Chapter 68 The Substitute

The woman was slender and delicate, her white undergarment clinging to her exquisite figure, outlining a slender waist. She turned her back to him, but her porcelain-white, long neck and rounded, fragrant shoulders were extremely alluring.

Zhao Zhixue stopped in his tracks, looking at his wife whom he hadn't seen in a long time in front of the bed. He swallowed hard, thinking back, it had been at least four or five months since he and his wife had shared a bed.

The last time we were to share a room, we were just about to go when the prefect's men called us away.

It's been almost a month already.

Zhao Zhixue smiled and said, "It's been more than twenty days since we parted. Have you missed me, my wife?"

Jiang Ninghui's eyelashes trembled guiltily.

When her husband asked her today, she suddenly remembered that in the more than twenty days since he left, she seemed to have never thought about it. All she thought about each day was how to improve her calligraphy, learn more characters, and how to avoid Pei Duo so that he wouldn't take advantage of her again and again.

Not daring to let her husband see the guilt in her eyes, she hurriedly turned around, quickly gathered her inner garments, picked up the coarse cotton clothes from the bed and put them on, but said against her will, "I miss you."

Seeing her like this, Zhao Zhixue assumed she was shy, so he turned around, bolted the door, and went up to hug Jiang Ninghui.

Jiang Ninghui's back stiffened, and her fingertips, which were tucked into her sleeves, clenched tightly with tension.

She could tell what her husband meant.

Absolutely not.

Putting aside her promise to Pei Duo, just considering the marks on her body, if her husband were to discover them, she would be unable to defend herself.

Zhao Zhixue picked up Jiang Ninghui and laid her on the couch. As he was about to kiss her eagerly, Jiang Ninghui quickly covered his mouth with her hand, stopping Zhao Zhixue's impatient impulse.

Zhao Zhixue was puzzled, frowned at her, and asked her with his eyes why.

Jiang Ninghui buried her face in Zhao Zhixue's arms, racking her brains to come up with a reasonable excuse: "My lord, I've started my period, and my lower abdomen is very uncomfortable."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhixue felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head, extinguishing all his impulses and desires.

He hugged the person in his arms tightly and sighed, "This menstrual blood came at the worst possible time, it's ruined things."

Jiang Ninghui did not dare to say anything more.

She had never deceived her husband or lied before, but since spending a long time with Pei Duo, she had started to lie as well.

The couple lay on the couch for a while before getting up. Zhao Zhixue noticed the finely made clothes and undergarments on the couch, picked them up to examine them, and asked Jiang Ninghui, "Wife, where did these clothes come from?"

Jiang Ninghui made up another lie: "It was...it was a gift from the prefect's wife."

Practice makes perfect, and lying is no exception.

Although Jiang Ninghui felt guilty, she was fortunate enough not to show her weakness in front of her husband and let him discover her secret.

Zhao Zhixue didn't suspect anything, but instead asked Jiang Ninghui what she had talked about with the prefect's wife, and whether she had offended her. He also inquired about the prefect's wife's appearance. Fortunately, Jiang Ninghui had seen her before and gave a brief description of the prefect's wife's appearance.

Zhao Zhixue then smiled and said, "It's a good thing that you can be on good terms with the Prefect's wife. If the Prefect's wife asks you to come to her residence again in the future, just let me know."

Jiang Ninghui nodded gently: "Okay."

Zhao Zhixue: "Has my wife not had dinner yet? Let's eat together."

Jiang Ninghui secretly breathed a sigh of relief and softly agreed.

The snow fell for three days, covering Longchang County in pristine white.

December has passed in the blink of an eye, and the imperial examinations will be held in just over two months.

Since her husband returned from the capital, Jiang Ninghui noticed that he was more diligent than before. He stayed at the academy almost every day until midnight before returning home. When he came back, he was so tired that he lay on the couch and slept until dawn. Sometimes, if he had any questions, he would go to the neighboring courtyard to ask Pei Duo for clarification.

During this time, she still went to Pei Duo's courtyard every day for three meals.

Every time, he took full advantage of her.

Fortunately, the young man left early and returned late every day, and no abnormalities were found.

This New Year, the young master does not plan to return to Xiping Village for the New Year. He said that the prefect values ​​him highly and recently went to Linzhou to find him some books and insights, asking him to read them as soon as possible so that he could return them to Linzhou.

Therefore, these days, the young master has almost always stayed at the prefectural school and rarely comes back.

Jiang Ninghui saw her husband again twenty days later.

In the early morning drizzle, Zhao Zhixue, carrying a few books and holding an oil-paper umbrella, came out of the prefectural school. The raindrops hit the umbrella, forming a beaded curtain along the edge and dripping to the ground. He passed a study and looked up to see a graceful figure in emerald green stepping into the rain and quickly disappearing into the deserted street.

That emerald green color instantly transported Zhao Zhixue back to the banquet in Kyoto.

The clothes that noble lady wore that day were similar to those.

He didn't know which minister's daughter she was; he only knew her name was Li Fu.

Li Fu —

The name is beautiful, like the moon in the sky, serene and elegant.

Since returning from Kyoto, he has studied even harder. Having witnessed true power and enjoyed the privilege of being the center of attention, he wanted to study even more diligently. He wanted to pass the provincial examination and the palace examination, and he wanted to be among the top three.

Only by making it into the top three can one stay in Kyoto and secure a decent position. Then, by relying on his connection with the Vice Minister of Rites, he can climb the ranks step by step. One day, he will reach the top, wield power, and become a leading figure in the power vortex of Kyoto.

While they may not be able to command the wind and rain, they can do whatever they want and no longer have to depend on others.

The rain grew heavier, pounding on the oil-paper umbrella with a series of ethereal sounds.

When Zhao Zhixue returned to the mansion, he heard footsteps ahead. He slightly raised the edge of his umbrella and saw his wife coming out of Pei Duo's courtyard. Pei Di was also with her. Pei Di held an oil-paper umbrella and tilted it towards Jiang Ninghui, completely covering her under the umbrella so that she was not affected by the rain. However, half of his body was already soaked by the rain.

The two of them were so close that if someone who didn't know them saw them, they might mistake them for a married couple.

Zhao Zhixue frowned, his questioning gaze falling on Jiang Ninghui.

Jiang Ninghui never expected to run into her husband, whom she hadn't seen for twenty days, so she was momentarily startled and flustered. Especially when she met her husband's questioning gaze, her scalp tightened and a fine layer of cold sweat broke out on her back.

Her throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and she couldn't open her mouth no matter what she did.

She wanted to explain.

But I don't know how to begin.

Jiang Ninghui's tense and rapid breathing could be clearly heard by Pei Duo through the rain.

The young man lowered his eyes and glanced at the terrified person beside him.

The person who scared her was just an ordinary, useless person.

If he weren't afraid of his sister-in-law hating him, he would have wanted to skin this person alive right then and there, so that he wouldn't be an eyesore in front of him and his sister-in-law.

Pei Duo called her, "Sister-in-law."

Jiang Ninghui's eyelashes trembled. Under the increasingly cold gaze of her husband, she forced herself to look up at Pei Duo, only to hear him say, "Brother Zhao has already returned—" The young man paused, noticing the pleading and pitiful weakness in the woman's almond-shaped eyes. He changed the subject and said in a low voice, "I, Pei, will not take my sister-in-law to the academy to find your husband. I will return first."

Jiang Ninghui noticed the look of self-satisfaction that Pei Duo was trying to gain credit from.

It's as if it's saying—I helped my sister-in-law, how should she repay me?

Jiang Ninghui quickly lowered her head.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhixue was taken aback: "Brother Pei and my wife came out together, are you planning to come to the prefectural school to find me?"

Pei Duo raised his eyes, his handsome features cold and indifferent: "What does Brother Zhao think?"

The young man's rhetorical question made Zhao Zhixue somewhat embarrassed.

He glanced at Jiang Ninghui, dressed in coarse cotton clothes, her head bowed, looking dull and uninteresting. Although she was pretty, she lacked elegance and would be nothing more than an ordinary woman who would attract a few glances in a crowd. Besides, Pei Duo already had someone he liked; why would he be interested in a married woman older than him? He must have been foolish from reading too much.

Realizing he had misunderstood his wife, Zhao Zhixue felt guilty and spoke more gently: "Wife, it was my fault. I was so focused on studying at the academy that I forgot about you. I will apologize to you when we get back to the room."

Zhao Zhixue's last words made Jiang Ninghui's fragile shoulders and neck suddenly tense up.

She even felt a deep, unfathomable gaze descending upon her from above.

That gaze felt almost tangible as it brushed across her hair, the tips of her ears, and slipped inside her clothes, allowing him to see every part of her body, just as he had seen her in the room earlier…

He used the brush she had given him to paint on her back, using paint that couldn't be washed off with water within three days.

She resisted and refused, but Pei Duo used her previous promise to force her to comply.

—My sister-in-law promised me that she would never refuse anything I asked. Does she intend to break her promise? If she does, then I, Pei, will also break my promise and have a real 'marital affair' with her.

Jiang Ninghui lay on the couch that belonged exclusively to Pei Duo, letting him paint on her bare back.

Originally, it was just a painting, but somehow he took advantage of it all.

Her face sank into the soft quilt, her slender back stretched into a straight line.

Her hands gripped the quilt tightly, both helpless and nervous.

The quilt was crumpled in her hands.

The woman's slender, delicate legs rested limply on the quilt, her calves straight and her toes curled up.

Outside, the rain was like a curtain.

The house was flooded with rainwater.

Jiang Ninghui was in a daze, her lips slightly parted as she breathed heavily.

The young man lifted her face by pinching her chin, revealing his strong, slender hand and a calligraphy brush spread out in front of her.

"Look, sister-in-law—"

"This dew is heavier than the rain outside."

Pei Duo innocently lifted his sleeves, saying, "You've soaked my sleeves."

Jiang Ninghui felt extremely ashamed by what he said, as if her body was covered with a layer of bright red rouge.

She kept her lips tightly closed, remaining silent and ignoring him.

The scenes from just now flashed through her mind, and coupled with the extremely aggressive gaze above her head, Jiang Ninghui felt even more ashamed to face her husband. She really couldn't stand Pei Duo's gaze, so she quickly moved away from him and hid under his umbrella. Her soft voice was largely drowned out by the sound of rain: "My lord, let's go back inside."

Zhao Zhixue: "Okay."

The couple turned around and stepped into the courtyard across the street.

Pei Duo held up an umbrella, his dark eyes fixed on the slender figure in the rain.

Rain fell like a curtain, gathering from the eaves like strings of beads and pattering onto the bluestone bricks. A lot of rainwater also accumulated in the courtyard.

The early spring rain carried a biting chill. As soon as Zhao Zhixue entered the house, he bolted the door and warmed himself by the charcoal brazier. He looked up at Jiang Ninghui, who was gently patting the dampness off her body by the window. Because she was wearing coarse cotton clothes, the woman did not appear as thin and slender as she would be in spring and summer.

He then thought of the noble lady he had seen at the banquet.

As soon as she entered, she was wearing a white brocade cloak. The front hall was warm from the underfloor heating. As soon as she entered the room, she took off the cloak and handed it to the maid beside her. Without the cloak to cover her, the woman's emerald green dress outlined her graceful figure. Emerald green earrings hung on her fair and slender neck, swaying slightly as she walked.

Jiang Ninghui looked up and saw that although her husband was looking at her, his gaze was wandering, as if he was lost in thought.

She tiptoed forward and gently patted the dampness off her husband's body.

Zhao Zhixue snapped out of his daze and looked down to see Jiang Ninghui squatting at his feet, gently warming his clothes by the fire to remove the dampness.

The woman lowered her head, revealing a slender white neck and ears that had never worn earrings.

Her ears were small and white, with fine downy hair that was illuminated by the orange flames.

Zhao Zhixue's eyes burned with desire.

He said, "Wife, please lift your head first."

Jiang Ninghui looked up, puzzled.

Zhao Zhixue reached out and covered most of Jiang Ninghui's face, revealing only the woman's porcelain-white chin and a section of her slender, snow-white neck. Instantly, his chest trembled violently, as if an extremely strong impulse was about to explode from his abdomen.

He suddenly bent down, picked up Jiang Ninghui, and carried her to the bed. He covered her eyes and brows with one hand and kissed her lips frantically.

Jiang Ninghui's vision suddenly went dark, and then a sharp pain shot through her lips.

Her lips had just been kissed by Pei Duo, and now they were being touched by her lover again!

When her husband tried to pry open her teeth, Jiang Ninghui felt an inexplicable resistance.

She didn't think too much about it, assuming that she was afraid her husband would discover the tattoo Pei Duo had left on her back, which was why she resisted his touch. Jiang Ninghui gritted her teeth, refusing to let her husband succeed. She pushed him away with both hands, thinking that her husband would ask her why she was unwilling and why she was pushing him away.

But to everyone's surprise, her lover did not.

The more she pushed him, the more excited he became.

Unable to resist Jiang Ninghui's push, Zhao Zhixue grabbed her shoulders, turned her around so her back was to him, and pulled her clothes down, revealing a large expanse of porcelain-white shoulders and neck. He couldn't wait to kiss her.

"My lord—"

don't want!

Jiang Ninghui's hands were twisted behind her back and pressed down, making it impossible for her to move.

She was both shocked and frightened; her heart was practically in her throat!

We can't let the young man continue, or he'll definitely discover the painting on her back.

But her resistance only fueled Zhao Zhixue's increasingly violent excitement.

"My wife, my wife..."

Zhao Zhixue kept muttering to himself.

He restrained Jiang Ninghui, preventing her from moving.

He loosened the thin belt around her waist and pulled off her coarse linen garment and inner robe together—

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Author's Note: There's a red envelope in this chapter! Update will be before 6 PM tomorrow! [Sprinkling flowers]