Chapter 24. His wife, who couldn't get an erection, was even more impatient than he had imagined...

"Huh?" Qingduo exclaimed in surprise, her eyes wide with shock, as if Zeng Zhengqing were on the verge of death. But the next second, she blinked her innocent eyes and asked seriously, "What does 'impotence' mean?"

"It's...it's that place, that place is soft and saggy, I can't get it up, I can't have sex with you! I can't consummate our marriage!" Zhu Niang said irritably, "It's all your father's fault! He didn't even bother to find out properly, and he rushed you off to get married! What are we going to do now! Such a beautiful girl, and her life has been ruined like this!"

Qingduo, still a little confused, said, "If you're sick, then get treatment! I'll go back and tell my husband to find a doctor right away!"

As she spoke, she got up to leave, but Zhu Niang quickly grabbed her, exclaiming, "My little darling, my dear darling! How can a young lady like you directly tell him something like this?"

"This is an utter disgrace for a man!"

Is it that serious? No wonder Qingqing kept it from her, afraid to let her know—it was his privacy! Alas, poor thing, such a noble and upright person like Qingqing has an unspeakable ailment. A scene flashed before her eyes: a full moon in the sky, Qingqing sitting alone on the wall, strong liquor going down his throat, he letting out a hoarse, desperate cry:

"You can try to cut water with a knife, but it will flow on; you can drink all the wine, but it won't even raise its head!"

"No! Lift! Your! Head!"

"Awooo—" Qingduo let out a mournful cry like a small animal in her heart. She couldn't bear to see Qingqing so heartbroken, so she quickly asked, "Aunt Zhu, is there any way to treat this?" She added at the end, "It's best to do it secretly, without letting him find out that I know about this."

Zhu Niang pondered for a long time. If it were to be said that the aphrodisiac would be the fastest to take effect, then it would be the best. But it would be impossible to do it without being noticed. Besides, it would be really inappropriate to let A Zhao give her husband the drug. After thinking for a while, she finally said, "Then we can only take it slow and recuperate."

How to take care of yourself?

"I have a prescription that is composed of Epimedium, Cistanche deserticola, Morinda officinalis, and Mantis egg case, etc. It can be used to make wine, tea, or soup. It can tonify the kidneys and boost yang. If you give it to him for a month, it may take effect."

Qingduo nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay! Write down the recipe and I'll go to the store to buy it right away!"

“I have a few more here. You can use them for the next few days, and buy the rest yourself,” Zhu Niang said, getting up to go into the kitchen to look for them.

Qingduo clenched her fists, her face resolute. She suddenly felt a heavy responsibility on her small shoulders. Yes! She must help Qingqing restore his dignity as a man and regain his virility!

Qingduo walked down the street carrying several doses of medicine. The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. It seemed like she had overlooked some important information. The answer seemed so close, yet she couldn't quite grasp it.

She tilted her head, pondering: What could it be?

*

The sound of running water came from the bathroom. Qingduo paced back and forth outside with his hands behind his back, like a father anxiously awaiting the birth of his child.

After a long while, she looked at the clay scouring pad in her hand, finally made up her mind, nodded vigorously to encourage herself, walked to the doorway, and said loudly, "Qingqing, let me scrub your back!"

Having said that, without waiting for Zeng Zhengqing's response, he pushed open the door and went inside.

The steam inside was thick and swirling, like a clingy fairy, swarming towards her face. Qingduo waved her hands haphazardly to reject their invitation. Looking closely through the mist, she saw Zeng Zhengqing leaning against the edge of the tub, turning his body and staring at her in surprise.

"I..." She managed to utter just one word. She resisted the entanglement of the white mist, but could not resist the temptation of his strong physique. In an instant, her attention was drawn to his body. His broad shoulders could not support the flowing water droplets, which followed the curve of his back all the way down. Unfortunately, the view below was blocked by the barrel wall. Qingduo unconsciously tiptoed, wanting to see what was going on.

"Madam, why did you come in?" Zeng Zhengqing asked in surprise.

"I..." Qingduo was so engrossed in the scenery that she forgot her purpose.

Zeng Zhengqing followed her gaze until she was staring straight at him. He then saw her standing on tiptoe and craning her neck, looking eager to try. Remembering the embroidered shoe he had left in the room, he immediately understood.

His wife was even more impatient than he had imagined.

Well, since she's already in the mood, he doesn't mind adding fuel to the fire. So he raised his eyebrows and said, "Does Madam wish to scrub my back?"

"Oh! Yes, yes, yes," Qingduo's memory was finally awakened. She remembered her errand and replied repeatedly, "That's right!"

Zeng Zhengqing found it amusing. He turned his back to Qingduo and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Madam."

Qingduo carefully stepped forward, placed the pottery stone on his shoulder, held it firmly with both hands, and rubbed it back and forth. Without hesitation, she lowered her gaze to search for the scenery she had missed earlier.

Huh? What's that red dot on his waist? It's bobbing up and down with the water. What's stuck to it? Qingduo couldn't help but stop what she was doing and reach her right hand into the water to pick at that tempting red dot.

The sudden touch made Zeng Zhengqing tremble. He instinctively turned around to avoid it, his mouth slightly open as he looked at Qingduo in disbelief.

You've already gotten the hang of it?

"No, no, no," Qingduo took a few steps back and hurriedly explained, "You have something red stuck to your lower back, I wanted to help you peel it off..."

"...That's a mole."

“…Oh.” The two stared at each other. Seeing Zeng Zhengqing sigh helplessly, Qingduo was worried that he would kick her out, since her job wasn’t finished yet! She quickly said, “It’s my fault, it’s my fault. I promise I won’t pick at it randomly, I’ll just rub your back properly.”

Is she that eager for her own body?

There was nothing he could do; after all, she was his wife. Zeng Zhengqing let out a laugh and said, "Please go ahead, Madam."

Qingduo stepped forward, but instead of turning around to wash his back, she placed the ceramic scrubbing stone directly on his neck and gently rubbed it.

Since their wedding night was rushed, she suspected she hadn't seen clearly, so she decided to take advantage of Zeng Zhengqing's bath time, under the pretense of scrubbing him, to observe him again. If it was the same result, she would have no choice but to drug Qingqing!

As the clay stone slid down his chest to his lower abdomen, Qingduo's head drooped lower and lower.

Zeng Zhengqing looked at Qingduo's head with amusement. Could the lady's intentions be any more obvious?

Just as her forehead was about to make intimate contact with the water, Qingduo saw its appearance clearly, and a feeling of desolation washed over her.

The fact that he is impotent is absolutely true.

"Madam, Madam?"

Qingduo's heart skipped a beat. No, she couldn't let him find out that she already knew. She raised her head and forced a smile: "Husband, I'm done washing, you can take your time." She rushed out in three steps.

Zeng Zhengqing's pupils contracted slightly, completely puzzled. She came and went in a hurry. Could this be another of the madam's "virtuous wife" tasks?

*

After Zeng Zhengqing returned to his room, he hadn't seen Qingduo. For the past few days, she had been painting at her desk. When he went to rest, he saw half an apricot tree on the Xuan paper, its fruit coated in gamboge and rouge, each one plump and round, radiating a luster. Although he didn't understand the principles of painting, he could see the transformation in her brushstrokes. The radiant vitality was about to emerge from the paper. She held it out to him.

Just like herself. Lively and vibrant, full of life and energy.

Zeng Zhengqing couldn't help but stroke the painting inch by inch. It seemed to be a mirror, through which he could see his wife's sheep-hair brush, dipped in indigo, hovering above, her eyes fixed on the tip of the brush, blurring the apricot tree branches...

"Qingqing." A soft call woke him from his reverie. He turned around and saw Qingduo standing behind him, holding a bowl, her face full of worry.

Hmm? Zeng Zhengqing was increasingly confused.

Qingduo bit her lower lip. She could hear her own heartbeat. The tonic was ready, but how could she persuade Zeng Dalang to take it? She couldn't just say, "Dalang, it's time to take your medicine," could she?

She couldn't let Zeng Zhengqing know that it was medicine!

"What is this?" Zeng Zhengqing asked, puzzled, seeing the brownish-red color in the bowl.

Qingduo blurted out in a panic, "This is to... to... to..."

Zhu Niang couldn't say the words "tonify the kidneys and boost yang"!

"To replenish the spirit?" Zeng Zhengqing asked tentatively.

Replenishing the spirit? Hmm... it can make you "swish like a dragon," so in that sense, it can also be considered "replenishing the spirit."

Qingduo nodded and said, "Yes, to replenish the spirit."

First came the back massage, then the tonic. Recalling how he had previously helped Zhengji with cooking and sewing socks, he became even more convinced that this was his wife's "virtuous wife" duties.

He smiled and said, "Does Madam think I've been working too hard lately, so she specially prepared some tonics for me?"

It turns out that I didn't need to say anything; Qingqing could convince herself.

Qingduo nodded emphatically: "That's right."

"Thank you, Madam," Zeng Zhengqing said, bowing exaggeratedly to her.

"No need, no need!" Qingduo said modestly. In her heart, she urged: Drink up, drink up, drink up!

Under Qingduo's unwavering gaze, Zeng Zhengqing drank the tonic in one gulp. As he put down the bowl, he caught a glimpse of Qingduo letting out a long sigh of relief.

What's she nervous about? Is she afraid she won't cooperate?

How could he bear to make things difficult for her? But seeing how flustered she looked just now, he couldn't resist teasing her a little more.

That mischievous smile vanished in an instant. Zeng Zhengqing was about to speak when Qingduo darted in front of him, firmly grasped his left hand with both of hers, and said solemnly, "Qingqing, I will take good care of you."

The unexpected confession sent the playful words flying. Zeng Zhengqing's heartstrings were jolted into a daze by the invisible plectrum, "thump thump," "thump," "thump thump thump," and the drumsticks went out of control, bouncing wildly on the taut drumhead. He covered his chest with his right hand, but could not stop the restlessness within him.

His dazed figure fell into Qingduo's unreserved gaze, and Zeng Zhengqing suddenly realized—who could say that no sincerity had been laid in this? She wasn't just trying to become the "virtuous wife" in everyone's mind. All these strange behaviors had only one answer—

She cares about him.

The candlelight was dim, which made her smile and laughter appear even more radiant, like the moon. It made one realize that the true moonlight was not in the sky, but in the space between her eyes and brows.

And this bright moon shines alone upon me.

Zeng Zhengqing was deeply moved. He covered Qingduo's hand and murmured, "Azhao..."

Qingduo blinked her eyes. Had Qingqing called her by her nickname? She saw a gentle smile in his eyes, and she couldn't help but laugh happily. Her clear laughter faintly drowned out his whispers.

What did he say?

Qingduo thought back carefully, and it seemed to be "together from dawn till dusk, until daybreak".

Fool! They are husband and wife, of course they will spend every day together, until the end of time.

She couldn't bear to leave him, her moneybag; no one wanted them to be husband and wife for life more than she did!

*

Zeng Zhengqing was always the first to wake up in the early morning. Not long after their marriage, Qingduo would get up with him and help him get dressed. The most recent time was when she was given painting supplies. She got up early once to pretend to be virtuous and "repay" him. The rest of the time, she was sound asleep.

After he finished dressing, he recalled her vows made by candlelight the night before, and a smile spread across his face uncontrollably. He lifted the bed curtains and looked down at his wife's sleeping face; her thick eyelashes trembled slightly, as if she were trapped in a terrifying dream.

He leaned down quietly and kissed the restless eyes.

Aa ...

Qingduo's inner roar:

He, he, he... how could he steal a kiss from me?

She closed her eyes and pinched her inner thigh hard under the blanket to keep from actually screaming.

Ever since she finished sewing her feet last time and then slept through the night, she discovered that as long as she was asleep, Zeng Zhengqing wouldn't wake her, allowing her to escape the responsibility of getting up early to serve her husband. So whenever Zeng Zhengqing woke up, even if she was awake too, she wouldn't open her eyes and would continue to pretend to be asleep.

But today! She accidentally discovered that he had stolen a kiss from her!

The Jade Emperor, the Great Compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva, and the Buddha Shakyamuni! Various deities and Buddhas flashed before her tightly closed eyelids.

Can anyone tell her whether she should continue pretending to be asleep, or pretend she knows nothing and just woke up?

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Author's note: Qingduo is trembling: To wake up or not to wake up, that is the question.

My next book, "My Eldest Brother is Actually My Loyal Servant," is coming soon! I'm adding it to my favorites~ [shy] Thanks for your support!