The Eldest Daughter-in-Law [Reborn] - Chapter 134

Wang Shuhuai was pleased. Sliding his arms around her waist, he lifted her; Xie Yunchu flushed and turned her face away, letting him handle her.

Outside, a fine rain fell and the cold wind tapped gently at the window lattice.

The hazy lamplight seeped in; a thin flush covered her cheeks, making her look so lovely. The more Wang Shuhuai restrained himself, the slower and more teasing his movements became.

His large hand roamed; his hand on her shoulders. Each stroke brought a deeper stirring of desire, and her body honestly stretched and longed. He was like a dashing youth in finery and also like a seasoned man of the world.

Xie Yunchu felt better than ever, so much so that she almost thought it a dream—she even had the absurd worry she might be mistaken about his identity. An unease nagged at her until her hand reached out and found a familiar scar on his back; her slender fingers grazed a taut muscle and she finally felt anchored.

It was indeed her husband.

Autumn winds blew, withered petals spiraling down to the northwest corner, dropping dully into the lotus basin. The lotuses had long withered, leaving only stubborn brittle stems. Rain pattered; fish in the basin darted and sent up little bubbles. She felt his constricting control and a hint of stupefaction—something about him felt not quite right. “Wang Shuhuai…”

Her lithe waist swayed slowly; he gripped her firmly, easing the arch from her back bit by bit.

“Is it really you?”

“Who else could it be?” His tone carried a touch of rage.

Or was she wishing it were someone else?

Xie Yunchu shook her head; sweat dampened her temple hair to her face, her pretty cheek half-hidden by dark wet strands. Half-concealed like a secret temptress, unwilling to fully reveal her beauty, Wang Shuhuai could not bear her coyness. He dragged her from the steaming quilt and, as he had the night before leaving, pinned her against the bed rail to confirm—familiar scenes replayed. Xie Yunchu glanced out at the rain-swept, wilting petals and her gaze gradually blurred.

That night passed like a dream.

When she woke, her eyes still swam as she watched the wind scatter the remaining leaves with no support left.

She remembered herself from the night before—she, like a forced-into-bloom flower, let him nuzzle and entwine and soothe her.

Wang Shuhuai was usually a restrained man; last night he had been like a lone wolf—though not entirely without tenderness. His movements had been gentle enough, but too prolonged, too fierce; he seemed intent on hollowing her out.

Did he hold such grievances?

She could not help but twist her waist to get up; her limbs felt as if they had been unloaded, aching and sore so sharply that she nearly whimpered.

That b-stard.

Hearing the movement, Mama Lin herself brought in a basin of water and peered through the half-open bed curtain with a smile that was almost a laugh.

Xie Yunchu was still a little dazed. Supporting herself on the bed with both hands, she sat up halfway and looked at Mama Lin in a daze. “The Second Young Master returned last night?”

Mama Lin’s expression grew strangely subtle at that question.

Was she really unaware after making such a racket last night?

She wasn’t deaf or blind.

Mama Lin guessed Xie Yunchu must be embarrassed and answered offhand, “He came back and left for the palace before dawn.”

So it truly wasn’t a dream.

A faint unease showed on Xie Yunchu’s face. She’d been muddled the night before; he had coaxed and worn her down, and she hadn’t kept her voice down—surely a scandal had been made. When she glanced at Mama Lin as she finished dressing, Mama Lin’s lip twitched; Xie Yunchu felt slightly flustered.

While Xie Yunchu was dressing, she asked Mama Lin, “Did the Second Young Master say why he returned?”

Coming back in the middle of the night and climbing into her bed—nothing like that had happened in her previous life.

Mama Lin looked at her mistress’s flushed face in the mirror and said, “You didn’t ask him yourself?”

Not asking but doing the deed—true tinder and flame, indeed.

Xie Yunchu realized her mistake. “I fell asleep heavily; I didn’t get around to asking.”

An inadvertent confession.

Mama Lin laughed.

Wang Shuhuai’s behavior had been abnormal; Xie Yunchu worried something had happened at court. Then she reminded herself that this life differed from the last—changes were to be expected—and she quickly calmed, lazily going to tend the child.

She had planned to play with Madam Miaomiao11 and Wang Shuqin that day, but perhaps because word spread that Wang Shuhuai had returned, no one came early. Yet by the hour of Si, Madam Jiang still sent for her to Ninghe Hall.

“Why has Huai-ge returned? How is he? Did something happen?”

From the second day of the seventh month until today, the twenty-sixth of the ninth, Wang Shuhuai had been away for three months.

Madam Jiang had been anxious; she could not spare grievances with her daughter-in-law and summoned her early to inquire.

Xie Yunchu answered evenly, “I don’t know either. He returned late and left before dawn.”

Hearing this, Madam Jiang frowned. “You didn’t attend to him when he rose? Didn’t even ask after him all this time?”

Xie Yunchu did not know how to reply. The Eldest Master, seeing his graceful daughter-in-law, understood quickly and tugged Madam Jiang’s sleeve, “If she didn’t ask, she didn’t ask. It’s no big deal—wait until he’s home.”

After such a long separation, of course the young couple had been merry rather than solemn.

As one who’d been through it, the Eldest Master knew what a long-absent man’s heart might cling to.

Madam Jiang slowly realized and could not press further. Yet Xie Yunchu’s behavior, formerly so prudent, now seemed like a different person; Madam Jiang puzzled over what could cause such a transformation—refusing to attend to her mother-in-law, of all things.

But she needn’t worry about being served; Mama Lin had already taken care of Wang Shuhuai’s arrangements.

“Your daughter-in-law will obey.” Xie Yunchu returned to Chun Jing Hall.

She had expected Wang Shuhuai to be busy and return late, but after she had finished lunch and was watching the child nap, she heard a light movement and saw a tall figure seated in the opposite chair. He looked tired, head propped and pretending to nap, fingers lightly massaging his temples, eyes closed and silent.