This Young Master’s hubby is the master of time management.
Translation Checker: jellypeaches
Editor: jellypeaches, Dobhsh
Meng Huan’s room was cool and spacious. There were homemade dolls on display by the bed, and the tea table nearby was set with candies and melon seeds. Unlike Lin Bozhou’s chamber, Meng Huan’s room was like that of a pretty daughter in a humble family—not luxurious but clean and bright.
Standing at the entrance, Lin Bozhou watched as Meng Huan climbed onto the bed and carefully smoothed out the wrinkled corners with his butt sticking out. Once the youth was done, he turned back and asked, “Does your Royal Highness like to sleep on the outside or inside?”
“Which side do you sleep on?”
Meng Huan replied, “I like to sleep on the inside.”
“Mmm.” Lin Bozhou said, “Then this Regent will sleep on the outside.”
“All right, Your Royal Highness should rest first. I still have to finish the homework the teacher assigned to me earlier today.” Meng Huan jumped off the bed and slipped into his shoes to leave. “I learned dozens of words this afternoon, and I have to write them ten times each.”
As he said that, he showed a bitter face again, looking aggrieved.
As if suddenly realizing what the youth was saying, Lin Bozhou gave a soft ah before saying, “Since Uncle Shan assigned the homework, then madam must take it seriously and finish it.” His eyes curved as he thought for a moment. “This Regent will wait for you on the bed.”
“…”
Meng Huan stood still, not knowing for a moment whether the man was joking or not.
Lin Bozhou chuckled and stopped teasing him. “Go on.”
Meng Huan went to the front room to write, while You Jin came in with a basin of hot water to serve Lin Bozhou, washing his feet and changing his clothes.
Meng Huan deliberately took his time with the homework, delaying his sleep. He stayed up until it was past eleven at night, when finally drowsiness won and he looked through the door.
Lin Bozhou should be asleep by now, Meng Huan thought.
Meng Huan crept into the bedroom and found Lin Bozhou laying on his side in the apricot-colored bedding. He could see the man’s pale skin, closed eyes, and long, dark hair spilling across the pillow. His jaw was shrouded in shadow, making him look very peaceful.
In order to avoid sleeping together, Meng Huan made light movements to avoid waking the man up.
He picked up the corner of the quilt, flipped it open, and tried not to make any sound while burrowing into the quilt. Once his butt was safely on the bed, he cheered “yes” inside. However, as he was lying on his stiff back on the bed,
“Watch the hair.” Pointing this out in a deep voice, Lin Bozhou opened his eyes without Meng Huan noticing.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“…” Meng Huan hurriedly pulled out the man’s hair from under him. “Your Royal Highness is still awake?”
“P kjr jriffq alii sbe qgfrrfv bc atf tjlg.”
“P’w gfjiis rbggs jybea atja.” Zfcu Lejc geyyfv tlr tjcvr jkxkjgvis jcv ijs vbkc ecvfg atf delia, aegclcu jcv wffalcu Olc Dbhtbe’r fsfr.
“Ljnf sbe olclrtfv kglalcu?” Olc Dbhtbe jrxfv lc j ibk nblmf, klat j tlca bo fztjeralbc, jr lo mtjaalcu mjrejiis, “Cgf sbeg tjcvr algfv?”
Meng Huan answered, “Replying to Your Royal Highness, not tired.”
Not knowing why, he was a little unused to seeing Lin Bozhou’s appearance while living a domestic life. He kept feeling like this was too similar to having a husband waiting for him to get under the covers for kissies.
But Meng Huan knew that he would end up paying a great deal for it if he blurred the concepts of ‘the man in power who could take my lowly life at any given time’ and ‘loving husband’.
He must not be blinded by love.
One second, Meng Huan was still convincing himself and making psychological preparations; the next second, Lin Bozhou stretched out his hand, placed it on his back, gently hooked him, and brought him into his arms.
Like grabbing a doll with a claw.
He was then gently patted on the back.
“It’s late; go to sleep.”
“…”
Meng Huan’s head was resting in the crook of the man’s neck. His cheek pressed against something hot. As he thought, he realized it was the skin of Lin Bozhou’s collarbones revealed by his collar. Instantly, Meng Huan thought of the man’s big and long-lasting ‘weapon’. Just the thought of it turned his ears bright red.
It was really uncomfortable for couples who had no feelings for each other yet to have skin contact.
Meng Huan slept ill at ease with a wandering mind. He didn’t fall asleep until deep into the night. However, not long after he entered dreamland, he was woken up by noises.
He missed Lin Bozhou waking up, but right now, the man’s slender fingers were straightening his lapel. He had his head down, and his dark hair was falling and scattering like a waterfall, and his white outer coat was draped over his shoulders, as if it were time for him to get up.
Meng Huan thought it was dawn, so he looked up in a half-awake state and checked the window, only to find it was silent outside with hardly any light.
“Does Your Royal Highness need to relieve yourself?” Meng Huan asked.
“No.” Lin Bozhou found this question amusing. “This Regent is preparing to attend the court.”
“Attend court?!”
“Your Royal Highness, it’s the hour of the ox.” The eunuch outside the door reminded.
The hour of the ox is about one to three in the morning. Meng Huan was stupefied. “This early?”
“The morning court starts its session at the hour of the rabbit. At the hour of the tiger, this Regent needs to be at the cabinet to deal with documents, and right before morning court begins, this Regent goes to the Hall of the Supreme Principle to wait for the ministers, as usual.” Lin Bozhou gently stroked Meng Huan’s head. “If madam is still feeling tired, continue your sleep.”
Shocked, Meng Huan hugged the quilt in his arms. He remembered, having read the story, that the Zong Dynasty had already had muddleheaded emperors for many generations. They never attended the court, didn’t deal with political affairs, and didn’t name a crown prince. The ones who wanted to practice Taoism did as they pleased; the ones who wanted to amuse themselves with beauties got their fill; the ones who wanted to do carpentry filled the palace with sawdust; and the ones who wanted to play Weiqi played to their hearts’ content. When Lin Bozhou was in power, he whipped up a fierce storm that swept away all these unhealthy slackers—but he still didn’t expect Lin Bozhou to be such an overachiever!
How could a loyal minister compete with this?!
Lin Bozhou changed into his crimson court uniform with dragons formed from gold and brocade threads. The man looked extremely gorgeous in the red official robe. His hair was tied back, and with a gold crown inlaid with jade on his head, despite sitting at ease, he exuded an inexpressible power and confidence.
Meng Huan got a general idea of Lin Bozhou’s work schedule while they ate.
After eating breakfast at three in the morning, Lin Bozhou would then prepare to head out. The Prince Regent’s compound was located in the inner part of the capital, and it was about an hour’s walk to the Imperial city, so Lin Bozhou would arrive outside the gate at four in the morning. Typically speaking, the Imperial City would open their gate at five, so no matter how great the minister was, they had to wait outside the gate until then. However, Lin Bozhou was the exception. After he entered the Imperial City, he would first head to the Belvedere of Literary Profundity in the Hall of Literary Brilliance to deal with political affairs, and then to the Hall of the Supreme Principle to meet the Emperor at about five in the morning. At thirty minutes past five, the ministers would have all gathered and begun to organize the morning court.
After the morning court, the Emperor would start his studies, while Lin Bozhou and the other five cabinet members would return to the Belvedere of Literary Profundity and continue dealing with the affairs reported by other ministers. He stayed busy until the evening, when he would go back to his compound in a sedan.
After returning home, Lin Bozhou still had to spend two hours reading and another two hours writing letters.
Meng Huan remembered the phrase, How can you sleep at this young age when you could be doing other important things?
Lin Bozhou slept for only two to four hours a day, but he had already persisted for six years. For the past six years, he relied on terrifying, machine-like self-discipline, methodical but meticulous, and a firm grip on everything that happened at the Zong Dynasty’s court, becoming the most powerful minister in the world.
Meng Huan looked at Lin Bozhou’s departing figure with a chill running down his back.
He was not afraid of smart people, but he was afraid of self-disciplined people.
Especially a monster like Lin Bozhou, who lived as a ruling machine.
—Have you seen the Regent’s compound at four o’clock in the morning?
Meng Huan stayed in the yard for half an hour, questioning his life. Then he decided to go back to sleep, but after tossing and turning for a long time, he felt sleep was out of reach.
Then something dug into his back, which caused him to lift the quilt and get the light to check.
It was the letter he had hidden under the bed.
Lu Nanxing, in the letter, had scheduled to meet him in three days, which was today.
Whatever the case, Lu Nanxing was a good friend to the original host, so he should not be a bad man. If the other party wanted to see him, maybe he had clues for escaping from the compound.
Meng Huan was overwhelmed for a while, until he finally decided to try his luck and see if he could get out of the compound. So he got up, changed, and walked to the gate of the compound.
The guards on duty were standing at the gate, holding swords and wearing iron armor.
Not recognizing Meng Huan, they shouted, “Present your token to leave this gate!”
Meng Huan sighed, knowing this would be the outcome. He turned around to return to his courtyard, only to see a figure standing there, smiling at him.
It was Shan Xing, a trusted confidant of Lin Bozhou.
He looked at Meng Huan and asked, keeping a smile on his face, “Does madam want to leave the compound?”
Afraid that his intentions would be discovered, he gave a vague answer, “Not really… I was just strolling around on this fine morning and wandered here.”
Just as he was getting ready to leave, Shan Xing spoke up unexpectedly, “If madam wants to leave, you may. After all, you are His Royal Highness’s wife. As one of the masters of this compound, you can go wherever you desire.”
This was hard for Meng Huan to believe. “Really?”
“Of course, this is the order from His Royal Highness himself.” Shan Xing had already walked up to the gate and told the guards, “This is His Royal Highness’s madam, and an order has been given that he can leave the compound freely without his token and is not to be blocked.”
The men took back their weapons. “Understood!”
Shan Xing said, “Madam, please.”
Meng Huan was stunned. He never expected getting out of the compound to be this easy. After standing in place for a while in surprise, he hesitated and said, “Thank you.”
“No need.” Shan Xing bowed. “It is what this humble one is supposed to do.”
Meng Huan turned and stepped out of the compound. He took in the fresh air of the town street that didn’t belong to the compound, as well as the wonderful flavor of freedom.
But before he could walk far, he noticed something and turned his head.
Shan Xing was following his every step with a smile. “Madam, it is very dangerous outside the compound. There are all kinds of dangerous people, assassins, and malicious individuals. For someone as innocent and pure as you, it’s very easy to encounter something unexpected while walking on the road. His Royal Highness gave special instructions that, if you wish to go out, you may, but someone must come along to closely guard you.”
“…”
Like a slap in the face, Meng Huan understood. The price of freedom was to be monitored.
Meng Huan turned sideways and asked, “And you are that someone that’s going to protect me?”
Shan Xing nodded. “Exactly.”
The author has something to say:
When writing about His Royal Highness’s daily schedule, this author fell into a dilemma.
Later, when he falls in love with Huan-bao, wouldn’t making love for two hours every night, on top of his busy schedule, cause him to drop dead?
They’re onto you, Huan Huan. Careful what you do…
Thanks for the chapter!
Just reading Lin Bozhou’s schedule made want to go to bed.
+1 I’m exhausted just thinking about it
As someone who needs 9-10 hours of sleep daily…no thank you. I would give up after 3 days of such little sleep.
+1 I will collapse on my bed just after 1 day if i do that
The author’s note 😭
Author’s note is really funny
Thank you for your translation 💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝
LMAO poor lin bozhou would definitely drop dead from lack of sleep 😂 I like to think he’ll start to get up at 4-5am ish after falling in love with huanhuan XD
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
Oh my, huan is really naive, isn’t he?
This wouldn’t be so easy 😀 And, yeah, he would be dead (ಡ艸ಡ)
Thank You for the new chapter (´,,•ω•,,)♡
This schedule is death defying. Must get some sleep for him! Yawn, hahahahaha! Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣❤️🤣
haha.. I wish I could tell the author. the schedule should not always like that everyday. there will be a day off (if I m not mistaken, it’s around 15th every month for a couple days) and of course they actually sleep early too, just occasionally we sleep on 3 am they occasionally sleep on 11 pm instead.😂
Awww, I need to see Lin Bozhou head over heels for our dumbdumb lol
Just two hours of sleep then… Not only an eye illness, His Royal Highness will definitely have migraines!
Regarding the ML’s sleeping schedule, I guess it would depend on his business during the evenings? Whether he’s busy or not and could actually sleep a little more early than 11.
❤️❤️❤️