Although Shen Yi was angry, he had not lost his reason. He knew this was not a suitable place for an argument, so he planned to take her back to the residence and settle the matter with her there.
“Come on. We’ll talk about it after we get back.”
The two of them walked out one after another. Jiang Xuening had only taken a few steps behind him when they were about to leave the private room. Suddenly, the man in front of her dropped the beaded curtain, turned around, grabbed her by the wrist, and pulled her back inside, hiding with her behind the folding screen in the private room.
“There’s someone I know…”
Just as he had stepped halfway out, he had immediately spotted one of the people coming up to the second floor. That person was a subordinate of one of his colleagues.
He and that colleague had never gotten along. If the subordinate saw him here and reported it to his colleague, the man would undoubtedly submit a memorial against him.
It was better to avoid unnecessary trouble. Shen Yi decided to hide in the private room for the time being and wait until that subordinate had passed before leaving.
For now, he could only hope that the man was not heading for this particular private room.
Fortunately, the subordinate did not come in.
But two other people entered instead.
Fortunately, they were not guests of this private room. They had merely come in to talk for a while.
“Yanlang, when exactly are you going to redeem me?” The woman’s coquettish voice carried a hint of dissatisfaction.
“It’ll be soon. I’ve already sold the shop. It’s just that the buyer saw how eager I was to sell and deliberately forced the price down. I only managed to get two hundred taels of silver for it.” The man called Yanlang gently coaxed her, though it was impossible to tell whether his words were sincere or merely perfunctory. “As for the residence on Caomen Street and the few mu of fertile farmland I have, people have been asking about them recently as well. Meiniang, don’t worry. As soon as I have the money in hand, I’ll come and redeem you…”
“A prime location like Caomen Street, and you’re telling me it’s so difficult to sell a residence there?” The woman refused to believe him. “Are you trying to fool me?”
“If Meiniang doesn’t believe me, I can swear to Heaven.” The man was about to make an oath. “If I, Zheng Yan, ever betray Meiniang, may Heaven strike me with lightning, may I never—mm…”
The rest of his words were apparently blocked by the woman called Meiniang, who stopped him from continuing.
The private room fell silent.
But soon, other sounds came from inside.
There was the faint rustling of fabric rubbing against fabric, the woman’s charming and breathy moans, and even a smacking sound, as though they were eating something.
These sounds continued for a long time.
So long that Jiang Xuening’s legs had begun to ache from standing behind the folding screen.
Curious about what they were actually eating, she shifted her body and tried to peek through the gap in the screen.
But the moment she poked her head out, someone covered her eyes, and she was immediately pulled back by the person behind her.
Why wouldn’t he let her look?
She pulled his hand down and turned around to question him with her eyes.
Shen Yi frowned, the corners of his eyes lowering slightly.
Don’t look!
Why couldn’t she look?
Jiang Xuening glared at him before turning around and attempting to peek again.
Once again, he covered her eyes.
This time, he refused to let go.
Although Jiang Xuening was stronger than an ordinary sheltered young lady, she was facing the tall and broad-shouldered Shen Yi. The difference in their strength was simply too great.
She grabbed his hand and struggled with all her might for quite some time, but she still could not move his hand away from her eyes.
Instead, because she had exerted too much force, she accidentally let out a muffled sound.
Shen Yi immediately covered her mouth with his other hand as well.
Fortunately, the two people outside the screen were still completely absorbed in their “eating” and had not noticed the disturbance behind the screen.
Jiang Xuening’s eyes and mouth were now completely covered.
Her back was pressed against Shen Yi’s chest, and she was enclosed in his arms, unable to move.
Being restrained like this was not a pleasant feeling.
She could only give up struggling and obediently stand still, thinking that he would probably release her soon.
Because her eyes were covered and she could not see anything, her hearing suddenly became much sharper.
The faint sounds inside the private room seemed magnified.
Aside from the sounds coming from beyond the screen, she could also hear sounds that were extremely close to her ears—the slightly heavy breathing of Shen Yi and the increasingly rapid beating of his heart.
Was he… this nervous?
Actually, even if they were discovered by the people outside, it would not matter much. After all, they had not done anything in this private room.
On the contrary, those two people behind the screen were the ones who were secretly eating something.
They had been eating for so long and still had not finished.
After a soft moan, the woman finally spoke.
“All right. Don’t go any further. Once you redeem me, I’ll give myself to you.”
The man’s voice sounded much more urgent than before.
“Meiniang, I’ll definitely redeem you as soon as possible…”
Afterward, the two of them stayed there talking intimately and affectionately for a while before finally leaving.
Jiang Xuening patted Shen Yi’s hand, indicating that he could release her now.
However, he only removed the hand covering her mouth.
His other hand remained firmly over her eyes.
He still refused to let go, and his voice was slightly hoarse as he said, “Wait a moment.”
“Wait for what?” Jiang Xuening asked in confusion. “Haven’t they already left?”
“I… am not presentable right now.”
Jiang Xuening assumed that by “not presentable,” he meant that his clothes had become disheveled.
He was actually unwilling to let her see him simply because his clothes were a little messy.
What a man who cared about his dignity.
Still, she was his wife, and helping her husband straighten his clothes was part of her duty.
So she asked, “Do you need my help, Husband?”
He was silent for a moment.
“No.”
If he did not need her help, then so be it.
“Then let go of me first. I won’t look at you.”
“Mm.”
He finally released her.
Jiang Xuening indeed did not turn around to look at him. Instead, she walked out from behind the folding screen and wandered around the private room.
Strange.
Those two people had clearly been eating something just now, and they had seemed to be enjoying it very much.
Yet the table was completely clean. There was not even the slightest trace of food left behind, nor was there any aroma of food lingering in the air.
She could not figure it out no matter how hard she tried.
So she asked the person behind the screen, “Husband, do you know what those two were eating just now?”
A rather unnatural cough came from behind the screen.
It sounded as though Shen Yi had choked on his own saliva.
Only after a long while did she hear his answer.
“I don’t know.”
Shen Yi had lied.
Although he had always maintained his integrity and had never had a woman, he had spent several years immersed in official circles and had attended countless banquets and social gatherings.
Even if he had never eaten pork, he had certainly seen pigs run.
He actually knew what those two people had been doing just now.
A man and a woman alone together, making sounds like that…
It was obvious that they had been unable to restrain their passion.
Encountering such a thing was naturally embarrassing.
What made Shen Yi even more uncomfortable was that, in order to stop Jiang Xuening from peeking, he had been forced to hold her tightly in his arms.
After struggling for a short while, she had quieted down and obediently leaned against him.
The faint fragrance from her hair had filled his nose.
Her soft, warm body had rested in his arms.
And beside his ears were the ambiguous, intimate sounds coming from the man and woman behind the screen.
Under such circumstances, Shen Yi’s body had actually reacted.
That reaction had completely disrupted the composure of a man who had always been dignified and self-controlled…
Meanwhile, on the other side of the screen, Jiang Xuening had failed to obtain an answer to her question.
After eating the lychee in her hand, she savored its sweet flavor, still unable to let go of the mystery that had yet to be solved.
She muttered to herself,
“What exactly were they eating?”
“They kept smacking their lips. It must have been delicious…”
“I want to eat it too…”
Behind the screen, Shen Yi coughed violently.
“Cough, cough, cough…”