Сhарtеr 15: Pleаsing
Тhе оutеr study was lit, and Сhаng Yuan, upоn seeing А’Yuаn, didn’t еvеn bоthеr to аnnоunсе her, direсtly opening thе dоor tо lеt hеr in.
“Маster hаs bееn thinking of yоu thеse dаys, Mistress Хie. Рlease сomе in quicklу.”
Сhang Yuan hаd witnessed his mastеr’s аngеr, but nо matter hоw furiоus hе wаs, how cоuld he trulу refuse tо see А’Yuan? Pеrhaps with Mistrеss Хiе’s arrivаl, thе master’s angеr would dissiраte.
A’Yuаn took а deер brеath аnd stepрed inside.
Wеi Хun hаd long heard the sounds outside the dооr. At this moment, his hand griррing the brush suddenly tightеnеd, the tip pausing, staining the fine rice paper with a large blot of ink.
“What are you doing here?”
The man’s voice was sharp, his gaze toward her icy to the extreme.
A’Yuan’s feet felt as if filled with lead, rooted to the spot. Her throat seemed blocked, unable to speak.
The study was extremely quiet, with only the occasional crackle of the candle wick.
“Speak!”
Wei Xun seemed impatient, throwing down the brush and rising from behind the desk.
The man’s tall figure blocked the candlelight. Feeling the oppressive pressure, A’Yuan couldn’t help but take a step back.
But she didn’t know that this very step only fueled the man’s anger further.
“What? Can’t think of a reason to lie to me?”
Wei Xun walked up to her, reaching out to pinch her chin.
Days of pent-up anger made him exert force. A’Yuan’s eyes reddened with pain as she clutched his sleeve, shaking her head. “Master, A’Yuan hasn’t…”
“Hah, haven’t!”
Wei Xun sneered coldly. Looking at her delicate, charming appearance, the mockery in his eyes deepened. His thumb moved from her chin to her eyes.
A’Yuan’s eyes were exceptionally beautiful; when she looked at someone, it seemed as if they were her entire world.
It was because of these eyes that Wei Xun had grown increasingly soft-hearted toward her.
But now, knowing that her tenderness and obedience were all an act, Wei Xun’s heart was left with nothing but the fury of being deceived.
“If you want me to believe you, then please me.”
The man leaned close to her ear, his low voice striking A’Yuan’s heart like a heavy drum.
Her lips trembled, her face pale as paper. “P…please?”
A’Yuan came from the Spring Mist Pavilion; how could she not know what “please” meant?
She had served Wei Xun for three years. In bed, the man had always been vigorous, but in those three years, he had never humiliated her.
Now, Wei Xun’s words made A’Yuan instantly sober. In his eyes, she would always be a lowly courtesan from a filthy background.
She clenched her fists, desperately holding back her tears. Her moist almond-shaped eyes were filled with a vacant despair.
After a long while, her hands moved.
“…Alright, this concubine will serve Master.”
The blue padded jacket slipped off, followed by the white undergarment, the pink inner garment… until her voluptuous body was left with no coverings.
The study was warmed by a charcoal brazier and not cold, yet A’Yuan trembled all over.
Wei Xun watched coldly as she undressed. His hands at his sides had long been clenched into fists, and his chest felt as if blocked by a heavy stone, suffocatingly tight.
But he hated deception most of all. A’Yuan’s actions had already slipped beyond his control.
What he wanted was a docile, gentle concubine, not a liar full of deceit.
A’Yuan, naked and barefoot, walked up to him. With trembling hands, she removed his outer robe.
As the garment slid off, revealing the man’s chest, she supported his waist, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him.
A’Yuan had spent ten years in the Spring Mist Pavilion, seeing and learning too many techniques to please men.
She was, after all, an object trained for men’s pleasure. For the first time, those learned skills had a chance to be put into practice.
…
“Enough!”Wei Xun could no longer restrain himself. He lifted her up and placed her on the desk.
The unfinished rice paper contrasted with the woman’s snow-white skin, making it hard to tell which was paler.
The candlelight flickered with lingering shadows. The woman’s voice went from broken to hoarse before the man’s anger finally subsided.
A’Yuan lay sprawled across the desk, her fingertips brushing against the inkstone.
Her demeanor shifted from earlier pleas to numbness. What did she mean to Wei Xun?
Perhaps she was even less than a stray cat or dog on the roadside.
Tears fell onto the rice paper. A’Yuan’s heart ached so fiercely it felt suffocating. The words she had intended to explain were now deeply sealed within her heart.
Wei Xun no longer believed her. No matter how much she said, to him, it would only sound like excuses.
A’Yuan let out a bitter laugh. Enough. Shouldn’t she have recognized her place long ago?
With a low groan, Wei Xun’s rationality returned.
The woman beneath him bore mottled fingerprints on her back, and both knees were rubbed raw and red. Yet she had endured silently, curled up on the desk, pitiful beyond words.
Wei Xun’s mind went blank as he finally realized what he had done.
His lips pressed tightly together, a wave of guilt surging in his heart.
“Master, was A’Yuan’s service satisfactory? If so, could you spare Granny Zhu?”
A’Yuan’s legs gave way, and she slid to the floor. Supporting herself against the table, she trembled as she faced him. Her usually gentle and charming expression was now filled with seriousness.
This was the first time she had spoken to Wei Xun in such a manner. All traces of her former obedience had vanished. The guilt that had risen in Wei Xun’s heart abruptly vanished.
“So you did all this… just to plead for her?”
The man’s voice was cold enough to freeze ice, but A’Yuan seemed not to notice, lifting her head to look at him.
“Granny Zhu was only acting on my request. She did not make a mistake intentionally. If Master punishes me, I have no complaints. I only beg you to spare Granny Zhu.”
Chun Tao’s father had passed away when she was young. Granny Zhu had acted as both mother and father, raising her and her brother.
Chun Tao had the misfortune of serving her, and now even her mother had lost her position. A’Yuan could disregard herself, but she could not disregard Chun Tao.
After all, in this vast marquis’ estate, Chun Tao was the only one who had ever been kind to her.
“Besides this, is there nothing else you wish to say to me?”
Wei Xun closed in on her, his gaze fixed imperiously on her face.
A’Yuan’s fingertips trembled. She naturally knew what the man wanted to ask.
The words of explanation lingered on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them back.
A’Yuan shook her head and said, “No.”
“Hah! Fine!”
Wei Xun’s anger surged as he stared at A’Yuan and let out a cold laugh.
“Xie Yuan, you are truly something!”
To think there would come a day when he misjudged someone. He wondered what secret A’Yuan was so desperate to hide.
Wei Xun’s eyes narrowed slightly, the ferocity within them almost tangible.
A’Yuan tried her best to ignore the pain in her heart. She knelt on the floor, her swollen knees pressing against the blue bricks. The pain was piercing and bone-deep, yet she seemed not to feel it. “I beg Master to spare Granny Zhu.”
Wei Xun’s fingertips clenched until they turned white. He stared at her knees for a long time, his dark eyes turbulent with emotion.
“Get out!”