Lotus in a Bottle - Chapter 6

Section 9

Shen Huaihuan thought for a long time before finally telling me that Tan Lian didn’t dislike anything or anyone.

“Brother Tan has a wonderful temper. In all these years, I’ve never once seen him lose it. Even when a drunk clung to him and made advances, he merely reminded the man’s servants to take good care of their master. He wasn’t angry in the slightest.”

I was speechless.

He really was a saint descended from his pedestal.

With a temper that good, just how heinous would I have to be before he got angry enough to divorce me?

“Then what kind of person do you dislike, Your Highness?” I asked, approaching the problem from a different angle. After a moment’s thought, I put it more bluntly. “If you marry someday, what would your wife have to do to make you want a divorce?”

Shen Huaihuan didn’t give it much thought. At my question, he began counting them off on his fingers with complete seriousness.

“First, she can’t interfere with my official duties. I’ll be granted a princedom someday, and Imperial Father says that rank comes with responsibility. I can’t let romantic entanglements get in the way of important affairs.

“I also dislike suspicious, jealous women. Living with someone like that sounds exhausting.

“And I couldn’t stand someone who throws tantrums all day while doing nothing useful. I’m taking a wife, not inviting an ancestor home for me to worship…

“Oh, and most importantly, she can’t have improper relations with other men!”

Interfere with his work, be suspicious and jealous, throw unreasonable tantrums, laze around all day, and cheat on him…

I committed every item to memory and resolved to put them all into practice.

Everything Shen Huaihuan had listed crossed the average man’s bottom line. No matter how good-tempered Tan Lian was, surely even he couldn’t remain calm forever with a wife who possessed every vice in the book.

I’d thought it through. If I were the one to ask for a divorce, Tan Lian might forgive me, but those rabid supporting male characters behind the scenes certainly wouldn’t. They would only think I’d humiliated him.

But if I made Tan Lian sick of me first and we divorced afterward, I would no longer pose any threat to that pack of madmen. Surely none of them would have any reason to come after my life then.

A flawless plan!

I craned my neck to look over and confirmed that Tan Lian was discussing official business with a solemn expression. Seizing my chance, I dashed over to make trouble.

I left in such a hurry that I didn’t hear Shen Huaihuan murmur as he watched me go.

“Of course, if it were you, I suppose I could put up with those little things.”

Section 10

They had been too far away earlier, so I hadn’t been able to make out Tan Lian’s conversation with the other man.

It wasn’t until I reached his side that I heard him address the man as-

“Lord Gu.”

…It was Gu Nanzhou.

Startled, I looked at the man whose face had previously been hidden in the shadows.

As the supporting male character with the most scenes in the original novel, Gu Nanzhou was naturally handsome. The arrogance in his eyes made him look exceptionally overbearing, but his excessive pride also lent him a sinister air that robbed him of some righteousness.

This ambitious veteran of countless political battles could make children cry merely by standing there, yet Tan Lian’s presence was not the least bit inferior to his.

Was this the power of his irresistible-heartthrob halo?

I didn’t dwell on it. Drawing a deep breath, I put on my most unreasonable expression.

“Tan Lian, stop talking! This place is unbearably boring. I want to go home!”

Tan Lian looked at me in surprise. Seeing the impatience written all over my face, he asked worriedly, “Baoping… has someone bullied you?”

Beside him, Gu Nanzhou gave me an icy glance and sneered. “Who could possibly bully such a shrewish fool?”

Suppressing my embarrassment, I imitated Shen Huaihuan and launched into a tantrum.

“Tan Lian! You think I’m a shrew too, don’t you? Fine, fine! I knew you looked down on me all along! You…”

The rest of my words were smothered against Tan Lian’s shoulder.

I’d assumed that even a living Buddha would have some degree of temper. After being accused for no reason, even the mildest person ought to feel at least a little displeased.

Instead, Tan Lian reached out and pulled me into his arms.

A delicate fragrance enveloped me. My mind went completely blank, and every word I’d planned to say vanished without a trace.

Tan Lian held me like that, ignoring the Prince Regent’s face as it instantly turned livid, and said with supreme perfunctoriness, “Please excuse this official.”

Without waiting for Gu Nanzhou to respond, he led me straight away.

After that, he ignored even Han Ming’s attempts to persuade him to stay. Without so much as deferring to the Princess Royal, he took his leave on the spot.

Someone spoke up indignantly on Tan Lian’s behalf. “That woman truly has no sense! Isn’t she making Young Master Tan offend people? She only dares behave this way because Young Master Tan has such a good temper. If she were my wife, I would divorce her on the spot!”

Tan Lian gave the speaker a troubled look. He was mild-tempered and never argued with anyone, especially when the person was only trying to defend him.

After hesitating repeatedly, Tan Lian offered a stiff explanation. “My wife is merely feeling unwell. She didn’t do it on purpose.”

Me: “…?”

Wasn’t there something slightly off about this?

Sure enough, the speaker blushed at his words, the infatuation in his gaze intensifying as he stared at Tan Lian.

But when his eyes drifted toward me, nestled in Tan Lian’s arms, all that tender affection sharpened into a bone-scraping blade.

Still, I was the one who had demanded to leave. Tan Lian had only spoken up for me. What could possibly be wrong with that?

He was just an inarticulate White Lotus, that was all.

I must have been overthinking it.