Chapter 53 A scene of passionate love, like fish and water, with mandarin ducks on a brocade pillow, their fragrant sweat melting on the pillow. ...
Tonight, the candles shine brightly, and fragrant sweat stains the silk handkerchief.
As the wine intensifies, springtime thoughts stir within me; I long to press my slender waist against my lover.
The brocade quilt ripples like red waves; I beg my lover to dispel my weakness.
I pity your disheveled red makeup, and feel a surge of pleasure.
Our fingers are intertwined, a vow as firm as mountains and seas; we'll make this night, not tomorrow.
Her arms were too weak to carry him, and she wept intermittently as they soared into the sky.
A wonderful night.
If the name she was calling wasn't Achin.
The candles had burned out, and the third watchman's drumbeat sounded, plunging the tent into complete darkness.
Su Jinxiu was as docile as a cat lying by a fireplace, limp on Feng Chen's chest, clearly exhausted and unconscious.
The early summer nights of May were already tinged with heat. The two, caught up in their passion, had become oblivious to everything else; their skin, pressed together, was covered in sticky, fragrant sweat, and the bedsheets were mostly soaked. Feng Chen, however, paid no heed, holding her tightly in his arms. He lowered his head, kissing her almond-shaped cheeks and delicate nose repeatedly in the darkness, finally lingering on her small lips.
Recalling her alluring demeanor when she was aroused, he greedily traced her features, his heart filled with an extreme sense of satisfaction.
I love him so much, I love his Qiaoqiao so much.
However, that satisfaction was tinged with bitterness, like a grain of sand stuck in one's eye that cannot be ignored.
He thought he should have drunk a few more cups of poisonous liquor; perhaps if he had been drunk, he wouldn't have heard her calling out another person's name again and again at the height of her passion.
But at this moment, her little face was flushed, her breathing was deep and even, and she was sleeping soundly, not at all like someone who could answer a question.
Feng Chen felt a sudden pang of panic. He was afraid that when she woke up and saw him by her bedside, her face would show undisguised disappointment.
That would probably be even more painful than killing him with a sword.
So, he gently kissed her temple one last time, then quietly put on his robe, got up, tiptoed out of the tent, and slunk away.
The next day, around noon, Su Jinxiu woke up rubbing her sleepy eyes.
The familiar embroidered patterns on the canopy came into view. She instinctively tried to stretch, but her arms froze in mid-air as soon as she raised them above her head.
Her whole body ached unbearably, as if she had been punched and crushed, and she couldn't bend her hand back. She gritted her teeth and endured the excruciating pain to put her arm back in place, her mind completely blank.
Yesterday... Yesterday was my housewarming celebration. Could it be that I drank too much, got into an argument with someone, and got beaten up?
Her sluggish thoughts gradually returned, and she lifted the blanket to check.
Suddenly, a scream rang out from the main hall of the Soseki Residence, startling the magpies under the eaves into flying away.
Bu Yue and Cai Yun, who were waiting outside the door, immediately pushed the door open and rushed in, asking anxiously, "What's wrong, Miss?"
Fortunately, the bed curtains had not yet been drawn back, so they could not see the bite marks all over Su Jinxiu's back after she sat up.
"It's nothing, I just accidentally bumped my foot."
After the two closed the door and left, Su Jinxiu slowly took off the brocade quilt.
Looking at the mottled, uneven marks on her body, and the indescribable swelling and abnormality in a certain place, and then looking at the empty bed, her memory was blank.
Yesterday... Yesterday she hosted a banquet at her residence, then drank too much, and then what?
Su Jinxiu racked her brains but couldn't recall the details of last night, but she quickly identified the culprit.
At yesterday's housewarming party, all the guests were women, except for one scoundrel!
Thus, Caiyun and Buyue met their master, who had the largest appetite in history, at the dining table.
Su Jinxiu twirled her jade chopsticks, eating and reminiscing. The fragments of last night gradually became clearer. She didn't actually mind losing her virginity, because in her memories, she had quite enjoyed it, even being rather proactive.
What truly angered her was his abrupt departure. His escape tainted what could have been an open and honest affair with the sordid connotation of adultery.
Why run away? Why not just talk about it the next morning? Is it because he's engaged that he sees this as a fleeting affair, like a prostitute's visit, where he'll just disappear after it's over?
You bastard!
Su Jinxiu took a big bite of the steamed bun, eating and drinking her fill to replenish her strength before going to settle this score with that lecherous man!
The first light of dawn was breaking on the horizon, just as the officials were leaving court.
"Siyuan! Siyuan!"
It wasn't until Cui Cheng called him for the fifth time that Feng Chen suddenly came to his senses.
"What are you standing there for? The court session is over."
"Okay, let's go."
Cui Cheng looked him over suspiciously: "Why are you so absent-minded? Just now in court, when the Emperor inquired about the deployment of the Imperial Guards, you were stunned for a long time before answering. Don't you want your official hat anymore?"
Feng Chen frowned, looking at the birds flying side by side in the sky, and asked in a low voice, "Cui Cheng, if you have a friend who spent a wonderful night with the girl he loves, but the girl mistook him for someone else, what do you think he should do?"
Without hesitation, Cui Cheng replied, "What's so difficult about that? Let's go to Wushan together again and let her see clearly that it's me, not someone else."
Feng Chen shoved him away, frowned, and said coldly, "I told you, he's a friend of mine!"
As he was looking around in frustration, he caught sight of Yi Ruxu, who had just left the court and was also stepping down the steps. Unlike Yi Ruxu, who was looking refreshed, Yi Ruxu had dark circles under his eyes, clearly indicating that he had been up all night and exhausted.
He suddenly remembered that yesterday, Shi Yunyu had brought Yi Ruxu directly to the Feng residence to help him, and the two of them had worked through the night to handle the rituals for the Bathing Orchid Festival, which must be why they hadn't been able to rest.
The two boarded the carriage and were about to depart when a subordinate of the Imperial Guard hurriedly caught up with them. Feng Chen invited him to join them to discuss the details of the Imperial Guard's rotation the next day. Cui Cheng listened from the side, and although he didn't understand the affairs of the Imperial Guard, he was also eager to learn. Feng Chen waved his hand: "It's too complicated to explain now. Tomorrow I'll go to the military camp to find Commander Zhao and have him re-examine the deployment map of the Western Camp, then bring it back for us to review together."
As they were talking, the carriage arrived at the entrance of the Feng residence.
Feng Chen lifted the carriage curtain, about to get out, but suddenly slammed it shut and sat back down, his face grave as if he had encountered a raging flood.
Cui Cheng and his subordinates were all taken aback.
"Why aren't you getting off the bus?"
Cui Cheng lifted the curtain in confusion and looked outside, then smiled and said, "Oh, isn't that Miss Su, the one you've been keeping hidden away?"
After having breakfast, Su Jinxiu went straight to the Feng residence, determined to wait and see what would happen.
The gatekeeper, seeing it was her, dared not delay and quickly turned to go inside to inform the head maid in Fengchen's room. She stood outside the mansion, kicking pebbles at her feet listlessly, the lingering soreness in her body making her unsteady on her feet.
Before long, the little maid who had acted delicately in front of her that day came gracefully over, her face beaming with smiles: "Miss, are you here to see our young master? How can we let you stand here in the wind? The young master will surely be distressed if he finds out. Please come with me to wait in the young master's room."
Su Jinxiu, without suspecting anything, followed her into the mansion.
Inside the carriage, Cui Cheng lowered the curtain and glanced mischievously at Feng Chen: "Look at you, so easily frightened. They've already entered the manor."
Upon hearing this, Feng Chen immediately feigned composure and said in a deep voice, "...The deployment of the western camp is of utmost urgency. We must go now. Official business is of paramount importance, and we should devote ourselves wholeheartedly to it and complete the task as soon as possible."
Before he could finish speaking, and before Cui Cheng and his subordinates could say anything, he had already ordered the driver, "Let's go!"
Su Jinxiu had lunch at the Crane Cry Pavilion, and as dusk approached, Feng Chen was still nowhere to be seen. If she waited until night to leave and was seen by others, it would inevitably cause gossip.
Before leaving, she asked the maid, "Is your mistress very busy today?"
The maid named Xuexing, as clever and perceptive as her mistress, replied with a smile, "My mistress mentioned yesterday that she has been busy with official duties for the past two or three days."
When Su Jinxiu returned to Huayun Pavilion, she saw that Linlang and others had already set up a colorful array of silk ropes for sale. These silk ropes, carefully woven with colorful threads, were an indispensable ornament for the Bathing Orchid Festival.
People believed that wearing a hundred-knotted rope could ward off evil spirits and bring longevity. But she had no time to look closely. Dragging her aching body, she moved into the inner room, lay down on the soft couch, and felt utterly exhausted. She thought she would rest for two days before starting work again.
Man Shu lifted the curtain and entered. Seeing her like this, she asked with concern, "What's wrong? Are you tired from embroidery?"
Su Jinxiu responded weakly, then suddenly sat up abruptly, as if she had remembered something important.
Yesterday, Shi Yunyu came under the guise of presenting court embroidery for the Bathing Orchid Festival, but in reality, she conveyed the Empress Dowager's decree that a "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix" screen be embroidered for her birthday banquet.
Shi Yunyu was in charge of court etiquette and could have delegated this task to the Imperial Embroidery Academy, but she specifically asked Su Jinxiu if she was willing to take it. She said at the time that the reward was generous and it would be a great opportunity to make a name for herself.
If she could be in charge of preparing gifts for the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, it would be like a meteoric rise for her to compete for the title of "Bianjing's Number One Embroiderer," so she readily agreed.
But upon closer reflection, the matter is not so simple.
But this embroidery not only had to be of the highest quality, it also involved the subtle power struggles within the imperial harem. The Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix screen consisted of twelve panels, all framed with precious wood and decorated with gold-plated carved lacquer. In addition to the main motif of the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix, the screen was also adorned with peonies and other flowers.
In the palace, the power struggle between the Empress and the Imperial Concubine is intensifying. Su Jinxiu had heard that a embroiderer in the palace's embroidery academy was punished by the Imperial Concubine and banished from the palace simply for embroidering a "phoenix pressing down on a peony" pattern, which implied the Empress's nobility. Now, this screen also features phoenixes and peonies, and their placement and the order of their depiction have become matters of life and death.
She was torn, unsure whether to make the phoenix stand out more or the peony more dazzling. This matter was no longer as simple as money and reputation; a slight misstep could lead to her death. She had to consult with Shi Yunyu. However, the aches and pains in her body left her too weak to even move.
Thinking about the source of this pain, she couldn't help but curse that bastard in her heart.
After three days of recuperation, Su Jinxiu was finally able to move freely again, so she immediately went to the Feng residence to discuss with Shi Yunyu the embroidery arrangement of the phoenixes and peonies on the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix screen. However, upon arriving at the Feng residence, she was told that Shi Yunyu and Feng Chen had both gone to the imperial palace with the emperor, and their return date was uncertain.
The fire in Su Jinxiu's heart suddenly flared up, burning brighter and brighter.
It wasn't Shi Yunyu who was angry, but another scoundrel.
She wished she could see Feng Chen right now and tear his hypocritical face to shreds.
Visiting a place like the imperial palace was a task that officials like Shi Yunyu, who were in charge of etiquette, should be on. But Feng Chen was in charge of the imperial guards, and unless he requested to go to the imperial palace, there was no reason for him to do so.
She immediately picked up a pen and wrote a letter.
Author's note: [Empty bowl][Empty bowl][Empty bowl]
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