Chapter 21: I Help You

Qiubai got up first.

She put on her small jacket and hurriedly helped Cheng Zhao put on her outer robe. Cheng Zhao's hair wasn't too messy; she had only taken out her hairpin, which Qiubai helped her put back in.

After finishing the preparations, Qiubai lifted the door curtain.

Seeing a dark figure standing in the outer room, Qiubai curtsied, "My Lord Duke."

"Are you ready?" Zhou Yuanshen asked.

"Yes," Qiubai replied, holding the curtain up for Zhou Yuanshen.

Zhou Yuanshen entered the room.

Cheng Zhao was waiting for Qiubai to bring in water for her to rinse her mouth. Seeing Zhou Yuanshen enter first, she had no choice but to pick up the thermos on the table and pour herself half a cup of water.

After rinsing her mouth, she straightened her collar. "My Lord Duke, I will take my leave first. I am already a bit late."

"Did you oversleep?" he asked.

There was no warmth in his voice.

"No, First Aunt said to rest for an extra two hours this afternoon. She wasn't feeling well this morning and might not have the energy this afternoon, so she told us to wait for her message," Cheng Zhao said.

Zhou Yuanshen nodded slightly. "Go then."

He added, "I will go to Nonghua Courtyard for dinner tonight."

Cheng Zhao was speechless.

Having dinner meant he would be staying the night at Nonghua Courtyard.

Recalling the conversation he just had with her father-in-law, Cheng Zhao felt he would definitely have some instructions for her tonight.

Cheng Zhao agreed, walked out of the main hall, called for the maid Qiubai who was waiting at the door, and headed toward Chengming Hall.

Qiubai said to Cheng Zhao, "Starting tomorrow, I will wait outside during your afternoon nap. I cannot be as lax as before."

Cheng Zhao said, "I thought Nanfeng was always there."

"The inner study seems to be poorly guarded, and Nanfeng often disappears without a trace," Qiubai said.

Cheng Zhao nodded slightly. "Then when you are on duty in the future, I will place some resting pillows in the outer room so you can lie down at noon. I won't arrange for you to take night shifts at Nonghua Courtyard anymore; I will speak with Nanny Li about it later."

Qiubai said yes.

The master and servant arrived at Chengming Hall as they spoke.

There wasn't much to do in the afternoon, just passing the time. The First Madam, Madam Song, lacked energy and had a bad temper. Except for one or two stewards, the First Madam listened absentmindedly when others reported to her.

Cheng Zhao memorized the stewards whom the First Madam treated differently—whether with extra courtesy or extra slight—so she could inquire about them later.

After her duties were over, Cheng Zhao took a small carriage back to Nonghua Courtyard.

She changed her clothes, let down her hair, and asked another maid to style it for her. Then she said to Nanny Li, "The Lord Duke is coming for dinner."

Nanny Li went to give the orders.

Zhou Yuanshen had mentioned it in advance, so there was no need for extra reminders, which was why he arrived relatively late this time.

In winter, the sky darkened quickly, and he entered Nonghua Courtyard almost right as night fell.

Everyone served him as he changed his clothes and washed his hands.

"Serve the meal first; it's getting late," he said.

Nanny Li complied and ordered two rough-work older servants to carry a low table and place it on the large heated brick bed by the window in the eastern side room.

Cheng Zhao sat opposite him and had dinner.

She didn't eat much for dinner, and neither did Zhou Yuanshen. The two finished eating quickly.

This time he didn't play chess. He took a book to bed and began reading by the light of the horn lantern at the bedside.

It was still early for bed, and Cheng Zhao couldn't sleep yet, so she took a sewing basket and sat on the heated brick bed by the window to do some needlework.

From where she sat, she could just see Zhou Yuanshen through the side of the folding screen. She glanced over occasionally; he remained motionless, turning the pages of his book at a steady pace.

The embroidered pouch in Cheng Zhao's hands, which she had been working on for nearly half a month, was almost finished. She yawned, feeling a bit of soreness in her eyes, and decided it was time to rest.

Zhou Yuanshen finally put down his book.

He got up and walked over, watching Cheng Zhao pack up her sewing basket, and leaned in slightly to embrace her from behind.

Cheng Zhao was a bit unsteady and held onto the low table. "My Lord Duke..."

Zhou Yuanshen undid her hair bun.

The maid had casually tied it up for her, so it was loose, and her black hair instantly cascaded down.

Zhou Yuanshen's face drew closer, and through the curtain of her hanging hair, Cheng Zhao could feel the burning heat of his breath.

His hands fumbled for her sash.

The bedroom had underfloor heating and was warm and cozy, but with her shoulder skin exposed without clothing to cover it, it still felt a bit chilly.

When Cheng Zhao realized what he was about to do, she gave a violent shiver.

"No!" Afraid the maid on night watch in the outer room would hear, she resisted with a suppressed voice. "No, this isn't..."

This wasn't the bed!

She and he were a proper married couple, bestowed by the Empress, with gifts prepared by the Ministry of Rites, a couple married with the Three Letters and Six Rites. She wasn't a mistress for him to toy with.

A wife's duty was to be filial to her parents-in-law, respect and love her husband, raise children, manage the household, and handle everyday affairs.

She wasn't a sweet treat for his amusement either.

Her mother had told her that for a main wife to compete for favor was a very lowly act.

He couldn't go hunting for novelty on her.

On the large heated bed by the window, a single horn lantern could cast their silhouettes onto the window lattice, and every movement might be seen by the maids and older servants.

Cheng Zhao could not accept this.

She wasn't short, but Zhou Yuanshen was simply too tall, with long arms and legs. Based on these advantages, he could easily subdue her without using brute force.

Her body was too tense. Zhou Yuanshen firmly grasped her waist with his other hand and whispered, "Don't struggle too hard."

Cheng Zhao's black hair blocked her vision.

She closed her eyes.

Perhaps it was tears falling, or perhaps it was sweat.

Cheng Zhao was sitting in the bathtub, and it was already past midnight. Stung by the hot water, her elbows and knees felt a burning pain.

Especially her knees; the left one had the skin rubbed off.

And the pain wasn't just in those two places.

Cheng Zhao leaned back against the edge of the bathtub and thought to herself that if she became pregnant, gave birth to the eldest son, and had an heir, she might be able to be a bit more assertive.

Right now, she didn't dare.

If she truly offended him deeply, and he stopped spending the night at Nonghua Courtyard in the future, Cheng Zhao would be put in a passive position.

The situation within the Duke Chen's estate was unclear, and the matter of Zhou Yuanshen taking a concurrent wife for another branch seemed set in stone. How could the Old Madam's decision allow him to resist?

Once he truly married Huan Qingtang concurrently, and she had a child first, Cheng Zhao and the second branch would be extremely disadvantaged.

As soon as Cheng Zhao married in, she won over her mother-in-law, promising that she would definitely help her turn her fortunes around and hold her head high.

Without a child, Cheng Zhao wouldn't even have a bargaining chip. Not only would she suffer grievances herself, but she would also break her promise to others.

Therefore, whether it was the difficulties she faced in Chengming Hall or the deliberate humiliation he inflicted in the bedroom, Cheng Zhao had to swallow it all.

"...Are you done washing?" someone suddenly spoke.

Cheng Zhao subconsciously crossed her arms over her chest. "You go out first!"

There was no respect at all; her tone was cold and forceful.

Zhou Yuanshen was very tall, blocking the light in the washroom. He said to her, "You've been washing for a long time. Be careful not to catch a cold."

Hypocritical concern.

If he had even the slightest bit of care for her in his heart, the scene from just now would never have happened.

Cheng Zhao turned her head away.

After he went out, she called the night-watch maid in to dry her body and help her change into clean inner garments and trousers.

Zhou Yuanshen was not asleep yet.

Cheng Zhao got into bed, and Zhou Yuanshen turned up the bedside horn lantern a little. He then poured hot water from the thermos into a copper basin and washed his hands meticulously.

Drying the water with a clean towel, he took a box of ointment and entered the bed curtains.

"Apply some ointment, or it will hurt tomorrow morning," he said.

Cheng Zhao said, "I'll do it myself."

Her elbows and knees did indeed hurt a lot.

But Zhou Yuanshen said, "I'll help you. You can't see."

Cheng Zhao froze for a moment.

An uncontrollable flash of anger surfaced on her face.

"You..."