Chapter 28: If we can’t sleep together anymore, we’ll have to consummate the marriage…
In the study, the Boshan incense burner on the table emitted fragrant clouds, and in the thin wisps of smoke, Shen Yunshu revealed to Pei Huaijin the secret hidden in her heart.
She married into the Lu family with her mother when she was ten years old. She heard that her stepfather had liked her mother when he was young, and this time he rekindled their relationship and loved her very much. Because of his love for her, her stepfather also took extra care of her as his stepdaughter.
They had originally gotten along peacefully, and she got along fairly well with her stepfather's children. Lu Yi was two years older than her. Although he had a bad temper, he spent most of his time studying in the academy and seldom came back on weekdays. Shen Yunshu did not have much contact with him.
Until one day, she took her maid to visit a theater and accidentally ran into him, who was supposed to be studying at the academy, but was actually drinking and watching a play in the theater with a group of bandits...
He threatened her not to tell his stepfather. Shen Yunshu had always been a little afraid of him, so she had to agree.
But after a few days, his stepfather somehow found out that he had skipped school, caught him from outside, and beat him half to death in the ancestral hall. After that, he suddenly became cruel to her.
On the surface, he no longer offended his elders or caused trouble. He devoted himself to studying and worked hard. Within three years, he passed the county exam and later passed the examination to become a scholar as he wished. He grew from a rebellious boy into a humble and polite talent.
Everyone thought that he had reformed, but only Shen Yunshu knew that he was still the same bad boy at heart.
He firmly believed that she was the one who told the secret to their father, and he bullied her secretly.
Naturally, she wasn't one to be bullied, and most of the time she could fight back. But after she reached marriage, he started to "bully" her in a different way. He claimed to like her, flirted with her regardless of her wishes, and pretended to be harmonious with her in front of the elders, but secretly he was destroying her marriage...
She was helpless and lived in fear for more than a year. She was too embarrassed to ask her elders for help, so she had to flee.
After Shen Yunshu finished telling him about the past, she talked about what happened in the backyard of the Lu Mansion today.
"After I left my mother's courtyard, he had a maid trick me into the guest room. I sensed something was wrong, knocked him down with a vase, and fled. But I don't know why Youran and Qilang went there. When I went back from the front yard to find them, they were locked in the guest room. However, they were both still conscious and injured at the time, so they hadn't done anything indecent..."
She took a deep breath and continued, "Lu Yi is a paranoid and dark person. I even suspect that he was responsible for the wedding robbery. Today, he caused trouble again and almost harmed Youran and Qilang. Although I didn't want this to happen, it was all caused by me. I am willing to accept the punishment..."
Pei Huaijin supported his forehead and listened to her words quietly.
Although it was not her fault that she was harassed by her stepbrother, people were generally harsh on women. If this kind of incestuous thing were to be spread, it would cause even greater damage to a woman's reputation, so there was no need for her to lie about it.
In order to protect her sister, she would rather expose her own scars, just as Shen Youran would not hesitate to throw dirty water on herself in order to protect her.
It's a deep sisterly love.
"No wonder after the marriage, you would rather marry my seventh brother than go back..." He had never understood why she could go back to her parents' home with a clear conscience and wait for remarriage, but she chose to marry someone who was not a good match for her. It turned out that this was the real reason.
"You hid from the Lu family to the Shen family, and then you stayed in the Pei family despite the grievances. Are you going to hide from him like this forever?"
"I used to think that as long as I got married, he would give up his evil thoughts. Now it seems that I was too naive." Although his tone was helpless, his eyes were clear and his eyebrows were clear, revealing an indomitable tenacity. "Lu Yi had intended to marry You Ran in order to satisfy his own dirty thoughts. He did it openly, and there are witnesses. Big brother, why don't you report this to the government office and ask them to investigate Lu Yi? If they can find out that he colluded with bandits to cause chaos in the capital, they can expel him from the capital and exile him to another place on the charge of 'collaborating with bandits'..."
Pei Huaijin was surprised that a woman confined to the backyard knew the law.
But what surprised him even more was that Lu Yi had actually had feelings for Shen Youran and had even openly proposed to her. No wonder...
No wonder on the night of the exchange marriage, when he tested whether she had ever had affairs with other men, she couldn't hide her guilty expression at all, which led him to misunderstand her.
It's really a big blame.
Pei Huaijin temporarily suppressed his guilt towards her and continued to talk to Shen Yunshu, "I will ask Xiao Ci from the Dali Temple to help investigate the matter of the bride kidnapping. The truth should be revealed soon."
"Thank you, big brother."
"I will keep your stepbrother's harassment of you a secret..."
"Thank you, brother."
"No need to thank me, I have something else I want to entrust to you..."
"Brother, please speak."
"Seventh brother has been idle for years. Now that he's married, it's time for him to focus on his studies. Third uncle and I have already discussed this. We've asked him to stay home and study hard, cultivating his character. Although we've hired a tutor, you'll still need to supervise him. After a year, we'll either have him enrolled at Yingtianfu Academy or take the Imperial College entrance exam..."
This was a good thing, but Shen Yunshu was embarrassed for a moment.
On the day of the exchange of brides, she made three rules with Pei Huaian: not to interfere in his life, nor to urge him to make progress. It was because of this that he agreed to be a fake husband and wife with her.
If she agrees to Pei Huaijin now, then Pei Huaian... will he be unwilling to continue playing the role of fake husband and wife with her?
However, Pei Huaijin had just promised to ask the people from the Dali Temple to help thoroughly investigate the bride kidnapping incident. If Lu Yi could be arrested quickly, she might as well agree to Pei Huaijin first. As for Pei Huaian, she would find a way to coax him. After Lu Yi was expelled from the capital, she could regain her freedom and leave the Pei Mansion.
But within a few breaths, her brows relaxed and she meekly agreed to the matter: "Yes, big brother, I will urge Qilang to study hard in the future..."
Pei Huaijin watched her eyes move around, and he didn't know what she was thinking during that brief moment of silence.
He had no intention of exploring her thoughts. Seeing that she agreed, he did not stay with her any longer: "It's still early. I'm going to the Dali Temple. You can do whatever you want."
As she pleased, she could walk around the yard as she pleased, including visiting her sister's dormitory, the silly girl who locked herself up to copy "The Admonitions for Women".
*
When Shen Yunshu entered, Shen Youran had just asked Danruo to bring pen and ink, preparing to copy "Female Commandments". When she heard the sound of the door opening and closing, she thought it was Pei Huaijin coming in.
Just as she was concentrating on making a sincere effort to repent, the wolf hair brush in her hand was suddenly taken away, and her sister's face pretending to be angry appeared in front of her.
"Why do you take all the blame on yourself? Are you stupid..."
Shen Youran had just heard Dan Ruo say that her sister was here, and she guessed that Pei Huaijin asked her sister to come over to ask questions.
"Sister, you..." She was choked for a moment, not knowing where to start.
"My eldest brother and I have already explained everything clearly. You and Pei Huaian are not at fault for what happened today."
"Does he believe what you say?"
“You should believe it.”
"So how did you explain it to him?"
"Tell me the truth," Shen Yunshu forced out a fake smile. "The medicine in the incense was put in by Lu Yi, but why are you and Pei Huaian together? Why did you two go to the guest room together?"
"I... I saw you go there, sister. I wanted to go find you directly, but I ran into Pei Huaian who was drunk and lost. He said he wanted to take you back to the front yard, so I took him to the guest room to look for you..."
"So that's how it is." It was such a simple reason, completely different from what she and Pei Huaijin had thought, that they had found a place to meet secretly. "Then you must have guessed it, Lu Yi drugged me... to harm me."
Shen Youran only dared to speculate secretly in her heart, still holding on to hope, thinking that maybe she was overthinking it, but she didn't expect her sister to admit it directly.
"Is Lu Yi really, really so despicable?"
Shen Yunshu nodded: "When he asked to marry you, it was to force me to break off the engagement with the Pei family. I didn't want to do that, so I designed a plan to send him to prison. Unfortunately, he was only imprisoned for half a month. If he had been imprisoned longer, perhaps the chaos of kidnapping the bride would not have happened..."
Shen Youran covered her mouth in astonishment: I didn’t expect that Lu Yi’s imprisonment was actually the work of my sister.
In the life that she thought was peaceful, there was such a dangerous whirlpool. If her sister had not secretly blocked it for her, she would have been dragged down by the whirlpool.
"I thought he was a good person before, but I didn't expect him to be such a hypocritical hypocrite." Shen Youran cursed for a few words, then thought, "You won't tell Pei Huaijin about these things, right?"
Shen Yunshu tapped her forehead, doting but helpless: "If I don't tell him the truth, do you really have to take the blame? Besides, today's incident is not a trivial matter. If I hadn't arrived in time, if something really happened between you and Pei Huaian, the Pei family would definitely insist on investigating. By then, I'm afraid my secret will be lost..."
"Sister," Shen Youran pulled her hand, feeling distressed, "Why didn't you tell me earlier? If I had known that he bullied you like this, I would have found a way to beat him up..."
"Once you get involved with someone like him, you can't get rid of him. I don't want you to have anything to do with him anymore..."
Meanwhile, Pei Huaijin went to the Dali Temple to meet up with his former classmate and friend, Xiao Ci. Asking for favors naturally requires a meal, so after Xiao Ci finished his shift, he called a few friends over and had a meal at Fengle Tower. They drank quite a bit during the meal, though he wasn't drunk. But after three rounds of drinking in one day, his body was exhausted.
When he returned to Yunzhiyuan, he saw that the lights in the bedroom were dim. He thought she had gone to bed and only left a small lamp for him.
Smelling the strong smell of alcohol on his body, Pei Huaijin washed up and chose to go to the study to sleep.
The next day his vacation ended and he had to go to the Privy Council to observe government affairs, so he got up early, washed up, had breakfast and left.
As he was a newcomer to the Privy Council and had just gotten married, his colleagues in the Council took him to a nearby restaurant for a meal after work to show their concern.
So he stayed in the study again that night.
Having not stepped into the bedroom for two consecutive nights, Shen Youran inevitably thought that he was angry.
But didn’t my sister explain everything clearly to him?
Why does he treat her so coldly?
However, without him sleeping next to her pillow these two nights, Shen Youran slept particularly soundly.
If he wants to be angry, then let him be angry for a longer time. She is happy to sleep alone.
So on the third night, she asked Danruo to stuff his quilt and pillow into the cabinet. The huge rosewood bed only had her pillow and quilt, which was very spacious.
She took out a storybook, lay on the pillow, crossed her legs and began to read leisurely.
As her face flushed red from watching, she didn't notice the door being pushed open. When the person walked to the bed, she followed the green robe and looked up...
She was startled and hurriedly hid the notebook under her pillow while sitting up: "Why, why did you come here tonight?"
Her loose black hair spread from her shoulders to her chest. She was kneeling on the bed in a white nightgown, her face flushed and her long eyelashes trembling.
"Didn't you say earlier that your eyesight wasn't good and you couldn't read at night?" Pei Huaijin leaned over and pulled out the notebook she had just been reading from under her pillow. He flipped through a few pages and then placed it on the table beside her. His eyes swept over the bed, which was extra spacious tonight. "Where's my pillow?"
"I thought you wouldn't come to sleep tonight, so I asked Danruo to put it away." Shen Youran saw that his face was calm, neither happy nor angry, and asked cautiously, "Are you not angry anymore?"
"What are you angry about?"
"It's about me and Pei Huaian."
"Your sister has already explained it to me. Fortunately, nothing serious has happened. You should be more cautious with your seventh brother in the future and never be alone with him..."
His tone sounded very calm, and it seemed that he was no longer angry. Doesn't that mean I will sleep with him again in the future?
Shen Youran secretly felt regretful for a moment, then got off the bed and took two steps forward on one foot.
Pei Huaijin supported her and asked her, "What are you doing?"
"I'll ask Danruo to come in and make the bed for you..."
"No need," Pei Huaijin pushed her down on the bed and said, "I can do it myself."
He never liked to ask others to do things he could do himself, so Shen Youran didn't insist and climbed back into bed. He pulled the pillow and quilt that he had placed in the middle to the inside, leaving half of the space for him.
Pei Huaijin turned around to change his clothes. After washing up, he came back and took a pillow from the cabinet and walked over.
Shen Youran thought he was going to go back and get the quilt, but she never expected that after he placed the pillow next to hers, he took off his shoes and came up, raising his hand to pull her quilt.
Shen Youran hurriedly grabbed the edge of the quilt: "Why are you pulling my quilt?"
He said calmly, "One quilt is enough for two people. There's no need to add another one to take up space."
"But didn't everyone cover one before?"
Shen Youran held on to the quilt tightly, but she couldn't resist his strength and was still pulled halfway away by him.
The quilt rose and fell, and the man's body came over.
"We are husband and wife. If we keep sleeping in separate beds, when will we be able to consummate our marriage?"
Shen Youran was so frightened that she jumped up and said, "Are you going to consummate your marriage tonight?"
"Not tonight," Pei Huaijin lay down in an upright position and looked at her sideways, "I'll give you more time, but you also have to adapt to the identity of my wife as soon as possible."
Just not tonight.
Compared to consummating the marriage, sharing a blanket seems less difficult to accept.
Shen Youran carefully crawled back under the quilt, grasping the corner of the quilt and barely covering himself, but there was some distance between him and the quilt, so the middle of the quilt was empty and the cold air invaded.
"Aren't you cold?" Pei Huaijin said slowly.
Shen Youran said stubbornly: "It's not cold."
"what ever."
Pei Huaijin was not that afraid of the cold. In addition, he had just entered the Privy Council these two days and had to learn a lot of things, which consumed a lot of his energy during the day. Even though he was not feeling very comfortable now, he soon felt sleepy.
On the contrary, those who say they are not cold are tossing and turning in bed, sighing and changing positions under the quilt, making the already thin heat in the quilt even less.
Every time Pei Huaijin was about to fall asleep, he would be awakened by the noise made by the other person. After a few times, no matter how good-tempered he was, he lost his patience. He closed his eyes, grabbed the person, and pressed him into his arms, trapping him like he was in a carriage: "Be quiet, I have to get up early to go on duty tomorrow..."
The person in his arms tried to struggle to escape, so he turned over and pinned the person down completely.
She finally stopped moving.
Pei Huaijin fell asleep contentedly.
But Shen Youran suffered a lot. She lay in his arms, staring with eyes wide open, and didn't fall asleep until midnight.
*
The next morning, the east was already bright, and the dew-covered branches and leaves swayed slightly in the late autumn breeze.
Shen Yunshu took off the hat on her cloak and stood outside Chunxuan Hall, ready to pay her respects to the old lady.
Pei Huaian's biological mother died early, and she had no mother-in-law, so she didn't need to visit her every morning and evening. However, Mrs. Pei was still alive and treated her very kindly, so Shen Yunshu would come to Chunxuan Hall to pay her respects every day.
After the old lady had finished washing up, Nanny Jiang called Shen Yunshu in. At that time, the second wife came late with the account book in her arms and went in with her.
After greeting and offering tea, and exchanging pleasantries, Mrs. Pei asked Shen Yunshu, "Is Brother An back?"
Since returning home that day, Pei Huaian asked Qing Wu to drive away in a carriage and he has never returned since.
"Not yet. My granddaughter-in-law plans to go out and look for him today." After all, she had already promised Pei Huaijin that she would urge Pei Huaian to study in the future. The most urgent task now is to find him first.
"Do you know where to look for it?"
"It's not certain yet, but don't worry, grandma. Your granddaughter-in-law will definitely find Qilang."
Mrs. Pei looked at her gentle and sensible granddaughter-in-law and felt even more pity for her: "Brother An has been spoiled by his father and is ignorant. I am sorry for wronging you."
"Grandma, my granddaughter-in-law is not wronged." Everyone else thought that she was wronged for marrying Pei Huaian, but they didn't know that the one who was truly wronged in this marriage was Pei Huaian.
He could have been free, but she begged him to play the role of a fake couple and used this marriage to constrain him. Instead, everyone thought she was compromising.
But now it seems that within a year, she and Pei Huaian will be able to regain their freedom. As long as Lu Yi is expelled from the capital, they will not have to continue acting.
After Shen Yunshu chatted with the old lady for a while, she stood up and said goodbye, and asked someone to prepare a carriage to leave the house to look for someone.
In Chunxuan Hall, only the second wife and the old lady were left talking.
"Mother, this is the account for last month, please take a look..." The second wife nervously handed over a stack of account books.
The old lady has handed over the household affairs of the mansion to the second wife for five years. She has rarely checked the accounts in these five years. Last night, someone from Chunxuan Hall suddenly came to the courtyard of the second wife and said that the old lady wanted to see the account book of last month. It was so sudden that the second wife did not sleep all night and sorted out the accounts of last month. She almost missed the time to pay her respects this morning.
However, even though the accounts were balanced with some effort, the old lady, who had been in charge of the household for many years when she was young, could still see at a glance that there were many problems in the accounts.
Old Madam Pei knew the abilities of the second wife's daughter-in-law. Her ability as a household manager was average, and she always wanted to get some benefits for her own wife. If the first wife's daughter-in-law was not in poor health and there was no one else available in the house, the management of the household would not have been handed over to the second wife.
In the past, the old lady turned a blind eye and didn't care as long as the second wife didn't make too much money. But now there are two granddaughters-in-law in the mansion. If Jin Ge's daughter-in-law is really unable to help him, it is not impossible to let the third wife's granddaughter-in-law Shen Yunshu take charge of the family.
Therefore, today the old lady did not indulge the second wife's daughter-in-law anymore. She picked out all the mistakes and inappropriateness in the account book from beginning to end, and made the second wife lose face and dared not say a word.
The second wife is not stupid either. The old lady used to be very tolerant of her, but now she suddenly becomes picky. It is nothing more than that she doesn't want her to continue to be the head of the family.
As for which granddaughter-in-law she wanted to hand over the power of the family, the second wife could not guess what the old lady was thinking for a while.
But today, after the old lady looked at the account book, she kept it.
The second wife was more cautious and left a trusted maid to guard near Chunxuan Hall. Sure enough, not long after, the maid came back to report that the old lady had asked someone to send the account book to Yunzhiyuan.
It seems that the old lady wants Brother Jin's daughter-in-law to take charge of the family in the future.
This is easier to deal with. Brother Jin's daughter-in-law is as young as a green melon and looks completely innocent. Dealing with her is much easier than dealing with Brother An's daughter-in-law.
*
Yunzhiyuan, in the bedroom.
Pei Huaijin tried to get up for the third time, but after he raised his body a few inches, the person on top of him snorted in dissatisfaction, and then used her hands and feet to push him down.
Before falling asleep last night, he felt that she was restless, so he pinned her down and trapped her. But when he woke up, their positions were reversed. He was lying on his back on the bed, and she leaned half of her body on him, wrapping her thin arms and legs around him. The slightest movement he made would make her move closer.
He moved again just now, but unexpectedly she simply climbed on top and pressed her whole body on him.
Pei Huaijin froze for a moment and tried to push her away, but she held him tighter.
He glanced at the window that was illuminated by the sunlight and guessed that it was getting late. If he didn't get up now, he might miss his shift.
The person on his body was breathing heavily, and it was obvious that he had woken up a long time ago. This was deliberately doing something bad to him.
Even though he knew her little thoughts, he couldn't bear to refuse the moment her soft and fragrant body wrapped around him, which made him fall into the situation of being controlled by her.
He couldn't bear to give up this delicious and soft food, but he couldn't delay getting up, so he had to discuss with the person on his body: "If I don't get up now, I'll be late for work..."
Shen Youran didn't care: Who told him to hold her down so hard last night that she couldn't move, causing her to not sleep well all night? This morning, she decided to go all out. She had been hugged by him all night anyway, and she no longer had any aversion to physical contact in her heart. All she had was a desire to take revenge on him.
Just don't get up! Let's see what he can do to her.
Seeing that she was still unwilling to move, Pei Huaijin had to use his old trick again and tickle the itchy spot on her waist.
Sure enough, as soon as his hand touched her waist, she couldn't bear it and moved her body.
Pei Huaijin couldn't help laughing, his big hands wandering around her waist, pinching and kneading it from time to time...
She clearly couldn't stand it, even laughing out loud, but she refused to open her eyes and stubbornly clung to him, swinging her waist to dodge, and her body inevitably rubbed against his...
Pei Huaijin's Adam's apple rolled and he suddenly sat up.
Shen Youran didn't mind. She was lifted up by him and fell into his arms. Her arms instinctively hooked around his neck, and her knees knelt on both sides of his body.
She wanted to continue pretending to be asleep to tease her, but her waist felt tight and was held down by his big hand, making her fit even more closely with him.
Before she could react, his lips were close to her ear, and his hot breath lingered on her earlobe.
"Do you feel it? If you don't get up now, we'll have to consummate our marriage..."
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