Gui turned and sneered, "Who cares about this trinket? Only you men...those of vile character don’t mind the dirt and treat it as a treasure."
Zhao Rong’s mouth twitched slightly, and he said no more.
He continued to frown in deep thought.
According to the deductions made just now, the undergarment should have been a last-minute decision by Qing Jun yesterday morning, but mere deduction wasn’t enough to prove it conclusively, and he still needed to find some clues in the details to confirm his theory.
In his memory, yesterday morning, there were opportunities for Qing Jun to remove her undergarment...twice.
One was when the two were in the dilapidated courtyard in the forest feeding each other porridge with a spoon. She suddenly said it was too sweet, and without thinking, he went to find fresh spring water for Qing Jun, mainly because the water carried in the Sumeru Object on his person had been there too long to offer to his lady.
The other time was when the two of them got up to leave the forest. Zhao Rong remembered that he was holding her hand, strolling through the forest, and they passed by a hawthorn tree grove. He saw Qing Jun glance several times at the bright red wild hawthorns on the tree and without waiting for her to ask, he picked them for her, just like they used to play in the hills behind Duke Mansion when they were children.
But during this latter case...Zhao Rong’s mouth twitched slightly as he climbed the tree to pick hawthorns, not far from her. If Qing Jun had taken that moment to loosen and remove her pure white undergarment...
Cough, cough, that would be rather bold, Zhao Rong thought and found it quite thrilling. But as a cultivator of Vast Realm, she might have used some other magical techniques.
Such as the Eye-blocking Technique, so there really was no risk.
Zhao Rong nodded slightly.
The opportunities when Qing Jun was out of his sight were both plausible. Now, Zhao Rong suddenly felt that if she wanted to briefly distract him, it would indeed be easy, with just a doe-eyed look and a naïve complaint about sweetness or a lingering gaze on the wild hawthorn, and he would fetch it without a thought.
Speaking of which, how could this silly wife fail so completely at managing her husband! I am so obedient, and she seems pretty sharp too...
Zhao Rong’s wandering thoughts returned.
Another detail could determine whether Qing Jun had indeed decided last minute yesterday morning to give him the undergarment.
That is to determine whether this lotus-embroidered pure white undergarment was indeed worn by her yesterday.
Here lies another question, whether Qing Jun might have carried a few spare undergarments on her person, and this lotus-embroidered white one was one of them.
Zhao Rong thought for a moment and quickly denied this possibility with considerable certainty.
Both of them had Sumeru Objects indeed capable of carrying many items, but this involved a habit.
Qing Jun resided in Qinglian Pavilion within Taiching Prefecture, and per her habits, daily items like clothes wouldn’t be kept in a Sumeru Object since it didn’t have much space and was generally used to store important items like Magical Treasures and Elixir Pills.
With a fixed residence, there was absolutely no need to carry change of clothes together with Magical Treasures and Elixir Pills; it would only cause inconvenience.
At least, Zhao Rong wouldn’t do such a thing. His change of clothes, paper, ink brush, and inkstone were kept at East Fence Small House, while treasures like Thunder and Rainbow Purple Gold Furnace were carried with him.
Thus, if Qing Jun had indeed made a spur-of-the-moment decision yesterday, this pure white silk undergarment must have been worn close to her body beyond doubt.
Zhao Rong deduced cautiously and, thinking this, he bowed his head, buried his nose, and began to "inspect" seriously.
The faint scent of jasmine;
The pleasant body scent unique to Qing Jun, which he had been familiar with since childhood, though now it was very mild;
The thick and heady scent of incense...
After several times, Zhao Rong frowned and looked up.
He felt increasingly uncertain whether this undergarment was really worn by Qing Jun yesterday.
Qing Jun’s body scent was very faint, which was why Zhao Rong initially thought that the garment had been cleanly washed, but now he thought this idea might be biased.
Firstly, the scent of incense was too overpowering, likely to linger and overshadow Qing Jun’s body scent.
Secondly, he met Qing Jun yesterday morning, so she must have bathed and changed clothes the night before, and it had only been a few hours since they met.
Moreover, as a cultivator of the Vast Realm who had attracted Spiritual Energy into her body, her body was truly ice clean and jade pure.
Although not yet achieving the legendary Immaculate Glazed Body, she did possess a cool, sweat-free body akin to ice and jade.
Thus, Zhao Rong was somewhat uncertain.
He sighed lightly. Who knew that seeing Qing Jun just once would involve so much complication?
If just after parting at noon yesterday he had checked the small cloth bag she had stuffed into his hand, perhaps he could have caught it while it was still fresh.
Zhao Rong shook his head and tucked the undergarment away again. At this late hour, handling his wife’s personal clothing felt rather odd; no wonder Gui reacted so strongly.
But now, he had more important matters to think about, and these trivial thoughts were quickly dispelled.
Despite lacking key evidence, Zhao Rong had almost concluded that the undergarment was indeed something Lingfei had decided to give him impulsively yesterday.
And peculiar circumstances surely had unusual reasons behind them.
This might also be the cause of that unsettling thought in the water of Heart Lake earlier.
Zhao Rong pursed his lips.