Life on the boat is actually quite unbearable.

  The newlyweds' pleasure boat was divided into two levels, the bride lived on the upper level, one elegant room for Qin Miao, and the other two rooms for the servants. The windows of the elegant room were very high, except for letting in a little air, not a glimpse of the scenery could be seen. In the first few days, Qin Miao still felt fresh, chatted with the maids, played with the shuttlecock, and the days passed by very ordinarily. But after four or five days, Qin Miao couldn't bear it anymore.

  "Zixuan sister, go downstairs and ask, beautiful... when will Xie Houye usually come up to the deck." Xi Po repeatedly reminded and warned that she must not meet the groom. So if she wanted to get some fresh air, she had to avoid meeting him by choosing a time when he wouldn't be coming out.

  Before long, Zi Xuan went upstairs: "I asked the steward by Lord Hou's side, and he said that in the morning, Lord Hou usually rests inside his room. After lunch, he will walk around the deck for two laps to digest his food. Near nightfall, he occasionally comes out to exercise."

  "That's how we won't have a chance to go out at all?" This handsome man was also very good at utilizing time, digesting lunch, watching the sunset in the evening, and didn't leave any spare time for himself.

  "Go down and tell Master Hou that I want to sunbathe after lunch, and watch the sunset at dusk. Ask him to make way." If it were any other time, Qin Miao would probably still take good care of Xie Yan, after all, he was her heart's desire, a beautiful young master. But thinking about being "locked up" in the boat cabin for over ten days made her feel inexplicably annoyed.

  Zi Xuan slipped downstairs and had the little gatekeeper announce her arrival. After getting a nod, she walked into the elegant room where Xie Yan was.

  "Master Hou, my young mistress would like to discuss something with you. The activity space upstairs is limited and she's been feeling cooped up for a long time, but since you and the mistress are not officially married yet, it's not proper for her to see you. Therefore, my young mistress hopes that after lunch until evening, she can take a walk on the deck of the boat. As for other times, they will be left to you." Zi Xuan simply conveyed the message to Xie Yan and then stood aside respectfully.

  At this time, Xie Yan was playing chess with himself, seemingly unaware of anything else, frowning as he thought about the layout of the board. Zi Xuan waited for a while, her feet starting to ache, before trying to ask: "Your Excellency... how should I report back to my young mistress?"

  Plop! The white silk fell, and her eyebrows relaxed, but Xie Yan's face was still as stiff as if frozen in an ice block, not revealing any emotions.

  "I'll do as madam says."

  Zi Xuan had never seen anyone as cold and unfeeling as him, it seemed like nothing could make him smile. Cough... from start to finish, he didn't even glance at the big loli standing next to his future wife.

  After receiving the order, Zi Xuan calmly exited the elegant room and went upstairs to inform Qin Miao of the result.

  The next day, Qin Miao finished her lunch early and changed into a short jacket and long skirt, wrapped in a fox fur cloak to go for a walk downstairs.

  After being confined in a small space for several days, I realized that the vastness of the sky is what makes people cherish it. Now that the fleet has passed Yangzhou, the river surface has become increasingly flat, and the two banks have fewer hills and more high mountains.

  The March wind carried the scent of spring, cool and warm, occasionally mixed with the fragrance of flowers and grass, making her think of the small flower bed in the Qin family's backyard. Zi Xuan ordered someone to bring a soft couch, just in time to take advantage of the warm sunlight that had been lingering for days. The sunlight was very warm, and Qin Miao leaned against the soft couch with her eyes closed, soon falling asleep.

  When I woke up, the quilt on me couldn't withstand the lingering chill of spring. So let the people below pack up and prepare to go upstairs.

  Just as they walked to the entrance of the cabin, a tall and slender maid wearing a pink jacket came over with a basin in her hands. Judging from her attire, she should be a high-ranking maid. As she approached, Qin Miao was about to step up the stairs when the maid's foot slipped, and the water in the basin splashed out, drenching Qin Miao.

  Qin Miao grew up drinking the water of Jiangnan, and was born shorter than girls from the north. She was only fifteen years old, and hadn't yet reached her full height. A basin of water for washing her face was poured down on her chest with a loud splash. No, not a splash, but a pour.

  "Where did this servant come from, so ignorant of the rules." Zi Xuan almost simultaneously placed Qin Miao behind her, blocking half of the water for her.

  Clang! The copper basin was smashed to the ground, causing a considerable commotion. At this time, Xie Yan was just walking out of the cabin, and before he reached the gate, he heard the noise outside. The little servant guarding the door hurriedly wanted to open the gate, but was stopped by him with one hand, signaling the servant to be quiet.

  "Miss, I'm really sorry. I'm actually not good at taking boats, just now the boat seemed to have moved, and in my panic, I lost my balance. That's why I disturbed you."

  The woman under his feet had her shoulders slightly trembling, as if she was really a bit flustered.

  Zi Xuan wanted to ask again, but was stopped by a glance from Qin Miao. Qin Miao casually patted the water vapor on her body and said calmly: "Lift your head up!"

  It's nothing at first glance. Oh, what a rare beauty! Qin Miao and Zi Xuan exchanged a knowing look with each other.

  "What's your name and what do you do?" Qin Miao was very curious about the girl's intention today. She wasn't stupid, the boat could only sway to a certain extent, enough to make people stand unsteadily. Besides, why didn't she feel that brief moment of swaying just now?

  "My family..."

  "What a servant's tone! Where did you learn to speak in such an affected way? Speak properly, if you're a servant of the Hou household, females are uniformly referred to as 'nu bi'. Haven't you been taught anything?" Li Mama, standing behind Zi Xuan, scolded with indignation. Qin Miao pursed her lips and smiled, she hadn't even noticed that there was anything wrong with that "nu jia" just now. But when Mama spoke up, she suddenly became aware of it.

  The weak and slender body of the girl trembled under Li's loud scolding, and her expression, which had seemed to be repentant but was actually arrogant, instantly disappeared. She meekly reported her name: "I'm Ruhua, a personal maid of Master Hou."

  "Oh, so it's someone from Lord Hou's side. That's really offending." Qin Miao said lightly, but didn't let Ru Hua get up for a long time.

  As if she had seen through Qin Miao's intentions, the old servant mentioned Master Hou and thought to herself that no matter what, Madame was still inferior to Master Hou. She had been serving Master Hou for many years, after all, one must consider the master when beating a dog. So she added another sentence: "Just now, I was thinking that Master Hou should have finished his nap, so I heated up water for him to wash his face. Unfortunately, I accidentally knocked over the basin and don't know if Master Hou will be waiting anxiously inside..." As she spoke, she knelt down, her eyes occasionally glancing at Qin Miao's reaction.

  Actually, Qin Miao is a very stubborn and soft-hearted person. Whenever someone wants to argue with her, she usually can't bear it. Just like now, this painting says that he accidentally splashed water on her, if he apologized sincerely, she wouldn't mind too much because she's busy thinking about going back to her room to drink tea. But now, the other party has even brought up Lord Xie, and is pretending to be blocking her way, as if they're afraid of offending Lord Xie. This kind of cunning and cowardly behavior will not be tolerated by Qin Miao.

  "Don't worry about Master Hou's side." Qin Miao lowered her head to look at Ruhua, who was kneeling on the ground, and smiled warmly as she said, "Yulu, you quickly go and serve Master Hou again. You must attend to him even more carefully than when attending to me, understand?"

  Yu Lu followed Qin Miao for so many years and knew her mistress's little temper, so she quickly ran to the water room.

  "As for you, although I'm not officially the madam of the manor yet, it won't be long. To maintain the rules of the manor, I have to let you receive a small punishment. Otherwise, if people in the manor do things so carelessly and disrespectfully, others will laugh at us. You are someone close to the master, so you should understand the importance of discipline for him. Therefore, I can only temporarily inconvenience you."

  After being delayed for so long, Qin Miao's mouth had already become dry and her tongue parched. She stood up straight, stretched herself out a bit, and then instructed Li Mama: "From now on, if Ruhua disobeys orders or does things hastily, temporarily... punish her by making her kneel on the deck for an hour. Mama, trouble you to keep an eye on her."

  It's actually March now, and kneeling outdoors for an hour is not a heavy punishment for the aristocratic families. Generally, when servants make mistakes, they are directly punished with a board. Ruhua also knows that this young mistress is not cruel, but she still feels resentful in her heart.

  She has been with the Marquis for seven or eight years, and all the servants in the Hou Mansion give way to her. Now she is being scolded by the new master in front of the servants who come and go, which is more embarrassing than being beaten. She thought that when the Marquis came out of the cabin door, he would see the look of shame on his fiancée's face, but unexpectedly, it was not her who made a fool of herself, but rather she was stopped by someone else.

  Xie Xuan stood behind the cabin door and listened all the way, with no expression on his face, as if the commotion just now was very ordinary. After listening to Qin Miao and others go up to the second floor one after another, he signaled the servant to open the cabin door, and at a glance, he saw Ruhua kneeling beside the door.

  "What's wrong, got fined?" Xie Yunyu stood up straight, casting a large shadow on Ruhua's body.

  As soon as he saw his master come out, he immediately changed from anger to joy, and then to grievance: "You finally came out, Miss Qin said I was clumsy and not worthy of serving the young master." She deliberately concealed the fact that she had spilled a basin of water on Qin Miao.

  Xie Xuan glanced at her and walked directly towards the front of the deck. Ru Hua hurriedly followed, wondering if even Master Hou wouldn't speak up for him.

  "Master Hou~" A soft and endearing voice calling out to Master Hou, sending shivers down the spines of the young servants.

  Xie Yun paused for a moment, didn't turn around, but still spoke: "Madam has her own reasons for punishing you. This time there aren't many people with us, so just sincerely kneel for half an hour. Then go back and do your job properly."

  Li Ayi was unhappy as soon as she heard it, but Xie Yun's words were so calm and collected, with an air of not allowing anyone to argue back, that she had no choice. In her heart, she thought, this Xie Yun is really a sly fox, I must remind Miss to be more careful in the future.

  As soon as the order was given, her heart bloomed instantly. Although it's still the same punishment of kneeling, but since Xie Xun spoke up, the meaning is different now. The young master shortened the time of kneeling that the madam had requested just for her, isn't that equivalent to doting on her? In the Hou manor, what's more valuable than the young master's favoritism? Therefore, for the next half an hour, Ruhua obediently knelt on the deck and didn't dare to be presumptuous again.

  Afterwards, Li Ayi went upstairs and told Qin Miao about the treatment of Hou Ye just now. Qin Miao and Zi Xuan were both shocked, thinking that the punishment was not severe enough, why did Hou Ye still want to show favoritism?

  "Mother Li, go and find out for me, how many personal maids does the Marquis have by his side, and what's their relationship with him like?" Qin Miao couldn't help but feel uneasy, so she quickly asked Mother Li to investigate.