Nine Just Living Off Rice

Xueqing gazed calmly at Pan Yueyang. “Yueyang, since you suspect Wanwan, why not…”

“Let her stay. I have my own plans.” Pan Yueyang continued his leisurely stroll.

Xueqing toyed with the flower in her hand, while Pan Yueyang’s furrowed brow betrayed his concern over the recent happenings in the martial world.

Xueqing gave a bitter smile. Wherever he went, she was always by his side, yet their relationship had never moved forward. She had admired Yueyang since childhood, willingly accompanying him in his studies and sword practice, vowing never to marry and waiting for the day he might truly see her. “How dangerous is it?”

“The Way of Heaven Sect has suddenly risen in the martial world, recruiting talented followers and expanding rapidly. We must be on guard.” Pan Yueyang’s voice was weighted with patriotic concern.

“Next time, take me with you.” Xueqing abandoned the flower, her expression serious.

He didn’t answer, but nodded and retraced his steps along the path they’d just walked.

Watching his retreating back, Xueqing longed to hold him…

Cloud Path Court.

“Wanwan.” Pan Yueyang entered the room, his eyes falling on the woman sleeping innocently, her face soft with slumber. For reasons he couldn’t explain, his tone always softened around her, a fact that surprised even himself.

Seeing her so defenseless in sleep, Pan Yueyang gently brushed her cheek with his hand, a touch laced with both tenderness and warning. It would be best if this woman, who had so abruptly entered his life, was not a spy for the Way of Heaven Sect, for otherwise, he could only let her die.

Disturbed, Wanwan scratched at her tickled cheek and woke with a start. Catching sight of Pan Yueyang, she panicked, wrapping the quilt tightly around herself.

“Do I frighten you?” Pan Yueyang’s face turned cold. He disliked how Wanwan was always so flustered in his presence.

“You kicked me, made me lose my bucket, bullied me—you’re a bad man.” Wanwan rattled off his misdeeds in one breath.

That’s all? Is that what makes one a bad man? Pan Yueyang looked at her in amusement, genuinely drawn in by her innocence.

“Wanwan, where is your home? Since you dislike me so much, and I am the master here, why don’t I send you back home?” His words were laced with feigned kindness and temptation. As if he would really send her away—she was his now. Until he had clarified her background and lost interest in her, she would go nowhere.

“I don’t know…” Whenever the matron asked her this question, she would bow her head in grief, trying hard to remember but finding nothing.

“How can you not know?” he asked, his tone now gentle, stroking her silky hair, as if indulging her, though in truth it was only to coax information from her.

“I woke up on the grass. Uncle and auntie saw me and gave me food. They’re good people,” Wanwan replied earnestly, nodding as she spoke.

“Giving you food makes them good people?” Pan Yueyang chuckled at her simplicity. Then how would she explain them selling her into this household? What if she’d been sold somewhere far worse—say, into a brothel? The thought made his hand pinch her cheek a little harder.

“That hurts.” Wanwan, unable to get up, glared at him from the bed.

“Wanwan, from now on, I’ll make sure you eat well, wear nice things, and stay by my side. Would you like that?”

Even Pan Yueyang was startled by his own words. What had come over him?

“You won’t kick me anymore? You won’t snatch my bucket again?” Wanwan clung to his calloused hand, coaxing an answer from him.

“No, I won’t.” Pan Yueyang’s smile was dazzling, his handsome face lighting up.

“Then, when I’m better, I’ll do laundry again. But you must let me fetch water!” she declared earnestly.

“Laundry?” He suddenly felt as though crows were flying over his head. After all that, she was still fixated on doing laundry? “Why do you want to do laundry?”

Wanwan grinned broadly. “Auntie said, if I work hard and behave, she’ll bring my family to fetch me.” Her innocent trust stirred something in Pan Yueyang.

Come to fetch her? Foolish Wanwan—they had sold her with a lifetime contract, which was lying in his study. How could they ever come back for her? If Wanwan truly wasn’t a spy, he would make sure to find those who sold her. How could they bear to sell such a pure-hearted girl, who trusted them so completely to come back for her?

“Alright, Wanwan, you needn’t do laundry anymore.” Pan Yueyang fondly tapped her nose.

“No more laundry?” Wanwan grew anxious. Would she be sent away if she wasn’t needed? And if auntie came to fetch her, how would she find her?

“Yes, no more laundry. Just tell the maids what you want to eat or do each day. I can afford to keep you,” Pan Yueyang assured her gently.

“I can really stay here and be good and obedient?” Wanwan blinked her wide eyes.

“And… never mention the people who brought you here again. I dislike them very much,” Pan Yueyang said, his expression suddenly cold.

Really? If those people hadn’t sold Wanwan, would the male lead have anything to do with her? What an incomprehensible, arrogant man!

Wanwan thought for a moment, then nodded. She was afraid of him, but he gave her food and a bed. Auntie had said to obey the master to get food and wait to be fetched.

Knock, knock, knock…

Fenghe tapped politely on the inner chamber’s wooden door.

“Come in,” Pan Yueyang said, seated by Wanwan’s bed, his fingers idly running through her hair, relishing its softness.

“General, Madam Pin from Autumn Courtyard requests an audience,” Fenghe said with her head bowed. As well-trained maids, they were to see no evil, no matter what their masters did.

“Very well.” Pan Yueyang rose and left with Fenghe.

Wanwan lay there content, delighted that she could eat without laboring at laundry, as long as she obeyed him. He was the master here—how wonderful!

“Yueyang~” A faint scent of osmanthus wafted into the room with light, graceful steps. There was no need to see her; the sound of her voice alone revealed she was a woman of rare gentleness.

Outside the door, Pin’er drifted in, dressed in white. Pan Yueyang smiled at his woman; she seemed even more radiant after their time apart.

Pin’er melted into his arms, her eyes like water as she gazed up at him. “You returned yesterday. Why didn’t you summon me?” Her lips, painted a delicate pink, pouted in a blend of grievance and allure.

“Ha, is my little Pin’er missing her general?” Pan Yueyang teased, his large hand caressing her shoulder.

“What do you think? I haven’t seen you for two months—I’ve pined for you day and night.” She slipped away from his embrace only to cling to his arm, rocking it coquettishly.

“I had official matters to handle yesterday, then an early audience with His Majesty this morning. Only now did I have a moment to think of spending time with my beloved Pin’er.” Fulfilling her wishes, Pan Yueyang scooped her up and carried her toward his main chambers…

After their passion, Pin’er draped half her body over him, showering his skin with delicate kisses. “What is it? Still not enough?” Pan Yueyang turned to look at his cherished concubine.

“I just like being with you,” she replied, her soft hands roaming his muscular frame, tracing the hard lines of his body with pleasure. Her eyes flickered slyly. “Yueyang? Why were you just in the servants’ quarters?”

She was no fool; even in Cloud Path Court, she had her confidantes. She had waited all night for Pan Yueyang, thinking he would rush to her after his affairs were settled. She’d dressed up for him, only to learn he had favored some new maid instead—a beauty, by all accounts.

Pan Yueyang laughed heartily, unwilling to discuss it. “Is my Pin’er jealous?”

“Annoying! Who cares to be jealous?” Pin’er nestled obediently into his arm.

Yes, Pan Yueyang detested presumptuous women. He preferred gentle, sensible, and obedient ones. Pin’er never acted domineering before him, nor made decisions on her own—she was always the picture of demure dependence.

She had once competed with Xueqing, sensing Xueqing’s admiration for Pan Yueyang and the trust between them. She dared not act out too much, for Xueqing was skilled in martial arts and had grown up alongside him, handling many of his affairs. Yet there was one thing Xueqing could never surpass her in—becoming Pan Yueyang’s woman. Because of this, Pin’er could openly vie with Xueqing for his favor. In the residence, she was his sole concubine, her position stable if not official. Though Pan Yueyang had never spoken of marriage, she hoped that bearing his child would secure her dominance in the household.

Soon after she entered the household, she noticed the way Xueqing looked at Pan Yueyang and tested the waters by suggesting he take Xueqing in as a wife. He refused outright, claiming Xueqing was merely a childhood companion and now his subordinate—that would never change. Knowing he was a man of his word, she let the facade of sisterhood drop. The role of mistress was hers alone.

But now? The news of Pan Yueyang and that woman from the previous night had left her weeping in anger. She alone could not allow Yueyang to fall into the arms of another woman—never.