Wife, Protect Me! - Chapter 22 - Midnight Mystery

After the banquet ended, Song Jiaren led Li Nuo to a room in the Song residence.
Great Xia had a curfew at night, though it started relatively late—around 10 p.m. After that time, one couldn’t roam the streets freely without a legitimate reason.
Violating the curfew, if caught by the patrolling Imperial Guards, could result in anything from a severe beating to imprisonment.
Although it wasn’t curfew time yet, some guests lived far away, while others were too drunk to leave, forcing them to stay overnight at the Song residence. This led to a shortage of guest rooms, so Li Nuo and Song Jiaren had to make do with sharing one.
However, even if there hadn’t been a room shortage tonight, they would still have had to share. After all, they were legitimately married, and sleeping in separate rooms might lead others to believe they were having marital problems.
That would be a misunderstanding.
Li Nuo and his Niangzi weren’t at odds—they were just unfamiliar with each other.
This room seemed to originally belong to Song Jiaren, as she was very familiar with it. She took a new set of bedding from the closet and spread it on the floor in front of the bed. Li Nuo didn’t say anything about it. Although he missed the large, soft bed in his own room back home, having slept on cramped, uncomfortable folding beds in the past, lying on the floor with proper bedding felt almost luxurious.
Since theirs was a marriage in name only, Li Nuo didn’t find this arrangement strange.
For now, the most important thing to him was simply staying alive.
As for a normal marital relationship…
That would depend on fate.
He wasn’t opposed to this Niangzi, who was both stunningly beautiful and incredibly skilled in combat. If feelings developed over time, living together wouldn’t be out of the question. If no spark ever ignited, they could always part ways amicably without holding each other back.
Of course, these were matters for the future. For now, as a newcomer, he had no say in anything and couldn’t change a thing.
It was already quite late. Li Nuo took off his shoes, socks, and outer robe, planning to read for a while before sleeping.
He had just lain down on the bedding spread on the floor when Song Jiaren glanced at him and pointed to the bed, saying, “You sleep up there.”
Li Nuo was slightly taken aback. As a man, letting a weak woman sleep on the floor while he took the bed…
Then he remembered that between the two of them, the word “weak” could only describe himself. Without arguing, he obediently climbed onto the bed. Though they had only known each other for two days, he understood that once his Niangzi made a decision, it was rarely changed.
Lying on the bed, he felt enveloped by a faint, delicate fragrance.
It was the scent of his Niangzi—this was indeed her room.
He sat up cross-legged and pulled out a thin book from his chest. When Li Nuo went out, he casually brought along a book about Legalism, intending to read a bit more before bed.
Time was extremely precious to him, not a single moment could be wasted.
However, he had barely read two pages when faint moans and gasps came from the neighboring room. Earlier, when he entered, he had seen Song Qian and her husband walk in. He never expected that Niangzi’s cousin, who appeared so composed and dignified like a lady from a noble family, would have such a stark contrast in private. The sounds she made were so explicit that even Li Nuo blushed…
Fortunately, the noises stopped in less than three minutes, and silence returned to his ears.
Song Jiaren lay on the floor, her delicate face slightly flushed, adding a touch of charm to her usual cool demeanor. However, Li Nuo, lying on the bed, did not see this.
To ease the awkwardness, Li Nuo asked, “Niangzi, is there some conflict between you and Song Qian…”
After a moment of silence, Song Jiaren replied indifferently, “She has never liked me since we were children…”
Li Nuo thought for a moment and understood. Both were women of the Song family, close in age, yet one was considered useless while the other excelled in both beauty and Martial Arts talent. It was inevitable that they would often be compared, and it was no surprise Song Qian disliked her.
After their brief exchange, the room fell silent again.
But soon, a head popped up from the bed. Li Nuo pointed to a character in the book and asked, “Niangzi, what does this mean?”
The copy of Shuowen was too thick, so he hadn’t brought it with him. There were a few characters he couldn’t figure out, and without context, he couldn’t continue reading. He had no choice but to ask his wife for help.
Song Jiaren glanced at it and said flatly, “I don’t know.”
“What about this one?”
“I don’t know.”
“This one?”
“I don’t know.”
“This…”
“…”
Silence. A long, drawn-out silence.
Li Nuo felt she probably wouldn’t withhold knowledge of the characters from him.
Leaning over the edge of the bed, he looked at her exquisite face and exclaimed in surprise, “No way… Could it be that you don’t know how to read?”
Song Jiaren’s gaze drifted calmly toward him.
Li Nuo retreated to the bed and said with a laugh, “It’s no big deal. Not knowing how to read isn’t a problem. With one of us skilled in literature and the other in Martial Arts, as long as we live well together, that’s all that matters…”
…
Song Residence.
While Li Nuo was engrossed in his book, in the room just next to theirs, separated by a wall.
Song Qian sat at the edge of the bed, casting a dissatisfied glance at her husband, who lay limp on the bed. A fire burned within her—part desire, part frustration.
The fact that Song Jiaren’s foolish husband was no longer an idiot had already upset her. Now, she had nothing left to surpass Song Jiaren. Not only was he no longer foolish, but the couple had also stolen the spotlight at the Old Madam’s birthday banquet, receiving two rewards in succession. She and her husband had been overshadowed once again.
Just as she thought the matter was over, her father had approached her earlier, hinting that he suspected her of stealing the gift Song Jiaren had prepared for the Old Madam.
This left Song Qian both frustrated and angry. No matter how much she disliked Song Jiaren, she would never do such a thing at the Old Madam’s birthday banquet. Her earlier muttered complaints were merely to vent her resentment.
According to her father, it seemed the gift Song Jiaren had prepared had been replaced with a stone.
Because of this, her husband had improvised two poems on the spot, saving face and ensuring the Old Madam’s birthday banquet concluded successfully.
That Li Nuo was not only no longer foolish but also clever.
Not just clever, but handsome too! Thinking of that handsome face and then looking at her incompetent husband, Song Qian grew even angrier!
Why is my fate so bitter…
Unable to vent the fire burning within her, she could only retrieve a jade silkworm from beneath her pillow.
In the adjacent room, Li Nuo had just turned to a new page when his body trembled slightly. He glanced in her direction and sighed helplessly, “Here we go again…”
Meanwhile, at the Song residence.
The sixtieth birthday celebration for the elderly madam had concluded perfectly, with both hosts and guests enjoying themselves thoroughly tonight. However, the maids and servants of the Song household still had to clean up the aftermath, making them exceptionally busy.
During this time, several maids were summoned by the Second Master for extended questioning, resulting in a shortage of manpower. They worked until midnight before finally finishing their tasks, collapsing into deep sleep with exhausted bodies.
In Song Lian’s room.
He sat at his desk, brows furrowed, murmuring to himself, “Who could it possibly be?”
He had questioned every maid who had access to the gifts one by one. While he was interrogating them, servants had also searched their rooms, but found nothing. His intuition told him this wasn’t done by any of the household maids.
They neither had the courage nor the capability to do so.
The room where the gifts were stored was heavily guarded – even the most skilled thief couldn’t have managed it. Even martial arts experts would find it difficult to infiltrate. Only someone at the Object Manipulation Realm or higher could have stolen them silently.
But those who have reached the Fourth Realm of Martial Arts certainly wouldn’t lack money. Moreover, in terms of value, many gifts were more precious than that pair of jade ruyi scepters. Why would they specifically choose the less valuable items? Clearly, this was targeting Jiaren.
Although Qian’er was highly suspicious, she was just an ordinary person without either the time or ability to accomplish this.
Then who could it be?
After a moment, Song Lian shook his head. Since there were no clues, he decided not to dwell on it further. After all, it was just a pair of missing ruyi scepters – the most important thing was that the elderly madam’s birthday banquet had been successfully held.
Speaking of which, they really owed thanks to Li Nuo tonight.
He had watched Jiaren grow up, and had always been dissatisfied with her marriage to a fool, even though the groom’s father was a powerful minister at court.
But tonight had completely changed his impression of Li Nuo. Whether his previous foolishness was an act or a sudden awakening didn’t matter anymore.
What mattered was that the couple could live well together.
With this worry resolved, Song Lian extinguished the lamp and lay down on the bed.
In preparing for the elderly madam’s birthday banquet these past days, he had expended countless energy and hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep for who knows how long. Now that everything was finally over, he lay on the bed without even removing his clothes. The moment his head touched the pillow, he fell asleep…
As time passed, the lights in various rooms throughout the Song residence gradually went out.
Only the lanterns hanging along the pathways continued to emit faint glows.
The birthday hall, which had been bustling with activity just two hours earlier, was now empty and completely dark.
On the roof of the birthday hall, a figure knelt leaning against the eaves, storing away two jade ruyi scepters that had been placed nearby. Gazing at the darkened Song residence, the corners of their mouth lifted into a captivating smile as they whispered softly, “So he’s not a fool after all… Interesting, truly interesting…”