Chapter 6 "Are you worried that I can't satisfy you?"
Their eyes met.
Meeting Sheng Yunche's calm yet compelling gaze, Ye Mingzhu's heart pounded, and a blush slowly crept onto her fair face.
She thought they were just using each other, and that someone as eccentric, aloof, and arrogant as him would only warn her to behave herself and not have any improper thoughts.
She truly hadn't expected him to make such a request...
The lamp wick snapped open with a "pop," breaking the silence of the room.
Sheng Yunche tightened his warm hands, pulling her soft body closer to him. He stared intently at her and asked calmly, "How is it?"
"Are you sure you can do it?" Ye Mingzhu asked instinctively, her heart pounding with anxiety.
She knew she had asked the wrong question as soon as she asked it.
Sheng Yunche scoffed lightly, then retorted dangerously, "I can't?"
“…No.” Ye Mingzhu gently bit her lip and said softly, “I am naturally willing, but I know medicine…for the sake of the Duke’s health, I suggest that this matter be postponed a little.”
Sheng Yunche raised an eyebrow and asked jokingly, "How do we slow it down? Holding hands today, kissing tomorrow, and consummating our marriage the day after?"
Ye Mingzhu felt that he wasn't asking the question sincerely; he looked at her as if she were a small animal.
He was teasing her.
A flush rose to her cheeks, and she tried to remain calm, saying, "At least a month. It would be better to consider consummating our marriage after I have treated your body for the first time."
"Are you worried that I'm too weak to satisfy you during sex?" Sheng Yunche asked.
Ye Mingzhu quickly replied, "Of course not!"
Sheng Yunche looked at her with his dark phoenix eyes.
Ye Mingzhu forced a smile and said, "The Suwen says, 'Essence is the foundation of the body.' Only when kidney essence is sufficient and qi and blood are vigorous can one better treat illnesses and maintain health. Your Excellency, I am truly thinking of your health and have no selfish motives whatsoever."
“Okay.” Sheng Yunche lay down calmly and closed his eyes. “You said one month, so it’s one month.”
Ye Mingzhu thought she would have to say more, but she didn't expect him to agree so easily.
That works too, at least a month.
She glanced at the chaise lounge not far away and asked softly, "Then you sleep on the bed, and I'll sleep on the chaise lounge?"
Sheng Yunche opened his eyes, looked at her, and asked, "What do you think?"
Ye Mingzhu thought for a moment, then got up and prepared to get off the bed at the foot of the bed.
But the moment she made a move, her slender wrist was grabbed.
After a dizzying moment, her heart pounding, she fell heavily into a broad, firm embrace and landed back on the bed.
"Lord Duke..." she couldn't help but whisper.
"Hmm." Sheng Yunche raised his hand and pinched her earlobe. His clear and indifferent voice rang out above her head, carrying an unyielding and forceful tone, "Go to sleep."
“...Yes,” Ye Mingzhu replied.
She hurriedly closed her eyes, feeling as if her earlobe, which had been pinched, had been stung by fire, burning intensely.
But she thought she wouldn't be able to sleep, that she would be sleepless all night because of the strange man beside her, or because of the hatred from her past life. But she didn't expect to fall asleep so quickly.
After so many years of being a wandering ghost, she was truly exhausted.
When her breathing became soft and even, a long, slender hand reached out and poked her cheek, then gently pinched her earlobe, as if it had found an interesting toy.
A low laugh echoed in the night.
...
The first light of dawn.
Ye Mingzhu woke up from a nightmare, panting, her face deathly pale.
Seeing the unfamiliar room layout, her mind went blank for a while until she could fully recall what had happened yesterday, and then she slowly calmed down.
"Miss," Baozan greeted her with a smile, asking lightly, "Are you getting up? The Duke said you can sleep a little longer and there's no rush to go to Songhe Hall."
"Okay." Ye Mingzhu stood up. "Help me wash up."
Sheng Yunche said this, but she couldn't actually be late, lest she leave a bad impression on the Old Madam and Princess Ronghua, affecting her future plans.
After she finished getting ready, Sheng Yunche, dressed in a jade-colored straight robe and a silver leather belt, walked in, glanced at her, and asked, "Can we go now?"
"Yes," Ye Mingzhu replied.
The two went out together, with her trailing half a step behind Sheng Yunche as a sign of respect.
As she stepped through the gate of Songhe Hall, she saw a capable maidservant lift the curtain and announce to the inside, "The Duke has arrived, and the Madam has arrived!"
Ye Mingzhu entered the hall and immediately saw the old matriarch and Princess Ronghua sitting in the main seats.
The old matriarch had a kind and gentle face, while Princess Ronghua was dignified and elegant. The two women looked at each other with complicated expressions, a mixture of scrutiny, embarrassment, and apology.
On the left side of the hall sat Sheng Yunche's two half-brothers and one half-sister, their eyes filled with curiosity.
On the right side of the hall sat Madam Jia, whose face was grim; Sheng Huai'an, with a stern expression; and Liu Rumei, who had just given birth and was quietly coaxing her infant son, her expression obscured.
Ye Mingzhu and Sheng Yunche stepped forward to offer tea. The old lady patted the back of her hand and said "good child" several times, and gave her a piece of warm jade with excellent water content and color.
Princess Ronghua was a woman of few words, but her manners were impeccable.
He not only gave her a beautiful ruby filigree gold headdress, but also a whole box full of jewelry.
Ye Mingzhu walked up to Jia Shi, who, with a sullen face, tossed her an old-fashioned gold hairpin.
She gave purses to Sheng Yunche's three half-brothers and sisters-in-law, and walked up to Liu Rumei. Liu Rumei smiled gently and called her "sister-in-law".
When she walked up to Sheng Huai'an, his eyes were filled with pain and anger, almost as if he were staring a hole through her.
He took the purse she offered, gritted his teeth, and said in a restrained voice, "Congratulations, sister-in-law."
If you didn't know the inside story, you would really think he was the one who was let down.
Ye Mingzhu lowered her eyes, a cold smile playing on her lips.
She intended to ignore it, but unexpectedly, Sheng Yunche suddenly raised his hand and placed it behind her waist, asking coolly, "Aren't you going to congratulate me?"
Sheng Huai'an looked at him in astonishment: "What?"
After her initial surprise, Ye Mingzhu lowered her head and suppressed a laugh.
The room was deathly silent.
The atmosphere at Songhe Hall eased slightly only after Sheng Huai'an's expression changed and he almost gritted his teeth as he said, "Congratulations, Duke."
After the family acquaintances were established, Princess Ronghua said, "Everyone, please move to the flower hall next door and have some refreshments before you go your separate ways. The family banquet between the two mansions will be held in about half a month, and we will gather again then. Mingzhu, come with me to Jingchun Residence later; I have something to ask you."
"What are you eating for? I'm not eating anymore!" Jia Shi had long since reached her limit and stood up first, storming out angrily.
Sheng Huai'an gave Ye Mingzhu a deep look, then walked up to Sheng Yunche and said, "Congratulations, brother, on marrying a wonderful wife," before leaving looking utterly dejected.
Liu Rumei performed a curtsy and softly took her leave.
Sheng Yunche's half-siblings were the last to leave, each one like a little quail, not daring to speak.
After everyone left, Princess Ronghua waved to Ye Mingzhu and said, "Let's go too."
Ye Mingzhu stepped forward and took her arm, then followed obediently beside her.
The two bid farewell to the old lady and left Songhe Hall.
After walking for a while, Ye Mingzhu quietly looked back and found that Sheng Yunche, who had been following her, had disappeared and she didn't know where he had gone.
“Mingzhu…” Princess Ronghua suddenly asked, “How are you and Junzhao doing? Has he bullied you?”
"Jun Zhao?" Ye Mingzhu asked.
Princess Ronghua pressed her temples hard, her head aching, and said, "Junzhao is Yun Che's courtesy name. His reckless behavior yesterday must have frightened you, right?"
“I know you and Huai’an have a deep relationship. On your wedding day, Junzhao snatched you to the East Mansion… It’s only natural that you have resentment towards him.”
Speaking of this, Princess Ronghua recalled how Sheng Yunche stood calmly in front of her yesterday, saying that he wanted to steal her brother's wife.
Saying things like "Seeing her makes me want to have children with her" was said politely, but the meaning behind it made her want to slap him a few times to curb his unruly and arrogant nature!
Ye Mingzhu didn't know how to answer, so she thought for a moment and asked, "Your Highness, what did my husband say to you yesterday?"
No matter how straightforward Princess Ronghua was, she knew that what Sheng Yunche said yesterday had to be embellished. She said, "He said he fell in love with you at first sight, that he couldn't live without you, and that he only wanted to spend the rest of his life with you."
Ye Mingzhu was very surprised.
She hadn't expected Sheng Yunche to be so responsible.
The two were merely business partners, yet he took all the blame, shielded her from gossip, and minimized the damage to her reputation.
In the future, outsiders will only say that he acted recklessly and pity her for being forcibly taken from her, and they will not say anything bad about her.
Didn't you see that Princess Ronghua thinks the same way?
Princess Ronghua continued, “I’m sorry to you and your parents. I should have tried my best to stop it yesterday, but Junzhao has never been interested in women and wouldn’t even take a concubine, except for you. I was hoping that after he got married, he could live a good life with you and stop resisting medical treatment and taking his health for granted. But yesterday… sigh.”
Ye Mingzhu was genuinely surprised this time.
Sheng Yunche was not interested in women and did not even have a concubine.
He didn't seem like that last night, did he?
...
At the same time, at Qinghui Garden in Xifu.
With delicate features, Liu Rumei held a book, cradling her newborn son who was only a month old, and sat on a bamboo couch under a tree, reading to him.
Sheng Huai'an sat down beside her. She coughed softly, and he immediately showed a pained expression and patted her back.
But then another bright and pretty face suddenly appeared in his mind, and his eyes glazed over for a moment, a feeling he couldn't quite describe welling up inside him.
He hadn't taken Ye Mingzhu seriously, but she was suddenly forcibly taken from him and was no longer his...
He couldn't help but frown.
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