Transmigrating into the Female Supporting Character with a Good Life in a Laid-Back Novel

She was hugged, she was kissed…

Hot blood surged upwards.

A burst of throbbing that she had never experienced before bubbled up from the bottom of her heart, pulsing without rest.

Before she could come to her senses after being shocked, she heard Wen Ting Zhou speak.

“Ruan Ruan, actually I’m not timid at all.”

Ruan Xi’s mind was completely blank, and only one thought remained.

Wen Ting Zhou heard it, he heard the private conversation between her and Wen Jing Ru.

She did not know if it was guilt or embarrassment, or perhaps the combination of both, but Ruan Xi’s whole body went rigid, her cheeks flushed red, and her heart was beating like a drum.

“You… You…”

As if he felt that the previous heavy blow was not enough, Wen Ting Zhou did not relax his grip; he tightened his strong arms which were still wrapped around her slender and soft waist as his low voice, which was tinged with soft laughter, sounded out from the top of her head again.

“Ruan Ruan, have I ever told you that I practice martial arts? I heard all the whisperings between you and Jing Ru.”

Upon being exposed by Wen Ting Zhou directly, Ruan Xi felt guilty and embarrassed. Her face was so red it was going to drip blood, and she even had the impulse to run away.

Alas, Wen Ting Zhou’s large hands were caging her too tightly.

There was no chance of running.

“I kept waiting for you to test me, but you didn’t attempt anything at all, which is why I have decided to dispel the doubts you have in your heart on my own accord.

“Ruan Ruan, had I known earlier that you preferred more audacity, I wouldn’t have suppressed myself in the small forest.

“Ruan Ruan, you can set your heart at ease, I won’t disappoint you in the future.”

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Hong!

She did not expect that Wen Ting Zhou was actually a big bad wolf with a stomach full of bad water.

In spite of the rigidness in her entire person, Ruan Xi felt like her whole body was going to burn up. Her face was incomparably hot. Shy and aggravated, she pummelled his firm chest forcefully, raising her head to glare at him.

“Wen Ting Zhou!”

Wen Ting Zhou stared at the embarrassment-induced, pretty and enticing blush on Ruan Ruan’s visage. Her faint body fragrance lingered at the tip of nose, causing his mind to heat up uncontrollably. His scorching gaze was locked onto her as he issued a low laugh, “Mn, I’m here.”

Under his gaze and smiling expression, Ruan Xi’s heartbeat soared in tandem with the blush on her face. Simultaneously, she was also stunned by his brazenness, and she could not stop herself from glowering at him furiously as she tried to say calmly:

“In a public place with numerous people, hugging and embracing can be viewed as a transgression.”

Truthfully speaking, the horse carriage was acting as an obstruction and the surrounding area was being protected by the guards. Apart from Mama Lin and Su Yu, it was highly likely that even the horse carriage driver and others from Earl Chengyi Residence could not see them at all.

This was also the reason why Wen Ting Zhou dared to do this.

Of course, since they had a marriage contract, his act of hugging was not stepping over the bounds of propriety.

Lips hooking up, Wen Ting Zhou smiled at Ruan Xi as he continued to encircle Ruan Xi’s waist with his large hands nonchalantly, but his eyes were brimming with palpable mirth.

“Ruan Ruan, you look incredibly cute when you say one thing but mean another.”

口是心非 (pinyin: kou shi xin fei) – lit. the mouth says yes, but the heart means otherwise, fig. duplicity.

Ruan Xi’s heart lurched, missing a beat. The red hue on her face had yet to recede when she glowered at Wen Ting Zhou again as she emphasised forcefully, “I’m not saying one thing and meaning another, I’m being truthful.”

After saying that, she stole a look at Mama Lin’s and Su Yu’s reactions, only to realise that they were standing a distance away, looking at the clouds in the sky. She exhaled through her mouth inaudibly.

Wen Ting Zhou resisted the urge to laugh.

When Ruan Ruan was shamed into anger, she appeared rather vivid, and far more emotionally affective.

“Mn, you’re not saying one thing while meaning another, it’s just that you chose not to push me away.” He nodded his head with a serious expression.

Ruan Xi’s cheeks exploded red again, using both of her hands to push him away reflexively and with force. However, what could be done when there was a great disparity in their strength; she could not win against Wen Ting Zhou, especially when he was a practitioner of martial arts.

Ruan Xi: “……”

Pleased by her “liveliness”, Wen Ting Zhou’s eyes glanced past her rosy and tender lips, his pupils darkening.

Now was not the time. He understood the principle of stopping while he was ahead.

There would eventually be a time for him to taste its sweetness.

With a natural expression, Wen Ting Zhou moved away the arms he was using to hold Ruan Xi’s waist. Upon noticing her startled expression, his dark eyes became stained with some laughing intent.

“Ruan Ruan, this is just a hug before we separate. I won’t embrace you for long, even if I’m reluctant to part.”

Ruan Xi: “……”

Wen Ting Zhou continued to speak.

“Ruan Ruan, truthfully speaking, I’m not a moon hanging in the cleared skies that you’re imagining, and I’m even less of a modest noble man.

“I want to let you see the real me, and I was originally intending to reveal it to you slowly, and then allowing the canal to form where the water flows, but I didn’t expect that you would find me timid, and tang mei would suspect my lack of interest in women.

水到渠成 (pinyin: shui dao qu cheng) – fig. when the conditions are right, success will naturally follow.

“I feel that I have a duty to correct your cognition.

“When our big wedding arrives, I will allow you to know whether I’m interested in women or not.”

Wen Ting Zhou gave Ruan Xi a smirk, his smiling expression deep with meaning.

This obscured and shameful insinuation…

Ruan Xi’s countenance became scalding hot, the once-receded blush emerging once more. She did not dare to look at Wen Ting Zhou, as if she was struggling to believe that he would say such words.

Was Wen Ting Zhou preparing to allow himself to be unrestrained in front of her?

Wen Ting Zhou noted that she had grasped the meaning in his words, which made the smiling expression on his face deepen more. He admired the pretty blush on Ruan Ruan’s face for a moment longer before he said reluctantly: “It’s getting late, I should be going back. See you next time.”

When Ruan Xi heard that Wen Ting Zhou was going to leave, she could not suppress the thread of reluctance in her heart.

“See you next time.”

The corners of Wen Ting Zhou’s mouth raised. Suddenly, he gave Ruan Xi another brief hug before he turned around and stepped on his horse, his movements elegant and smooth. Then, he flashed a smile at Ruan Xi, picked up his reins and galloped away.

Ruan X: “……”

By the time Wen Ting Zhou and his guards departed in a grandiose manner, Ruan Xi finally managed to stabilise her erratically beating heart, and she only turned around to enter the residence after the heat on her face had dissipated.

Mama Lin withdrew her gaze from the clouds, catching up to Ruan Xi at a speed that was neither fast nor slow, her eyes teeming with happiness.

Su Yu was the same. Her entire person was extremely excitable, and she followed her Young Lady with incredibly stirred emotions.

Wen gongzi and her Young Lady had great feelings for each other.

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Ruan Xi walked over to the main courtyard slowly, with the servants from the Earl Residence offering her respectful bows along the way.

At the present moment, Zhang shi was listening to the counterfeit Ruan san niang pour out the grievances she had suffered at the flower banquet in an unceasing torrent, while throwing in complaints in between.

“Mother, si mei has gone too far. Despite seeing my dirtied skirt, she did not come over to express her concern once, and she was only fixated on sticking close to Wen gongzi.”

“Certainly, she has gone too far. Mother will find a reason to help you vent your anger later.”

Although Zhang shi appeared visibly distressed as she comforted her with a half-hearted line, vindication was surging in her heart.

Serves you right.

She was just a counterfeit supplanting her daughter’s body; every time she heard her calling her mother shamelessly, and tried to act like a spoilt child, Zhang shi was overwhelmed with disgust in her heart, and she loathed the fact that she could not stuff her mouth.

“Mother, you treat this daughter really well.” Ruan san niang was so happy she was beaming with joy.

“The daughter I harboured and gave birth to, who else would I treat well, if not her?”

Zhang shi had a pointed insinuation in her words, but unfortunately, Ruan san niang could not hear it, since she was basking in the fact that Zhang shi was being distressed for and doting on her.

It was the same in her previous lifetime. Only Zhang shi genuinely treated her well, wherein she would enter the imperial palace to visit her frequently, hug her and cry, feeling distressed for her external circumstances.

The feelings that Ruan san niang had towards Zhang shi was exceedingly deep and profound.

She finally understood that the treatment her mother gave her a few days ago, was actually because she cherished her, and her mother only felt resentful towards her because she had failed to meet expectations and she was impatient to see improvement.

Unfortunately, her soul had been trapped inside the imperial palace, unable to leave after she was forced to accompany the old Emperor in burial, and she did not manage to witness her mother’s broken-hearted and inconsolable appearance.

This was the scene that Ruan Xi walked into after she was allowed entry. Her footsteps faltered for a moment before she went forward to offer a bow with natural ease.

“This daughter pays her respect to Mother.”

Ruan san niang looked at her rosy skinned fourth sister who was slow to arrive. Without needing to guess, she knew that her fourth sister must have lingered around the main entrance with Wen gongzi, reluctant to part ways.

Ruan san niang felt jealous and stuffy in her heart, and her words became more unpleasant to the ear.

“Si mei, why did you take such a long time to bade Wen gongzi farewell? Could it be that you were doing something improper at the main doors?”

Ruan Xi smiled slightly: “San jie, Ting Zhou da ge is a modest nobleman, we haven’t even held hands, and we have always stayed within the boundaries of propriety.”

She was not lying; Wen Ting Zhou never held her hand once.

He only sprung a sudden hug on her, and accidentally kissed her forehead.

It was very normal for engaged men and women to embrace each other.

To say that their growing affections were being constrained by etiquette was not wrong.

Zhang shi glared at the counterfeit before she nodded her head in agreement. “San niang, do not speak indiscriminately, we can naturally trust Wen gongzi’s moral character.”

Ruan Xi was inwardly speechless in her heart. It seemed like Wen Ting Zhou’s general image of being a moon hanging in cleared skies had already been deeply embedded in the hearts of others.

Meanwhile, Ruan san niang did not pay attention to Zhang shi’s chiding which was neither light nor heavy, since her heart was currently flowering with happiness at her fourth sister’s words.

Hahaha, despite how much Wen gongzi seemed to have his heart set on her fourth sister, the pair had yet to hold hands. And what of ‘growing affections being constrained by etiquette’? She was going to laugh herself to death.

Her fourth sister was an idiot; she was being pitted and yet she remained ignorant.

Wen gongzi did not like women, and it goes without saying that he would not touch her fourth sister. He was more of an upright gentleman than actual upright gentlemen.

And calling Wen gongzi Ting Zhou da ge intimately? Tsk tsk!

How sweet and saccharine it was right now, would be equivalent to the amount of mental torture she would suffer in the future.

“Mother speaks correctly, Wen gongzi is an upright gentleman. He would never do anything improper, si mei truly blessed with fortune.” Ruan san niang said gloatingly, her eyes brimming with schadenfreude.

Ruan Xi only needed a glance to guess Ruan san niang’s thoughts and what she was imagining in her brain. She smiled in response, not caring in the least.

She only came to the main courtyard to greet Zhang shi after returning to the residence because she did not want to break social protocols.

“If there’s nothing else, both of you can return to your courtyards first. San niang, you haven’t completed your task of picking the Buddhist beans yet, you should try and complete it as soon as possible while there is still time, lest the Earl increases your punishment when he learns of that fact after coming back. Even if you want me to plead in your favour later, it won’t be an easy task.”

In Zhang shi’s heart, she did not want to see the pair at all, so she asked them to leave, and she made sure to remind the counterfeit that her punishment was still ongoing while she was at it.

Ruan san niang’s expression collapsed as she shot Ruan Xi a vicious glare.

It was all her fourth sister’s fault!

Having to pick Buddhist beans was basically energy ravaging: every time she picked up a small bean, she had to call upon the Buddha once, and for a person like her who could not even quieten her heart, this punishment was way too terrifying.

But when she thought about how she still had to go to the Marquis Huaiyang’s Residence, it was certainly not advisable for her to provoke her scum father, so Ruan san niang made a sullen face.

“Yes, Mother.”

Ruan Xi laughed internally. It seems like Ruan san niang being able to leave the residence today was an unexpected incident, it was highly likely that her confinement would continue after she returned.

Poor Ruan san niang.

She actually thought that she had survived this crisis.

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After returning to Limpid Heart Garden, Ruan Xi stayed in her quiet room to practice her calligraphy. Not long after, the memory of Wen Ting Zhou’s wide and warm embrace, the stirring but fleeting kiss on her forehead, and his final self-explanation, came unbidden to her mind. Hints of red stained her cheeks.

Unconsciously, the white fine writing paper on the table was strewn with Wen Ting Zhou’s name.

Ruan Xi’s cheeks became scalding hot. Inwardly, she chided herself for being so flustered as she quickly destroyed that piece of fine writing paper.

For the sake of stopping her own errant thoughts, Ruan Xi gave up on practicing her calligraphy and took out her basket-tray to start embroidering silk handkerchiefs instead.

Mama Lin, who was also inside the room, absorbed the sight of Ruan Xi’s strange actions into her eyes through the fretwork, and she laughed soundlessly.