When His Majesty chose the three cities as Rui King’s fief, Pei Huaijin vaguely guessed the true intention behind His Majesty’s decision.
He thought that since His Majesty’s original purpose was to temper Rui King, perhaps he wouldn’t insist, like with other princes, on having Xie Heng leave his child behind in the capital as a hostage.
Unexpectedly, His Majesty played the game thoroughly and still insisted that Xie Heng leave his three-year-old son in the capital.
Fortunately, Shen Yunshu reacted quickly and sent little Xie Mingche to Pei Huaijin’s mansion, and His Majesty tacitly approved of this arrangement.
When the Rui King couple departed, little Mingche wailed loudly in Shen Youran’s arms.
The pain of separation stirred up Shen Youran’s own sorrowful memories, and she couldn’t help but shed tears along with the child.
The child cried, the adults cried, and Pei Huaijin had no choice but to divide their roles with his own daughter, taking little Mingche from Shen Youran’s arms to comfort him, while he held his wife close. “Alright, don’t cry. If you miss Yuemother, we can go back to the city to visit her now…”
Shen Youran wiped her tears and smiled: “Mother has now settled in the capital; she can be seen anytime. It’s just that I feel sorry for little Mingche. Since sister and Xie Heng have gone to their fief, no one knows when they’ll return…”
Thankfully, little Mingche was relatively easy to soothe. After Pei Huaijin calmed the eldest, the two of them, along with Yuanyuan, comforted little Mingche. On the way back to the Pei residence, they bought some snacks for the two children, and little Mingche happily followed them home.
During the day, little Mingche behaved well and didn’t cry for his parents. At night, Shen Youran only felt at ease returning to her Bedroom after the Nurse had put little Mingche to sleep—only to hear his heart-wrenching cries coming from the side room before they could fall asleep.
It was normal for a child to cry at night, and Shen Youran thought the Nurse would quickly soothe him. Yet, after fifteen minutes, little Mingche’s cries not only didn’t stop, but grew hysterical.
Shen Youran quickly threw on her clothes and stepped out the door with Pei Huaijin to check on little Mingche in the side room.
Opening the door, they saw little Mingche thrashing and crying on the bed. The Nurse was sweating profusely, unable to hold or calm him, clearly at her wit’s end.
Seeing the two enter, the Nurse looked apologetic. “My lord, madam, I really can’t manage it. Little Master has never acted like this before. I don’t know what’s wrong tonight…”
Shen Youran and Pei Huaijin stepped forward. Pei Huaijin’s strides were long and purposeful; he reached the bedside first and scooped up the writhing child.
However, little Mingche opened his eyes, glanced at him, then immediately leaned backward, refusing to be held.
Shen Youran took him gently instead, soothing softly, “Don’t cry, don’t cry, Auntie is here…”
Perhaps because of the resemblance between her and his sister, the child called her “Mom” once and gradually quieted in her arms.
“Let Mingche sleep with me tonight,” Shen Youran told the Nurse as she wrapped the child in her clothes and carried him back to her Bedroom.
The night was relatively peaceful, though the little guy didn’t sleep soundly. Originally nestled in Shen Youran’s arms, perhaps feeling warm, he started kicking off the quilt. Shen Youran covered him twice, but when she finally fell asleep deeply, Pei Huaijin took over, not knowing how many times he had to pull the quilt back over him during the night.
The next morning, little Mingche’s head rested on Shen Youran while his feet pressed against Pei Huaijin, sprawled across the middle of the bed.
Poor Shen Youran was squeezed into the far side, and Pei Huaijin lay on the edge. The two were even further apart than the first time they shared a bed.
But considering the poor little guy, Pei Huaijin didn’t say anything and let him sleep with them for three nights.
By the fourth night, Pei Huaijin persuaded Shen Youran to try sending little Mingche back to the Nurse.
However, the child cried so miserably in the middle of the night that Shen Youran quickly brought him back.
To make matters worse, their daughter, upon learning they were cuddling little Mingche to sleep at night, insisted on sleeping with them too.
Their daughter had always slept with her Nurse, but now she squeezed onto their bed as well. Shen Youran held one child in her arms; if Pei Huaijin lay down, the bed would be too cramped. Reluctantly, he had to temporarily move to sleep in the Shufang.
But this couldn’t last long. While Shen Youran slept soundly holding the two little ones, Pei Huaijin, as a normal man, found it difficult to endure nights without his beloved wife in his arms for too long.
Especially one night, when his peripheral vision caught sight of a few volumes of Spring Palace tucked in the corner of the bookshelf.
He and Shen Youran had studied the contents together.
A fire ignited within him. He tried to suppress it, but once his eyes closed, his mind was filled with the enchanting images of Shen Youran he had memorized.
The fire grew stronger. After tossing and turning for a long time, he threw off the quilt and strode out of the Shufang.
In the Bedroom, Shen Youran was asleep, but she vaguely felt her body grow lighter.
She opened her eyes to find herself already off the bed.
“Shh,” Pei Huaijin whispered, “Don’t wake them.”
Shen Youran turned her head toward the bed, seeing the children sleeping soundly and looking utterly adorable.
Pulling back her gaze, she asked,
“Where are we going?” she murmured drowsily, leaning on his shoulder.
“Tonight, sleep with me in the Shufang.”
With her eyes closed, Shen Youran smiled and teased, “Since when did you get jealous of the children?”
Pei Huaijin said nothing and carried her out of the Bedroom.
The cold night breeze brushed away some of her sleepiness. When Shen Youran was placed on the couch in the Shufang and she heard him carefully latch the door, she guessed the reason he had brought her here.
It must have been these past few days with the two little ones monopolizing her, driving him mad.
After latching the door and checking it once more to ensure no one could open it, he turned around.
There stood his still half-asleep wife, now lying on her side, resting her head on her hand, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him. Her fair, slender fingers beckoned him: “Come, attend me.”
“As you command, my lady.”
Time was pressing. They didn’t know when the two little ones might wake. Pei Huaijin wasted no time. By the time he reached the couch, most of his clothes were already off.
Removing her clothes was even easier. They hadn’t been intimate for over half a month. Like dry wood meeting fire, they ignited instantly.
Perhaps he had truly been holding back too much these past days. Tonight, he abandoned his usual gradual approach and was forceful from the start, almost overwhelming her.
Since this was the Shufang, not as private as the Bedroom, Shen Youran didn’t dare make too much noise and could only pull him down for a kiss.
This position inevitably limited Pei Huaijin’s movements. After some sticky, lingering kisses, he cupped the back of her head and pressed her face against his shoulder. “Darling, bite down, don’t let go…”
“Mm…”
But biting his shoulder wasn’t enough. Her hands, clawing deeply into his skin on his back, left red marks in long streaks.
Eventually, this wasn’t enough either. She couldn’t control her own hands, so Pei Huaijin flipped her over, holding her with one arm and covering her mouth with the other.
When the world trembled, a cry came from afar, growing louder.
“Auntie!”
“Auntie!”
Little Mingche cried and shouted, mingled with Dan Ruo coaxing them to go back.
But when the little one was upset, Dan Ruo couldn’t calm him. Before long, little Mingche had come to the Shufang door.
“Auntie!”
“Auntie, open the door, please…”
The Shufang door was pounded with loud thumps, startling Pei Huaijin so much he nearly lost his momentum. True to the nature of Xie Heng and Shen Yunshu’s child, even disturbing others’ intimacy was a family trait…