Chapter 12: A Good Night’s Sleep. After Three Years, She Should Get a Good…

Actively asking her to stay… Wen Zhaoyin felt guilty but also amused. He always managed to show her different sides of himself, surprising her in new ways.

Although his actions were quite different from that person’s, they weren’t entirely unacceptable.

“Alright.”

“I didn’t mean stay to sleep with me, but stay here to sleep, as in don’t leave,” Meng Huan grabbed her sleeve.

He knew this woman’s thought process too well. If he didn’t spell it out clearly, she would definitely leave today.

Before, when he didn’t want her to stay, she would leave. But now he wanted her to stay.

“Is that okay?”

“You just said you’d do anything you could, was that a lie? Can’t you even fulfill this small request…”

Just as Meng Huan was about to organize his thoughts and continue his pitiful act of accusing her,

Wen Zhaoyin nodded seriously, “Okay.”

Wen Xi, who had been watching the whole scene, was quite impressed with the young man. It was said that the family head was very decisive and wouldn’t easily change her mind, but the young man was so capable that he could make her agree to stay just by tugging on her sleeve and saying a few words.

If it were him, he probably wouldn’t even dare to say those suggestive words.

He thought randomly that even if he dared to say such things, it probably wouldn’t have the same effect. He might even be laughed at instead.

Wen Xi felt a bit discouraged. Although he didn’t understand feelings at all and had never experienced love, he could sense that the family head seemed very different towards the young man. It wasn’t something he could easily fit into.

Although the young man was carefree and didn’t follow rules, he was kind and treated servants extremely well. It might not be bad to serve by the young man’s side.

Beside him, Pei Lan saw him standing there in a daze with furrowed brows. He used to be quite clever, but he seemed to become foolish whenever it involved young master Meng.

She tugged at him quietly, “Let’s go, there’s nothing for us to do here.”

As soon as these two left and the things on the table were cleared away, the room immediately became much quieter.

Since Wen Zhaoyin agreed to stay, she needed to add many things to the room. Not just bedding and pillows, but more importantly, confidential documents that needed to be organized, official papers to be reviewed, all had to be brought in, along with brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones set up on a table.

The youngest third-rank official of the current dynasty, responsible for assisting the Chief Historian in supervising the entire court as Deputy Censor, this was never an easy job.

Moreover, she came from a military family. Since ancient times, civil and military officials didn’t get along well. Her official career path to this point was even more difficult than that of daughters from humble families.

Since entering officialdom, Wen Zhaoyin had never slept before midnight. Every five days when she had to attend court, she needed to start preparing before dawn.

After eating her fill, she sat in the chair revising and writing, her brush never stopping.

Meng Huan, having nothing to do after eating, originally wanted to get straight to the point, but seeing her doing official business, he didn’t want to disturb her. So he played five-in-a-row chess by himself on the chessboard.

Wen Zhaoyin was writing, so two extra pairs of candles were placed on her side, making it the brightest spot in the room. He would occasionally look up at her while playing chess.

After he looked up several times, her brush stopped, and she raised her head saying, “If you’re really bored, come over and help me grind the ink.”

Grinding ink was something Meng Huan had never done before, but he was quite bored. He put down the chess pieces and walked over, picking up the ink stick and starting to move it in circles on the inkstone.

He ground for a while without seeing any effect. A fair hand pressed on his wrist, “Never learned? Don’t you know to add water?”

Actually, Liu Shu was originally supposed to teach ink grinding. He had planned to start teaching Meng Huan on the seventh day, but he was reported and driven away on the sixth day, so naturally, he never learned.

Wen Zhaoyin raised her hand to add some water, then picked up her book again to read, shaking her head slightly with some helplessness.

Meng Huan felt like he was being looked down upon. He rolled up his sleeves and started grinding ink again, deliberately using some force to make noise and disturb her.

Sure enough, after a while she couldn’t read anymore. She put down the book and stopped his hand, “I see you seem unsatisfied?”

He immediately put down the ink stick and nodded honestly, “Yes, am I really not attractive to you? You haven’t even looked up at me once in such a long time.”

He had always been straightforward, different from other men in the world. It’s hard to know what kind of environment nurtured such a personality.

Wen Zhaoyin stood up and took his hand, leading him towards the couch, “I’m a bit tired too. Let’s take a short break and play a game of hand talk.”

Hand talk? Does that involve using hands to do something? Meng Huan was thinking of all sorts of messy things, but ended up sitting in front of the chessboard with her.

“…” If it’s just playing chess, why call it hand talk? He thought it was something else.

Not noticing his little emotions, Wen Zhaoyin was attracted by the chess pieces already set up on the board. After looking for a while, she asked, “This doesn’t seem to be Go?”

Of course it’s not Go, this is five-in-a-row.

Meng Huan felt a bit proud. He had been feeling overwhelmed by her in terms of intelligence and martial arts, quite frustrated. Today he finally scored a small victory. Ancient people are ancient after all, lacking knowledge.

“This is called five-in-a-row. The rules are very simple. Whoever can first connect five pieces in a row horizontally, vertically, or diagonally wins. Want to play a game?”

He couldn’t say much else, but he had played five-in-a-row for a long time. He couldn’t claim a perfect record, but winning nine out of ten games was still impressive.

Generally, to make a woman like you, you must show her something she doesn’t know or isn’t good at, to make yourself appear more impressive. This would be twice as effective in improving the relationship.

“Let me teach you how to play. It’s very simple, but it’s normal for beginners to always lose. You should prepare yourself mentally.”

Wen Zhaoyin narrowed her eyes, elegantly picking up a chess piece, and replied, “Alright.”

About half an hour later.

Meng Huan didn’t want to play anymore. He couldn’t go on. Apart from winning the first game while explaining the rules, he hadn’t won since.

He had told her to prepare mentally, but now he was the one completely embarrassed. What kind of brain did this woman have? How could she be so good at five-in-a-row too?

“I’m done! I’m done! It’s too embarrassing not to win a single game!” He kicked off his shoes and lay on the bed, rolling back and forth in frustration.

Wen Zhaoyin walked over, bending down to hold him still with both hands, preventing him from rolling around so ungracefully. Her long hair fell down, tickling his nose. “Let’s play one more game. This time I’ll go easy on you.”

Her words didn’t comfort Meng Huan, but instead made him more unhappy. “How annoying! How can you say it so bluntly! I’d rather die than play again!”

She tried to pull him up forcefully, but Meng Huan was lying like a dead fish, soft and difficult to pull. “Actually, chess has patterns and techniques. If you follow the techniques and deduce, it’s not easy to lose.”

“There are also connections between different chess games. I often play Go with others, that’s why I was lucky enough to win a few rounds against you.”

Unable to pull him up, she had to let go. “I’ve rested enough. You lie down for a while, I’ll continue to handle official business.”

After saying this, she really turned to walk towards the desk without a backward glance.

Meng Huan suddenly sat up and grabbed her sleeve, “What more official business? The important thing is to do the real business.”

He had felt it earlier when she held him down. He never suppressed his thoughts, nor would he restrain himself in this aspect. When he wanted it, he would go for it.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he raised his foot, gently sliding it up her calf through several layers of fabric. His intention to ignite passion was very clear.

As it happened, Wen Zhaoyin was easily aroused.

The situation quickly spiraled out of control, with official business thrown to the winds… After she had expressed herself, she uncommonly indulged in laziness. Heeding Meng Huan’s persuasion, she didn’t get up to continue working overtime, but instead fell into a deep sleep by his side.

It had been over three years. She really should get a good night’s sleep.