Chapter 6 My dear lady, you are not the third party.
Near midnight, rustling sounds outside woke up Song Baoyuan who had just fallen asleep.
She subconsciously glanced at her children sleeping beside her, then looked up at the door that was carefully pushed open.
Jiang Keyu, exhausted, walked into the house, took off his coat and put it aside, then went out to the yard to wash up. Only after he was clean did he approach the bed.
"Did I disturb you?" he asked in a low voice.
Song Baoyuan lay on her side on the inside of the bed, the blanket covering only up to her waist. Her white nightgown was loose, and a red strap was faintly visible against her skin.
There was a hint of fatigue between her brows and she shook her head slowly.
Jiang Keyu hurriedly shifted his gaze away from his wife, glanced at his sleeping children, and sighed unconsciously, "They're sleeping here again."
"Originally, I wanted them to go back to their own room to sleep." Song Baoyuan explained softly, "But Chengcheng insisted that Mom would be scared if Daddy didn't come back, so they stayed here. They wanted to wait for you to come back before leaving, but you didn't come back yet and they fell asleep."
"You're quite good at making excuses." Jiang Keyu laughed dumbly, and then said a little apologetically, "But I did come back a little late. The area around Dongqiao Street has been a bit uneasy lately. If you don't have important matters, please don't go near it."
It is both a reminder and an explanation.
"Um."
Jiang Keyu carefully adjusted the positions of her children to make it easier for her to get on the bed.
He spread out another quilt at the end of the bed and moved Jiang Chengyou under this quilt.
Fearing that they would be speechless and cause awkwardness, Song Baoyuan closed her eyes when he lay down.
Fatigue came over her, but Jiang Keyu still kept her eyes half open, wanting to ask whether the two little kids had been well behaved today, or whether the lady wanted to go somewhere the day after tomorrow.
But seeing that his wife had her eyes closed, although she did not look like she was asleep, he still did not speak again.
Song Baoyuan slept uneasily all night, feeling groggy. She woke up at an unknown time with a slight headache.
Her husband and son were no longer there. Jiang Suisui, who was standing beside her, stared at her with her beautiful big eyes and a bright smile.
Song Baoyuan's heart softened, "When did Sui Sui wake up?"
"A little earlier than mother." Jiang Suisui sat up and said shakily, "Dad went out, and brother went to have breakfast."
Song Baoyuan also sat up slowly, "Why don't you wake up mother?"
"Because Daddy said that if we don't disturb Mom and let her sleep a little longer, he will take us to Cricket Villa to play tomorrow."
"Cricket Villa?"
Jiang Suisui nodded heavily, his eyes shining. "Yes! Daddy said that at the Cricket Villa, you can fish, row a boat, herd sheep, dig lotus roots, there are so many fun things to do!"
Seeing her so cute, Song Baoyuan couldn't help but want to touch her face.
Hearing the young lady's voice, Qiao Yue, who was guarding the door, knew that Song Baoyuan had woken up, and immediately entered the house with a basin of water.
Song Baoyuan looked up and asked, "What Cricket Villa? Did you tell me about it before you left?"
"It's Qushui Villa." Qiao Yue corrected.
She twisted the towel and spoke reluctantly, "Madam Yao said that although the young master has been leaving early and returning late these past two days, he is still very concerned about you, Madam."
Song Baoyuan carried Jiang Suisui off the bed, took the towel handed to her by Qiao Yue and wiped her face and hands without saying a word.
Only after she had dressed Jiang Suisui, combed her hair, and sent her out to play did she ask, "What's with that expression on your face? Do you think Aunt Yao is wrong?"
"no."
Qiao Yue picked up the comb and tied the hair of Song Baoyuan who was already sitting in front of the dressing mirror.
"Of course I can see that the Master cares about the Madam. But... before the Master left, I asked him why he chose to go to Qushui Villa. After all, the Madam owns several villas, so why would she choose one that's so far away?"
Song Baoyuan lowered her head to pick up her hairpin and asked nonchalantly, "What did my dear husband say?"
Qiao Yue bit her lip and remained silent for a long time.
Song Baoyuan saw Qiao Yue's angry and embarrassed look behind her in the mirror. "What's wrong?"
"My dear, he said it was Miss Sheng who suggested it. He also asked us to prepare an extra portion when we prepare snacks for the young master and young lady tomorrow. Miss Sheng might go with us."
Song Baoyuan's hand holding the hairpin suddenly stopped, but quickly returned to normal and handed the orchid hairpin behind her.
Qiao Yue took it and put it into her hair.
They both looked at the person in the mirror, a pretty face with a calm expression.
"Madam!" Qiao Yue couldn't bear to see her being so aggrieved yet indifferent, as if she was getting used to enduring. "Why don't you just tell your husband that you don't want that person to get involved?"
As if mocking herself, Song Baoyuan lowered her head and asked, "How can I say it?"
Qiao Yue was puzzled. "As a wife, I don't want my husband to have too much contact with other women. I don't want other women to be an eyesore when my family is reunited. Isn't that natural?"
Song Baoyuan's eyes gradually became vacant, and her hands on the dressing box slowly tightened.
"My lady, you are not the third party." Qiao Yue took a step around, knelt on the ground, and looked up at her lady. "Three letters and six ceremonies, a formal marriage. I still say the same thing, no one put a knife to your husband's neck to force him to marry you, why should you feel guilty about this?"
Song Baoyuan thought that if she had really used a real knife to force him to submit, she wouldn't have to suffer the chaos now.
Qiao Yue's eyes suddenly turned red, and her voice choked with sobs, "Even if, even if you, endured it, you can still be sad. You used to be just like a little girl, crying when you wanted to and making a fuss when you wanted to. But ever since the master and the mistress left, ever since I married my husband, I've kept everything in my heart. I'm no longer polite to my husband, it's better for us to be brother and sister..."
"What are you doing so early in the morning, girl?" Aunt Yao, who brought breakfast, asked anxiously. She quickly put down the food in her hand and closed the door.
Qiao Yue wiped her eyes with her sleeve, stood up, and said in a firm tone, "Even if I get scolded and beaten by the nanny today, I will still speak. Everyone says that my husband is good, but does that mean he is definitely my lady's good man? He won't do anything out of line that goes against human ethics, but he does it today and tomorrow. It's disgusting!"
"So what do you want? Do you want to persuade the young lady and her husband to divorce before you are satisfied, or do you want her to just write a divorce letter and break up this happy family?"
Qiao Yue was stunned and speechless.
"Okay!" Song Baoyuan finally spoke, "I know you're all doing this for my own good, but can you please stop making noise?"
She rubbed her eyebrows, and the irritability in her heart surged up again.
Aunt Yao sighed silently, her expression showing worry and heartache.
She hesitated, "Actually, Qiao Yue said something quite right. The young lady is the son-in-law's wife, married through matchmaking. It's neither right nor wrong for her to do nothing."
Song Baoyuan was stunned and did not answer.
*
At night, after Jiang Keyu returned home, she hurried to the backyard and saw Jiang Chengyou holding a wooden sword and riding a wooden horse.
Seeing him come back, Jiang Chengyou immediately put down the toy in his hand, ran up to him, and saluted politely, "Daddy."
Jiang Keyu was amused by his pretending to be well behaved. "Where's your mother?"
"Mother took my sister to take a bath."
Jiang Keyu went into the house to change clothes, and Jiang Chengyou followed behind happily. He even climbed onto a stool to pour tea and asked loudly, "Daddy, are you thirsty?"
When Song Baoyuan came back with her cleaned daughter in her arms, she saw such a rare sight of "a loving father and a filial son".
Seeing her, Jiang Chengyou was visibly excited. He ran over and tugged at the corner of her clothes, whispering, "Mom! Tell Daddy that my sister and I were very well behaved today!"
"Yes." Song Baoyuan put Jiang Suisui down, and the latter immediately pounced on Jiang Keyu who squatted down to greet her.
"Yes, Chengcheng and Suisui are both very well behaved." Song Baoyuan said, walking past them to make the bed.
Jiang Keyu gently pinched Jiang Suisui's soft face and pretended to question, "Really?"
"Yeah!" Jiang Suisui opened her big, innocent and pure eyes and nodded heavily.
Jiang Keyu smiled and said, "Then you guys should go back to your rooms and sleep tonight. We'll go out and play as soon as the sun rises tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay!" the brother and sister said in unison.
"Then let's go. Daddy will take you back."
After Jiang Keyu took the two children out, the room instantly became quiet. Song Baoyuan turned around, a little dazed, and sat blankly by the bed.
After a long time, she moved, walked to the door, left it ajar, and then turned around and sat down in front of the dressing table.
On the other side, Jiang Keyu tucked the two children into bed and patiently coaxed them to sleep, but she was a little absent-minded.
But the child couldn't see it and yawned in a daze.
In less than a quarter of an hour, the brother and sister both fell asleep.
Leaving the wet nurse to look after the baby, Jiang Keyu left quietly, but did not go back to her bedroom directly. Instead, she went to take a bath.
In front of the bronze mirror, Song Baoyuan was wearing only a white nightgown, with her long hair scattered and brushed to one side.
She picked up the white porcelain bottle beside the mirror, poured out the floral dew, spread it on the palm of her hand, and smeared it on her wrists, behind her ears, and collarbone.
Then he picked up the comb, lowered his eyes and waited.
Several lights in the room went out, leaving only two candles flickering.
When Jiang Keyu came back, she paused at the door, raised her hand to sniff the scent on her body, and then pushed the door open and walked in.
Hearing the noise, Song Baoyuan, who was combing her hair, looked over and asked softly, "Are they asleep?"
"Yeah." Jiang Keyu closed the door, averted his gaze, walked past her, and slowly lowered the bed curtains. "I was a little excited at first, but I guess I got tired later, so I fell asleep."
Song Baoyuan slowly stood up and said, "Tomorrow... since you didn't tell me, I don't know what to prepare."
"I didn't mean to burden you."
Jiang Keyu reached back and invited her to sleep with him.
Song Baoyuan raised her hand, placed it on his warm palm, walked into the tent, and sat down with him on the edge of the couch.
Jiang Keyu explained, "Xiao Si is bored and wants to go out to relax, but doesn't want to be alone, so she's joining us. She said she'll take care of everything, and tomorrow you can just have fun like Sui Sui."
Song Baoyuan hesitated to speak.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Keyu held her hand and asked in a low voice.
"Sheng... Is it just Miss Sheng with you?"
Jiang Keyu said in a gentle tone, "Originally, we wanted to invite Chang Yunbai and his family to join us, so that Jiang Chengyou would have playmates. But unfortunately, my sister-in-law had to take the children back to her parents' home that day, so only Xiao Si was with us. But that's enough. Since she thinks she's boring, let her take care of Jiang Chengyou. You can worry less anyway."
Thousands of thoughts flooded her mind. Song Baoyuan opened her mouth but didn't know what to say. After struggling for a while, she just asked, "Will it be bad? After all, Chengcheng is so naughty."
"It's okay, there's no need to be so reserved with her."
Song Baoyuan lowered her head, pursed her lips, and remained silent for a long time.
The tent was dark, with a faint fragrance filling the air, and the atmosphere gradually warmed up.
"The journey to the villa is long, so we might have to get up early." Jiang Keyu leaned forward slightly, and his soft voice brushed past his wife's ear, "Let's take a rest."
"Um."
As if getting consent, Jiang Keyu stroked the lady's waist with his hand and leaned over to kiss her behind the ear.
Because the kiss moved gently downwards, brushing across her neck, Song Baoyuan was forced to lie on her back. Suddenly, she felt a chill on her shoulder blade, but it was quickly covered by the burning heat of her body.
Their skin touched, their hair intertwined, Jiang Keyu closed his eyes and gradually pushed his wife down.
Song Baoyuan's mind was in a state of confusion, but she was less nervous than usual.
She suddenly thought of the talented man and beautiful woman on the painted boat that night, and also of the freshly painted scroll in the study.
I shouldn’t think about it, but I can’t get rid of it.
She suddenly turned her face away, something she had never done before.
Jiang Keyu was suddenly stunned. She opened her eyes and her furrowed brows could be vaguely seen.
"Did I use too much force?" he asked uncertainly.
Song Baoyuan came back to her senses, her voice timid, like a feather brushing against one's heart, tickling one, "No."
Due to various reasons, the couple did not have sex frequently, and it had been half a month since their last time. Jiang Keyu was afraid that she would get carried away and lose her composure.
"If, if you feel uncomfortable, don't be patient, just say it." Jiang Keyu's breathing was uneven, as if she was suppressing something. She forced herself to speak seriously, "As long as you say it, I will stop."
"Yeah." Song Baoyuan didn't want to disturb his interest, so she had to make up an excuse to relieve his worries.
So she said, "It just hit my hair."
The author has something to say:
----------------------
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com