The system asked me to chase his wife

After convincing herself to stay, Xia Mang quickly said sorry to her mother in her heart.

However, she knew that she didn't have much time left here. The lady's medicine was expensive, but she would save enough money here sooner or later.

I don’t know how long I stayed there, but Xia Mang actually felt a little bit of homesickness.

She has now become somewhat accustomed to the leisurely life in the Duke's Mansion, and she doesn't know whether she can adapt to that fast-paced life after returning.

Soon, Xia Mang realized that she was being pretentious again. She suspected that her original body had endocrine disorders recently. Otherwise, why did she always have such a twisted emotion of worrying about gains and losses?

Xia Mang quickly adjusted her mood and decided that the most important thing was to live each day to the fullest!

Qiao Yuandong had no idea that her little maid had just gone through a brainstorm. During the few days she was away, there were a lot of things waiting for her to deal with in the mansion.

After two days of being really busy, Qiao Yuandong finally had some free time. When Rongzhu came with a list and asked Qiao Yuandong who she planned to invite to the party, she remembered that it was her birthday.

Qiao Yuandong's birthday party was a big deal in Beijing. The eldest princess went to the mansion in person to celebrate Qiao Yuandong's birthday, and the palace naturally expressed its gratitude.

With these huge Buddha statues to support the occasion, many noble ladies in the capital came to congratulate the Duke's wife, raising the level of the Duke's wife's birthday party.

Qiao Yuandong did not expect that this day would be so lively. As there were too many guests, she had no choice but to ask her mother to come and entertain them. With the presence of the eldest princess, the atmosphere was stabilized.

As for male guests, there were very few of them. Everyone knew that there was no male heir in the Zhenguo Mansion except Xiang Xiu'an, so the male guests basically just gave their gifts and left.

We are all grown men, who would have the nerve to sit in a widow's house and enjoy a banquet?

All the guests had a great time that day. After the banquet, Qiao Yuandong arranged for the ladies to tour the garden and enjoy the scenery. Finally, they sat in the open pavilion to listen to music and watch plays.

Occasionally, people came forward to congratulate him. No matter who they were, Qiao Yuandong thanked them one by one for their kindness, smiling in a gentle and measured manner.

The eldest princess sat beside him. After watching Qiao Yuandong smile and send off another noble lady, she leaned over and whispered to Yu Qing beside her, "Do you think her smile is fake?"

Yu Qing's ears were brushed by the hot breath of the princess, and she felt her cheeks getting hot. She pushed the princess uncomfortably and said, "Your Highness, please be more polite in front of others."

Feeling despised, the princess reluctantly sat up straight, but her hand in her sleeve was still restlessly holding Yu Qing's hand.

With a smile on her lips, she played with the knuckles in her palm and even scratched them secretly, causing Yu Qing to pull his hand back.

Yu Qing glared at her unhappily, but received a shameless smile from the princess instead.

After dealing with the guests, Qiao Yuandong looked at the two of them with amusement. The eldest princess turned to look at her as if she sensed something.

"I just saw that the roses in your house are in full bloom. Can I pick some and take them back?" The eldest princess suddenly made a strange request.

Qiao Yuandong laughed at her: "All the flowers in your princess's mansion are famous. Are you tired of seeing them? You are asking for my roses."

The eldest princess propped up her head and smiled mysteriously, "I have used all the flowers in the princess's house, but Qingqing is not satisfied. I thought that Yue Jixing might be the best match for her."

Qiao Yuandong imagined Yu Qing wearing roses on her head and was about to recommend a few suitable colors and varieties when he saw Yu Qing suddenly stand up with a red face.

"I, I'm going over there to get some fresh air." After saying that, she ran away, leaving the eldest princess laughing happily.

Qiao Yuandong didn't understand why the princess was laughing, and couldn't help but ask, "It seems that His Highness and Miss Yu have reconciled?"

The princess nodded when she heard this. When she mentioned Yu Qing, her sharp eyes were full of smiles. "It took some effort."

The word "Kung Fu" lingered on the eldest princess's lips. Qiao Yuandong felt vaguely that something was wrong, but he didn't know what was strange.

She ignored this strangeness and turned her attention to something else: "I wonder who expressed their feelings first, Your Highness or Miss Yu?"

The princess pointed at herself calmly and said, "Of course it's me. If I let Qingqing take the initiative in this matter, wouldn't it be a loss of face for me?"

Qiao Yuandong: "That makes sense."

She was silent for a moment, then asked, "What did Your Highness do in the beginning?"

The princess raised her eyebrows when she heard this. She squinted her eyes at Qiao Yuandong and smiled in an inexplicable way: "Want to ask me for advice?"

Qiao Yuandong sat upright and watched the excitement on the stage without even turning his head. "I'm just curious."

"What a hypocrite." The princess gave her a teasing look, filled the golden cup beside her, and pushed it in front of Qiao Yuandong: "Drink it all, and I'll tell you."

Qiao Yuandong's eyelashes trembled slightly. She looked at the full golden cup and reached out to pick it up steadily.

Because of her status as the eldest princess, her seat was arranged in the first row with the best view.

Except for Qiao Yuandong and Yu Qing who were sitting with them, the other female members of the family were all some distance away, and the maids who were serving them were standing far away in the corridor.

Therefore, no one knew what the princess had said to Qiao Yuandong.
At the end of the You hour, the sky had already darkened and the lanterns in the yard were lit early.

Rongzhu came to find Xia Mang and said that Qiao Yuandong was back and wanted to see her now.

It was not Xia Mang's turn to be on duty today, so she took a rare day off.

But it wasn't that she did nothing. She closed the door and prepared a birthday gift for Qiao Yuandong.

After all, the boss is having a birthday, so as his subordinates, they should do their best to show their support, right?

He Lan and the others always sent handkerchiefs to make clothes or something like that, which was totally beyond Xia Mang's skills.

In view of the failed painting experience last time, Xia Mang decided to do something new this time.

When Rong Zhu said that Qiao Yuandong was looking for her, Xia Mang agreed and ran directly to the porch behind the house.

There was a row of birds of various colors raised there. Xia Mang came here often to feed the birds. The birds had become familiar with her and would flutter up and down when they saw her coming.

Xia Mang picked a little starling directly. She held up the cage containing the starling and said to it, "Little starling, little starling, I usually give you food and drink, you have to make me proud today!"

Xiao Ba was the bird she had trained for the longest time. In order to make Xiao Ba say beautiful congratulations, Xia Mang put in a lot of secret efforts.

It was not known whether the starling named Xiaoba understood or not. It just jumped up and down twice in the cage and then turned around to eat.

Xia Mang ran to find Qiao Yuandong with the cage in his hand. He Huan came out with a basin of hot water. Her eyes widened when she saw Xia Mang coming in with the bird.

"What are you doing?"

Xia Mang smiled at He Huan and said, "Madam, it's your birthday today. I'll show you something fun!"

He Huan looked at the bird and then at Xia Mang, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and said, "Madam is drunk and is lying down right now. You should be careful. If she falls asleep, you are not allowed to make trouble!"

"I know, I know!" Xia Mang nodded and stepped inside.

Xiao Ba suddenly croaked and learned a sentence: "I know, I know!"

He Huan was amused by Xiao Ba and couldn't help saying, "Only a clever person like you can come up with such an idea." No wonder Madam Dao looked at her with such high regard!
"That's right!" Xia Mang was quite satisfied with Xiao Ba's intelligence. She patted the cage gently to comfort Xiao Ba not to make any noise.

At that time, Qiao Yuandong had already taken off her hairpins and rings and was leaning on the chaise longue with her eyes closed.

Xia Mang placed the bird cage on the small table in the entrance hall and walked over to see if she was asleep.

Qiao Yuandong changed into her usual dark blue Hangzhou silk double-breasted shirt, paired with a white Hangzhou silk skirt, with a piece of gauze falling on her body, showing off her curvy and soft figure.

At this time, she was neither wearing a crown nor having her hair tied up in a bun. She only had her black hair tied up in a bun, and it hung down behind her head like clouds, making her unmade-up face look even more earthy.

Xia Mang got very close to look at Qiao Yuandong, and because she had her eyes closed, he boldly stretched out his hand and waved it in front of her eyes.

As a result, Qiao Yuandong suddenly opened his eyes. Maybe because he was drunk, his dark pupils were shining with a clear and watery light.

Xia Mang was stunned for a moment before she pulled her hand back, but Qiao Yuandong reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"You came."

Qiao Yuandong grabbed Xia Mang's hand and used the force to sit up. Xia Mang was pulled by the force and staggered and sat on the couch.

"Madam, would you like some sobering soup?" Xia Mang couldn't help asking as she looked at Qiao Yuandong's dazed look.

Now that she was close, she could clearly smell the faint scent of alcohol mixed with the incense on Qiao Yuandong's body.

Coupled with that unblinking gaze, Xia Mang felt a hint of intoxicating subtlety.

"Used."

The three words were spoken in a clear and loud voice. From the tone, Xia Mang guessed that Qiao Yuandong must have drunk a lot today.

After all, the last time Qiao Yuandong got drunk, he was in such a serious state. He looked calm on the surface, but actually he didn't know what he was doing.

Xia Mang suddenly remembered the time when Qiao Yuandong bit her finger, and her fingertips couldn't help but feel a slight itch.

She curled her fingers subconsciously, and Qiao Yuandong tightened his grip because of this tiny movement.

Xia Mang saw Qiao Yuandong lowering his eyes and staring at his wrist, as if it was an interesting toy.

The bracelet given to Xia Mang was now worn neatly on her wrist. Her fingertips rubbed the bracelet for a long time, and her eyes were so gentle that they seemed to be dripping with tears.

Xia Mang saw that her eyebrows were as relaxed as a painting and there was a faint smile on her lips, and he sighed for the hundredth time in his heart.

She is really beautiful!

"Well, Madam, I prepared a birthday gift for you, do you want to see it?" Xia Mang concealed her momentary panic and thought of the forgotten Xiao Ba.

Qiao Yuandong stopped what he was doing, tilted his head slightly to look at Xia Mang, and took a breath before he realized what Xia Mang said.

"Bring it here and have a look." Qiao Yuandong suddenly smiled, and his eyes, which used to be clear and indifferent, now showed some charm.

To die!

Xia Mang swallowed, stood up, rubbed his face, and walked to the entrance in three or two steps.

Xiao Ba was standing quietly in the cage at this moment, with his head tilted and his green eyes bulging as he stared at the two people in the room without blinking.

Xia Mang brought the cage in front of Qiao Yuandong, squatted down while holding the cage to show her the results of her training.

"Xiao Ba, come here!" Xia Mang whistled and winked at Xiao Ba, but Xiao Ba turned his feet outward and ignored her.

Oops! I messed up!

"Maybe it's because of the new environment that the bird is shy." Qiao Yuandong spoke again and Xia Mang stepped down.

Xia Mang put the bird cage on the ground and smiled apologetically at Qiao Yuandong: "This gift is not a good one."

After all, she had been well taken care of by Qiao Yuandong during her time at the Duke's Mansion. Now she didn't know how long she would stay here, so both for public and private reasons she hoped to give Qiao Yuandong something that would make him happy.

It just seems like the opposite is true.

Thinking of this, Xia Mang glared at the uncooperative Xiao Ba with a rather dejected look, thinking in his heart that he would starve this stupid bird for two days later!

"It was indeed not delivered well." Qiao Yuandong still had a smile in his voice when he said this.

Xia Mang just thought she was making fun of herself, so she lowered her head and was too embarrassed to look at her.

Suddenly, the white hem of Qiao Yuandong's skirt appeared in his sight. Xia Mang looked up and saw Qiao Yuandong squatting down like himself.

But being drunk made her lose her balance, and after squatting for a while she leaned forward and knelt on the ground. If Xia Mang hadn't reached out to support her, she would have probably fallen to the ground.

Qiao Yuandong supported himself with his hands in front of him and looked at Xia Mang without blinking, revealing pure seduction.

Xia Mang was so confused by Qiao Yuandong's stare that his eyes widened and it took him a long while to utter two words.

"lady?"

Does she know how unfair her current appearance is?

"Hmm." Qiao Yuandong hummed through his nose, which was considered as his agreement.

Xia Mang's heartstrings were somewhat relaxed by the soft response. She forced herself to remain calm and said, "It's cold at night. Madam, please sleep on the couch. Be careful not to get cold."

"No." Qiao Yuandong said, "I'm waiting for you to give me a birthday gift."

Xia Mang: "Xiao Ba is not cooperating today. Wait for me to discipline him and then I will make it up to him later, okay?"

"No, I want it now." Qiao Yuandong rarely acted like a spoiled child.

Xia Mang choked and was in a dilemma. He could only say honestly, "But what if I can't take it out now?"

Qiao Yuandong's eyes were shining with a glimmer. When he heard Xia Mang's question, he suddenly smiled slyly and said, "Use other things to make up for it."

"That's fine!" Xia Mang thought, "What does Madam want?"

Before she finished speaking, she knew what Qiao Yuandong wanted.

As the woody aroma tinged with alcohol wafted into his nose, Qiao Yuandong's lips suddenly pressed against his.

(End of this chapter)