him. He pestered her for a few more sentences, and seeing that she was still unresponsive, he gave up the idea and muttered.
"You just want Li Qiongyu to laugh at me."
"Who told the general to love lying."
Tantai Ye hugged her and said, "If I didn't pretend, I wouldn't even get to see you."
Hearing his words, Lan Murou couldn't help but recall the scenes when he first went to Gusu.
At that time, her body had just recovered, and she was immersed in pain every day. She often thought of the child she had killed with her own hands, the painful past, and the tragic scene of them falling into the Wangchuan River.
And his body had not yet recovered, yet he had rushed to Gusu, causing him to faint at the door.
Mu Yan took him back.
And she really couldn't bear to see him die, so she found him a doctor and took care of him, which was why she couldn't get rid of him later.
Thinking about it now, he must have woken up long ago. Fearing she would drive him away, he began to pretend to be blind and deceive people.
"Aren't you better? Why are you still wearing it?"
Suddenly, Li Qiongyu's teasing voice came from ahead.
Lan Murou came back to her senses, went up to the pavilion, saw a few people, and curiously looked around.
"Are you going outside the corridor to play with Ye Luan?"
Hearing Tantai Ye's words, she realized they were all outside the corridor, so she quietly let go of his hand and went outside.
"Murou."
Wei Qingge turned around in surprise upon hearing Ye Luan's voice.
"You're finally back."
Lan Murou felt a sense of closeness seeing the two of them.
She walked over, saw Chi You sitting beside them, nodded, and smiled.
"Hello, Lan Murou."
Chi You was stunned, and he pulled at his lips. "Chi You."
"I thought I'd have to go to Gusu to find you again. You've finally decided to come back."
Wei Qingge rushed forward to hug her.
Lan Murou took a step back from her embrace and chuckled. "You're getting married, I definitely have to come."
After saying that, she glanced at Ye Luan's belly.
"A'luan, you're about to give birth, right?"
Ye Luan pulled her to sit down. "Yes, less than two months."
The few of them sat down and chatted for a while, and soon became close.
They taught Chi You how to play leaf cards, and finally, tired, they went down from the pavilion to play.
Lan Murou had a gentle personality and didn't care about Chi You's coldness. They chatted and laughed, and it was lively.
Later, when they returned from hunting and were eating, she felt a slight pang in her heart as she watched Chi You, who occasionally felt nauseous.
Tantai Ye brought her a roasted chicken and asked, "What's wrong?"
She came back to her senses, quickly shook her head, and lowered her eyes to eat.
The evening breeze was pleasant, and the surroundings were lively.
Lan Murou's heart gradually relaxed as she listened to Wei Qingge talk about random things, and a smile appeared on her lips.
After dinner, the bright moon hung high, and everyone was going for a night stroll in the back mountains.
The moonlight was dim, the distant mountains were as blue-green as smoke, and dragon candles illuminated the paths on both sides. On the high terraces, mountain pavilions were lit with fireflies, illuminating the surroundings.
The group waited at the foot of the mountain. Seeing Liu Rongruo coming alone, Li Qiongyu said provocatively.
"Oh, why isn't Chi You here?"
Liu Rongruo ignored him and perfunctorily replied, "Stomach ache, went to sleep."
"Alright, she's only a few months along. Ye Luan is almost due, and she can still climb."
Ye Luan was innocently dragged into it, rolled her eyes, and retorted.
Li Qiongyu immediately raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I won't say anything."
Xiao Chizhan lowered his gaze, took Ye Luan's hand, and said, "Let's go."
The group walked up the mountain path. Wei Qingge loved to talk and play, telling them about folk night tours, which was very lively.
"Really, there are shops and stalls everywhere, people go to see the lanterns in groups, there's wrestling, acrobatics, it's noisy and festive, more fun than in Shangjing."
The few girls walked in front, chatting and laughing.
Liu Rongruo looked at the figures ahead of the three and felt a slight annoyance.
Li Qiongyu put a hand on his shoulder and said with a teasing smile, "What are you thinking about?"
"Get lost."
"Hahaha—"
Listening to the voices of Tantai Ye and Xiao Chizhan behind them, Lan Murou suddenly thought of the past.
When she first came to Shangjing, she had also participated in a few palace night tours with Tantai Ye.
They were very decadent. During the night tours, they were in the West Garden, where they could admire flowers by riding in carriages and walking, or watch entertainers sing and dance gracefully on high platforms, and even admire palace maids on horseback from the pavilions.
Especially on the Star Picking Tower, the lights were brilliant, and various string and bamboo instruments played incessantly, with revelry day and night.
Thinking of his past absurd pleasures, Lan Murou couldn't help but look back at him.
Tantai Ye had been paying attention to her. Seeing her indifferent gaze, he was slightly taken aback.
"What's wrong?"
She didn't speak, but instead turned her eyes to pull Wei Qingge.
Tantai Ye was about to go and grab her when he heard her words.
"Qingge, stop talking. They understand us better. In the past, the princes and lords often went on night tours, almost indulging in pleasure day and night."
Xiao Chizhan, "---"
He immediately looked up at Ye Luan in front of him. Seeing that she wasn't looking at him at all and was quite interested, she asked.
He directly interrupted their conversation and kicked Tantai Ye.
Tantai Ye didn't dare to say anything, and naturally kept quiet.
Ye Luan turned her head, looked at the expressions of the two, and knew everything in her heart. She sneered.
"This is good. I heard that there are many women going on night tours in the South Garden. Let's take Chi You there another day."
Liu Rongruo, "----"
Wei Qingge was overjoyed. "Great, great! I heard that the South Garden has many handsome men, and I haven't been there yet."
Li Qiongyu grabbed her by the back of her neck. "If you want the South Garden to be banned, then go."
"Why can you guys go play in the West Garden, but we can't?"
"That was so many years ago, and besides, we didn't do anything, we just listened to opera and watched dances."
Wei Qingge stuck out her neck. "We did too, right, A'luan, Murou?"
Ye Luan and Lan Murou immediately nodded and walked forward without looking at the people behind them.
The two behind them looked at each other and followed.
However, before they could climb the mountain tower, the sound of assassins suddenly came from the palace.
A dark guard came to report, "My lord, a man has broken into the young lady's room."
Liu Rongruo's expression turned cold. He said a word to the group and turned to go down the mountain.
"Hey, hey, hey, why are you going so fast? Do you need our help?"
Liu Rongruo waved his hand. "You guys go first."
Li Qiongyu called out, "Bring the person over later."
After climbing for half an incense stick's time, Ye Luan, holding her belly, was really tired. Seeing this, Xiao Chizhan directly picked her up and carried her up the mountain.
"Don't drop me."
Xiao Chizhan hooked his lips and deliberately scared her by loosening his grip.
Ye Luan glared at him angrily and quickly wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Shameless."
Xiao Chizhan, afraid of upsetting her, explained, "In the past, I just watched the fun, I didn't do anything."
Ye Luan snorted and didn't speak.
After they reached the mountain tower, they saw four boats docked on the cliff river in the night.
Lan Murou looked at the guards emerging from the boats in surprise and looked back.
"What are they doing?"
Tantai Ye pulled her back, afraid she would fall.
"We'll row the boats down later."
Lan Murou pursed her lips. "This river is so steep, the boats will capsize."
The people behind them also walked over.
Li Qiongyu heard Lan Murou's words and said, "Don't worry, they won't capsize."
Wei Qingge had seen the four of them race boats before and pouted.
"I'm not going. You guys race boats like you're not afraid of death. If there's an accident, you'll lose your lives."