My Wife is a Frustrating Genius!!! - Chapter 63

Xue Wanning, with a downturned mouth and a woeful expression, rushed to her mistress’s side.

“Wahh, Miss Cheng, what happened to your neck?” Xue Wanning clutched the food and gifts she had brought for the two of them tightly, not wanting to hear the answer she dreaded.

Cheng Yi blushed upon hearing this and glanced at the person slowly approaching behind Xue Wanning without saying a word.

In truth, she had intentionally revealed the hickey on her neck for Xue Wanning to see. After all, if her little chick got jealous outside, she would be the one “suffering” in bed later.

Xue Wanning could tell the answer just by looking at her mistress’s expression. Ah, her heart was now shattered into eight pieces.

“Ahem!”

Lu Jiahe, seeing her wife’s shy expression and the deliberately exposed hickey on her neck, cleared her throat smugly and strode over to the two of them, pulling Cheng Yi into her arms.

“Darling, why did you come out? Isn’t your waist sore?”

Cheng Yi rolled her eyes at the remark and secretly pinched Lu Jiahe’s waist. “What are you talking about? Of course, I should come out to greet our guest.”

Lu Jiahe leaned down and planted a kiss on Cheng Yi’s forehead, then said gently, “You’re always so thoughtful, my dear. Truly worthy of being the lady of the Lu residence.”

Standing to the side and listening to their flirtatious banter, Xue Wanning felt like throwing herself to the ground, wailing and making a scene. But for the sake of her mistress’s dignity, she bit her lip and suppressed the urge.

“Miss Cheng, these are some specialty snacks from the capital that I brought for the two of you, as a celebration for Young Master Lu safely completing his exams.” As she spoke, Xue Wanning presented the gift box she was holding with both hands.

Lu Jiahe took the items from her, she didn’t want Cheng Yi to have even the slightest physical contact with Xue Wanning.

Cheng Yi couldn’t help but chuckle softly at her little chick’s behavior. “Thank you, Miss Xue. Have you had lunch yet? If not, why not join us for a meal inside?”

Xue Wanning shook her head. “No need.” She had more important matters to attend to. “Thank you for your kindness, but I have things to do. I must leave after handing these over to you.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you. Since Miss Xue has matters to attend to, we won’t keep you any longer. When we have time, I’ll have Lu An send a return gift to your residence.” Lu Jiahe smiled brightly at Xue Wanning, clearly eager for her to leave.

Xue Wanning glared at Lu Jiahe, the anger in her eyes barely contained.

Hearing Lu Jiahe’s words, Cheng Yi lightly swatted her arm. Though she understood why Lu Jiahe didn’t want Xue Wanning to stay longer, she still felt it necessary to show some basic respect.

“I’m truly sorry, Miss Xue. I’m not feeling well today and can’t entertain you properly. Let’s have a meal together next time you visit.” Cheng Yi looked apologetically at the woman across from her, her words seeming to apologize on Lu Jiahe’s behalf.

“Then thank you, Miss Xue.” With that, Xue Wanning bowed to Cheng Yi, then turned and headed toward the entrance of the Lu residence, not even sparing a glance at Lu Jiahe, who had bullied her mistress.

At this point, she no longer cared what attitude Lu Jiahe had toward her. She wanted to enter the palace, to lodge a complaint, to denounce Lu Jiahe fiercely before the old emperor and the empress!

After many days of quiet routine, the day of the results announcement finally arrived.

That morning, Cheng Yi woke up early and brought Lu Jiahe and the others to the imperial city to search for her husband’s name on the posted list.

Much like checking scores in the modern college entrance exam, Cheng Yi didn’t have much confidence.

The four of them started searching for Lu Jiahe’s name from the bottom of the list. As time ticked by and they had already scanned more than half of the names, they still hadn’t found his.

Cheng Yi grew increasingly anxious, even beginning to consider how she would comfort Lu Jiahe if he failed, whether she should let him have his way that night.

“Young Mistress, what if we start from the top? What if the young master performed exceptionally well?” Guo’er bit her lip, carefully watching her masters’ expressions, afraid of saying something wrong that might upset them.

Hearing this, Cheng Yi glanced at Lu Jiahe. Seeing no trace of disappointment on his face, she nodded in agreement.

They pushed through the crowded throng, taking quite a while to reach the other side of the list.

“Ah!”

Guo’er looked up at the list and let out an excited shriek.

“Young Mistress! The young master is ranked third!” Guo’er grabbed her mistress’s sleeve excitedly, nearly dancing on the spot to celebrate her master’s achievement of placing third in the imperial examination.

Cheng Yi stared at the name in third place on the list, scrutinizing it carefully several times before confirming that it was indeed Lu Jiahe’s name.

“There isn’t someone with the same name, is there?” Cheng Yi turned to look at Lu Jiahe, unsure how to describe her feelings at that moment.

Lu Jiahe stared blankly at them and shook his head. “I don’t know.”

He hadn’t expected to achieve such a high rank. He believed there were many more diligent and hardworking candidates and never imagined he would even make it into the top hundred.

“Candidates who have found their names and their families, please return home immediately to await the palace officials. Missing the appointment will be considered a voluntary forfeiture of the examination results.”

As the crowd beneath the imperial list grew larger, with some candidates even collapsing in convulsions from overwhelming emotion, the examination hall had no choice but to dispatch officials to urge those who already knew their results to hurry home.

“Oh no!” Cheng Yi panicked at once. Grabbing Lu Jiahe with her left hand and Guo’er with her right, she called out for Lu An, urging everyone to push through the crowd and rush home to wait.

It was the first time Lu Jiahe had seen his wife so flustered, and he couldn’t resist teasing her a little.

“What’s wrong, my dear? Overwhelmed with joy?” Lu Jiahe stood beside Cheng Yi, a mischievous expression creeping onto his face.

Hearing his lighthearted tone, Cheng Yi immediately furrowed her brows. She stopped in her tracks and looked at him sternly. She wanted to scold him, but considering his outstanding achievement, she held back words that might dampen his spirits.

Lu Jiahe instantly panicked upon seeing her wife’s face turn cold. Pressing her lips together, she looked at the other woman with a terrified expression, completely losing her earlier arrogance.

“Considering you ranked third in the exams, I won’t punish you this time. But if you dare speak so frivolously again, you’ll be sleeping in the study from now on.” With that, Cheng Yi paid no attention to her reaction and strode forward, leading Guo’er and Lu An.

“Oh, Young Master!”

Just as Lu Jiahe was about to chase after her wife, an extravagantly dressed woman appeared before her.

“Young master, are you the third-ranked scholar?””

The woman covered half her face with a palm-leaf fan, gradually closing the distance between them with delicate steps.

“Husband!”

Before Lu Jiahe could respond, Cheng Yi’s voice carried from the distance, growing closer.

“Husband, what are you still doing here? Let’s go buy groceries and head home for dinner.” Cheng Yi approached, nudging aside the woman trying to get close to Lu Jiahe. After shooting a glare at the woman, she hastily pulled Lu Jiahe away from the place that seemed ready to snatch her “chick” at any moment.

Seeing Cheng Yi’s jealous demeanor, Lu Jiahe couldn’t help but chuckle. She tightly grasped her wife’s hand and whispered, audible only to the two of them, “Were you jealous just now, my dear?”

Cheng Yi glanced sideways at her and retorted irritably, “You’re asking the obvious!”

Hearing this response, the heaviness in Lu Jiahe’s heart vanished entirely. Who would have thought, who would have thought, that her wife cared about her so deeply.

Early the next morning, palace messengers arrived at the Lu residence bearing generous gifts for the Tanhua scholar and instructing her to gather at the palace gates the following day for an audience with the emperor.

Seeing the palace envoys deliver items to Lu Jiahe finally put Cheng Yi’s restless heart at ease.

Throughout the day, the two busied themselves extensively with preparations for the imperial audience. From attire to speech etiquette, they rehearsed every step repeatedly, terrified that a single misspoken word might lead to fatal consequences.

“Speak as little as possible in the palace, understand? Trouble comes from the mouth, saying less is always safer.”

At dawn, Cheng Yi stood at the entrance of the Lu residence, adjusting Lu Jiahe’s collar. She was particularly uneasy about her husband’s childlike temperament, constantly worried that provocations from others might cause her to lose her temper in front of the emperor.

“I know, my dear. Don’t worry, I definitely won’t cause any trouble for you.” Lu Jiahe raised her hand to hold Cheng Yi’s, placing it against her chest. She understood her wife’s concerns and had already resolved that, even if insulted before the emperor, she wouldn’t utter a single improper word.

Cheng Yi frowned slightly upon hearing this, her face full of unease.

“By the way, Lu An, take this money pouch.” Cheng Yi handed the prepared pouch to Lu An. “Wait for the young master outside the palace gates, find a restaurant or teahouse, no matter the cost. Remember, you must wait until the young master emerges, understood?”

Lu An accepted the pouch and nodded to his young mistress. “Understood, madam. I will definitely wait for the young master.”

“Mm.”

Cheng Yi felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding all day. She watched their retreating figures for a long while at the doorway before finally returning inside the residence.

“Summon the scholars to court!”

Inside the palace, dozens of examinees entered the lavishly decorated hall together. They knelt below the dragon throne with their heads bowed, awaiting the words of the supreme sovereign.

Behind the screen in the hall, Xue Wanning leaned close to the empress’s ear, raised her hand to point in Lu Jiahe’s direction, and whispered a few words to her.

The dignified and elegant empress nodded after hearing Xue Wanning’s words, then summoned a nearby eunuch and instructed him to point out Lu Jiahe to the old emperor.