Yunchan Wei fell asleep only in the latter half of the night.
Yet on the second day, he still woke up earlier than Jinshu Fu.
“Someone come, prepare hot water.”
The page standing by at the doorway heard his voice, hurriedly gave an acknowledgment, and promptly delivered the hot water over.
“Get out.”
Yunchan Wei waved a hand, and once the sound of the closing door echoed, he quickly stripped off his garments and stepped across into the bathing tub.
Waking up this morning, Yunchan Wei distinctly perceived that his body felt even more unobstructed than the day before. He had once more been awakened by heat, with Jinshu Fu folded securely within his embrace, resembling a burning lump of charcoal.
Then, lowering his head, a pale pink hue inevitably surfaced upon his complexion, he was held firmly in Jinshu Fu’s grasp, completely unable to move.
No wonder he had spent the entire night plagued by a seductive yet bizarre dream.
Within the dream, someone kept calling out his name, with a sweet, rich voice that defied distinction between male and female. Blindfolded with a cloth, a hand seized his arm, and consequently he tumbled straight into a pool of hot springs. Steam billowed upward, and those hands embraced him in precisely that manner.
Yunchan Wei’s throat grew dry and parched, as he finally experienced the sensation described by Jinzhou Lin.
Once within a dream.
Once because of Jinshu Fu.
Or perhaps, both times stemmed from Jinshu Fu.
For Yunchan Wei still recalled that at a certain moment, the silk ribbon binding his eyes slipped away, and he caught sight of the red mole situated between the other person’s eyebrows.
By the time he calmed down within the bathing tub, the water had already cooled completely. Yunchan Wei rose, dried himself, and changed clothes. The page entered to collect his discarded, soiled garments, preparing to take them for the laundry aunts in the rear courtyard to scrub clean, when he was abruptly halted by Yunchan Wei.
“Take this set of clothes and burn them.”
Not daring to question the reasons aloud, the page simply nodded in compliance: “Yes, Young Master.”
Clasping the garments as he walked outward, he happened to cross paths with Fentao, who was delivering the morning meal.
Fentao questioned sharply: “Where are you heading carrying the Young Master’s clothes?”
Yunchan Wei’s garments were invariably crafted from specialized materials, with styles and workmanship uniquely his own, allowing Fentao to identify them at a single glance. The laundry quarters did not lie in this direction, leading Fentao to assume the page intended to steal Yunchan Wei’s clothes to pawn them off.
The page dropped instantly to his knees: “This servant is following the Young Master’s instructions, preparing to take these clothes to be burned.”
“For no good reason, why burn clothes?”
“This servant is unaware of the Young Master’s intent, only that this morning, right after finishing his bath, the Young Master issued this command to me.”
Yunchan Wei invariably bathed late at night right before sleep; throughout all these years, when had he ever bathed immediately upon waking in the morning? Fentao deposited the tray resting in her hands onto a nearby stone table and extended a hand: “Hand over the clothes for me to inspect.”
The page respectfully passed the garments over.
Fanning through them a few times, Fentao seemingly discovered something, her cheeks subsequently flushing bright red as she instructed the page: “Deliver this morning meal to the Young Master, and do not mention that I took the clothes.”
With that, she hurried away clutching the garments.
Fentao served as Madam Wen’s senior maid, someone the page could not afford to offend, hence upon delivering the breakfast to Yunchan Wei’s quarters, he indeed breathed not a single word of it.
“Madam!” Fentao rushed in directly, discarding formalities in her elation, and approached Madam Wen: “Madam, this servant has come to report a great joyous event to you.”
Laying down the pastry in her hand, Madam Wen felt quite curious: “What great joyous event? Look at how happy it makes you.”
Fentao placed her hand over the corner of her lips, leaned close to Madam Wen’s ear, and whispered a few words.
Madam Wen cast a sideways glance, her eyes similarly sparking with a joyful radiance: “Really?”
“Absolutely certain, look at this.” Fentao handed over Yunchan Wei’s garments.
Although Madam Wen felt somewhat embarrassed, concerning Yunchan Wei’s health, she steeled her nerves to inspect them twice.
Sure enough, those garments displayed anomalies that anyone initiated in such matters could readily comprehend.
It was no wonder Madam Wen and her companion felt such elation.
Over all these years, on account of Yunchan Wei’s failing health, Madam Wen had exhausted her wits with worry. She needed to fret over whether he would lose his life, and likewise worry over his emotional state.
For ordinary young men, the earliest at twelve or thirteen, and the latest at fourteen, fifteen, or sixteen, would experience normal phenomena such as nocturnal emissions and the like.
Yet Yunchan Wei experienced none of these.
At an age when everything ought to be understood, Yunchan Wei naturally recognized that such a condition in himself was abnormal. During a certain period, he even engaged in self-abandonment, asking Madam Wen whether his state meant he could not be considered a true man.
Madam Wen felt heartbroken hearing it, yet remained utterly powerless to assist.
Though she learned just two days prior that Yunchan Wei and Jinshu Fu had consummated their marriage, she still harbored lingering reservations; however, today’s soiled garments offered Madam Wen genuine, tangible comfort.
Joy blooming within her heart, Madam Wen hastily issued instructions to Fentao: “Go make inquiries, find a clean young maid, and tonight send her into the eastern chamber of Xiqin’s courtyard.”
In Madam Wen’s view, Jinshu Fu was ultimately a boy, and when it came to serving people, he was bound to lack the attentiveness of a girl. Now that Yunchan Wei’s health had turned around, grown robust, and developed requirements in this domain, she as his mother could naturally not afford to be negligent.
Though the incident involving He Pan last time displeased Yunchan Wei, Madam Wen pondered that times change and circumstances differ, and furthermore, the person she intended to arrange for Yunchan Wei now was a completely pure and untainted young maiden, which should surely avoid triggering Yunchan Wei’s inverse scale once more.
Fentao invariably executed tasks with both excellence and nimble efficiency, swiftly selecting the daughter of a tea estate owner. This maiden possessed fine features, a graceful figure, and sound literary and moral cultivation. Above all, daughters of such merchant households typically had senior tutors specifically imparting private boudoir arts, solely to secure methods for winning favor upon marrying into elite aristocratic families.
Meanwhile, daughters belonging to prominent high-ranking households required no such tricks to anchor themselves, as a illustrious family background served as their supreme instrument.
Looking extremely pleased, Madam Wen asked softly: “What is her name, and how old is she?”
“Replying to Madam, the young woman is named Shen Fu’er, and she just turned seventeen a few days ago.”
Her age matched Yunchan Wei’s, and her voice sounded crisp and pleasing to the ear, leaving Madam Wen even more gratified.
“If you serve the Young Master well tonight, from then on you shall remain within the estate as the Young Master’s concubine. The betrothal gifts and the rest will be delivered to your family’s residence tomorrow, are you willing?”
Shen Fu’er answered obediently: “This young woman is willing.”
Rumors circulated widely outside that the young master of the Wei household had recovered from his illness. If she married into the Wei estate, even as a concubine, her future status would still be that of a City Lord’s concubine, meaning her concubine-elevating, wife-neglecting father could no longer control her.
She would rescue her pitiful mother and younger brother from that fiery, hellish household.
Treating this occasion as an opportunity bestowed by the heavens, Shen Fu’er resolved firmly in her heart that no matter how that “white-faced Asura” Yunchan Wei tormented or humiliated her tonight, she must endure it through.
Jinshu Fu was late once more.
On the very first day of attending private school, he overslept, and what proved most infuriating was that that fellow Yunchan Wei woke up so early yet failed to utter a single word to wake him.
Causing him to be penalized by the tutor today with copying the “Classic of Thousand Articles and Regulations” five times over.
“Thousand Articles” served as the designation of their private school, and the “Classic of Thousand Articles and Regulations” comprised a series of rules established by their school, totaling one hundred and six clauses.
Copying it five times equated to reproducing five hundred and thirty clauses.
Jinshu Fu had already settled on his plan: upon finishing classes and returning, he would stealthily utilize cloning talismans to manifest five clones to absorb the punishment on his behalf.
To genuinely force him into copying five hundred and thirty clauses by his own hand—he might well set fire to burn down the private school that very night to secure a permanent solution.
A full day of classes proved tedious and uninteresting, and as he managed to struggle through until classes dismissed, Jinshu Fu spotted a tall male up ahead dragging a youth of roughly his own age toward a secluded location.
Jinshu Fu retained a slight impression of that youth, as he attended the same lectures. Beyond that, however, he knew nothing else.
Judging that tall man by his appearance, he hardly looked like a decent sort, and recalling He Pan who died unjustly yesterday, Jinshu Fu suddenly experienced a rare surge of benevolence, strolling leisurely along behind them.
Before drawing overly close, the sounds of altercation had already drifted over.
“Stinking brat, I heard your bitch of a sister latched onto a person of high status?”
“You are forbidden from cursing my sister! Your mother is the real bitch! An old prostitute crawling out from a pleasure house!”
“Damn your mother, you still haven’t learned your lesson after getting beaten, have you!”
Following a round of verbal sparring, the owners of those two voices evidently resorted to physical blows. Without even looking, Jinshu Fu knew that young youth stood zero chance of winning.
Sure enough, once Jinshu Fu drew near, he witnessed that youth pinned down to the ground, with a foot poised immediately above to trample his head.
Gently flicking his fingers to dispatch a tiny blue ray of light, Jinshu Fu caused that descending foot to freeze instantly midair.
Terrified by the bizarre spectacle unfolding before him, Shen (Qingzhu) curled up tightly against the wall, staring in horror toward Jinshu Fu while stammering awkwardly: “Thank, thank you.”
Thinking to himself that the youth possessed decent manners, and perceiving that he was clearly somewhat frightened of him, Jinshu Fu curved the corners of his mouth and flashed a “silence” gesture toward him.
The gesture conveyed: Today’s affairs must remain strictly confidential, understand?
Subsequently, he followed it up by executing a throat-slitting motion toward him.
Shen Qingzhu grasped the implication effortlessly: Break confidentiality and I’ll kill you.
Shen Qingzhu was frightened straight to tears by the smile curving the corners of his mouth.
Clasping his knees, he wept piteously: “I will not speak a word of it, please do not kill me!”
Withdrawing his smile, Jinshu Fu looked at him weeping strangely for a moment, before stepping forward to haul Shen Qingzhu up from the ground. Standing at roughly matching heights, Shen Qingzhu appeared significantly slender and frail by comparison.
Only then did Shen Qingzhu sense that he harbored no malicious intent, and moreover recognized him, the marriage-blessing male wife of the “white-faced Asura,” whom people claimed actually experienced a recovery in health after Yunchan Wei married him.
Precisely because his health recovered, he began roaming about to prey upon the daughters of other families.
Shen Qingzhu caught hold of Jinshu Fu’s hand and dropped once more to his knees in tears: “Wuwu, Immortal, please show mercy and do not let the Young Master bully my sister. Wuwu.”