Vol 1 Chapter 2 (2/2)

Xiao Ha laughed. ‘Madam did speak to me about it.’

‘Did my grandma asked you to stop me from escaping the imperial city?’ Chen Quan Ran asked.

‘General, we battled together for years and finally the Northern Empire can enjoy a period of peace. Madam’s request isn’t unreasonable. General, you know if Madam speaks to the emperor, the emperor will grant her request and the emperor will give you permission to stay home while the Northern Empire isn’t under threat of invaders. General, take this peaceful period as a good opportunity for you and your wife to give Madam several great-grandchildren,’ Xiao Ha said.

Cheng’s loud voice could be heard from the roof. ‘Mistress, yesterday at the inn why didn’t you tell master who you were?’

Mo Lan sighed. There were many things she didn’t know how to explain out loud. She and Cheng travelled outside the imperial city to receive merchandise from merchants, she didn’t expect to meet her husband on the way back home.

If Mo Lan said she wasn’t happy to see Chen Quan Ran then she would be lying. But he didn’t care about her safety and he didn’t recognise her. Naturally she was disappointed, and she hated herself for being happy to see someone who didn’t care if she was alive or not.

‘I didn’t expect master would be a handsome general. Yesterday I was tired and I didn’t look closely at master. But tonight at the banquet I saw how truly handsome master is,’ Cheng said.

‘There are some things you cannot see by only looking at what is on the outside. Whether a person is deserving of respect, first you need to look at their att.i.tude and the choices they make. The person you are wors.h.i.+pping has many weaknesses,’ Mo Lan said.

On the roof Chen Quan Ran was shocked, but Xiao Ha was refraining his laughter.

‘He left home for ten years to battle, but he neglected his grandma who raised him. When we encountered bandits, he didn’t help us but stood idle. He was amused while we were in trouble. He is an unfilial grandson and he isn’t a compa.s.sionate person,’ Mo Lan said.

Xiao Ha wanted to laugh, because what the general’s wife said was reasonable from her perspective. Xiao Ha didn’t laugh, because the general looked like he wanted to jump down and strangle his wife.

‘And… ten years ago he purposely put a frog in my hands to scare me so I would faint. His heart was bad since he was a child,’ Mo Lan said.

Chen Quan Ran frowned. He thought Mo Lan held grudges for a long time, because she remembered clearly how he put a frog in her hands ten years ago.

‘But his biggest weakness is…’ Mo Lan said. She tilted her back, looked at the roof and she smiled at Chen Quan Ran who held a wine jar in his hand. ‘He is a general but he secretly listens to private conversations of ordinary citizens, which is a bad habit.’

Chen Quan Ran and Xiao Ha were shocked. They didn’t expect Mo Lan would notice they were on the roof.

Xiao Ha felt the general’s wife was witty and had sharp eyes and ears. Xiao Ha seized the opportunity, he fled whilst the general was shocked speechless.

***

Chapter Two (Part 3 of 3)

Cheng blushed because her master heard her praises, but her mistress looked calm.

Chen Quan Ran jumped down from the roof and he stood in front of Mo Lan. Her head was levelled with his shoulders, but she wasn’t intimidated by him. ‘Now can you see that your master was secretly listening to us?’

Cheng laughed awkwardly. She didn’t dare to intrude her master and mistress’ private time together, she turned around and she fled.

The wind swept pa.s.sed Chen Quan Ran and Mo Lan.

Chen Quan Ran was curious how Mo Lan knew he was on the roof, because his kung fu was good. He didn’t conceal his qi (energy, life essence) on the roof, but it still wouldn’t be easy for Mo Lan to detect him on the roof. ‘How did you know I was on the roof?’

Mo Lan laughed softly. She pointed at the nearby pond. On the surface of the pond was a reflection of everything on the roof.

Chen Quan Ran’s heart pounded fast against his chest. He thought Mo Lan’s sharp eyes were deserving of praise.

Chen Quan Ran thought under the moonlight, Mo Lan’s creamy white jade skin shone. He didn’t see fear in her eyes, he saw provocation in her eyes.

Chen Quan Ran laughed and he swept Mo Lan’s hair away from her forehead. ‘The person grandma chose is indeed wiser and more observant than ordinary citizens. You didn’t forget…’ He lowered his head and he leaned his lips on Mo Lan’s ear. ‘I’m your husband. But you didn’t even spare my feelings a little in front of others.’

‘Ten years ago when you put a frog on my hands, why didn’t you think about my feelings?’ Mo Lan asked.

The ugly frog haunted Mo Lan’s heart for ten years. If she saw anything that resembled a frog, her skin would be itchy. It was all Chen Quan Ran’s fault. Ten years ago she didn’t get an opportunity to reprimand him. She was happy he returned, she finally could reprimand him face to face.

Chen Quan Ran stroked Mo Lan’s hair. ‘Are you taking revenge on me because of the past?’

Mo Lan felt uncomfortable, because Chen Quan Ran was looking at her strangely. She wanted to challenge him to a battle of wits, but under the moonlight and the wind that was sweeping pa.s.sed their clothes, it made her heart trembled.

Mo Lan stepped away from Chen Quan Ran, but he held her hand.

‘Xiao Lan…’ Chen Quan Ran called affectionately. He saw Xiao Lan blushed and he smiled. ‘Do you know why my grandma wanted me to come home?’ His coa.r.s.e fingers stroked her soft face. ‘My grandma said we’ve been married for ten years and it’s time for us to give her a great-grandchild.’

‘Why are you saying nonsense?’ Mo Lan asked.

‘If you don’t believe me, we can ask my grandma together. She wants you to give birth to her great-grandchild to inherit the Chen household’s riches and reputation,’ Chen Quan Ran said.

Mo Lan understood her duties as a wife. But she and Chen Quan Ran were separated for ten years, she couldn’t bear his jest.

Mo Lan turned around to leave, but Chen Quan Ran didn’t let her go.

‘Tonight is a good night, the moon and wind are pleasant tonight. Why don’t we have our wedding night that was delayed ten years ago? And… we can give my grandma a great-grandchild…’ Chen Quan Ran said. He lowered his head and his lips slowly moved closer to Xiao Lan’s peony lips.

Mo Lan was nervous and angry. Chen Quan Ran abandoned her for ten years. They didn’t share a good relations.h.i.+p with each other. She didn’t expect he wanted her to be his real wife instead of someone to occupy his official wife t.i.tle. She didn’t think on his first day back home he would want a wedding night with her.

‘Why are you avoiding me? I’m your husband. Having a wedding night with your husband and giving your husband a child is the heavens’ will,’ Chen Quan Ran said.

Chen Quan Ran stroked Xiao Lan’s stiff back and he wanted to laugh.

Mo Lan put her hands over Chen Quan Ran’s hands, she wanted to remove his hands off her waist and back but he captured her hands. He laughed and he jested. ‘Do you want to use the same itchy powder you used to chase the bandits away on your husband?’

Chen Quan Ran shook a finger in front of Xiao Lan’s face. ‘You’re my wife, I’m your husband and your sky. If you use the itchy powder on your husband, your husband will hit your bottom.’

Chen Quan Ran saw Xiao Lan’s cheeks were like pink flower petals, it made him happy and his heart trembled. He hugged her and he kissed her soft lips. Her lips tasted sweet, but it was a pity she bit his lips.

Chen Quan Ran smiled. ‘I didn’t expect you were a stubborn young lady.’

Chen Quan Ran kissed Xiao Lan a second time, and she bit him harder.

‘Don’t…’ Mo Lan said.

‘If you bite me again, I’ll kiss you somewhere lower on your body,’ Chen Quan Ran said.

Mo Lan opened her eyes. ‘I won’t bite.’

Chen Quan Ran saw the shock in Xiao Lan’s eyes and he laughed. But his heart wasn’t jesting. He kissed her soft lips and he didn’t let her escape.

‘You… you said if I don’t bite you then you won’t kiss me. You deceiver,’ Mo Lan said.

‘If you say that I’m a deceiver then tonight I need to be a deceiver from the start to the end,’ Chen Quan Ran said.

Chen Quan Ran carried Xiao Lan to their chamber.

The moonlight shone through the beaded curtains that slowly descended.

Chen Quan Ran and Mo Lan’s bodies interlocked on their bed.

Outside Chen Quan Ran and Mo Lan’s chamber was quiet. The wind blew through the slightly opened window into their chamber. The wind mixed with the sweet spring atmosphere inside their chamber.

Early in the morning, Mo Lan was too tired and she lost all her energy. She opened her eyes and the sweet memories of last night were re-enacted in her mind.

Mo Lan thought perhaps inside Chen Quan Ran’s heart she was of little importance to him, but inside her heart he was someone she wanted to lean on for her whole life.

Mo Lan was orphaned since she was born, there was no father or mother in her life. Chen Quan Ran’s father raised her whilst he was battling enemies until she was five years old, he died on the battlefield. But before his death he sent her to Chen Quan Ran’s grandma.

In the last ten years Chen Quan Ran didn’t care about Mo Lan’s existence, but she cared about his existence. Each time a messenger came to the Chen household to inform Madam that he won a battle, Mo Lan was happy and relieved.

Mo Lan didn’t know if Chen Quan Ran considered her as his real wife. She heard sounds of him sword training and she blushed. But she was angry when she thought about how he ate her easily last night. She wanted to cause trouble for him for a while, she didn’t think… it didn’t matter anymore, because it didn’t change the truth that he was her husband. Sooner or later her body would belong to him.

Mo Lan was about to stand and put on her clothes, but she saw words written in ink on her naked body – ‘This is my place of labor. If anyone who is not a maid for this chamber comes near my place of labor, I will kill you.’

Mo Lan stared at the crooked words on her naked body for a while, and she knew who the writer was. She sat upright on the bed, she faced the window and she yelled. ‘Chen Quan Ran, you rogue! I hate you to death!’

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