Before her marriage, Liang Qingluo was confined in her boudoir, embroidering her wedding dress for over three months.
It had been agreed that after the wedding, Pei Huai’an would take her out to have some fun to make up for the hard work she had put in before the wedding.
Yet, in the ten days of their marriage leave, apart from the first two nights after he received his acupuncture when he finally slept soundly, the remaining eight nights he tangled with her until late at night, so that she had to sleep until the sun was high before rising each day, leaving them with no time at all to go out and enjoy themselves.
The end of the year was approaching, and the Hanlin Academy was busy rushing to draft the New Year congratulatory documents, compile the annual records, and assist the Ministry of Rites in formulating the holiday rituals.
With so many matters at hand, Pei Huai’an would leave early and return late, sometimes even having to stay the night at the Academy.
Liang Qingluo didn’t mind occasionally spending her nights alone, but she did long to go out and have some fun. Seeing how busy he was, she knew there would be no chance to go out together before the year’s end. So, she decided to find Shen Youran and ask if she wanted to go to the hot spring villa in the outskirts.
Shen Youran immediately agreed: “I was just thinking the same! You read my mind…”
These days, not only was Pei Huai’an busy, Pei Huaijin was also swamped with work at the Privy Council, so he couldn’t go with them either.
Shen Youran left the household affairs to her second aunt for a few days, left Danruo behind to help her, and took her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter Yuanyuan with her to the hot spring villa with Liang Qingluo.
During the Great Cold, with the north wind howling, there weren’t many places to play, but the hot spring villa was the perfect destination.
Between the blue tiles and white walls, there was a warm and cozy atmosphere. Here, they ran into Madam Xiao, Xia Zhirou (Zhong Li), wife of Xiao Ci, who was holding her two-year-old son Xiao Ye by the hand, followed by several servants. They too had come to escape the cold for a few days.
Because Pei Huaijin and Xiao Ci had been friends for many years, Shen Youran was also somewhat acquainted with Madam Xiao. Since they ran into each other, they decided to get together, asked for a spacious bathing pool, and brought both children to soak.
The steamy mist rising from the pool shut out the cold outside completely. As soon as the two children undressed, they slipped into the water like two little silver fish, kicking and splashing joyfully.
With three adults watching over two children, it was more than enough. They surrounded the little ones with smiles, chatting and playing with them at the same time.
Liang Qingluo was the most enthusiastic in teasing the children.
Before she was married, she was the youngest in her family; her parents and siblings always treated her like a child. Even now, as a married woman, she still kept a bit of childishness, and could play along with the little ones.
Inevitably, the topic came up—when did she plan to have a child?
Liang Qingluo didn’t shy away and smiled, “It’ll be a while. My husband received acupuncture, so we won’t have children for the next two years.”
“That might not be certain,” said Shen Youran, as someone with experience, reminding her, “That method isn’t foolproof. My husband also had the acupuncture, said it would work for three years, but I was pregnant with Yuanyuan in less than two.”
“Really?” Liang Qingluo was surprised. “But my husband said this is the best method available right now.”
“It is the best method, but in everything there can be accidents.”
Liang Qingluo still hoped she would be lucky: “But for this kind of thing, the chance of an accident should be really low, right?”
“It’s not so low. I heard from my sister that His Highness the Imperial Grandson also received the acupuncture, but it didn’t last three years either—my sister was pregnant not long after.”
“Ah? Then what’s the point of the acupuncture?”
“It’s still better than taking herbal contraceptives. At least it’s safer for us.” Since they were all married women, talking about such private matters wasn’t embarrassing, but considering the children who could already understand, Shen Youran lowered her voice and shared her own experience, “Let me tell you, to reduce the chance of an accident, you can ask him to do this…”
After hearing her out, both Liang Qingluo and Madam Xiao couldn’t help but blush.
At that moment, none of them were watching the children, and as soon as they finished speaking, they heard little Ye burst out crying.
The three women hurried over to check on the children. The two were standing face to face in the pool. The water wasn’t deep, but for their small frames, the water came up to one’s shoulders, and the other’s armpits. Xiao Ye tilted his head back, wailing endlessly, while Yuanyuan stood in front of him, grinning broadly.
“What’s happened?” After a check, they found the problem lay with Yuanyuan.
This little girl was tugging at little Ye’s tiny thing under the water, refusing to let go.
“You child!” Shen Youran hurriedly told her to let go, “Let go, you mustn’t touch there!”
But the little girl only looked innocent and asked, “Mother, why does he have this thing? Is he sick? If I pull it off, it’ll be fine!”
How could that be allowed?
“No pulling, no pulling!” Shen Youran grabbed her little hand, trying to rescue the boy’s lifeline. “Let go, my little ancestor! If you break it, I’ll marry you off to him in the future!”
The little girl was stubborn, refusing to let go.
Shen Youran had to put on a stern face and scold her: “Pei Yuanyi! If you don’t let go, you won’t be allowed to eat any sweets again!”
Kids all loved sweets, and Yuanyuan had eaten so many that she already had a bad tooth; these days she was only allowed one or two pieces a day.
When she heard she’d be forbidden from sweets, she hurriedly let go.
Mother had called her by her full name—she knew that meant she was in real trouble. If she kept disobeying, not only would there be no sweets, there would be even worse to come.
After she let go, the three women carefully checked again.
Xiao Ye, dripping wet, was lifted high by his mother, with tears in his eyes, kicking his chubby legs in confusion as he was examined thoroughly by his two aunts and the little lady.
Fortunately, Yuanyuan wasn’t strong enough to cause any real harm. The three women distracted the children with small wooden duck toys, and soon enough both were giggling and playing together again.
The first day, after soaking in the hot spring, they planned to visit the plum garden in the villa the next day.
A few days before, there had been a heavy snow in the capital, with the snow still not melted. But here, thanks to the higher temperatures, there was little snow on the ground. The winter woods were sparse, and the branches of the plum trees only bore a few clusters of frost-kissed blooms.
After admiring the blossoms, Madam Xiao bid them farewell, taking Xiao Ye home.
Yuanyuan was reluctant to part with Xiao Ye, clinging to his little hand and crying for a while. Only when Shen Youran promised to take her to catch rabbits that afternoon did she finally let go.
There was a hunting ground behind the villa, fenced in, where pheasants, rabbits, foxes, and even a few deer were kept—harmless animals, and you could hunt as many as your skill allowed. However, you had to pay a fee per person and per time slot before entering.
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