Chapter 34

Sometimes, having good hearing isn’t always a blessing.

In the night breeze, faintly scented with chrysanthemums, Lin Que thought about this as he cut off a crab leg.

Unlike Princess Zhaoming, Lin Que had a bit of a cleanliness obsession. He would rather not eat than have someone else dismantle the crab for him. He preferred to do it himself rather than let others do it.

During last year’s Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, he even taught Li Mu how to dismantle a crab. Now, with a set of tools by her side, she diligently opened the crab shell and removed the stomach, heart, and gills. Even if she focused solely on dismantling the crab, she couldn’t hear the whispered conversation between Princess Huaishu and Grand Princess Zhaoming. Only Lin Que could hear it, and it was hard to say how he felt about it. As a junior, he had no right to comment on Aunt Huaishu’s preferences, and he didn’t care to. However, compared to her indulgence, his own abstinence seemed rather pitiful.

Moreover, what he wanted wasn’t as much as Aunt Huaishu’s desires. He only wanted Weixi, just his Weixi, but he couldn’t have her, and it was truly hard for him to accept.

Lin Que meticulously dismantled the crab, extracting the meat. He looked back to see Li Mu still struggling with her crab and asked if she needed help.

Li Mu stubbornly shook her head, “I can do it myself.”

Alright.

A maid brought warm water, and Lin Que washed and dried his hands. Then, he picked up his chopsticks to eat the other dishes on the table. He waited until Li Mu finished dismantling her crab before joining her in eating it.

The family banquet was set in the waterside pavilion, with a view of the sky outside. Unfortunately, the night was cloudy, and the full moon was nowhere to be seen. Various lanterns hung under the eaves, swaying in the wind.

It looked like it might rain, Lin Que thought unhappily, taking a sip of warm ginger tea.

The Grand Princess’s mansion servants didn’t dare serve him wine, so he drank ginger tea. Since Li Mu couldn’t drink tea, he had the kitchen prepare ginger soup without tea leaves. Everything was just like last year.

Wait, something was different.

Lin Que noticed Li Mu also had a small wine cup beside the soup bowl. When he realized this, Li Mu was playing with a ball lantern. The ball lantern, brought by Gu Chi, was small and delicate, like a miniature rolling lantern. No matter how it was moved, the small candle inside always stayed upright.

Li Mu played with the ball lantern in one hand and sipped the warmed yellow wine in the other. When she noticed Lin Que’s gaze, her first reaction wasn’t to put the cup down but to drink all the wine in one gulp and then look at him innocently.

Lin Que poked her cheek, “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t drink?”

Li Mu retorted, “It wasn’t my idea.” The wine was served by mistake, and she just went along with it.

Lin Que, amused and exasperated, laughed. It seemed he was the only one who couldn’t get what he wanted.

Seeing that he was in a bad mood, Li Mu put down the ball lantern, tugged on his sleeve under the table, and held his hand that was hanging down.

No need for sweet words; just holding hands was enough to lift Lin Que’s spirits.

Meanwhile, Lin Qiwu, having eaten crab meat and played with the ball lantern for a while, skillfully took out a set of bandit-catching cards and asked if everyone wanted to play.

This year, like last year, there were seven people. Lin Que initially didn’t want to play, but since Li Mu had drunk some wine and bravely wanted to be the judge with fixed lines, he changed his mind and decided to join the game.

Among the remaining six, besides the game-obsessed Lin Qiwu, Lin Yan’an, who was always roped in by Lin Qiwu, and Princess Huaishu, who had nothing else to do at home, the others rarely played bandit-catching. So, at the start of the game, Grand Princess Zhaoming and her two children were caught off guard by the three experienced players. However, by the second round, they had learned from their mistakes and the opponents’ experience, regaining their advantage.

Li Mu seriously recited the judge’s lines, carefully not skipping the part where the doctor was asked who to poison or save after being eliminated. She also kept track of how many civilians and bandits were left and each person’s role.

As the third round was nearing its end, it started raining outside. Gu Chi became distracted, and Li Mu also found it hard to concentrate, fearing she might make a mistake. Her speech noticeably slowed. Both of them, one keeping things to himself and the other thinking she could hold on after drinking, continued until Lin Que said he was tired and didn’t want to play anymore, finally ending the game.

Everyone had a bit more to eat before heading home. Grand Princess Zhaoming, worried about the rain, had her tipsy sister stay at her mansion for the night and return in the morning.

Lin Que, Li Mu, and Lin Yan’an took a carriage back to the neighboring King’s mansion.

As she saw her brother and sister-in-law off at the door, Lin Qiwu noticed Gu Chi was missing and asked, “Where did Second Brother go? I saw him just now.”

Lin Que casually replied, “Probably delivering the ball lantern.”

Each person had one ball lantern, and Gu Chi had one left, clearly not for himself.

Lin Que held an umbrella and got into the carriage with Li Mu, while Lin Yan’an went to the carriage behind. Although the two mansions were next to each other, their entrances weren’t adjacent due to their large size, requiring a detour to reach.

In the carriage, Li Mu was still replaying her performance as the judge, constantly praising herself and marveling at how alcohol boosted her courage. No wonder they said social anxiety could lead to alcohol addiction; the feeling was indeed irresistible. Before leaving, she couldn’t resist sneaking another drink. Thinking about this, she turned to look at Lin Que and found him staring at her.

Li Mu felt guilty. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

The rain outside was loud. Lin Que wrapped an arm around Li Mu’s waist and leaned in close, asking, “Did you have another drink?”

Li Mu shook her head. “No.”

Lin Que moved even closer. Li Mu felt her body heat up, possibly from the alcohol kicking in.

She thought about this, noticing Lin Que getting closer and closer until their breaths mingled.

Lin Que stopped, his rational mind telling him he could smell the faint scent of alcohol, confirming that Li Mu had indeed had another drink and that he could step back.

However, his gaze remained fixed on Li Mu’s lips. After a long while, just as he was about to pull away, Li Mu slightly parted her lips—not for any particular reason, just to call his name. But that one word, “Lin Que,” snapped the last thread of his already fragile self-control after three months of restraint. He stopped pulling away and leaned in to touch Li Mu’s lips.

Incredible softness made Lin Que cradle Li Mu’s cheek, instinctively deepening the kiss.

The sound of the rain became their best cover; no matter how chaotic their breathing was or how ambiguous the sounds of their lips and teeth entangled, even if Li Mu was forced to let out a few soft moans from her throat, they didn’t have to worry about being heard by anyone outside.

Li Mu was kissed until she was breathless. When the carriage stopped, her mind was foggy, and her limbs felt weak. She could only hear Lin Que’s husky whisper in her ear, “I could taste it. You still say you didn’t drink.”

One sentence made Li Mu’s mind even more chaotic. After getting out of the carriage, Lin Que told Lin Yan’an that she was drunk and took her back to the main courtyard and into the house.

After a simple wash and change into nightclothes, Li Mu sat on the edge of the bed, hugging her knees and slowly regaining her composure. In a stiff tone, she said to Lin Que, who was already in bed, “You really would do anything just to taste the wine.”

About to lie down, Lin Que paused and clarified, “It wasn’t to taste the wine.”

He said, “I just wanted to kiss you.”

Li Mu suddenly felt that the wine wasn’t that great after all, making her face hot. Fortunately, the lights were already off, and the dim light hid her blushing face. She quietly used the back of her hand to cool her cheeks, racking her brain for something to say to Lin Que, but she couldn’t come up with anything.

Finally, Lin Que asked, “Didn’t you like it?”

Touching her conscience, Li Mu replied, “…I didn’t dislike it.”

Lin Que: “Then I’m relieved.”

Puzzled, Li Mu asked, “Were you not relieved before?”

Lin Que reached out, and despite the dim light, he accurately grabbed one of Li Mu’s hands. “I have feelings for you, but you’ve never said if you have feelings for me.”

Li Mu pursed her lips, dissatisfied. “Isn’t it obvious?”

Lin Que replied, “No matter how obvious, it’s not as real as hearing it directly.”

Li Mu straightforwardly said, “I do! I have feelings for you!”

Lin Que smiled, “Then I’ll ask you again when you’re sober tomorrow.”

Li Mu mumbled, “I only had two drinks. I’m not that drunk.”

Lin Que happily pulled her to lie down. “You better remember what you said.”

“Remember, I will.” Li Mu made a bold statement, only to question herself the following day as to why she wasn’t the type to black out from drinking. If she had blacked out, she wouldn’t have woken up kicking the blanket and rolling around in bed, holding her head.

Fortunately, Lin Que was considerate and left the room quietly before she woke up, leaving a message that he would be back by noon, giving her enough time to process everything.

Li Mu groggily got up and changed clothes. Nanny Liu came to report that only Li Yunxi attended the morning lesson, while Lin Qiwu did not. The reason was that Princess Huaishu had stayed overnight at the neighboring mansion, and a few thieves had broken in during the night, causing a fight with the guards of Grand Princess Zhaoming’s mansion.

Grand Princess Zhaoming’s mansion guards were all retired soldiers; even if some had injuries or disabilities, they were still highly skilled. Surprisingly, the intruders were also skilled and could hold their own against the guards. This commotion not only alarmed Grand Princess Zhaoming but also kept Lin Qiwu awake for most of the night, so she couldn’t get up in the morning and missed her lesson.

Li Mu nodded to show she understood and didn’t question Nanny Liu about why she emphasized Princess Huaishu’s overnight stay until she read the pigeon loft’s information. It turned out that the intruders were actually from Princess Huaishu’s mansion. Princess Huaishu had drunk a few too many and forgot to send someone back to explain the situation, leading to the unexpected events of the previous night.

Additionally, Li Mu noticed that despite the chaos at the Grand Princess’s mansion, Gu Chi, who lived there, wasn’t seen. The pigeon loft noted that Gu Chi wasn’t at the mansion and had gone directly to the Tianxu Camp office this morning.

Li Mu vaguely remembered Lin Que mentioning that Gu Chi might have gone to deliver a ball lantern. Who else could he have delivered it to besides Li Zhi?

Li Mu thought expressionlessly: Did Gu Chi spend the night at my second sister’s place?