"Enough already! I’m not going anywhere. The Empress Dowager has allowed me to return to my chamber for one night. Why are you all pestering me endlessly?"
As soon as these words were spoken, her tone turning sour, the palace maids quickly nodded in agreement.
Dong Gong Ruoshu turned around and said:
"I’m going up with Xiao Chan. If it’s necessary, you can keep watch outside tonight."
With that, Dong Gong Ruoshu pushed open the door to her chamber.
Xiao Chan hurriedly followed after her.
Upon returning to this familiar place, Dong Gong Ruoshu heaved a sigh of relief and sat down. Xiao Chan immediately got to work, helping her change her shoes, take off her outer garment, and bring her tea and water.
While fussing about, Xiao Chan advised, "Miss, this isn’t good. If those palace maids go back and report to Her Majesty, it could cause trouble."
Dong Gong Ruoshu furrowed her brows and murmured to herself:
After Jinya Pavilion was raided, the court issued a strict order to thoroughly investigate the case. A large group of people was thrown into prison, and Dong Gong Ai, who was implicated, was not spared either.
As for Dong Gong Ruoshu, Great Yu treated her with courtesy, sending palace maids to escort her into the palace.
Shortly after, a premade imperial edict of marriage landed on her desk.
Sitting downstairs for quite a while, Dong Gong Ruoshu eventually grew tired. Using her Qinggong, she leapt to the second floor in an instant.
"Oh my!" Xiao Chan yelped, quickly following her up.
After spending several stifling days in the palace, Dong Gong Ruoshu finally returned to her chambers and couldn’t help but exhale deeply.
She didn’t feel like bathing or doing much else. Striding to the side of her embroidered bed, she flopped down onto it.
Lying prone across the bed, Dong Gong Ruoshu found herself thinking of Chen Yi, in the same spot where Chen Yi had once fought.
When she first learned of the imperial marriage, she had been unsettled. But upon seeing the name on the edict, her anxiety mixed with a hint of unexpected delight.
In the midst of misfortune, this was perhaps a blessing. The husband bestowed upon her by the Empress Dowager was none other than the master of the infamous cauldron... Chen Yi.
And she just so happened to have plans to borrow the Li Pearl in Chen Yi’s possession to break through in Martial Arts.
It could be said that this was... a fortuitous coincidence?
Moreover, from her observations, Chen Yi seemed trustworthy.
Rumor had it that he was lecherous, but despite her numerous secret observations, not once had she caught him leering at her inappropriately.
He must truly be a gentleman, bold with his words but restrained in his actions.
Besides, thinking it through, how could an ordinary man handle so many romantic entanglements? Just based on the women she had seen and heard about, there were enough to count on one hand.
After much pondering, Dong Gong Ruoshu had finally come up with a plan: on the so-called wedding night, she would smear some blood on the white silken handkerchief used to verify consummation.
In any case, she would get through this for now. After all, she had gone to great lengths to flee from an arranged marriage in Great Jin. Surely, she didn’t escape one marriage only to walk into another? Especially with someone from Dongyu, no less. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel⦿fire.net
Still, it wouldn’t hurt to forge a better relationship—he was, after all... her husband in name.
Lost in her thoughts about Chen Yi, Dong Gong Ruoshu failed to notice the cracks forming on the bed beneath her.
The longer she lay there, the more the bed began to creak and sway. Just as she finally sensed something was wrong,
A piercing sound rang out as the entire embroidered bed collapsed beneath her, sending Dong Gong Ruoshu tumbling unceremoniously to the ground.
"Miss, what happened?"
From downstairs, Xiao Chan’s startled voice rang out as she hurried up and pushed open the door.
Dong Gong Ruoshu slowly picked herself up, locking eyes with Xiao Chan for a long moment before finally blurting out blankly:
"Xiao Chan, why did my bed collapse?"