Transmigrated as a Scum Alpha: Now I Have a Wife via the Heartless Dao - Chapter 17

Yu Qianyan had lost count of how many times she had carried a sleeping Rong Shu back to her own room to tuck her in.

Rong Shu was slender with delicate joints. Even in her deep, unconscious slumber, unable to shift her weight to make it easier on Yu Qianyan, carrying her required little effort. Yu Qianyan always thought of her as a kitten—light, small, and soft. Her face was flushed, still radiating heat from the medicinal bath. She slept soundly, and because she was so exhausted, she would sometimes let out tiny, soft snores.

Yu Qianyan’s walk was steady yet swift. Her steps were light, as she feared the friction of her soles against the carpet would be loud enough to wake the sleeping girl.

Once they reached Rong Shu’s door, she pulled her closer, steadying her with one arm while opening the door with the other. Perhaps the motion was slightly uncomfortable, as Rong Shu let out a few sleepy, complaining murmurs. She curled up her limbs like a kitten tucking in its paws and buried her face deeper into Yu Qianyan’s chest.

Inside the room, Yu Qianyan placed her on the bed. Methodically, she turned on the bed heater, lit the calming incense, removed Rong Shu’s shoes and coat, tucked her carefully under the covers, smoothed her hair so she wouldn’t crush it in her sleep, and then put her shoes away. She took the clothes with her to be handled by the servants.

Lights out, door closed, she left quietly.

Once plunged into darkness, Rong Shu quietly opened her eyes, half-clear and half-drowsy. She cast a heavy, lingering look at the closed door before closing her eyes again, rolling over, and wrapping herself tightly in the quilt to drift into a true sleep.

When Rong Shu first collapsed from exhaustion due to a packed schedule, Yu Qianyan had been inexperienced. She had fumbled through, waking Rong Shu up multiple times on the way, and she had forgotten to have Rong Shu take a medicinal bath. This led to Rong Shu being drained, sleepy, and unable to focus the entire next day.

From then on, Yu Qianyan set up a private bathroom next to the etiquette classroom, allowing Rong Shu to soak immediately after her lesson before heading to bed.

While it was better to be active after a medicinal bath to aid absorption, such a requirement was too much for Rong Shu. Yu Qianyan had to skip it, deciding it was better to simply reduce the dosage so it would absorb more slowly—the impact was negligible.

With the start of the military academy semester still far off, this was just about building a foundation. Once the wedding was over, there would be plenty of time to increase the intensity; there was no need to rush.

The medicinal bath itself was incredibly relaxing. After a day of dizzying, exhausting study, Rong Shu was barely awake by the time she finished soaking. Often, she would barely manage to pull on her undergarments before the overwhelming drowsiness took over, and she would fall asleep on the changing bench.

Yu Qianyan had gradually developed a tacit understanding with her: she would time it perfectly every night to go in and carry her back to her room. The mess in the bathroom was left for the servants to handle the next day.

Seeing Rong Shu work so hard day after day, Yu Qianyan couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy. She wondered if she should reduce the frequency of the sword practice. One morning, she didn’t call Rong Shu to wake up.

To her surprise, Rong Shu woke up on her own, grabbed her sword, and stormed over to argue.

Helpless, Yu Qianyan could only go along with her wishes, watching with a heavy heart as the delicate Omega gritted her teeth and pushed through the training day after day.

They had to wake up while it was still dark to practice sword fighting in the cold. By noon, the sun was scorching, drying the sweat from hundreds of sword swings. Her arms ached, and her legs trembled from holding horse stances.

Fortunately, the technology in this world was advanced, and the skincare products were incredibly effective. Otherwise, to protect her delicate, snow-white skin, Rong Shu would have had to wrap herself in layers—head to toe and likely wouldn’t have been able to breathe during training.

Just as she finally sat down to eat a lunch and catch her breath, she would have to go straight to etiquette class shortly after finishing. The constant walking, bowing, and standing stiffly would lock up the muscles she had just loosened in the morning.

By the time class ended, every step felt like a little mermaid walking on land—excruciatingly painful. She would lose the appetite and energy for dinner, only managing a few bites if Yu Qianyan brought the food over to feed her.

After resting for a short while after dinner, she had to resume the afternoon’s lessons. By then, Rong Shu’s energy was completely depleted; she was moving purely on willpower and muscle memory, repeating the training movements mechanically.

Luckily, Matron Li wasn’t entirely devoid of humanity.

Although Rong Shu’s error rate was much higher in the evening lessons compared to the afternoon, the Matron wouldn’t lose her temper or resort to corporal punishment. She would simply, yet strictly, demand that Rong Shu stop and repeat the correct posture over and over, with a penalty of ten repetitions for every mistake, until Rong Shu had it memorized.

Even so, it was grueling for Rong Shu. The clothes on her body would be soaked with sweat, dry, and soaked again. Her beautiful face would turn ghostly pale from the exhaustion—enough to startle anyone who saw her.

Yu Qianyan pitied Rong Shu and admired the resilience and ambition she showed during this time. Feeling helpless, she scoured her memory for medicinal dietary recipes, adapted them to the local ingredients, and handed them to the kitchen, ordering that Rong Shu’s meals be prepared separately according to the recipes to nourish her body.

The taste of medicinal food was naturally not as good as the dishes the Yu family’s chefs usually whipped up. Rong Shu wasn’t picky, but someone under such constant strain naturally carried a reservoir of irritation. When the food quality suddenly dropped, even though she was mindful of her status as a guest, she couldn’t help but suppress her anger and summon the chef for questioning.

Upon learning that Yu Qianyan had arranged the medicinal diet specifically for her, Rong Shu dismissed the chef and stared silently at the now-cold meal for a long time.

It wasn’t that she worried Yu Qianyan was trying to poison her—Yu Qishan was still around, and her control over the Yu residence was no joke. If Yu Qianyan dared to poison her, she would have been beaten to a pulp by Yu Qishan the moment she left the kitchen.

She just hadn’t expected Yu Qianyan to notice such a detail. The complex web of love and hate she had harbored for so long wavered, just for a moment.

Not much, and it didn’t last—like a tree’s shadow shifting in a breeze, it vanished without a trace almost immediately.

After that, Rong Shu never uttered another word of complaint about the bland meals, finishing every single bowl.

The most difficult initial phase and the mid-stage of gradually increasing training intensity finally passed. In the blink of an eye, there were less than two weeks left until the wedding.

Matron Li was very satisfied with Rong Shu’s consistent obedience and performance, and the progress of the lessons exceeded expectations, so she simply gave Rong Shu a day off to rest.

Yu Qianyan took her out for a day of fun and, while they were at it, went to try on the completed wedding dress.

Who would have thought that a major problem would arise during this fitting, the dress was too small.

After all that intense training, nutritional supplements, and medicinal baths, Rong Shu had actually had a growth spurt after reaching adulthood!