Chapter 14: First Intimacy "When used on men, it can be...

Lin Meizhu was unbuttoning her belt when she heard this. The jade pendant on her earlobe shone like a broken star. She pressed her fingertips against the button several times but couldn't find it. She stammered, "No, no need. I can do it myself."

The sound of clogs treading water grew clearer, and she felt how close he was. The steam from the shower and the scent of spikenard enveloped her like a net, and she even caught a faint whiff of hibiscus.

She had nowhere to go, so she could only turn her face away. A few strands of black hair, wet with sweat, fell on her white neck, making the red behind her ear look three times brighter.

With a "click", his bony palm accurately touched the button, and his fingertips lightly slid across the edge of her soft sleeve, "Here."

The red chalcedony button fell to the ground in panic.

Lin Meizhu was about to raise her eyes but quickly lowered them, her face flushed so red it looked like blood was dripping out. She subconsciously covered her restless breasts and shrank forward, her body almost pressed against the window. "Okay, okay, I understand."

Shen Changfeng had initially felt a surge of affection at her shyness, but when he saw her instinctively pull away, he felt an inexplicable irritation. He loved flirtation without being vulgar. He always had women throwing themselves at him, and today's proactive flirting was an exception. But this woman, on the other hand, was she being shy, or was she playing it safe? Her gesture was too artificial, no different from that of a vulgar woman.

Shen Changfeng sneered inwardly, his intimacy thoughts vanished like the wind, and he quickly backed away.

The oppressive feeling behind her suddenly weakened. Lin Meizhu raised her head slightly and saw Shen Changfeng had already opened the bamboo curtain and left. Her heart suddenly relaxed. Although she was inexperienced, she could still sense the hidden emotions.

She put a wet towel on her face, trying to cool herself down, but it was like a drop in the bucket, and her heart beat even more wildly.

She scrubbed slowly until the water on her back was dried by the wind. Just as she was about to put on her clothes, she suddenly felt a familiar dull pain in her lower abdomen.

Lin Meizhu had a bad feeling and reached out to touch it, confirming her suspicions. She paused for a moment, unsure whether she felt more regret or relief.

In the two years since coming to Beijing, Aunt Chen asked Lin Meiju to go on a diet, and due to lack of sleep, her menstruation has always been irregular. The back pain she experiences during those few days each month is considered mild, and in severe cases, she even breaks out in cold sweats from the pain.

She felt uncomfortable at the beginning, and she was afraid she would feel bad for the next few days.

Lin Meiju sighed. She should not have drunk that iced pear soup.

When he came out of the clean room, Shen Changfeng was flipping through books in front of the antique shelf.

Lin Meizhu took the scissors and trimmed the candle wick for him so that he could see more clearly. She heard him ask behind her, "You know quite a bit, did you go to a private school?"

Lin Meizhu glanced at the books that filled the bookcase, then quickly turned away and shook her head, saying, "I only know a few words and can't write well."

She lied.

Although she had never been to school, Chu Qi taught her how to write, stroke by stroke. Not only did she know how to write, but she also wrote very well. She didn't want him to know about Chu Qi's existence. Even though she knew there was no private relationship between her and Chu Qi, she didn't want him to misunderstand.

She felt that the less connected she was to the past, the closer she could be to his life.

She was surprised that she could lie so calmly and treat the person who had been so kind to her as a stranger. A secret feeling of unease and shame grew quietly, and the candlelight made her face very hot.

Shen Changfeng didn't know what he saw, and chuckled, "So you like picture albums, it's easier to understand."

Lin Meiju frowned slightly and put down the scissors.

He placed the book in his hand on the low table, picked up another one and continued flipping through it, saying, "I didn't expect you to have such a wide range of interests. Do you like exciting and novel things?"

Lin Meizhu looked up at his half-smile, and instinctively felt something was amiss. She glanced at the album in his hand, only catching a glimpse of a few men and women. She thought it must be some kind of storybook. Could it be that the storybook was so unconventional that it had upset him?

She pondered how to respond and approached him, "If the prince doesn't like it..."

Shen Changfeng interrupted her, "No, I like it very much. Read it to me."

For some reason, the feeling of anxiety in her heart became more and more intense. When the cold fingertips touched the album in his hand, Lin Meiju's mind went blank for a moment. She raised her head abruptly. The man in front of her was looking down at her with raised eyebrows, and there was a solemnity on his face that she had never seen before. The dancing candlelight made half of his face blend into the dark night, and his jawline looked even sharper.

She held the picture album in her hand, knelt straight down, and said with a pale face: "I have never read these books! If I knew about these books... I would never bring them into the palace..." She said it with some difficulty, and those erotic pictures of men and women having sex were wrinkled by her, but she still felt it was not enough. She wished she could burn all these pornographic books with fire.

Shen Changfeng sat down on the couch, a leisurely smile still on his face, and uttered a word: "Read!"

The cold and lonely tone made Lin Meizhu feel cold in her heart. She felt her eyes swell and ache, and tried her best to make her voice sound normal, "Sir, I really don't know. These books were just purchased, and many of them are still unopened..."

Shen Changfeng slapped the low table away, and the books were thrown all over Lin Meizhu. From above, his voice, trembling with suppressed anger, could be heard, "I told you to read!"

Shen Changfeng hated it most when someone pretended to obey him but actually disobeyed him, even though he had already warned her. Yet she had openly brought these dirty tricks to him. He could not help but feel furious when he thought that her usual smiles, kindness, and gentleness towards him were just tests with a purpose.

Who does she think she is?! How dare she play tricks on herself like this?

Lin Meizhu's throat felt choked, as if she had lost the ability to speak. She numbly picked up the nearest book, her fingers frozen as if they were frozen. It took several shivers to finally turn a page.

"The man holds the woman's lower lip, and the woman holds the man's upper lip. They suck each other for a while, absorbing the saliva, or slowly biting their tongues, or lightly licking their lips..."1

Shen Changfeng closed his eyes and raised his face slightly, "Louder."

"...watering the sacred fields above and the deep valleys below, making them fight back and forth, advancing and retreating, grinding and grinding, the woman must seek death, life, sex, and life..."1

By the end of the reading, Lin Meizhu's voice was dry and hoarse, and she could feel the rust in her throat. Her vision was blurry from time to time, and the handwriting on the book was a mess with tears. She read intermittently, but she had no intention of stopping. She no longer defended herself, because she knew it was futile.

Prejudice was like a mountain standing between her and him, which she could never climb over and was powerless to shake.

Yugong still has descendants for generations, but she is alone, not to mention that he will not wait for her behind the mountain.

In his eyes, she was of humble origin, so she would behave despicably and her love should also be inferior.

All her explanations will be seen as empty rhetoric, and all her attempts to prove her innocence will be seen as an attempt to cover up the truth and shirk responsibility.

Besides, how could she explain herself? Thinking back to the day when Aunt Chen left a private message for Nanny Sun, even if Lin Meizhu was slow-witted, she should have figured it out. These books were given to her, and indeed, they were meant to win his favor.

It was a coincidence that she was too busy to look through the books carefully, leading Madam Sun to believe she had acquiesced to this arrangement. It was also a coincidence that Qing'er was illiterate and failed to remind her. It was even more coincidental that Shen Changfeng suddenly visited Hibiscus Garden and casually flipped through the books.

Who could she blame? Aunt Chen? Aunt Sun? Or Qing'er?

The biggest sinner was herself, and she blamed herself for liking him.

Asking for trouble.

After tonight, everyone in the palace will know that she uses her beauty to please the master. She is the prince's consort and the main wife, but she is involved in brothel activities.

No, not only the palace, everyone will know that Lin Meizhu is vulgar to the core. People in the world love to explore the strange things and never ask the reasons.

Lin Meizhu tried to hold back her tears. She had lost the freedom to laugh, but at least she still had the right to cry. However, her lips trembled uncontrollably, and the tears flowed uncontrollably.

Shen Changfeng kicked the enamel pill bottle on the ground, "What is this?"

Lin Meizhu read out the few small words on the pill bottle, as if muttering: "Jade Skin Fragrance Pills."

"What's it for?"

"I don't know."

Shen Changfeng snorted coldly, leaned over and clicked on one of the fire avoidance pictures, "What is this?"

Lin Meizhu's eyes slowly turned to where he pointed, and she whispered, "Flip Butterfly."

Shen Changfeng: "It looks familiar. Have you seen it before?"

Lin Meizhu smiled weakly: "I have seen it."

I have indeed seen it.

In the past, life was difficult, and in order to practice calligraphy, Chu Qi and her often went to the cold book stalls to pick up old papers. When she was on a medical visit, some kind people were willing to give them old books. After receiving these books, Chu Qi would often read them first and then select some for Lin Meizhu.

One time when Lin Meiju was returning home from the market, she accidentally mentioned that there was a vendor in the market who boasted that he could accurately tell the weight just by picking up something with his hands. The man saw that she was skeptical and tried hard to persuade her to try it, but she was afraid of delaying her return journey, so she smiled and declined.

Chuqi's face turned terribly dark after hearing this, and he never screened books again after that.

Later, she found several pornographic pictures in an old book. Although she didn't understand what they were, her intuition told her that these were not what she should see, so she hurriedly covered her face with her palms to cover the blushing and heart-pounding pictures.

Chuqi came over, sat down cross-legged in front of her, and tried to take her hand, saying in a relaxed tone, "Anything good?"

Lin Meiju shook her head desperately, refusing to let go.

Chu Qi laughed, "Bad stuff? That's even more important to look at."

Lin Meizhu covered his eyes and said, "You'll get stye if you see this!"

Chu Qi sighed softly, and gradually stopped smiling. His light brown eyes were full of seriousness. "But I want you to know."

These things should have been taught to her by her family, but her mother was absent at the time and her grandfather was not good at speaking, so he took over the burden.

"I want you to know what these things mean. I want you to know that if someone does something like this to you and you don't want it and you're not happy about it, you can push him away."

Lin Meiju saw him so serious for the first time and let go of his hand.

He said: "This is a kiss... This is a caress... This is sex and lewdness... After a man and a woman have sex and lewdness, the woman may become pregnant..."

"This is the Golden Cicada Cloth. It is used on men during intercourse to prevent pregnancy."

Lin Meizhu asked: "How do I use it?"

Chuqi choked, her earlobes stained a light pink: "I don't know either."

The two of them studied the blurry picture for a long time, and in the end, their eyes were evasive when they looked at each other.

Lin Meiju didn't expect that the second time she saw this picture, the scene would be like this.

Shen Changfeng looked at his wife, his gaze burning her jade-like chest. He slowly sat up straight and said in a hoarse voice, "Come here."

Lin Meizhu knelt for a long time. When she stood up, she had to support herself with her hands. Her legs were shaking. "I have my period. I am afraid I can't serve you, my lord."

Shen Changfeng pulled hard, and Lin Meizhu fell down on his big moon legs.

"You've read so many books, don't you know there's another way?"

A dense and stabbing pain rose from her shoulders. Lin Meiju clenched her fists and gritted her teeth to prevent herself from groaning in pain.

Her hands were handcuffed behind her back, and tearing pain spread throughout her body, especially in her heart and wrists.

She stared at the cold clock, feeling as if she had become a part of it, her arm moving mechanically and sluggishly like a pendulum. In a trance, she recalled the last question she had asked Chuqi that day.

"If someone does something like this to me, and I don't want it and I'm not happy about it, but I can't push him away, what should I do?"

Chuqi was silent for a long, long time, so long that she thought she had touched upon the sad things that happened before he was adopted, and she didn't dare to ask any further questions.

What did you say at the end of the seventh day?

He looked at her, and through her, he seemed to be looking at the thousands of women struggling in the sea of ​​fire. He spoke with compassion: "Then try to make yourself less uncomfortable."

Then try to make yourself feel less uncomfortable.

When she felt another wave of pain coming towards her heart, Lin Meizhu whispered, "Prince, please let me come."