In the end, Mu Wanwan decided to heat more water and give Mr. Dragon a proper bath.
The room was large enough to fit a wooden tub, though moving it out again afterward might be troublesome. Still, that should be easier than carrying Mr. Dragon all the way to the side hall, right?
Mu Wanwan thought about it and glanced at his tail.
She probably would not be able to carry him. Even if she somehow managed it, his tail would most likely drag along the ground.
It would be better to bring the water into the room.
His tail had nearly finished healing now. It had not bled for a long time. Although it was missing some flesh and the tip was gone, a thin layer of newly grown translucent scales now covered it, soft to the touch.
Farther up the long dragon tail were still somewhat withered yellow scales. The lines of his lower abdomen were clearly visible, and pale golden scales covered part of his waist, giving him an almost dangerously alluring appearance.
Mu Wanwan felt a little embarrassed.
But the moment her gaze landed on the indescribable mess the spirit-chicken chick had left on Mr. Dragon’s pure white inner robe, all traces of shyness vanished instantly.
Ugh!
She gave the adorable but somewhat filthy chicks a disgusted glance, then briskly went to the kitchen to heat water and prepare the bathing supplies.
This was her first time bathing a dragon.
From her previous experience, some areas of Mr. Dragon’s scales could be rather hard…
After thinking for a moment, Mu Wanwan brought along the unused brush she had previously purchased. →_→
She was actually a little nervous!
But she was not the only nervous one.
A certain dragon was far more nervous than she was. Merely imagining what might happen next made him feel so terribly… stimulated.
He even suddenly found Mengmeng, that fluffball, incredibly adorable.
It had led the chicks around as they jumped all over him, but this dragon was not angry in the slightest!
Mr. Dragon waited with his face burning red, his spiritual consciousness extended throughout the room.
On one hand, he watched Mengmeng struggling uncomfortably in the corner after being overwhelmed by the chick’s foul smell, thoroughly enjoying the rare sight of the bird’s misery.
On the other hand, he eagerly anticipated the intimate contact he was about to have with Madam.
Mr. Dragon was in an exceptionally good mood.
Although he was terribly shy, surely this was something married couples were required to do?
She had already married him.
They had slept in the same bed.
They even possessed a token of love—the dragon-horn purse.
If she bathed him as well, then that meant she had agreed to have little dragon cubs with him… probably!
Mr. Dragon’s heart pounded rapidly.
While condemning his own shameless decision to pretend to remain unconscious, he secretly looked forward to what was coming.
But very soon, his spiritual consciousness detected several people gradually approaching the courtyard.
Mr. Dragon immediately calmed down. A cold smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
Previously, he had been unconscious and powerless against the servants who came to cause trouble for Madam.
Now, however, he had recovered somewhat.
He was still incapable of dealing with Ao Qin or the dragon guards, but handling a few women who wanted to bully Madam was more than easy enough.
There were still several spirit stones inside the house.
That would be more than sufficient to deal with them.
While Mr. Dragon darkly calculated how to make the maids who bullied Madam suffer, Mu Wanwan was in the kitchen heating water, her heart beating slightly faster.
She carried the wooden tub into the room. Just as she finished placing down the washing supplies, someone knocked at the courtyard gate.
Mu Wanwan’s heart abruptly rose into her throat.
Several terrible possibilities instantly flashed through her mind, including the thought that Ao Qin might have come to cause trouble for them.
Her voice trembled slightly as she swiftly grabbed a large cloth and covered Mengmeng and the spirit-chicken chicks.
“Mengmeng, don’t make a sound.”
The knocking outside became more urgent, accompanied by Fuliu’s voice.
“Madam, it’s me.”
Mu Wanwan released a breath of relief.
Calling out that she was coming, she quickly stored the pots of spiritual plants she had not yet brought in from the courtyard inside her spatial pouch.
Although her pouch was low-grade and incapable of storing living things, keeping the spiritual plants inside for a few hours should not cause any problems.
Mu Wanwan closed the bedroom door, ran to the courtyard entrance and opened the gate.
Fuliu and Hongye stood outside.
“Madam, what were you doing? Why did it take you so long to open the door?”
Fuliu frowned, her face filled with displeasure.
Hongye stood beside her and blinked at Mu Wanwan in a friendly manner. It did not appear that they had come specifically to cause trouble.
Mu Wanwan understood that when others held the advantage, it was wiser to lower one’s head.
“I was in the kitchen just now. My apologies.”
Fuliu snorted.
Seeing Mu Wanwan dressed in cheap cotton clothing, with no ornaments in her black hair and simple cloth shoes on her feet, she raised an eyebrow.
“What delicious food is Madam making? Are you eating the meat of a third-rank demonic ox, or stewing a fourth-rank spirit pigeon?”
Her tone was filled with mockery, every word ridiculing Mu Wanwan’s poverty.
Those words were also like blades stabbing into Mr. Dragon’s heart.
With his spiritual consciousness spread outward, he could clearly see the fire-tending maid who had once trembled before him, behaved obediently and constantly watched his expression.
Now she had transformed into someone dressed ten times better than his wife, arrogantly mocking Madam’s food.
Guilt and regret mixed together, producing pain like needles piercing his heart.
He regretted it terribly.
Back then, he had cared only about cultivation and had never paid attention to matters like these.
Now, Madam was being forced to bear the consequences of his mistakes.
With Mu Wanwan outside the room, Mr. Dragon no longer bothered to hide.
He slowly sat halfway upright, his eyes lowered.
His pitch-black eyelashes concealed the pain within his gaze. His thin lips pressed together, and the curse markings across his face became even more hideous than usual.
“Chirp…”
Mengmeng keenly sensed the pressure inside the room and released an uneasy, quiet cry.
The three chicks huddled together in terror, as though someone had seized their throats. They could not make a single sound.
Mr. Dragon stretched out a long arm and picked up a mid-grade spirit stone from beside the pillow.
His gaze softened for a brief moment.
Madam had given this to him.
She had earned it for him.
…
At the courtyard gate, the second-rank Fuliu remained completely unaware that Mr. Dragon’s spiritual consciousness had already spread behind her.
It watched her coldly, filled with murderous intent.
She continued mocking Mu Wanwan happily.
“Madam, this simply won’t do. How could you eat such expensive food? His Majesty is still severely disabled. You can’t possibly be this wasteful.”
“I’m only cooking food ordinary people eat.”
The moment Fuliu mentioned Mr. Dragon, the smile vanished from Mu Wanwan’s lips.
Her voice turned cold.
“Hehe.”
Fuliu covered her lips and laughed. The contempt in her eyes was practically overflowing.
Mu Wanwan was one of the few people before whom she could find a sense of superiority.
Although Fuliu appeared powerful here, in truth, she was nothing within the dragon residence.
When Mu Wanwan had first married into the household, Ao Qin had occasionally come to ask about her.
Because of this, Fuliu had not dared treat Mu Wanwan too carelessly. After all, it would be troublesome if she complained to Lord Ao Qin.
The same had been true during the matter involving Bai Shuiyao.
But recently, Lord Ao Qin had barely asked about this courtyard at all.
As her presence in Lord Ao Qin’s eyes weakened, Fuliu’s status among the other senior maids inside the residence also steadily declined.
Everyone ultimately respected strength, and Fuliu was not particularly powerful.
She had grown accustomed to receiving special treatment for some time, so suddenly returning to her former position made her deeply unhappy.
And if she was unhappy, she had no intention of allowing Mu Wanwan to remain happy either.
This time, however, she had come according to the rules to deliver the monthly allowance.
Fuliu’s eyes flickered.
“Madam, don’t be so cold. I came to deliver your monthly allowance.”
At the mention of the allowance, Mu Wanwan’s anger diminished somewhat.
Calculating the days, it truly was time for the next payment.
She smiled at Fuliu.
“Thank you.”
Fuliu felt extremely pleased with herself.
She pulled a small cloth pouch from her pocket. It looked rather heavy.
She extended it towards Mu Wanwan, and Mu Wanwan naturally reached out to receive it.
But in the next moment, Fuliu tilted her hand.
The pouch slipped sideways and rolled onto the ground.
She had deliberately failed to tie it securely. Silver and copper coins immediately spilled out, striking Mu Wanwan’s feet before rolling across the ground.
Mu Wanwan abruptly raised her eyes.
Fuliu’s gaze contained an unmistakable smile.
“Ah, Madam, I’m sorry. I didn’t do it deliberately.”
Even Hongye, who had originally intended not to interfere, felt that Fuliu had gone too far when she witnessed this.
She knew that Madam’s monthly allowance consisted of one mid-grade spirit stone, three low-grade spirit stones and some ordinary currency.
Hongye had assumed Fuliu would at most secretly take a few low-grade stones.
She had not expected her to be so ruthless.
“Madam, I’ll help you pick them up.”
Although Hongye felt Fuliu’s behaviour was inappropriate, she still did not speak in Mu Wanwan’s defence.
She merely bent down and began helping gather the copper coins.
Mu Wanwan clenched her fists.
Looking at the coins scattered across the ground and the expression on Fuliu’s face, she truly wanted to strike back.
But she still had Mr. Dragon.
She still had the fluffball.
She could not act impulsively.
“Thank you.”
She forced the words from her throat.
“You may leave now.”
She desperately wanted to beat this hateful maid, then throw the money directly into her face.
Unfortunately, she could not.
Mr. Dragon’s spiritual consciousness gently circled his wife, softly stroking her cheek as though comforting her.
Madam could not do anything to Fuliu.
But he could.
“But Madam still hasn’t picked up the money…”
Halfway through her sentence, Fuliu suddenly felt dizzy.
It was as though something had seized her throat. The rest of her words—“What if you later claim you never received it?”—became firmly trapped inside.
Her entire body dropped uncontrollably to its knees.
Fully conscious beneath Mu Wanwan and Hongye’s astonished gazes, she picked up every coin scattered across the ground.
Then she pulled two mid-grade spirit stones from her pocket and handed them to Mu Wanwan along with the cloth pouch.
“Sister Fuliu?”
Hongye was utterly shocked.
Before she could react, Fuliu, who had just handed over the spirit stones, bowed to Mu Wanwan.
“This is all of Madam’s monthly allowance.”
The words floated uncontrollably from her mouth.
Fuliu felt so furious she could vomit blood.
She could only watch helplessly as her own hand slapped her face several times.
“This servant will withdraw now.”
Hongye remained completely stunned.
Not knowing what to do, she glanced at Mu Wanwan, responded awkwardly and hurried after Fuliu.
Mu Wanwan watched Fuliu leave with stiff, unnatural movements.
Then she looked down at the spirit stones in her hand.
She felt completely bewildered.
Why had Fuliu suddenly changed?
Had she become possessed?
No.
How could someone suddenly become possessed for no reason?
Was someone secretly protecting her?
Could it have been Mr. Dragon?
No, that was impossible.
Mr. Dragon was still unconscious. According to the original plot, he should currently be incapable of doing anything.
The image of Mengmeng fiercely pecking the plant from her neck suddenly flashed through Mu Wanwan’s mind.
She abruptly understood.
Could it be that Mengmeng was not an ordinary mountain tit at all, but some incredibly powerful fluffball?
Could it control people’s movements?
Her thoughts were somewhat chaotic, but Mu Wanwan could not stop herself from laughing.
Regardless of who had done it, they clearly meant her no harm.
Besides…
It had felt incredibly satisfying!
The slaps Fuliu had given herself had sounded loudly through the courtyard.
Mu Wanwan had seen the handprints covering her face and the blood at the corner of her mouth.
It had been extremely satisfying.
—
**Author’s Note:**
Mu Wanwan: “Mengmeng, thank you. It must have been you who helped me slap her face.”
Fluffball: “Chirp, chirp!” Mr. Dragon: “???”
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