Chapter 105

 

The young man’s passion was like a sudden rainstorm that broke out in the dark, hot and humid summer night. It came quickly and suddenly, catching people off guard. Xuyu had yet to grasp what had driven him to such a loss of control when she felt his urgent embrace pulling her inside. He used his shoulder to break the pearl curtain that blocked his way. The rustling sound of the pearls colliding hadn’t yet faded away, and the next moment, he had placed her on the fragrant wooden bed in the deepest part of the bedroom.

It was as if a dragon, long imprisoned at the bottom of a deep abyss, tormented by the agony of its shackles, had finally broken free. The chains that had bound it so tightly, cutting into its flesh, snapped apart inch by inch. No longer restrained, it surged forth in an unstoppable ascent. Summoning a storm with its deafening roar, scales bristling and sinews taut, its body expanded, the beast rose from the fathomless depths, rushing towards the sky with unstoppable momentum.

Xuyu was lying on the bed, her face tilted upward. Her robes had already come loose, barely covering her body, while her long, ink-dark hair spilled in wild disarray across the deep crimson brocade quilt, richly imbued with the heady scent of saffron. She was a little frightened, and passively accepted the force of his overpowering kisses, as well as the urgent, slightly reckless caress of his hands.

Of course, that night in the Yeyue Tower of the Cangshan Palace, when she told him that she wanted him to be her prince consort, she had already steeled herself for everything that would follow. On the wedding night, if he had not taken the initiative to draw a line between them and then discovered that he was injured, she would have yielded to him without hesitation, had he desired her then.

But tonight, when this moment finally came, perhaps it was too sudden and she really hadn’t fully woken up until this moment. Or perhaps… she realized that everything was not as she had imagined.

Unable to suppress it, after the feeling of fright, there was a little sense of loss and grievance deep in her heart.

At last, she managed to break free from the long, suffocating kiss, gasping for breath as she reclaimed the air that had been stolen from her. With the lingering feeling of grievance, she kept her eyes shut, allowing him to roam over her with scorching lips and calloused hands—hands that traced and marked her soft and silken skin, leaving his mark.

Until, at last, one of those burning, faintly trembling hands reached her waist, fumbling to strip away the clothes that were still wrapped around it. However, the clothes were determined to resist, stubbornly protecting the mysterious and beautiful body underneath that had never been shown to any outsiders, refusing to yield so easily. This hand that had once held a sword and bathed in the blood of the enemies on the battlefield, finally lost its patience completely. His fingers tightened—then, with a rough and restless pull, he tore it away.

With a sound of tearing silk, it claimed victory once more, sweeping away the final barrier that had stood in its master’s way. However, when the final moment came, it seemed to be afraid to act rashly, and hesitated amidst the tattered fragments of silk, as if seeking permission from the woman beneath it. When it felt her body, which was originally slightly tense like a drawn bow, melting into something as soft and yielding as flowing water, it no longer had any scruples and continued to go down, determined to breach the sacred place that had once seemed beyond even the reach of imagination.

The night wind slipped soundlessly through the open doors of the bedroom, passed by the screen, shaking the pearl curtain that had returned to stillness, and finally reaching the depths of the room, where it brushed against the silken canopy of the bed.

“Don’t……”

Behind the canopy that was fluttering like waves, Pei Xiaoyuan suddenly heard a murmuring sound that sounded like sobbing.

It came from the lips that had enchanted him. Just a moment ago, he had finally fulfilled his longing, tasting their intoxicating sweetness. Softer and more fragrant than a flower drenched in nectar, luring swarms of restless butterflies, her lips had parted for him—her tongue warm and yielding, her breath carrying the delicate scent of orchids. It was something more potent than the wine he drank tonight, making him drunk and unable to control himself. At this moment of hesitation, he turned again, seeking her lips once more, desperate to capture them again. But instead of another kiss, that single word escaped them. Then, against his own burning cheek, pressed so intimately to hers, he felt a cool trace of something damp.

At this moment, hot sweat was oozing out from the young man’s forehead and back. His beating heart hit his chest violently, and the blood vessels under his hot skin expanded to the limit. With every heartbeat, Pei Xiaoyuan felt as if the blood was about to burst through his skull and burst out. Although the sobbing sound was very subtle and vague, like a weak gossamer, and blown away by the night wind that rushed into the gap of the canopy, but it still entered his ears.

His heart, which was filled with boiling blood, seemed to be suddenly squeezed by a hand. It beat heavily and then the blood stagnated.

Xuyu’s thoughts was wandering, her lungs seemingly filled with the lingering alcohol from his breath. Her body remained light and drowsy, yet her mind was clear.

She knew exactly what he was doing. After the initial panic and helplessness had passed, and she realized what was about to happen, she forced herself to relax, to welcome his approach.

Everything he had done for her, the grievances he had endured—she had never spoken of them, but in her heart, she understood them all.

If he wanted this, if it could bring him even the slightest solace, then no matter when, she would never refuse him. If this could somehow make up for all that he had suffered, then perhaps she, too, would feel a little less guilty.

She thought vaguely like this. Yet, for some reason, just moments ago—when the final piece of clothing shielding her was so effortlessly stripped away by his hands—another feeling, one she had desperately tried to suppress, surfaced. A quiet, aching sense of grievance.

In the end, she couldn’t control herself and a tear fell from her eyes, and from her throat came an involuntary choked sob.

She felt the man who was as heavy as a mountain pressing down on her slowly stop, and finally, he was completely still, with his face buried deeply in her neck and hair.

A while later, he pulled his hand back and touched her face. Feeling the wetness, his palm paused for a moment, and then he let her go completely.

He rolled off her, stood up and got off the bed with his back to her, and finally sat on the edge of the bed.

Just as the beginning of this night had caught her completely off guard, the end also came so suddenly.

At first, her heart pounded erratically. She curled into herself, shrinking into the farthest corner of the bed behind him, holding her breath and stealing glances at him. His left shoulder was still wrapped in bandages, while the rest of his bare back glistened faintly with a sheen of moisture.

The bed canopy swayed gently at his shoulder, stirred by the dark breeze flowing in from outside. He remained perfectly still, his posture slightly bent, and he seemed to have turned into a statue.

After a moment of watching quietly, Xuyu suddenly felt a little regretful and unbearable. This feeling even overwhelmed the grievance and unwillingness just now. She then fell into hesitation.

And at a loss, not knowing how to resolve the huge awkwardness caused by her.

Suddenly at this moment, the figure moved slightly.

“I was drunk and offended the Princess just now. I apologize.” He said in an extremely difficult and somewhat hoarse voice.

“Please forgive me, Princess.”

After a pause, when he spoke again and uttered this sentence, his speech had become steady and clear.

He seemed to have turned back into the Pei Xiaoyuan that Xuyu was used to.

“Master Pei, if you want, I also can…

“We…are already husband and wife…”

Finally, she lowered her eyes and responded vaguely. After she finished speaking, she felt a heat in her ears.

After a moment, he slowly turned his head and his eyes froze for a moment.

She lay beneath the shadowed canopy, nestled within the crimson folds of the hehuan silk quilt. Her long, unbound hair, as dark as storm-laden clouds, spilled over the quilt in tangled waves—half draped across the embroidered fabric, half entwined around her own body. Beneath that inky cascade, a white body as white as snow pressed against a messy, wrinkled, torn silk dress.

He hesitated for a moment before reaching out once more.

As his hand approached, blood rushed to her chest like the tide under the full moon. Her heart began to beat wildly, and a layer of fine goose bumps suddenly appeared on the skin of her shoulders and chest exposed to the cool air of the autumn night.

His hand fell on the torn silk dress. He closed it, tied the belt, let it cover her body again, and then gently covered her with the quilt.

“Princess, don’t worry. There’s no need to force yourself. What I promised you before has nothing to do with this. It’s not because I covet you…”

His voice was suppressed and muffled, and suddenly he stopped.

“I was really too drunk tonight.”

Then he stopped talking, withdrew his hand, and stopped looking at her. Turning away from her, he rose from the edge of the bed, picked up his discarded robes, and slipped them back over his body, his back firmly to her.

Xuyu’s heart was beating loudly. Through the veil of the silk canopy before her, she watched with wide, tear-brimmed eyes, and stared at his hazy back as he put on his clothes and walked out.

When the figure passed through the pearl curtain, turned to the outer room and completely disappeared behind the screen, she lifted up the quilt, jumped off the bed barefoot, broke through the pearl curtain and chased after him.

By then, he had already reached the half-open door of the bedroom. The sound of her hurried footsteps made him hesitate, and just as he was about to turn around, Xuyu was already in front of him. With a creaky sound, she slammed the door tightly shut, then turned around and stood firmly before him.

He seemed startled and stopped.

“It’s still the middle of the night! Where are you going?” she questioned him.

Her long hair hung down in a mess, and even though her clothes had just been tidied up by him, they were still in disarray and could not cover her entire fair skin.

He didn’t respond to her, just turned his head and looked elsewhere.

“You are the Prince Consort. You should sleep with the Princess.” She said again.

His eyes seemed motionless, but his two extremely beautiful eyebrows twitched slightly and his breathing gradually became heavy.

“I want you to sleep with me, tonight!”

Seeing him slowly raise his eyes to look at her, she simply raised her chin high again and spoke in a commanding tone.

Pei Xiaoyuan paused for a moment, then suddenly gritted his teeth, stepped forward, and swept the barely clothed person before him into his arms. Without a word, he turned and headed back toward the bedroom.

His steps were so hasty that he accidentally bumped into the screen as he passed it. He had no time to hold it up, and the heavy screen fell to the ground. The corner of the screen also knocked over a huge Gongyao celadon-glazed melon-shaped basin that was placed on a tripod nearby and was used to store water.

All the water spilled out to the ground.

For a moment, the sound of the screen falling, the sound of the porcelain basin breaking, and the sound of splashing water broke the silence of the bedroom late at night.

The princess had brought prince consort back, and the two seemed to be fine, but how could He shi really feel at ease? At first, she asked the maids to go to bed, while she kept watch in the nearby duty room. At this moment, she was half asleep when suddenly, the startling and thunderous sounds coming from the princess’s bedroom jolted her awake.

—

The light spilling through the deep windows of the bedroom became bright again.

Xuyu was in the process of changing Pei Xiaoyuan’s bandages.

Later last night, what prince consort had done to her body, she was too embarrassed to describe it. It was not until the fourth watch that they were exhausted and fell asleep together. Just a moment ago, she was sleeping soundly and was woken up by him again. But this time she was still very sleepy and refused to follow along. While dodging, she accidentally hit his injured shoulder. When she heard him hiss in pain, she remembered that he went out sulkily last night and had not changed the dressing yet, so she asked him to sit up and she would change the dressing for him.

He lazily sat on the edge of the bed, shirtless, with only a piece of clothing wrapped around his waist, quietly listening to her complaining behind him that he had no self-control last night, causing the wound to bleed again. After listening for a while, he grabbed her by the arm with his backhand and dragged her to him, then made her spread her legs and sit face to face on his strong thighs. He inserted his arms under her armpits, wrapped her waist and back, and made her lean against him.

He rubbed his cheek, which had grown a layer of stubble overnight, against hers. When she yelled that it was prickly and asked him to stay away from her, a faint smile appeared in his eyes. Instead of listening to her, he lowered his head and kissed her delicate neck and chest.

Xuyu was not much better off than him at the moment. She was naked to begin with, and just grabbed the piece of his clothes that was closest to her and wrapped it around herself, tying it up randomly with a belt. It was loose to begin with, and now that he was entangled with her like this, half of her shoulder was exposed, not to mention it was painful and itchy.

While dodging, she pulled back her clothes and ordered him not to move around.

“The bandage hasn’t been fixed yet! If you move again, I will leave!”

As expected, he stopped moving and just raised his head to peck and kiss the star-shaped scar on her forehead. Although it didn’t hurt or itch, it was quite annoying, so she turned her face away again. He took the opportunity to bite her earlobe and sucked it gently.

Last night, her earlobe was one of the hardest hit areas. It was already red and swollen from his bite, and the marks had not yet healed, which made it even more sore and itchy. While she continued to avoid him, she tried to tie his bandage, suddenly remembering something that had been bothering her, something she couldn’t easily let go of.

“How dare you throw the fish pouch last night! You are so brave! Believe it or not, I will tell my father!”

After listening to her, he only paused for a moment, and then continued to kiss and nibble on the round, plump and soft earlobe that he had secretly fallen in love with.

“Are you mute? Don’t think I’ll let you go just because you don’t speak! If you don’t apologize to me, I’ll really tell my father and make you pay—”

While he listened indifferently, his face was suddenly pushed away by her. It turned out that the bandage had been taken care of, but she was still sitting on his lap, wrapped in his clothes, staring at him with dissatisfaction on her face.

He laughed, and with a backhand, he pushed the still angry her off his legs and directly onto the bed.

Suddenly, at this moment, the first faint sound of morning drums in the distance passed over the wall of Yongning Mansion and reached the bedroom.

“Is the Princess awake?”

Then, accompanied by a slight knock on the door, He shi‘s voice, which sounded a little worried, came from outside.

“Someone has come from the palace. He said that His Majesty has summoned the Prince Consort and wants him to enter the palace immediately!”

Previous     TOC