Chapter 8

Xu Lianqiao never really understood Jiang Huai.

Before she entered Jiang’s Mansion, the only time they interacted was when he saved her life on Mifu Mountain.

Although they both lived in the capital, Jiang Huai was the proud heir of the Xuanwu Marquis Mansion, while she was just an orphan living with her second uncle’s family.

She never imagined Jiang Huai would marry her just because of a joke between their grandfathers.

Even if it was only to please his sick grandfather.

So when Jiang’s Mansion came to her second uncle’s house to propose, Xu Lianqiao was not excited. She didn’t have the usual hopes a girl would have when faced with marriage.

After all, who would want to be part of a marriage without love?

Plus, she knew that her background was very different from Jiang Huai’s. Even if she did marry him, she would face many problems.

She didn’t think she could handle being the Crown Prince’s wife or dealing with his family.

And as it turned out, she was right.

However, as the wedding day got closer, Xu Lianqiao couldn’t help but feel a little hope, since it was her first time getting married.

Especially when people said she wasn’t good enough for Jiang Huai.

But reality soon showed her that all the fairy tales were lies.

Not only were they not a loving couple, but they couldn’t even pretend to be a couple for show.

Xu Lianqiao couldn’t figure out what went wrong or what she did to upset Jiang Huai.

She thought about it for days and couldn’t think of anything.

Could it be that someone could dislike her without even knowing her?

Why did he marry her then? Why did he divorce her so easily?

Was he… sick?

A few steps away, Xu Lianqiao glanced at “Jiang Huai”.

When their eyes met, “Jiang Huai” smiled. She quickly looked away.

Why was he smiling? What was so funny?

If it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t feel so embarrassed.

Wait… that’s not right.

Had he ever smiled at her before?

“What are you looking at me for?” she asked, sounding annoyed.

She probably wouldn’t have spoken to him at all, but Jiang Huai had given her a different feeling over the past two days.

Xu Lianqiao didn’t even notice the slight irritation in her voice when she spoke.

But Ning Yuan noticed and quickly said:

“It looks good.”

His casual comment made Xu Lianqiao frown.

Was he flirting with her?

Seeing that she wasn’t happy, Ning Yuan quickly changed the subject: “Are you hungry? Let’s have breakfast.”

He waved his hand, and soon, a delicious smell filled the air.

Xu Lianqiao saw the hot wontons, shrimp dumplings, and pork and scallion buns being placed on the table. Her stomach growled eagerly.

What a coincidence, they were all her favorite foods.

“Eat while it’s hot,” Ning Yuan said.

Xu Lianqiao realized that “Jiang Huai” was probably laughing at her when he said that.

She couldn’t resist. She stepped up to the table, grabbed a hot pork bun, and took a bite.

It was so delicious.

She hadn’t had a proper breakfast in a long time.

Ning Yuan shook his head and said, “Slow down, don’t choke.”

Xu Lianqiao glanced at him and noticed that Jiang Huai had sat beside her and was eating wontons.

Wasn’t this food meant for her?

As if reading her mind, “Jiang Huai” ate a wonton without looking up and said, “You shouldn’t eat too much for breakfast. It’s too much for one person.”

That struck a nerve.

Xu Lianqiao turned her head and quietly continued eating her bun.

She remembered that Jiang Huai had never eaten with her privately, except when necessary.

So how did he know exactly what food she liked?

Was it a coincidence?

They sat side by side at a small round table. A gentle breeze blew outside, and sunlight streamed through the windows, making it feel like late summer.

Half an hour later, Xu Lianqiao finished the last shrimp dumpling on the table.

Oddly enough, when Jiang Huai finished, he didn’t leave but sat quietly beside her.

When she was done eating, Ning Yuan looked around and asked, “Where’s the person who’s supposed to serve you?”

Since yesterday, he hadn’t seen the maid attending to Ah Qiao.

In weddings between wealthy families, the bride is usually served by maids.

Xu Lianqiao thought of Chun Xing.

What should she say? Could she just tell him the truth? That Jiang Huai’s mother had removed her maid because of suspicions?

But what if Jiang Huai didn’t even remember what happened that night?

So she decided to change her story:

“I’m not used to being served by others.”

That was true. She’d never been served by anyone since childhood. And as for Chun Xing, she was still unfamiliar with him.

It felt better to be alone than constantly watched.

After hearing this, Ning Yuan didn’t ask more questions. He just nodded and said, “Okay.”

He felt maybe Ah Qiao’s former maid could help resolve the situation.

_

After “Jiang Huai” left, Xu Lianqiao had nothing to do, so she lay on the table and picked up a book called “Wenyuan Yinghua” ^[1]is a famous collection of Chinese poems. and read it for a while.

She had almost finished reading this book. During the three months she was grounded, it was the only book she could read in the house.

This book was a gift from her grandfather.

She didn’t want to waste the skills she had learned, so she would read it whenever she had free time.

She always remembered how hard it was for her to learn to read.

When her grandfather was alive, she had a good life and could study with her cousins. But she was too young at that time and couldn’t learn much.

After her grandfather passed away, her second uncle took over the family house. However, he didn’t like it when she read. Her grandmother couldn’t make decisions and just told her to be patient.

In the end, she learned calligraphy from a teacher in a temple on Mifu Mountain.

That’s why she was afraid of wasting her hard-earned skills.

It felt so nice when there was ice in the room.

She didn’t expect that Jiang Huai would send someone to bring her ice after he left.

Maybe he was worried that after leaving the Jiang Mansion, she would talk badly about him.

But that didn’t make sense to her.

So she decided not to think about it.

She ended up dozing off while reading.

It wasn’t that she was lazy, but because she hadn’t had a good sleep for several days, especially after learning that Jiang Huai was going to give her a divorce letter. She suddenly felt a sense of relief and comfort.

She slowly fell asleep, leaning on the table.

The hot afternoon sun was shining, and the warm wind made the doors and windows creak.

Half asleep, Xu Lianqiao thought she heard someone say she was “good-looking.”

The voice was faint, like it was far away and close at the same time, and she couldn’t figure out who it was.

She then found herself chasing after the figure for a long time.

Eventually, she got so tired that it became clear to her…

It was him!