Mama Yuan crept to the back window, glanced left and right, and using her body as cover, fiddled with something near the window frame before darting away.
The wind was strong today, tousling her neatly combed hair bun into slight disarray.
She reached up to smooth her hair, looked back over her shoulder—the black curtain covering the back window had been blown into billowing folds, like a sail about to catch the wind.
Zhao Shiyan was still flustered, his heart racing from the kiss he had just dodged.
He should have avoided it, after all, his wife had repeatedly instructed him not to kiss her.
But at this moment, he seemed to have forgotten that just moments ago, he had already been the first to break the ban on “speaking to her.”
Though Zhao Shiyan had refused, his heart felt unsettled, as if something were tugging at him.
Then suddenly he felt a chill.
Bright sunlight struck his face.
The light-blocking curtain had been blown open by the wind.
He glanced to the side, then his gaze returned—and he froze.
Before this, he had fantasized countless times about what the woman looked like, but none of those imaginings could compare to seeing her with his own eyes.
The first thing that met his gaze was a fair, powdered face, streaked with tears, glistening wet—like a pear blossom in spring rain.
Moth-like eyebrows gathered in verdant arches, skin luminous as snow, both pure and alluring, evoking tenderness.
What a delicate, fragrant beauty!
Zhao Shiyan’s heart pounded wildly.
Clearly, he was stunned by what he saw.
In an instant, his mind went blank, and the blood in his body boiled, surging toward one place.
An itch rose in his throat.
He stared at the woman beneath him as if bewitched.
The desire he had deliberately suppressed burst forth from the ground, multiplying a thousandfold in retaliation—fierce and overwhelming, leaving him powerless to resist.
Some gate within his body had been thrown open, releasing an untamed beast… This time, it wasn’t just his hands that took the initiative, but his lips and tongue as well.
Yin Xuesu seemed to hear a thunderous crash.
She knew clearly that the dike in his heart had collapsed.
At this very moment, his vow of fidelity to his wife, the defenses he had erected against her as a gestational tool—all of it vanished without a trace.
His eyes saw only rosy lips and powdered cheeks, blossoms and willows in full allure.
His mind held only thoughts of clouds and rain over Wushan, of carnal pleasure.
The male bee trapped in the spider’s web had finally stopped struggling.
He couldn’t escape now.
Yin Xuesu curved her lips in a smile, her jade-like arms looping around his shoulders and back, which only drove him to greater heights of excitement…
“Why are you so distracted?”
On the carriage ride back, Tong Jinxian’s expression was far from pleasant, yet Zhao Shiyan, unlike his usual self—who would shower her with sweet words and endless comfort—sat off to the side in a daze.
He was still immersed in the exquisite pleasure of moments ago, his very bones soaring, the sensation rushing straight to the crown of his head. Naturally, his spirit had not yet returned.
Coming back to himself, he met his wife’s probing gaze, and guilt crept into his heart—along with a sense of shame.
Everything today had spiraled out of control.
In his uncontrollable passion, he had not only spoken to the surrogate mother but also kissed her, breaking his wife’s prohibitions one after another, sinking into that warm embrace.
Had he not been mindful of his wife in the next room, restraining his movements somewhat, who knows how wild he might have become.
Looking back now, how could he not feel guilty?
But if asked whether he regretted it…
Zhao Shiyan savored the memory of everything that had happened in that dark room, and he hesitated.
Seeing him remain silent, Tong Jinxian’s displeasure deepened, her pretty face growing colder and sharper: “Enjoyed yourself, didn’t you?”
Zhao Shiyan snapped back to attention and hastily denied it: “Everything was for the sake of conceiving a child as quickly as possible.”
Tong Jinxian complained: “Today took longer than usual.”
Though the extra time was only slight, Tong Jinxian was still unhappy.
And during the wait, she had vaguely heard a few strange sounds—like a bed frame knocking against the wall.
When she listened more closely, they stopped.
But a shadow of suspicion lingered in her mind. Wouldn’t such sounds only come from something overly intense?
But could it be?
Initially, it was she who had forced Zhao Shiyan to consummate the marriage with the surrogate mother, and he had been extremely reluctant.
The first time hadn’t gone smoothly either.
Zhao Shiyan had barely stepped into the room before retreating, asking her repeatedly if she truly wanted this.
After receiving her affirmation, he had said with a troubled expression that he couldn’t muster desire for another woman.
Especially with his wife in the next room.
His heart was filled only with worry, heavy and burdensome—there was no room for any romantic thoughts.
And without such thoughts, such an act could never be completed.
Hearing this at the time, Tong Jinxian had felt an indescribable warmth in her heart.
He only felt desire for her.
He wanted a child, and he could have one with anyone. His difficulty today was all for her sake.
The more Tong Jinxian thought about it, the more her heart ached for him. She had ordered the aphrodisiac medicinal wine to be prepared.
He had drunk most of the jug, stumbling drunkenly into the west wing, barely managing to complete the task.
Zhao Shiyan hesitated, then answered: “That medicinal wine today—it wasn’t very effective.”
Tong Jinxian understood.
Zhao Shiyan was not only handsome in appearance—his other… attributes were also quite impressive.
No one knew this better than his wife.
If even the medicinal wine was no longer effective, it showed just how repulsed he was by this matter.
No wonder he had taken longer today.
It also showed that he had never truly cared for that surrogate mother.
And that made sense—that surrogate mother had already given birth three times; her body was probably deformed beyond recognition.
It really was asking too much of him.
The shadow of doubt in her heart vanished instantly. Tong Jinxian took the initiative to pull his hand over and, in turn, tried to persuade him, “All of this is for our future. Bear with it a little longer.”
Zhao Shiyan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. “There’s no other choice.”
Tong Jinxian, feeling sorry for him after all, said, “You’ve already been here for five full days this month. No need to come again. Let’s wait and see—perhaps next month will bring good news.”
Zhao Shiyan was stunned.
Tong Jinxian asked him, “You don’t want to?”
Lowering his eyelids just in time to conceal the obvious disappointment in his eyes, Zhao Shiyan replied, “How could I? I’ll do as you say.”
On the other side, Mama Yuan, who was attending to Yin Xuesu’s bath, looked at the love marks covering her body, her eyes gleaming.
“She took the bait?” she asked.
Mama Yuan knew that with Yin Xuesu’s beauty, it was easy to move a man—especially one with whom she had already shared physical intimacy.
But the young master of the Duke’s mansion had seen all manner of beauties, and his wife was presentable as well. How could he be so easily bewitched?
Unexpectedly, it had gone this smoothly.
Little did she know that this was not entirely Yin Xuesu’s doing—at best, she had merely crooked her finger and fanned the flames.
The key lay in the eruption of Zhao Shiyan’s fantasies and pent-up desires once they were validated.
He had indeed tried to suppress those desires.
But the more he suppressed them, the more violently they exploded.
Yin Xuesu sat in the bath barrel, her wet hair clinging to her bloodless, snow-white skin, making her look like a water ghost—a gorgeous water ghost, and a life-taking one at that.
She wiped her body with a blank expression.
The marks on her skin were glaring, and her heart was bleeding.
But at the same time, she felt a sense of satisfaction—immense satisfaction.
Did Tong Jinxian know that her husband, who prided himself on his unwavering fidelity, was so lost in passion with another woman?
So lost that he nearly cast aside the wife waiting in the next room for him to complete his task.
The medicated wine Tong Jinxian had prepared in advance seemed like a joke.
Her husband, when bedding another woman, had no need for such aids at all—wouldn’t accepting that be hard for her?
“Second Young Master Yan is no longer a problem. Now we just wait for good news.”
Mama Yuan showed a hint of worry; she too was concerned about whether Yin Xuesu could successfully conceive.
If she failed to get pregnant for a long time, capturing Second Young Master Yan would be useless.
Yin Xuesu touched her lower abdomen. Her face, which had been as cold as ice moments before, seemed to melt in the fragrant bathwater, rippling with a faint warmth.
“Soon,” she said softly.