Tinglan Garden.
Song Yihuan had coaxed her younger brother to sleep and was about to go back to her room when Fu Ling suddenly grabbed her wrist and gave her a meaningful look towards the outside.
Avoiding Chun Xing, Song Yihuan walked out of the courtyard gate. Granny Zhao stepped out from the shadows.
"Fourth Miss, it's time for you to repay your debt. Please follow this old servant to Shulan Courtyard."
Song Yihuan knew that her peaceful days were over at this moment.
From then on, in this Ningqin Prince's Mansion, she was no longer the fourth illegitimate daughter of the Ding'an Marquis Mansion. Instead, she was a shadow, a shadow that her elder sister could summon and dismiss at will, a shadow that could never see the light.
At the sixth quarter of the Hai hour, Ji Lingchuan, after taking a bath, came to Shulan Courtyard with a faint aura of water on him.
Just like on the night of their wedding consummation, Song Nanxin's maids and grannies were all waiting outside Yixiang Pavilion.
"Greetings to the Heir Apparent," they all said in unison, bowing.
Ji Lingchuan responded with a faint grunt, then pushed open the door and walked in.
Only a dim lotus-shaped lamp was lit in the room. The weak light was scattered and devoured by the cabinets, beams, and the hanging curtains around, making the room seem even darker.
A soft breathing sound came from the large canopied bed behind the screen. Ji Lingchuan strode towards it.
After walking around the screen, a pair of delicate hands suddenly wrapped around his waist from behind, and a warm body pressed against him.
The moment the soft body leaned on him, Ji Lingchuan's body instantly tensed up. He quickly grabbed the slender wrist and pulled the person in front of him to restrain her.
A soft, coquettish moan rang in his ear, and a faint fragrance of apricot blossoms wafted into his nose. Only then did he realize that the person who had hugged him from behind was his newly-wed wife bestowed by the emperor.
Relaxing the strength in his hand, Ji Lingchuan said in a low voice, "Sorry, I didn't mean to."
He had led the Black Armored Army to defend the border. Danger lurked on all sides, and he would never allow anyone to get close to him easily.
Just now, it was purely out of instinct. He never intended to really hurt her.
Song Yihuan didn't expect Ji Lingchuan to react so strongly. She was just worried that he would notice the difference between her and her elder sister if they faced each other directly, so she chose to approach him from behind.
What should she do next? Song Yihuan felt lost and at a loss. For a moment, she had no idea what to do. She just stood there stupidly, lowering her head and holding her wrist.
The candlelight passed through the layers of curtains and the screen and was scattered by the time it reached the inner room. In the darkness, Ji Lingchuan could only vaguely make out that the woman was standing sideways to him. She had her head down, holding her wrist, and her hanging hair completely covered her face.
Seeing that she didn't say a word, Ji Lingchuan felt a bit embarrassed. He took a step forward and said, "Did I hurt you? Let me take a look."
Without giving her a chance to stop him, he grabbed the woman's wrist and pulled it in front of him to check.
Song Yihuan's heart skipped a beat. Before she could stop him, she was pulled in front of the man again.
Her wrist was held in the man's palm, and their bodies were very close.
The man was much taller than her, with broad and strong shoulders, almost enclosing her entire body in his arms.
The overbearing aura emanating from the man made her tense from head to toe. She didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
She carefully looked up at the man. In the dim light, she couldn't see his face clearly, but she could imagine what kind of expression he was wearing as he examined her wrist.
Ji Lingchuan didn't notice the woman in his arms looking at him. The light in the room was too dim. He could only vaguely see a jade-like wrist in his palm. It was so slender and fragile, as if it would break with a gentle twist. A strong sense of pity and tenderness welled up in his heart.
"I'll go light the lamp and apply some medicine on you."
Ji Lingchuan let go of the woman in his arms. Before he could take a step, he felt his sleeve being tugged.
Song Yihuan grabbed his sleeve and wouldn't let him leave. She rubbed her face gently against the man's chest and murmured, "My lord, this concubine feels shy..."
Since she was thirteen years old, Song Yihuan had often disguised herself as her elder sister and gone to the school on her behalf. To prevent others from noticing, her elder sister had specially found an actor to teach her ventriloquism.
She had a photographic memory and learned things very quickly. With her deliberate imitation, even her closest relatives couldn't tell the difference between their voices.
Moreover, Song Nanxin had deliberately made Song Yihuan maintain the same figure as hers. She had gone to school on Song Nanxin's behalf for two years without ever being discovered.
At this moment, this coquettish voice was like a feather brushing across the surface of a lake, making Ji Lingchuan's heart flutter. A sense of restlessness welled up in his heart, and he didn't notice the difference in the voice at all.
His eyes darkened. He pulled her to sit on the edge of the bed. One hand tightly clasped her slender waist, and the other hand gently rubbed her wrist.
He explained, "Don't approach me from behind next time. A general never exposes his back to anyone easily. You might get hurt accidentally."
Song Yihuan was tightly locked in his arms and couldn't move. To prevent him from seeing her face clearly, she deliberately buried her face in his neck like a shy girl.
But she didn't know that this dependent posture had pleased this man who was heroic and decisive on the battlefield.
His palm had a few calluses. The touch as it slid across her skin and the soreness from being pinched just now made Song Yihuan let out an involuntary soft moan.
With the gentle and fragrant woman in his arms and the faint fragrance of apricot blossoms constantly wafting from her body, gradually, Ji Lingchuan's breathing became much heavier. The strength of his kneading slowly changed, and the hand holding her waist gradually tightened.
Song Yihuan could clearly feel the change in the man's body temperature. Thinking about what was going to happen next, there was actually a trace of fear hidden in her heart. The pain she had felt when she woke up that day still lingered in her memory.
But things had come to this point, and she had no way back.
She bit her lower lip and took the initiative. She raised her head and kissed the man's prominent Adam's apple.
The next moment, the world spun. By the time she realized what was happening, she had already been pressed onto the quilt by the man.
It was completely dark inside the overlapping bed curtains, but the touch on his palms and fingertips allowed Ji Lingchuan to know everything without even opening his eyes.
Ji Lingchuan remembered that she had been hurt by him a few days ago, so he originally planned to be gentle this time to make it easier for her.
But the string of self - restraint in his mind finally snapped under the woman's active cooperation and the alluring fragrance of apricot blossoms.
This was a silent battle. The two of them were entangled wordlessly with a hint of tacit understanding.
The man's broad and solid chest was covered in sweat. As he alternately gathered strength and released it, the sweat slid down his well - defined muscles and dripped onto Song Yihuan's fair and slender back.
The woman's slender neck was slightly raised. She barely supported herself with the strength of her arms, just like a lotus leaf in the lake, swaying violently with the rippling water.
When everything finally came to an end, the bed was completely in a mess, and both of them were drenched in sweat.
The woman was lying on her back, her breathing had become steady, and she had fallen asleep from exhaustion.
The man remembered how hard she had tried to please him tonight, making him feel extremely satisfied several times. His eyebrows softened like melting ice, with a trace of tenderness.
Ji Lingchuan got up and called for water. Just like the first time, he didn't want to wake the woman on the bed. After cleaning himself up, he left.
He was worried that if he stayed any longer, he would lose control again and entangle with her until dawn.
Not long after Ji Lingchuan left, Song Yihuan, who had seemed to be in a deep sleep, opened her eyes.