Do you know? Do you know? Should be green and red thin

  In the capital, there were many mansions of marquises and earls, but only those granted to meritorious officials at the founding of the dynasty could occupy an entire street. For example, the Xiangyang Marquis's mansion was located south of two blocks, while the British Duke's mansion was north of three streets. Later, those who received titles due to military merit or imperial favor did not have such grandeur. For instance, the Dongchang Earl's mansion and the original Fu Chang Earl's mansion, although luxurious and majestic, merely occupied more land.

  This Ming Lan understands that at the beginning of the founding of the country, there was a lot of land and few people, so the emperor was naturally generous. Later on, when the capital city prospered, real estate became extremely valuable, and the meritorious officials of the founding dynasty had long since been allocated one plot of land per person, where would there be so much land?

  Of course, there are also those like Hualan Po's family who were loyal and diligent but ended up in a tragic situation. As founding merit subjects, they occupied nearly half of the street with their magnificent buildings, but due to being involved in a case of treason, they had their titles and estates confiscated. Although they were later reinstated, they could not recover their original imperial-granted mansion.

  The Gu's family was stationed in Ningyuan Street for several generations because the marquises were ordered to guard the border, so the street occupied by the Hou Mansion was not very wide or long.

  But, as the saying goes, there are always exceptions in this world. For example, Shen Guo's residence, Wei Bei Hou Fu, was exceptionally grand due to his family ties with the empress and his military achievements. It occupied a vast area of land, surrounded by mountains and water, making it one of the most unique estates in the capital.

  This Ming Lan also understands that in the past two years, many nobles have made mistakes and been punished. After several rounds of purging and bloodshed, the new emperor has confiscated a large amount of wealth from the guilty officials' families. With his current abundance of wealth, he naturally wants to heavily reward his younger brother-in-law, as well as his followers.

  So when Minglan saw the grandeur of the Fu Yuan Gu Du Fu, she was not particularly surprised. What surprised her was that this mansion was actually separated from the Ningyuan Hou Mansion by only half a mountain forest and a garden of a newly confiscated criminal minister.

  "How is it? Is this house to your liking?" Gu Ting Ye looked at Ming Lan with a surprised expression and smiled.

  Minglan gazed at the mountain forest garden filled with clouds and mist, flowers and trees, her mouth almost agape. After a moment, she said, "The road is so close, yet we've been arguing for so long?" She felt that they had wasted a lot of energy just now.

  Gu Tingyan raised an eyebrow: "Even if the road is closer, it's still two different households; outsiders can't intervene here."

  Minglan's face showed a faint smile... did this mean she didn't have to get up early anymore?

  On the first day of their marriage, Minglan was extremely tired after a busy day and her whole body aching. When she returned to the Governor's residence, it was already dark outside, and she didn't even get a chance to see what her new home looked like. She was supported by Danju back to the house, and after a quick wash, she changed into casual and comfortable clothes, then dove straight into the large red quilt with dragon and phoenix patterns.

  She only wanted to rest for a while, and then get up for dinner, but unexpectedly fell into a deep sleep as soon as she closed her eyes. No one called her, and she slept until midnight, when Minglan finally woke up with a start. In her dazed state, she still thought she was at her parents' home, and half-sitting up, she reached out to feel the small table beside her bed. But in the darkness, she instead touched a smooth, bare chest.

  Minglan closed her eyes and remained still, unable to react. Who was this person? She touched him a few more times.

  A large hand grasped hers, and the man lifted the thick satin bed curtains embroidered with peony flowers, hooking them onto the copper hooks by the window. On the carved purple sandalwood small round table beside the bed was a dim yellow sheep's horn palace lamp. Under the dim light of the lamp, Minglan finally saw the person in front of her clearly.

  Gu Tingyan's raven-black hair was half scattered, half draped over the snowy satin shoulder, his inner garment and collar all undone, revealing a broad expanse of tanned chest, where in the dim light, it seemed there were many scars; the room was lit with faint incense, emitting a pinkish enchantment, but unable to cover up the strong scent of the man beside him.

  "What's wrong?" Gu Ting Ye seemed to be still sleepy and dazed, half-closing his eyes as he wrapped his arms around Ming Lan.

  "I want to drink water." Minglan tilted her head, with snow-like skin and tender pink lips, but her eyes were blurry, "I want tangerine."

  Gu Tingyan was already awake, and even though he had been tired for the past few days, he was now fully alert. He looked at Minglan's drowsy face and stretched out his long arm to grab a teapot from the warming basket on the bedside table. He poured some warm tea into a delicate porcelain cup and handed it to Minglan. Minglan held the cup with both hands and drank it all in one gulp, then asked blankly: "Is there more?"

  Gu Tingyan looked at her, then poured another cup for her. This time she couldn't finish it, only drinking half a bowl before pushing the cup and tea back into her husband's hands. Then, very naturally, she lay down, turned over, and continued sleeping under the covers.

  Gu Tingyan held the teacup in his hand, gazing at Minglan who was sleeping like a little pig, snoring softly. He remained silent for half a moment before finishing off the remaining half cup of tea in one gulp and putting the cup back down. Then, he turned around to lift up Minglan's quilt; the warm, fragrant girl's body was plump and slender, Gu Tingyan hugged her with great satisfaction, tightening his embrace as he slipped his hand into her clothes through the opening at the chest, feeling even more smoothness to the touch.

  It started with just a few touches, but as he touched her, he became more and more interested. He leaned in close, finding the girl's soft lips, which still had the moistness of the water she had just drunk. As they kissed, it became hotter and more intense, his hands moving wildly over her body.

  Minglan felt that something was off beneath her, and only then did she struggle to wake up, dazedly opening a pair of eyes, her lips slightly parted, struggling slightly in confusion, but he held her down with one hand, firmly pressing her down.

  Her body was on fire, and in a daze, she felt her legs being pulled apart and something heavy thrusting into her. Minglan endured it at first, but as a novice to such matters, she soon found the pain and burning sensation unbearable. Her legs hung limply around his arms as she cried out, hoping he would finish soon.

  Who would have thought that he was well-rested and full of energy, his strength surging as he pounced on her body, kissing her until she almost melted into water. Minglan couldn't bear it anymore and began to sob and beg for mercy, but her soft and gentle cries only excited him further, causing him to bite down on her delicate white shoulder, letting out a low growl.

  Minglan listened to his hoarse and heavy breathing, her body burning like fire, until she finally fainted.

  ……

  On the second day, early in the morning, when Mrs. Cui rushed to the new house, she only heard a strong fragrance wafting from inside, and the scent of men and women filled the entire room. The maids had already helped Minglan bathe and were blushing as they served her. As soon as Mrs. Cui stepped in, she saw the couple sitting side by side on the edge of the bed. Minglan looked like she hadn't woken up yet, but Gu Tingye was full of energy and interest, slowly putting a white jade-like small foot on his knee and helping her put on stockings.

  Choi's mother stepped forward, suppressing her anger and not daring to glare at the new son-in-law. She quickly took the sock and said with a bow: "Son-in-law, hurry up and get cleaned up; I'll take care of things here."

  Gu Ting Ye didn't get angry, he stood up straight, wearing a long-sleeved shirt and went to the side room; Cui's mother kept watching him leave, then squatted down to help Ming Lan put on her shoes and socks. When helping her wear her outer jacket, she inadvertently lifted her hem and saw that Ming Lan had a patch of ambiguous purple-red marks from her shoulder to her chest.

  Choi's mother suddenly felt a surge of anger, but she endured it silently, waiting for the third day to return home and report.

  Minglan felt that sleeping was more tiring than not sleeping, her waist couldn't straighten up, and she was so hungry that her chest was stuck to her back. As soon as she saw the steaming breakfast on the table, her eyes turned green with hunger, and she broke a record by drinking three bowls of porridge in one go, almost bursting her stomach. Gu Tingye also had a good appetite, not only did he eat a lot himself, but he also smiled and added dishes for Minglan as he watched her eat.

  Minglan thought he was like a black-hearted pig farmer, working hard to fatten her up and wait for the day to eat pork. She glared at him fiercely, but saw that he was smiling with ambiguous eyes, seemingly laughing yet not quite, looking at her. Minglan's face turned red as if blood was about to drip out.

  She didn't even want to talk, thinking that there were no other elders in the house anyway, so she quickly finished eating and went back to sleep for a while. Currently, she was sleep-deprived and her head wasn't clear, so she couldn't fight with him; first, she needed to recover her strength before doing anything else.

  Originally, Gu Tingyan had planned to introduce Minglan to the several managers in the mansion and hand over household matters to her, but seeing that Minglan was about to fall asleep standing up, he put everything off for now and went to the outer study to deal with some urgent matters.

  It was as if yin and yang were in harmony, Gu Tingyan felt that the sunlight today was exceptionally good, the entire house was filled with birdsong and fragrance of flowers, heaven and earth were in harmony, and he couldn't even remember yesterday's unpleasantness. He spent the whole day with a smile on his face, thinking only about quickly finishing his work so he could return home; even if it wasn't possible to get what he wanted, getting some other benefits would be good too.

  After a daytime rest, Minglan regained some energy and planned to discuss her life ideals and family management with her new husband in the evening. However, Gu Tingye had completely different plans and before Minglan could even start the conversation, he hastily pulled her onto the bed and excitedly spent half the night.

  On the third day after their wedding, Gu Ting Ye looked at Ming Lan with a worried expression, seeing her listless and downcast appearance, he felt some heartache and began to regret, today was supposed to be the third-day return visit, last night shouldn't have been so excessive.

  Ming Lan's slender body was slumped over the table, her hands trembling as she held the rice bowl, and her heart couldn't help but overflow with old tears - As a legal worker, she strongly agreed that husbands and wives had an obligation to have X life, and she also extremely agreed on the importance of X life in married life. Moreover, she was willing to cooperate fully, however... Waaah, she really had a surplus of heart but a deficiency of strength!

  Three days after the wedding, Comrade Gu seems to have no higher requirements for Minglan at all. He doesn't ask her to manage the household or take on domestic chores immediately. Currently, his only and greatest demand is that he hopes she will perform well in bed.

  Minglan's face twisted in distaste as she picked up the lotus-patterned porcelain dish, and couldn't help but think with a sense of tragic irony: other people's wives, the mistresses of wealthy households, did intellectual work, competing in wit and bravery, while she was doing physical labor, and heavy physical labor at that! What was this, cultivating yin to supplement yang?

  The more she thought about it, the more depressed and anxious she felt. Ming Lan's heart was filled with rage. She was now a delicate and tender little loli, how could she possibly be a match for him in terms of physical strength? Not to mention that their bodies were not compatible, but also their endurance and physique were vastly different. He had only won because he was stronger, it wasn't a fair fight! Hmph! Let's see if he can still handle her when she becomes as fierce as a wolf at thirty and as ferocious as a tiger at forty!

  Minglan was drinking porridge while having a fantasy in her mind, feeling very pleased. However, she accidentally moved her body and felt another wave of soreness in her waist and legs, so she could only let out a faint sigh - damn it, just you wait!