Once in a blue moon, Seventh Miss actually felt somewhat at a loss.

She lowered her head to look at Xu Fengjia’s expression. Seeing his calm demeanor, her heart instead lifted higher.

She was accustomed to Xu Fengjia’s fury. No matter how much he quarreled, he would never lay hands on Seventh Miss. As for eloquence, his was not as sharp as hers. When he was furious, she could instead remain calm and composed.

But when Xu Fengjia’s expression turned gloomy, Seventh Miss felt the atmospheric pressure drop quite low.

She bit her lower lip thinking, then waved at Lixia and the others. Several maids quietly withdrew from the room. Only then did Seventh Miss walk a few steps and sit down beside Xu Fengjia.

“You’re back?” Xu Fengjia moved slightly, turned his head to glance at Seventh Miss, greeted her flatly, then turned back to continue reading the letter at hand.

Seventh Miss nodded and said softly, “I’m back.”

Both fell silent again. Xu Fengjia lowered his head and studied that letter he had already read several times.

His lips were pressed tight. Though he had no superfluous words, his displeasure was crystal clear.

Indeed, many matters couldn’t simply be distinguished as right or wrong in black and white. Even if Seventh Miss’s decision proved correct, Xu Fengjia might not be able to process this.

He was ultimately not very old, just a high-spirited young general. Many people at his age probably didn’t yet understand that the entire world didn’t revolve around their preferences.

Seventh Miss exhaled lightly.

Making excuses for Xu Fengjia in her heart again!

She couldn’t help blaming herself.

But glancing at Xu Fengjia’s profile, her heart softened again.

In all of Great Qin, how many other men could treat her this well? Young talents like Fourth Young Master—everyone in the entire household praised Fourth Young Mistress’s good fortune. Young and already with an imperial title, Fourth Young Master at the frontier didn’t even have a concubine by his side—yet even such a good husband still left Fourth Young Mistress lonely in the household all these years.

She hesitated, tensing her body slightly. Ultimately she adjusted her sitting posture, leaning her entire body against Xu Fengjia’s broad back, her hands quietly encircling his waist.

“Are you still angry with me?”

She had intended to appear vulnerable.

But only after the words left her mouth did Seventh Miss realize with shock that her words truly overflowed with trepidation.

In front of Xu Fengjia, she rarely displayed such weakness. In front of everyone else, she never needed to play up her pitifulness to win anyone’s sympathy.

This precious moment of yielding seemed to finally please Xu Fengjia. His spine, which had stiffened from her approach, slowly softened. Yet his anger seemingly hadn’t dissipated—he only used a flat “Mm” to answer Seventh Miss’s question.

At least he was honest! Not awkward and contrary—clearly still angry but refusing to admit it.

Seventh Miss sighed inwardly.

Of course she wasn’t so boring as to refuse to lower her head even before her husband. She also knew that many times, a little technique could turn tempered steel into silk wound around one’s finger.

However, this nearly cruel war with Xu Fengjia over so many years made her easily become overly tense in his presence. Each time she lowered her head felt like personally demolishing the defensive line she had previously built.

“Shengluan…” She blew a breath into Xu Fengjia’s ear. “This time, I was wrong.”

Xu Fengjia probably never expected Seventh Miss to be so frank, so sincere.

He twisted around and gave Seventh Miss a complex look over his shoulder. He seemed somewhat mollified by her submission, yet unwilling to let this matter pass so simply.

“This matter is significant after all. Even knowing you wouldn’t agree, I should have told you first and tried to persuade you.” Seventh Miss’s self-reflection still wasn’t finished. “Acting on my own behind your back was wrong. Before, I had no one to consult with, so I could only make decisions myself. Old habits are hard to break all at once… In the future, I won’t do it again.”

Xu Fengjia’s shoulder line completely softened. He tightened his jaw, expressing his emotions with a simple “Mm.”

This “Mm” was much gentler.

Softness truly overcomes hardness—an eternal truth.

Seventh Miss smiled. She didn’t immediately release Xu Fengjia but leaned against his broad, warm back and closed her eyes. For a moment, the scene was quite warm.

Then Master Xu suddenly had his own opinion. “What do you mean ‘tell you and persuade you’?”

He raised his voice slightly, his attitude again somewhat domineering. No matter how nicely he had promised earlier, Xu Fengjia was after all a heaven’s favored young general. How could he truly regard Seventh Miss as an absolutely equal existence because of one promise? “Household matters, you’re in charge—I have nothing to say. But this kind of matter involving outside affairs, from now on you must follow—”

Seventh Miss suddenly released her hands and frowned at Xu Fengjia’s back.

With great difficulty she had been gentle toward him, and this man was going to ruin the atmosphere again.

Forget it. Expecting a man educated under Great Qin to suddenly accept her as a completely equal existence—Yang Qi, oh Yang Qi, you’re being far too naive.

She smiled faintly again at this self-mocking remark in her mind that truly had Xu Fengjia’s characteristic flavor.

Everything and everyone required adjustment. Since Xu Fengjia couldn’t suddenly become her ideal man, she could only make do by adapting to circumstances, compromising while making him compromise as well. Even considering Fourth Young Mistress’s situation, she should cherish this husband who was already doing quite well.

Xu Fengjia also stopped speaking because of Seventh Miss’s withdrawal. He raised one eyebrow and looked coldly at Seventh Miss, his attitude actually resuming some of the arrogance from their first meeting years ago.

This arrogance pierced deeply into Seventh Miss’s eyes, making her instinctively want to jump away defensively, distancing herself from the harm Xu Fengjia might bring—in all their previous interaction patterns, he always seemed this arrogant, and she always this guarded.

But the next instant, she tightened that string of reason in her mind again: You’ve made a promise. From now on, you can no longer keep him at arm’s length like this.

Forget it. Seventh Miss suddenly felt somewhat annoyed—she had too many methods to skillfully manipulate a person. Why only before Xu Fengjia did she hold back, at a loss?

“Yang Qi,” Xu Fengjia carefully scrutinized her while restating his original meaning. “The matter with the Grand Consort—let’s let it pass.”

He pulled slightly at the corner of his lips, and from his eyes and brows radiated faint cold anger. “But if in the future you act arbitrarily again, never consulting me about anything… thinking your way of handling things must definitely be right.”

His words trailed off into ominous silence, gathering into an unspoken threat.

Seventh Miss swallowed back her indignant retort: How do you know my way of handling things definitely isn’t right? If it weren’t right, how could I have survived until today?

She looked at Xu Fengjia and nodded sincerely. “I won’t do this again in the future.”

Xu Fengjia’s brow relaxed.

This was the first time he had gained the upper hand before Seventh Miss. Given this man’s base nature, Seventh Miss wouldn’t be surprised if he cheered in celebration.

But contrary to her expectations, even though she had already yielded this much and admitted fault, Xu Fengjia didn’t seem very happy. He only said dryly, “Since that’s the case, then we’re fine,” before turning back to study that letter. The atmosphere around him still carried faint tension.

Seventh Miss couldn’t help rolling her eyes.

The two sides within her heart began their tug-of-war again.

Play a fair game—he had the right to be angry. After all, Seventh Miss had indeed erred this time. If this apology still didn’t satisfy Xu Fengjia, she could only sincerely apologize again…

But he was truly too difficult to please! Though she could compromise, she didn’t want to compromise to this extent so quickly. Besides, there were plenty of ways to make him calm down! The simplest method of manipulating a man was still…

She cleared her throat softly, knelt upright on the kang, reached over Xu Fengjia’s shoulder, and used her hand to cover the letter in his fingers.

“Where did you sleep last night?” She bit Xu Fengjia’s ear while asking softly.

Xu Fengjia seemed determined to maintain his anger. He cleared his throat uncomfortably and pulled his body back slightly. “The small study.”

His low voice answered, then couldn’t help jabbing at Seventh Miss. “You don’t need to worry. I’m not base enough to stoop to that level.”

This was distorting Seventh Miss’s intent, misinterpreting her question as worry that Xu Fengjia had strayed.

Seventh Miss made no comment and firmly continued along her own train of thought. “Unfortunately, I was waiting all along for you to return… thinking about how to serve you to make you calm down.”

Sex was absolutely the best method for manipulating a man. The only reason she hadn’t adopted this tactic all along was because this move could only delay problems but never solve them.

Xu Fengjia’s body immediately stiffened under Seventh Miss’s soft words.

He almost painfully closed his eyes, swallowing hard several times before hoarsely accusing Seventh Miss, “You’re…”

Cheating? Playing dirty tricks?

Seventh Miss had no intention of denying it—who told Xu Fengjia to be such a difficult man to please?

She smiled faintly and pushed Xu Fengjia’s body backward. “Then do you actually want me to serve you or not?”

Any man in this situation couldn’t possibly say no, could he?

Xu Fengjia gritted his teeth and weighed the matter for a long while, yet seemingly still wanted to be an exception. That he could stay angry this long over such a simple matter was truly beyond Seventh Miss’s expectations.

She had to add more fuel to the fire. She extended her finger, sliding it to Xu Fengjia’s groin, lightly touching that already somewhat excited organ, then parted her lips slightly and moistened them somewhat embarrassedly.

As if accompanied by a whooshing sound, Xu Fengjia’s gaze instantly melted into scorching sparks. He complained hoarsely, “Yang Shanheng, you’re cunning…”

Seventh Miss smiled while leaning forward, proactively kissing away his complaint.

“You haven’t yet witnessed my true cunning,” she promised him between lips and teeth.

Xu Fengjia almost whimpered from the corner of his lips.

Their bedroom affairs could recently be described as gradually reaching perfection. Though Seventh Miss affected certain airs at many other times, between the sheets she was always frank and enthusiastic, and her responses undoubtedly brought Xu Fengjia even greater pleasure.

She guessed that before her, Xu Fengjia probably hadn’t had much experience. Amid military campaigns, he likely had little leisure to spend thoughts on women. Many tricks seemed completely unheard of to Xu Fengjia. Seventh Miss, though she hadn’t tasted it, had at least seen it—sometimes when she was creative, she could bring Xu Fengjia unexpected pleasure.

For instance, he seemed to rarely consider that Seventh Miss’s lips also had many other uses.

Even her chest, her hands… Xu Fengjia tangled up Seventh Miss’s hair bun, grasping a handful of long hair, controlling her rhythm. Yet at this moment, she was his master.

This was also Seventh Miss’s first time serving a man so thoroughly and carefully. She almost cruelly delayed Xu Fengjia’s climax, using the smallest stimulation to keep him at the peak yet unable to cross over for a long time.

By the time she finished, Xu Fengjia had completely dissolved into smoldering ashes. This man accustomed to burning seemed to have exhausted all his energy in the flames just released. Only after a long while did he weakly exhale a long breath, gradually loosening his tightly clenched palms.

Seventh Miss quickly pulled out a handkerchief, spitting the essence in her mouth onto the silk, then crumpled this exquisite embroidered handkerchief into a ball and tossed it into the small basket in the corner.

Her face also burned red, and she even felt slightly dizzy. Seventh Miss shook her head, pulled down her disheveled hairpins, and asked Xu Fengjia softly, “Still angry?”

Any man after such intimate exercise probably couldn’t maintain anger any longer.

Xu Fengjia raised one hand to cover his eyes and brows, making several muffled moans. He shook his head slightly, seemingly still calming his excited emotions, not speaking for a long time.

Seventh Miss couldn’t help feeling somewhat worried. She leaned down her body to carefully scrutinize Xu Fengjia’s expression, deeply fearing this person’s heart was truly too narrow, actually still angry with her after this amorous affair.

At the edge of her vision, a smile seemed to flash across Xu Fengjia’s lips, but too quickly—it had already disappeared before she could capture it. That man again put on a depressed, gloomy expression and half-sat up.

Seventh Miss immediately narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Little by little, something wrong in her heart gradually converged into a torrent.

Xu Fengjia was never a petty man. Too petty, and how could he accept the conditions she offered? How could he calm down repeatedly after one unpleasant confrontation after another to assess the situation?

Her acting on her own regarding the Grand Consort matter could of course displease him, but this displeasure should have dissipated after her sincere apology. Not to mention the verbal apology didn’t count—after that, she had also…

All the clues and deductions converging could only have one explanation. And this vague suspicion was just confirmed by Xu Fengjia’s smile at the corner of his lips.

“You—conned me?”

Her tone rose slightly sharp. As soon as Seventh Miss spoke, she instinctively confirmed this must be the correct answer—though Xu Fengjia’s face was expressionless, it was precisely his expressionlessness that betrayed him.

“You conned me!” She cried out softly, her tone full of shock and defeat. Knowing Xu Fengjia wasn’t that angry was of course good, but Seventh Miss always prided herself on cleverness—how could she have fallen twice for such a simple trick?

Xu Fengjia could no longer hold back. He burst out laughing.

“Yang Qi, oh Yang Qi,” he swept Seventh Miss into his arms in one motion, rolling over to press her beneath him, his nose affectionately nudging her cheek. “Clever all your life, foolish for once—you also have times when I can scheme against you?”

Seventh Miss flushed with anger, kicking and hitting, but was easily pinned down by Master Xu using his size advantage. She could only express her dissatisfaction verbally. “Deceitful! Scoundrel!”

“I lead troops into battle—how can I not be deceitful?” Xu Fengjia laughed heartily, the depression on his face swept away entirely. “This is my first time winning against you!”

“Doesn’t count, doesn’t count!” Seventh Miss pounded his shoulder in frustration, rarely showing such childish behavior. “Hateful, you even tricked me into, I…”

Xu Fengjia’s eyes deepened. “I tricked you into what? At worst, I’ll return the favor.”

His hand also slid between Seventh Miss’s legs. Seventh Miss’s head spun as she desperately clamped her legs together in refusal. “We’re about to eat! The children still need to come pay respects…”

She should have known teaching oral skills to Xu Fengjia was essentially tying a noose around her own neck!

The young general at least retained a thread of reason. Hearing Seventh Miss’s excuse, he reluctantly stopped, yet couldn’t help chuckling. “Is this your first day knowing me? Just this one matter where you’re in the right—you really thought I’d be angry to this extent? You really fell for my bluff!”

“If you say one more word—” Seventh Miss pounded his chest hard, finally at her wit’s end, bringing out her ultimate move. “I, I won’t talk to you anymore!”

The room immediately filled again with Xu Fengjia’s hearty laughter.