Chapter 66
Shi Mingyue turned her face to the side. The corridor lights outside the car window were filtered into blurry spots of light by the glass, which reflected in her eyes and shimmered into a damp mist.
The water vapor still held traces of red blood, but it was no longer teetering on the brink of collapse.
Her fingertips were still clasped between Yun Zhan's fingers, and she unconsciously rubbed her thumb against his wrist.
Yun Zhan obediently let her lead him, without any struggle. Shi Mingyue suddenly smiled, the corners of her mouth first curving upwards, then the corners of her eyes, the curve extremely slight. The fear that had been weighing on her heart had completely vanished at this moment. In those few minutes in the living room, she had felt as humble as dust, so afraid that Yun Zhan wouldn't come with her. "Drive."
Two words rolled from Shi Mingyue's lips, unusually hurried, but the ending sound was soft, as if it were too obvious and startled Yun Zhan.
The driver stepped on the gas, and the moment the car slid out of the wrought iron gate, Shi Mingyue finally let out the breath she had been holding.
My shoulders sank, and sank deeper, until I was completely enveloped in the leather seat, as if I were sinking into a spring night that had arrived ahead of schedule.
Shi Mingyue turned to the side, gently resting her forehead against Yun Zhan's shoulder, her voice so low that only the two of them could hear: "...I like you."
Yun Zhan's eyes were half-closed, his knuckles aching from Shi Mingyue's grip, but he didn't pull away.
After driving for twenty minutes, the car finally came to a smooth stop at the foot of Mingyue Villa.
Yun Zhan has an extremely keen sense of perception. Before the car window was even completely rolled down, she noticed a sharp gaze. She followed the gaze and saw that it was Shi Ke.
Under the porch, Shi Ke stood with his hands behind his back, his coat fluttering in the night wind. As the car lights swept by, his gaze briefly met Yun Zhan's. The lines between his brows twitched slightly, but he ultimately remained silent.
The engine stalled low, and the silence was more unsettling than any reprimand.
Yun Zhan was settled into a guest room on the east side. The door closed, and the corridor returned to silence.
"Sweetie, wait here for a while, I'll come and keep you company later." Shi Mingyue half-squatted down, her knuckles gently and tenderly touching Yun Zhan's cheek.
After saying that, Shi Mingyue brushed the stray hairs off her shoulder again: "There is a nanny outside. If you are hungry or cold, you can tell her. If you feel unwell, just call me and I will be back soon."
Shi Mingyue gave Yun Zhan repeated instructions and turned up the air conditioner temperature a little higher, afraid that she might not have taken good care of him.
“Your father doesn’t seem very happy. He doesn’t welcome me.” After a long silence, Yun Zhan finally spoke, tugging at Shi Mingyue’s sleeve, her tone indifferent.
If they don't welcome me, why bring me back?
Shi Mingyue stiffened, her waist bent slightly, and her thin back looked even more forlorn.
"It's okay, I'll handle everything, trust me, okay?" Shi Mingyue turned around and squatted down, tightly grasping Yun Zhan's hand, her eyes shining with determination.
This time, no matter what, she will not back down.
Shi Mingyue stood outside the door, took a deep breath, turned around, and walked towards the study at the end of the stairs.
...
The study door was half-open, and light leaked out from the crack.
Shi Mingyue pushed open the door without making a sound.
She first bowed her head, then bent her knees, her silk skirt spreading out like a fallen white ephemera. Her back was straight, without a trace of timidity.
"Thump."
The knee struck the wooden floor with a soft sound, and the atmosphere froze for a moment.
Shi Ke sat behind his desk, his reading glasses hanging down to the middle of his nose, a red-headed document in his hand, and a pen still clutched between his fingers.
He didn't look up, but simply turned a page, the rustling sound amplified many times in the quiet night.
"Why are you kneeling?"
His tone was flat, as if he were asking why there was unusually much rain today.
Shi Mingyue raised her eyes, the bloodshot veins in them still visible, yet they held a bright light.
"Please, Father, allow me to marry Yun Zhan."
Shi Mingyue paused, her breath trembling slightly, yet she enunciated the last syllable with remarkable steadiness.
"Please grant me the right to be with my beloved forever."
With that one sentence, the study fell into a brief silence.
Shi Ke finally looked up, and the nib of his pen left a small ink blot on the paper.
He looked at Shi Mingyue kneeling on the ground: her silk shirt collar was askew, and there was a faint tooth mark below her collarbone, like a plum blossom fallen in the snow.
Those marks were more straightforward than any explanation... He did what he should have done, and he also did what he shouldn't have done.
The die is cast, and the ship has already sailed far away.
The silence stretched on, and the old wall clock clicked, its second hand moving forward a notch.
Shi Ke took off his glasses, folded the document, and moved so slowly that his imposing presence seemed to freeze into thin ice in the air.
"May we be of one heart forever..." he repeated softly, as if savoring the weight of those four words, then raised his hand and casually placed the document on the corner of the desk with a very soft "thud".
"Get up."
The voice was devoid of emotion, neither sad nor happy, but the cry to "kneel" was no longer heard.
The moon did not move.
Shi Ke's voice was low and slow, trailing off into a long, drawn-out tone in the deathly silent study.
“She has no family background, no connections, and now that something’s happened to her,” he paused, tapping the table lightly with the back of his fingers, “you’ll have to shoulder the burden alone.”
"Husbands and wives should be one body. She was willing to risk her life for me, and she was also able to bring me back intact from under Shi Shaoxuan's knife."
Shi Mingyue's voice was not loud, but every word was clear and distinct, like a spring spring flowing under the ice.
“Other marriage partners may be richer and more powerful than her, but they are also cowards who are afraid of death. Besides, I like Yun Zhan. I want her, not someone else.”
As the last note faded, she bent down, her forehead touching the Persian carpet, the embroidered patterns digging painfully into her skin.
That muffled thud was heavier than any words. She folded all her pride into a paper boat and pushed it toward her father.
Shi Ke remained silent, the pen between his fingers twirling half a circle, a flash of cold light passing through his fingers.
"What about the child? How do you plan to talk to her? Does she agree? Do her family agree?"
Shi Ke suddenly threw out a second knife: "I have decimated the family, and you are the only direct bloodline left. I want to see the next generation before I turn twenty-five."
Shi Mingyue's back stiffened.
The lamplight pinned her shadow to the ground, thin yet straight.
After a long silence, she took a deep breath: "If nothing unexpected happens, I should be the one to give birth to the child."
"Why you? She can't have children, yet you married her into this family." Shi Jian was dissatisfied, letting out a soft snort. Yun Zhan, someone with no family background, was marrying in, and Shi Mingyue was expected to bear children...
"I can't bear it..." Shi Mingyue lowered her eyes. She was too heartbroken for Yun Zhan to bear seeing her in so much pain.
It was the father's request to have a child, not Yun Zhan's own desire, so she can't demand that of Yun Zhan...
Shi Mingyue hesitated for a long time, then loosened her teeth and lowered her voice, "Even if I give birth, I still need to ask Yun Zhan if she is willing. She needs to cooperate with me for a minor surgery. I can't bear to force her, so..."
She looked up, her eyes slightly red from exhaustion, but she couldn't hide that soft insistence: "I can't give that guarantee."
After he finished speaking, the study returned to silence.
Shi Ke didn't speak again, but gently placed the pen back on the pen holder. The metal made a very soft "click" as it touched the sandalwood.
"Let's go, I'm tired today, let's talk next time."
As soon as the door closed, a sigh came from the study. Shi Ke leaned back in his chair and rubbed his tired eyes.
He carefully put his reading glasses back in the drawer, muttering to himself, "Seriously, daughters grow up and leave home..."
...
It was late at night when Shi Mingyue came out of the study. She went back to the bedroom and found Yun Zhan already asleep, his shirt off, curled up on the small bed. Shi Mingyue's heart softened at the sight.
"Go take a shower first."
The bathroom door was gently pushed open, and the misty steam, like a thin veil, flowed out slowly with Shi Mingyue's footsteps.
She stood in front of the mirror, water droplets sliding down her collarbone and dripping onto the instep, scalding her and making her shiver slightly.
My reflection in the mirror showed flushed cheeks and lingering redness at the corners of my eyes, whether from the steam or from a secret expectation in my heart.
"In the illusion, Yun Zhan told me she liked pretty girls with good figures... Do those words still count?"
Shi Mingyue murmured a few words, and a bold idea gradually began to take shape.
She reached out and took the lace camisole she had never worn from the hanger.
It was smoky black, thin as a cicada's wing, with extremely fine silver thread embroidered along the edges, like stars hidden in the night.
When her fingertips touched the soft fabric, she almost pulled her hand back, a wave of unprecedented shame welling up in her chest.
In eighteen years, she had never even tried a low-cut cheongsam, let alone such clothing.
But then Yun Zhan's almost flippant, smiling words flashed through her mind: "I like beautiful women with good figures who I can sleep with."
Those words, once like a knife, have now become fire, igniting the hidden desires in her heart.
She was no saint; she couldn't resist the temptations of "love and desire." In the quiet of the night, when no one was around, she had countless times fantasized about being with Yun Zhan...
Shi Mingyue bit her lip and pulled the suspenders over her head.
The fabric slid against my skin, sending a slight shiver through me.
The woman in the mirror had sculpted shoulders, deep-set collarbones, and skin that shimmered with a warm, pearly glow under the light.
Her breasts were full yet perky, with the lace trim perfectly covering the most alluring part of her curves, rising and falling gently with her breath, like a pool of water about to overflow.
Her waist was slender, yet not thin; a shallow dimple appeared on either side of her back, as if designed specifically for fingertips to explore.
Her hips were rounded, her legs were long and straight, and her ankle bones were so delicate they were almost transparent.
She turned to the side, and her reflection in the mirror outlined a perfect S-shape, which even stunned her for a moment.
"So this body can be hidden not only under a high collar and Chinese knot buttons."
She raised her hand and removed the hair tie, her black hair cascading down to her waist like a waterfall, a few strands of wet hair clinging to her neck like a winding stream in the night.
She took a lipstick out of her makeup bag, lightly dabbed it on her lips, and pressed it to her lips. The color was an extremely vibrant rose, which made her skin look even more fair and radiant.
The person in the mirror suddenly came to life, with spring in the corners of her eyes and shyness at the corners of her lips, like a fairy who stepped out of an ancient painting, yet with the unique naivety of a young lady from a noble family.
Shi Mingyue walked out of the bathroom barefoot.
The floor was cold, but not as warm as the tips of her ears.
Step by step, it was like stepping on a silent string; with each step, my heart trembled.
Yun Zhan lay in the center of the bed, his face peaceful in his sleep, his eyelashes casting dappled shadows under the lamplight, like butterflies perched on branches.
Shi Mingyue stood by the bed, her fingertips clenching the hem of her skirt, her knuckles turning white, but then she slowly loosened her grip.
She climbed onto the bed gently, her movements clumsy like a girl sneaking over the wall for the first time, yet she stubbornly moved closer to the source of heat until her knees touched Yun Zhan's legs, their breaths mingling.
Shi Mingyue didn't speak, but lowered her head, letting the ends of her hair fall into Yun Zhan's neck: "Yun Zhan, that day you told me that you were a person who lusts after beautiful women, so now... is this what you want?"
Shi Mingyue gently placed a kiss on Yun Zhan's lips. The girl's eyelashes trembled slightly; she was... ready.
Yun Zhan, I'm here, just as you like.
You may not want it, but I can't hide it anymore.
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