RATMOFANF: Chapter 78

 Glossary

·Shen Jingxiu: The female protagonist, wife of Li Ling.

·Li Ling: The male protagonist, heir of Zhenguo Duke Manor.

·Xu Wanning: Li Xian's wife.

·Li Xian: Li Ling's elder brother.

·Qingluan: Ninth Princess, Li Ling's cousin.

·Ziyun: Shen Jingxiu's maidservant.

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Chapter 78: When I Said 'Nothing,' I Meant 'Something'

After leaving Anxi Tang, Li Ling and Li Xian walked side by side in front, while Jingxiu and Xu Wanning followed behind.

Xu Wanning remarked offhandedly, "What a tiring day of running around. I wonder how long our imperial cousin plans to stay here?"

Although her voice wasn't loud, the men walking ahead weren't far and could hear clearly. Hearing this, Li Xian's face darkened, and he turned to shoot Xu Wanning a glare.

Li Ling also turned around, but his gaze was fixed on Jingxiu.

Although straightforward, Xu Wanning knew when to hold her tongue. Realizing her slip, she closed her mouth. Each lost in their own thoughts, they walked in silence until they reached a fork in the path and went their separate ways towards their residences.

Li Ling slowed his pace to match Jingxiu's. In the deep darkness, his hand, hidden in his wide sleeve, reached for hers, but she silently withdrew it.

Once inside their room, Jingxiu called for Ziyun to help her bathe and remove her makeup, then got into bed by herself. After washing up, Li Ling also got into bed. He put his arm around his wife and asked, "What's wrong? You seem preoccupied."

Jingxiu removed his hand and turned her back to him. "It's nothing. I'm just a bit tired today."

Li Ling moved closer, embracing her from behind, and whispered in her ear, "Is it because of Qingluan that you're upset?"

Jingxiu replied gloomily, "No."

Li Ling pressed further, "Really not?"

Jingxiu repeated impatiently, "Didn't I already say no? I'm sleepy. Stop pestering me." With that, she closed her eyes.

Li Ling let go of her, lay flat on his pillow, also closed his eyes, and fell silent.

Just as he was drifting into a hazy sleep, one of his ears was viciously pinched. A sharp, piercing pain jolted him completely awake.

Li Ling yelped, "Ouch!" covered his ear, and looked at his young wife beside him with a pained grimace. "What are you doing? That hurt!"

Jingxiu sat bolt upright, glaring at him. "You were really going to sleep, heartless like that?"

She kicked him with her foot. "You haven't even explained things clearly to me, and you want to sleep? Do you even care about me?"

This rapid-fire series of accusations left Li Ling bewildered again. With a look of utter injustice, he said, "I just asked you, and you said 'nothing.' Wasn't it you who wanted to sleep?"

Infuriated, Jingxiu leaned forward and pinched his ear hard again, saying through gritted teeth, "When I say 'nothing,' does it really mean nothing?"

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Wincing in pain, Li Ling pulled away from her grip, covered his ear, and defended himself, "I asked you, and you repeatedly said 'nothing.'"

Jingxiu huffed angrily, "Are you an idiot? When I say 'nothing,' does it really mean nothing?"

"When I said 'nothing,' I meant 'something.'"

As she spoke, she couldn't help but give him another kick. "Couldn't you tell?"

A straightforward man like Li Ling couldn't possibly understand such profound subtleties. He was now completely baffled.

He sat there dazedly, trying hard to decipher his young wife's words, truly unable to make sense of them.

Seeing his utterly clueless, foolish expression, Jingxiu was so angry she felt like hitting someone.

Seeing his young wife seething like a little hedgehog with all its quills raised, as if ready to charge and pierce him full of holes at any moment, he smiled awkwardly and moved to embrace her. "What exactly is it? What did I do wrong? Please, just tell me. There's no need to be so angry."

Jingxiu angrily pushed his hand away, her face stern. "Didn't you say you had absolutely no romantic feelings for her? Then why were you so eager to climb a tree and pick fruit for her?"

Hearing this, Li Ling let out a long sigh of relief.

Jingxiu's apricot eyes flashed with feigned anger as she glared at him demanding, "Why are you sighing? Are you blaming me for making false accusations out of thin air?"

Li Ling quickly said, "No, I'm not." Seeing her turn away puffing with anger, Li Ling reached out to pull her back, explaining, "I don't mean to blame you."

Seeing his young wife's face still stern, Li Ling scratched his head and said to her, "I truly don't remember any of those things Qingluan mentioned." Then he took his wife's hand again, plaintively adding, "I'm really not hiding anything from you. I genuinely don't remember."

Jingxiu turned her head back to interrogate, "Then did you or did you not pick fruit for her?" She snorted coldly. "No wonder last time at my house, when I said I often climbed trees to pick fruit as a child, you said you used to climb trees often too. So it was all for picking fruit for her, wasn't it?"

"You were quite attentive for her sake."

As she spoke, her voice became choked with sobs, as if she was about to cry from grievance.

Seeing his young wife like this, Li Ling became flustered. He explained incoherently, "I did climb trees to pick fruit, but not just for her. Mother has a large orchard. Whenever I visited, I would pick some of the fruits she liked and present them to her personally."

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

He paused, then continued explaining, "Our own back garden also has many fruit trees. When the fruit ripened every year when I was young, I would climb the trees to pick some for Third Brother and Third Sister to eat. I even picked some for Eldest Uncle's eldest and second cousins."

Seeing his young wife's expression finally soften a little, Li Ling felt somewhat reassured. He wrapped his arm around her. "If you don't like it, I won't climb trees to pick fruit for them anymore from now on. Ah! Besides, I'm busy with official duties now and don't have that kind of leisure time anyway. Thinking about those past events feels like they happened eight hundred years ago."

Jingxiu turned her head to look at him, her tone also softening. She said earnestly, "I'm not saying you can't climb trees to pick fruit for everyone."

She knew her husband could be dense, so afraid he wouldn't grasp the nuance, she repeated, "You can pick for others. Just not for Qingluan. Understand?"

Thinking about how Qingluan had brought up that matter in front of her today still made her angry.

Although she knew Qingluan had deliberately used it to annoy her and assert herself, the thought of Li Ling doing such a thing for her still made Jingxiu furious.

Li Ling hastily replied, "Understood. From now on, forget picking fruit; even when I see her, I'll speak to her as little as possible."

Hearing him say this, Jingxiu's heart finally felt clear. She lay back down, murmuring, "It's very good that you have this awareness!"

Seeing his young wife's mood finally clear up, Li Ling diligently tucked her in, as if to curry favor continuing with what she wanted to hear. "Don't be upset. Cousin will leave in a few days. Soon, she'll come of age, and then His Majesty will arrange to select a husband for her. Once she's married and has someone to rely on, neither Grandmother nor I will need to worry about her affairs anymore."

Jingxiu smiled slightly and mumbled, "I hope she gets married quickly. I don't want my man always worrying about other women."

"From now on, I'll only worry about you." As he spoke, Li Ling leaned over her.

He whispered to coax in her ear, "I'm not afraid of anything, but I'm most afraid of you being angry."

Jingxiu said coquettishly, "Did I scare you again just now?"

Li Ling kissed her smooth forehead. "Yes, you did scare me." Then he reached to undo her sash. "Please help me calm my nerves, my lady."

That night, the young wife was as passionate as fire, and Li Ling was vigorous and robust.

The next day, when Li Ling got up, his young wife was sound asleep. When he returned from martial arts practice, she was still sound asleep. Even after breakfast was served, she still hadn't gotten up.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Li Ling had breakfast by himself. Before leaving, he instructed Ziyun, "Prepare some bird's nest porridge for the mistress later."

Ziyun promptly agreed and went to the small kitchen.

When she returned holding the steaming bowl of bird's nest porridge, she happened to run into Qingluan, who had just stepped through the gate of Qingfeng Yuan.

(End of Chapter)

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