The affairs in the inner quarters of the household were giving Wei Shao a bit of a headache.

The reason for his headache was that, even though his mother had done something like last night’s incident, he still couldn’t bring himself to deal with her using his usual decisive and ruthless methods.

In this world, if he had to name the women he couldn’t be ruthless towards, there wouldn’t be more than three.

His grandmother was certainly one.

His mother, Madam Zhu, was another.

And then…

There were no more.

Wei Shao immediately banished that old face from his mind.

Soon, he no longer had the time or energy to think about the affairs of the inner quarters.

The border towns hadn’t experienced such a large-scale attack from the Xiongnu like the one on Shangu for several years.

A few years ago, the Chanyu had suffered several major defeats in succession. In the last one, Wei Shao had led his cavalry to pursue the Xiongnu a thousand li deep into their territory. One of the four corner courts, the Western Court, was destroyed and forced to relocate. Since then, the Xiongnu had not frequently invaded southward as before, and the borders of Youzhou had remained peaceful.

From the reports of the scouts that had been returning, it seemed that as Chanyu Yizhimo’s health was declining, the struggle for succession had become the biggest conflict in the Xiongnu court. The Crown Prince and Left Wise King Wuwei was Yizhimo’s son and heir to the Chanyu’s position, but this prince wasn’t particularly favored by the Xiongnu people. Instead, his uncle, the Rizhu King Wuzhugu, was more popular. In the court, among the important figures from the Chanyu’s offspring or notable Xiongnu families – such as the Noble Council, the Left and Right Gulie Kings, the Left and Right Grand Commanders, and the Left and Right Grand Households – more and more people were beginning to support the Rizhu King either openly or secretly. This aroused the vigilance and dissatisfaction of the Left Wise King, and the struggle with his uncle intensified day by day.

Wei Shao already knew that the Xiongnu cavalry that attacked Shangu belonged to Left Wise King Wuwei.

By choosing to launch a surprise attack on Shangu during Madam Xu’s birthday celebration, Wuwei aimed to establish prestige among his people and challenge Wuzhugu. At the same time, it was also an act of revenge against Wei Shao for the battle to defend the royal court years ago, in which Wuwei had been defeated by Wei Shao.

It was also because of that defeat that Wuwei’s prestige had been greatly damaged, allowing the Rizhu King’s faction to gradually rise to power.

The lesson from Shangu made Wei Shao vigilant once again.

In recent years, due to the peace at the border, he had focused most of his energy on the war to unify the north.

While unifying the north was certainly important, guarding the borders and resisting the Xiongnu were the foundations upon which the Wei family had built their reputation over four generations and three ducal appointments, and what the common people relied on.

The lifelong work of his grandfather and father could not end with him. Even if it meant postponing or indefinitely interrupting his goal of conquering the Central Plains, he had no choice.

Wei Shao set out early in the morning and immediately became busy. From east to west, military reports from over ten important border cities used to garrison against the Xiongnu – including Liucheng, Baitan, Baideng, Mayi, and Sanggan – were successively delivered to the government office. He discussed strengthening vigilance, arranging defenses, and dispatching troops with his subordinate generals. After finishing the paperwork, he went out of the city to inspect the camps. By the time he finished the day’s work and returned to the city, night had already fallen.

Not just nightfall, it was late.

He could have finished earlier and returned sooner.

But he inspected all the camps outside the city until he came out of the gate of the last and farthest small-scale camp. Only then did he ride his horse back by moonlight.

By this time, it was very late.

Li Dian, Zhang Jian, and others who accompanied him all thought that their lord was being so hands-on because of the recent Shangu incident. This was something they could have done on his behalf.

Wei Shao was indeed concerned about the Shangu incident.

But only he knew in his heart that it was also because of her at home.

During the busy day, he didn’t have time to think about last night’s events. Now that he was about to return, he slowly began to feel uncomfortable. He didn’t quite know how to face her again.

Thinking of what he had done to her last night… thinking of her sweating and panting as he overpowered her… thinking of her complaining why he wouldn’t release quickly, because her hands were already sore and her arms aching, in that slightly tearful tone…

Wei Shao was still on horseback when his lower abdomen suddenly grew hot, almost like the feeling after eating the immortal peach his mother had fed him last night.

So he was even more reluctant to meet her so soon.

What happened with her last night was too sudden.

This shouldn’t have mattered. She was his wife, he had relief needs, and she happened to be nearby. He could stop midway at the height of excitement and treat her that way – even he couldn’t understand what he was thinking at that moment, let alone the repeated process that followed.

He also didn’t know how he had endured without taking her completely.

All of this aside. What made him feel awkward was the degree of his involvement towards the end, which completely exceeded his expectations.

He was quite at a loss. And he wasn’t sure what attitude he should take towards her in the future – a woman from the Qiao family whom he had originally married purely as a figurehead.

…

Wei Shao finally entered the Wei mansion.

It was nearly the hour of Hai. Except for the servants on night duty and the lanterns swaying in the night breeze, the entire Wei mansion had completely merged with the darkness of night.

Wei Shao walked into the west room, crossed the courtyard, and saw in the distance the dim light spilling from the windows and doors of the middle room at the end of the corridor opposite.

His footsteps, which were not fast to begin with, slowed even more now. But finally, he reached the steps of the veranda. A maidservant who had been leaning against a pillar, waiting to close the door and almost dozing off, heard the footsteps. She turned her face, saw him return, and suddenly became alert. She hurriedly opened her eyes wide, stood up straight, and was about to call out to him when Wei Shao’s gesture stopped her.

Wei Shao stepped onto the stairs, came to the threshold, paused for a moment, then slowly pushed open the half-closed door and stepped inside.

The affairs between men and women, yin and yang, are human relations, especially between husband and wife.

He thought to himself.

…

Although the night was deep, Little Qiao could no longer fall asleep carelessly while waiting, as she had done before.

She rather hoped she could fall asleep, so she wouldn’t have to face Wei Shao again.

To give herself something to do, she started copying silk books again. She had been at it for nearly half a watch. Her originally restless mood finally began to calm down slowly.

But the slight noise he made when he opened the door to enter, though not loud, still interrupted her gradually calming thoughts.

She finished writing the character she was working on, put the brush back on the brush rack, and then stood up and turned around.

Wei Shao had already entered, his shadow flickered beside the screen, and then he appeared before her.

As soon as she saw him, she immediately felt relieved.

He looked no different from usual.

No, he should be even colder than usual. Normally when he came in, he would at least glance at her.

Tonight, with her standing right in front of him, he didn’t even cast a sidelong glance at her. He walked straight towards the bathroom with quick steps – so quick that she didn’t even have the chance to greet him with the usual pleasantries like “Husband, you’re back.”

Little Qiao looked at his back, and the worry that had troubled her all day about how to face him after their intimate contact in bed was immediately resolved.

It seemed that to him, it wasn’t even worth mentioning.

This was for the best.

Little Qiao let out a breath, turned around, and let the maidservants who had heard the commotion come in to attend to his bath.

…

Wei Shao changed his clothes and came out of the bathroom, finally raising his eyes to look at Little Qiao.

His first glance at her tonight.

He found that she was the same as usual, just looking at him like that. Seeing him come out, she put on a smile that was forced and came up to ask him, “Does my husband want some late-night snacks?”

He had originally thought that after last night’s intimacy, she would cling to him or show a shy demeanor in front of him.

But she didn’t… she looked no different from usual, still so “virtuous”.

It was as if… she had completely forgotten how she had served him in bed last night.

Except for that final part, which he refrained from taking due to his initial promise, he had become thoroughly familiar with every inch of her body.

Only one day had passed, and she seemed to have forgotten it all.

Or rather, did last night’s experience mean nothing to her at all?

Wei Shao suddenly felt displeased. A kind of displeasure at being completely ignored.

This was very rare for him.

So he walked past her expressionlessly, came to the bedside, got into bed, and said, “Not necessary. Let’s sleep.”

Little Qiao responded with an “Oh,” went to the door to tell the maidservants to disperse and rest, finally closed the door, and returned to the inner chamber.

Wei Shao lay on his back in bed, his hands crossed behind his head as a pillow. He closed his eyes for a moment, sensed that she hadn’t followed him to put out the lights and get into bed, and slowly opened his eyes. Seeing her standing at the foot of the bed by his feet, her eyes looking at him, he frowned slightly and said, “What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to sleep?”

Little Qiao said, “Husband, there’s something that has been troubling me all day. I thought I should let you know, but I’m afraid you’ll be angry with me if you find out.”

“What is it?”

“Husband, when you just came back, did you go to Mother-in-law’s room in the west?”

“No, I didn’t.”

Little Qiao’s voice became softer: “Mother-in-law… was punished by Grandmother today to face the wall in the ancestral hall… I don’t know when she’ll be able to return…”

Wei Shao seemed to be stunned for a moment, slowly sat up, and looked at Little Qiao with both eyes: “What happened?”

Little Qiao bit her lip: “Because of last night’s incident…”

Wei Shao’s gaze immediately became sharp, and he paused: “Did you go tell Grandmother?”

“Grandmother summoned me for questioning.”

Wei Shao didn’t speak, just frowned slightly.

Little Qiao then recounted the events of the day.

“…At that time, Grandmother asked me if I knew what had happened in the east room last night, saying she heard that you had flown into a rage and even kicked down the door. She also asked about the matter of fetching ice blocks here. Grandmother asked, and I dared not refuse to answer. I didn’t know about the events in the east room, so of course I wouldn’t answer recklessly. I only mentioned the matter of fetching ice blocks here…”

Wei Shao glared at her, the corner of his mouth seeming to twitch a bit: “Did you say I was under the influence of an aphrodisiac?”

“No.” Little Qiao hurriedly shook her head, “I only said you used ice blocks for a bath, that you were thirsty and asked me to pour you some water to drink, and a little bit about what happened afterward… Grandmother heard this and didn’t ask further, then I came back.”

A moment of silence.

Little Qiao glanced up at him.

His expression was very stiff as if someone had slapped him.

Seeing him like this, for some reason, Little Qiao not only didn’t feel afraid at all but rather felt like laughing.

Given the consequences of her inadvertent laugh last time, she naturally didn’t dare to laugh carelessly this time. She managed to hold it back and said in a very sincere tone: “Husband, the commotion you made in the east room last night was indeed quite loud. Even if she didn’t ask me, Grandmother would have found out sooner or later on her own. Think about it, isn’t that true? I know you didn’t want Grandmother to know, and I feel the same way. But today’s events were truly beyond my expectations. Grandmother specifically asked me, and I had no choice. If you truly blame me for talking too much, you can punish me. I’ll accept it willingly, without a word of complaint…”

“Enough!”

Wei Shao interrupted her, his expression slowly softening a bit as he let out a sigh.

“What’s said is said. Did I say I blamed you?”

He glanced at her and said flatly.

“Thank you, husband.” Little Qiao said softly.

They fell silent again for a while.

Wei Shao looked at her again and saw that she was still standing on the floor in front of the bed, her eyes lowered.

“Let’s sleep,” he finally said, lying back down himself.

Little Qiao made a sound of agreement and went over to blow out the lamp.

The room darkened. Moonlight filtered through the window paper, casting a shallow white shadow like water on the ground in front of the wall.

Wei Shao turned his face slightly, watching her hazy silhouette as she stood in front of the bed, bowed her head to undo her sash, and took off her outer clothes.

Little Qiao put her removed outer garments on the clothes rack, next to his clothes, then climbed into bed and lay down.

Spring Maiden had repeatedly instructed her that while the husband could sleep with his back to her, she must not turn her back to her husband.

She didn’t want to face him, so when she first got into bed, she usually lay on her back.

This was also the most standard sleeping posture.

She wasn’t actually that obedient. Sometimes when she woke up in the morning, she found that she had somehow ended up sleeping facing inward with her back to him.

…

Little Qiao was lying on her back, her hands properly crossed on her stomach, eyes closed, thinking about some messy things in her mind, when she felt Wei Shao, lying beside her, turn over.

He turned towards her and seemed to move closer. Little Qiao’s nerves instantly tensed up a bit.

“When Grandmother called you over for questioning during the day, from what you said, you mentioned what happened after my bath. How exactly did you tell her?”

His voice suddenly came through the darkness. It was a strange tone that Little Qiao found a bit hard to decipher.

Little Qiao hadn’t expected him to suddenly ask her this again and immediately felt embarrassed.

“I didn’t say anything improper… Grandmother guessed it herself…” Little Qiao said vaguely, taking the opportunity to turn over, her back to him.

There was silence behind her for a moment.

Suddenly, Little Qiao heard a faint creak from some corner of the bed, and Wei Shao moved closer to her. Then her ear felt hot as he leaned his face down, his lips close to her ear.

“How exactly did you tell Grandmother about what happened after my bath?” he asked slowly.

“Did you tell her that I haven’t consummated our marriage with you, that I only used my hand to serve you?” His tone was a bit strange.

His chest was almost pressing against her back and shoulder. As his hot breath blew on that ear of hers, Little Qiao’s hair stood on end, feeling both numb and itchy.

Little Qiao hurriedly shrank her head under the corner of the quilt, avoiding his mouth.

“No, no! How could I say that? Don’t worry!”

Wei Shao fell silent. Slowly, he lay back down.

Little Qiao let out a sigh of relief.