Achu was thoroughly miserable. She had no appetite at dinner either, and after eating only a few bites, she picked up her pillow, lay down on her own bed, and stared blankly into space.
Jinzhong noticed that Achu was in low spirits. He picked up a bowl of steaming, freshly stewed chestnut and ginseng chicken soup, knelt beside the bed, and coaxed her, “My little darling, what’s wrong? Who made you unhappy?”
A cold glint flashed through Jinzhong’s eyes. The thought that someone might have bullied Achu while he was away filled him with undisguised murderous intent. He had never been a softhearted man. Aside from Achu, everyone else was someone he could scheme against and use.
Achu caught the vicious expression on his face. He looked exactly like some great villain. She was exasperated and amused at the same time. “With you and Aunt here, who would dare bully me? I’m much more likely to bully someone else.”
When Jinzhong saw Achu finally smile, his expression softened at once. He scooped up a spoonful of soup and fed her one mouthful after another. “As long as Achu is happy.”
In Jinzhong’s heart, he wished Achu would be even more spoiled and willful. He would rather she learn to hurt others than let others hurt her.
Achu guiltily turned her eyes away and mumbled, “I went out for a little walk today… I’ve never seen snow this heavy before… and then…”
Jinzhong listened while continuing to feed her. From time to time, he even took out a handkerchief and wiped away the grease Achu had accidentally gotten at the corner of her mouth.
“I accidentally ran into your Master.”
Jinzhong’s hand paused, but Achu did not notice. She pressed on and recounted her brilliant maneuver in full. As she spoke, her eyes narrowed into delighted crescents, and she looked rather proud of herself. “I’m clever, aren’t I? I didn’t even let them see my face. Even if they wanted to settle accounts with me afterward, they wouldn’t be able to find me.”
What a silly girl. A person’s voice and build could not be disguised. Hadn’t Achu managed to enchant him completely back then with nothing more than a glimpse of her figure? Besides, there were no truly impenetrable walls in the palace.
Seeing how carefree Achu was, Jinzhong did not point this out and trouble her. Achu was far too sensible, and it was rare for her to take an interest in going out to have fun. If this incident discouraged her and she lost her appetite again, what would he do?
After attending to Achu until she finished her meal, Jinzhong sent people to clean up the aftermath for her. Only after making certain that nothing could go wrong did he feel at ease enough to return to his duties. Although Li Yu and Jinbao were not petty men, this matter concerned Achu, so Jinzhong had no choice but to be exceedingly cautious.
At that moment, Jinzhong did not know that someone else was also cleaning up after Achu’s lie, which was riddled with holes.
Whenever Jinbao recalled the girl’s timid, stammering attempt at deception, he could not help laughing. She really was outrageously bold.
———Cut———
Several days passed. When Achu saw that there had been no unusual movement in the palace, she finally relaxed and returned to her usual routine. On such bitterly cold days, she stayed curled up indoors. Aside from occasionally lending a hand with something, she truly did not go outside.
Her lazy, listless appearance made Jinzhong feel both tenderly fond of her and deeply enamored. He racked his brains trying to make Achu smile. The clingy, affectionate way the two of them behaved became too much even for Aunt Fang to bear, and she began visiting Achu’s residence far less often.
Out of sight, out of mind. Aunt Fang was not possessed of such admirable self-restraint that she could calmly watch a pig struggle to root up her own precious jadeite cabbage.
When Aunt Fang left, Achu’s face flushed beneath her aunt’s disappointed, exasperated gaze. She scolded Jinzhong, “It’s all your fault,” while pointedly failing to mention that she had been the one to pull him onto the bed in the first place.
Jinzhong raised an eyebrow and gave an exasperated smile. He kissed his little darling’s fair, tender cheek, his voice so gentle it seemed almost ready to melt. “It’s only because my Achu is far too beautiful. I simply can’t control myself.”
The corners of Achu’s lips lifted. While Jinzhong was not paying attention, she pecked him on the neck. Then her eyes lit up as she said, “Aunt’s gone. Let’s continue playing our game.”
Life in the inner palace was truly lonely, and Achu was at an age when her romantic feelings were beginning to awaken. Although her lover was a eunuch, and lacked certain parts, eunuchs still had their own ways of pleasing someone. Compared with Achu’s past experiences of intimacy, it offered an entirely different kind of pleasure.
In the winter chill and falling snow, the bed bore all the traces of the two of them recklessly playing around. It even saved them a little charcoal.
She kissed Jinzhong, then pressed him back down onto the bed once more. Her fingertips settled over the red sash around his waist. When she saw the unease on his face, yet also saw him close his eyes and indulge her as always, Achu knew that he still was not mentally prepared to be completely honest with her.
She did not mind. With a casual twist of her fingers, she deftly opened his upper garment and slipped her hand inside his collar, wantonly teasing him. Her technique was inexperienced but skillful. Gradually, Jinzhong’s face flushed, his eyes grew unfocused, and beads of sweat trickled down from his forehead. As the two of them played together, they found no shortage of pleasure.
Once they were beneath the covers, the two of them became even more uninhibited.
Achu had little energy to spare, and afterward she was so tired that she fell asleep.
The two people on the bed had their fingers entwined. Jinzhong lovingly kissed the hair of the girl sleeping sweetly in his arms, and an impossible wish rose in his heart. If only they could remain together like this until the end of time. If there were no outsiders to disturb them, and only the two of them remained beneath heaven and earth—relying on each other and never parting, even when their hair had turned white.