Chapter 72: Misunderstanding, Hahaha
Gan Qiongying did not answer. Feeling suffocated, she took a deep breath, which made her cough.
Lihua’s voice came through, tinged with embarrassment and anger: “It’s ugly, isn’t it? I knew it!”
Why was he getting so worked up?
She swore that no matter what the God of Wealth looked like, she would never call him ugly…
Gan Qiongying immediately forgot about her fear of seeing something shocking and hurriedly opened her eyes to look at Lihua’s midsection. But she soon realized it wasn’t that Lihua was too exposed—it was her own mind that was too dirty.
Because Lihua wasn’t completely naked at all. Beneath his loose trousers, he was wearing a pair of thick shorts, like the kind of young men commonly seen in the modern world during summer—shirtless but wearing loose shorts.
Although this attire might be considered somewhat revealing in ancient times, in Gan Qiongying’s eyes, it was perfectly ordinary.
Gan Qiongying froze for a moment before suddenly realizing that Lihua’s earlier question hadn’t meant what she thought at all!
Her face flushed red with embarrassment, and she quickly reeled back her wildly racing thoughts, which had already galloped to the edge of a cliff.
“Ah!” Gan Qiongying instinctively exclaimed, trying to ease the awkwardness.
But this startled Lihua, who felt deeply hurt. He quickly bent over, trembling as he fumbled to pull up the trousers bunched around his ankles.
In his haste, he couldn’t find the waistband. With a forceful tug, not only did he fail to pull them up, but he also ended up falling to the ground.
Lihua clenched his jaw tightly, his eyes reddening, and his throat emitted rapid, gasping sounds.
This was utterly humiliating.
Lihua was filled with regret. Why had he been so foolish? Why had he done such a thing?!
Exposing his injury to someone else, his first reaction wasn’t shame but fear.
Fear that Gan Qiongying, after seeing his ugly legs, would come to despise him from that day forward.
During this period, Lihua had taken charge of the Princess Manor and naturally also managed the male consorts Gan Qiongying had kept in the rear courtyard.
Those men were truly a dazzling array of talents, each with their own unique charm.
Without exception, they were all rare, peerless beauties, among them even a pair of twins…
Sitting on the ground, Lihua’s vision gradually blurred. He didn’t want to be like this—it only made things more humiliating.
But the more frantically he tried to pull up his trousers to cover his legs, the more he struggled. Soon, with too much force, there was a tearing sound—he had ripped his trousers.
Finally realizing what was happening, Gan Qiongying quickly knelt beside him, grabbed the clothes he had earlier taken off and draped over the screen, shook them out, and covered him with them.
This not only covered Lihua’s legs but also his head.
Once Lihua was completely shrouded, he stopped tearing at his trousers and finally slumped into quiet defeat.
Time seemed to rewind to over a month ago in the Consort’s residence.
Back then, Lihua had removed his mask, only to end up like this—covering his “ugliness” with something.
Lihua was instantly filled with desolation. The twisted state of his legs was like his true self—something he could never, and should never, expose openly to others in this lifetime.
He should do as Zhongli Zhengzhen said—find a suitable opportunity to “die suddenly.” Only that would be the right choice, right?
Lihua sat on the floor, draped in soaked clothes, feeling as if even his bones had turned cold.
But tonight, just like that evening, Gan Qiongying did not personally uncover his true appearance, and now it was impossible for her to let him remain cold.
She quickly returned to the bedside, grabbed a blanket, and directly wrapped it around Lihua. Then, kneeling on the floor, she leaned in and embraced him.
Through the blanket, Gan Qiongying’s voice sounded somewhat muffled.
“It’s not ugly,” she said, transmitting warmth to Lihua through the blanket, her tone relaxed after the emotional highs and lows.
“Really, it’s not ugly,” she said, holding Lihua tightly. “I just now… couldn’t react in time. I didn’t think your leg was ugly.”
Yes, when Gan Qiongying saw Lihua wearing large shorts, she knew what he wanted her to see wasn’t that thing.
And his entire body was nearly perfect—even his face, which he hadn’t revealed, she had seen before, like a celestial being descending to the mortal realm.
The only part of him that could be remotely associated with “ugliness” was his leg.
To be honest, Gan Qiongying hadn’t seen it clearly, but from that brief glance, she truly hadn’t found anything unsightly. It was so long.
So long that it almost seemed endless at first glance, yet Lihua still thought it was ugly.
Gan Qiongying knelt on the floor, holding Lihua, her voice tinged with a hint of laughter and a touch of embarrassment. She lifted the blanket, leaned close to Lihua’s ear, and whispered through his damp robe, “I thought you wanted me to see… your treasure.”
Since Lihua didn’t actually intend to do anything with her, Gan Qiongying felt no hesitation or embarrassment. After all, the persona she had crafted for herself was one of deep love for Lihua.
So, breathing warmly, she spoke to Lihua in a tone that was both shy and slightly expectant: “After your pants fell, I didn’t dare look. I kept my eyes closed the whole time. I was afraid you’d think I was being intrusive. I promised I wouldn’t force you.”
“You suddenly pressed my head and made me look, then asked if it was ugly. I wasn’t mentally prepared…”
“I misunderstood, haha.”
“I only opened my eyes when you got anxious and realized you wanted me to see your leg.”
“It’s not ugly. Your leg really isn’t ugly,” Gan Qiongying said.
Buried under two layers of coverings, Lihua had been on the verge of shrinking into himself with self-loathing.
But with Gan Qiongying’s explanation, it was as if an unreasonable flood had swept through a village, washing away the walls and barriers he had painstakingly built around his heart in just a few words.
Moreover, the chill that had seeped from within him was entirely replaced by unwarranted shame and slight irritation, turning into heat that flowed like molten lava from his ears down to his chest, scorching everything in its path until nothing remained.
How could she… how could she think of that!
But once he accepted this explanation, Lihua couldn’t go back. He suddenly felt that every question he had asked was nothing but shameless, indecent talk, utterly devoid of propriety.
How could she think of him as someone who would ask such a thing?
How could she think of that!
Lihua soon stopped feeling cold. Instead, he felt as if he were being smothered, his entire body heating up, almost burning.
But Gan Qiongying kept holding him, softly and gently explaining, leaving Lihua utterly at a loss for what to do.
Because he thought about it… it was no wonder Gan Qiongying would misunderstand.
They had been married for several months, living together for so long, eating and sleeping side by side, coming and going together, yet aside from embracing each other to sleep at night, they had hardly engaged in any other intimate behavior.
It was only natural for her to think that way.
After all, she had so many male consorts, and during this time, she hadn’t seen a single one.
Was she perhaps…
Lihua was too embarrassed to continue the thought, yet he couldn’t help but let it linger.
She must be wanting to engage in marital relations.
Just as Lihua’s mind was filled with less-than-pure thoughts, Gan Qiongying suddenly reached out from under the blanket and touched Lihua’s calf.
It was his left leg, the one that was somewhat deformed.
Lihua shuddered violently, taking a sharp breath, and instinctively wanted to kick Gan Qiongying away. In the end, he only lifted his leg slightly before gritting his teeth and forcing it back down.
He merely clutched the blanket tightly, burying his head in it, doing nothing but breathing heavily.
Gan Qiongying slowly traced her fingers along his leg, finding the slightly twisted area and gently kneading it, without any hint of impropriety.
Lihua felt an intense burning sensation from the injured spot, and the kneading sent waves of tingling numbness spreading up his spine, all the way to his scalp.
The scar that had never been touched before seemed to sprout like new leaves breaking through the soil, becoming extraordinarily sensitive.
He could even sense the shape of Gan Qiongying’s palm through the sensation.
Unaware that her actions at this moment were akin to “arson and murder,” Gan Qiongying spoke to Lihua from under the blanket, “It’s really not ugly. Your legs are long, your figure is good, and although there’s an injury, you can’t tell at a glance.”
“Stop overthinking it. The floor is cold, and you’ve been caught in the rain. This injured spot feels so cold—it must be painful, right? Let me help you up.”
Lihua didn’t get up immediately because… because he was experiencing an embarrassing change and dared not move.
Gan Qiongying, however, thought he was still upset because she hadn’t responded to him earlier.
She spoke softly again, “Lihua, we are husband and wife, one body. What is yours is mine—how could I ever dislike myself?”
Gan Qiongying had once again transformed into the gentle, virtuous, and respectful wife, her words beautifully spoken. This was because she knew Lihua hadn’t suddenly become fiery and unbearable—he remained a proper gentleman, deeply principled.
Who was it earlier who was in such a panic, not even daring to look at him?
After speaking, she helped Lihua up. Lihua rose with her support, revealing his face, which showed no obvious signs of distress.
However, he clung tightly to the blanket, refusing to let go. Gan Qiongying tugged at it and said, “The wet clothes are still inside—take them out.”
Lihua stood with his head bowed, unmoving and silent.
The atmosphere grew somewhat strange. Lihua took two steps toward Gan Qiongying. He was a tall man with long legs, draped in a blanket like a moving hill, exuding a powerful presence.
With one hand gripping the blanket to keep it from falling open, he extended the other from beneath it—long, slender, and pale, the very hand that could calculate countless sums of silver with a few flicks of an abacus—and reached forward to grasp Gan Qiongying’s hand.
He pulled Gan Qiongying toward himself, causing her to collide with Lihua.
Gan Qiongying’s fingers were gripped tightly by Lihua, and his hold only grew stronger. Gan Qiongying hissed in pain, but Lihua did not let go.
For some reason, Gan Qiongying felt an inexplicable tension. At that moment, Lihua raised his eyes to look at her—his gaze was indescribable, dark and profound, like an unfathomable abyss that seemed to pull one in with just a glance.
Gan Qiongying was momentarily dazed by his stare. She blinked and looked again, only to find that Lihua had already swiftly lowered his eyes, concealing the turbulent emotions within them.
After a brief pause in her breath, Gan Qiongying drew a sharp inhale that lodged in her throat, neither rising nor falling.
Lihua opened his mouth, about to say something.
Suddenly, Manyue’s voice came from outside: “Princess, Imperial Physician Wu has been summoned.”
At the same time, San Jiu’s voice also rang out: “Princess, the medicine package has been brought as well.”
The breath that had been stuck in Gan Qiongying’s throat suddenly eased. She quickly withdrew her hand from Lihua’s grasp and hurriedly called out to the outside, “Please, bring them in at once!”