Chapter 18

Yu Qingci stared blankly at the scenery in the courtyard, not moving at all.

Xiaxi stood beside her and reminded her again. “Consort, Madam Zhu has come. She says she wishes to see you.”

This time, she spoke a little louder, and Yu Qingci was abruptly startled awake. She looked at her in confusion.

“Madam Zhu…” Xiaxi had only said two words.

“Oh, her.” Yu Qingci waved a hand. “I won’t see her. Organize the things she sent over and bring them to me to look over. If there are no problems, release Zhuling and let them leave together.”

If Madam Zhu saw her, she would most likely only say words begging for mercy. It was better not to meet her.

Xiaxi answered, and before long, returned with a list that she handed to Yu Qingci.

Yu Qingci looked at the record filling a full five pages and clicked her tongue lightly. “They really were greedy.”

“Madam Zhu said she has retrieved everything she could retrieve, and for the things she could not retrieve, she has done her best to compensate with silver. She hopes Young Miss will be magnanimous and leave mother and daughter a path to survival.”

“A path to survival, naturally, is there.” Yu Qingci set the list down. “Tell Madam Zhu and Zhuling that from now on, they are not allowed to set foot in the capital again.”

Otherwise, who knew whether they would stir up some other trouble?

Yu Qingci truly had no heart to care about Madam Zhu and her daughter. After giving her instructions, she stared absentmindedly at the servants moving the luohan couch.

Today, she had not forgotten to instruct the servants to replace the soft couch. She had even especially reminded them to add another layer of soft padding.

Tonight, at last, she would not have to squeeze into bed with Yan Lingshu.

That was what she said, but why did she seem a little disappointed inside?

Yu Qingci irritably scratched her hair.

Qin Shuang’s words kept echoing in her ears from every angle, making it impossible for her mind to quiet down.

What did she mean by “go one step further”?

Did it mean they had to toss and turn over and over again like on the wedding night?

Where would she get the courage for that?

Besides, biting the back of the neck for a mark was still all right. At least it did not touch any truly sensitive places. But if it was like the wedding night…

Yu Qingci could not help clenching her hand. Her body seemed to still remember the feeling from that night, soft as clouds and completely pliant beneath her touch.

Yu Qingci shook her head hard.

She could not think about it anymore. There was nothing worth worrying over. Perhaps before Yan Lingshu’s rain-dew period arrived, Yan Lingshu would no longer need her scent pheromones.

Before Yu Qingci could dispel these wild thoughts, the gatekeeper came to report that the martial arts master she had invited had arrived.

This martial arts master had naturally been invited by Yan Lingshu, but outwardly, it was done in Yu Qingci’s name.

Yu Qingci went to meet her.

The person who came was called Li Tingyun. She was about thirty-something, a female Qianyuan, tall and strongly built, with a stern face. Just one look at her inspired fear.

Her footsteps were nearly silent, enough to show how strong her martial foundation was.

Since she was taking a master, Yu Qingci was not careless about it. She served her master tea.

She had only just called out “Master” when Li Tingyun tossed her a long wooden staff.

“I will have to trouble the consort to spar with me first, so I can see what foundation the consort has.”

After saying this, Li Tingyun did not wait for Yu Qingci to react. She swung the wooden staff in her hands and swept it over.

Yu Qingci was startled and hurriedly dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding having the staff sweep across the bridge of her nose.

There was not much martial arts knowledge in her mind, only some self-defense techniques she had learned in her original world. Fortunately, her reactions were sharp and her strength was great, so for a while, she did not fall too far behind.

The two people in the courtyard exchanged blows back and forth.

Yan Lingshu watched from behind the flower wall.

Li Tingyun had not used her full strength. She pressed forward step by step, in truth testing Yu Qingci’s bottom line to see whether she was hiding anything.

As for Yu Qingci’s performance, it truly could not be called very good. She really looked exactly as she had said, with no martial arts knowledge at all.

“Consort, be careful!” Li Tingyun shouted sharply.

Yu Qingci had no time to react. Under a force-borrowing, force-returning strike from Li Tingyun, the webbing between her thumb and index finger ached from the shock. She almost failed to keep hold of the wooden staff, and her steps staggered backward several times.

Li Tingyun withdrew her staff. Looking at Yu Qingci’s swaying figure, she furrowed her brows. “Your reactions are not timely, your moves are chaotic, you have no strategy in response, and your stance is unstable. It seems the consort truly never learned martial arts before.”

The legitimate daughter of a military family had actually turned into such a useless person. She really did not know how Marquis Linyuan had raised her daughter.

Yu Qingci’s face flushed under Li Tingyun’s line-by-line criticism. She lowered the wooden staff and cupped her hands in salute. “I ask Master for guidance.”

“With your current state, you are not yet at the point where guidance can be discussed,” Li Tingyun said without any politeness. read the original at bailiantales.com“What the consort needs to do now is first train your stance. Today, you will begin with horse stance.”

The first step in learning martial arts: hold the horse stance properly.

Yu Qingci held horse stance for an entire afternoon. At the end, Li Tingyun even required her to run laps around the princess’s residence and keep increasing her speed.

By the time she finished running, Yu Qingci felt as if her legs were no longer her own.

She stood in the courtyard with both hands braced on her knees. Her nose twitched, and she smelled a trace of fragrance.

Her body moved before her reason could. Yu Qingci walked forward several steps, and her whole person directly collapsed into Yan Lingshu’s arms.

“Your Highness, I can’t anymore. I really can’t…” She rested her chin on Yan Lingshu’s shoulder, borrowing her strength to stand, as if she might fall down at any moment.

Yan Lingshu lifted her hand and lightly supported her back. “Tomorrow, Master Li will also go with us to Qian County.”

In other words, after traveling tomorrow, she would still have to keep training!

“Your Highness, you’re so cruel. Wuwuwu…” Yu Qingci whimpered.

Yan Lingshu lightly patted her back. “All right. I know Qingci is very tired. Go bathe first, all right? After bathing, we will dine together.”

Yan Lingshu spoke to her in a tone like she was coaxing a child, her voice gentle and pleasant to hear.

Yu Qingci smelled the fragrance on her body and felt even less willing to move.

Even knowing Yan Lingshu was acting, she still enjoyed it very much. “Then I’ll go bathe. Your Highness, wait for me to come back before eating.”

As Yu Qingci spoke, she hooked Yan Lingshu’s little finger, as if reluctant to part, and only after quite a while did she finally let go.

In front of others, the consort acted unbelievably clingy. Yet at night, once she lay on the spacious luohan couch, she fell deeply asleep in less than half a quarter of an hour.

Yan Lingshu listened to her steady breathing and found herself somewhat unable to sleep.

She had always thought Qianyuan were more controlled by scent pheromones and more prone to agitation.

Yet when she herself was sleepless because of the Qianyuan’s presence, [bailiantales.com]Yu Qingci slept very peacefully, as if Yan Lingshu’s presence had not affected her in the slightest.

“Mm, so soft.”

Yu Qingci’s mumble came from not far away.

Yan Lingshu turned her eyes toward her and saw Yu Qingci turn over and kick open the quilt. In her arms, she was tightly hugging a pillow. Even while talking in her sleep, she did not forget to stroke the pillow up and down, her brows and eyes pleased.

Yan Lingshu watched for a while and suddenly very much wanted to throw the pillow over and smash Yu Qingci awake.

Was Yu Qingci touching a pillow?!

She was clearly touching… touching her.