Chapter 235: Re-educating the Foolish Wife

Jiang Huai held the small body in his arms, his gaze complicated as he looked down at Bai Lu, who was tightly hugging his leg.

The bone-chilling words she had spoken just a moment ago still echoed in his ears, yet her sudden behavior now made her seem like a completely different person.

“What on earth do you mean by this?” Jiang Huai asked irritably.

He gave his leg a slight shake, but he found that Bai Lu’s arms were clamped around him with extreme strength.

The young woman’s current posture was both awkward and deliberate. She was almost half-dragging, half-kneeling on the floor, her snow-white long dress spread out around her like the layers of a blooming flower. Her face was buried deep in the shadows, making it impossible to see her expression. Only her muffled, trembling voice drifted out.

“Don’t leave… Please, I didn’t mean it.”

As she spoke, she took a deep, almost greedy breath. The familiar and heart-stirring scent filled her with excitement and satisfaction, causing her slender shoulders to quiver slightly.

Jiang Huai tightened his grip on his daughter, who had been awakened by the commotion and had begun to squirm restlessly. A look of helplessness and slight distaste crossed his face.

Acting like this in front of Jianjia was simply inappropriate.

“Lift your head before you speak,” he said, his tone softening as he looked down.

Where was even a hint of the usual frostiness and majesty of the White Dragon Clan Leader and the Co-lord of the Five Provinces?

“Don’t take our daughter and leave me,” Bai Lu pleaded, seemingly having ignored his previous words.

The nourishment she drew from her breaths seemed to temporarily alleviate the emptiness in her heart. Finally, Bai Lu slowly raised her head.

What met Jiang Huai’s eyes was a beautiful face flushed with a deep crimson. The blush spread from her cheeks all the way to the tips of her ears and down her neck. Her ice-blue eyes, usually clear and cold, now harbored a surging dark undercurrent. The corners of her eyes were stained with an emotional red.

With his experience in “taming dragons,” Jiang Huai immediately understood what that look meant. It was just like Chi Lian.

His heart skipped a beat. He held his daughter—who was beginning to babble and curiously turn her little head—even tighter. He lowered his voice and said, “Our daughter is here. I’m going to take her to the side room to settle her down.”

“Oh.” This time, Bai Lu actually listened.

She gave a soft response and obediently released her grip on his leg. However, she did not stand up immediately. Instead, she remained kneeling on the floor, her head lowered, her gaze intently fixed on Jiang Huai’s black boots, which were dusted with a bit of frost.

As Jiang Huai moved, Bai Lu’s eyes followed the boots, then his calves, and finally his receding back as he carried the child away. Her body unconsciously turned toward the direction he was leaving, and she sat kneeling in place for a long time without getting up.

It wasn’t until Jiang Huai’s figure had completely disappeared and the surroundings fell into total silence—leaving only her own ragged breathing and a heartbeat like a thundering drum—that Bai Lu slowly looked down. Seeing her messy, sprawling skirt, a wave of intense shame flooded her heart.

“Look at what you’ve done!” she hissed at herself in a low, regretful voice. ‘I chased my Husband Lord away in anger, and now I’ve turned into this…’

Where was the dignity of a Clan Leader?

A thought then popped into her mind, uncontrollable. ‘How should I make amends?’

A simple apology seemed too hollow. More importantly, how could she apologize in a way that made him understand her true feelings? She didn’t really want to drive him away, nor did she truly look down on him. Quite the opposite…

But if she were to say it directly…

‘I just want to make you angry. I want to see you lose your temper and “punish” me in that way.’

Just thinking about it made Bai Lu feel an indescribable sense of shame. Furthermore, she felt that if she laid it all bare and made him understand perfectly, then everything that followed would just become a roleplay where both parties knew the script.

‘Then what would be the point? Where would be the… sense of reality?’

What she wanted to see was him being truly enraged, losing his calm, and showing his dominant, or even violent, side—truly treating her as a possession he could dispose of at will.

The thought made her entire body feel hot, yet she felt a faint thrill of excitement.

Taking several deep breaths, the cool air managed to suppress some of her agitation. The flush on Bai Lu’s face gradually faded, and she regained some of her usual coldness, though the undercurrent in her eyes remained turbulent. She silently raised her hand, her slender fingers resting on the snow-white silk belt at her waist. With a gentle tug, the knot came loose.

***

In the side room, Jiang Huai carefully placed his daughter into a cradle and gave it a gentle push. The cradle was equipped with a built-in Soothing Array, and it began to rock slowly.

Little Jianjia blinked her blue Dragon Eyes, which she had inherited from her mother. She had no idea what had just happened; she only saw her father and happily let out a series of meaningless, joyful babbles.

A tiny, white Dragon Tail struggled to poke through a gap in her swaddling clothes. It reached out toward Jiang Huai with a sense of urgency, its fine Dragon Scales opening and closing slightly with her breaths.

Jiang Huai paused, his heart softening. He reached out a finger.

The tiny white Dragon Tail immediately found its target and wrapped around his finger with agility, gripping him with a gentle, clinging strength. Little Jianjia’s eyes went wide, and she waved her small hands even more excitedly, babbling incessantly as she used the unique method of the Dragon Race to express her joy.

Jiang Huai couldn’t help but laugh. Whether it was Qin Qingyue, Chi Lian, or Bai Lu, it seemed that when members of the Dragon Race felt intense emotions, they instinctively liked to wrap their tails around the person they liked. It was their innate way of expressing intimacy and trust.

“You’re so precocious, little Jianjia,” Jiang Huai said softly, teasing the tiny Dragon Tail with his fingertip. “I’m going to go see your mother,” he whispered to his daughter. “Stay here for a while and be good.”

After saying that, he carefully tucked the clinging little tail back into the swaddling clothes. He then injected a burst of gentle Lingli into the Spirit Stone slot of the cradle to ensure it would continue to rock steadily. The cradle began its rhythmic, gentle motion.

Lying inside, little Jianjia opened her big, confused eyes. Not understanding why her father had just arrived only to leave again, her little mouth turned down in a pout.

When Jiang Huai composed himself and returned to the main bedroom, the sight before him made him freeze in his tracks.

Bai Lu, who had been kneeling on the floor earlier, was gone. In her place was a beautiful back, like flawless jade, prostrate on the ground in a posture of extreme humility. Her long hair cascaded down, obscuring the side of her face, with the ends trailing on the floor.

Beside her, the snow-white dress she had been wearing, along with her clean, white undergarments, were folded neatly as if for a ritual. A pair of small, white embroidered shoes and silk socks were also placed tidily in front of the clothes.

That white Dragon Tail, which usually swayed with such elegance, now lay limp on the floor. Its tip curled slightly, showing a submissiveness that suggested she was ready to be dealt with however he pleased.

She was in the extremely respectful posture of “The Prostrate Bow.” Her hands were stretched forward, overlapping beneath her forehead, and her entire body was lowered to the absolute limit to express apology and submission.

Jiang Huai had never expected her to offer such a grand apology. Recalling the surge of desire he had seen in her eyes earlier, he could more or less guess what was happening.

‘So that’s how it is?’

Had he taken her too seriously? Had he been fooled by her cold exterior and hurtful words, failing to see that this was her invitation—a twisted invitation?

It gave Jiang Huai a sense of amusement, but from Bai Lu’s perspective, it actually seemed logical.

“Ahem.” Jiang Huai cleared his throat and stepped in front of Bai Lu.

Hearing his voice, Bai Lu’s prostrate body trembled slightly, and she buried her head even deeper. That previously limp Dragon Tail quietly lifted from the ground and began to hook toward Jiang Huai’s ankle.

“Don’t wrap yourself around me.” Jiang Huai shifted his feet slightly, avoiding the approaching tail.

The white Dragon Tail froze and quickly retracted. Its tip curled aggrievedly as it dropped back to the floor, not daring to move again.

Now that he understood her awkward mindset and knew it was her instincts during the Yuq Period at play, Jiang Huai knew what to do. The Dragon Race was truly a strange species. With a dragon lady as soft and tender as Chi Lian, he was sometimes like a slave—forced to have things written on him and getting hit. Yet with an ice-mountain dragon lady like Bai Lu, he had become the master.

However, there was one tricky problem.

What should he do about the “masterpieces” Chi Lian had left on him last night? If Bai Lu saw them now, it would be a severe blow to his husbandly dignity!

Thinking quickly, the Yin-Yang Spiritual Power within Jiang Huai’s body began to circulate quietly, acting upon the surface of his skin. The characters written with that special “ink” rapidly faded and vanished, leaving his skin as smooth and clean as before.

As for how to explain this to Chi Lian when he went back… Jiang Huai felt a headache coming on just thinking about her personality. He would just have to find a way to coax her later. For now, the most important thing was to deal with the Clan Leader in front of him.

The rustle of fabric sounded.

Jiang Huai walked to the edge of the bed and sat down. He smoothed his clothes and let his gaze fall on the slender, white back still maintained in The Prostrate Bow. He began to speak, his voice carrying a deliberately suppressed coldness.

“What you said just now was truly excessive.”

“I am sorry,” Bai Lu’s muffled voice came from the floor.

“Come here,” Jiang Huai commanded.

Bai Lu immediately obeyed. Supporting herself on her elbows and knees, she slowly crawled to Jiang Huai’s feet. She tilted her head up slightly, her dark hair sliding off her cheeks to reveal her shimmering, ice-blue eyes. Her gaze moved uncontrollably, her throat bobbing as she unconsciously swallowed.

It had been so long since she had been this close… Her face moved nearer and nearer, carrying a sense of devotion. Her warm breath was almost brushing against him…

“I didn’t give you permission.” Jiang Huai spoke again, his voice calm.

Bai Lu’s movements froze instantly.

She could feel her cheeks getting hotter and hotter, and her breathing became uncontrollably heavy. She wanted to do something, yet she didn’t dare move because of that command. She could only stay in this ambiguous and agonizing position, her head feeling dizzy as if she were intoxicated.

“Apologize.” Jiang Huai’s voice came from above, falling softly onto her face.

Much of Bai Lu’s face was hidden as she took a greedy, deep breath. Her tone became devout. “I am sorry, Husband Lord. I shouldn’t have said those things. It is all my fault. I was wrong.”

“Please, Husband Lord… punish me.”

Her hands were clasped over her heaving chest, her tone both prayerful and submissive. Despite the shameful posture, which was filled with a sense of degradation and humiliation, her body was trembling with excitement and anticipation. Deep down, she was obsessed with this feeling—the feeling of having her pride, her responsibilities, and her cold shell shattered completely, of surrendering herself entirely to be dealt with in any way.

Even on their informal wedding night back then, she had been kneeling in that same direction. How much more so for this apology?

*Click.*

A crisp sound of metal latching echoed in the room. Bai Lu felt a cold sensation around her neck.

The collar Jiang Huai had previously confiscated from Qin Qingyue had finally found its use.

“I don’t forgive you.” Jiang Huai gripped her Dragon Horns.