Seventh Miss froze immediately.

Even Lixia looked as if she’d just swallowed a raw egg whole and was choking, eyes wide with shock.

The two instinctively exchanged glances before Seventh Miss turned back to watch Qiqiao’s retreating figure.

She looked into the room again—from this angle, the third western room appeared empty. Xu Fengjia didn’t seem to be in the room either.

Lixia gently pushed Seventh Miss and asked in an inquiring, low voice, “Should this servant catch up and see?”

Seventh Miss considered for a moment, then nodded.

“Be gentle.” Her voice seemed squeezed out from between her teeth. “Don’t wrongly accuse a good person.”

Lixia nodded and hurriedly turned to leave. Seventh Miss slowed her steps. Just as she entered the room, Xu Fengjia emerged from the washing room, water droplets still clinging to the tips of his hair, his body loosely draped in a white cotton undershirt—looking as if he’d just bathed.

“Why did you come back to bathe in the middle of the day?” Seventh Miss raised her voice slightly, then turned to glance at the doorway. “That girl Qiqiao just rushed out with a startled expression, looking as if she’d seen a ghost. I thought something had happened!”

“Oh,” Xu Fengjia waved his hand dismissively. “This morning I sparred with some brothers and worked up quite a sweat. I came back just now to wash up. It was—it was that girl called Zhongyuan who brought the water. She probably didn’t know, and came in while I was getting dressed.”

For an unmarried young girl to see such a provocative scene, to blush and hurriedly flee—that wasn’t anything unusual.

Seventh Miss looked at Xu Fengjia skeptically but didn’t press further.

“Has His Majesty seen Colonel Liao yet?” She sat down at the table and changed the subject. “Now that it’s cold and still broad daylight, you should dress properly…”

Xu Fengjia pursed his lips. “So many buttons—who has the patience to fasten them all?”

He looked at Seventh Miss with a shameless expression.

Seventh Miss could only sigh while walking to stand before Young Master Xu, fastening the exquisitely crafted button loops for him. These small items were made so intricately that it truly wasn’t easy for rough men to fasten them properly.

“When you were in the military camp before, did you have the patience then?” She interrogated Xu Fengjia while working.

Hot breath swept past her ear as Xu Fengjia’s voice flashed with low laughter. “In the military camp, I didn’t have my wife attending to me.”

Though this man had matured considerably, that bullying, domineering aura of his hadn’t diminished in the slightest—he was mischievous at every turn.

Seventh Miss rolled her eyes at Xu Fengjia.

In the past, she would have forcibly suppressed the smile at her lips to prevent Xu Fengjia from becoming smug.

But at this moment, her mind was filled entirely with Qiqiao’s expression when she left.

Qiqiao was a clever girl. She couldn’t fail to know what dire fate awaited maids who presumptuously seduced male masters… She had also witnessed Seventh Miss’s methods.

Could she truly be so blinded by lust that she planned to… But surely not by walking in when Xu Fengjia was bare? No matter how one looked at it, she’d have better odds entering while she herself was undressed. Walking in when Xu Fengjia was completely naked—aside from feasting her eyes, what could she accomplish?

But if she’d simply entered the wrong room, why would she be so agitated that she couldn’t even greet her mistress?

She lowered her eyes, fastened the last blessing knot, and naturally looked up at Xu Fengjia.

Xu Fengjia was also looking down, focused intently on her.

When their eyes met, both were somewhat confused for a moment. Xu Fengjia’s gaze toward Seventh Miss was full of contemplation, lacking the usual glint of demand and aggression.

Seventh Miss’s gaze gradually deepened. Eventually, these two gazes hot enough to melt glass focused on Seventh Miss’s lips.

She shrank back slightly, leaning her body backward just a bit, making Xu Fengjia’s line of sight lock with her eyes again.

Her heart wasn’t without curiosity—given Xu Fengjia’s usual behavior, by now he would have already blocked her retreat.

But today he didn’t move, only maintaining this passive posture, as if waiting for something.

Was he waiting for her permission? Or because of the earlier incident, did he feel somewhat guilty after all…

Chaotic thoughts billowed into cotton-like clouds, churning and rolling in Seventh Miss’s mind, stirring up waves of dizziness.

Yet as if to disguise her hesitation and indecision, her hand unconsciously moved to caress Xu Fengjia’s cheek, seeming to have a will of its own, lightly tracing his features.

In this moment, Seventh Miss knew she loved Xu Fengjia.

She wasn’t an innocent girl experiencing her first awakening of love, pure as a blank sheet in matters between men and women. The difference between fondness and love—Seventh Miss understood it well enough.

She had once liked Xu Fengjia, which was why she felt helpless and hurt by her own rationality, why she wavered and hesitated. But this fondness ultimately wasn’t true love. Seventh Miss couldn’t be so romantic as to fall hopelessly in love with someone after just a few meetings.

But the scene before her eyes was another matter entirely.

This man wasn’t a good husband. He himself admitted this. His first wife had died unnaturally. He wasn’t close to his sons. She could hardly imagine him with a loving father’s expression. He was too young, very unstable; too excellent, with hordes of young women who would want to share him in the future; he had too strong a desire to conquer—his demands on her were so urgent that she suspected she was merely a hard bone to gnaw, a game to him. Just moments ago, he’d made a young maiden flee the room with a flushed face… The rights and wrongs of that matter still hadn’t been clarified at all.

Yet even after understanding all this, she still hesitated about whether to step back, with reason urging her while emotion held her back.

She was probably truly falling in love with Xu Fengjia.

Seventh Miss sighed softly. She tried to withdraw her hand, but the moment she moved, Xu Fengjia grasped her soft, smooth hand. He turned his head to gaze at Seventh Miss’s hand. After a moment, he raised his eyebrows and looked at her again.

Only then did she realize Xu Fengjia’s eyes had darkened, his expression deep and unfathomable.

Though both their clothes were still perfectly neat, Seventh Miss felt that at this moment, the room was even more stifling than when they were doing romantic things in bed. And never before had she felt so exposed as she did now.

She shook her head and firmly applied more force, withdrawing her hand.

The disappointment in Xu Fengjia’s eyes vanished in a flash.

Seventh Miss sighed toward his collar.

She moved a step closer.

Xu Fengjia’s breathing suddenly became rough.

Seventh Miss could no longer see his eyes. All she could see was a stretch of snow-white fabric—Xu Fengjia’s shoulder.

Just this small step had already made Seventh Miss’s heart pound like a drum.

On their wedding night, she was unwilling but couldn’t retreat. There were too many paths in life that she was pushed to walk, but this step was entirely her own choice.

She lowered her eyes, grasped the button on Xu Fengjia’s chest, lightly playing with the exquisite blessing knot, bit her lip, maintaining this silent invitation, quietly waiting.

A low, hoarse sigh of relief reached Seventh Miss’s ears.

Finally.

She could feel the tension in Xu Fengjia’s shoulders suddenly completely relax. Though he didn’t say it aloud, every movement of his entire body seemed to be shouting: “Finally!”

His fingers quickly found Seventh Miss’s chin, gently lifting her face to meet his.

This kiss wasn’t their first.

In previous intimate moments, Xu Fengjia had kissed her, but those kisses were always one-sided and hasty. Seventh Miss had never parted her lips for him, and he had never demanded it.

Since Xu Fengjia’s second return, they’d been like dancers in a strange dance. He always followed the steps—though demanding, never excessive.

When it came to the critical moment, he was actually very gentle, only lightly licking Seventh Miss’s lips. Only after a long while did he deepen the kiss, tearing open in this moment the surging emotions between them, the unspoken intimacy, fiercely and frantically demanding all of Seventh Miss’s responses.

Seventh Miss felt dizzy and lightheaded, her toes curling.

She had never—or perhaps she no longer remembered if she had in her previous life—experienced such an intense kiss. In this moment, her senses and memories all surfaced. Her world contained only two points: herself and the man invading her lips. She felt Xu Fengjia’s hand reach into her collar, tugging at her clothes, exploring her body. Yet what she thought wasn’t retreat but cooperate, cooperate, cooperate. All her feminine instincts emerged, and Xu Fengjia’s movements were no longer invasion, no longer demands, but had finally, genuinely become caresses.

Then Xu Fengjia suddenly pulled back, interrupting the kiss.

Seventh Miss was momentarily still dazed. She blinked at Xu Fengjia, watching him withdraw his hand—at this moment, Young Master Xu’s expression was absolutely spectacular—to straighten her clothing.

Then she heard footsteps outside the third western room.

“Madam, lunch has been set in the western side room.” Shangyuan’s voice came through the door panel with such a flat tone, as if completely unaware she was interrupting anything. She spoke while pushing the door open, curiously glancing at Xu Fengjia, then reminding Seventh Miss, “Just now Fifth Young Madam sent someone with a message saying she’ll enter Leshan Residence late this afternoon. Come after the self-chiming clock strikes three. She specifically told you this to prevent you from making a wasted trip.”

Seventh Miss looked at the chagrin on Xu Fengjia’s face and suddenly couldn’t suppress her laughter.

“Mm, I understand.” She turned and followed Shangyuan out of the third western room. “From now on, always knock before entering.”

Shangyuan was initially confused, but looking back at Xu Fengjia, she suddenly understood and immediately blushed. “This servant was rash!”

Seventh Miss only smiled. “The rash one wasn’t you.”

She couldn’t help turning back to give Xu Fengjia a teasing glance before smiling as she entered the western side room.

#

After finishing lunch, no matter how much Xu Fengjia wanted to continue their intimacy, there was no opportunity.

His Majesty had finally decided to meet with Colonel Liao to understand the case. Just after lunch, he sent a young eunuch to the household to summon Xu Fengjia into the palace.

Recently His Majesty had become active in his thinking about going to the South Seas and often called Xu Fengjia into the palace to understand the situation. The Yang family was also battling fiercely with Grand Secretary Jiao, so someone from the Xu family was needed from time to time to go discuss matters. Duke Pingguo was advanced in years and his health wasn’t great, so Xu Fengjia had to visit the Yang family regularly. Plus the Sun family and his own friends—he was incredibly busy. Seventh Miss had long grown accustomed to his comings and goings.

After eating and napping, before Lixia arrived to attend her, Seventh Miss brought Shangyuan into Leshan Residence.

She arrived right on time. Just as she entered the flower hall, she came face to face with a woman. Seventh Miss nearly collided with her and her steps stumbled. The woman quickly knelt to apologize. “This servant wasn’t watching and bumped into Young Madam.”

Seventh Miss glanced around the flower hall and saw Fifth Young Madam already seated in the armchair. She understood immediately.

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” She smiled slightly. “Which household are you from? You look unfamiliar to me.”

The woman obediently answered, “This servant is the wife of Steward Zhang from the outer accounting office. Everyone calls me Steward Zhang’s wife.”

Just from how Fifth Young Madam had specifically delayed Seventh Miss by a quarter hour to privately give matters to Steward Zhang’s wife to handle, one could tell she must be one of Fifth Young Madam’s trusted confidants.

Seventh Miss nodded and instead urged her on. “You’re in such a hurry—do you have matters to handle? Go ahead, don’t delay.”

She smiled and entered the room, greeting Fifth Young Madam. “Fifth Sister-in-law arrived early.”

Fifth Young Madam waved her hand. “I just arrived too. Steward Zhang’s wife came early.”

The two exchanged smiles. Seventh Miss didn’t pursue details and sat down in a grand master’s chair to the side, quietly listening to Fifth Young Madam manage the household.

With such a large family, every day there was eating and drinking, dressing and wearing—countless trivial matters. In the morning, Fifth Young Madam handled major household procurement. In the afternoon, she mostly dealt with trivial matters like whose matron had fallen ill, whose young servant had come of age, or some family seeking favor to let someone go study. Yet Seventh Miss listened attentively.

Fifth Young Madam’s work abilities were indeed quite capable.

Though she might have simplified many matters to just “follow old precedents” or smoothing things over without pursuing details further because Seventh Miss was watching, just from how Fifth Young Madam could readily dispose of all these trivial matters, one could tell this person actually kept perfectly clear accounts in her heart.

When the Grand Madam managed the household, she often just said “you handle it” and washed her hands of matters. Such trivial issues rarely reached her. This was naturally because the stewards were all her dowry servants who could be completely trusted, but it also showed the Grand Madam’s character was rather careless—she wasn’t actually suited to household management. Fifth Young Madam was different. She inquired tirelessly about many trivial small matters.

Soon it was late afternoon. Neither Seventh Miss nor Fifth Young Madam returned to their own courtyards. After finishing household matters, they entered the small flower hall to attend the Grand Dowager.

The Grand Dowager was naturally much warmer toward Fifth Young Madam, pulling her to sit beside her. Back and forth, she asked entirely about Fifth Young Master’s daily trivial matters. Fifth Young Master was also in his twenties, but in the Grand Dowager’s mouth, he sounded like a five-year-old baby—she wanted to know every detail down to how many bites of food he’d eaten.

Yet Fifth Young Madam seemed well prepared and answered in great detail.

“Yesterday when on duty, he was dragged out drinking again. You know Fifth Master’s temperament—didn’t he come back somewhat intoxicated again?”

“Yes, Grandmother is right, socializing among friends is unavoidable… I had Ruyi attend Fifth Master to sleep…”

Fifth Young Madam spoke while smiling at Seventh Miss.

“You spoil that girl Ruyi too much!” The Grand Dowager seemed somewhat disapproving. “Every few days you arrange for her to attend Fifth Master—you should still leave some space for yourself.”

Though she said this, the Grand Dowager’s eyes and brows were full of deep smiles.

Fifth Young Madam blushed slightly, lowered her head to twist her handkerchief without speaking, but gladly accepted this criticism that was actually praise.

The two simultaneously looked toward Seventh Miss. Even the maids attending in the room involuntarily directed their gazes to Seventh Miss’s face.

This entire performance—wasn’t it all for this moment?

Seventh Miss sneered coldly in her heart.

She propped her chin, meeting everyone’s gazes with interest for a while. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but in the end, only lightly yawned.

The atmosphere in the room immediately became awkward.

After such elaborate staging, to receive only a yawned response from the audience—never mind anything else, just this insult to their acting skills alone was enough to anger Buddha.

Yet the Grand Dowager’s cultivation was still high. She smiled slightly and set the matter aside, asking Seventh Miss, “Fengjia won’t be entering Leshan Residence tonight either?”

“The Heir entered the palace. Who knows when he’ll come out.” Seventh Miss cooperatively steered the topic to Xu Fengjia.

After sitting at Leshan Residence for a while and making a brief visit to Qingping Courtyard, Seventh Miss returned to Mingde Hall with Shangyuan.

“Fifth Young Madam really went too far.” As soon as they entered the third western room, Shangyuan couldn’t wait to defend Seventh Miss’s honor. “She even deliberately sent you away to speak with the account offices…”

Her words weren’t even half finished when she stopped.

Lixia and Qiqiao were whispering in the room, both with grave expressions. Seeing Seventh Miss arrive, they stopped talking. Qiqiao looked completely anxious, uneasily observing Seventh Miss’s expression, tears already gathering in her eyes.

Seventh Miss waved at Shangyuan. Without a sound, Shangyuan quietly withdrew from the third western room and firmly closed the wooden door.

Lixia took a deep breath and spoke softly. “This matter… this servant doesn’t know the proper course, so it’s better to let Qiqiao tell Madam herself!”

She gently pushed Qiqiao.

Qiqiao immediately knelt to the ground, crawling on her knees toward Seventh Miss, and clutched Seventh Miss’s legs.

“Young Madam!” Her voice was full of sobs. “This servant… this servant is innocent!”