Ties of Love, Ruan Wan

He poured a cup of wine for Xia Mosang, who drank it all in one gulp. "Look at all these guests," he said, "our table doesn't seem like we're here to celebrate a wedding. As the maternal uncle, Brother Ruan, shouldn't you play your part?"

Ruan Xiuzhu glanced at Xia Changfeng and the others. He dared not get involved. Just then, his savior arrived.

Lou Qianyuan stood slowly beside the table, with Uncle Li behind him holding a wine pot and wine cups.

A blush had already spread across his face. As he walked along, he was toasted at one table after another. If Uncle Li hadn't diluted the wine with water beforehand, Lou Qianyuan would probably have been drunk to the point of unconsciousness long ago.

Lou Qianyuan is currently in a semi-drunk state.

Qian Yuan had long anticipated this situation and was mentally prepared for it. For Wan'er's sake, he was ready to face any storm.

Lou Qianyuan laughed and said, "Why are you all just sitting there? Perhaps I haven't been hospitable enough?"

Xia Changfeng didn't come wearing the clothes Ruan Wan made, so it seems he has truly let go.

When Xia Changfeng returned to the mansion that day, he took off his clothes, slept with them all night, and the next day locked the three sets of clothes made by Ruan Wan, along with the set he had worn back then, and two jade pendants in an eight-treasure box. Some things and some people can only be kept in one's heart from now on.

As usual, Xia Ziru and Xia Mosang were both drinking by themselves. Seeing this, Xia Mosang stood up and said, "How could that be? We haven't congratulated Qian Yuan on his marriage yet. Come, let me toast you."

Uncle Li quickly poured a glass of wine and handed it to Lou Qianyuan, who then drank with Xia Mosang.

At this moment, Xia Changfeng poured a cup of wine, which Xia Ziru took and stood up, saying, "Never let her down."

Seeing Xia Ziru's serious expression, Lou Qianyuan was stunned. When did he fall so deeply in love with Wan'er?

At Uncle Li's prompting, Lou Qianyuan immediately picked up the wine on the tray and declared, "I will never fail Wan'er in this life."

Xia Ziru poured Xia Changfeng a glass of wine, which Xia Changfeng accepted, stood up, and smiled slightly, saying, "Treat her well. I'm always ready to help."

Lou Qianyuan felt a pang of guilt upon seeing Xia Changfeng, but still smiled and raised his wine glass, saying, "Don't worry, Wan'er and I will definitely grow old together."

If one day I truly cannot make Wan'er happy, I will be willing to let go. Her happiness is my happiness, and I have long understood this.

Ruan Xiuzhu was now frustrated. The words that should have been spoken by her, as a member of her family, had been stolen from her. She could only stand up and say, "They've said what they needed to say. You can do whatever you want with it."

Ruan Xiuzhu finished his glass of wine. His younger sister really didn't need anyone to worry about her, yet he couldn't help but worry.

Seeing this, several senior officials offered toasts one after another, and Lou Qianyuan accepted them all with a smile. After finishing at one table, he was pulled to another table, enjoying himself immensely. Xia Changfeng's table also returned to normal, and everyone drank and got drunk before leaving.

Ruan Wan leaned against the bed, the phoenix crown on her head was so heavy that her neck felt like it was going to break.

To highlight the magnificence of the phoenix crown, this Lou Qianyuan crown was inlaid with many rubies.

The red candle had burned down to half its original size when there was a knock on the door.

Ruan Wan quickly sat up and straightened her phoenix crown. Qiu Shuang hurriedly picked up the red veil from the bed and carefully covered her head.

Qiu Shuang immediately picked up the gold scale on the table and bowed.

The door opened, and Lou Qianyuan, supported by A Jin, staggered in.

Lou Qianyuan walked step by step to Ruan Wan. Qiu Shuang stepped forward and handed him the golden scale. Lou Qianyuan took the scale and stood in front of Ruan Wan.

Qiu Shuang and A Jin left the room and closed the door.

Lou Qianyuan closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to see the moment clearly. He then picked up the golden scale and gently lifted the veil.

It is said that a woman is most beautiful at her wedding, and sure enough, just one glance at Lou Qianyuan made her heart race, and she tried her best to suppress the smell of alcohol on her head.

Adorned in a phoenix coronet and embroidered robes, her crimson lips seemed to set one ablaze. Already intoxicated, she now appeared to be in a dream. Lou Qianyuan grinned foolishly at the lovely woman before him and called her "Madam."

Looking at Lou Qianyuan's flushed face and dazed eyes, Ruan Wan realized he was probably quite drunk.

While waiting, she had imagined countless scenarios and dialogues, but she hadn't expected this. Seeing him just grinning at her like that, Ruan Wan smiled helplessly.

Suddenly, Lou Qianyuan seemed to lose his balance and fell backward. Ruan Wan quickly grabbed him, got up, and helped him sit down on a chair.

Ruan Wan turned around to call Qiu Shuang, but he grabbed her arm, saying, "Wait, wait, we haven't drunk the nuptial wine yet."

As he spoke, Lou Qianyuan propped himself up, walked to the table, picked up the wine pot and poured wine into the cups. He finally filled the cups, but spilled the wine all over the table.

He picked up the wine glass and handed it to Ruan Wan, who, seeing his condition, said, "You're so drunk, let's just call it a night."

He shook his head, his eyes opening and closing intermittently, yet he still held onto his wine glass, refusing to put it down.

Ruan Wan couldn't refuse him, so she took the wine glass and he grinned foolishly again, crossing arms with him and raising the glass to drink together.

Before he could even put down his wine glass, Lou Qianyuan collapsed into Ruan Wan's arms and couldn't be woken up no matter what he did.

Ruan Wan had no choice but to call out to Qiu Shuang outside. Qiu Shuang immediately opened the door and brought in a bowl of hangover soup.

Ruan Wan had instructed someone to keep it warm, knowing that he would surely return home drunk today.

With Qiu Shuang's help, Ruan Wan carried him to the bed and forced him to drink the hangover soup, otherwise he would definitely have a splitting headache when he woke up the next day.

After finishing, Qiu Shuang left, leaving only Ruan Wan and Lou Qianyuan in the room.

With difficulty, they managed to remove his boots. Lou Qianyuan kept fidgeting, indicating that he was starting to feel unwell.

Seeing him tugging at his collar and frowning, I realized that even he felt stuffy in the heavy wedding clothes, let alone after drinking so much wine.

Ruan Wan reached out and unbuckled his belt. His hands were still moving around, so she had to hold him down with one hand while unbuttoning his belt with the other.

After he finished untying her clothes, he readily rolled over so that Ruan An could remove them. It was just human instinct; people always subconsciously put themselves in the most comfortable state.

Ruan Wan instructed Qiu Shuang to fetch well water and bring it over. After wiping his face with the water, his brows finally relaxed.

He was covered in sweat, even his undergarments were soaked through. Ruan Wan was relieved when she saw his breathing gradually become steady.

After all that fuss, Ruan Wan's forehead was covered in sweat, and she was very tired from wearing such a heavy and elaborate dress.

Taking care of Lou Qianyuan was already second nature to her. When he was injured and unable to move before, it was Ruan Wan who took care of him. Moreover, Ruan Wan was not bound by any kind of "men and women should not touch each other".

After finishing with Lou Qianyuan, it was already midnight. Ruan Wan was exhausted and sat in front of the dressing table, removing her phoenix crown and hair ornaments.

After stretching my stiff neck, I felt much more relaxed. I also removed my makeup, which was smudged by sweat. It wasn't appropriate to have a maid bring me water to bathe in the middle of the night.

Ruan Wan quickly wiped herself down and draped a thin blanket over Lou Qianyuan, as sleeping naked in the summer could easily lead to catching a cold.

Since Lou Qianyuan had already slept in the bed, Ruan Wan had no choice but to sleep on the couch for the night.

Turning to look at the wooden bed, she suddenly froze, as if familiar memories were about to flood back. Ruan Wan quickly turned back around.

Now that things have come to this point, there's no turning back. Lou Qianyuan was causing trouble again, so Ruan Wan went over and covered him with the blanket he had kicked off.

Ruan Wan turned around to see if there was anywhere in the room where she could spend the night, but suddenly her wrist was grabbed.

A whispered "Wan'er" came from behind.

Thinking that Lou Qianyuan had woken up, Ruan Wan turned around and saw that his eyes were clearly closed, and he was smiling slightly as if he were having a sweet dream, sleeping very peacefully.

Ruan Wan tried to pry his hands off, but Lou Qianyuan held on tightly and she couldn't get them open.

After struggling for a while, Ruan Wan was too exhausted to resist any longer and sat on the floor. She was so tired that she just lay down on the bed and let it be.

It was very awkward to have someone hold your hand like that. It was so tiring and you couldn't sleep. It was really painful. As soon as Ruan Wan opened her eyes, she saw Lou Qianyuan's face magnified.

He and Xia Changfeng only resembled each other in their eyebrows and eyes; upon closer inspection, they were quite different. He was thinner, had thicker lips, and more defined features.

Although he came from a family of military generals, he had very fair skin, a long neck, and collarbones as smooth as jade, which even women would envy.

As Ruan Wan watched, her heart suddenly started racing, completely unprepared.

Ruan Wan quickly turned her head away, her body feeling even hotter. What was wrong with her? Staring at a man's body and actually... Oh dear, it seems she really has been lonely for too long.

The sun was high in the sky, and Cui Mo and Cui Lu, who were holding toiletries at the door, had been waiting for who knows how long.

It was almost noon, and the sun was blazing. Lan Yu anxiously peered through the crack in the door, but there was no response from inside.

Suddenly, Uncle Li grabbed her ear from behind and whispered, "You dare to peek at the young master and young mistress? I'll skin you alive!"

Lan Yu quickly begged for mercy, "Steward Li, it hurts, it hurts! I didn't mean to peek, it's just that it's almost noon!"

Uncle Li then let go, thinking to himself that he must have been exhausted from making a ruckus until midnight yesterday and then having to handle such an important matter.

Fortunately, the master wasn't home, so there was no need to get up early to serve tea. She then said to the maid, "You can go now. I'll wake you up when the young master and mistress wake up."

Cui Mo and the others carried their things away, and Uncle Li had someone bring him a stool, so he sat down at the door to wait.

Qiu Shuang stood at the door without saying a word and ignored Butler Li.

Lou Qianyuan slept soundly that night, having a wonderful dream all night long, as if he had dreamt all the beautiful dreams of his entire life.

Although he didn't want to wake up, he had to open his eyes. Lou Qianyuan felt a slight headache; he had drunk far too much last night.

Lou Qianyuan wanted to raise his hand to rub his eyes, but it seemed that he was holding something in his hand. When he looked, it was a hand. Wan'er was lying on the edge of the bed, her long hair was loose and hanging down to one side, and her plain face was indescribably beautiful.

He looked like he was sleeping soundly, probably exhausted from last night. Lou Qianyuan gently let go of his hand, lifted the blanket off his body, revealing that he was only wearing a pair of underwear.

Lou Qianyuan looked at the clothes on the ground and was momentarily panicked. Could he have done something indecent to Wan'er while he was drunk last night?

Lou Qianyuan tiptoed out of bed, moving very quietly so as not to wake Ruan Wan.

Lou Qian and Ruan Wan swept her up in their arms, their movements so gentle it was as if the air had frozen. They slowly stood up, preparing to place her on the bed.

Uncle Li, who was waiting outside, was dozing off out of boredom when he suddenly heard a scream. He was jolted awake, fell off his stool, and quickly got up, banging on the door and shouting, "What is it? Young Master, Young Madam?"

Although she sleeps soundly, her body has developed a habit that makes Ruan Wan wake up if someone touches her.

When Ruan An opened her eyes, she saw Lou Qianyuan's face. He was holding her in his arms, her face pressed against his chest. He was shirtless, and she could hear his heart pounding like a drum. She couldn't help but cry out.

Lou Qianyuan was immediately terrified and stammered, "I think... no, no, I don't want to... no, no, it's not that I don't want to."

Uncle Li was still shouting outside, and Lou Qianyuan was still explaining. Ruan Wan quickly reached out and covered his mouth, saying, "I know, put me down first."

Lou Qianyuan immediately put Ruan Wan down. Hearing Uncle Li's call, Lou Qianyuan said to the outside, "It's alright, Uncle Li, have the maid bring in some water first."

Hearing this, Uncle Li outside the door gave up, deciding it was best not to pry into matters of the boudoir, and went to find maids and servants to help them bathe.

Lou Qianyuan hurriedly picked up his clothes from the ground and put them on. Ruan Wan turned her head away from him, otherwise it would be too awkward.

After Lou Qianyuan finished dressing, he ran out, but then suddenly remembered something and turned back. "I'll go to the study and wait for you to finish your bath before we have dinner together."

Ruan Wan didn't turn around, she just hummed in response. She breathed a sigh of relief after Lou Qianyuan left. Her cheeks were as red as ripe persimmons. Luckily, he didn't see it, otherwise they would never be able to get along in the future.