CHAPTER 332: CHAPTER 332-333: ENTERING THE PALACE (1)

Xiqiu instantly awakened.

This is the Xuanning Marquis Mansion, and the owner of the hand on her...

She turned her head to look at Fourth Master Xiao, only to see that he was still asleep. Even in his dreams, his brows slightly furrowed, releasing a subtle sharpness. Xiqiu raised an eyebrow, noting that even in deep sleep, he maintained a stance of vigilance.

With just that tiny movement, Fourth Master Xiao suddenly opened his eyes. For the past two years, he had been braving the elements and traversing mountains of corpses and seas of blood. As a martial artist, his alertness was naturally high... The vigilance in his eyes softened immediately upon opening, and he asked, "Awake? It’s still early, sleep a little longer."

Xiqiu reached under the pillow to feel around, but Fourth Master Xiao seized the opportunity to grasp her hand and kissed it lightly, saying, "It’s now one o’clock in the morning, Madame usually rises at 5 a.m."

He actually knew what she was thinking.

Xiqiu blushed, withdrew her hand, and wanted to retrieve her inner garment that was left at the bedside last night. But with Fourth Master Xiao acting as a barrier, she tried several times in vain, fearing the blanket wrapped around her might fall. She could only sigh and shrink back.

Fourth Master Xiao squinted his eyes, leisurely watching her. Xiqiu ignored the amusement in his eyes, raised her head, and asked Fourth Master Xiao, "How many days do you rest?" When Tong Shen Zhi got married, he rested for three days.

"What do you have planned?" Fourth Master Xiao looked at her. Xiqiu shook her head, "Just asking, when eldest brother married, he rested for three days. I just don’t know if it’s different for a military officer." He hadn’t taken a break since returning from Liaodong, so she wasn’t sure how many days off he had.

Xiqiu’s body tensed, not daring to move. Fortunately, he made no further moves.

Xiqiu breathed a sigh of relief and dared not speak again. The room fell silent once more.

Xiqiu closed her eyes, but though her body was tired, her mind was exceptionally clear. She could hear his light breathing and her own heartbeat.

Listening carefully as dawn approached, Chunyan softly called from outside the door, "Madam, it’s around 4 a.m."

Chunliu followed her in, looked at her doubtfully, and asked, "You haven’t called Madam to get up yet?"

Chunyan covered her face with a cloth and ran out without looking back.

Chunliu was astonished, raised her hand to knock on the door, but stopped just as she touched it. That sound... her face turned red instantly.

Xiqiu was in a daze; she painfully believed he would continue, but instead, he restrained himself because of her discomfort?!

A sense of gratitude welled up inside, and Xiqiu silently wore the clothes handed to her.

Chunyan, Chunliu, Ziyang, and Treasure Bead entered in turn, their faces flushed as they focused on their tasks without looking around.

Fourth Master Xiao came out after changing into the court robes he wore last night, and seeing Xiqiu look over, he said, "After paying respects to Mother, I’m going to the palace."

He was indicating to her that he was wearing formal attire all at once to avoid having to come back and change later.

Xiqiu asked Chunliu to help her change into a formal brocade robe embroidered with golden-threaded children and pomegranate flowers. On her head was jewelry from the Xiao family’s wedding gifts: a bat-patterned trembling branch gold hairpin adorned with glass beads, a Chaoyang Five Phoenix hanging pearl hairpin, red ruby tassel earrings, and red coral bead bracelets, along with a pair of dragon phoenix gold and jade bracelets. Chunliu carefully put on the jewelry for Xiqiu, and her eyes inadvertently fell on the slightly red marks on Xiqiu’s exposed neck, which were startling. She gasped, her lips involuntarily pouting.

She gave Chunyan a subtle signal with her eyes, but found Chunyan gazing blankly at Fourth Master Xiao. Chunliu frowned, calling out, "Chunyan, serve tea for Madam and the Great Governor."

Chunyan snapped back to reality, turned and went out of the room to prepare tea.

When the Great Governor and Fourth Madam sat outside for breakfast, Chunliu pulled Chunyan aside and asked, "What were you daydreaming about just now?" Chunyan, with a mysterious air, dragged her aside and whispered, "Last night I was in a hurry, but I felt the Great Governor looked familiar. Not only familiar, but his voice seemed to have been heard somewhere before, and this morning I finally remembered..."

Chunliu paused and asked, "Remembered what?"

Chunyan returned with disbelief, "The person who talked with Miss at the Lotus Pool in Puji Temple and gave her a hairpin... Also, I clearly heard someone speaking in Miss’s room that day, but when I entered, no one was there. Though I didn’t see who it was, I clearly remembered the voice, and today... it was absolutely the Great Governor!"

Chunliu was shocked, covering her mouth and then covering Chunyan’s mouth as well with her other hand, "This word must rot inside us; no one else should know!"

"I understand!" Chunyan batted her hand away, "If I didn’t get this point, how would I serve Miss in the future?"

Chunliu was so frightened that she clutched her chest, feeling cold sweat dripping as soon as she listened!

Xiqiu and Fourth Master Xiao sat across from each other; on the table were seven or eight types of porridge, crystal steamed dumplings, Furong Cake, jujube paste cake, and five or six small dishes. Having eaten little last night, she felt truly hungry now. Without looking at Fourth Master Xiao, she lowered her head and took small sips of the porridge, but suddenly, a piece of steamed dumpling appeared on the white porcelain dish in front of her.

She looked up at Fourth Master Xiao, who remained expressionless as he said, "Lunch might be a bit late today."

Xiqiu nodded and obediently put the steamed dumpling into her mouth, biting off a small piece.

Fourth Master Xiao kept his head lowered, but a small smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.