Marrying Gold and Jade

"You..." She hesitated for a moment, but couldn't hide her true feelings, so she blurted out, "Didn't you like her before? Just think of it as a token of our old friendship..."

In a blink of an eye, she met the gaze of the man at the table.

Unlike the past, there was some unknown emotion mixed in with the deepness.

Suddenly, I couldn't say those words anymore.

"What do you want to say, Madam?" The man, who was always gentle as water, put down his chopsticks and said seriously, "I liked Miss Lin before, and then what?"

Cheng Kejia is a quick-talker, but he is not stupid. It was only when he called her "Madam" that she realized that her words were unreliable.

It is really weird that her husband is asked to take risks for his old love, and even she, the wife, has to persuade him.

"I, I didn't mean to bring this up..." She tried her best to be his wife, and she always prided herself on knowing the big picture, "I just felt sorry for her."

"Madam has always been generous," Shen Lian still looked at her and kept on talking, "Not only does she not care about my old love, she is also busy arranging for me to take a concubine."

The two had been married for less than half a year when Cheng Kejia brought up the matter as soon as he arrived in Beijing.

But her thoughts were very simple. People like Shen Lian had a bright future and would eventually be in a high position.

The prosperity of Kyoto is fascinating. She has seen too many mistresses and concubines at home. She thinks that instead of waiting for him to bring a messy woman home, it would be better to find one for him early and keep a few of her own to control.

But she just didn't understand. Wasn't this backyard hers to manage? Now that he was talking about Lin Yu, he mentioned the matter of taking a concubine in a sarcastic tone.

"Didn't you say last time that you didn't need it?" Could it be that he has been bewitched by some young lady after only being in Beijing for half a month?

There's no need to make trouble for yourself!

With his own troubles piling up in front of him, Cheng Kejia put Lin Yu's matter behind him, frowned, suppressed his anger and said in a gentle voice: "I don't care who you take a fancy to, but Shen Lian, remember, concubines are not allowed to enter the house within one year of marriage, you have to give me respect."

After Shen Lian heard this, the arrogance that had been burning in her heart seemed to be dispersed. She lowered her eyes and asked in a cold voice, "Madam, do you only care about your dignity?"

"Shen Lian!"

Cheng Kejia thought that he had been backing down again and again and had agreed with him on everything, but he was still hiding something in his words and wanted to say something but didn't say it directly.

She was already annoyed enough by the noble ladies in Kyoto, and now even he was like this, which made her even more annoyed.

"I've already told you that I won't stop you from taking a concubine. I'll arrange everything for you. Can't you wait even half a year?" She paused for a moment, then thought about the situation at home, "Could it be...that person is pregnant?"

Seeing that the misunderstanding was getting deeper and deeper, she still didn't understand what she cared about. Shen Lian had no appetite for the food in front of him. After a moment of silence, he stood up and said, "I have a lot of official business today. I'm going to the study."

Cheng Kejia didn't stop him. He just stared at his receding back. The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was not a good thing.

Normally, even if he was busy, they would go to bed together at night. But seeing him like that today, Cheng Kejia knew he was angry and deliberately stayed in the study.

Sleeping alone was not a big deal. Didn't she sleep alone before getting married? But she kept thinking that the situation was not good. They were living in separate rooms less than half a year after their marriage and she didn't even have any children.

Then I thought that Shen Lian was really ambitious. He was different after coming to Beijing. He felt like a fish in water, but I lost the support of my family. No wonder they said "a girl won't marry far away".

Just as she was worrying about the future and had even thought about how to make it more presentable when she returned to her parents' home, the door suddenly opened with a creak.

"Who!" She was not asleep to begin with, and immediately sat up when she heard the voice.

But the unlit room was too dark, and there was no moonlight outside, so even a person's shadow could not be seen.

So when the man leaned down with his cool winter body, she froze for a moment before realizing that it was Shen Lian who came back.

"you……"

"Why didn't Madam wait for me to go to bed?"

I couldn't see his expression in the dark night, but from the tone of his voice, it sounded much softer than before.

In fact, no matter how busy he was on weekdays, as long as Cheng Kejia sent someone to invite him, he would definitely come back to accompany others to sleep.

Once she woke up in the middle of the night and found no one beside her pillow. The next day, she asked the housekeeper at his home and found out that he would come back every day when she was called, and sometimes he would get up after she fell asleep to deal with unfinished business.

After she found out, she did not expose his behavior, but would wait for half an hour longer every day and then go to invite him in person. If she saw that he was still busy, she would wait a little longer, trying her best not to let him get up again in the middle of the night.

But today, both of them were angry with each other, and she couldn't bring herself to ask for help.

"Didn't you say you were busy today?"

Of course, Shen Lian said that in anger.

Before getting married, he knew that his wife cared most about his future. He thought it was no big deal at first, but as time went by, he realized that it was important, very important.

He held her in his arms and lay down again, his tired body pressed tightly against hers, and the suffocation he had felt during the day was somewhat relieved.

He told her: "Of course, my wife is more important than my official duties."

"How can that be possible!" Cheng Kejia couldn't stand this. "If you say that, wouldn't I be a beauty who brings disaster to you and a stumbling block on your road to promotion?"

Smelling the delicate fragrance of the woman, Shen Lian closed his eyes and sighed silently.

"My wife is more important."

"you……"

"Yes."

He was so strong today that he even dared to interrupt me.

Cheng Kejia was held tightly by him, and she felt that the hand on her waist was extremely hot, and a strange feeling rose in her heart for a moment.

Then I heard him ask, "Isn't my and my wife's dignity more important to me?"

Cheng Kejia is not good at lying.

She is a person who is always willing to say things that are unpleasant to the ear, and is not willing to lie in a roundabout way.

So when she heard him ask behind her, she couldn't say anything against her will to coax him.

The silence was long enough, and the man sighed, "That's all," and then he said, "Lin Ji will be coming to Beijing soon. Miss Lin's affairs will be handled by themselves, and we don't need to worry about them."

After saying this, he loosened his arms and prepared to go to sleep.

After a moment, her waist was hugged tightly.

"I was wrong." She couldn't hold back what she was saying, and she admitted her mistake very frankly.

This was the first time she took the initiative to get close to him. Cheng Kejia didn't know if he would push her away, so she said carefully, "My dignity should be more important to you."

She was afraid that Shen Lian would find her annoying, but the next moment, the man turned over and kissed her.

"Shen Lian..."

"Madam is so nice."

What happened in the second half of the night went as planned.

After Lin Yu sent Cheng Kejia away, he faced off against Xu Jinxuan again, and they even couldn't avoid having dinner together.

But the harmony of the past was gone. I didn't talk much, and he didn't say anything either. The atmosphere was like the surface of a river in the dead of winter, frozen.