It was not until late in the morning that Yi Zhici woke up groggily.
Her body ached terribly. It took her a long time just to lift an arm. There was no one beside her. After thinking for a while, Yi Zhici decided to just lie there and rest.
After resting for a while longer, the door was pushed open. Lin Yuan came in with a tray of food. Seeing Yi Zhici with her eyes open, staring blankly at the ceiling, her big eyes blinking and her long eyelashes fluttering, she looked incredibly cute.
Lin Yuan walked over. "Are you awake?"
Yi Zhici reached out her hands, asking to be held by Lin Yuan. Without makeup, she looked like a young girl. She had an advantage over other young ladies of the same age. With just one little pout from Yi Zhici, it could achieve more than anything others did. It was just that Yi Zhici didn't often use this skill.
Naturally, Lin Yuan reached out to hold her. "Does your body still hurt?"
"Actually, it hurts a little," Yi Zhici leaned against Lin Yuan. "Do I need to go and serve tea to my in - laws this morning? What time is it now?"
"Father doesn't care about such formalities, and my mother passed away a long time ago," it was almost late autumn. The dew was heavy and the temperature was low outside. Lin Yuan wrapped the quilt around Yi Zhici. "So you can skip the tea - serving. Are you hungry?"
Hearing Lin Yuan say so calmly that his mother was no longer there, without a single ripple in his tone, Yi Zhici felt a pang in her heart. How many times must he have suffered to be so nonchalant about it?
Yi Zhici looked up and kissed Lin Yuan on the cheek. "I'm a little hungry, but hugging you is more important than being hungry."
"Being hungry is still more important," Lin Yuan chuckled. He lifted Yi Zhici out of the covers and put a cape on her. "Holding my wife while having a meal. This way, we can have the best of both worlds."
After a lingering breakfast, it was almost noon.
Since Lin Yuan had already asked for leave from the court, Gu Weifeng had approved ten days of leave for him. Although the time in court wasn't very long on normal days, he still had to get up early. After getting the leave, he could lie in his sweetheart's arms and sleep until late in the morning.
In the first few days after their marriage, Yi Zhici's days and nights were all mixed up. She was groggy all the time. She slept muddle - headedly during the day and couldn't sleep at night, still feeling drowsy. Lin Yuan, on the other hand, was full of energy. He went to the yard to practice martial arts every day, showing no sign of fatigue.
According to custom, a married daughter should return to her parents' home on the third day after marriage. But since Yi Junshi was busy dealing with government affairs in the palace all day, he completely forgot about it. He Weining also said she was in poor health and didn't let them go back.
Lin Yuan was quite relaxed.
Yi Zhici also slept soundly.
As a famous writer once said, good times are always short and peaceful. Even though the day of their grand wedding was included in these ten days of Lin Yuan's leave, it still seemed to pass by too quickly.
In the blink of an eye, it was time for Lin Yuan to go back to court.
Yi Zhici thought that she should set a good example as a virtuous wife and good mother. So even though Lin Yuan got up as quietly as possible, afraid of waking her up, Yi Zhici would still get up after Lin Yuan left, woken up by Zhongqing and Zhongyi.
When she got up, she found a small silver butterfly tattooed on her chest, one of the pair of "life - and - death - intertwined" tattoos. These days, she had been so groggy that she hadn't noticed Lin Yuan had already tattooed the symbol on her.
Yi Zhici was overjoyed. The little butterfly was really beautiful.
Then she put on her clothes and cape. Looking dejected, she said to Zhongqing and Zhongyi, "Ah, this is probably the first time I've dressed so completely since I got married."
Zhongqing and Zhongyi blushed and said nothing. They just silently helped Yi Zhici tidy up her clothes.
After getting dressed, she stood at the gate of the Lin Mansion and waited for Lin Yuan.
Mu Feng came to persuade her once. "Young Mistress, it's cold and windy outside. Please go back to the room and wait. When the master comes back, this subordinate will come and tell you."
Yi Zhici didn't listen.
It was really hard for the emperor and the officials. They had to get up before dawn to go to court. It was said that the emperor had to get up even earlier. Yi Zhici shook her head. She couldn't understand why they had to deal with government affairs so early in the morning. Could their minds be clear at that time?
After standing for a while, her hands and feet were freezing cold. She had a congenital problem of being afraid of the cold. In winter, she had to wrap herself up tightly and keep a brazier close by.
From afar, she saw two figures on horses, looking valiant and heroic, with no attendants beside them. They were Lin Yuan and Lin Qiong.
Yi Zhici quickly bowed. "Good day, Father - in - law."
"Don't be so polite," Lin Qiong laughed heartily. He handed the horse to Steward Chen. "From now on, you don't need to be so formal when you see me." Then he strode into the mansion.
Lin Yuan quickly walked over and pulled Yi Zhici into his arms. "Are you cold? How long have you been standing here?"
"I'm not cold," there were two dimples on Yi Zhici's cheeks. "After all, I'm going to be a virtuous wife and good mother, so I naturally have to wait for you to come back from court every day."
Lin Yuan touched Yi Zhici's hands. They were ice - cold. He simply picked her up horizontally and carried her directly back to the room.
Mu Feng and the others all pretended not to see.
Lin Yuan pursed his lips. "Don't wait at the gate anymore. Wait for me in the room, okay?"
Yi Zhici shook her head with a sweet smile.
Back in the room, Lin Yuan put Yi Zhici on the bed and directly pulled the quilt over her. Yi Zhici shrank back. "It's still daytime, Lin Yuan. Don't push your luck."
Lin Yuan chuckled. "What are you always thinking about?"
Yi Zhici pouted. "Look at what you do every day. How can you blame me for having dirty thoughts?" Watching Lin Yuan's ears gradually turn red, Yi Zhici felt a great sense of accomplishment.
Lin Yuan's face was flushed, but he calmly took off Yi Zhici's cape and wrapped her tightly in the quilt. "The Marquis told me that you're afraid of the cold. Don't go out in the wind anymore."
"No," Yi Zhici climbed out and hung on Lin Yuan. "I've made up my mind. How can you deprive me of my ambition to be a virtuous wife and good mother?"
Lin Yuan couldn't argue with her, so he could only tell Zhongqing and Zhongyi to wake Yi Zhici up when it was almost time for him to come back from court. And after that, he would hurry back as fast as he could every day after court.
How fast was it? Usually, it took half an hour to get back to the Lin Mansion from the palace. Lin Yuan managed to cut the time in half. He was at least a quarter of an hour earlier than Lin Qiong when he got home.
Occasionally, when his colleagues invited Lin Yuan to drink, Lin Yuan would just say "My wife is waiting for me at home" and then gallop away like the wind.
From then on, the rumor that Lin Yuan and Yi Zhici were deeply in love, inseparable like fish and water, became a hot topic in the whole capital.