Jiang Rufeng flashed his new bride a dazzling smile as he approached the bed.
"It was probably the grandest and at the sa ti the most exciting wedding I have been a groom in."
Xie Jianshen did not laugh.
"How many tis have you served as a groom in this lifeti, then?"
Jiang Rufeng leaned closer to his new wife. Even with this scowl clouding his usually indifferent features, Xie Jianshen remained undeniably beautiful.
"Only once, and I do not plan on having a second one."
The oga scoffed and rolled to the other side, turning his back to Jiang Rufeng.
"It is late," he said. "Go to sleep."
Jiang Rufeng was about to take his groom attire off when he noticed that both the wedding wine and the sprawling feast on the dining table remained untouched. A pang of guilt stabbed at Jiang Rufeng’s conscience.
"Why didn’t you take a bite before bed?" he asked his new wife, who must be starving at this very mont.
Xie Jianshen did not answer.
"Can we at least drink the wedding wine together?" Jiang Rufeng whispered as he put one arm around Xie Jianshen’s body. The arm was quickly flicked away in annoyance.
"You already had your fill," Xie Jianshen remarked, his icy tone brimming with displeasure. "Now leave alone."
Unseen by Xie Jianshen, Jiang Rufeng cut a complicated expression. It was his lack of foresight, he knew that.
"I am sorry," he sincerely apologized. "Please forgive ."
"..."
Xie Jianshen’s back remained a rigid wall, offering no comfort in the vast emptiness of the bed.
"Xie Jianshen...?"
The oga dragon’s eyes were squeezed shut, and he appeared to be sleeping. And yet, Jiang Rufeng could sense the brewing storm beneath the peaceful facade.
The groom sighed inwardly. The best scenario of the wedding night was them sleeping next to each other peacefully. The worst scenario was them sleeping next to each other full of indignation.
Jiang Rufeng lay next to Xie Jianshen, facing the latter’s back. He reached out and took a strand of the oga’s long, jet-black hair and kissed it. Xie Jianshen’s scent was masked in the fragrance of a thousand flowers he bathed with this morning. The brides rarely enjoyed their wedding days, because they had to wake up early in the morning to get dressed for the wedding.
In contrast, the grooms only needed several hours to get ready.
Given the list of requirents he had to adhere to before the wedding even took place, Jiang Rufeng had always thought that Xie Jianshen would never take this wedding seriously.
Apparently, he was wrong.
Xie Jianshen completed all the wedding rituals from his side, and Jiang Rufeng ssed it all up in the end.
Of course, Xie Jianshen would be upset.
Unfortunately, Jiang Rufeng did not know his wife well enough to know what to do in this situation.
His mind churned, desperately searching for a way to nd the strained bond. Exhaustion, however, proved a relentless foe. One by one, his thoughts dissolved into a heavy slumber, leaving the solution to their first marital discord hanging precariously in the realm of the unknown.
When Jiang Rufeng opened his eyes again the next morning, Xie Jianshen had already disappeared from the bridal chamber.
As agreed beforehand, the Shuiran Palace Mistress was not obliged to share the Shuiran Palace Master’s bed at all. Xie Jianshen chose to move to a lavish courtyard on the opposite side of the palace, thus minimizing the possibility for him and Jiang Rufeng to run into each other by chance.
Save from managing Shuiran Palace’s daily activities, no one knew what the new Palace Mistress did in his private quarters the entire day. Whatever it was, it had nothing to do with Jiang Rufeng.
It almost seed as if Jiang Rufeng did not just take in a wife but acquire a flawlessly efficient administrator to run the palace.
It was not as if Jiang Rufeng did not try to reach out to Xie Jianshen at all.
It was also not as if Xie Jianshen refused to et up with Jiang Rufeng at all.
It was just that the air around them turned frigid whenever they were together, making even seasoned observers shiver in the sa room. Their strained conversations and their guarded movents were reminiscent of a high-stakes chess ga. Every word and every gesture felt fraught with peril, though the reason why they were desperately trying to guard themselves against each other remained an elusive secret.
Their conversation usually started with a greeting from Jiang Rufeng’s side.
"Good morning, wife. How are you this morning?"
And then Xie Jianshen, the busy Palace Mistress, would lift his head and say sothing like, "Do you know that the palace kitchen throws out rotten vegetables almost every day?"
"..."
Every morning after he returned from attending the morning eting in the Golden Dragon Palace, Jiang Rufeng had to attend another morning eting in Xie Jianshen’s private quarters.
While their interactions between the newly-wed couple were a far cry from the passionate exchanges of a honeymoon, Shuiran Palace had certainly seen a dramatic improvent in its financial health. Xie Jianshen’s ticulous review of the accounts and ironclad control over inventory had tightened the reins considerably.
As days turned into weeks, the palace servants found themselves captivated by the new Palace Mistress. His ticulous managent and fair rulings garnered their increasing admiration. However, the sentint wasn’t shared by the Jiang family, particularly his oga aunts and sisters. They viewed Xie Jianshen’s close scrutiny of their household expenses with disdain. In their eyes, his duty as a wife lay not in balancing ledgers, but in providing Jiang Rufeng with an heir.
That was how they ended up marching to Xie Jianshen’s private quarters one day to issue a challenge to the newly anointed Palace Mistress.
"Prince Xie, you are no longer a dragon prince but a Shuiran Palace Mistress. It is ti for you to prove yourself worthy to rule over all lions alongside the Palace Master!"
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