The soft, fragrant warmth of her body crashed into his embrace. Her voice, soaked in wine, was sweet and gentle as her arms circled his neck. Tilting her head up, she gazed at him with a foolish, besotted smile. “Pei Huai’an, I like you, Pei Huai’an, I like you even more…”
For a moment, Pei Huai’an wondered if he was too drunk, so much so that he was hallucinating.
Was the girl clinging to him, confessing her feelings so directly and passionately, really not just a figment of his imagination?
Yet the person in his arms was warm and soft, her breath, laced with the scent of wine, brushed across his neck and chin, damp and ticklish—a vivid reminder that everything before his eyes was all too real.
His Adam’s apple bobbed several times as he thought to himself, She must be drunk out of her mind to say such things. If she were sober, she’d never act like this.
He couldn’t take her words seriously.
So, forcing down the tremor in his heart, he pried her away from himself. “You’re drunk. I won’t take these words to heart.”
“Don’t be like that, everything I’m saying is true.”
She dove toward him again, but Pei Huai’an blocked her with a raised hand. “It’s getting late, I’ll take you home.”
He immediately instructed the coachman to head first to the General’s Manor.
Liang Qingluo, blocked by his arm, simply took the opportunity to grab his hand. As expected, when she held his hand, she didn’t feel the least bit uncomfortable. It was nothing like when her cousin held her hand.
She wanted to hold his hand.
She liked holding his hand.
So she pressed his hand down and once more flung herself into his arms, hugging his waist. Her cheek nuzzled against his dark blue robe, again and again…
Mm, the feeling of hugging him—she liked that too.
Her face slid slowly upward along his neck, inch by inch, brushing over his Adam’s apple, his chin, his lips…
She wanted to try kissing him too—what would that feel like?
Although she’d already kissed him once before, it had been so sudden then that she’d been startled and flustered, never truly savoring the sensation.
Pei Huai’an pressed two fingers together, stopping her lips just as she was about to kiss him.
“Liang Qingluo, I’m drunk too,” he warned her softly, “I don’t have much self-control left.”
Her delicately shaped lips were right before him, yet she couldn’t reach them. Liang Qingluo grumbled her protest. “Let me kiss you, just once.”
“Do you even know what you’re doing?”
“I do!” She hiccupped, then replied loudly, “I want to kiss you!”
“Why do you want to kiss me?”
Wine could embolden the timid, and she was never timid to begin with. Right now, not only was her courage amplified, but her strength too. She grabbed the hand blocking her lips, moved it behind his back, and with nothing left in her way—
She straddled him, glaring fiercely. “If I want to kiss you, I’ll kiss you. Why so many questions?”
Pei Huai’an didn’t stop her anymore, nor did he argue. “Liang Qingluo, I gave you a chance…”
“You talk too much…” she muttered, then finally got her wish, kissing him at last.
His lips, like the rest of him, were gentle and refined, not at all sharp or cold. They reminded her of warm jade laced with a subtle fragrance, just the right temperature, delicate to the touch, their taste and feel both exquisite.
A shallow taste wasn’t enough for her; she used more force, grinding her lips against his, prying open his teeth with her tongue, seeking a deeper flavor.
Deep within, the taste of wine was even stronger.
He too had drunk Meishou wine, the special brew from Fengle Pavilion. Anyone who dined there would have some.
This wine combined the mellow smoothness of yellow wine with the sweetness of rice wine, and mingled with the unique taste of him, it unfolded in layers on her tongue, slipping into her throat with every breath, sinking into her very bones, making her whole body tingle and shiver.
The feeling was addictive.
Their breaths mingled; the air in the carriage grew heavy and warm.
At first, Pei Huai’an’s body was tense, but then it relaxed completely. Drunkenness shattered the last restraints of his reason. Holding her slender waist, he finally responded to her.
The rich flavor of Meishou wine blended again and again in their lips and teeth. What had started as her reckless exploration turned slowly into a tangle of bodies and souls, inseparable…
Outside the carriage, the noise of the world was shut away, leaving only the steady sound of wheels rolling over the stone road. The full moon hung in the dark sky, chasing after the racing carriage all the way.
And all along that road, time was spent in the sharing of lips, tongues, and embraces.
Only when the horses’ hoofbeats slowed and the coachman’s respectful voice drifted in, “Young Master, Ninth Miss, we’ve arrived at the General’s Manor,” did they come back to themselves.
Pei Huai’an snapped awake, regaining some clarity from his daze.
How could he have forgotten—he was supposed to bring her home, safe and sound?
Looking closely at her, he saw her eyes were misty and sparkling, her breath still uneven, half her lip rouge now in his mouth and the rest smudged all over her lips, which were red, swollen, and glossy with moisture…
Anyone seeing her now would know at once.
Yet at this moment, she was so drunk she hadn’t heard the coachman at all. Pouting, she tried to kiss him again.
“Don’t, Qingluo…”
But it was already too late, for Liang Liu Lang and their cousin had just come out of the manor. Look, it was Pei family’s carriage.
They’d gone out to look for their Ninth Sister.
Today, Ninth Sister had spent the whole day out with Cousin, but by evening only Cousin had returned.
Cousin said that they’d eaten at Fengle Pavilion, and that his younger cousin had drunk quite a bit, refused to come back with him, then disappeared without a trace. He’d searched everywhere but couldn’t find her.
Their mother, worried after hearing she’d drunk so much, had sent him and Cousin back out to search.
Who would’ve thought, upon stepping outside, they’d run into Pei family’s carriage? Hearing the coachman mention “Ninth Miss,” they figured it had to be her.
Sure enough, when they asked, the coachman said, “Yes, your family’s Ninth Miss got drunk and ended up on our Seventh Young Master’s carriage.”
So she’d ended up on someone else’s carriage. No wonder Cousin couldn’t find her anywhere.
Liang Xu let out a long sigh of relief.
He trusted the character of Pei family’s Seventh Young Master—he was an upright gentleman who wouldn’t take advantage of his little sister.
He walked up to the carriage, about to thank the people inside, when he heard a faint man’s voice from within: “Don’t, Qingluo…”
What was happening?
Liang Xu immediately lifted the curtain, and his expression froze at the sight inside.
His little sister was straddling Pei family’s Seventh Young Master, pinning him against the carriage wall and chasing after his lips, “Let me kiss you just one more time…”
The carriage reeked of wine, and her voice was thick with drunkenness.
Liang Xu climbed into the carriage, reached in, and yanked his little sister out.
“Apologies, Seventh Young Master,” he said, slinging her over his shoulder and bowing through the curtain. “My mother and I will bring my sister to the Pei family to apologize in person another day.”
“Liang Gongzi, please wait,” Pei Huai’an climbed out of the carriage as well. He too was drunk, his legs weak from her kisses, nearly unable to stand. “Don’t blame Miss Liang—it’s my fault for not restraining…”
Seeing that he was also drunk, Liang Xu became even more convinced his sister had taken advantage of him. “Seventh Young Master, the Liang family will give you a proper explanation.”
Then he turned to the coachman, “It’s cold at night. Hurry, help your young master back into the carriage.”
Pei Huai’an was helped back in by the coachman. Through the window, he saw Liang Xu carrying Liang Qingluo into the General’s Manor. Their cousin even turned to glance at him before following the siblings inside.
He’d intended to explain, but on second thought, perhaps this misunderstanding wasn’t so bad. So he let the coachman flick the reins and drive away from the Liang residence.
The next morning, Lady Liang was standing by with a ruler, waiting for her youngest daughter to wake up, when the gatekeeper came with a message: the Pei family had sent a matchmaker to propose to the Ninth Miss.
Lady Liang hurriedly put down the ruler and went to the front hall to meet the guest.
After the commotion caused by the mistaken “bride hunt” at the results board, Lady Liang had thought about arranging a marriage between her daughter and the Pei family’s Seventh Young Master. Unfortunately, because her daughter was infatuated with the Pei family’s bodyguard back then, nothing came of it.
Now, after her daughter had gotten handsy with their young master on the carriage last night—her lips had stayed swollen all night, evidence of a far worse incident than last time.
Her youngest had caused such a mess, and Lady Liang was fretting over how to resolve it, but then the Pei family had actually sent a matchmaker to propose.
Since the two young people had already shared such intimacy, marriage was the only solution.
Although Lady Liang still had many concerns, she agreed to the proposal for now.
After seeing off the matchmaker, Lady Liang hurried back to her daughter’s courtyard. The girl was already awake, staring into the mirror and muttering to her maid, “Strange, why are my lips so swollen?”
And she dared to ask?
Lady Liang stormed in and grabbed her daughter by the ear. “Do you know what you did last night?”
“Ahh, it hurts, Mother, it hurts…” Liang Qingluo cried, being dragged to her feet by her ear.
“You know pain, do you?” Lady Liang let go, then flicked her daughter’s forehead. “Why don’t you ever learn your lesson? Wasn’t last time’s ‘impropriety’ enough? How could you go and do it again, on someone’s carriage?”
“Who? Who did I harass this time?” Liang Qingluo rubbed her ear, then suddenly froze, panic dawning in her eyes. “Was it Pei Seventh Young Master?”
“You—honestly, why did I have a daughter like you, here to collect my debts?” Lady Liang fumed, “This morning, the Pei family already sent someone—”
“Sent someone for what?”
“To propose.”
“Huh?”
“What do you mean ‘huh’? Your lips are so swollen. If you don’t get married, what else can you do?”
“So you agreed?”
Lady Liang glared at her. “Shouldn’t you take responsibility for what you’ve done?”
“He… I…” How did it come to marriage?
Liang Qingluo clutched her throbbing head, trying hard to recall the previous night. All she could remember was drinking with her cousin in the small pavilion, getting very drunk, and asking him to help her figure out who she liked…
Everything after that was a blur.
No, she had to find her cousin and ask—who did she name after getting drunk last night?
“You got drunk last night, and I asked you just like you said. You…” Her cousin trailed off for a long while before finally giving her the answer. “You said it was a secret. You wouldn’t tell me.”
“I didn’t tell you?”
“No.”
“I really didn’t?”
“Really, you didn’t. But…”
“But what?”
“But I think you’ve already found the answer.” Her cousin said, “Last night, I saw that you even managed to kiss Pei Seventh Young Master’s lips until they were swollen…”
Liang Qingluo: “……” Was I really that wild last night?