A Kiss of Redemption

It was completely dark. In front of Pei's house, Jian Zhu paced back and forth anxiously.

Today, his wife said she had to go out to do something very important and asked him to keep an eye on Master. However, he didn't pay attention and Master slipped away again. He and his men searched for Master several times but couldn't find him. Thinking of what happened the last time Master ran away, he became even more anxious.

However, when it was getting dark, Lan Yue came back first. She said that the master was with the lady. She had finished what the lady asked her to do, but she couldn't find where they were, so she had to come back and wait.

Only then did Jian Zhu feel a little relieved, but he felt extremely guilty for not taking good care of the child many times, so he waited at the door, intending to apologize as soon as his wife came back.

Two figures walked out from the faint moonlight. Jian Zhu looked closely and found that it was indeed the master and his wife. He hurriedly went to greet them with a lantern in hand.

"You're finally back! I've been waiting so long. You left without even telling me. I was so worried..."

He talked a lot, but the two of them didn't respond at all. When he reached the bright light at the door of the mansion, he found that the expressions of the two of them were a little strange. What was even stranger was that their lips were inexplicably red and swollen.

Did the lord and the lady go to eat hot pot together?

Jian Zhu, holding a lantern, escorted the two to the inner courtyard. During the journey, he walked up to Cheng Yayin and whispered, "I failed to take good care of her today. Please punish me, Madam."

Cheng Yayin said in a flat tone, "Okay, I understand. We'll discuss it tomorrow."

What to discuss tomorrow?

Jian Zhu glanced at Cheng Yayin in confusion and found that she was absent-minded and obviously didn't hear what he was saying at all.

Both the master and his wife were acting strangely. When they reached the door, his wife, without turning back, said she was going to take a bath and told the master not to follow her, then locked him outside. He glanced at the master nervously and found that his expression was confused but also had a hint of... aftertaste?

This made Jian Zhu even more confused. What on earth happened tonight?

Whenever Cheng Yayin thought about what happened tonight, she wanted to bury her head in the bathtub and drown herself in the bath water.

Lan Yue and Yi Xing helped her bathe. Lan Yue scooped water onto her shoulders while reporting on Liu Chang's whereabouts. "...Later, Young Master Liu went into the restaurant with his friends. I waited outside the entire time. When he came out, he was clearly drunk and went straight back to the mansion. I waited outside for quite a while, but figuring he wouldn't come out again, I returned home."

"Miss, shall we follow you tomorrow?"

"If you're still going to follow me tomorrow, let Lanyue and I go," Yixing volunteered. "Miss, you should rest at home. You look so tired that you're almost in a trance."

Cheng Yayin just responded vaguely without making any comment.

Lan Yue looked at Cheng Yayin's absent-minded look, and thought of the state she and Pei Songsheng were in when she came back together that night. She couldn't help but ask, "Did something happen between the young lady and the master?"

It would have been fine if she hadn't asked, but once she did, she dragged Cheng Yayin back to the deserted alley. The touch of Pei Songsheng still lingered on her lips, and the more she tried to ignore it, the more vivid the feeling became, stimulating her blood to rush to her head.

She suddenly scooped up a handful of water and splashed it on her face. She pretended to be calm and said, "What could happen between him and me? Don't think too much."

She didn't look like nothing had happened, but seeing her tense face, Lan Yue and Yi Xing didn't dare to ask any more questions.

After bathing, two maids asked Cheng Yayin if she wanted some food. Cheng Yayin made the excuse that she had already eaten outside, but in fact she had no appetite at all. She just wanted to lie down on the bed, cover her head with the quilt and fall asleep quickly, hoping that she would forget what happened tonight after a good sleep.

But the more she thought about it, the harder she fell asleep. She tossed and turned in bed. As soon as she closed her eyes, she saw Pei Songsheng holding her head and kissing her.

Later, she simply gave up and thought, what's there to worry about? It's just a few pieces of flesh touching each other. Although the contact was deeper and lasted longer, she is not such a pedantic person, so why take it too seriously.

After comforting myself, another thought popped up in my mind - what if Pei Songsheng takes it seriously?

Will he feel that he is being taken advantage of?

But this time was different from last time, because he was the one who made the first move. And last time she just kissed him on the face, but this tiger boy almost made her faint.

Although there were reasons for the incident, she still had something to say about who took advantage of whom, even if Pei Songsheng came to question her after he woke up.

All the worries in her heart were soothed, and Cheng Yayin contentedly began to fall asleep. In a half-awake state, she felt the door being opened and closed.

The sound of subtle footsteps was heard in the room, and then the quilt was gently lifted. A warm embrace came from behind, emitting a pleasant scent of soapberries, which brought Cheng Yayin back to consciousness as she was about to fall asleep.

Cheng Yayin's whole body tensed up, "I want to sleep, don't bother me."

During this period, the two of them slept in the same bed every night. Although they just slept in each other's arms and did not do anything else, Cheng Yayin really did not want to face Pei Songsheng at this time, especially when she thought about him waking up and remembering this memory, which would be even more embarrassing.

Pei Songsheng held her still and said softly, "I just want to hug you."

Cheng Yayin knew how unreasonable Pei Songsheng would be when he became Lu Xingyuan, so she just let him be, closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep.

The chest of the person behind her rose and fell with her breathing, warming her back. A pair of hands were placed neatly on her lower abdomen. It was the warmth that she had become familiar with during this period of time. It made her feel very safe and sleepy quickly came.

As he was feeling dizzy, he heard Pei Songsheng sighing softly behind him, as if mumbling to himself, "Are you really my wife?"

This sentence scared Cheng Yayin away from her sleepiness. She turned around and asked, "What do you mean?"

Pei Songsheng's brows were furrowed, as if he were overwhelmed with sorrow. "When I kissed you tonight, I suddenly felt so strange. We were so close, but I felt like you were so far away from me, as if I couldn't touch you, just like now."

He tightened his arms around Cheng Yayin's waist and abdomen, "You are clearly in my arms, but I feel that you will leave at any time and have nothing to do with me from now on."

Cheng Yayin had never seen Pei Songsheng so depressed. His eyes were dark, and her heart was gripped unconsciously. She comforted him, "Why would you think that? Of course I'm your wife... Although our relationship is indeed different from others, it's still real. Don't let your imagination run wild."

"You must be too tired. Get some sleep and you'll be fine tomorrow."

Pei Songsheng said sadly, "I can't sleep. My head hurts whenever I think about this. I can only feel at ease by looking at you."

"You have a headache?" Cheng Yayin suddenly panicked. "Is it very painful? Stop thinking about it and have a good rest."

Pei Songsheng looked at her: "Are you worried about me?"

Cheng Yayin nodded with a worried look on her face. For Pei Songsheng, a headache was no small matter. He had been poisoned by the Soul-Separating Powder, and it must have been irritating him today, causing some confusion.

The worry in her eyes was so real that Pei Songsheng felt almost stung. He grabbed her arm and said in a dreamy voice, "Then please give me something more to prove to me that you really worry about me and care about me. Prove to me that you won't leave."

Cheng Yayin looked at him in surprise.

Cheng Yayin knew very well what he wanted, but he would eventually wake up. How would they face each other then?

But Pei Songsheng looked at her so devoutly and painfully, like a seriously ill person begging for a miracle cure, as if the only chance of survival depended on her thoughts.

Without her response, the light in his eyes gradually went out. Cheng Yayin clearly saw that there was a frustrated soul in his eyes, who was on the verge of collapse with all hope gone.

She is the only one who can save him.

The moment Pei Songsheng closed his eyes in despair, Cheng Yayin kissed him.

The moment their lips touched, Cheng Yayin felt Pei Songsheng freeze for a moment, his lips trembling slightly, and then he kissed her back hard, sucking her lips like a thirsty traveler drawing water.

I thought it was just a kiss, but Pei Songsheng's kiss went deeper and deeper. Cheng Yayin couldn't stand it. When she was dizzy from the kiss, he turned over and pressed her under him, hooking her tongue and rubbing it against hers.

Cheng Yayin felt as if all her breath had been snatched away. She pounded Pei Songsheng's shoulders helplessly as she was suffocating. Only then did he let go of her lips and lingered on her earlobes and neck. His hot breath hit her skin, causing a slight shudder.

Cheng Yayin wanted to hide, but he held her cheek and rubbed her ears, whispering in her ear: "A Zheng, have pity on me..."

Cheng Yayin's head, which was dizzy from suffocation, suddenly cleared up. She pushed him away and asked in disbelief, "What did you just call me?"

Pei Songsheng was pushed out of the sticky atmosphere and said hesitantly: "...A Zheng?"

"Why would you call me like that?" Cheng Yayin was incredulous. A Zheng was her nickname, and only her family members had ever called her that. She didn't know when Pei Songsheng knew it, and she had no idea why Lu Xingyuan, now the one who was her husband, would call her that name.

Pei Songsheng also looked confused: "I don't know, I just want to call you that."

If he didn't call her like that, Cheng Yayin could still comfort herself and think it was just a play. But when he called her like that, she felt that the soul of Pei Songsheng in his body was looking at her. Thinking of their intimate entanglement just now, she immediately felt too embarrassed to bear it. She pushed him away and rolled into the bed, turning her back to him and said, "It's late. I really need to go to bed. You should get some rest too."

There was no movement behind her. Cheng Yayin knew without looking that Pei Songsheng must be looking at her with an extremely lonely look. She sighed resignedly and rolled back into his arms with her eyes closed.

"Sleep peacefully, I won't leave." She patted Pei Songsheng's back and said in a soothing tone, "I'll be here when you wake up tomorrow morning. I'll always be here."

Pei Songsheng hugged her back, and they fell asleep in each other's arms.

However, if Cheng Yayin knew what she would experience in the next few days, she would definitely not be so indulgent to Pei Songsheng that night.