eloquence
The setting sun went down a little, and the rays of light shining through the window dimmed a little. Zhao Mingyan was lying on the inside, half hidden in the darkness and half exposed in the light.
But because Tan Linshuang was half sitting on the outside, the half of her body that was exposed to the light appeared flickering, making her gloomy face even darker.
"My wife..."
Tan Linshuang slowly sat up, his voice hoarse. He turned around and lowered his eyes to meet Zhao Mingyan's. "I was born prematurely, which is considered unlucky. To keep this secret, my grandmother bribed the midwife at the time, so that this story wouldn't be spread."
"Because I was born prematurely, I've been sickly since childhood. Even though my father hired a master to help me strengthen my body, it only treated the symptoms and not the root cause. I look stronger than my peers, but in fact I am very susceptible to illness."
"Fortunately, my family took good care of me. Before I was eight years old, I rarely had any serious illnesses, and the minor illnesses were just colds and fevers."
"Until..."
He stopped short and turned away.
Zhao Mingyan frowned slightly and stared at his face in the backlight, feeling dazed and confused, as if she could never see through him.
After a moment, Tan Linshuang looked at the setting sun and spoke slowly.
"But the men in our Tan family seem to be naturally weak, especially my father's generation. Just look at my uncle. Although the outside world says he's infertile due to excessive sexual indulgence in his youth, we in our family all know that he has a hidden illness. His problem is somewhat similar to mine. Even the imperial physician couldn't explain it and just told him to rest."
"So after divorcing his first wife, he decided not to marry again, to avoid misleading others and himself. It would be better to live among the flowers, free from responsibility and light."
He spoke very sincerely, but Zhao Mingyan was still skeptical.
However, there was one thing she still believed, that was that since her father-in-law's generation, the men in the Tan family had been getting worse and worse. She guessed that it was mostly due to the plague.
She had heard her father mention that the plague not only killed many people, but also made the living people feel like they were in purgatory, either suffering from diseases or affecting future generations.
Take the Zhao family, for example. Her father's eldest brother and two younger brothers died of illness one after another. Her father, just after turning thirty, also died two years ago due to a long-term illness caused by poor nutrition...
"My wife."
Just when Zhao Mingyan was feeling sentimental, she suddenly heard Tan Linshuang's soft voice calling her, and then she saw the translucent red curtain covering her face.
Before she could react, she was covered from head to toe by the red gauze curtain, and Tan Linshuang's teasing could be heard in her ears.
"The fragrance of your jade-like skin is reflected through the red gauze, and your peach-like face and cherry lips are as beautiful as the crabapple. My lady, this red gauze curtain covering you has a charm that makes the clouds resemble clothes and the flowers resemble your face."
Who wants to be Yang Yuhuan!
Zhao Mingyan rolled her eyes in her heart and was about to pull open the red gauze curtain when her vision suddenly went dark and she saw Tan Linshuang pressing down and kissing her lips.
It’s not quite accurate to call it a kiss, as there was a layer of red gauze between their lips.
But the unfamiliar warm touch still made Zhao Mingyan tremble all over and freeze there.
In just a blink of an eye, the warmth moved away and came to her chin, throat, collarbone... all the way down, separated by a thin veil, making Zhao Mingyan feel a little unreal.
Swish——
After an unknown amount of time, the red silk curtain was suddenly lifted, bringing up a gust of wind, which made Zhao Mingyan's feet feel a little cooler.
The moment the red curtain fell, Tan Linshuang crawled in, hugged Zhao Mingyan's feet, and played with them back and forth.
"My lady, your feet are not bound, very good."
"What...what's good about it? Don't you men all love three-inch golden lotus?" Zhao Mingyan asked breathlessly.
Tan Linshuang took off her brocade stockings, gently stroked her smooth feet, and said truthfully: "I don't like this. Although the three-inch golden lotus looks small and delicate, the feet inside have long been deformed. Once the foot binding is removed, it looks hideous and horrible."
"Have you seen it?" Zhao Mingyan asked curiously.
Tan Linshuang suddenly recalled the scene she had seen in her childhood. She did not answer, but gently stroked the soles of Zhao Mingyan's feet with the back of her hand, which made her feel itchy and numb. She instantly forgot what she had asked, but clutched her dress tightly and closed her eyes.
Feeling her breathing become rapid, Tan Linshuang carefully put down her left foot, lifted the hem of her skirt, and gently kissed her right ankle all the way up.
This time, without the veil separating them, Zhao Mingyan's feelings were more real.
Her body gradually became hot with Tan Linshuang's passionate kiss, and her face also became slightly hot, as if the last bit of light from the setting sun fell on her face, burning her skin.
She struggled to open her eyes, and saw only an orange color, like the candlelight in a lantern.
The orange light spread, and everything in front of her eyes turned white. She bit her lower lip, her body arched unconsciously, and her consciousness gradually became confused.
The shadows dimmed, and the light in the room grew darker...
"ah!"
Suddenly, Zhao Mingyan let out a high-pitched groan, and suddenly her eyes blurred, and her consciousness was completely cut off.
After a while, her breathing became regular again.
But Tan Linshuang's breathing became rapid and heavy.
"Huh... almost. Just as you wished, I'll roll over the red waves with you on the brocade quilt."
At this moment, Zhao Mingyan was dressed neatly on the upper body, barefoot with her skirt open on the lower body, and covered with a translucent red gauze curtain. She exuded a strange charm that made Tan Linshuang unable to take her eyes off her.
"I don't know who started the idea that thinness is beautiful, but it's the plumpness that makes people want more."
Taking another deep breath, he got out of bed quietly, hung the red gauze curtains again, helped Zhao Mingyan tidy up her clothes, covered her with a quilt, turned around and walked to the desk, where he saw the painting that Zhao Mingyan had just started.
Only an outline was sketched, and it was impossible to tell whether it was a man or a woman.
While Zhao Mingyan was fast asleep, he simply picked up his brush and finished the painting, drawing a plump beauty under a red silk tent.
"Is this me?"
Zhao Mingyan, who was woken up by Xiaozhu for dinner, suddenly turned from cheerful to gloomy when he saw the painting that had been modified by Tan Linshuang. "Am I that fat?"
Xiaozhu pursed her lips and said unwillingly, "No, the young lady is thinner than the woman in the painting."
"Hmph! Tan Linshuang should just be a rich and idle person. Why waste paper and brushes by painting?"
Zhao Mingyan rolled up the drawing paper angrily and prepared to throw it away.
But after changing his mind, he put it down and placed it under Tan Linshuang's pillow.
"Miss, are you... letting your son-in-law sleep with me?" Xiaozhu looked confused.
"Since he likes fat beauties, let him sleep with her as his pillow every night."
Zhao Mingyan snorted coldly and left in a huff.
That night, Tan Linshuang clearly felt that Zhao Mingyan disliked him again. He was completely confused and had to be cautious.
After lying on the bed, he didn't even dare to breathe. He huddled in the inner corner, listening to Zhao Mingyan's breathing with his ears perked up.
It wasn't until Zhao Mingyan fell into a deep sleep that he sighed, "She has a silly face, but her mind is more unfathomable than the abyss."
He slept uneasily the whole night, feeling as if he was being possessed by a ghost.
When I woke up the next day, there were two more dark spots under my eyes.
"Master, did you not sleep well last night?"
After breakfast, on the way back to the study with Tan Linshuang, Ayun couldn't help but ask a question.
Tan Linshuang immediately stopped and took him to the corner of the corridor. With her hands behind her back, she said to him in a deep voice, "A Tao is too straightforward. She can't keep her words to herself in front of Zhao Mingyan."
"A Tao is talking too much again?" A Yun frowned.
Tan Linshuang stopped there and did not pursue the matter further. "She has already reached the age of marriage. I will ask my grandmother to help her find a good marriage."
"Master!"
Ayun suddenly bowed his head and clasped his fists, "Atao is my only relative in this world. We have depended on each other since childhood. I can't bear to leave her..."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but choked up.
Tan Linshuang took a deep breath and frowned tightly.
After a while, he made a difficult decision, "When the time is right, I will take her as my concubine."
"Thank you, young master!" Ayun bowed deeply.
"don't want!"
Ah Tao, who overheard their conversation, turned pale with fright. She bit her right index finger and her legs trembled uncontrollably.
After the two of them walked away, she dragged her stiff legs to the flower hall.
"Young Madam, you have to make the decision for me..."
“Cough cough cough…”
Zhao Mingyan, who had just eaten a date, was frightened by her crying and shouting, so he opened his mouth and swallowed the date whole.
Xiaozhu quickly helped her smooth her back and asked A Tao, who was in tears, what was wrong.
Bang--
As soon as she ran to Zhao Mingyan, Ah Tao knelt down heavily, took Zhao Mingyan's hand and begged, "Madam, please, don't let the young master carry me into the room. I would rather serve you all my life than be your concubine."
"Tan Linshuang wants to take you as a concubine?" Zhao Mingyan was stunned.
"What?"
Xiaozhu was also startled, and subconsciously exerted force with the hand that was patting Zhao Mingyan's back. With a "pop", the date was finally swallowed.
After taking a few sips of tea, Zhao Mingyan calmed down his turbulent mood and asked A Tao, "When is your young master going to carry you into the room?"
"It's not decided yet."
A Tao honestly told Zhao Mingyan exactly what she had overheard.
However, she only heard the second half.
Zhao Mingyan narrowed his eyes.
What a great Tan Linshuang!
He said that he and A Tao were like sisters, but he was actually thinking about when to take her as his concubine.
And the two little girls brought back from the orphanage... Zhao Mingyan smiled with gritted teeth.
With his sickly body, he still wants to control three women?
He doesn't let me push him down now because he wants to keep his body in good health so that he can take care of his concubines, right?
All right! Then I'll keep you in the harem, so you and my concubines can have many children. All my children will have the surname Zhao.
The business is under your management, so just be my revolving lantern!
"Young Madam..."
Seeing Zhao Mingyan sometimes gritting her teeth and glaring, and sometimes smiling with a forced smile, A Tao was unsure of her attitude and felt a little afraid.
Zhao Mingyan immediately put away the complicated expression on her face, held her hand instead, and acted like a wife, "Don't worry, if you don't want to, no one will dare to force you."
"but……"
She suddenly changed the subject, "Aren't you and your young master childhood sweethearts? Why wouldn't you want to be his concubine?"
"I'm afraid of him." Tao admitted.
"Afraid? Has he ever been mean to you?" Zhao Mingyan asked in confusion.
Tan Linshuang is a guy who hides a knife behind his smile. Even if he is angry, it is difficult for him to show it on his face. He won’t be angry directly with A Tao, right?
"No, the young master has always been kind to me, but..." A Tao hesitated.
Zhao Mingyan pulled her up and patted her hands. "I'm his wife. Is there anything you can't tell me?"
Ah Tao bit her lower lip and said, "It feels like...it feels like there are two people living in the young master's body."
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