Inside the hall, the *mammy* from the palace was still diligently announcing the betrothal gifts, her long list of presents making the Lan family mother and daughter eavesdropping next door turn green with envy.
Outside the hall, Lu Qing Wan bared her teeth at Feng Xi Wu, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
Feng Xi Wu feigned ignorance, "Did what?"
"Those few maids."
Lu Qing Wan gritted her teeth in anger, "I wanted pretty, shapely, pleasing to the eye young beauties, what kind of monsters did you give me? It's a miracle you could find such mismatched oddities. Don't you know they'll be your concubines in the future? So ugly, aren't you afraid you'll get flaccid from fright! Or is it that the Regent King has such unique taste?"
Forgive her, Lu Xiao Mo Nu is just a shallow face-lover. Life is already a mess, she just wants a few more pleasing sights around her to relieve her mood. This dog man can't even grant such a small wish, what's the point of him?!
But the more Lu Qing Wan became flustered, the more composed Feng Xi Wu, this dog-like man, became. He even smiled, "It doesn't matter. Your makeup was so ugly at Xiang Guo Temple that day, and I still managed to stay hard, didn't I?" As if afraid Lu Qing Wan wouldn't explode, he even added arrogantly, "You know this best, don't you?"
"Just shut up!" Lu Qing Wan scrambled forward to cover his mouth, "Have some shame, I beg you!" She still had hers, even if he didn't!
The sudden warmth made Feng Xi Wu instinctively want to push her away, but his nose caught a familiar scent. Feng Xi Wu raised his eyes and caught sight of her earlobes, red as if about to drip blood. His gaze shifted, catching sight of fluttering eyelashes, like butterfly wings about to fly but hesitant. Realizing they were Lu Qing Wan's trembling eyelashes, Feng Xi Wu felt a tickle in his heart, as if brushed by butterfly wings. He cleared his throat and feigned composure, teasing, "What, you allow yourself to abduct civilian men, and I, the victim, don't even get to state my case?"
"Nonsense victim, you know perfectly well I didn't do it on purpose!" Lu Qing Wan tried to keep the heat from her face from spreading beyond her earlobes, suppressing the urge to cover her face and flee, gritting her teeth to accuse him. The matter of shame, it was always about who was stronger.
Seeing Lu Qing Wan on the verge of utter mortification, Feng Xi Wu calmed down, "Does it even matter if it was on purpose? My purity has already been ruined. You don't want to take responsibility for me, and you're constantly trying to push me off to other women. Doesn't your conscience ache?" That sly girl, after ruining his pure body, and before even entering his residence, she's already thinking of stuffing other women around him. Was he that easily dealt with?
Lu Qing Wan was choked with anger, "We're getting married, what more responsibility do you want me to take?"
"That depends on your sincerity." Feng Xi Wu shamelessly put on an innocent expression, "I heard that in the folk custom, if a woman loses her virginity, the perpetrator is punished with 'three knives and six holes'. You need to think carefully about what kind of sincerity can offset such severe punishment." He made it sound as if he were a chaste man who had been forced to lose his purity.
Lu Qing Wan scoffed, "Then Your Highness must have misremembered. When a woman loses her virginity in folk custom, the perpetrator often passes through a hundred flowers without a petal touching them. But the woman who loses her virginity is often drowned in a pig cage. So, Your Highness, would you like to understand what a pig cage entails?"
Feng Xi Wu: ... My mistake! He hadn't expected Lu Qing Wan, a noble lady from a Marquis's household, to understand the sordid affairs of the marketplace so thoroughly. He was speechless.
Over there, Li Yang saw Duke Hua Guo and Aunt Lan Yin come out after finalizing the betrothal gift list. He then saw his Prince with a look of existential doubt. It was rare to see such a vivid expression on his Prince's face. Li Yang stood there observing for a moment before being rebuked by Feng Xi Wu. "What, the Princess Consort hasn't even entered the household, and you're already seeing yourself as a guardian spirit of her family's gate?"
"No, Your Highness!" Li Yang hurried in through the moon gate, "Prince Chen has arrived, saying he's here to offer betrothal gifts." He spoke to Feng Xi Wu, but his eyes were on Lu Qing Wan. She blinked suspiciously, "In this day and age, do you even need betrothal gifts to take a concubine?"
"Others don't. Prince Chen is probably just wealthy and extravagant." Feng Xi Wu's tone carried a hint of coldness, "What, he's offering betrothal gifts to your庶妹, and you're feeling sour about it?"
"Sour?" Lu Qing Wan snorted, "Yue'er, have Steward Zhou inform Aunt Lan to entertain Prince Chen well. Don't neglect our esteemed guest."
"Miss?!" Yue'er stood in place unwillingly. Her mistress clearly didn't like Prince Chen a few days ago. Why was she being muddled again on such an important day?
"What, I can't command you anymore?"
"No." Yue'er was unwilling, but she knew her place better, "Miss, don't be angry, I'll go now." Watching Yue'er leave, Lu Qing Wan turned to the master and servant with expressions as varied as their moods, "Would you two like to watch a good show?"
Feng Xi Wu frowned, remaining silent. Li Yang's eyebrows were etched with disapproval, but seeing his master say nothing, he didn't overstep his bounds.
"It's really thoughtful of His Highness Prince Chen to prepare so much for Wan'er. Wan'er is truly blessed!" Madam Lan, adorned in flamboyant attire, winked at Feng Qing Heng with a voice that made one's skin crawl. Feng Qing Heng, for some reason, didn't outright refuse. He even said politely, "Second Madam is too kind. This is what I should do."
...
The living rooms in high-class mansions all had side halls. Separated by a screen, people outside couldn't see inside, but those inside could clearly observe every subtle movement of everyone outside. Feng Xi Wu's brow furrowed slightly, but he didn't forget his expression management. Li Yang's composure was much worse. His dark expression, caught between wanting to vomit and cover his mouth, amused Lu Qing Wan. Neither wanted to look at that eye-searing scene any longer and quietly withdrew from the side hall.
Ensuring their voices wouldn't be heard by those inside, Feng Xi Wu looked at Lu Qing Wan with a complicated expression, "What is your purpose in making me watch this play?"
"Our marriage was decreed by His Majesty. I know you're unwilling, and I'm not the type to throw myself at anyone. Who knows what will happen next, but I must tell you one thing. Feng Qing Heng, that trash, has never been my ideal partner. If you make things difficult for me because of him, I won't accept it." Lu Qing Wan's disgust for Feng Qing Heng was undisguised, which made Feng Xi Wu very puzzled, "If that's true, then how do you explain your previous actions? Setting aside all the rumors, at least, Marquis Lu wouldn't have unreasonably begged the Emperor to bestow a marriage between you and Prince Chen, right?"
"Did you see how Madam Lan is fawning over Feng Qing Heng?" Lu Qing Wan asked instead of answering. Feng Xi Wu just knitted his brows, waiting. Lu Qing Wan then said, "Before long, Madam Lan will be in the same predicament I was in." Feng Xi Wu, after all, was well-traveled and had Lu Qing Wan's reminder. He immediately understood. "You're saying that you were previously infatuated with Prince Chen due to external pressure. Was it poison or something else?"
"Xiang Si Gu." Lu Qing Wan slowly uttered the name of the thing she had loathed since she first learned of it. Feng Xi Wu and Li Yang, master and servant, turned pale. "Xiang Si Gu, the legendary love potion that can make someone fall deeply in love with a completely unrelated person?"