Xiao Ci lowered his eyes, a trace of darkness staining his gaze as it fell on Zhong Li’s lips.
Delicate, slightly parted by his pinch, the red lips and white teeth stirred a strong urge to explore.
As he leaned down, Zhong Li seemed to anticipate what he was about to do and panicked, trying to dodge.
However, the large hand restraining her cheek held firm with an irresistible force.
Xiao Ci kissed her forcefully.
Though they had been married for nearly five years, their moments of intimacy were few.
In the first year of their marriage, they hadn’t even shared a bed.
Xiao Ci’s temperament was cold, and he was not one to easily fall in love.
At the age of twenty, when a rare warmth blossomed in his heart for Shen Yunshu, he was rejected twice.
He was a rational man. Since she left no room for negotiation, he had no intention of persisting.
But matters of the heart were far more complicated than he had imagined.
Liking someone was difficult; letting go was even harder.
Because of this, he had sought out Pei Huaijin a few times to drink and confide his frustration, unsure how to forget Shen Yunshu as quickly as possible.
Pei Huaijin had no solution and sighed, “I was originally planning to entrust you with someone to look after. But now it seems you won’t forget Shen Yunshu anytime soon. Forget it, I won’t trouble you with it…”
Xiao Ci, quite drunk, mistakenly thought Pei Huaijin meant the Meng Family Cousin at the Pei Residence and eagerly agreed, “No problem, since you rarely drink with me, I’ll take care of this!”
Pei Huaijin replied, “Never mind. I can’t entrust her to you, I don’t feel at ease.”
“Why not? We’ve been classmates for many years, with similar dispositions. Who else near you is more reliable? Don’t worry, I’ll treat her well…”
“Forget it, drink…”
Much later, Xiao Ci learned that the woman Pei Huaijin wanted to entrust to him wasn’t the Meng Family Cousin at all, but his own wife, Shen Youran.
At that time, Pei Huaijin was seriously poisoned by a rare toxin and wanted to find a new home for his wife. His first thought was to entrust her to Xiao Ci.
Fortunately, that plan never came to pass, or else Xiao Ci would have nearly married his brother’s wife.
Shortly after, Xiao Ci’s father decided he should marry a young lady from the Xia Family.
The new bride came from afar, and on their wedding night, Xiao Ci faced the unfamiliar face.
Knowing he hadn’t yet fully let go of Shen Yunshu, he genuinely couldn’t bring himself to consummate with her.
He told her to rest well, citing the fatigue of her long journey.
As he turned to fetch fresh bedding from the cabinet, he heard a soft sigh behind him, as if she had finally exhaled a breath she’d been holding.
She seemed unwilling to consummate with him.
After all, they were strangers to each other, so her reluctance was understandable.
At the time, Xiao Ci didn’t think much of it.
Later, when he discovered the truth behind her substitute marriage, though he never confronted her, he once tested her one night, asking if she truly wished to marry him.
She lowered her head and said sincerely yes, so he reached out to undo her clothing.
At first, she forced calm, twisting her fingers silently as he peeled away her gown, undergarments, then her panties.
Her clothes formed a pile at her feet, candlelight glimmered on her warm jade-like skin, and her slender shoulders trembled slightly, yet she remained silent.
At that moment, he was a little unsure: could she truly have been sincere about the substitute marriage?
But in truth, he wasn’t yet ready to consummate, so he withdrew his hand from the knot on her panties and said, “I won’t untie this. You do it yourself…”
“Hmm,” she replied softly, trembling as she slowly reached behind her neck and began to undo the ties.
The knot wasn’t complicated; one glance was enough for Xiao Ci to understand.
He only had her do it to test her one last time.
Sure enough, after struggling for a while, she finally couldn’t hold back and pleaded in a trembling voice, “Husband, I’m not feeling well these days. Could we postpone?”
Xiao Ci knew when her period was due — more than ten days away — so it was impossible for her to feel unwell at that time.
So, she didn’t want to consummate with him; she wasn’t truly willing to marry him.
Knowing this, Xiao Ci felt relieved inside.
“There’s a long time ahead. We’ll take it slow.”
He said this for her, but also for himself.
She remained obedient and gentle as always.
“Thank you, husband.”
Thus, nearly two years passed with them sleeping apart.
Time slowly dulled Shen Yunshu’s image in his heart.
He didn’t know when he had started to grow accustomed to the warm and mild temperament of his wife.
However, the consummation finally came unexpectedly.
Having served at the Dali Temple for several years, Xiao Ci had made many enemies.
At a banquet, someone slipped a powerful aphrodisiac into his wine, intending to disgrace him publicly.
Suppressing the drug’s effects, he hurriedly left the table.
She noticed something was wrong and chased after him.
The drug’s effects intensified rapidly, and there was no time to seek an antidote at the clinic.
He stopped the carriage in a deserted alley, apologizing to her while loosening his waist sash and asking her to help detoxify him.
He had only meant to borrow her hands to assist but didn’t expect the foolish girl to think the only way to remove the poison was through intimacy.
Biting her lip and holding back tears, she undressed, nakedly embracing him.
The last shred of reason Xiao Ci had crumbled beneath the warmth filling his arms.
The carriage curtains swayed, broken sobs filling the cramped space.
Afterward, she cried for a long time.
Knowing how wronged she felt, Xiao Ci chose a good day, bathed and burned incense, and properly consummated with her again, hoping to overwrite her memory of that unpleasant carriage night.
She said nothing, but he could never forget the moment in the carriage when he pressed her against the seat, her neck stretched and head thrown back, lips parted—
Just like now, when he pinned her against the wall, head thrown back, nowhere to escape.
Besides being busy with official duties and holding a key position at the Dali Temple, tangled and perplexing cases kept his mind on edge.
Naturally, he had little energy left to indulge in carnal affairs.
She never clung to him either, and soon became pregnant.
What had once been three or five times a month ceased completely after her pregnancy.
After she gave birth and insisted on personally caring for their child, intimacy became even rarer.
When they did make love, they rarely did anything beyond the act itself.
No kisses, just fleeting brushes of lips.
Xiao Ci thought it was a waste of time; he preferred to spend his energy elsewhere on her body.
But today, the usually taciturn mouth bit down hard, teeth clenched tight.
Unable to pry her lips open with his tongue, he took another route.
He released her lips temporarily and bit down on a small mole on her neck.
When she let out a sharp cry, he returned to cover her mouth with his own.
Originally, he intended this as a punishment for her not telling the truth.
But the moment his tongue slid inside — warm and soft — it reminded him of how it felt when he was deep inside her.
A bolt of electricity seemed to race down his spine as he tasted a feeling he had never known before.
Kissing was never all the same.
Those previous shallow kisses, lingering only on lips without delving deeper, had caused him to miss out on many wonderful moments.
Forgetting the original purpose of the kiss, he grasped the back of her neck and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.
Her hand, which had been nervously scratching the wall, now pressed against his chest, trying to push him away.
But pressed so tightly together, her bent arm had no strength to resist.
Instead, her hands fit perfectly against his chest.
This only stoked the fire burning within him.
Perhaps overwhelmed by his kisses, she bit his tongue hard.
He winced in pain and pulled back momentarily.
The woman in his arms — lips reddened and swollen from his pressure — looked at him with startled eyes and a wronged expression, her moist gaze accusing, “Why did you stick out your tongue?”
Though she was already a mother of a three-year-old child, she was inexperienced in such matters.
Being taken advantage of like this for the first time frightened her.
Xiao Ci, while also inexperienced, was much calmer than her.
“A kiss without tongue — then what else do you use?”
“You didn’t kiss like this before?” she asked.
“No, I didn’t understand.”
“Now do you? Who taught you?”
He lowered his eyes to hers, half-smiling, half-serious. “In what capacity are you asking me?”
She was momentarily stunned, her eyes dimming.
“I won’t ask anymore. I have no right to ask…”
Then she struggled, “Let go of me.”
Xiao Ci did not relent.
Pressing firmly on her back, he continued the previous topic, “I asked you a question just now. You haven’t answered.”
She fell silent again, nodding slightly and lowering her gaze, trying to avoid it.
The bite on his tongue still ached.
The fire she kindled on his body burned fiercely.
Xiao Ci didn’t mind changing locations for his “interrogation.”
“Do you want to answer here, or back at the inn, on the bed?”
Criminals were interrogated in prison, but interrogating one’s wife? The bed was sufficient.
She looked at him incredulously, then suddenly glanced behind him.
“Aunt, what are you doing here?”
Aside from his parents, the woman Xiao Ci respected most was his aunt — a paragon of propriety in the Capital City.
She valued ritual and decorum above all.
Hearing Zhong Li call out “Aunt,” Xiao Ci instinctively loosened his hold and turned to look back.
But the alley was empty; there was no sign of his aunt.
When he turned back, unexpectedly, a handkerchief was pressed over his nose.
He immediately held his breath and caught Zhong Li’s aggressive hand, but before he could react further, she lifted her leg and kicked him three inches below his waist…
Where had she learned this way to handle men?
He had to admit, this move was more effective than the drug she had smeared on the cloth.
Pain made him loosen his grip, and Zhong Li took the opportunity to break free and run.
Xiao Ci steadied himself against the wall, eyes fixed on her fleeing figure.
Run if you think you can get away.