“Let’s have dinner later. I’ll take her to change first…”
Dan Ruo saw her husband carrying the Young Mistress and assumed the young lady had soiled her clothes with ink, so she went to the study to clean it up. But after looking around, she found no stains anywhere.
The inkstones and brushes on the desk were neatly arranged, and the ink slab was clean without a single mark. On the table was just a stack of account books and a single book. Dan Ruo returned the book to the bookshelf, then left with a puzzled look.
Shen Youran buried her face as he carried her back into the room and realized she was still clutching that picture album.
She flicked her hand and tossed it far away, only for Pei Huaijin to pick it up again.
He held a clean pair of underwear freshly taken from the wardrobe in one hand, and picked up the book with the other. “Why did you throw it away?”
Shen Youran looked at the clean underwear he handed over, and at the large hand gripping the fabric. Remembering what that hand had just done to her, she spun around suddenly, burying her head in his chest. “I’m so embarrassed!”
Pei Huaijin placed the underwear and picture album aside, pressed down on her struggling legs, and began helping her take off her shoes. “We’re husband and wife. We’ve done far more intimate things than this. What just happened was just a little fun between spouses. No need to be shy.”
“You say that so easily,” she mumbled, half annoyed, “If I did that to you, would you be embarrassed?”
“Sure.” He turned her over, reaching to untie the ribbons at her waist. “Tonight, you can do the same to me.”
“You promised!” She was determined to get back the face she lost tonight.
He undid the ribbons around her waist, causing the layered skirt to fall open. Just as he reached for the ties on her trousers—
Shen Youran hurriedly lifted the skirt and sat up. “I can change by myself.”
“Alright.” Pei Huaijin stood and fetched another clean silk cloth from the cabinet, slipping it into the lowered canopy.
Shen Youran blushed as she wiped herself. To think she had ended up like this in his hands… What was this called, exactly?
After changing, Shen Youran wrung the wet silk cloth into a ball, intending to call Dan Ruo or Qing He to wash it for her. But before she could go, he reached out for it. “I’ll wash it for you.”
“No, it’s just a small thing. I don’t want to trouble you.”
“No trouble at all. As your husband, I’m more than happy to.”
“Well then, if you want to wash it, go ahead.” Shen Youran handed him the clothes. “After all, you’re the one who dirtied them.”
Pei Huaijin took the clothes to the washing room. Curious about how the Chief Commander of the Imperial Guard actually did laundry, Shen Youran followed.
She had assumed such a noble young master wouldn’t do such chores, but surprisingly, he was quite skilled. He lathered soap bubbles from the soap nut onto the fabric, scrubbing expertly.
In no time, the clothes were clean.
Shen Youran was amazed by his skill. “You actually know how to wash clothes?”
Pei Huaijin smiled at her surprised look. “It’s not that difficult a task.”
“Have you done it before?”
“When I was studying at the National Academy, each student was only allowed one servant. I had Qing Jian, who was neither a servant nor a page, so I couldn’t ask him to wash clothes. Although I could take off clothes back to the mansion to be washed, undergarments needed frequent changing. So I handled it myself…”
“You’re both able to wash clothes and frugal. You don’t seem like a rich young master at all.”
“My thriftiness was developed in Lingzhou. It wasn’t a wealthy place. During the three years I was assigned there, it was plagued by disasters—one year locusts, two years drought. The government’s disaster relief was never enough, and the offices weren’t well funded either. So I had to live thriftily for those three years…”
“No wonder. You never wasted the leftover cakes I gave you, even making me eat leftover rice…”
“That was my fault. You were raised pampered in the Minister’s mansion, and my thriftiness was my habit. I shouldn’t have made you suffer that.”
Shen Youran had never endured hardship but didn’t mind his frugality. “Fine, I forgive you since you only made me eat leftovers once.”
Pei Huaijin put the washed clothes into a basin, then fetched another basin with clean water, beckoning her over to wash her hands.
When Shen Youran placed her hands in the basin, he wrapped his large hand over hers. “Let me help you wash.”
She chuckled softly. “Husband, although I can’t wash clothes, I can still manage to wash my own hands.”
“Alright, then let’s wash together.”
“But didn’t you just wash them?”
“Just washed the clothes. Now I’m washing your hands.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
“Not the same…”
His broad palm enveloped hers as he took the soap and spread it over her hand, then his strong fingers slipped between hers, massaging gently and warmly.
Shen Youran looked down at their intertwined hands, white and yellow bubbles floating in her mind.
No wonder you shouldn’t read that kind of book. After reading it, she felt like a salted duck egg: white on the outside, but rich and oily yellow inside.
That night, after bathing, those same large hands peeled her like a duck egg, carefully but without haste. Then he pulled her up, gripping her wrist, guiding her to the fierce place.
“Weren’t you supposed to do to me what I did to you in the study…”
But now it was dark, and she wished she could bury her face in her stomach, closing her eyes.
Her arms pulled back hard. “No, no, actually my desire for revenge isn’t that strong.”
“Revenge?” Pei Huaijin’s throat tightened with laughter. He didn’t give her a chance to refuse, grabbing her hand and pressing it down. “I told you, it’s just fun between husband and wife.”
Her hand wrapped around his…
Ahhh!
This man was one thing to look at and another to touch.
She no longer found him rigid or dull. He was well-read and put his knowledge to use. He knew so many ways to have fun.
He pinched her chin and said, “Open your eyes.”
Shen Youran: “No…” She dared not open them, hoping it was all just her imagination.
“Not to look at me, but to look at the book…”
Hmm?
At a time like this, he actually wanted her to read?
It couldn’t be that book again, could it?
She refused. “I won’t look.”
“Not the one you took back,” he said softly, coaxing her eyes shut tight, “I got another one from the study.”
Huh?
Another one?
Definitely that kind of book again.
No way to look!
But… she wanted to see.
Was it as racy as the last one?
Shen Youran’s mind was in turmoil. Reason told her this book was surely not a proper one, but damn it, her curiosity burned to see just how improper it was.
After a moment, she opened one eye.
The hand holding her chin loosened. He immediately took out a book, voice hoarse. “Turn to page twenty-five.”
Both could only use one hand, so he held the book while she turned the pages. In an instant, they were on page twenty-five.
Ahhh! It really was an improper book!
The two figures in the picture were in the exact same positions and actions as she and Pei Huaijin right now.
Her other eye opened uncontrollably. Pei Huaijin reminded her that there were two lines of small text below. She glanced down: What kind of tiger and wolf poem was this? It was actually teaching her how to do…
Pei Huaijin moved the book away, eyes burning as he looked at her. “Learned it?”
“No… I can’t.”
“That’s okay, I’ve read it too,” his breath suddenly a little unsteady. “I can teach you.”
Shen Youran felt her palms burning, as if her whole body might ignite. “Can I not learn?”
“Be good, you must,” he grasped her hand and began practicing what the book taught, eyes locked on hers, demanding her attention. “Wife, don’t close your eyes.”
Fine, she wouldn’t close her eyes.
She was about to lower them again but was startled into a shiver and raised her head, offering her slender, fair neck just in time.
Her bones tingled and muscles melted as Pei Huaijin, needing a starting point, didn’t hesitate to grab the back of her head and bite her neck.
Shen Youran let out a startled cry. Who was really getting revenge here?
Fortunately, the “revenge” didn’t last long. He finally let go of her hand, turned around, and placed both books in front of her. “Wife, which one do you prefer?”
Shen Youran: “…Ah?” She had a bad feeling about this.
“Choose one. We’ll learn it together…”
Back in the study, she hadn’t even finished one book, but she had already learned over ten positions. Some were bearable, others truly astonishing. And now he wanted her to learn?
Her voice trembled. “Husband, you know I’ve never liked studying…”
Pei Huaijin brushed hair away from her shoulder and gently laid her down. “This is the ultimate pleasure in the world. You should learn more, my wife.”
The book lay beside her pillow. He gave her the one they had seen in the study and turned to the first move.
It was a basic one, but couldn’t be skipped. For every move, he didn’t want to miss a single detail.
Pei Huaijin was an eager learner. He could memorize much from just two readings, but for some obscure or difficult parts, he had to copy them down to remember properly.
Before copying, he had to grind ink.
When he was in the study, he rarely called anyone in to assist, so he ground ink himself.
He had a Chengni ink slab, fine and delicate, like the icy skin of a beautiful jade. Grinding ink, he added a little clean water, held the pine soot ink stick gently against the center, steady and smooth, slowly grinding. Soon, a shiny pool of ink gathered in the slab.
This ink slab retained water without drying, and the ink did not harm the brush tip, much to his liking.
Shen Youran couldn’t bear to watch him grind ink and wrapped her arms around his neck, softly hinting.
At that moment, he brought up something. “During the day, when Liang Liulang said I had a hidden illness, did you also doubt me?”
If he hadn’t brought it up, she would have thought that matter was long past. “I just thought he wasn’t the type to lie, so it must have been a misunderstanding…”
“Not the type to lie? Then does my body lie?” When Liang Xu mentioned this during the day, her dark eyes flicked back and forth between him and Liang Xu, unsure who to believe.
She had actually doubted her own husband.
Pei Huaijin’s expression darkened.
Shen Youran apologized brokenly, “I was wrong… Husband…”
If she was wrong, she deserved punishment. The winter night was long.
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