Lu Huaijin extended his thumb, rubbing it against Su Yao’s lips.
In an instant, the vermilion color from Su Yao’s lips stained the inner edge of his jade thumb ring.
Su Yao was terrified and quickly turned her head to avoid him.
But Lu Huaijin would not let her off so easily. With a sweep of his large hand, he tightly gripped the back of her neck.
The force was terrifyingly strong. The jasmine silver hairpin in Su Yao’s hair was knocked askew, and her teeth bit through her own lower lip.
“Why so stubborn?”
He used his fingertip to gather the bead of blood seeping from Su Yao’s lip and slowly smeared it onto his own lips, as if savoring some delicacy.
“Yao’er…”
He suddenly captured her blood-stained lips, the scent of cedar mingling with the taste of iron spreading between their teeth. Muffled, he murmured, “You should know I can’t bear to truly hurt you.”
But Su Yao wanted to push him away.
She cried out hoarsely, “Three years! Lu Huaijin! Three years!”
“Shh—”
Over a thousand days and nights, they had tormented each other.
For these three years, she had always been confined within high walls.
She didn’t know if escaping Lu Fu would truly allow her to spread her wings and soar.
Perhaps her life had been irrevocably altered from the moment Lu Huaijin saved her that night.
Lu Huaijin gently waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to lead the two fierce wolfhounds out of sight.
“Now, are you satisfied?” he asked softly, his fingers lightly stroking Su Yao’s hair, his movements as gentle as if soothing a petulant child.
Su Yao tightly grasped Lu Huaijin’s hand. “When will you enter the palace?”
Lu Huaijin pondered for a moment.
“At dawn, I must enter the palace to have an audience with His Majesty. I’m afraid I won’t be able to visit you for the next few days.”
Hearing this, Su Yao actually felt a sense of relief.
The man carried her back to her room, and the servants dared not look up.
Inside the room, candlelight flickered, casting the intertwined shadows of the two.
Lu Huaijin’s breath was close, fanning against her face with an oppressive weight.
Their eyes met. His gaze was fervent as he slowly lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him.
His lips pressed down, delving into her mouth, entwining with hers in a lingering intimacy.
His fingers gently tugged open her dress, his eyes tracing inch after inch of spring scenery. His breathing grew heavy, desire stirring in his eyes.
The candlelight flickered on and off, burning through the entire night.
The next day, when Su Yao awoke, she found several additional servants attending to her in the small courtyard.
Without a doubt, they were all Lu Huaijin’s informants.
Her every move would be reported to the man’s ears. Even if they didn’t meet face-to-face, she could not escape his grasp.
“Chun Tao, I won’t go out today to avoid angering the master again and stirring up unnecessary trouble. However… there is one matter I’d like you to help me with…”
“What does the young lady command?”
“Go to Chongren Hall on my behalf and fetch a dose of medicine according to this prescription.”
“Young lady, are you feeling unwell again? If you are ill, it would be best to summon a physician to the residence for an examination.”
Su Yao shook her head gently, pulling a yellowed prescription from her sleeve and handing it to Chun Tao.
“I… am fine. It’s just some medicine for daily health maintenance. Take this prescription, and they will know how to prepare it. But please, do not speak of this matter or let others know.”
As she spoke, she slipped her own jade bracelet into Chun Tao’s hand as well.
“No, this servant cannot accept it. Serving the young lady is this servant’s duty. For you to do this is to shame this servant.”
Chun Tao did not understand why this medicine had to be kept secret if it was merely a tonic.
Outside the window, a fine drizzle fell like woven threads, unceasing and continuous.
The patter of rain tapped against the eaves and echoed in Su Yao’s heart.
She rose and walked slowly to the window, gazing out at the hazy world beyond.
A cold wind swept by, causing the plum blossoms in the corner of the wall to sway in the wind and rain, their petals drooping under the weight of the raindrops.
Su Yao’s gaze lingered on that plum tree for a long time. Would she, too, have to lower her head?
Chun Tao brought two bowls of dark, murky medicine. “Miss, should you drink this medicine now while it’s still hot?”
Su Yao responded softly, reaching out to take the medicine handed to her by Chun Tao, her brow involuntarily furrowing slightly.
“Why are there two bowls?”
“This bowl is the tonic brewed according to your prescription, miss. This bowl is the Fertility Potion ordered by the master.”
“Set them down. They’re a bit too hot; I’ll drink them later.”
Chun Tao was surprised. She remembered that last time, Su Yao had made many excuses to avoid taking her medicine, but today she seemed cooperative.
“Miss, you should still drink it while it’s hot.”
But Su Yao did not seem inclined to take the medicine immediately.
She waved her hand lightly, signaling for Chun Tao to leave. “I know what I’m doing. You may go now.”
Chun Tao had intended to watch Su Yao drink the medicine, but now she had no choice but to reluctantly withdraw, closing the door behind her.
Only after Chun Tao’s figure disappeared outside the door did Su Yao pick up the bowl of contraceptive medicine and drink it all in one go.
The bitter medicinal liquid spread across her tongue.
She couldn’t help but frown slightly, but then she smiled with relief.
She had been taking this contraceptive medicine secretly every time, well aware of its cold nature. Whenever her monthly cycle arrived, the abdominal pain was unbearable, as if being twisted by knives.
But she knew she would not bear a child for that old man.
A child born to an unnamed, unofficial mistress would only be looked down upon in the future.
She had already tasted enough bitterness; how could she bear to let her own child suffer the same fate?
Without hesitation, she picked up the other bowl, the Fertility Potion, and poured it all into a nearby potted plant.
Five days later was Su Yao’s birthday.
The sky had not yet fully brightened, but she could not sleep.
Curled up under the brocade quilt, Su Yao stared at the canopy above.
She did not know why she suddenly thought of him, even though she had always hoped to avoid him before.
For some reason, she recalled her birthday last year, when he had ridden thirty miles through the snow to return to the capital, just to place a mutton-fat jade hairpin in her hair.
In a daze, faint footsteps sounded from the end of the corridor.
Occasionally, they were accompanied by hushed whispers.
Several maids holding brooms gathered under the plum blossom tree.
“Empress Dowager is going to arrange a marriage for our master!”
The maid in the indigo vest lowered her voice, tapping the broom handle with her gnarled, branch-like fingers.
“I heard it’s personally chosen by Empress Dowager—a true golden branch and jade leaf, a lady of noble birth.”
The maid in the bamboo-green gown gasped, hurriedly poking the ground with her broom. “Is this true? What about the one in that room…”
The indigo-clad maid raised her chin proudly. “What do you know? My husband drives the master’s carriage every day. Yesterday, he saw the head maid from Cining Palace deliver the marriage proposal card with his own eyes.”
She gestured toward the East Side Chamber with her chin. “If she were truly dear to his heart, would she be kept in this desolate garden? Three years, and not even a title…”
She paused before continuing, “It’s just a passing fancy. Men are all like that, especially a master like ours, a favored son of heaven. What kind of woman hasn’t he seen?”
The maid curled her lip, looking as though she had seen it all before.
“Indeed, I noticed the master hasn’t visited these past few days. He’ll likely grow tired soon enough, and who knows what will become of our lady here then.”
Moonlight like shattered ice pierced through the window lattice, cutting fine, dense fractures across Su Yao’s pale skirt.
Suddenly, a thick, cloying sweetness surged violently in her throat.
Only then did Su Yao realize she had unknowingly bitten her own tongue until it bled.
She winced in pain, her brows tightly knit together.
“Lu Huaijin is getting married?”