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Join the ServerThese past days, he had been so consumed by the case of the merchant Lu family’s nine-linked rings being stolen—a matter entangled with the imperial court—that he scarcely had a moment’s rest.
He hadn’t returned home.
He knew nothing of what had transpired there.
This was mainly because, over the past few years, Madam Pu had always conducted herself most appropriately.
In matters great and small, she had never made a single misstep.
Even his fastidious mother and his father, who was sparing with praise, spoke highly of her.
Thus, when he heard of this matter, he was somewhat surprised.
He couldn’t help but recall that day at the homecoming banquet, the way she had stared at Cheng Wenque, slightly lost in thought.
Madam Pu came from an eminent family and had always understood propriety perfectly.
Having married, it was hardly appropriate for her to readily accept a gift from an unrelated man.
“What did he send the young madam?” Yan Chiyun asked.
His attendant had already learned the full story.
It was rouge and powder.
Yan Chiyun’s brow furrowed slightly.
He slowed his pace.
He stopped after only two steps.
“Where did you hear of this?”
Seeing his master press the matter, the attendant immediately recounted the entire affair from beginning to end.
Having heard him out, Yan Chiyun’s brow remained knit.
He gave an “mm” in acknowledgment.
Then he said, “See that this does not spread.”
He understood how three people could fabricate a tiger, how public clamor could confound right and wrong.
Madam Pu had always acted with discretion.
There must be some misunderstanding, surely.
It was merely some rouge and powder, after all.
In the past, she had seemed quite fond of such things.
Perhaps she genuinely liked them.
Accepting them was hardly cause for surprise.
The court case, after these days of labor, had been largely tried.
The implicated officials had confessed everything cleanly.
What remained was for His Majesty to render his judgment.
Yan Chiyun pored over the case files submitted by his subordinate officials in the study, examining the interrogation records for any omissions or errors.
Thus occupied, he labored long into the night.
Having lived through two lifetimes, Pu Jinyu understood well that the man who shared her bed was a thoroughgoing workaholic.
In his eyes, surely nothing was more important than official business.
She was perfectly aware of the petty tricks and small maneuvers Jing Chun had employed.
Yan Chiyun must have heard the news as well.
Yet when he entered the chamber, he showed no reaction.
He asked no questions.
It seemed he truly did not care.
And why should he?
He did not like her.
What was there to ask about such matters?
But…
Just as Pu Jinyu was lost in thought, movement came from beyond the bed curtain.
Yan Chiyun had emerged from the study.
From the sound of his footsteps, he went to the bath.
Soon enough, those footsteps arrived outside the curtains.
He parted the drapes.
He once again met the young woman’s eyes—she was gazing directly at him.
Today, Madam Pu reclined upon the bed as before, her face adorned with finely applied rouge and powder, her makeup perfectly executed.
She did indeed look lovely.
Yet he felt nothing.
Perhaps he had simply seen it too often?
But her eyes—quiet and limpid, dark as obsidian—fixed upon him.
Their gaze fell upon him, looked straight at him, and for some reason stirred a strange warmth in his heart.
He could not help but recall how passionately she had entangled him these past days.
He thought her eyes far more beautiful than her painstakingly made-up face.
Beautiful enough to be called “the finishing touch that brings a painting to life.”
He thought this.
But Yan Chiyun said nothing.
***
Before long, Jing Chun, keeping vigil outside, once again heard the sounds of intimacy and passion from within.
They had begun again.
The month had barely passed.
It wasn’t even month’s end, yet they were already sharing a bed.
Was this not too frequent?
Compared to before, it was truly far too frequent.
They say familiarity breeds affection.
With such frequent congress, might feelings grow between them?
What worried Jing Chun most was that Pu Jinyu was not sharing Yan Chiyun’s bed to conceive a child, but to usurp the magpie’s nest.
To seduce Yan Chiyun, win his favor, and thereby secure her position to continue living in the Yan household not as Pu Wange.
If this were truly the case, then even if the eldest young lady should later regret her choice and wish to return, it would be impossible.
Thinking of how Pu Jinyu had recently refused to properly apply her makeup to conceal her features, Jing Chun found this increasingly plausible.
Today’s incident had been indirectly conveyed to the master.
Yet he had shown no reaction.
He had entered the chamber without inquiry.
He must not care.
Aside from her face, the third young lady had no quality that surpassed the eldest.
It was only natural that the master did not care for her.
But since this had become apparent, precautions must be taken.
Whether or not the third young lady harbored such intentions, she must ensure that every possibility that might harm the eldest young lady was strangled in its cradle.
Jing Chun even entertained the thought: should she simply inform Madam Pu that the eldest young lady yet lived?
But upon reflection, this seemed improper.
Back then, the eldest young lady, for the sake of her lover, had refused absolutely to marry into the Yan family.
Only with great difficulty had she escaped to live with her beloved.
She had not returned of her own accord, nor expressed any regret.
If Jing Chun were to reveal this information to the madam, she would betray the trust the eldest young lady had always placed in her.
She could not do this.
If she could not do this, there was another path.
She could convey the news to the eldest young lady herself, informing her that the third young lady was restlessly plotting, seeking to ascend in her place.
This would also allow her to gauge whether the eldest young lady had had any change of heart.
“…”
***
Tonight, Pu Jinyu’s ardor burned even fiercer than the previous two nights.
Yan Chiyun gripped her waist, following her lead, kissing the fragrant, snow-soft fullness above her heart.
Her dark tresses cascaded down beside his face.
The high bridge of his nose sank into that snowy softness, brimming with fragrance.
Though they had not yet begun, he already felt himself stirred beyond measure by her.
The images of their intimate congress from previous nights flooded back like a tide.
Within the dim bed curtains, the amorous atmosphere rapidly intensified and warmed.
Pu Jinyu’s expression was languorous.
She braced herself against the man’s arm, gazing down at him as he kissed her, watching his handsome face sink into that snow-soft fullness.
Her legal mother often said she was unworthy.
Said she was born of a concubine and unworthy to even dream of Yan Chiyun.
Yet now, was this man not restrained by her?
Did he not yield to her superior position, allowing her to look down upon him, to appreciate his abandon?
She had not even expended much effort.
She had merely kissed his thin lips, his jaw.
Suckled lightly at his Adam’s apple.
Trailed her fingers slowly over his abdominal muscles.
Then turned over, straddling him, pressing close to his lips, looking at him.
And he began to kiss her.
Yan Chiyun’s kisses varied in intensity.
Pu Jinyu, gripping the man’s solid shoulder, could not help but dig her fingers into the flesh of his shoulder.
Her expression grew ever more entranced.
Her small face tilted upward, her gaze, clouded with moisture, appearing somewhat ethereal.
When Yan Chiyun moved to kiss the other side, he tilted his head up to look at her.
Because of their position, he could not see the young woman’s face.
He saw only the delicate, slightly raised curve of her chin, her fair, tender neck, and her beautiful collarbone.
Madam Pu appeared slender, but in truth her figure was superb.
One hand could not encompass her.
As Yan Chiyun kissed the other side, he himself heard the sounds of his kisses, mingled with the young woman’s gentle, breathy sighs.
When he kissed more forcefully, her fingers would press and pinch his shoulder all the more.
Her pinching did not hurt.
It even, strangely, brought him a thread of eerie pleasure and delight.
The surging of his emotions grew increasingly intense.
He swept her cascading hair back behind her ear.
His large palm slid down to grip and control her waist.
Her waist, too, was exceedingly slender—so slight it seemed a single hand could span it.
Sometimes he even wondered whether, if he were too unrestrained, he might break it.
Yan Chiyun kissed her, on and off, for a long while.
When he finally paused, his breathing was unsteady.
Pu Jinyu looked down.
All she could see were the traces of his kisses, the love bites he had left behind.
The man’s large palm shifted from grasping to lingering, as though caressing fine pearls and jade.
And indeed it was so, for truly it gathered like pearls and jade.
Pu Jinyu felt the roughness of his large palm’s fingertips.
Inevitably, she recalled the night before.
Memories associated with the roughness of his fingertips surged forth.
Unconsciously, she tightened her lips, trembling slightly…
She was seated astride Yan Chiyun.
The undergarments and middle garments of them both had mostly come loose.
Naturally, he perceived her agitation.
Having been guided by her before, he paused briefly this time.
Then, recalling the memory of their last encounter, he moved directly along that path.
And indeed, he perceived her agitation.
Pu Jinyu had already noticed the man’s hand.
She leaned forward.
No longer gripping his shoulder for support, she instead encircled his shoulders in an embrace.
Beside his ear, delicate and soft, her breath like orchid she exhaled, “Husband, do you remember?”
Remember what?
Yan Chiyun was not slow-witted or unperceptive.
In a moment, he understood what she was asking.
He was about to continue.
But she mistakenly thought he had forgotten and proceeded on her own.
The young woman slightly lifted her hips, rising.
He thought she meant to withdraw and wished to keep her.
Yet unexpectedly, she returned.
Accurately, unfailingly, she found his long, jade-like hand.
There she lingered, in inseparable closeness.
Yan Chiyun was somewhat stunned.
For she grew bolder by the night.
Almost every evening brought new tactics, leaving him overwhelmed, even at a loss.
Soon enough, he recovered himself.
He followed her lead, yielding bit by bit, then withdrawing.
Her breathing grew increasingly labored.
She leaned close to his ear.
How could she breathe so delicately?
Was she doing it deliberately?
If deliberate, to what extent would she tempt him?
Before long, Yan Chiyun’s hand was no longer as it had been.
It was steeped in her essence.
He paused briefly, waiting for her to calm.
He thought she would need considerable rest.
But in truth, she barely paused at all.
She rose, her hand pressing against his chest for support.
Was she leaving?
Yet he remained unsatisfied.
Instinctively, he reached to grip and control her waist.
But before he could act, her hand had already sought him out.
Yan Chiyun tensed instantly.
Pu Jinyu felt his abdomen tighten, his muscles contracting into firm ridges.
In the place the man could not see, she curved her lips into a smile—mocking, dangerous.
Her other hand, her fingertips, traced slowly over the man’s muscular lines.
And then…
Yan Chiyun supported her waist.
His countenance shifted and shifted again the moment she drew near.
He had not expected this young woman, so perfectly the genteel lady, to play thus.
Even to take the superior position.
He knew she did all this because she wanted a child.
But her ardor was truly excessive.
Of course, he did not reject it.
He was merely surprised.
He even rather liked it.
Otherwise, he would not have tensed so.
“…”
***
The fervent night stretched on for a long while.
Afterward, she lay against his chest, her breathing slowly steadying.
Yan Chiyun, too, composed himself.
The soft, fragrant, warm young woman in his arms had loosened her hair.
He looked down.
After a moment’s hesitation, he moved his fingers to brush aside her tresses.
But unexpectedly, she turned her face away almost instantly.
His fingertips halted mid-motion.
So she still minded as much as ever.
Come to think of it… Madam Pu had always presented herself before others with meticulously applied makeup.
Now her face was considerably smudged.
Though the night was deep and dark, and her features were not clearly visible, the spoiled rouge was nonetheless undignified.
Her avoidance was only natural.
Yan Chiyun was about to withdraw his hand, to murmur an apology.
Yet unexpectedly, the young woman in his arms turned her face back toward him.
She even pressed her small cheek into his palm.
At this unaccustomed intimacy after their congress, Yan Chiyun’s heart stirred.
Pu Jinyu’s previous movement had not been a conscious act.
It was a subconscious reflex, instilled by years of “discipline.”
Thus, she had extended her face once more.
Yan Chiyun saw her countenance.
Her fine makeup, as before, was dampened with perspiration, smeared.
Her lashes were lowered.
He could not see her beautiful eyes.
His fingertip moved slightly, touching the spoiled rouge.
He thought of what he had heard upon returning home today.
And, as if possessed, he spoke.
“I hear Huaixiao’s friend sent you a gift.”
The adventure continues! If you loved this chapter, The Moon Reflected In The Water is a must-read. Click here to start!
Read : The Moon Reflected In The Water
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