A Marriage of Convenience with a Love-Struck Regent: From Arrangement to Love [GL] - Chapter 2

Bai Yingying and Ning Huanyi were both taken aback by the request. She had merely helped them steady up—did she really expect a reward?

Ning Huanyi, unaware of the woman’s identity, bit her lower lip. A flicker of calculation crossed her almond-shaped eyes before she tilted her head and replied, “The locust flowers at home are blooming. If you don’t mind, Miss, I’d like to personally pick the flowers and make the cakes for you. Would that be alright?”

Ning Huanyi was already considered one of the most beautiful women in the Capital City. Now, with her head tilted and a subtle, unconscious coyness in her voice, Xiao Ning’an, who had initially intended to dismiss the matter, found herself nodding.

“I’ll be waiting here at noon tomorrow,” Xiao Ning’an declared. With that, she tightened her grip on the sword at her waist and descended the stairs. The sword’s presence accentuated her slender yet seemingly strong waist, which was barely wider than a handful.

After the woman left, Bai Yingying turned to Ning Huanyi with a suspicious look. “You’ve never even let me taste your homemade pastries, and you’re giving them to her?”

Ning Huanyi felt a lingering warmth on her cheeks. Avoiding Bai Yingying’s gaze, she finally resorted to acting petulant. “She helped me earlier. At the very least, I owe her a proper thank-you.”

Bai Yingying poked Ning Huanyi’s head with her finger, thinking her silly Huanyi was far too naive. Appearing in the Capital City in military attire with her identity concealed… what if she were tricked away?

Ning Huanyi returned to the manor with her thoughts in turmoil, carelessly piling the purchased ornaments on the table in the courtyard. With her broad sleeves rolled up, she prepared to resume picking flowers.
Qingdai brought over a finely woven bamboo basket and carefully gathered the blossoms Ning Huanyi had picked. The jade-white flowers lay quietly in the basket, their delicate hues complementing Ning Huanyi’s pale yellow dress. Qingdai couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.

Her young mistress was as lovely as a lotus emerging from the water. The Liu Family truly didn’t know what they were missing.

“Miss, can you really make pastries?” Qingdai asked, still puzzled. Given Ning Huanyi’s frail health, she wasn’t even allowed near the kitchen’s smoke, let alone stand outside on a windy day.

So when Ning Huanyi declared she would make the pastries herself, Qingdai was utterly baffled.

Ning Huanyi took the half-basket of locust flowers, her voice sounding even more doubtful than Qingdai’s. “Of course! I picked the flowers myself, delivered them to the kitchen, and will personally supervise their preparation. Isn’t that making them myself?”

Qingdai: “…You’re so pretty, you’re right about everything.”

Ning Huanyi, oblivious to anything amiss, carried the basket of locust flowers to the kitchen door. The kitchen maids, unused to seeing such a highborn young lady enter their domain, hurried to greet her, fearing they had made a mistake.

To their surprise, Ning Huanyi set down half the basket, her almond-shaped eyes brimming with anticipation. “Thank you for your hard work, ladies. Please make this locust flower filling, but not too sweet. Finish wrapping them by noon tomorrow and deliver them to Wild Goose Pavilion in elegant boxes.”

Ning Huanyi gave her instructions earnestly, her pale, delicate fingers complementing the jade-like petals, creating a striking picture.

The maids, not daring to defy her, accepted the flowers and carefully noted the deadline. They watched Ning Huanyi depart.
Early the next morning, Ning Huanyi, who usually lingered in bed, found herself tossing and turning restlessly. Qingdai, who had been keeping watch beneath the bed, was woken by the commotion. She quickly rose and lifted the bed curtain.

“Miss, Miss! Are you feeling unwell? I’ll go prepare some medicine right away!” This had happened before, usually during autumn when her chronic cough flared up, keeping Ning Huanyi awake night after night. The Marquis of Yongchang Residence had even gone to the palace to plead for medicine from the Imperial Hospital’s Chief Physician. The remedy provided immediate relief, but it only treated the symptoms, not the root cause.

Ning Huanyi knew Qingdai had misunderstood. She quickly pulled Qingdai back, her ink-black hair cascading down her shoulders as she stammered, “Qingdai, did you notice the woman in military attire at Ruyi Workshop yesterday?”

When they went upstairs with Bai Yingying, Qingdai had waited at the foot of the stairs and seen the woman in military attire descending. Her striking beauty was unforgettable.

Qingdai nodded. “I remember… Miss, could it be… you’ve developed feelings for…”

Before Qingdai could finish, Ning Huanyi immediately covered her mouth.

Though this dynasty had stood for three centuries, its strict laws coexisted with a remarkably open and tolerant society. The law allowing same-sex marriage, enacted by the Late Empress over fifty years ago, remained unstable. Few same-sex couples dared to wed.

The Late Empress’s long-held wish for all lovers to find their partners remained unfulfilled.

As Ning Huanyi contemplated this, she suddenly felt that perhaps liking women wasn’t such a sin after all, and even…

Wait! What am I thinking? Ning Huanyi’s palm-sized face flushed crimson. Feigning anger, she glared at Qingdai and picked up a soft, jade-like pillow, threatening to throw it at her.

Qingdai chuckled and dodged, relieved to see the young lady’s spirits were brighter than the previous day. Her constant worry about Ning Huanyi’s well-being finally eased.

The sun finally rose, its warm rays gradually streaming through the window lattice and onto Ning Huanyi’s cheeks. The early summer morning still carried a chill, so Qingdai beckoned the other maids to enter slowly. They carried redwood trays laden with jewelry and toiletries.

After soaking a fine hemp cloth in the water basin, Qingdai carefully wiped Ning Huanyi’s face. Years of illness confined to her bed, rarely leaving the Swan’s Nest Pavilion, had left Ning Huanyi’s skin luminously pale, almost translucent. Yet a lingering pallor still clung to her features, a lingering shadow of her past illness.

Otherwise, Ning Huanyi would have been the epitome of radiant beauty. After Qingdai finished helping her wash her face, she picked up the silver comb from the tray and began combing Ning Huanyi’s long hair, stroke by stroke.

The jet-black tresses, cascading like a waterfall, finally tamed under Qingdai’s deft hands, were coiled into a delicate, heart-stealing chignon.

A few wisps of hair hung loose at her temples, swaying gently in the breeze, while the red agate tassel adorning the chignon served as the finishing touch.

Only then did Ning Huanyi nod in satisfaction. Her reflection in the bronze mirror was strikingly lovely. Just as she was about to smile and speak, a sudden tightness in her chest forced a violent cough from her. Qingdai, abandoning her admiration for her carefully crafted hairstyle, hurriedly brought over a cup of tea to soothe her.

The tea contained medicinal properties that suppressed Ning Huanyi’s cough, and it was meant to be drunk first thing in the morning to prevent coughing throughout the day.

However, Ning Huanyi had delayed drinking it today, triggering this violent coughing fit.

“Miss, shall we have breakfast?” Qingdai asked as she draped Ning Huanyi’s final azure robe over her shoulders. At that moment, maids from the kitchen entered in a steady stream, carrying boxes laden with a dazzling array of morning dishes that they arranged on the round table.

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