Xiao Rencheng looked at his wife beneath him, her face flushed. He lowered his eyes in silence and simply intertwined his fingers with hers.
The volcano that had been dormant for years erupted violently overnight. Flames gushed forth, and the gurgling lava seared the snowy moonlight. The light after the rain illuminated the mountain stream.
Lan Jinqin was delicate. Even though he was tempted to continue, seeing her exhausted state, he had to endure.
Lan Jinqin felt the sudden weight of the man leave her body. Only then did she slowly remove the hand covering her face.
Xiao Rencheng tugged at her forearm. "I'll have someone prepare hot water for you to wash up."
Hearing this, Lan Jinqin felt even more embarrassed.
Wen Zilong was full of sweet words, but in reality, he didn't care for her as much as Xiao Rencheng did. Xiao Rencheng would even wash her body himself.
Xiao Rencheng cleaned her up and tucked her back into the brocade quilt. Then he went to the bathroom to wash himself.
When he returned to the bedroom, he saw Lan Jinqin lying lazily under the quilt, not moving at all, but not looking like she was going to sleep either.
He hesitated for a moment and then sat on the bed.
Lan Jinqin, wrapped in the quilt, didn't seem to realize she should share half of the bed with him.
Xiao Rencheng was silent for a while. He pulled a corner of the quilt over himself, lay down, and then pulled her into his arms. He said in a deep voice,
"The incense burned in the room contains musk. Prolonged exposure can be harmful to a woman's body. You don't have to burn it in the future, my lady."
Lan Jinqin's muddled thoughts were jolted by his words. Her hairs stood on end. She half-closed her eyes and asked guiltily, "You... you recognize that incense?"
"When I was investigating cases in the Censorate, how could I not recognize some of the drugs?" Xiao Rencheng said indifferently. "If you don't want to have a child, I have other ways. Don't light that incense anymore."
"My lord," Lan Jinqin bit her lip, turned around, and looked into his eyes. "I'm just your concubine. According to the rules, I shouldn't have your child..."
Even if she accidentally had a child, it would have to be taken under the name of the official Lady Xiao in the future.
She couldn't bear to be separated from her own flesh and blood, so she'd rather never have a child in this life.
Xiao Rencheng understood her thoughts and wasn't in a hurry to confess his love.
Anyway, she was being stubborn. Even if he confessed now, she wouldn't take it to heart.
He just stroked her black and silky hair and said, "As long as you're happy. The imperial physicians in the palace have a contraceptive secret recipe for men. I'll go to the Imperial Hospital in the palace tomorrow to get it. You just remember one thing: don't light that incense again."
Lan Jinqin choked with emotion. She looked at Xiao Rencheng in disbelief.
She wasn't an ignorant woman. The secret recipe from the Imperial Hospital was used to kill sperm in men.
It had the same effect as the medicine she gave Wen Zilong, but it wasn't poisonous.
However, long - term use might cause a man to become truly infertile.
Xiao Rencheng was crazy...
Lan Jinqin took a light breath. She remembered the information she heard that night in the Lanfang Courtyard and Wen Zilong's ruthless actions this time.
She might lose her life at any time. If that happened, this secret would be unknown, and the Lan family would have no chance to clear their name.
Maybe she could really try to trust a man again?
Lan Jinqin suddenly sat up, looked straight into Xiao Rencheng's face, and said seriously,
"My lord, you mentioned the unjust case of the Lan family and Wen Zilong before. In fact, I really have new leads..."
...
After Song Yinghuai parted ways with Xiao Rencheng, he went to the palace and chatted with Queen Ma for a long time. It was not until Queen Ma noticed that he was avoiding something that she urged him to leave the palace quickly.
"You must have been angry with that girl again, right? Don't think that just because I'm in the deep palace, I don't know anything... You had a fight with her. I don't know what it was about, but don't always use your lord's airs to suppress her and even put her under house arrest..."
"I saw that girl at the palace banquet. She has a stubborn temper and is very bold. The more you do this, the more stubborn she'll be." Queen Ma frowned. "You should coax her a bit."
Song Yinghuai forced a smile. "How does mother know that I don't coax her? I've shown my most humble side to her in this lifetime."
"Is your so - called humility just putting her under house arrest?" Queen Ma said disapprovingly. "Why don't you go and ask the young couples in the folk? When a husband coaxes his wife, which one isn't humble and deliberately accommodating?"
Song Yinghuai swallowed hard.
It was really difficult for him to be as tender and loving as those young couples in the folk.
Especially this time, it wasn't his fault!
Couldn't women be a bit more reasonable?
After Song Yinghuai was driven out of the palace by Queen Ma, he thought for a while. By the time he returned to the Yan Prince's Mansion, it was already midnight.
The lights in the bedroom were out. Only a dim bedside palace lantern was faintly lit, looking a bit desolate.
Seeing that the prince, who had been missing for a few days, finally appeared in the bedroom again, the little maid guarding the door quickly stood up and looked at Song Yinghuai nervously.
Song Yinghuai frowned at her. "What are you so nervous about? Has Caiyu gone to sleep?"
In contrast, Ge Qingqing was much calmer.
It was a pity that in order to chase Sheng Jiangli, that girl went to the Xu Mansion to provoke others and was locked up in the Ministry of Justice.
The little maid nodded. "Yes, my lord. Sister Caiyu has been asleep for a long time."
Song Yinghuai hesitated for a moment. He wanted to go in but was too proud to do so. So he just stood there for a while.
Sweat rolled down the little maid's forehead. Her legs were trembling, and her eyes were shifting uneasily.
Her abnormal behavior brought Song Yinghuai back to his senses.
The man slightly squinted his eyes, and a dark shadow covered them.
Suddenly, Song Yinghuai asked again, "How has her diet been these days?"
The little maid took a light breath and stammered, "It's... it's been fine. She even ate a bowl of fried chicken and a bowl of roasted lamb today."
Song Yinghuai took a step towards her, his aura becoming more intimidating. "Really? Her appetite is good... Then I'm sure she's put on some weight."
The little maid's legs were shaking like crazy. "Yes, yes, she has. My lord, please rest assured. We maids will definitely take good care of Sister Caiyu..."
"Hehe!" Song Yinghuai let out a cold laugh in the dark.
A few days ago, he heard that the girl had no appetite and had lost weight. But today, she had put on weight and had a good appetite.
Song Yinghuai turned and walked towards the bedroom.
The little maid was shocked. She stumbled after him and whispered,
"My lord, my lord... Where are you going?"
"My lord, Sister Caiyu is asleep. You'll wake her up if you go in like this..."
Song Yinghuai's hand landed on the door. Without looking back, he said, "I'm going back to my own bedroom. Do I still have to consider whether she's asleep or not?"
"Creak—" The door of the bedroom was pushed open.
On the large bed, the quilt was piled high. The person in the bed was covering themselves tightly with the quilt and didn't even want to show their head.
Without saying a word, Song Yinghuai stepped forward and lifted the quilt.
The person in the quilt desperately grabbed the corner of the quilt and refused to show their head, but they were no match for Song Yinghuai.
With a loud noise, the thin quilt was torn in half. As the cotton fluttered, Song Boming rolled out from the pile of white cotton, shouting, "Fourth brother, fourth brother! Spare my life!"
The bedside palace lantern was flickering. It illuminated the man's cold and angry face.
The air around seemed to freeze. Although it was already summer, the temperature in the room dropped instantly with his anger. The little maid held her breath and knelt on the ground, afraid of becoming the spark that would ignite Song Yinghuai's anger.
"Where is she?"
Song Yinghuai's eyes were cold. The twitching of his lips revealed his suppressed anger.
The little maid was kneeling on the ground, trembling all over. "Sister Caiyu, Sister Caiyu..."
"Speak!" Song Yinghuai suddenly raised his voice, like a thunderbolt out of the blue.
Song Boming knelt on the bed, hugging the torn quilt and pleading for the little maid, "Fourth brother, don't be angry. Miss Caiyu wanted to leave the mansion. We felt sorry for her. Shier said he would take her over the wall, and then..."
"Where?"
The little maid pointed tremblingly towards the northwest corner of the prince's mansion.
Before the little maid could finish speaking, Song Yinghuai had already disappeared, leaving behind a gust of wind.
The northwest corner of the Yan Prince's Mansion was the highest and most desolate part of the wall.
Ji Ming probably didn't expect that Caiyu and Song Yongzhen would choose the most difficult place to escape.
At this moment, on the tall wall, the woman was struggling to climb up...