The morning sunlight filtered through the window paper, gradually dispelling the darkness inside the room.

The west chamber in the rear quarters of Pine Moon Hall was Wei Rao and Lu Zhuo’s bathing room. Water rippled gently inside, occasionally accompanied by one or two bone-deep coquettish scoldings.

In the adjacent side room, Bitao and Liu Ya sat shoulder to shoulder on embroidery stools. They had grown accustomed to the sounds from inside, each holding a precious sword and carefully polishing them with special silk cloths. It was the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, and this morning the Young Master had accompanied the Princess to practice swordplay together. The two masters had different sword techniques, but their forms flowed like clouds and water, truly like an immortal couple descended from heaven.

It’s just that even immortals enjoyed marital pleasures.

After polishing twice, both swords were sheathed. Bitao remained to guard in case the masters called, while Liu Ya carried the two swords away to store them properly.

When Liu Ya returned, she heard the surging water sounds inside growing more intense, as if some mischievous child was paddling faster and faster with a boat oar.

Liu Ya looked at Bitao, Bitao looked at Liu Ya, and both blushed and smiled.

After another two quarters of an hour, footsteps could finally be heard moving inside.

Both maids were prepared to serve.

However, their masters didn’t call for any service. Shortly after, the door curtain lifted, and the Young Master in white undergarments emerged carrying the soft and languid Princess, quickly heading to the east room.

Bitao and Liu Ya first tidied the bathing room, as there were certain traces related to their masters’ privacy that couldn’t be seen by the younger maids.

In the east room, Lu Zhuo placed Wei Rao on the bed and lay down beside her, drawing her into his arms with one hand.

Her face still bore the seductive flush of passion, her long eyelashes drooping lazily.

Lu Zhuo hadn’t seen Wei Rao this relaxed in a long time. Ever since he beat Han Liao, Wei Rao had worried that Zhou Huizhen would be hurt. Later, when Shou’an Jun successfully obtained the divorce papers for Zhou Huizhen, finally severing the relationship between the Zhou and Han families, Wei Rao worried that the matter had been resolved too easily and Han Liao might still have hidden schemes.

She appeared carefree and unrestrained, but her heart held too many people.

“Shall we ride to the leisure estate today?” Rubbing her brow, Lu Zhuo smiled.

Though Old Madam didn’t want Wei Rao visiting the leisure estate frequently, on the Dragon Boat Festival, as juniors, they should still accompany Old Madam for a meal.

Wei Rao opened her eyes. Seeing that Lu Zhuo was serious, she hesitated: “You only have three days off…”

Lu Zhuo interrupted her: “Three days off—one day accompanying you riding, two days at home. Grandmother won’t say anything.”

Since he had this intention, Wei Rao naturally accepted with a smile.

After breakfast, the couple visited Spring Peace Hall and Loyalty Hall respectively, then walked toward the main gate of the Duke’s mansion.

Second Young Master Lu Ya was also accompanying his wife Qiao Shi back to her maternal home today. Lu Ya had just helped Qiao Shi into the carriage when he heard the steward greeting his elder brother. Lu Ya signaled Qiao Shi to wait, turned around, and smiled at Lu Zhuo and Wei Rao: “I just saw Fei Mo—are big brother and sister-in-law going out riding?”

Lu Zhuo nodded: “Exactly. Where are you two going?”

Lu Ya said, “It’s the festival, so I’m accompanying Wanyun to pay respects to her father and mother-in-law.”

After the brothers exchanged pleasantries, one boarded the carriage while the other mounted fine horses with Wei Rao, departing separately.

Qiao Shi sat in the carriage, peering through the curtain gap at Lu Zhuo and Wei Rao riding side by side past them, watching Wei Rao’s flying riding skirt hem disappear from view. After Lu Ya got in the carriage, Qiao Shi said softly, “Big brother and sister-in-law have such a good relationship. Whatever sister-in-law wants to do, big brother happily accompanies her.”

Lu Ya smiled: “Are you saying I’m not good enough for you?”

The two had been married less than a year and were still in the newlywed stage. Facing her husband’s gentle teasing, Qiao Shi shot him a reproachful glance, then leaned against Lu Ya’s shoulder, taking his hand: “You’re good to me, but it’s different from how big brother treats sister-in-law. What sister-in-law does could be called rebellious. If I learned from my sister-in-law and threw your teacup in public, could you not be angry?”

Lu Ya thought about it and said, “If I had offended you, I wouldn’t be angry.”

Qiao Shi hadn’t expected her husband to say this. Her heart sweetened, but she still said, “No matter how angry I am with you, I wouldn’t disrespect you in front of others.”

Lu Ya somewhat understood his wife’s meaning.

He smiled and squeezed Qiao Shi’s hand: “You have a gentle temperament, while your sister-in-law is rather willful. But big brother likes sister-in-law that way. As long as big brother likes it, why should we mind?”

Qiao Shi quickly said: “I’m not minding. I just think that sister-in-law will be the clan matriarch of our Duke’s mansion in the future. She should restrain some of her temper and can’t continue being so headstrong. Like Old Madam—virtuous and highly respected, that’s befitting the dignity of a family’s matriarch.”

Lu Ya felt his wife’s words made sense. However, Grandmother was still alive, and the sister-in-law was still young. When sister-in-law had children, she would surely gradually restrain her playful nature. Given time, she would certainly become like Mother and Grandmother. Big brother indulged sister-in-law now, but Lu Ya felt that deep down, big brother also hoped the Princess could emulate Grandmother.

After the Dragon Boat Festival, on the twentieth of the fifth month, the Duke Ying Mansion’s only daughter, Lu Changning, was getting married.

The groom was Third Madam’s maternal nephew, the legitimate grandson of Minister of Justice Du, Du Rujun, twenty-one years old and serving in the Court of Judicial Review.

Wei Rao had never met Du Rujun before. When the groom came to fetch the bride, Wei Rao stood with sister-in-law Qiao Shi to observe the ceremony. Only then did Wei Rao get to know Du Rujun—a handsome young man with an upright bearing from a noble family. With the Third Madam’s connection, Lu Changning had naturally met Du Rujun before the betrothal. Given Lu Changning’s temperament, since she agreed to marry him, she must be very satisfied with Du Rujun.

Wei Rao and Lu Zhuo had inquired about Du Rujun, and Lu Zhuo’s words showed great appreciation for this cousin-in-law.

After Lu Changning’s wedding ended, Wei Rao couldn’t wait to stay temporarily at the Princess’s mansion.

No matter how large Duke Ying Mansion was, with four or five full households living there and Lu Zhuo’s generation of male cousins all grown up, the many people made the residence seem less grand. Living there certainly wasn’t as comfortable as the Princess’s mansion, which belonged entirely to Wei Rao alone.

If not for He Shi needing to prepare for He Weiyu’s wedding, Wei Rao would have wanted to invite He Shi to live there together.

She went to invite Duchess Ying, but the old lady smilingly declined. At her age, pleasure was no longer so important. Staying at home, where she could see her children and grandchildren daily, gave her the most peace of mind.

While Duchess Ying was reluctant to leave the Lu family, Lu Zhuo began a lifestyle of spending two days at the Princess’s mansion and one day at the Duke’s mansion.

The Princess’s mansion had too many places suitable for young people to indulge in pleasure. This summer, Wei Rao and Lu Zhuo lived at the Princess’s mansion in a completely shameless manner. Since there were no elders to restrain them and no servants dared disturb them, the newlywed couple immersed themselves in indescribable happiness, almost forgetting to return.

Among the Princess’s mansion’s many courtyards and halls, Wei Rao’s favorite was Flowing Cloud Tower.

Flowing Cloud Tower was situated at the heart of the Princess’s mansion’s garden lake.

The heart island was surrounded by water on all sides, and the island also had an inner lake. The Flowing Cloud Tower was built in the center of the inner lake, a three-story pavilion. The bottom floor served as a hall, the second floor could be used for reading or playing music, and the third floor was the master’s sleeping quarters. When Princess Changle built Flowing Cloud Tower, she had put much thought into it, commissioning skilled craftsmen to design a mechanism. When activated, the roof of the third floor could retract to both sides, leaving only a thin layer of gauze. Lying on the large bed below, one could see flowing clouds during the day and observe the galaxy at night. During rain or cold weather, closing the mechanism would restore it to an ordinary roof.

This summer, Wei Rao lived almost entirely in Flowing Cloud Tower—sometimes observing fish by the lake, sometimes practicing swordplay barefoot on the long bamboo bridge, sometimes inviting singing girls over to listen to music and watch dances. Of course, if Lu Zhuo came to accompany her, Wei Rao would never call the singing girls over. She watched singing girls purely for appreciation, but who knew what Lu Zhuo might think upon seeing beautiful singing girls?

Lu Zhuo also loved Flowing Cloud Tower. He loved pressing Wei Rao against the window on evenings when all servants were dismissed, helping her appreciate the night scenery. He loved lying face-up on the bed, able to see both Wei Rao with her long hair flying in the lake breeze and the starry sky above her head.

But no matter how much they loved it, when the intense summer heat ended, they still had to return.

On their last night at Flowing Cloud Tower, after bathing again, Lu Zhuo held Wei Rao with one arm and cushioned his head with the other, suddenly mentioning something: “There will be a batch of frontier general transfers next year.”

Wei Rao was half-leaning against him, blinking her eyelashes while looking at the stars, thinking of nothing, in a state of utmost comfort and ease. However, when Lu Zhuo spoke, he drew her out of this state.

Frontier general transfers…

Wei Rao gathered the thin gauze undergarment on her shoulders, sat up, and looked at Lu Zhuo: “You want to go to the frontier?”

Lu Zhuo observed her expression but couldn’t read anything from it.

Still, he admitted: “Yes. The capital is too comfortable for me.”

Though the frontier was harsh, he had lived there for eight years and was long accustomed to it. The military camp occasionally produced troublemakers, frontier officials often had restless behavior, and the foreign cavalry beyond the borders, ready to stir up trouble, required constant vigilance. Even the frontier’s wind and snow were more violent and magnificent than the capital’s.

Lu Zhuo was a military general. At the frontier, he had things to do, but in the Shenwu Army barracks, aside from training troops more strictly, everything else was too peaceful.

Lu Zhuo was also accustomed to long-term separation from his family. After leaving, he would miss them, but not too frequently. This time, having thoughts of external transfer, the only thing Lu Zhuo couldn’t let go of was Wei Rao.

He hoped Wei Rao would go to the frontier with him.

Wei Rao looked at Lu Zhuo’s handsome, peaceful face and could understand his thoughts.

When they were newlyweds, Lu Zhuo had once mentioned taking her to a frontier transfer. At that time Wei Rao wasn’t willing to go with him—because her family was all in the capital and she couldn’t bear to leave so far, because the two had just gotten together and Wei Rao wasn’t certain their married life would go smoothly, and because returning to the Lu family was a new life for her. She hadn’t even properly experienced the new life before suddenly having to go to another strange place—Wei Rao instinctively resisted.

But now, she and Lu Zhuo had been married for almost half a year.

Mother and younger brother lived well in the imperial palace. Cousin Huizhu was married, cousin Huizhen had divorced and returned to the leisure estate, her relationship with Grandmother improved daily, and Grandmother had someone to accompany her.

Her relatives didn’t need her to worry, and at Duke Ying Mansion, the old lady liked her but didn’t need her daily company. The Lu family had so many children and grandchildren—the old lady had plenty to worry about. He Shi treated her kindly and was a good mother-in-law, just constantly hoping she would get pregnant—some words said too often became rather irritating. Second Madam and Third Madam’s households had no deep friendship with her, nor any enmity—polite and courteous, calm and uneventful. Fourth Madam was focused on educating Little Sixth Young Master and was pregnant with another, too busy for anything else. Even Lu Changning, whose temperament matched Wei Rao’s, had already been married.

Various properties had Eunuch Wei helping to manage them. During the days when Lu Zhuo was on duty, having nothing to do and disliking social calls, Wei Rao found life increasingly tedious.

“Then, if you transfer out, what about me?” Wei Rao asked, scratching Lu Zhuo’s palm.

Lu Zhuo grasped her hand and sat up, looking down at her: “Will you come with me?”

Wei Rao pursed her lips and lowered her head: “I heard the frontier is too cold in winter and too sunny in summer. I don’t want to go.”

Lu Zhuo wanted to coax her to go, but he couldn’t deceive her—the frontier’s conditions were indeed harsh in every way.

“Don’t go, alright?” Wei Rao leaned into his embrace, her arms encircling his waist.

Faced with such feminine wiles, Lu Zhuo smiled bitterly and agreed: “Alright. When you want to go someday, I’ll request an external transfer then.”

He thought that someday, Wei Rao would like him enough—like him enough to be willing to go to the frontier for the sake of staying together with him.

Wei Rao had been deliberately teasing him to see how he would choose. Getting Lu Zhuo’s answer, Wei Rao hummed softly and compromised as if yielding: “Fine then. Since you want to go so much, I’ll accompany you on this trip. If I really can’t stand it, I’ll abandon you and come back by myself.”

Lu Zhuo’s heart trembled as he lifted Wei Rao’s chin: “You’re willing?”

Wei Rao smiled and nodded.

Lu Zhuo’s eyes darkened as he suddenly cupped her face and leaned down to kiss her.