All the members are good people, only the host is a pervert

At three quarters past three in the morning on the second day, Lin Ruan was awakened by the sound of a resonant bell.

The bell sound came from the direction of the imperial city, penetrating the carved window lattices, and each sound after another made people's hearts tremble.

She lifted the quilt and stood up, only to find that it was still dark outside the window, with only a hint of dawn in the east.

"Is my wife awake?" Xu Jinshu's voice came from the outer room. As the pearl curtain rustled, he came in carrying a copper basin.

Lin Ruan squinted her eyes and looked at him. She saw that he was only wearing a moon-white robe with dark patterns today. The collar and cuffs were trimmed with silver thread. There was only a pearl and silver hairpin in his hair. He looked so plain that it was almost solemn.

"His Majesty has passed away." Xu Jinshu wrung out a warm handkerchief and handed it to him, his voice low. "The old lady received the news at the beginning of the year. Now all the courtyards have been packed up. We are just waiting for you and your mother-in-law to have breakfast and then come to the palace to pay your respects."

Lin Ruan took the handkerchief and put it on her face. The steaming hot air was filled with the fragrance of agarwood.

According to the ritual system of the Great Zhou Dynasty, when the emperor passed away, the bell had to be rung 30,000 times, and officials of the fifth rank and above and their families had to enter the palace to keep vigil for seven days.

Lin Ruan took off the handkerchief and saw Xu Jinshu kneeling on the footstool to tie the jade belt for her. A section of his snow-white neck was exposed above his black hair.

"I'll leave the mansion to you."

Xu Jinshu paused for a moment, then neatly fastened his belt: "Don't worry, my wife."

After a year of mourning, Lin Ruan had become a sixth-rank imperial censor. During his day off, he took Xu Jinshu out for a stroll.

"Jinshu, look at the man on the street."

Xu Jinshu looked through the window and saw the man kneeling on the street, saying that he wanted to sell himself to bury his mother.

He had a veil on his head and looked no more than fourteen or fifteen years old, probably just coming of age. He was kneeling there, his body trembling slightly.

The figure looked particularly thin in the bustling crowd, with the white linen sleeves fluttering in the wind like a butterfly with broken wings.

"How pitiful! Zhezhi, reward him with fifty taels of silver."

Lin Ruan had just finished speaking when he heard the words, "Wife!" Xu Jinshu suddenly turned around and looked at Lin Ruan. He seemed to realize that his voice was a little loud, so he lowered it.

Lin Ruan felt her sleeves tighten.

Xu Jinshu tugged at her sleeve with his white fingertips, his voice lowered to a whisper: "My wife, do you know that he sold himself to bury his mother?"

The last four words were almost squeezed out from between teeth.

He emphasized the word "selling himself" and said, "You rewarded him with money, do you want to take him into your house?"

"You're right," Lin Ruan pondered for a moment, then clapped his hands as if realizing something. "It was me who was thinking the wrong thing."

Then she turned around and ordered, "Zhezhi, if he is willing to sign the contract to sell himself, you will reward him with fifty taels of silver."

He turned to Xu Jinshu and said with a smile: "If he comes to the mansion, he will first be a servant by your side."

He has no shortage of servants!

Xu Jinshu nodded meekly, his eyes lowered, his crow-feather eyelashes casting a shadow on his face: "It's all up to my wife."

By the time they returned to the mansion, dusk had fallen. Lin Ruan had finished her duties in the front yard and walked around to the backyard, where she saw the young man, now dressed in indigo-colored servant's clothes, standing under a pomegranate tree with his head bowed. Without the coarse linen, his waist appeared even more slender, his neck as swan-like as a swan's.

Lin Ruan looked her up and down. There was a difference between the real person and the photo sent by the system. In addition to being beautiful, there was also an indescribable feeling.

If I really have to make an analogy, it's like Qiao Qiqiao in Eileen Chang's novel "The First Incense Burner".

He looks otherworldly, but has a kind of aura that tempts people to fall into depravity.

Lin Ruan likes this kind of contradiction.

"Nu Lianchi greets the Princess and Madam Princess."

"Well, get up."

Although Lin Ruan liked him, she was not impatient. She knew that Lian Chi was not an honest person, so it would be better to let him work under Xu Jinshu first to let him smooth out some of his rough edges.

Thinking this, Lin Ruan went to the study, leaving Lian Chi alone to face Xu Jinshu. Xu Jinshu's expression remained unchanged. He looked Lian Chi up and down just like Lin Ruan had done, looking at him until he felt a little bewildered. Then he smiled and said, "Come with me into the house."

"Yes, ma'am."

"I am the husband of the princess. Now there are old ladies and the wife of the Duke in the mansion. Remember to call me the young lady in the future." Xu Jinshu reminded.

"I've made note of this. Thank you, Madam, for your advice."

After entering the house, Xu Jinshu drank a cup of tea and then asked gently, "Who gave you the name Lianchi? What was your original name?"

"In reply to Madam Young, I gave it to myself. My original name was Bai Xiaolang."

Xu Jinshu said, "You've already sold yourself into the Duke's Mansion, so it's only right that your master should have given you a new name. Since you're so filial and willing to sell yourself to bury your mother, leaving behind your surname, you'll be called Bai'er from now on."

Lian Chi moved his lips, but finally knelt on the ground and said, "Bai'er, thank you for the name, Madam."

"Well, from now on you will serve me as a second-class servant. God has mercy on you. Look how thin you are. You need to eat some more. Zhu'er, after Bai'er's meal comes down today, ask the kitchen to give him a bowl of yam soup to nourish his body."

"Yes, young lady."

"Thank you, madam."

After Lianchi, or Bai'er, left, Xu Jinshu stood up and walked to his box without hesitation. After rummaging for a long time, he took out a small bag of medicinal powder and said to Zhu'er, "Put this in Bai'er's soup."

Zhu'er agreed at first, then took the powder and whispered, "Young Madam, even if he is promoted to a concubine, the child born will only be a concubine's child, no more than yours. If the princess knew..."

"You don't understand, go down." Xu Jinshu interrupted him and whispered, "Let me be alone for a while."

If Lin Ruan knew his previous plan, he might never have the chance to have his own child.

Maybe one day Lin Ruan will show mercy, or maybe one day he will become disheartened and choose an honest concubine for his next life.

But he would never choose to give birth to this Bai'er, for he was afraid that he would give birth to a bad child!

Selling yourself to bury your mother? That's laughable! If you can't afford a coffin, just wrap her in a straw mat and throw her in a mass grave. It's the same thing!

She just wanted to climb up the social ladder by relying on her looks.

Xu Jinshu wanted to see whether he, Bai Xiaolang, who couldn't have children, could climb up to this high branch!

"Ruanruan, Xu Jinshu gave the beauty you bought today a sterilizing drug." The system reminded.

"Don't worry about it," Lin Ruan said to the system while admiring the exquisite spinach green bracelet she had just bought in the study. "As long as it doesn't come to my eyes, I'll just ignore this kind of harem conflict."

It was just a little quarrel between dogs, not worthy of her, the owner, condescending to intervene.

However, necessary punishment is still necessary, not to favor anyone, but to remind the dog not to forget his identity.

Xu Jinshu didn't know what Lin Ruan was thinking. He only knew that tonight was going to be extremely difficult in bed.

"My dear wife, did the servant do something wrong?"

Finally, he couldn't help crying and asked.

"No," Lin Ruan gently wiped away his tears, her voice calm, "This is a reward for you, don't you like it?"

"I like it... The servant likes it..."

I liked it so much that I fainted from exhaustion.

Before he fainted, he thought that if Lin Ruan really knew that he had given Bai'er a sterilizing drug and this was the punishment, then he would be able to bear it.

Bai'er worked as a servant for Xu Jinshu for three months, and then with Lin Ruan's tacit consent, he climbed into Lin Ruan's bed and became her concubine.

On the second day, he proudly offered concubine tea to Xu Jinshu, who accepted it with a smile and even rewarded him with a golden pomegranate hairpin with the inscription "Many children, many blessings", and encouraged him to have many children for Lin Ruan as soon as possible.

When the system told Lin Ruan what was going on, it amused her for a long time. The ministers around her moved further away from her after hearing the noise. They wondered which of her mortal enemies this female censor with a powerful backing had found evidence against to impeach her, which made her laugh so happily.