Lotus in a Bottle - Chapter 10

Section 16

My gluttonous, lazy ways had practically no effect on Tan Lian.

Over the past few days, my face had grown noticeably rounder, yet Tan Lian could still praise me without batting an eye for being a virtuous wife and capable homemaker.

If I had to name one effect, it would be that Tan Lian had started pinching my cheeks whenever he had the chance.

Perhaps he figured that after working so hard to fatten me up, he might as well enjoy the results.

Since I had to play the part of a gluttonous, lazy good-for-nothing, I truly hadn’t done a single useful thing lately.

Every day, all I did was eat, drink, and amuse myself, or lounge on the daybed reading storybooks.

I didn’t have to work, keep accounts, or travel for business. Whatever I wanted to eat would be delivered straight to my lips, and the Number One Beauty Under Heaven praised me from a novel angle every day.

How should I put it?

I felt a little guilty saying this when I thought of my parents, but my life now was honestly even more enjoyable than it had been before I married.

Unfortunately, there was always someone who didn’t want me to remain happy forever.

Tan Lian had spoiled me so thoroughly these past few days that I could barely tell north from south, and I had gradually forgotten just how dangerous the identity of Madam Tan was.

I had forgotten, so someone naturally had to stir up trouble and remind me.

The day before, word had arrived from home that one of the Xie Family’s ancestral residences in Xiangyang had burned down.

Whether by coincidence or design, my parents and all my siblings suddenly had “business to attend to.” Despite the size of the Xie Family, the only person with enough free time to return and oversee the ancestral residence’s repairs was me.

I was so torn over it that I couldn’t even bring myself to eat a chicken leg.

Only then did Tan Lian realize the problem might be serious. He set down the food in his hand and gently offered me a suggestion.

“If you don’t want to go, then don’t. I have an old acquaintance in Xiangyang. I can ask him to help.”

But repairing the ancestral residence was no small matter. The Xie Family were merchants, and merchants put enormous faith in feng shui and the supernatural. Someone from the main family absolutely had to return this time.

Besides, now that I knew there might be danger, I couldn’t possibly push the responsibility onto someone else.

As for telling my parents the truth outright… they probably wouldn’t believe me. At most, they would hide their plans from me and make the trip themselves.

I considered every possibility, only to discover that traveling to Xiangyang alone truly was my sole option.

I looked at the devastatingly handsome man before me and couldn’t help letting out another mournful sigh.

“Beauty has been my downfall. Beauty has truly been my downfall!”

Tan Lian was silent.

Without the slightest change in expression, he pinched my cheeks even harder.