Dugu Chen entered the grand hall and saw a table filled with an array of new dishes; one glance was all it took to know they were undoubtedly prepared by his own wife. With a curl of his rosy lips, he entered the bedroom, changed into casual clothes, and came out again. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Chen, you’re back." Just out from her bath, Feng Xuxu came into the grand hall and saw Dugu Chen sitting at the dining table. She smiled with pursed lips and sat down beside Dugu Chen.

"My lady, I’ll take you out this afternoon," he said, looking at his wife in a fiery red gown that made her small face look even more fair, the lotus mark between her brows all the more dazzling.

Feng Xuxu, who had just picked up her chopsticks, paused, turned her head, and looked up, "Where are we going?"

"Surprise," he raised his eyebrows and smiled, picking up some food with his chopsticks and placing it in his wife’s bowl, then he served himself a mouthful before starting to eat.

Seeing her husband devouring his food, she too found her appetite and, before she knew it, had eaten half a bowl more than usual.

After lunch, the couple rested for a while. Then, taking a carriage, they arrived at a forest outside the city. After dismounting the carriage, they walked hand in hand into the forest and, after a short distance, came to an inconspicuous stone cave. Dugu Chen searched the top of the cave, and with a loud roar, a hole broke open in the wall. He took out a fire starter from his embrace, lit the nearby torch, and, pulling Feng Xuxu’s hand, followed the depths of the deep stone cave inward.

Upon reaching the end, they pushed aside the brush, and their view suddenly widened. A dense forest stretched far out before them, with various flowers blooming on the ground. Not far on the grass, there was even a straw-thatched cottage, and behind the cottage was a brook, its spring water slowly flowing down from the mountain. Several pheasants, rabbits, and deer, unafraid of newcomers, approached curiously to watch the two people.

"My lady, how about we spend the next couple of days here?" he asked as he pulled Feng Xuxu’s hand and pushed open the door to the small cottage. Although it was small, it had everything they needed.

"Sure, the delicate wife weaves, the husband chops wood." Considering this life, it wouldn’t be too dull. Her clear, large eyes sparkled with a radiant glow as she looked at Dugu Chen.

"As my lady commands."

For the next while, the intimate couple lived just so, with the woman washing vegetables and cooking, the man chopping wood and hunting. At night, they counted the small stars in the sky together, telling stories of the past.

Before they knew it, their days there were over, and on the evening of the second day, they returned to the Prince Mei Residence.

The next morning, they rose early, and after getting ready and eating some breakfast, they took a carriage full of return gifts and hurried back to the Xuanyuan Mansion.

The gates of the Xuanyuan Mansion had been opened early in the morning. After having their breakfast, the whole family waited outside the gates, craning their necks in anticipation, hoping to see the carriage from the Prince Mei Residence sooner.

"Cousin, is that the carriage from the Prince Mei Residence?" Feng Xi, the eldest brother, sharply spotted two carriages approaching in the distance, and he seemed to recognize the guard leading them.

"Yes, it’s the carriage from the Prince Mei Residence. Father, mother, cousin sister is coming back." Jueqing swept a glance, confirmed the emblem on the carriage, and somewhat disappointedly turned to inform his eager parents.

"I don’t know if Prince Mei has come. My heart feels a bit fluttery," Xuanyuan Liao Family said, touching her heart as it seemed to pound with unusual speed.

"No worries. Prince Mei won’t bite. Keep to the etiquette, and don’t talk too much," Xuanyuan Zhen said, furrowing his brows as he took Liao Family’s cold hand and reassured her.

"Alright, I know," she replied, though her heart still felt uneasy.