Chapter 42 Wu Long, have you taken contraceptive pills?
The moon was dark and the stars were scattered. The east was already bright. Pei Huaian woke up in a warm dream under the pear clouds. Before he opened his eyes, he took a breath of the pleasant and delicate fragrance of flowers.
It's the familiar scent of jasmine.
Pei Huaian's heart skipped a beat and he opened his eyes.
What meets the eye is a peaceful and tranquil sleeping face, the spring mountains are light blue, the skin is whiter than snow, and it is still incredibly beautiful in the dim light.
Pei Huaian opened his eyes wide in disbelief: Is he still dreaming? He dreamed of Sister Shu sleeping on the same bed with him again...
His body moved involuntarily, and the white wrist on his back immediately hugged him tighter, and then patted him gently: "Don't be afraid, I'm here..."
It feels so real.
The scent seemed real, the hug seemed real, even the way she patted herself seemed real.
How can it be so true?
Pei Huaian couldn't help but move closer to her arms: the warm body temperature seemed real.
He raised his face slightly, and his lips gently pressed against her jaw: the touch was soft and seemed real.
He was filled with greed and set his sights on those luscious lips...
He raised his head little by little, afraid of waking her up.
Gradually approaching, there was only a thin layer of air between his lips and hers.
Shallow breathing, light panting, breaths entwined, the moment they touched, a light suddenly flashed through Pei Huaian's mind: Maybe, this is not a dream.
He was startled and quickly sat up from the couch.
Shen Yunshu, who was in a light sleep, was awakened by him and sat up with him: "Are you having a nightmare again?"
Sure enough, it was not a dream.
"Sister Shu, why are you... on my couch?"
Shen Yunshu glanced at the window and saw that it was getting light outside, so she got down from the couch: "You had a nightmare last night and cried so pitifully, so I came here to keep you company..."
"I had a nightmare?" And cried?
Pei Huaian thought about it for a moment, but he couldn't remember what kind of nightmare he had, but there seemed to be an inexplicable fear lingering in his heart.
"Sister Shu, did you stay with me like this last night?" Did you hold him like this all the time?
"Yeah, but don't think too much about it," Shen Yunshu casually ruffled his messy hair and teased him, "I didn't do anything to you..."
Pei Huaian lowered his head in self-abasement and muttered, "Is my figure so bad that you don't even have any lustful thoughts..."
Shen Yunshu didn't hear what he said clearly. As she walked towards the screen, she spoke to him, "It's still early. Do you want to sleep a little longer?"
"No more sleep," he threw back the quilt and got off the bed. "A day's plan begins in the morning. I'm going to the yard for some morning exercise to keep fit!"
*
Today is the second day of Pei Huaijin's rest. He originally planned to take Shen Youran to the Xiao Mansion after breakfast, but when he woke up this morning, he caught a glimpse of the spots on her body caused by him, especially around her neck and collarbone. Even with clothes on, they could not be completely covered, so he had to give up the idea of taking her out.
When breakfast was delivered, Dan Ruo was about to go to the bedroom to wake up his daughter, but Pei Huaijin stopped him: "Tell her to sleep a little longer."
"Yes." Dan Ruo agreed with a red face.
Neither she nor Qinghe was on night duty last night. This morning, she heard from the maid on night duty that the young master and the eldest young lady had ordered water twice last night.
He also said that the eldest young lady cried very hard last night.
After hearing this, Danruo and Qinghe looked at each other in astonishment.
While they were happy that the husband and his wife had finally consummated their marriage, they also felt sorry for their own daughters. The husband was the same. The young lady was so delicate and tender, why didn't he know how to be gentle with her?
Pei Huaijin went out after breakfast. Dan Ruo called Qinghe after he left, and the two of them tiptoed into the bedroom.
As soon as I came in, I saw a nightgown scattered on the ground. It was stained by something, but it had dried up and only some wrinkled marks could be seen. However, there was a trace of blood in it, which had turned black after a night.
When he drew aside the curtains, he saw his daughter still fast asleep on the bed. Upon closer inspection, he saw that her eyelashes were a little wet, and the corners of her eyes were a little red. It seemed that she had cried quite a lot last night.
Although the two maids had never been married, they had read so many storybooks with their young lady that they knew a little about this kind of thing. Since she had ordered water twice last night, the young lady must have been exhausted...
They didn't call her, but quietly picked up the soiled pajamas on the floor and the handkerchief soaking in the basin, which they also took away. When they were about to go out, they suddenly heard Shen Youran's voice coming from the curtains.
"Danruo, Qinghe, what time is it?"
"It's only a quarter of an hour until noon," Dan Ruo turned around and replied, "Why is the young lady awake? The master asked you to sleep a little longer."
"I slept well," Shen Youran said as she came down from the bed, rubbing her eyes as she walked towards the dressing table. "Help me with my makeup quickly. I have to go to the Xiao Mansion with Pei Huaijin today..."
"But my dear has already left."
"Leaving?" Shen Youran sat in front of the dressing table, picking up a toothbrush and combing the hair next to her ears. "Didn't you say you'd take me with you?"
It must be because she was drunk last night and got up late today, so he didn't take her with him.
"Since I can't go to the Xiao Mansion, I will go find my sister later." Her sister started to manage the affairs at Chenshi, and she has become accustomed to going there to help at this time every day.
Danruo and Qinghe put down what they were holding, walked behind her, and stared at her neck: "Young Madam, you'd better not go out today."
Seeing that the two maids were still not moving, Shen Youran couldn't help but glance at them in the mirror: "What's wrong?"
"Young Madam," the two maids' faces turned redder than the other, "your neck..."
"Neck?" Shen Youran raised her face, exposing her neck, and looked at herself in the mirror. She was so shocked that she dropped the comb in her hand. "Ah! What's going on?"
The originally fair and smooth neck was now covered with dense red marks.
Looking down along the neck, the red mark spread all the way to under the pajamas...
She opened her clothes a little, lifted them up and looked down. As expected, the red mark rose and fell along with her curves.
“Ahhhh!”
She stood up, lifted the hem of her pajamas, and exposed the skin of her waist and abdomen.
“Ahhh!” It’s here too!
And she was horrified to find that the way the pants were tied was not the way Danruo usually tied them for her, but...
"Ahhh, bastard Pei Huaijin! He's taking advantage of me again..."
"Young Madam, please keep your voice down..." Dan Ruo Qinghe hurriedly tried to dissuade her. How could she call her husband a dog?
"I'm still wondering. Last night I dreamt that a dog kept licking me. I told it to stop, but it didn't listen and drooled all over me..."
The two unmarried maids blushed even more after hearing this: "But we still want to congratulate the young lady on finally consummating her marriage with her husband."
"Consummated the marriage?" Shen Youran was stunned. "He and I...consummated the marriage?"
"Yes," Dan Ruo suppressed his embarrassment and looked at his daughter teasingly, "You ordered water twice last night, doesn't the young lady remember?"
"Two, two times?" She did feel that she was covered in saliva, but the marriage consummation...why didn't she have any impression of it?
Could it be that she was too drunk last night?
Shen Youran couldn't believe it and asked the two maids, "Did he and I really consummate our marriage?"
Dan Ruo found the stained nightgown and turned out the bloody spot to show her: "Look, Madam, this must be your blood..."
Shen Youran went crazy and walked around the room several times before calming down.
"My mother said that if I get pregnant now, it will harm my body. Where's the contraceptive prescription? Hurry, find it and get it for me..."
"Yes." Dan Ruo knew where the prescription was and quickly found it. He then took it out to get the medicine.
*
On the other side, Zhu was also being supported by Mother Zhang and walking towards the front yard.
She was worried about Meng Wanxin last night and didn't sleep well, which made her feel even weaker.
Even so, she insisted on going to the Changxing Marquis Mansion in person.
Just as she walked around the screen wall, she saw a maid rushing towards her from the other end. When she saw her, a look of panic appeared on her face and she bowed to her.
Zhu found her unfamiliar and asked casually, "Which courtyard are you from?"
"Madam, I am from Yunzhiyuan..."
Mother Zhang had met Dan Ruo and whispered to Zhu: "She is the maidservant who came with the eldest young master's wife."
Zhu had no good feelings towards Shen Youran, and when she saw that the person in front of her was her maid, she felt even more annoyed: "What are you doing out here so early in the morning?"
Dan Ruo naturally didn't dare to tell the truth. She stumbled a little and said, "Reply, reply, Madam. I'm going out to buy some embroidery thread..."
Zhu didn't even look at her, but Madam Zhang noticed something was wrong with her. She walked over and asked, "Why did you have to go out so early in the morning to buy embroidery thread? I think you're acting sneaky. Tell me, what were you doing out there?"
Dan Ruo shrank her shoulders in fear, but she still said, "I really just went out to buy embroidery thread."
Mother Zhang looked her up and down carefully, her eyes finally fixed on the cuffs of her sleeves.
Danruo was forced to accept Zhang's mother's scrutiny, but she suddenly grabbed her wrist, lifted it up, checked her cuffs, and pulled the prescription out of her sleeve.
"Safflower, Phellodendron, Lithospermum officinale, Curcuma zedoaria..." Mother Zhang read out a few of the names of the herbs she knew, and immediately realized, "Madam, this is a prescription for contraception!"
Zhu was in poor health. When she was young, she gave birth to two children, which almost cost her life. After that, she took a lot of medicine for contraception. Mother Zhang had been serving her all the time, so naturally she knew some contraceptive herbs.
"Contraceptive medicine?" Zhu's expression became even uglier than before. "Who wants to take this medicine?"
Dan Ruo realized that she had caused trouble for the girl, and hurriedly knelt down: "Madam, my eldest young lady is still young, and getting pregnant too early may harm her health. Please understand..."
There is a rule in wealthy families that allows the bride to get pregnant late, it just depends on whether the mother-in-law is willing to feel sorry for her daughter-in-law.
Of course, Zhu knew that Shen Youran was still young, but Pei Huaijin was not young anymore. If she could be more understanding of her husband, she should have given birth to a child earlier.
"Go back and tell your master that she can drink the contraceptive medicine if she wants. If she doesn't want to have the baby, there are plenty of people who are willing to give birth..."
Zhu grabbed the prescription and threw it at Danruo, then took Zhang Mama out.
Dan Ruo knelt in front of the screen wall in fear until the eldest lady's carriage drove away. Then she stood up, wiping her tears, went to the pharmacy to get the medicine, took it back to the mansion, and asked the kitchen staff to boil it first. Finally, she returned to Yunzhiyuan sobbing.
Shen Youran didn't go to Ciyouyuan this morning. She couldn't hide the red marks on her neck, and she really didn't have the face to go out and embarrass herself.
I was practicing my eyesight with a slingshot in the yard when Danruo ran in crying.
"Young Madam, I have caused you trouble..."
"What happened?" Shen Youran handed the slingshot to Qinghe and wiped Danruo's tears with a handkerchief. "Don't cry, tell me slowly."
Danruo sobbed and told her about her encounter with the eldest lady at the screen wall in the front yard.
"Oh, I didn't think it was a big deal," Shen Youran pinched Dan Ruo's cheek and said nonchalantly, "She's angry, so let her be angry. I'm the one who gave birth to the child, not her. If she doesn't feel sorry for me, shouldn't I feel sorry for myself?"
"But... the eldest lady also said that if the young lady is unwilling to have children, there are plenty of people who are willing to have them. Does she mean... that she wants to take a concubine for the young master?"
"It's been less than two months since the bride came into the house, and the husband wants to take a concubine? There's no family in the whole capital that dares to do this. Besides, my father is the Shangshu, so he has to consider the Buddha's favor. If she dares to send someone to Yunzhi Courtyard, I will go back to my parents' home to find my father. Even if the Pei Mansion carries me in a sedan chair, I won't come back. Let's see who will be embarrassed, me or her..."
Danruo looked at the girl who was so confident and not at all panicked, and immediately burst into laughter, and played slingshot with her girl.
Pei Huaijin brought gifts to visit the Xiao Mansion and explained to Aunt Xiao the reason why Shen Youran had abdominal pain some time ago. Although she did not directly say that she was framed, Aunt Xiao was a smart person and she understood some things that should not be said openly.
Since it was a misunderstanding, she was naturally willing to continue teaching Shen Youran.
Pei Huaijin discussed the time with her and asked her if she could change her teaching schedule to the afternoon at Pei Mansion, because Shen Youran was learning home management from her sister in the morning.
"I'm afraid it's difficult to arrange classes this afternoon." Aunt Xiao was well-known in the capital, and many noble ladies came to study there. She had already arranged her schedule. "However, the number of students has increased recently, and it would be too much for me to teach door to door. So I plan to rent a house in Wuyi Lane and gather the students together. I'll teach there from now on..."
"That's great too. I wonder if Auntie has found a suitable house?"
"I looked at a few places, but I wasn't satisfied..."
Pei Huaijin remembered that his third uncle had bought a house in Wuyi Lane for his seventh brother. If his seventh brother was willing, he could rent it to Aunt Xiao. However, he still had to go back and discuss this with his seventh brother. He couldn't make a decision on his own right now, so he said to Aunt Xiao, "I'll keep an eye out for it later. If I find a suitable one, I'll let you know..."
"In that case, thank you very much."
After talking to him, Aunt Xiao was about to go out, leaving Xiao Ci at home to continue entertaining the guests.
Xiao Ci talked about Lu Yi with Pei Huaijin.
"We previously followed Lu Yi's lead and discovered that he was deeply involved with the bandits who had kidnapped the bride. These weren't ordinary bandits; they were roaming the country, committing serious crimes. The Dali Temple is taking this matter very seriously and wants to quickly locate the bandits' hiding place. I might need your wife's cooperation..."
"What do you need her to do?"
"In order to avoid alerting the enemy, we will secretly ask her to go to the Dali Temple for questioning..."
Pei Huaijin had previously promised to keep Shen Yunshu's secret, but now the Dali Temple wanted to investigate the matter, and Shen Youran knew very little about Lu Yi, which was of little help to the case. Therefore, Pei Huaijin had no choice but to tell Xiao Ci the truth: "Actually, I hid something from you before..."
"What's up?"
"We previously suspected that Lu Yi was behind the bride kidnapping because he had proposed to my wife before. But later I learned that he had always had his eye on her, not my wife, but her sister, Shen Yunshu..."
"Shen Yunshu?" Xiao Ci had met that woman before. He had been investigating Lu Yi's case for a while now, so he naturally knew a bit about everyone connected to Lu Yi. "Isn't she Lu Yi's stepsister?"
"Lu Yi harbored dirty thoughts towards his stepsister. He approached Youran and asked to marry her in order to force Shen Yunshu to compromise..."
"I understand. I will report this matter. In a few days, people from the Dali Temple will go to the Pei Mansion to pick her up. Please inform her in advance."
"She's been harassed by her stepbrother, and she's suffered greatly from him. When you're questioning her, don't embarrass her..."
"I'll be there too, don't worry..."
When Pei Huaijin returned home, his carriage and his mother's stopped at the door one after the other.
He saw Meng Wanxin getting off her mother's carriage, her face pale and her eyes red and swollen. It seemed that her marriage with Lin Wulang was not going to work out.
He withdrew his gaze and walked towards the mansion.
"Stop!" His mother called out to him from behind. "Your cousin is here. She's suffered so much injustice, and as her cousin, why don't you come over to comfort her?"
Pei Huaijin knew that his cousin from the Meng family was pitiful, but this was her karma and had nothing to do with him.
Moreover, he did not agree with his mother's decision to bring her back to the Pei Mansion. "Mother, you took it upon yourself to bring her here. This move will inevitably offend the Changxing Marquisate. I should think about how to explain this to my father and grandmother..."
"I will explain to your father and grandmother. If you don't want to take care of your cousin's affairs, then the affairs of the lady in your room should be yours, right?"
"What happened to her?"
"Let's talk in my yard."
Pei Huaijin had no choice but to go to Haitang Garden with his mother first.
Meng Wanxin followed Zhu's side, silently shedding tears. Zhu comforted her: "I'll have someone clean up the room you were staying in later. You can live here peacefully from now on. I'll take care of everything for you..."
Meng Wanxin sobbed, "Thank you, aunt."
When they arrived at Begonia Garden, Zhu first asked someone to take Meng Wanxin to the back room to rest, while she talked with Pei Huaijin in the hall.
"The Lin family is such a bully. If I hadn't gone there today, Wanxin's life would have been ruined." Regardless of whether her son listened or not, Zhu continued to talk about the Lin family. "That Lin family's fifth son is crazy. Sometimes he wants to commit suicide, sometimes he wants to become a monk. Since he likes that maid so much, why didn't he marry her earlier and avoid harming beautiful girls outside? Even though her son has become so crazy, the marquis's wife still wants Wanxin to stay in the marquis' mansion to cover up his shame. Isn't this abusing her..."
Pei Huaijin sat aside and listened. Although he sympathized with his cousin's plight, he thought of Shen Youran in his heart: Fortunately, she did not agree to Lin Wulang's proposal, otherwise, she would be the one to suffer the torture of the Marquis' Mansion...
Pei Huaijin had no intention of listening to his mother's complaints, so he interrupted her at the right time: "Mother, I want to hear about You Ran's story."
Zhu was choked by his words, and her unvented anger was stopped. She gasped in anger and said, "I told you about the issue of offspring before. Have you considered it?"
"I've considered it, but Youran..."
"Then do you know what she did behind your back?"
"What did she do?"
"She's secretly taking birth control pills!"
"Contraceptive pills?" Pei Huaijin was stunned. "Why would she take contraceptive pills?"
"What else can I do? Of course I don't want to have a child for you..."
"She's still young, I don't plan on her having children." But why did she suddenly want to take birth control pills? "When did she take them?"
"This morning, her maid went out to get some medicine with the prescription, and was caught by Mother Zhang and me..."
Pei Huaijin thought for a moment and realized that she was extremely drunk last night and must have forgotten what happened this morning. She probably saw the marks on her body and mistakenly thought that he and she had consummated their marriage.
This silly girl...
"Mother, I'm going back first." You can't take random medicines. Why should I take contraceptive medicine when the marriage hasn't been consummated yet?
He hurried back to Yunzhiyuan and went straight into the bedroom. She was lying on the bed reading a storybook.
Seeing him come in, she quickly stuffed the notebook under her pillow.
Pei Huaijin helped her up from the bed and asked her, "Have you taken contraceptive pills?"
"Yeah." Shen Youran thought he was here to blame her, and she couldn't help but glared at him and said confidently, "My mother said that having a child too early is bad for your health. I don't want to get pregnant so early..."
"Who told you to drink that medicine?" He pinched her little mouth, "When did you drink it? Spit it out quickly."
"Oh, I've been drinking for an hour and I can't spit it out," Shen Youran slapped his hand away and said angrily, "I told you I don't want to get pregnant so early, what are you doing?"
Pei Huaijin was both angry and amused: "You can't get pregnant at all, why are you taking contraceptive pills?"
"What do you mean? How can you be so sure I won't get pregnant?"
"We didn't consummate our marriage last night..."
"You didn't consummate the marriage?" Shen Youran was also confused at this moment. "But they said that you asked for water twice last night..."
"I called you twice, once to wipe your face and once to wipe your saliva."
"What's the meaning?"
"You got drunk last night and cried in my arms with your face covered in snot and tears, so I asked Shui to wipe your face..."
"Then what about wiping saliva?" Shen Youran asked doubtfully, "Do I drool when I sleep?"
"It's not your saliva," Pei Huaijin's throat tightened and he cleared his throat unnaturally, "It's mine..."
"Are you drooling?" Shen Youran thought of the red marks on her body and suddenly understood. She let out a long "oh". "You're drooling over me, so you took advantage of me when I was drunk and kissed me until I was covered in saliva?"
"Ahem..." Pei Huaijin thought of his momentary indulgence last night, and a hint of embarrassment appeared on his otherwise unmoved face. Although she had been the one who asked him to kiss her last night, he had indeed gone too far by stripping her naked and kissing every kissable part of her.
"Sorry, I will be more restrained next time..."
"Big pervert!"
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