The night was vast, and a crescent moon hung high in the sky. Flocks of swallows and sparrows flew across, heading south.
Autumn had arrived, and winter was not far off. The weather was getting colder, and some of the birds had to fly south to spend the winter.
Meng Ling'er put down the pen in her hand and rubbed her sore wrist. "Finally finished. I seem to have written faster today than yesterday."
"Miss, may I come in?" Shui Su asked from outside.
Meng Ling'er replied, "Come in."
Shui Su pushed the door open and entered, holding a box with a brocade quilt in her hand. "It's getting colder these days. I've brought you some more brocade quilts."
Meng Ling'er sighed and said, "How time flies! I always thought it was still early autumn. I wonder if Mother has added a quilt?"
Shui Su pursed her lips and smiled. "Xin Jin is such a meticulous person. She surely won't let the lady catch a cold."
Pei Ying had no idea that her daughter was thinking about her and wanting to add a quilt for her. If she knew, she would probably refuse.
While the birds were feeling the cold, Pei Ying didn't feel it at all. She never expected that he would come so suddenly without giving her any time to prepare.
He spread his five fingers and placed his hand on the back of her head. His long arm locked around her waist, and she couldn't move, as if caught in an airtight net.
The net was slowly tightening. The successful hunter had built a fire and placed the just - caught delicacy on the fire.
That kind of flame that made Pei Ying's heart tremble, a flame that seemed to set the prairie ablaze, came again. It was like countless torches suddenly rising in a cold and desolate wilderness. The torches were like a long winding dragon, raging wantonly in the wilderness.
At a certain moment, all the fireballs in the torches fell.
Then the wilderness was set on fire. The howling mountain wind blew to the plain, and the already fierce fire became even more out of control, seemingly about to burn up the wilderness and the sky above it.
Pei Ying was held in his arms, with her waist tightly clasped and firmly pressed against his chest. At first, the hand that was placed on his shoulder would push against his shoulder blade to get away, but soon, she began to lose strength due to shortness of breath.
She was having difficulty breathing, her tongue was numb, and Pei Ying even had the illusion that he was going to engulf her nasal cavity as well.
She was sitting on his lap. Although this position was supposed to be higher than his, it didn't make this beast hesitate or show any fear.
He was always like this, coming on strongly, rough and fierce, having nothing to do with gentleness.
Pei Ying kicked her feet.
With a "patta" sound, the embroidered shoe on the beautiful woman's foot fell to the ground as she kicked.
Pei Ying had gotten up in a hurry after lying down to rest and then remembered to lock the door, so she hadn't put on her foot - covering again.
Her fair and round toes shrank, like a sparrow shivering with its feathers wet by the heavy rain, just wanting to find a place to hide itself.
The lamp was burning quietly. The two breathing sounds in the room intertwined. Occasionally, a small, tremulous groan would escape, only to be quickly drowned out by the heavy breathing.
I don't know how long it had passed. Beside the already - fallen exquisite embroidered shoe, a middle - length robe fluttered down gracefully.
The middle - length robe was exquisitely made, with vine - like patterns embroidered on the side ties and the collar, clearly worn by a young woman.
The lamp was still burning in the room. It had been lit not long ago.
When Pei Ying was shaving Huo Tingshan's beard before, she was afraid of not seeing clearly, so she had specially lengthened the wick of the lamp and added another candlestick.
Now, in this bright light, Pei Ying was so embarrassed that her face turned bright red. The blush spread like fire from her cheeks and ears to her neck, blooming under her creamy white skin.
And the man burying his head was completely unaware of anything amiss. He was devouring her as if he wanted to suck out every bit of flavor from her, even from her bones.
Pei Ying's fingers on Huo Tingshan's shoulder tightened even more, wrinkling the small piece of his clothes on the shoulder.
At a certain moment, the beautiful woman suddenly shivered, and her hand on Huo Tingshan's shoulder almost slipped off.
She couldn't stand it anymore. Pei Ying let go of the small piece of cloth that she had been tugging at for a long time. Then she reached down, first placed her hand on the man's cheek in front of her, and then tried to slide it in further to cover his misbehaving thin lips.
"General, you should take a bath first," Pei Ying said in a trembling voice.
Whether it was her words that reminded Huo Tingshan or something else, after Pei Ying's words fell, the man finally slowly raised his head.
Probably because his blood was boiling, the small cut on the side of his cheek oozed blood again.
The cut was horizontal, and a small patch of blood seeped out, looking a bit scary.
Pei Ying was startled by his look. His eyes were greedy, and there seemed to be dark clouds rolling in his narrow eyes. At a certain moment, one could catch a glimpse of the starlight and lightning in the clouds. Coupled with the bloodstain on the side of his cheek, he clearly looked like a large wild beast that was eating and extremely protective of its food.
Pei Ying's fingertips went numb with shock, but she still insisted, "Take a bath!"
Suddenly, she was picked up into the air. Pei Ying thought he would first put her aside and then go back to take a bath by himself. Unexpectedly, this man didn't follow the common sense.
Huo Tingshan carried her towards the side - room. "I'll borrow your bath pool today. Another day, I'll invite you to my room to take a bath, and I'll return the favor."
Pei Ying blushed with embarrassment. "You can take a bath by yourself. Why are you taking me there? I won't serve you. Put me down."
"I don't need you to serve me," his voice was very deep, even more hoarse than usual. "The floor is dirty. You've lost one of your shoes, so it's not suitable for you to step on the ground. I'll take you back to your room after I've finished bathing."
Pei Ying was stunned by his nonsense.
Her room was cleaned by Xin Jin every day. How could it be dirty?
Moreover, the floor tiles were not knives. Why couldn't she step on them without her embroidered shoes? This man was clearly the one to blame for her losing the shoe.
Huo Tingshan took big steps. Usually, Pei Ying thought the side - room was quite a distance away, but now, they arrived in the blink of an eye.
Two - thirds of this side - room was occupied by a bath pool. The bath pool was against the wall. The spring - inlet was made in the shape of a beast's head and embedded in the wall. There was a drainage outlet at the bottom of the other side to ensure that there was flowing water in and out all day long.
Opposite the rectangular hot spring, there was a wooden rack for hanging clothes and a small cabinet for placing bath supplies. There was also a small low stool.
When Huo Tingshan saw the small low stool, he smiled. He walked over in a few steps and put Pei Ying on it. "Wait for me for a moment, madam."
Pei Ying stared at him with wide eyes as he untied his belt in front of her. Except for gently putting aside the jade pendant, he just threw the rest on the ground. He quickly took off all his clothes.
Pei Ying was stung by a certain sight. Just as she closed her eyes, she heard a "splash" sound, and the man had entered her bath pool.
The hot water in the pool steamed up, creating a mist that blocked the view and made it less clear.
Pei Ying pulled the half - falling belly - covering closer to her body. She looked down and saw a large patch of red on her chest. The small red mole was even as red as dripping blood.
His beard had been shaved clean. It didn't hurt, but there was still a large area of burning heat around her chest.
Pei Ying retied the bellyband to barely cover herself, then quietly got up and planned to return to her room at this moment. However, just as she stood up, she heard Huo Tingshan calling her.
"Madam."
Pei Ying froze slightly.
"Please help me get the soap. My soap is in my pocket," the man over there said.
Pei Ying was slightly stunned. Her gaze shifted to the clothes scattered all over the ground. She bent down and rummaged through them, and really found his soap.
When did this man put the soap in his pocket?
So, had he already made up his mind to take a bath in her room?
Although Pei Ying was a bit dissatisfied with Huo Tingshan, she still fetched the soap for him. She was afraid that if she didn't, he would come out to get it himself. That man had no clothes on now, and she didn't want to see that scene again.
The steam was curling up. Pei Ying took a cursory look but didn't see the person, so she put the soap beside the pool. "General, I've put the soap on the shore. You..."
Before she could finish her words, a big hand suddenly emerged from the water. The wet hand firmly grasped Pei Ying's wrist.
Pei Ying was extremely shocked. As soon as a sense of foreboding welled up, the hand on her wrist suddenly exerted force.
With a "plop", Pei Ying fell into the hot spring pool.
The water didn't cover her nose. Firstly, the hot spring pool was only wide but not deep. Secondly, Huo Tingshan was there to catch her below.
Although she didn't choke on the water, her clothes got wet. Pei Ying said angrily, "Huo Tingshan, what are you doing!"
Not only did she not use any honorifics, but she also directly called him by his full name.
The man who pulled her down pretended to be surprised and said, "I clearly thought I was grabbing the soap. How come it turned out to be madam? I grabbed the wrong thing."
"Then let go and get your soap!" Pei Ying wanted to slap the soap on his face.
Huo Tingshan trapped her against the pool wall, hooked his lips and smiled. "Since you're here, madam, why not just stay here. Afterward, you can wash up here before going back."
This way, she wouldn't say that he didn't let her wash or covered her with a dirty quilt again.
Pei Ying was so choked by his words that she was speechless for a moment.
Under the water, a big hand reached over and pulled down a part of her underwear. Then, that thick - callused hand grasped one of Pei Ying's thighs and lifted it to the side slightly.
Even in the water, the roughness in his palm was still clearly felt, like there was a piece of sandpaper covering his palm, which was very abrasive.
Pei Ying frowned and opened her mouth, "Huo Ting..."
Suddenly, Huo Tingshan completely pulled her into his arms.
Pei Ying's pupils constricted. She couldn't even let out a breath for the last word. She gasped sharply. The corners of her eyes, which had been tinged with a blush outside, instantly became even redder.
This was mostly because of the scald.
If it were an ordinary bath, the water in the hot spring was at a moderate temperature and not too hot. However, when he was being wanton, a little spring water got in.
Pei Ying couldn't help but tense up because of the scald.
A muffled groan came from beside her ear. Then, Pei Ying felt Huo Tingshan take a step back with her, so that her back no longer pressed against the pool wall.
His palm stroked her back several times, like soothing a frightened child or stroking an animal's fur.
Pei Ying clung to his shoulders, and her well - trimmed nails slightly dug into his firm muscles.
As if he didn't notice, his soothing palm stroked lower and lower. "Don't be nervous, madam. Relax a bit."
...
After Xin Jin properly disposed of the clothes Pei Ying had changed, she turned around and returned to the main courtyard. She was Pei Ying's maid. Maids and male servants who served their masters closely all rested in the side rooms next to their masters' wing - rooms.
Today's tasks were completed, and her mistress had gone to bed early. On the way back to the main courtyard, Xin Jin thought that perhaps she could go to bed early with her mistress today.
However, as soon as she returned to the main courtyard, Xin Jin was startled when she saw the light in Pei Ying's room still on.
Hadn't the mistress gone to bed yet?
Thinking of the man who had gone in before, various speculations kept popping up in Xin Jin's mind.
Standing there, thinking this way and that, Xin Jin finally tiptoed closer. She had to figure out what was going on. This was related to whether she should secretly boil the contraceptive medicine and avoid people tomorrow.
Xin Jin walked up to the door and listened intently.
However, it was very quiet inside. There was neither conversation nor any other sounds. She couldn't hear anything.
Xin Jin looked at the bright light shining through the window. For a moment, she suspected that Pei Ying was too sleepy and had forgotten to turn off the light and go to bed.
It was quite possible. Her mistress had gone to bed especially early today. Maybe she was too tired from attending the banquet during the day.
Xin Jin put her hand on the door and pushed it slightly, opening a crack in the door.
The light poured out from inside.
Just as Xin Jin was about to push harder, she keenly heard a little noise at this moment.
There was a "splash", like the rippling of water waves.
It was definitely the sound of water.
The entrance to the side - room was quite close to the door of the main room. If her mistress was in the side - room, it was indeed not easy for her to hear any movement in the room.
Xin Jin lowered her eyes. She already had a judgment in her heart.
...
In the side - room.
The steam was thick and hazy, making the surroundings seem like a fairyland.
In the center of the room, where the mist was rising, the water waves were surging. The originally quiet hot spring pool seemed to be harboring a dragon and a snake. The evil dragon was thrashing about like it was turning the river and the sea upside down, and the surging waves were like the celebration of the precious delicacy that had been dragged into the pool by the dragon.
In the mist, there were one or two sobs mixed in with the sound of the water waves hitting the shore. As time passed, the sobbing sound gradually became weaker, and finally there were only occasional soft moans left.
There was a graceful yet strange figure by the pool. The beautiful mermaid that seemed to have accidentally entered the hot spring pool in the fairyland was trapped by the pool side and couldn't move an inch.
She was facing outside the pool. Her arms and half of her body were almost lying on the white jade bricks by the pool, with her right arm bent at an angle and a thin ribbon wrapped around her wrist.
The thin ribbon was not just an ordinary ribbon. It was connected to a piece of cloth that had become wrinkled after getting wet, which was clearly the bellyband.
Now, that dark green bellyband was loosely wrapped around the beautiful woman's wrist, as if it had become an evil vine helping the evil dragon. It was binding the mermaid - like fairy who had entered the hot spring pool, allowing her to be devoured bit by bit by the tall shadow behind her.
The commotion in the pool became even louder, stirring up the rising steam. The heat in the pool became even more intense.
Pei Ying was pressed against the pool side. In front of her was the hard pool wall. The white jade bricks were warmed by the spring water. Behind her was that man's firm chest.
Her face was now a bright pink. Her thick eyelashes were wet, and there were even small water droplets hanging on the tips of her eyelashes. It was not known whether they were tears or mist, or perhaps both.
There were undulating plump curves by the hot spring pool. As the clear water waves hit the shore one after another, that white and delicate area swayed more violently.
Amidst the continuous water waves, Pei Ying felt that she was about to melt, melt in the increasingly hot spring water. Even her consciousness was about to be crushed into pieces by him and finally dissolve in the pool of hot water.
"Huo Tingshan, get out of the pool. I'm dizzy," Pei Ying said intermittently and tremulously.
"Will madam talk to me tomorrow?" Huo Tingshan said instead.
Pei Ying subconsciously shook her head.
The man curled up the corner of his mouth. He increased the intensity of his movements by three - fold. Then, as expected, he saw the person in front of him slightly raise her slender neck and tremble.
Yihua
He pressed against her ear, kissed her mist - covered earlobe, and repeated what he had just said.
Having learned her lesson last time, Pei Ying nodded this time.
Sensing the person behind her leaving, Pei Ying let out a sigh of relief.
However, just as she let out that sigh, she was turned around by the waist and faced him directly. The person who had just left for a moment rushed back suddenly.
Pei Ying's pupils trembled slightly, and her fingernails involuntarily left several marks on his arm.
Huo Tingshan gave a soft laugh and carried her up the jade steps beside them. "My lady is not wearing shoes. I'll take my lady back to the room."
Pei Ying's whole body was steamed with a faint pink. Hearing his words, the fingers clutching his shoulders tightened a bit. "You don't have shoes on either."
"I'm not as delicate as my lady. It doesn't matter if I don't have them." Huo Tingshan reasoned.
There was a certain distance from the side room to the bed.
With each step Huo Tingshan took, Pei Ying shivered, and her fingernails scratched red marks on his arms and shoulders. "Huo Tingshan, walk more slowly."
Huo Tingshan chuckled and slowed down his pace as she asked.
When they got out of the side room, the water mist seemed to be blocked by an invisible barrier, and that annoying heat subsided a lot.
The lamp in the room had been burning for a long time. Compared with the beginning, the light was a bit dimmer now.
The light fell on the wooden floor of the side room. It could be seen that there were a few particularly bright parts in the room, as if stained with water, shining brightly under the candlelight. The parts reflecting the light were actually a row of big footprints leading out from the side room.
The footprints extended all the way in until they disappeared beside the screen.
In the hot spring pool, Pei Ying heard Huo Tingshan say that he would wash up there after finishing things. But when her back touched the bed, and he leaned over her, she found that this man had just changed the venue.
The bright moon outside the window was covered by dark clouds. It seemed that a long time had passed, so long that the covered moon poked its head out from the clouds again.
The world was quiet at night, and the common people had already fallen asleep. The night watchman walking in the street beat the gong and drum to remind the time.
In the room, the last candlestick burned out.
After another half - day, the commotion in the room finally subsided. Huo Tingshan got up from the couch, picked up Pei Ying, who was as soft as a ball on the couch, and walked into the side room again.
Pei Ying's eyelids were slightly swollen and so heavy that she could hardly open them. But when she felt the soap being applied to her, she still tried to say, "The soaps should be used separately. You use yours, and I use my own. We can't use the same one..."
Huo Tingshan twitched the corner of his mouth.
She disliked him again.
He deliberately didn't do as she said and used his own soap to apply all over her.
After washing her clean, he leaned over to her neck and sniffed.
It was fragrant too. What difference did it make which soap was used?
After washing her clean, Huo Tingshan carried her out of the side room. The spread brocade quilt on the couch, now mottled with marks, was unbearable to look at. The man tore it off and casually threw it on the ground, then carried her onto the couch.
When he was about to hold her and go to sleep, Huo Tingshan suddenly remembered something, clicked his tongue softly, and got up again to look for the small silver box.
*
Pei Ying slept for a long time this time and slept very soundly. She didn't have any dreams in the middle. She was woken up by Xin Jin to have lunch.
The sun was shining brightly outside the window, making the room bright. The beautiful woman half - closed her eyes on the couch and took a good while to fully wake up.
Slowly sitting up from the couch, Pei Ying thought that this time it would be a disaster - level scene like last time. However, to her great surprise.
The brocade quilt beside her was actually clean, and her body was also very fresh. It was completely different from the previous sticky feeling. Although she still felt weak, it was much better than the first time.
Pei Ying moved her legs. She seemed to smell a familiar fragrance of medicine.
Was the sun rising from the west? That man really bothered to clean up the mess.
"Madam, do you want to have lunch in the room?" Xin Jin asked.
Pei Ying came back to her senses and nodded, saying that she would have it in the room.
Xin Jin whispered, "The medicine is ready. I'll present it to you after you have lunch, madam."
Pei Ying slowly smiled. "Xin Jin, I'll give you a raise this month."
Xin Jin couldn't help smiling. "Thank you, madam."
*
At the same time, in the study.
Sha Ying stood in front of the desk and reported to Huo Tingshan, "General, you predicted accurately. That scoundrel Xiao Xiong, after knowing that the commoner his third grandson beat to death was 'related' to me, came in a hurry. Just now, he sent someone to my place with a visiting card to make an appointment to see me."
Saying that, Sha Ying took out a very high - quality red jade and a large and heavy gold block from his pocket. "These are the gifts he gave as a greeting."
Huo Tingshan glanced at the things on the desk. "Since he gave them to you, then you can take them."
So Sha Ying happily put the jade pendant and the gold block back into his pocket and said with a smile, "General, do you think I should see him? Those powerful local bullies are all very rich. If I go there, I'm sure I can get some benefits from them."
Huo Tingshan gave him a look.
Sha Ying immediately looked serious. "I understand, I won't see him."
Huo Tingshan said, "Going out so easily will only make him secretly laugh at you for being easy to deal with. Let him come a few more times first."
Sha Ying replied, "Yes."
Just then, Qin Yang came to report outside the study. Huo Tingshan told him to come in.
Qin Yang said loudly, "General, there are thirteen tea houses of a certain scale, eighteen restaurants, and five markets in Yuanshan County. All of them have been set up with official bulletins today."
Mr. Chen wrote very good articles. The content of the official bulletin was written by him yesterday afternoon. Early this morning, Qin Yang led a group of guards with rattan paper with the official bulletin written on it and set off.
The guards who set off with him were all hand - picked by him. He specifically chose those soldiers in the camp who would feel itchy all over if they didn't talk for a day and had loud voices.
Two people were assigned to guard each official bulletin reading place and read it in turn. They read it once at the third, fifth, and seventh hours of the day respectively, so as to make the common people in the city know as much as possible.
Huo Tingshan nodded. "Keep an eye on the Xiao, Hua, and Qi families. These local snakes may be on the move recently."
The matter of the official bulletin was too high - profile. The powerful local bullies who had been staring at the prefecture governor's mansion couldn't have been unaware. Those people weren't all complete fools. According to the content of the official bulletin, they would naturally know that he was trying to improve his popularity.
That old man Xiao Xiong might even associate it with the matter of his third grandson.
"Yes."
It was mealtime now. Qin Yang and Sha Ying had been busy all morning. Huo Tingshan simply had lunch with them.
After the meal, Gongsun Liang and other advisors came to look for him. Later, Xiong Mao came to the study with a batch of urgent documents from Youzhou.
Huo Tingshan stayed in the study all afternoon. When the sun set in the west, he finally had some free time. The man got up from the desk. This time he didn't ask anyone to stay for dinner. He left the study and went straight to the main courtyard.
When he returned to the main courtyard, Huo Tingshan saw that the door of Pei Ying's room was tightly closed, as if there was no one in the room.
Huo Tingshan frowned slightly, walked to Pei Ying's room and knocked on the door. There was no response from inside.
He directly pushed the door open and went in. Unexpectedly but also expectedly, the room was empty.
Could it be that she hadn't come back from the back garden yet?
What was so good about that shabby garden? It was just a few flowers that were not far apart. She couldn't get enough of looking at them every day.
Huo Tingshan returned to his own room and left the door open.
Time passed slowly, and the sun sank below the horizon.
Huo Tingshan glanced at the distant sky. Dusk was drawing to a close. On a normal day, the evening meal would have already been finished, yet the person next door hadn't returned.
Apparently, she didn't intend to come back for the evening meal.
By the Xushi hour, Huo Tingshan realized that not only did Pei Ying not come back for the evening meal, but she also seemed not to plan to come back to sleep tonight.
Huo Tingshan was so angry that he laughed.
She really had grown more daring. She turned a blind eye to him and went back on what she had promised last night.
There was only one place she could be at this time. Huo Tingshan took steps towards Meng Ling'er's courtyard.
