The women of Dingguo Wangfu

  The women of Dingguo Wangfu

  "Reporting to the princess, Ce Tai Fei has arrived." In the study, Ye Li was organizing the account books brought from the Ye Manor when a maid outside reported. Ye Li looked up and saw the maid standing at the door, but she was taken aback for a moment. Qing Feng had already spoken up: "Jing Wen, what are you doing here?" This maid was originally in the Ye Manor during that time, sent by Ye Li to the needlework room, originally named Han Qing's maid Jing Wen. The maids of the Ding Guo Wang Fu all wore moon-white shirts with plain-colored waistbands, and even such simple and elegant attire made her stand out with a few points of charm.

  Jingwen looked at Yelü with a hint of anxiety and said in a low voice, "The housekeeper said that the clothes made by Jingwen's embroidery skills are not worn by the princess, so she was sent out to serve because there are already four skilled embroiderers in the needlework room." Although she was happy to leave the needlework room, Jingwen still felt a twinge of shame on her face for having her embroidery skills criticized. Yelü thought to herself, "This girl has been in the embroidery room for a month or two and still hasn't learned anything. Does she think that just because she's pretty, everything will be fine?"

  "All right, you go down first. Please ask Consort Cai to come in." Ye Li waved her hand and said.

  "Yes, Your Highness." Jingwen Fu bowed and backed out respectfully.

  Qingfeng complained, "Why did Lin and Wei bring her in front of the young lady? One look and you can tell she's not a simple girl." Qingluan and Qingyu were newcomers and didn't know Jingwen well, who had been staying in the embroidery room all along. They just thought she looked too seductive. After hearing Qingfeng's words, they immediately turned to look at her. Qingfeng stomped her foot regretfully, "It was my fault for forgetting to tell Lin." Qingxia smiled lightly, "Qingfeng, Lin is the old servant who followed the mistress from the beginning. Do you think she can't see what kind of person Jingwen is? Besides, now she's just a second-class maid serving outside. Even Yun'er and Cui'er are not as good as her, let alone the people in the Dingguo King's mansion who don't know the local customs."

  Ye Li put down her book and smiled: "Qingfeng, you should learn more from Qingxia. Don't be so impulsive about everything."

  Qingfeng stuck out his tongue and said, "Yes, I will obey the princess's orders."

  As soon as Ye Li entered the flower hall, which was specially reserved for women, she was taken aback. Seated in the main seat was a middle-aged woman in her fifties. Wearing a magnificent cloud-patterned brocade dress and a headpiece adorned with gold, jade, and precious stones, she exuded an air of nobility that was almost overwhelming. If Ye Li hadn't known her identity beforehand, she would have thought this woman was the Empress rather than the Concubine. At this moment, the Concubine was leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed, resting her spirit. Behind her stood two maidservants, one gently massaging her shoulders and the other holding a palace fan, fanning her lightly. Ye Li couldn't help but want to smile - it wasn't even June yet, and considering the weather in Chu Jing, it was hardly hot; wasn't she afraid of catching a chill from being fanned like this?

  "The Princess." Everyone saw Ye Li enter and hurriedly stood up to pay their respects.

  "Back off. Yang Ce Tai Fei has been waiting for a long time." Ye Li waved her hand to let people back off, furrowed her brow and walked over to sit down on the other side. Only then did Yang Ce Tai Fei slowly open her eyes, looking at Ye Li with a scrutinizing expression. Ye Li had a hint of a smile on her lips, letting her examine herself. She shifted her gaze to a white-clad young girl sitting below, who seemed extremely timid. As soon as their eyes met, the girl immediately shrank back, avoiding Ye Li's gaze in a flustered manner.

  "Empress Dowager Yang came over, but what's wrong?" Ye Li withdrew her gaze and turned towards Empress Dowager Yang.

  Yang Ce Taifei's eyes narrowed in displeasure, her face clearly no longer radiant. She hummed softly and said: "The Wangfei's airs are too big, not even knowing to pay respects to seniors after entering the door. This Taifei had to come personally to pay respects to the Wangfei." Ye Li understood, originally she was looking for trouble. With a somewhat troubled brow, she looked at Ce Taifei with a shallow smile and said: "In that case, this Wangfei is indeed being rude. However, yesterday when I asked the Wangye, he only said that after returning home, we need to go pay respects to the elder sister-in-law. He didn't mention anything about there being other people in the palace that this Wangfei needs to personally pay respects to."

  Yang Ce Taifei's expression stiffened, and it took her a while to recover. She looked at Ye Li and said: "The king has been in a bad mood for years, and it's inevitable that there will be some mistakes. As the queen, you don't even know how to remind him, but instead, you dare to be so rude!"

  Remind? Mo Xiu Yao didn't even mention you, it's clear he doesn't want to see you, I only reminded him after eating too much.

  Long before the wedding, Ye Li had already memorized the identities of the members of the Dingguo Wangfu. For example, Yang Ce Fei in front of her, who has a somewhat special identity, is not only the only ce fei of the old king Ding Mo Liu Fang, but also the aunt of Mo Xiu Yao and Mo Xiu Wen, and the younger sister of the former queen. However, this identity did not make her more respected in the Dingguo Wangfu. In fact, whether it was during Mo Liu Fang's lifetime or later Mo Xiu Wen and now Mo Xiu Yao, they basically treated her as if she were air, ignoring her. Yang Ce Tai Fei is less than fifty years old this year, roughly the same age as Zhao Yang Long Gong Zhu. However, two women who have been widowed for their husbands, judging by appearance alone, would think that they are at least ten years apart in age.

  However, Ye Li would not sympathize with her and could only say that everything was self-inflicted. Yang Ce Tai Fei entered the Ding Guo Wang Fu as a concubine when the former Ding Wang Fei gave birth to Mo Xi Wen. After giving birth to Mo Xi Wen, the body of Ding Wang Fei became very poor, and the affection between her and Ding Wang also became somewhat cold. Then, seven years later, she gave birth to Mo Xi Yao and soon passed away. Moreover, compared with Mo Xi Yao's disregard for Yang Ce Tai Fei, Mo Xi Wen's attitude towards her was simply detestable. Therefore, Ye Li had enough reason to believe that Yang Ce Tai Fei had used some unconventional methods to enter the Ding Guo Wang Fu in the first place, which directly led to the breakdown of Mo Liu Fang and Wang Fei's relationship. Even if all this were set aside, even if Mo Xi Yao would take a concubine in the future, she would absolutely not accept Ye Shan or Ye Lin as one. If sharing a husband with someone made her feel unacceptable, then sharing a husband with her own sister was simply challenging her tolerance to the limit.

  "This concubine... really doesn't know if it's necessary to personally go and pay respects to a secondary consort." Ye Li said lightly, her eyes half-lowered.

  "You! You dare!" Yang Ce Taifei's face turned bright red with rage, pointing at Ye Li and unable to speak for half a day. The identity of the concubine could be said to be her lifelong pain. When she first married into the Wang Fu, it was as a concubine, and she didn't expect anyone to make her a legitimate wife. After her sister died, she thought she had the opportunity to become the legitimate wife, because the king only had this one concubine, but until the king's death, he never looked at her. Since Mo Liu Fang passed away, she knew that she would never have the chance again, and even in death, she could only be a concubine, unable to be buried with Mo Liu Fang.

  "The rules of the Wang Fu are not something that a side concubine like you wouldn't know, so who exactly is being presumptuous?" Ye Li raised her head and gazed at her lightly. In the outside world, the Prince is revered, but within the household, the Princess is in charge. Let alone a mere side concubine, even the official Empress couldn't make the Princess lose face. Therefore, after Mo Xiuwen's death, the servants of the Wang Fu no longer addressed Wen Wangfei as "Wangfei", but instead called her "Dafuren". This signified that her status was that of the Prince and Princess's elder sister-in-law, rather than the Princess of the Dingguo Wang Fu.

  She suppressed Yang Ce's arrogant attitude, and Ye Li's expression also eased, smiling lightly: "Yang Ce Taifei came so early, is there something you want to say?"

  The Empress Dowager, stunned by her sudden change of face, regained her composure and was about to get angry when the woman in white beside her spoke up nervously: "Aunt..."

  The princess glanced at the white-clad girl and actually suppressed the anger in her heart, turning to Ye Lian and saying: "This is my mother's niece, Qianru."

  The white-clad girl stood up and bowed to Ye Li with a gentle voice, saying: "Qian Ru pays her respects to Sister-in-law. Nice to meet you, Sister-in-law."

  Ye Li furrowed her brow, Yang's daughter, the niece of the imperial concubine, was also Mo Xiuyao's cousin. As for this cousin, Ye Li was really unfamiliar with her, mainly because the Yang family was not a prominent household to begin with. In fact, except for the first generation King Mo Xuan Yun marrying a princess from the previous dynasty, the family background of the Mo family's queens were not impressive. This was partly because the men of the Mo family did not need to rely on relationships by marriage, and on the other hand, it was probably also to avoid being suspected by the imperial court. As far as she knew, Yang Wangfei's maiden family did not have any brothers born to the same parents, and her only younger brother had passed away many years ago, so this Yang Xiangru was the orphaned child of the Yang family's youngest son. "No need for formalities, cousin, please sit down. I'm afraid the king must have forgotten that he didn't mention his cousin before, and we didn't have time to prepare a gift for our meeting. Please don't blame us." As she spoke, Ye Li took off the icy lotus flower jade bracelet from her wrist and put it in Yang Xiangru's hand, then turned to ask Imperial Concubine Ce who was sitting beside her, "Is your cousin living with you?"

  The Empress Dowager glanced at Ye Li, nodded and said: "Qian Ru is still young and has no other relatives, so I took her in to take care of her. After all, she's not a princess from the royal family, it doesn't matter if we live in the same courtyard."

  Ye Li nodded and smiled: "As long as the princess and the imperial concubine don't feel humiliated, that's all that matters. If there's anything lacking, just send someone to tell me, no need to be polite." The imperial concubine's eyes moved slightly, saying: "It just so happens that I brought her to see you with this intention, Qian Ru is already almost 17 years old this year, and it's time to consider marriage. But the prince rarely sees people, and I'm just an old woman without much experience. Since you're Qian Ru's matchmaker, take a good look for her, and also, as a young lady, she's too plain every day, not like a proper lady at all. You should add more to her clothes and accessories."

  The princess consort spoke to herself, while Yang Xiangru, who was sitting beside her, had already turned red and lowered her head, refusing to look up at anyone. Ye Li listened comfortably leaning on the chair as the princess consort stated her demands, which started with a hint of negotiation but eventually became orders. Ye Li looked at Yang Xiangru's all-white attire, like snow, and couldn't help but frown, "Has the manor been stingy with your allowance?" Even if Mo Xiuyao didn't get along with the princess consort, he wouldn't be so stingy as to deprive a young lady of her due. Looking at Yang Xiangru's simple white clothes, even her hair was adorned with a plain white silk ribbon. Anyone who didn't know would think she was mourning someone. Even the maids in the manor with slightly higher status dressed more elegantly than her.

  Yang Xuanru suddenly lifted her head, with tears and panic in her eyes, and hastily said: "No... the Wang family has not treated me harshly, please don't misunderstand my brother-in-law... it's me, I'm not good..." Ye Li couldn't help but rub her forehead, what was going on? She rubbed her brow and told Qing Luan beside her: "Go see if Sun Shunü is free, ask her to come over."

  Madam Sun arrived quickly, and Qing Luan had obviously told her about the general situation, so she also brought a steward who was in charge of the inner courtyard's account house and another one who was in charge of the household expenses.

  "We have seen the queen. We have seen the imperial concubine." The three of them bowed in unison.

  Ye Li nodded and said: "No need for formalities, Nanny."

  The old lady stood up and said, "Thank you, Princess. I heard that the princess summoned me because of the expenses in the side concubine's palace. I took the liberty of calling Wang Guan Shi from the accounting house and Zhang Niang Niang, who is in charge of expenses, to come over as well. Please forgive me." Ye Li smiled and said, "There's no need for that, old lady. I'm not familiar with these things yet, and since Concubine Yi mentioned the expenses for Miss Biao, I asked you to come over and ask about it. Now that you're here, Zhang Niang Niang, how are Miss Biao's expenses? If she suffered any grievances and outsiders found out, it would be our fault in the palace." Zhang Niang Niang hastily stepped forward, her face not looking too good, and said, "Reporting to the princess, Miss Biao's expenses have always been given according to the rules for a king's daughter. Although our palace hasn't had any misses for several generations, the old rules are still kept. We wouldn't dare to cut back on Miss Biao's expenses."

  "So, Miss Biao's monthly expenses are how much? If the previous fixed amount is not suitable, it doesn't matter to adjust a bit. Or directly allocate some from my and Wang Ye's share." Ye Li said.

  "Miss Yang has thirty taels of silver for her monthly expenses, and the cosmetics and other items she uses are all purchased separately by the mansion. She has four sets of clothes for each season, and two sets of hair accessories at the beginning of winter and summer. The customary silver given during festivals is not a single penny less. We old slaves have served in the Wang Mansion generation after generation, and we would never dare to mistreat Miss Yang."

  The accountant standing on the side spoke up, "Princess, the king and queen's grand wedding has brought rewards to everyone in the mansion. The eldest lady received an additional 500 taels of silver, the concubine 200 taels, and the young mistress 100 taels. The servants also received their rewards, I dare not delay, please accept this account book as proof." As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's eyes fell on Yang Xiangru. Looking at her white clothes and frail appearance, it seemed like she had been treated unfairly. Sun Shilian's serious face flashed with displeasure. Not to mention that the royal mansion hadn't mistreated her, even if they really had for so many years, didn't they still raise you? What does it mean that you're wearing a white dress on the king and queen's wedding day?

  The few maids who followed Ye Li from the Ye family also had opinions about this delicate and weak cousin. The fourth miss was already charming, but this one was even more fragile. Moreover, the treatment of this cousin by the Wang family was not much different from that of the legitimate miss of the Ye family. When their own miss was in the Ye family, she only received thirty taels of silver per month, and in the capital city, there was no fame or reputation for this Miss Yang, it can be seen that she never went out to socialize, so naturally there were no expenses. The miss had just gotten married and came over crying about being poor, which was really too excessive.

  Ye Li frowned at the side empress. It wasn't that she was stingy, but since she had just arrived at the palace, it was impossible for her to greatly violate the rules set by her predecessors and improve Yang Xiangru's treatment. Even if the Dingguo Palace was large and prosperous, it was impossible to recklessly spend silver without any consideration. Without rules, there would be no square or circle, let alone the fact that the palace had already treated Yang Xiangru quite well. Unfortunately, the side empress clearly didn't think so, and seeing Ye Li's embarrassed expression, she angrily said: "What does this mean, Wangfei? Xiangru is after all the king's own cousin, can't even a few taels of silver be spared for her use? If outsiders were to know that our Dingguo Palace mistreated an orphan girl who had lost both parents, it would not look good on the king's face." In short, the side empress just wanted to pin the reputation of being cruel onto Mo Xiu Yao.

  "So, how much does Princess Consort think is reasonable?"

  The Empress Dowager frowned, her face unwilling, and said: "A month's worth of eighty taels, plus the headwear and jewelry, only two sets are not enough? Yang Xiangru has been unable to go out and meet people for years, and now even the marriage is being delayed. In the future, when following you out, it will definitely not be less, let Fenghua Building send four more sets over." Looking at the Empress Dowager's face, which seemed to think this was a matter of course, Ye Li couldn't help but roll her eyes in her heart. When did she agree to Yang Xiangru following her around? Even these years of not often going out could be dragged into the palace, if it weren't for being in the Ding Wangfu, with the Yang family's background, they might not even remember the illegitimate daughter of the Ding Wangfu.

  "Please be careful with your words, Princess. As the mistress of the royal palace, it's impossible for her to bring an unmarried girl out in public. Even if she did, it should be a princess from the royal family or a sister from the queen's family." Sun Ayi said seriously. Ye Li couldn't help but think that was well said. She didn't want to take a weak and emotional girl around on blind dates. After hearing Sun Ayi's words, Yang Xiangru's face turned bright red as she called out in a low voice, holding her chest with tears welling up in her eyes. Before the princess could get angry, Ye Li furrowed her brow and said to the three of them, "Now that we've cleared things up, Wang Gongshi and Zhang Ayi can go back first. Also, I'll allocate an additional 10 taels from my monthly allowance for Cousin Yang. As a guest, we shouldn't make things difficult for her."

  "Yes, I will follow the princess's orders." Wang Gonggong and Zhang Mama responded in unison and retreated.

  Ye Li continued: "Let the Consort and Miss Ye return first. As for Miss Ye's marriage, I will discuss it with the Prince later and then give you a reply, Consort."

  The princess consort had an unyielding heart, but seeing Ye Li's expression of sending a guest off, she didn't dare to truly defy Ye Li's intentions. She could only bring the wronged and angry Yang Xiangru away with her.

  After sending the two away, Ye Li looked at Sun Nian and said: "Sun Nian, this month, add ten more taels of silver to Wang Guan Shi's and Zhang Nian's salary, and just take it from me directly."

  "Actually, the princess doesn't need to bother with the concubine and her niece. Our royal family hasn't treated her niece unfairly, and we haven't even touched a single piece of the Yang family's legacy left for her." Yeli said helplessly, "Look at what she's wearing today, if outsiders see it, what will they think?" Sun Auntie snorted, "The princess doesn't know, this niece is very eccentric. It's said that she extremely loves white clothes, originally we sent over clothing in colors that girls like, but she says they're tacky. She only wears white clothes, if the clothes we send don't have white ones, she'd rather wear her old clothes from before. It's a waste of many clothes. The steward has no choice but to select white clothes to send over. This time for the royal wedding, Zhang Auntie even specially ordered someone to make a set of peach red and a set of light purple to send over. Who knew..."

  Tacky? I'm afraid it's unlikely. Ye Li thought of another person who loved wearing plain-colored clothes.

  "Afterwards, the guests at the Wang Fu will only increase, but she can't let her come out and meet people like this." After all, in the past, the Dingguo Wang Fu basically didn't interact with outsiders. Now that Mo Xiuyao is married and has met people, it's definitely not possible to close the door and refuse guests. "I'll ask the king later and see if he wants to change all her plain clothes." Ye Li thought for a moment and smiled. Sun Yiniang was taken aback, then immediately reacted, "What does the queen mean?"

  "I didn't say anything, I just don't like white clothes that much." Yeli smiled.

  "Your Highness, the king requests your presence."

  Mo Xiuyao didn't have a maid by his side, so the one who came to deliver the message was Mo Xiuyao's guard. Ye Li nodded and got up to ask: "Where is the king now?" The guard said: "The king is waiting for the queen in the water pavilion."

  "Alright, you can go."

  The Dingguo Wangfu can be said to be the largest mansion in the capital, which is naturally related to the status of the Dingguo Wangfu in the Great Chu. Although the area of the mansion has not been expanded after more than a hundred years of renovation by successive princes, the scenery inside the mansion can be called the crown of the capital. In the southwest corner of the mansion, there is a natural lake that occupies one-sixth of the entire mansion, with a wooden corridor built on the lake surface that winds all the way to the center of the lake and a three-roomed water pavilion. The lake surface is full of green lotus leaves, reflecting the clear and calm lake water, giving off a faint coolness as soon as you enter, making it a great place to escape the heat in summer.

  She waved her hand to stop the maidservants, and Ye Li walked alone onto the corridor over the lake surface towards the pavilion in the middle of the lake. As expected, she saw Mo Xiuyao sitting in front of an open window, lost in thought. Hearing her footsteps, Mo Xiuyao came back to himself and smiled: "A Li." Ye Li walked in, "What were you thinking about?" Mo Xiuyao shook his head and smiled: "I've been busy with some trivial matters these past two days, I haven't even had a chance to ask if you're getting used to it yet?"

  Ye Li shrugged and sat down in a position opposite him, smiling: "I've always had good adaptability. The people in the Wang Fu are also very good, I'm very used to it." Seeing Mo Xiuyao's expression was a bit strange, Ye Li blinked his eyes and smiled: "Could it be that you're not used to it yet?" Unexpectedly, Mo Xiuyao actually nodded, laughing softly: "I indeed have some unadaptability. It seems... for many years now, I've been the only one in this Wang Fu."

  "Hmm... do I need to stay away?" Ye Li felt a bit apologetic, not expecting her presence to cause Mo Xiu Yao trouble. Mo Xiu Yao smiled wryly and shook his head: "How could that be? Ah Li, I thought we were husband and wife."

  "So?"

  "I think we need more time together," said Moshu Yao.

  Ye Li was clear, some people would habitually retreat from unfamiliar things, but others would choose to face the challenge head-on. Mo Xiu Yao obviously belonged to the latter. To couples like them who clearly didn't have feelings for each other before marriage, it's indeed necessary to cultivate emotions after marriage. "Do you have any good suggestions?" Mo Xiu Yao asked: "If you're free, we can chat or read books together, or if you don't mind losing face, I can also accompany you on a walk."

  Going out? Ye Li's heart skipped a beat. She seemed to have forgotten that after getting married, there was an additional benefit - going out was more convenient than before.

  "No problem." Ye Li nodded, which was equivalent to agreeing with Mo Xiuyao's opinion.

  Seeing her decisive appearance, Mo Xiuyao was taken aback for a moment, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly. "Yesterday, I said I would paint a portrait for Alu, come and take a look at this one." Ye Lü rushed over in surprise, "It's done so quickly?"

  On the table in front of Mo Xiuyao, a painting scroll was spread out. On the painting scroll, a woman in red stood with a sword, and Ye Li recognized at a glance that the dress and headdress were exactly what she wore on her wedding day, except that the red dress was not the heavy phoenix embroidered peony wedding dress of the wedding day, but a light and simple red cloud-patterned edge dress with a golden waistband. The peony between her eyebrows had changed to a bright red flame, and the woman's hand grasped the hilt of the sword, her expression elegant and dignified, yet with an added hint of pride and majesty.

  "Is this me?" Ye Li stared blankly at the woman in the painting, saying softly. The woman in the portrait had a familiar face, yet it was also somewhat unfamiliar. However, that unfamiliar feeling seemed to be what she truly recognized. For some reason, Ye Li thought the woman in the portrait was extremely beautiful, hundreds of times more beautiful than herself when she looked in the mirror.

  Mo Xiuyao smiled and said: "In the past, it was said that a beautiful woman danced, one sword moved four directions. Ah Li has the style of the young Yunyuan County Master back then."

  "I haven't..." Ye Li shook her head, she had never danced with a sword in front of people. To be exact, she didn't even know how to dance with a sword. Ye Li stared at the woman in the portrait holding the gleaming Cloud-Embracing Sword, lost in thought.

  Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly and said, "I think this is the real Ah Lian."

  Ye Li fell silent, her eyes unable to move away from the woman's face in the painting. Indeed, she had seen that expression before on another familiar face - carefree and proud amidst the rain of bullets, killing enemies with bare hands in a bloody storm. That was a completely different life. Since accepting reality, she had been trying to conform to the standards of women in this era, thinking she had gradually forgotten the carefree woman who laughed in the muddy sweat. But... if she really forgot, if she really accepted it, how could she still have such hidden skills?

  "That day, when Ah Lian held the Yun Cloud Sword... I felt that Ah Lian was more beautiful than at any time I had ever seen her." Mo Xiuyao seemed to sigh, and in front of him appeared Ye Lian's moment of drawing out the Yun Cloud Sword. Although it was only a very short instant, but such a completely different from any woman's majestic aura, and the heroic spirit of wielding the sword with abandon. In that instant, Mo Xiuyao thought he saw a famous general who had fought on the battlefields."

  "Can... you give me this painting?" Ye Li asked hesitantly.

  Mo Xiuyao smiled and said, "This is actually a gift for you." Since yesterday's casual mention of painting, Mo Xiuyao knew that Ah Lian was just joking. However, the image of Ye Lian's stunning appearance on their wedding night and the scene of him drawing his sword in the Ye Manor hall kept flashing before his eyes. So even though there were many trivial matters at the Wang Manor these past two days, he still spent last night painting this picture, "However, I haven't added an inscription yet? Ah Lian, what do you think would be a suitable inscription?"

  Ye Li shook her head, hesitated for a moment and said: "No need to. It's not like it needs to be taken out for others to admire." She liked this painting very much, what if she added some words and made it worse?

  Mo Xiuyao raised an eyebrow, then nodded and said, "Alright, since it's a calligraphy piece, the signature is still necessary." He picked up a pen from the pen holder on the table and instructed, "Help me grind the ink."

  Ye Li was also curious about Mo Xiuyao's calligraphy, and from a purely artistic perspective, the painting he had done earlier was indeed not inferior to Han Mingyue's. The only question was how his calligraphy would turn out. Mo Xiuyao smiled at her and said, "Ah Li, my calligraphy is unique, I'm afraid I might disappoint you." Ye Li smiled back at him as she dipped the brush in ink and left a line of characters on the side of the painting: "Mo Xiuyao's gift to his wife Ah Li". Mo Xiuyao's calligraphy was bold and elegant, with a strong presence that didn't feel too sharp. Ye Li was very satisfied, carefully carrying the painting to the side to dry before putting it away. As she glanced at the four characters "gift to his wife Ah Li", she suddenly felt a strange feeling, looked up to see Mo Xiuyao staring at her. If he just kept looking like that, wouldn't it seem like he was being insincere? Ye Li could only widen her eyes and look back, Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly and was the first to look away.

  The strange atmosphere made Ye Li want to leave, but the picture on the table made her reluctant. Besides, wouldn't leaving just mean she was admitting defeat? She had just agreed to spend more time with him. After a quick mental calculation, Ye Li quickly changed the subject, "By the way, I wanted to discuss something with you earlier. Can you change all your white clothes?" Seeing Mo Xiuyao's puzzled raised eyebrows, Ye Li asked: "Or do you especially like wearing white clothes?"

  Mo Xi Yao shook his head, "I don't have a preference for colors, I'm just used to it. But how did you think of this?" With his understanding of Ye Li, she would absolutely not be interested in interfering with what color clothes he wore.

  Ye Li smiled and recounted what had just happened in the courtyard. Mo Xiuyao looked at her speechlessly, "So you think it's because I wore white clothes that she wouldn't wear anything but white?"

  Ye Li nodded, "I think so too."

  "But I don't wear white clothes every day." Although his plain-colored clothes are more common, he also has other colors.

  "But it's obvious that every time you appear in front of her, you coincidentally happen to be wearing white clothes." Ye Li shrugged lazily.

  "Heh... Ah Li, are you jealous?" Mo Xiuyao gazed at her for a long time before speaking in a low voice.

  Is she jealous?!

  Ye Li's face turned black, and she suddenly stood up, woodenly saying: "Sorry, our house is out of vinegar!" After finishing speaking, she didn't even have time to take care of the painting, and turned around to walk away.

  "Your Highness?"

  Before long, Ah Jin appeared at the door and looked at Mo Xiu Yao. Sun Niang said it was right, the king wasn't very good at getting along with the queen. In just a short while, he had already driven the queen away.

  Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly and said, "I'll have this painting sent over to the princess later."

  Digression

  Emotions and communication... ~ It's indeed difficult to have a long and steady flow, how about having an shocking stimulus to trigger the emotions?