After escorting Qingjian back and making sure she was settled, Pei Huaijin returned to the Yunzhi Courtyard. He noticed the study light was still on, knowing she was still inside poring over the accounts.
He walked straight over to the study.
But when he pushed open the door, she was nowhere to be seen. Only a neat stack of account books sat arranged on the desk.
If it weren’t for the silk cloth draped over the desk swaying slightly and revealing a flash of a crimson skirt hem, he might have thought she wasn’t here at all.
Pei Huaijin couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile. Was she trying to play hide-and-seek with him?
He stepped inside, pretending not to know she was hidden behind the desk, and went over to the bookshelf to pick up a book. Yet his eyes inadvertently caught sight of the few spring palace illustrated books he kept in the corner—loose and askew, clearly missing one volume.
His gaze flickered slightly. Now he understood the real reason she was hiding behind the desk.
It seemed she’d hidden both herself and the book beneath the table.
Pei Huaijin didn’t immediately expose her. Instead, he casually pulled a book from the shelf and sat down behind the desk to read.
Shen Youran was crouched under the desk, clutching a book. After a short while, her legs went numb and ached terribly.
She gave up and sat down heavily on the floor, which eased the pain in her legs, but now her back was so sore she couldn’t straighten up.
It was truly uncomfortable.
If she went out now, it would be even more embarrassing.
Had she known earlier, she wouldn’t have hidden at all.
Pei Huaijin really was something. When he came back and didn’t find her, why didn’t he look somewhere else? Why did he just sit here reading?
His mind wasn’t on the book at all. Hearing the faint rustling from under the desk, he guessed she must have shifted her position to hide better.
Though the floor was warmed by the dragon stove, it was still hard beneath her, and she’d been curled up there for over a moment. It had to be uncomfortable.
Just as Pei Huaijin was about to bend down and call her out, Danruo suddenly knocked and said that the elder master had arrived.
When the father came to his courtyard, there was no need to announce it formally. As soon as Danruo finished speaking, the elder master pushed the door open and entered.
Pei Huaijin had to give up on coaxing Shen Youran out for the moment. He stood up respectfully: “Father, what brings you here?”
“I just returned from the Hanlin Academy. Your mother told me you were injured, so I came to see you…”
“Thank you for your concern, Father. It’s just a minor injury, nothing serious.”
Pei Huaijin was still thinking of Shen Youran under the desk and wanted to ask his father to talk in the hall, but before he could move around the desk, his father was already sitting on the stool by the desk, chatting casually: “It’s been a while since I last saw Qingjian. If he had gone with you to Suizhou, this wouldn’t have happened…”
Pei Huaijin had no choice but to sit back down. “Some time ago, I sent Qingjian out on business. He got injured, but has recovered a bit now. I just brought him back today.”
“Hm, next time you travel far, it’s better to bring more guards.” Then he changed the subject, “Do you know about your seventh brother’s situation?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Yesterday, His Majesty summoned Minister Zhang from the Hanlin Academy to the palace and appointed him as the tutor for the Imperial Grandson. I’ve been thinking—since the Imperial Grandson was spoiled by your third uncle into such a playboy, will His Majesty take it out on our Pei family?”
“Father, you worry too much. My third uncle prevented the Imperial Grandson from studying because he was afraid he’d follow the imperial examination path. After all, the current crown prince’s faction has been almost entirely purged. No one can guarantee a restoration for the former crown prince, so naturally, the Imperial Grandson is kept out of court. His Majesty should understand that…”
“That’s true.” But now that His Majesty holds this Imperial Grandson in such regard, it naturally stirs concern. “Over the past decade or so, His Majesty has established two crown princes, only to have both deposed one after the other. The position remains vacant. Several princes at court have formed factions, locked in bitter struggle. Our Pei family used to stay neutral, carefully protecting ourselves, yet now we have an Imperial Grandson in our household. Whether this is good or bad, it’s hard to say…”
“Father,” Shen Youran was still under the desk, and Pei Huaijin didn’t want his father to dwell too much on court affairs, so he interrupted him, “I just came back from Suizhou and still have memorials to write. I’ll find time another day to discuss the Imperial Grandson’s affairs with you…”
“Alright, then you get to work. I won’t keep you.”
As the son, Pei Huaijin stood to see his father out.
He accompanied his father to the study door. The elder master waved him off to get back to his work.
Pei Huaijin didn’t step outside. After his father left, he quietly closed the door.
He didn’t immediately return to the desk, instead standing still to create the illusion that he had left with his father.
Sure enough, after a few breaths, the silk cloth on the desk shifted.
After a moment, a head popped out from under the silk cloth, followed by two hands pushing against the floor like a cat. She climbed out from beneath the desk.
Halfway up, she looked around cautiously.
Suddenly, she let out a startled “Ah!” and shrank back under the desk.
Pei Huaijin strode over, crouched down, lifted the silk cloth, and met her guilty eyes. “Not done hiding yet?”
Shen Youran hugged the book and sat kneeling by the desk. “You… you knew I was here all along?”
“Hmm. You didn’t hide your cat tail well.”
She’d been deliberately ignored under the desk, forced to stay cramped there for so long.
Shen Youran flushed with embarrassment and irritation. Forgetting she was still under the desk, she looked up and bumped her forehead.
“Ouch…”
“Be careful.” Pei Huaijin reached out and supported her, placing a hand just above her forehead to prevent her from clumsily bumping into anything else.
She came out from under the desk, embarrassed and pouty, turning her back to him.
Pei Huaijin gently pulled her back around to face him and examined the spot on her forehead she’d bumped.
It wasn’t serious, but her skin was fairer than snow and the injured spot stood out redder than the rest.
Yet stubborn as ever, she still clutched the book tightly, refusing to look up or rub the soreness away despite her eyes watering.
Pei Huaijin pulled her onto his lap as usual, and began to massage the bump on her forehead. “Why were you hiding under the desk? Is there anything in my study you shouldn’t be looking at?”
The only reason he hadn’t let her look at certain books before was that he hadn’t been around.
Those kinds of books stirred impure thoughts. He could suppress it, but she couldn’t.
But now that he was back, he was more than happy for her to read them—better if she read all of them, so they could read together.
“I finished the account books and felt bored, so… I just…” She pulled out the book she’d been hiding in front of her. “I was just curious.”
“And after reading, how do you feel?”
“No feelings…” Only her heart was pounding, and a strange sensation spread through her body.
When she’d been sitting on the stool, she hadn’t noticed, but after crawling under the desk, she realized her underwear was damp.
It was truly humiliating.
His warm fingertips rubbed gently but firmly on her forehead. Though the touch was innocent, her mind drifted to some unclean images.
“Stop rubbing,” she said, pulling his hand away. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
He obeyed, sliding his hand down from her forehead to her waist, still moving, slowly tracing down the smooth curve to her ankle.
She was wearing a layered bai die skirt today. He grasped her ankle and lifted it, the hem of the skirt drawing a graceful arc.
His hand slipped inside.
Realizing what he was about to do, Shen Youran pressed her hand against his and said anxiously, “Don’t…”
But his hand was still creeping forward, his eyes fixed unblinking on her. “I just want to verify one thing: are you telling the truth?”
“No.” She couldn’t hold back his hand, so she clenched her legs tightly, trying to stop his advance.
But she underestimated his strength, and besides, he wasn’t just brute force. He knew her weaknesses well.
His other hand pinched her waist, tickling her so she loosened her resistance—and he took advantage.
Earlier, when she said she had no endurance, she looked so unconvinced. But someone like her, who couldn’t stand pain or tickling, how much more would those erotic, explicit paintings affect her?
Just as he expected, the fabric over his fingers was wet, and the person in his arms curled up shyly, scolding him, “Ah! I’m mad!”
He didn’t want to truly upset her, so he moved his fingers, trying to pull his hand back. “Relax a little.”
But when he moved, the person in his arms shivered—not relaxing but tightening the grip even more.
A truly… adorable reaction.
Pei Huaijin had seen her aroused before. He guessed that after looking at those illustrated books, her body had become unusually sensitive. Though she wouldn’t admit it, her body was burning, needing a sweet rain to quench the fire.
Unfortunately, after a long journey, he wasn’t clean enough to personally put out that fire, so all he could do was…
After trembling, she finally relaxed a little, burying her flushed face in his shoulder. Her voice was soft and tender, like a spring brook: “Can you take it out now?”
Pei Huaijin turned his head, only able to kiss her ears reddened from embarrassment.
“Wife,” his hand still in place, his knuckles sinking into the damp fabric with gentle, slow movements, “are you really willing to let me take it out?”
“You…” She couldn’t hold back, letting out a soft whimper.
He lightly bit her ear, his tongue tracing the smooth, jade-white outline. “Call me husband.”
Driven by instinct, she tightly curled her slender, long fingers around his hand, leaning on his shoulder as she softly whimpered, “Husband, husband…”
Her voice was melodious like a warbler’s song. Pei Huaijin recognized the tone and judged just how far her passion had reached.
His other hand cupped the back of her head, lifting it gently to force her to meet his gaze.
Her still-swollen lips bore a line of delicate teeth marks, glistening with moisture, opening and closing with her soft whimpers.
Her clear, dewy black eyes seemed veiled by a thin mist. In that moment of emotion, she looked helpless and shy, only making him want to tease her more.
But before teasing further, he lowered his head to capture her lips, pressing down her tongue to silence any louder cries to come.
The veins on his hand bulged suddenly. His gentle strength turned fierce. She grabbed his robe, starting to cry out, but no sound came—only muffled sobs swallowed entirely by him…
In the flickering candlelight, Shen Youran completely melted into his embrace.
Her body still trembled when the door knocked. Danruo’s voice came through: “Young master, young madam, dinner has arrived. Would you like to eat now?”
Pei Huaijin lifted the muddy, disheveled woman in his arms and closed the door. “Not yet. I’ll help her change first…”