Behind the silk curtain, Shen Ru Jie’s profile was nearly dripping blood red, but he still hesitated before arching his hand back, gently stroking her chest over her skirt.
While holding his quickened breath, he hated Zheng Wu and Shen Gui even more. It was all them! If they hadn’t insisted on picking wedding fabrics today, Xin Yi wouldn’t have gotten so upset!!
Zheng Wu and her little maidservant, frozen outside the curtain for several seconds, snapped out of it and hurried away, faces red.
Fortunately, they left the shop, and not long after, Shen Gui came over from across the street after picking up his things.
Zheng Wu was pretty, her belly under her skirts already slightly bulging—not as slim as two months ago, clearly showing she was pregnant.
Seeing her waiting by the stone steps, Shen Gui hurried over to support her carefully, his tone full of tender reproach. “It’s so cold out—why wait outside, A Wu?”
Seeing her beloved man fret over her, Zheng Wu smiled sweetly, playfully sticking out her tongue. “The marquis had the maidservant bundle me up so thick—how could I be cold?”
“I’m just hungry after all this shopping. Let’s eat at the teahouse up front.”
Shen Gui naturally agreed.
Meanwhile, they’d just entered a heavenly-grade private room in the teahouse. The grinning waiter led the new guests to the next room over.
This was the best teahouse in the Capital City, with expensive dishes and drinks, and a superb view.
Beside the window table were two spacious low couches, overlooking distant towers and lights.
Shen Ru Jie’s first move was to help Xin Yi sit at the table; the second was to close the window.
He feared the night wind would bring chills. He didn’t mind, but Xin Yi couldn’t afford it.
The woman before him had removed her cape, wearing a deep blue outer ruqun as she sat at the table.
She seemed in low spirits, reaching for the silver slender-handled tool to poke at the incense ash in the beast-foot censer, scattering a perfectly shaped lotus flower. Her eyes downcast, her red lips slightly pouted.
Inexplicably cute, inexplicably pitiable.
Shen Ru Jie felt his heart soften, a bit amused. He admired her for a moment, then wrung a wet cloth from the copper basin to wipe her hands.
His movements gentle, his tone coaxing. “Dinner’s coming soon. If you really want to play, wait till after.”
Xin Yi watched him, lips curving in a smile, but thought: Won’t play with this later—gonna play with you later.
The system wanted to cover its ears to protect its pure little soul from corruption. “Wasn’t it supposed to be pure little green tea? Host, did you learn bad habits from those vixen big sisters next door?”
Xin Yi was unhappy at it badmouthing colleagues to her face. “Our Space-Time Bureau sisters all love each other. What do you know, you tin can?”
With that, she ignored the system and put on a fragile, lonely expression toward the youth. “A Jie, I want to drink.”
“Last time’s osmanthus wine wasn’t enough. I want something stronger.”
The window lattice was blown open a slight gap by the night wind, carrying the chill of moonlight and cold stars, along with the distant fireworks of the Capital City’s towers.
Silence drifted in, filling the room with the aroma of wine.
One incense stick passed, two incense sticks passed, three incense sticks passed…
The wine cups on the table were already scattered haphazardly. Xin Yi, who had murmured earlier about finishing half a jar of Daughter’s Red, was now thoroughly drunk.
She rose from the low couch, swaying unsteadily as she gripped the edge of the table to stand, only to tumble straight into Shen Ru Jie’s arms.
Then she settled down obediently, smiling as she tilted her face up, extending her slender lotus-like arms to hug his neck. The scent of wine mixed with her feminine fragrance assaulted his nose.
“A Ying, help me with my makeup…”
She had mistaken him for her maidservant.
Shen Ru Jie’s palm still rested on her waist. He wasn’t sure if it was because the enclosed room was too stuffy and hot, but a faint sheen of sweat appeared between his striking brows. Even so, he complied with her request, using his fingers as a comb to smooth her cascade of black hair.
Once that was done, it wasn’t enough. She made him wash his hands, massage her shoulders, and finally…
She even had him help her change clothes.
Under the flickering lamplight, her drunken cheeks were flushed pink, her body limp like it had no bones as she sat on the low couch. Yet her eyes gazing at him were dark and moist, like a serene lake dusted with early spring snow.
Shen Ru Jie’s throat tightened with itchiness. He recalled the words the maidservants had gossiped about that day: “The Madam wore a deep blue shark silk dress, her lips coated with rouge, looking just like a little Guanyin.”
“That sight moved even me. During the meal, the Marquis glanced at her several extra times.”
So.
Was this the outfit she had worn before when going to dine with Shen Gui?
Had Shen Gui seen her like this too?
Had she hugged him with cheeks this flushed, coquettishly demanding he comb her hair and change her clothes?
Perhaps even more. She would call him husband with those eyes full of shy timidity, enduring and accepting whatever he did to her, no matter how he toyed with her.
Because he was her husband. They were permitted by convention to do anything.
Jealousy turned Shen Ru Jie’s phoenix eyes bloodshot, leaving him almost unable to breathe.
Thus, he reached out to caress the upturned little face of the woman in his arms. Staring into her drunken, hazy almond eyes, he smiled faintly. “Xin Yi, call me husband.”
The woman in his arms shivered from his cold fingertips but didn’t dodge. Her voice was dazed and at a loss. “Hus… husband.”
He suddenly lowered his head, unable to hold back any longer, and kissed those lips.
He swallowed all her fragmented, feeble whimpers between his lips and teeth, gripping her slender shoulders, prying open her teeth. Perhaps because he kissed too fiercely and urgently, faint wet sounds emerged.
Their tongues tangled together, along with whimpers and gasps.
He didn’t even know when it started, but the fastened skirt collar had come loose, the pearl flower by her temple fallen to the edge of the couch. His cold fingertips pressed anywhere on her, eliciting a light tremble…
Just as things were about to spiral further out of control, the door suddenly opened, followed by a panicked low cry accompanied by stumbling footsteps.
Only then did Shen Ru Jie reluctantly part his lips, lifting his head to look.
It was Zheng Wu.
She had just gone out from the private room to use the toilet. Unexpectedly, upon returning, she had accidentally pushed open the wrong door and stumbled upon this ambiguous and absurd scene.
The handsome youth was leaning on the woman’s shoulder, panting softly, like a seductive ghost not yet sated.
Zheng Wu froze. She hadn’t expected the youth in profound black robes, cold and aloof from their first encounter at the marquis manor, to have such an infatuated demeanor.
Especially in the instant she pushed the door open, the youth noticed the movement and pulled the woman in his arms tight against his chest.
He adjusted her loosened inner garments to cover her fragrant shoulders, panting slightly while casting an irritated, sinister gaze her way… Zheng Wu could hardly believe her eyes.
But she quickly reacted, staggering back two steps before fleeing with her face burning red, flustered.
By the time she returned to the private room and sat down, Shen Gui clearly noticed something was off. He frowned with concern. “Are you unwell somewhere? Why is your face so red?”
Recalling that scene, Zheng Wu’s face flushed even deeper, her eyelashes fluttering lightly twice.
In the end, she didn’t say anything.
She had originally wanted to ask Shen Gui if the Second Young Master had taken a liking to some woman outside. But considering how much the marquis loathed mentioning his illegitimate younger brother—to the point of flying into a rage at the mere mention of his name—she held back.
So she just smiled and changed the subject. “The stove in the room is probably too hot, and the clothes I’m wearing are thick. It’s nothing.”
Shen Gui nodded upon hearing this and didn’t press further.
Because his own state of mind had been rather strange lately. He kept zoning out at the drop of a hat, thinking of that foolish woman who had taken the Divorce Letter and left the marquis manor. Even when with A Wu, he couldn’t avoid it.
Like right now, he not only spaced out thinking of Xin Yi’s face. He even seemed to hear her feeble whimper by his ear, coquettish and helpless, as if she were nearby.
He quickly schooled his expression and shook his head, refusing to let his thoughts wander further.
Incense smoke curled lazily, separated by just one wall.
On the low couch, the woman’s skirt hems and the youth’s black robes were both somewhat disheveled. The creases pressed into the cuffs suggested just how long that kiss had lasted.
After the door closed again, Shen Ru Jie experienced a brief moment of clarity.
Looking at the woman now soft and boneless beneath him, her expression dazed with eyes like silk, her skirt collar loose, her slightly swollen red lips glistening with moisture—he finally realized what he had done.
But he only blanked out for a moment before chuckling lightly against the hollow of her neck.
Not only did he not release her to straighten her clothes; instead, he held her even tighter in his arms, his tone sticky and obsessive. “Xin Yi, be with me. It should have been like this long ago.”
Why couldn’t it be him?
He was more faithful than Shen Gui.
The person in his arms was so drunk she naturally couldn’t understand his ravings.
She could only listen as he murmured seductive words in her ear, utterly shameless. “Am I pretty, Xin Yi?”
The person in his arms seemed a bit slow on the uptake, pondering for a long while before nodding dazedly. “…Pretty.”
“Then, shall we kiss a little more?”
The youth lowered his head and nipped her neck, soon turning it into wet pecks. His reddened eye tails held a sickly hue. “Just like earlier, okay? I promise no one will know.”
Xin Yi, desperately playing drunk but with lips that hurt like hell: “………………”
Get lost.