The wedding of Nangong Muyan and Zhou Yi was set for June twenty-first, a few days after the hundred-day national mourning period.
After the imperial edict was issued, the Prime Minister's Mansion and the Zhou family began preparing for the related matters - the wedding dress, the bridal sedan chair, dowry, and betrothal gifts... Both families were busy attending to every detail.
Meanwhile, Luo Siyi forced Nangong Muyan to go to Jun Yue Restaurant to "cultivate feelings" with Zhou Yi.
"Yan'er, you can see that Zhou Yi doesn't like you yet. As the saying goes, for a man to chase a woman is like climbing a mountain, but for a woman to chase a man is like passing through a thin veil. You fell for him first and then forced him into this situation, so you're in the wrong. You need to be more proactive, spend more time with him, let him see your good qualities, and feelings will develop naturally over time..."
Standing in the accounting room of Jun Yue Restaurant, Nangong Muyan looked at Zhou Yi's stunned face while Luo Siyi's earnest advice echoed in her ears. She found it somewhat amusing that she never dreamed she would be pursuing a man one day.
"What are you doing here?"
Zhou Yi watched Nangong Muyan walk in, his eyes showing obvious wariness as he instinctively covered his collar.
Seeing Zhou Yi's defensive and vigilant expression, Nangong Muyan felt a surge of inexplicable anger rise within her. Taking a deep breath, she tried to remain calm as she walked to the table, sat down, and poured herself a cup of water. She drank half of it slowly before regaining her composure.
"Why aren't you saying anything? If you're not going to talk, I'm leaving." Zhou Yi felt very anxious, rising from his seat, planning to escape and leave the room to Nangong Muyan.
However, he had barely reached the door when he was pulled back by his collar.
Nangong Muyan pushed him back into his seat. Looking at his expression as if avoiding a venomous snake, she chuckled softly, gripped Zhou Yi's chin, and leaned forward slightly. Their eyes met, the distance between them merely inches apart – close enough that she could kiss him just by lowering her head.
Some unpleasant memories surfaced, and Zhou Yi's face turned pale at her actions. He wanted to push her away but remembered she was pregnant. His hands stopped midway and dropped awkwardly. He could only turn away his gaze, sitting stiffly, looking somewhat pitiful.
Nangong Muyan pressed further, lowering herself even more until their breaths mingled, then slowly said, "I missed you, so I came to see you."
As she finished speaking, Nangong Muyan saw Zhou Yi's expression as if he had swallowed a fly, and she burst out laughing, her mood inexplicably improving.
Seeing Zhou Yi getting all puffed up with anger, Nangong Muyan knew when to stop. She returned to her seat and said casually, "Just go about your business, don't mind me. I'll just sit here for a while, and when it's time, guards will come to escort me back to the mansion."
Zhou Yi looked at her half-believingly, then heard Nangong Muyan add, "But you have to treat me to a meal."
"You're staying that long?"
Zhou Yi was shocked, thinking she meant to stay just for a moment, but now she was planning to stay for a meal.
Nangong Muyan covered her mouth and smiled, nodding. She then watched as Zhou Yi's expression changed several times before finally accepting his fate and returning his attention to what he was doing before.
The room fell quiet, with only the clicking of the abacus and the soft sound of turning pages.
At first, Zhou Yi kept glancing at Nangong Muyan, but seeing that she was just idly looking around without causing trouble, he gradually relaxed and focused entirely on his work, eventually forgetting there was another person in the room.
Nangong Muyan sipped her water slowly, and after surveying the room out of boredom, her gaze settled on Zhou Yi's face.
Zhou Yi was seriously checking the accounts, one hand flipping through the ledger, the other working the abacus, his expression focused and undistracted. Surprisingly, Nangong Muyan found him quite pleasing to look at.
It was early April, early spring, and the weather was getting warmer with gentle breezes.
Since becoming pregnant, Nangong Muyan had been fortunate to avoid morning sickness, though she did become more prone to drowsiness than before.
In the quiet room, feeling peaceful, Nangong Muyan watched him until drowsiness overcame her. The sound of the abacus became muffled, like hearing shoreline songs from underwater, separated by a subtle, ethereal barrier.
After finishing the accounts of the suburban tenants, Zhou Yi planned to take a water break. Looking up, he saw Nangong Muyan sleeping sweetly at the table, using her arm as a pillow.
Zhou Yi walked quietly to Nangong Muyan's side and, after some hesitation, bent down and called out, "Hey, don't sleep here, you'll catch a cold."
No response.
Zhou Yi called several more times, but the sleeping person didn't move. He then pushed her arm gently: "Nangong Muyan, don't sleep here..."
Still no response.
"Sleeping like a pig..."
Zhou Yi complained softly, his face showing conflicted emotions, not noticing the sleeping person's eyelashes flutter slightly.
Finally, unable to leave her there in good conscience, Zhou Yi bent down and carefully lifted her in his arms.
Zhou Yi was steadily carrying her toward the adjacent room when he saw a waiter standing outside the door holding several ledgers.
"Young Master, Uncle Li asked me to bring these account books, hehe..."
The waiter looked at Nangong Muyan in Zhou Yi's arms with a teasing smile.
Everyone in the Capital City now knew that their Jun Yue Restaurant's young master was the son-in-law of Prime Minister Nangong, arranged by imperial edict no less. It was quite prestigious, and recently, all of the Zhou family's businesses had improved significantly.
"Put them inside," Zhou Yi said casually as he walked into the nearest room.
He occasionally slept here when he didn't feel like going home, so there was a bedroom next to the accounting room.
Zhou Yi gently placed her on the bed, thoughtfully removed her shoes, covered her with a blanket, and then inexplicably stood by the bedside for a moment.
Nangong Muyan was undeniably beautiful; he had known that since their first meeting. However, this person was too wicked – after learning what she had done to Jiang Ning, even her stunning beauty appeared repulsive in Zhou Yi's eyes.
Not to mention what she had done to him afterward...
If possible, Zhou Yi wouldn't want anything to do with this person, but fate was cruel. Now she was sleeping peacefully in his bed, carrying his child, and in everyone's eyes, she was his wife-to-be.
Sigh...
Zhou Yi sighed inwardly, leaned down to tuck in the corner of the blanket, walked to the window to close it, and returned to the next room.
As the footsteps faded away, the peacefully sleeping person opened her eyes, showing complete clarity. She looked around, recognizing this as Zhou Yi's room, and a smile appeared in her eyes.
This person was quite interesting, all awkward and somewhat cute!
Nangong Muyan snuggled into the blanket, closed her eyes, and fell asleep again until more than an hour later when the door opened and Zhou Yi came to the bedside, shaking her shoulder saying, "Stop sleeping, get up for dinner, wake up..."
To maintain her "sleeping like a pig" persona, Nangong Muyan deliberately waited a while before pretending to wake up groggily.
"Zhou Yi?" The newly awakened person rubbed her eyes, sat up on the bed, looked at the blanket covering her, then glanced around the room curiously asking, "Where am I? How did I end up sleeping here?"
Zhou Yi replied irritably, "My room. You fell asleep at the table and wouldn't wake up no matter how much I called you, so I brought you in here."
"Oh, I see," Nangong Muyan acted as if suddenly understanding, looking at Zhou Yi with a bright smile, her eyes full of mischievous cunning: "Thank you for carrying me in."
She emphasized the word "carrying," exposing Zhou Yi's little secret, making his face freeze.
Nangong Muyan laughed, got up from the bed, her well-arranged hair slightly disheveled from sleep. She raised her hand to remove her hairpin and quickly put herself back in order.
Zhou Yi stood aside waiting, and seeing that she had fixed her hair, was about to take her to dinner when Nangong Muyan suddenly moved closer and quickly kissed his cheek.
The warm lips touched briefly and left, like flower petals falling from a branch into flowing stream water.
"What are you doing!"
Zhou Yi exploded like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, his eyes wide and round, retreating three or four steps toward the door. He even raised his sleeve to vigorously wipe the spot where she had kissed him, trying to erase that strange sensation.
"Just thanking you, wanted to give you a kiss."
Nangong Muyan observed his blatant disgust without any annoyance. Instead, she tilted her head and smiled innocently.
"Is this how you show gratitude? This isn't thanks - it's betrayal! I shouldn't have helped you at all. Should have just let you catch a cold sleeping on that table!" Zhou Yi was so angry he could barely form coherent sentences.
"Is it really that serious? It was just a kiss..." Nangong Muyan couldn't understand his reaction. They had already shared a bed, so what was the big deal about a kiss?
"Do you think you can just kiss me whenever you want?"
Zhou Yi was furious, wiping his face vigorously again.
Seeing that Zhou Yi was about to rub his face raw, Nangong Muyan quickly grabbed his hand and softened her voice to coax him: "I'm sorry, then. How about I give you a warning next time?"
"There won't be a next time!" Zhou Yi yanked his hand away and said through gritted teeth, "You're not allowed to kiss me ever again!"
"Alright, alright! I was wrong, and I won't kiss you anymore. Please don't be angry..." Nangong Muyan tried to soothe him, deciding it was better to calm him down first. It wouldn't be fun to tease him too much at once.
Seeing Nangong Muyan's sincere apology and good attitude, Zhou Yi's anger subsided considerably. Just as he was about to lay down more ground rules to prevent future incidents, like no hugging or touching, the person in front of him spoke in a soft voice: "Zhou Yi, I'm hungry."
"Then... let's go eat."
Zhou Yi paused, swallowing those house rules, planning to emphasize them to Nangong Muyan after their meal.
Zhou Yi led her to a private dining room where dishes were already laid out on the table. There was a good mix of meat and vegetable dishes, all appetizing in appearance, aroma, and taste. Just the smell made Nangong Muyan hungry.
"I wasn't sure what you'd like to eat..."
Before Zhou Yi could finish speaking, Nangong Muyan had already sat down, picking up her chopsticks while responding, "I'm not picky about food. I'm easy to feed."
Since becoming pregnant, besides being sleepy all the time, Nangong Muyan had developed another condition - she would get terribly hungry. It had something to do with blood sugar levels; whenever she felt hungry, she would experience uncontrollable heart palpitations that would only subside after eating something immediately.
That's why by the time Zhou Yi sat down with his bowl, he turned to see that Nangong Muyan had already eaten half of hers.
After finishing half a bowl of rice, that feeling of impending starvation subsided, and Nangong Muyan let out a breath, finally able to eat more gracefully.
"By the way, where are Uncle and Aunt? I haven't seen them," Nangong Muyan asked casually.
"They're at the shops. We need to change some shop managers, check accounts, and handle staff transitions," Zhou Yi replied offhandedly.
"Your family owns shops?"
"Not many, just thirty or forty."
"Thirty or forty shops in the Capital City isn't many? What do you sell?"
"A bit of everything - grain, wine, silk and fabric, cosmetics, jewelry, pawnshops, and some properties we just rent out for income."
"You're a rich heir!"
Nangong Muyan was surprised. She had thought Zhou Yi's family just ran restaurants, but they were actually major merchants. No wonder Zhou Yi had told her they had many houses and she could choose whichever she liked to live in.
"What heir?" Zhou Yi hadn't heard the term "rich heir" before.
"It means your family is really wealthy," Nangong Muyan explained.
"Oh."
They fell silent for a moment, with only the sound of chopsticks and bowls clinking.
After finishing their meal, Zhou Yi called a waiter to clear the table, then returned to the accounting room with Nangong Muyan naturally following behind.
Well-fed and rested, Nangong Muyan was in high spirits. She sat in her chair, staring intently at Zhou Yi with obvious interest, continuing their earlier conversation: "It's quite rare that your parents only had one child, given how much business your family has."
"My mother almost died giving birth to me. My father couldn't bear to see her suffer again, so they only had me," Zhou Yi explained, then glanced at Nangong Muyan's belly before adding, "What's so strange about that? I'll only have one child too."
Nangong Muyan understood his meaning and quickly responded, "You can take concubines, have as many children as you want. I won't interfere."
"I've told you, our Zhou family doesn't take concubines."
"Rules can be broken. If you like, you can take as many-"
"Shut up! I don't like it. Having you as my only wife is enough."
Zhou Yi didn't want to discuss such nonsense and glared at Nangong Muyan, cutting off her words.
Nangong Muyan obediently fell silent, smiling with curved eyes.
'Having you as my only wife' - it sounded almost like sweet talk.
Zhou Yi looked at her smiling face in confusion, completely unaware of what she found so amusing.
The afternoon passed peacefully until Jin Hui and Li Jiu came to pick up Nangong Muyan around dusk.
The two guards stood outside, first calling out "Miss" to Nangong Muyan, then respectfully addressing Zhou Yi as "Young Master-in-law."
Since Jiang Ning had become Princess Hening, there was only one young lady in the Prime Minister's Mansion, so they no longer needed to add "Second" before Nangong Muyan's title.
Zhou Yi looked at these two guards with more joy than if he'd seen the God of Wealth himself.
Finally, Nangong Muyan was leaving!
Nangong Muyan clearly saw the delight on his face and smiled slightly. When she reached the door, she turned back and said, "I'll take my leave for today, but I'll be back tomorrow."
The joy on Zhou Yi's face vanished in an instant.
