When Ye Jiayao woke up, Xia Chunyu was already gone.

When Jiang Yue came in to clean and noticed the quilt in the study room, she got confused. Were the Heir-son Lord and the Second Young Lady fighting?

“Yue-er, put the quilt back in the cupboard,” Ye Jiayao said quietly.

“Yes, Second Young Lady,” Jiang Yue acquiesced, taking the quilt away quickly.

Qiao Xi came in and proceeded to comb the Second Young Lady’s hair. She told her, “Madame said that there’s no need for you to come and salute to her this morning.”

Ye Jiayao nodded, assuming that You didn’t sleep well last night too.

“I heard that Third Young Master broke two of Mother Shu’s ribs last night,” Qiao Xi continued.

Ye Jiayao was shocked. How did Chunfeng found out about it?

“Did Princess Liu Li make any trouble?”

“She definitely did. I heard that she also alarmed Old Marquis and Madame. Third Young Master is still kneeling in the temple because of that.”

Since the problems in the mansion were out of her hands, Ye Jiayao decided to head to Heavenly Residence early. She designed gift boxes together with Zhong Xiang and had Manger Zhao scour a great shop that could create the box. She was planning to launch this in the next three days so they must move at a quick pace.

In the afternoon, Ye Jiayao went back to the mansion and saw that Chunwen was instructing the servants to move their things to their house. When he saw her, he turned around and carried on as if he didn’t notice her.

Ye Jiayao rolled her eyes. They better move out as soon as possible because she’s had enough of that troublesome family.

She also heard that Chunfeng was on his knees until the Old Marquis pardoned him around noon.

As one could imagine, the atmosphere in the mansion was very somber.

At dinnertime, You told everyone that they should eat in their respective courtyards.

Song Qi also came to tell Ye Jiayao that Chunyu was going to be on duty in the palace and wouldn’t be coming back tonight.

Upon hearing that, Ye Jiayao’s already bad mood took a turn for the worse. She knew that Chunyu was only using his ‘duty’ as an excuse. He just didn’t want to come back and face her.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mansion, Xia Chunfeng was wracked with guilt as he looked at Liu Li’s lying form. He didn’t expect his bruteness would cause such an adverse pain to her. All the blood last night terrified him.

He just wanted to teach her a lesson. He never intended for her to get seriously hurt.

He placed a bowl of red jujube bird’s nest porridge on the bedside table and said, “You have to eat something, you haven’t eaten for a whole day.”

Liu Li turned away from him, her tears uncontrollably falling.

“I’m sorry I hurt you. There won’t be another time,” Xia Chunfeng said lowly.

His father said that it was quite easy to soothe a woman’s temper. All one has to do was compliment her and she’d be fine. The problem was Chunfeng never had to soothe or woo a woman before, let alone one as temperamental and arrogant as his wife.

Liu Li thought back to the nightmare she experienced last night and could not help but cry harder. Of course, she wanted to experience the married life with Chunfeng, but not like last night. It was a horrible experience that has honestly traumatized her.

“Liu Li, let’s start over. We’re married now so I think it’s high time we act like husband and wife. I know I’m not your favorite person and I wasn’t exactly a willing participant in this arrangement, but we’re here now. I don’t want to spend the rest of our lives together fighting. Can we just let the past go and try to be nice to each other?” Xia Chunfeng proposed. He had a lot of time to think when he was out in the ancestral hall, kneeling. After last night, for better or for worse, Liu Li was now his woman. She’s his responsibility now.

Liu Li still has a lot of grievances to air, but Chunfeng’s calm words got to her. Could that actually work? Was it possible for them to be actual husband and wife?

Chunfeng took her silence as disagreement and he sighed helplessly. He got up and was about to walk away when he heard Liu Li say, “I’m hungry.”

He gently helped her sit up and fed her the porridge bit by bit.

This was the third day that Chunyu spent away from home, and by now, Ye Jiayao was angry.

How long was he planning on staying away? What does he want from her?

The people in their yard knew that something was wrong, but since the Second Young Lady had been in such a foul mood, they didn’t dare say anything.

Qiao Xi said to Jiang Yue in private, “Yue-er, you have to talk to Second Young Mistress before this problem gets bigger.”

Jiang Yue sighed, “I don’t know how to talk to her.”

“We can’t help if we don’t know what’s wrong. If the Heir-son Lord is angry because of the rumors, then that’s his fault. Let’s also tell Song Qi to talk to the Heir-son Lord. We need both of them to at least meet halfway. Everyone in the yard is starting to get uncomfortable from the tension,” Qiao Xi said.

Ye Jiayao only managed to take a few bites before she lost her appetite and focus.

This didn’t escape Xia You’s attention. She should’ve been happy now that Chunfeng and Liu Li seemed to have made progress with their relationship and Zhou and her family have moved out. Instead, she’s still worrying because all the chaos seemed to have passed on to Chunyu and Jinxuan. Jinxuan may not know this, but You knew that there were no such rules about being on duty in the palace for three straight days. Chunyu was avoiding his wife.

“Second Daughter-in-law,” You called.

It took a moment for Ye Jiayao to snap back into attention.

“What is the Heavenly Residence gift box written on your gift list?” You asked softly. She had reviewed the gift list that Jinxuan made and she was impressed. It was clear that she has given it a lot of thought.

“Oh. Ah, yes, about that. Yue-er, bring us the gift box in my room,” Ye Jiayao said.

After a short while, Jiang Yue came back with the gift box.

Ye Jiayao opened the box and began, “The gift box will contain the most expensive pastries in our shop. I also had someone make some medals and other tokens that have the Golden Rooster’s symbol on it. I had three specifications made – one that would cost one hundred silvers, one hundred sixty silvers, and one hundred eighty silvers. This particular box costs one hundred sixty silvers.

Xia You observed the gift box. The cakes inside were of different colors and they all look deliciously decadent. The gold metal included inside was also very delicate yet very well-made.

“Hey, this is brilliant. There must be a lot of people who want this, right?” Qiao said.

“I just sold more than 20 boxes yesterday,” Ye Jiayao answered.

“This gift box is excellent. It looks exquisite which will give it a special value,” Xia You praised. “Go ahead and tell the accountant how much you need.”

Ye Jiayao told her, “For family, this would be one hundred and twenty silvers a box.”

“Second Sister-in-law, give me ten boxes of them!” Qiao said hurriedly.

“These pastries can’t be on hold for a long time. It’s best to consume them within three to five days. When you want to give them away, let me know and I will bring them to you.”

Qiao smiled excitedly. “That is perfect.”

Once everyone left, Xia You pulled Jinxuan aside and asked her, “Are you and Chunyu having problems?”

Ye Jiayao smiled helplessly and answered, “He was a little angry because I didn’t tell him about Zhou first.”

Xia You was relieved. She was afraid that Chunyu actually believed the rumor that Mother Shu and Zhou started about Chunfeng and Jinxuan.

“Don’t fight with him. He might have an explosive temper, but he also has a soft heart. Just give him a few affectionate words and tender gestures and he’ll be fine.”

Ye Jiayao nodded slightly. How would she do that when she hasn’t even seen him yet?

“Tomorrow I will send someone to call him back,” You told her, reading her thoughts.

At night, Qiao Xi was coming in the room to help the Second Young Mistress disrobe when she saw her staring blankly at the bed.

“Second Young Mistress, I have put the warmer in the bed. Be careful when you lie down later.”

“Yeah,” Ye Jiayao said absent-mindedly.

Qiao Xi hesitated for a moment before whispering, “I have been serving the Heir-son Lord for nearly six years now. He’s laughed with you in a day more than he has laughed for those entire six years. Every time he comes home, his first question to us is, ‘Is the Second Young Lady home yet?’. If you’re not here when he comes back, he gets restless.”

Ye Jiayao was surprised to hear that. Chunyu’s words from the other day suddenly came back to her, ‘Think about how I treat you’.

He was right. He’s been treating her with love.

She thought of the cold nights when Chunyu would go to bed first to warm it up before calling over.

She thought about Chunyu always being there for her and saving her when she’s in trouble.

She thought about how he would massage her belly all night when she has her period to help ease the pain.

She thought about how he would always offer to give her a massage every time she’s tired.

Hell, he gave her the profits of the deeds of the family. She joked that he should be afraid she’d run away with all the money, but he merely told her that she would never get away from him.

She’s aware of all of his kindness, sacrifices, and acts of love. However, they were still bonded by a contract and she could never forget that. It was a glaring reminder that their marriage was just a transaction.

Ye Jiayao could never let him know that he holds her heart.