Late at night, the vast city of Kyoto was pressed under heavy, dark clouds. The air was stiflingly hot, making it hard to breathe, and there wasn't a hint of wind anywhere. Most households in Kyoto had extinguished their lights and fallen into deep sleep. Yet, within the Yi Xiang Pavilion of the Ning Prince's Estate, peace was far from present.
"Don't... don't leave..."
The room was unlit, with only the faint glow from the lantern hanging under the eaves outside providing illumination. But that light, once inside, was further diluted by the tall cabinets, wide screen, and swaying pearl curtains, leaving precious little. On the carved bed with its intricate patterns, bed curtains hung low, and the pitch-black environment made it impossible to discern each other's appearances.
At this moment, a pair of figures were intimately entwined on the bed. Jade-like arms, white as the bright moon, wrapped around the man's robust waist. Her willow-like neck pressed close to the man's side, unconsciously rubbing lightly, her burning breath unobstructed against his ear.
The man was initially unmoved, his expression cold and stern. His hands rested on the woman's shoulders, intending to push her away from his embrace. Yet, feeling the overly delicate skin beneath his palms, like fine silk, he couldn't help but feel a sliver of tenderness, reluctant to spoil it.
It was this momentary lapse that allowed the woman to cling even tighter.
"My Lord, please don't leave..."
The woman's soft sobs were light and shallow, yet like a cooing cat, they fell upon the man's ear like fire, causing an inexplicable surge of impatience in his heart. However, a refreshing apricot fragrance emanating from her body miraculously soothed that trace of agitation.
His gaze darkened. His hands, which had been in a pushing motion, now shifted into an embrace. The hands that had long wielded sabers, swords, and long spears were covered with slight calluses. They grazed the woman's meticulously protected skin, causing her to shiver, and an involuntary cat-like whimper escaped her lips.
"Boom!"
Torrential rain washed over the red walls and tiled roofs of Kyoto's houses. The Star-Gazing Lake outside Yi Xiang Pavilion opened its arms to receive the heavens' water. Two red carp floated on the lake surface, intimately circling each other, their tails entwined.
The occasional thunder that ripped through the night sky momentarily illuminated the dark Yi Xiang Pavilion, only for it to plunge into deeper darkness afterward. The thunder masked the constant, heart-pounding sounds from the bed. The scene within that confined space behind the bed curtains was utterly stimulating. The neat bed was now a mess, as if it too had been ravaged by the sudden heavy rain outside.
This thunderstorm didn't last long, gradually ceasing after a short while. The oppressive heat was washed away by the rain, and a faint scent of grass and trees permeated the air, refreshing the spirit.
As the downpour subsided, the sounds within the room gradually ceased. Several servants, standing guard outside the room, held hot water, clean towels, and clothes. They waited, eyes lowered, for a summons from within.
However, in less than a moment, the sounds that made one's ears flush began again, interspersed with the woman's unbearable sobs.
"My Lord... please, please let me go..."
But these cries brought no pity from the other party; instead, the intensity grew. From cries to soft, shallow gasps, it was merely a fleeting moment, yet it became increasingly evocative. The sounds were intermittent, entangled, and only truly ceased in the latter half of the night.
The room was silent for approximately the time it takes an incense stick to burn, before the man's hoarse voice finally sounded: "Hot water."
The servants outside the door, seeing the cue, cautiously pushed open the door and entered with their items. The leading maidservant lit a lotus-shaped lamp in the outer room. The faint candlelight illuminated the room, dispelling the dense darkness that had been like night. Remembering the sounds that had come from within the room earlier, the maidservant subconsciously glanced towards the large bed behind the screen.
In the faint light, she vaguely saw a graceful figure sleeping with her back to the outside, perhaps her skin was too smooth, the brocade quilt had slipped slightly, revealing a corner of her fragrant shoulder, and that fair shoulder was now covered in marks.
The bed curtains were drawn, concealing the scene within the bed. The maidservant met the man's gaze, which was intimidating without anger, sharp and awe-inspiring. Her heart skipped a beat, and she lowered her head, not daring to look again.
However, from the clothes scattered on the floor, one could easily imagine how passionate and intense the situation in the room had been.
The man rose, cleaned himself, dressed neatly, and was about to leave, as if the person who had just held the woman so tightly was not him, appearing utterly cold and heartless.
But as he stepped out of the room, his footsteps paused. He turned back and looked at the figure on the bed, concealed by the bed curtains. During their intimate night, the room had been pitch black; he had acted purely on instinct and had not clearly seen her face. However, he knew without a doubt that the person lying there was his newlywed wife.
"Crown Prince, the hour has come. It is time to proceed to the palace." A deliberately lowered voice of urgency came from a subordinate outside.
Remembering how he had tossed and turned her for a long time, and it being her first time, the man said to the maidservant, "Be gentle, and do not wake the Crown Princess Consort. Let her continue to sleep."
The curtain was lifted, and a figure, tall and straight as a pine, powerful yet refined, emerged from the room. The light from the lantern under the eaves illuminated his brows and eyes. Below a pair of sword-like eyebrows that extended to his temples, his features were deep and handsome – a face capable of inspiring admiration in the young women of Kyoto. Yet, his gaze seemed to be frosted over, making others instinctively feel unapproachable.
This man was Ji Lingchuan, the Crown Prince of Ning's Estate and the formidable General who commanded Kyoto's one hundred thousand Black-Armored Imperial Guards.
Despite a sleepless night, Ji Lingchuan felt no fatigue. Instead, he was refreshed and invigorated. He had broad shoulders and a narrow waist; from behind, he was indistinguishable from the pampered noble sons of Kyoto. Only those familiar with him knew how robust and powerful his body was beneath his clothes.
It wasn't that Ji Lingchuan was truly so heartless, leaving without a backward glance after severely exhausting someone. It was simply that the hour of Mao (5-7 AM) had arrived, and he needed to immediately rush into the palace for the morning court audience with the Emperor. Indulging himself to this extent was, for him, an unprecedented first.
Leaving the Ning Prince's Estate, Ji Lingchuan boarded the sedan chair his attendants had prepared and headed towards the palace.
Not long after he departed, the woman within the Yi Xiang Pavilion slowly opened her eyes, revealing a bewildered gaze.
Song Yihuan had a very bizarre dream. She dreamed that she shamelessly entangled herself with a tall, majestic man, her hands tightly clinging to his neck like vines clinging to a fence. And his powerful arms held her slender, soft waist, tirelessly and patiently teaching her, again and again, what bliss was. She couldn't see his face, only remembered the bulging veins on his arms, his heavy gasps, and a bead of sweat hanging precariously from his chin.
Waking up, she felt an intense headache, as if her head had been split open with an axe. Supporting her throbbing head, Song Yihuan tried to sit up. Pain radiated from all over her body, causing her to gasp. Lowering her head, she saw the mottled marks on her body, and her pupils constricted, her heart skipping a beat.
This was—
Before she could react, she heard a startling crash. The door was suddenly slammed open, and a group of people furiously burst in from outside. A gray-clad figure rushed straight towards Song Yihuan upon entering, roughly pulling Song Yihuan out of the bedding, shoving her hard onto the ground, and pointing at her nose, cursed:
"Song Yihuan, you shameless hussy! The Crown Princess Consort treated you wholeheartedly, yet you shamelessly put on the Crown Princess Consort's clothes, disguised yourself as the Crown Princess Consort, climbed into the Crown Prince's bed, and seduced him! Do you have any sense of propriety or shame?!"
Song Yihuan looked up and saw a madam pointing and cursing at her. Behind the madam stood her legitimate elder sister, Song Nanxin, the Crown Princess Consort of the Ning Prince's Estate!