Chapter 321: Lu Zhan: Not Tonight
Chapter 321: Chapter 321: Lu Zhan: Not Tonight
When Lu Zhan returned from his bath, he saw Zhi Wan had wrapped herself up completely in the quilt and couldn’t help but smile.
"Are you planning to stay wrapped up like that all night?"
Although Zhi Wan’s head was buried under the covers, she still clearly heard her cousin’s voice.
Besides, after being bundled up for so long, she was starting to feel a little hot.
She slowly pulled the quilt away to see her cousin lying on his side next to her, propping his head up with a hand. The gaze in his dark eyes was clearly tinged with amusement.
Zhi Wan’s face flushed, and she nonchalantly pulled the quilt down a little further.
"Would you like some water?" Lu Zhan asked gently, noticing her blush.
She hadn’t thought about it, but now that he mentioned it, Zhi Wan realized she was thirsty.
"Mhm," she nodded lightly.
Hearing this, Lu Zhan got up, went to the table to pour a cup of water, and brought it to her.
Zhi Wan sat up, took the cup, and drank about half of it before stopping. She then handed the cup back to her cousin.
Seeing that the cup was still half full, Lu Zhan asked, "Why not drink a little more?"
Zhi Wan shook her head. "I don’t want any more."
’Drinking too much water before bed will just make me have to wake up in the night.’
’She really didn’t want the hassle of getting up to relieve herself.’
Hearing this, Lu Zhan didn’t say anything more. After finishing the rest of the water in the cup, he said gently, "Let’s get some sleep, then. I’m putting out the lights."
"Mhm." Zhi Wan obediently lay back down.
Lu Zhan blew out the extra candles in the room, leaving only the two lamps by the bed lit.
Parting the bed curtains, he lay down beside Zhi Wan.
Zhi Wan wasn’t asleep yet. As she felt her cousin lie down beside her, a strange and wonderful feeling suddenly washed over her.
Unable to resist, she turned onto her side to look at the man next to her.
Lu Zhan had just settled in when he noticed his cousin’s gaze on him.
He paused, then raised a hand to stroke her head. "What are you looking at?"
Zhi Wan shook her head. "Nothing... It’s just, I have this strange and wonderful feeling."
"What kind of strange and wonderful feeling?" Lu Zhan asked, intrigued.
Zhi Wan opened her mouth, but in the end, she didn’t say a word. Instead, she rested her head on his arm.
The corner of Lu Zhan’s lips curved up as he pulled her soft body into his arms.
"I like the feeling of lying in the same bed as you, Cousin," Zhi Wan finally murmured from within his embrace.
Hearing her words, Lu Zhan’s arms tightened around her, his heart melting completely.
"Why feel it so suddenly?" His chin gently rubbed the top of her head. "We’ve slept in the same bed before."
Zhi Wan remembered, of course.
Not just in dreams, but in reality, they had slept together.
But they weren’t married then.
Now, they were lying in the same bed as husband and wife.
The man sleeping beside her was her husband, the man she would spend the rest of her life with.
"Besides, we also slept in the same bed last night, on our wedding night," Lu Zhan added.
She was fine until he brought that up. Now, she didn’t know what to say.
"You have the nerve to bring that up," Zhi Wan chided playfully.
On their wedding night, her cousin had kept her busy almost the entire night, doing... *that*. So she hadn’t had a chance to quiet her mind and properly savor that wondrous feeling.
Hearing his cousin’s coquettish complaint, Lu Zhan immediately remembered as well.
He coughed lightly, patted her on the back, and said gently, "Don’t worry, tonight... I won’t."
The mention of *that business* made Zhi Wan a little uncomfortable, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that her cousin was playing innocent after already having his fun.
’What does he mean, he won’t tonight?’
’Who was it that was tormenting her in the study just a moment ago?’
Still, since her cousin had said it, she chose to believe him.
She drifted off to sleep peacefully in his arms.
「The next day was the bride’s customary visit to her family home.」
Early in the morning, Lady Wei came to Qingyun Residence to find Zhi Wan, gift list in hand.
"This is the gift for your visit home that I’ve prepared for you. Take a look and see if anything is missing. I can add more."
Seeing the thick stack of lists in her hand, Zhi Wan immediately shook her head. "Aunt, there’s no need for so much trouble. I’m just going back for a short visit, and I’ll be back soon. A few gifts will be fine."
"How could that do? Since you’ve already acknowledged Daniu and Erniu as your elder brothers, the gift for your visit cannot be taken lightly. We must observe the proper etiquette," Lady Wei insisted.
In her view, although Daniu and Erniu were living at the Zhi Mansion to help Wan’er look after the estate, Wan’er’s first child in the future was to take the Zhi surname.
When the time comes, if the child were to live at the Zhi Mansion, then the two brothers, Chen Daniu and Chen Erniu, would be her grandson’s stewards. Naturally, they could not be treated poorly.
Furthermore, she had to start preparing a rich inheritance for her eldest grandson early on.
She absolutely could not let this child be disadvantaged.
Part of the gifts she prepared today were for the Chen Family, but the majority were to be locked away in the storeroom, to be saved for her eldest grandson in the future.
Zhi Wan had no idea her mother-in-law was thinking so far ahead. Seeing her insistence, she could only say, "Then we’ll go with what Mother has prepared. There’s no need to add anything else."
"Good. I’ll have Nanny Fang get everything ready. In a little while, you and Ah Zhan can go straight to the main gate. You two should leave early and come back early," Lady Wei said.
"I understand, Mother." Zhi Wan nodded obediently.
Once her mother-in-law left, Zhi Wan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Because of what happened in the study last night, they had been delayed and had missed dinner with her parents-in-law at Lan Courtyard. She had been worried her mother-in-law would bring it up.
But unexpectedly, her mother-in-law hadn’t mentioned a single word about it.
When Zhi Wan finished getting ready and came out of the room, she saw her cousin emerging from the study.
"Cousin, if there’s nothing else, shall we leave now?"
"Alright," Lu Zhan agreed.
By the time the couple arrived at the main gate, Nanny Fang had already supervised the loading of all the gifts onto the carriages.
Seeing the two of them, she immediately stepped forward to report, "Princely Heir, Heir’s wife, the homecoming gifts are all prepared. You may depart now."
"Good. Thank you for your hard work," Zhi Wan nodded.
She and Lu Zhan rode in one carriage. Shuang’er, Nanny Chen, and Nanny Fang rode in another, while a third was filled with the gifts.
「Outside the Zhi Mansion.」
The carriage Zhi Wan was in had just come to a steady halt when she heard a voice from outside call, "Wanwan!"
Stunned, Zhi Wan pushed open the carriage window and saw Ouyang Zhenzhu and Princess Chang Le standing outside.
"What... what are you two doing here?"
"What, not happy to see us? Fine, we’ll leave then," Ouyang Zhenzhu said, pretending to take Princess Chang Le’s arm and turn away.
"No, that’s not what I meant!" Zhi Wan said anxiously, quickly getting up to exit the carriage.
"Zhi Wan, come, let me carry you," Princess Chang Le said, standing by the carriage with her arms outstretched, looking ready to lift her down.
Zhi Wan was about to speak when Lu Zhan, who had followed her out, pulled her back.
He shot a cool glance at Princess Chang Le. "There’s no need to trouble Your Highness. I can carry my own wife." With that, under everyone’s watchful eyes, he swept Zhi Wan into his arms princess-style. Before Chen Jiu could even place the horse stool, he leaped directly from the carriage with her in his arms.
"WOW!" Ouyang Zhenzhu gasped. "Mr. Lu is so strong!"
Princess Chang Le shot her a sidelong glance and scoffed, "Look at you, so easily impressed. Zhi Wan isn’t even heavy. I could have carried her and jumped down from the carriage too!"