Su Yu gazed absently at the last streak of sunset on the horizon when she suddenly heard a low call behind her. She turned around and only then realized that, at some point, an extra figure had appeared beneath the corridor.
Ji Xuanyue stood a few steps away with his hands clasped behind his back. Tall and elegant, refined and noble, his handsome features seemed even more striking in the shifting light between day and night.
The moment their eyes met, Su Yu’s mind went blank. Then scenes from the previous night surged back into her thoughts, uncontrollable. Her ears immediately burned. All the worries she had been harboring about her grandmother, along with the boredom that had plagued her all day, were instantly swept away by this sudden panic. She rose quickly and lowered her head. “Husband.”
Only after addressing him did she realize she had no idea what to say next. After struggling for quite a while, she finally managed to squeeze out a question: “Have you eaten yet, Husband?”
Naturally, Ji Xuanyue noticed how flustered she was. He walked closer until he stood before her. The height difference created an oppressive proximity that made Su Yu’s breathing tighten again. Fortunately, he just stood there and didn’t bend down to pick her up like the night before.
“Not yet.” Ji Xuanyue spoke, his gaze falling on the tips of her reddened ears. “I wanted to dine with my wife.”
He instructed Jinglan to prepare the meal, and before long, several dishes were brought to the table.
Su Yu kept her head lowered and took small bites of food. Yet her mind was nowhere near the meal in front of her.
The sky gradually darkened.
Soon, they would be sharing the same bed again. He said he wouldn’t do anything last night. But what about tonight?
Su Yu’s thoughts grew increasingly tangled. She was so lost in them that she failed to notice Ji Xuanyue’s gaze lingering on her the entire time.
“I heard from the maids that you never left the estate all day today. I know you know about medicinal herbs. If you have nothing else to do, you could help out at the pharmacy.”
Su Yu thought she must have misheard. She looked up immediately, her almond-shaped eyes widening. “Really?”
“Mm. If that is what my wife wishes.” Ji Xuanyue’s expression was serious, with no hint of jest.
Hadn’t people always said that the more distinguished a family was, the more strictly its married women were expected to observe propriety and avoid appearing in public lest they invite gossip? Then why was Ji Xuanyue willing to let her help at the clinic?
As if sensing her hesitation, he spoke again. “I married you because I wanted you by my side, not to confine you within a courtyard. I own many shops. So long as you are willing, you may even try managing some of them.”
The evening glow slanted through the room, tinting his features with a warm golden-orange hue that made him seem both gentle and profound.
Su Yu’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. To hide her reaction, she casually picked up a piece of fish and put it into her mouth.
“As for your grandmother, you needn’t worry. A messenger reported earlier that she is doing well.”
At those words, the stone that had been weighing on Su Yu’s heart finally fell away. She swallowed the fish, thought for a moment, and then asked, “Then will Husband be free on the day of my return visit?”
“Of course. I’ve already prepared the gifts for the occasion. As for helping at the pharmacy, I’ll make arrangements for you after we’ve completed the return visit.”
After dinner, Ji Xuanyue walked with her around the courtyard. By then, night had completely fallen. “My wife, it is late. It’s time to bathe and retire for the night.”
“All right…”
Jinglan quickly prepared the hot water. Su Yu bathed and changed into her nightclothes on her own. When she returned to the inner chamber, she found Ji Xuanyue standing by the window, gazing at the moon.
Moonlight poured in like flowing water, outlining his figure in a silvery, ethereal glow. His robes stirred softly in the night breeze, and he seemed like a jade statue bathed in moonlight, so ethereal that he hardly seemed real. Hearing her footsteps, he turned and held out a hand. “Wife.”
Su Yu walked over. After a moment’s hesitation, she placed her hand in his. Ji Xuanyue’s palm was slightly cool, and faint calluses marked his fingertips.
With her hand in his, Su Yu suddenly realized how little she truly knew about her husband. She knew nothing of his likes or dislikes, nothing of his past. This was her first day as a bride in the Ji household, yet she had not even offered incense to her parents-in-law.
“Where are your parents laid to rest, Husband? I would like to offer them some incense.”
Ji Xuanyue fell silent for a moment before answering. “They passed away early and were buried in my ancestral home. It is rather far from here. If the opportunity arises, I’ll take you there.”
Though he said little, Su Yu sensed a heaviness behind his words. “I’m sorry for your loss, Husband. If they are watching over you from above, I’m sure they would be comforted to see that you are living well now. We are married now, so we are family. From now on, I’ll be here by your side.”
Su Yu meant every word. Now that she was his wife, it was only right that she stand by her husband wholeheartedly. Besides, Ji Xuanyue treated her with respect and consideration. She had no reason not to return his sincerity with her own. She looked up at him, her features appearing especially soft beneath the moonlight.
Ji Xuanyue gazed at her, silently repeating those two words to himself: Family. This frail, fragile mortal, so vulnerable that she could scarcely withstand a blow, had actually said she would stay by his side. She had even said that she was his family. Would she still say those two words if she knew? He had married her only because of her unique constitution. What he sought was the medicinal spiritual nectar she could willingly provide, so that he could heal his old wounds.
He fell silent for a moment, his gaze dropping to her slightly parted lips. Bathed in moonlight, her full lower lip gleamed with a soft, moist sheen.
Suddenly, his throat went dry, and a familiar craving for that sweet taste rose deep on his tongue. Since she had called him family, surely one more taste wouldn’t be too much.
He lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. The woman in his arms let out a soft sound of surprise, evidently startled by his sudden action. Yet she did not push him away. Instead, her eyelashes trembled as she slowly closed her eyes.
Staring at those delicate lashes so close, Ji Xuanyue deepened the kiss.
Su Yu was beginning to lose her footing. If Ji Xuanyue hadn’t wrapped an arm around her waist to support her, she would likely have slid down against his chest long ago. She could barely think as he held her close.
Dazed, she opened her eyes slightly, only to find a pair of eyes fixed intently on her. He had been watching her the entire time.
Startled, Su Yu shivered and immediately lowered her lashes again, hiding her gaze in flustered embarrassment. The next moment, a hand supported her waist. Her whole body felt weightless as she was lifted off the ground and set atop the table by the window.
The table’s edge pressed against the backs of her knees, and the cool sensation made her shiver. Before she could react, his legs moved in between hers, enclosing her completely between himself and the table.
With nowhere to escape, she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, afraid she might fall backward. Her breath was filled with the fresh scent lingering on him after his bath. As they exchanged kisses, she felt as if she had been tossed into a pool of warm water. Her limbs had gone so soft she could barely remain seated, relying only on the hand supporting her waist to keep herself upright.
At that moment, she felt it again, that impossible-to-ignore presence pressing against her through the thin layer of fabric. Tonight, there would be no escaping it, would there?
Clutching the fabric at his shoulder, Suyu thought fearfully.
Ji Xuanyue frowned. The trembling lashes of the person in his arms, her flushed cheeks, and the broken whimpers slipping from between her lips unexpectedly stirred a restless heat within him. He clearly hadn’t deliberately directed his blood and qi downward, and yet at this moment, he…
He had cultivated for so many years, enduring day and night the constant ache caused by the crack in his demon core. Never before had he experienced such a mortal, fleshly desire.
Suppressing the restless heat stirring within him, he drew back by half an inch. “Rest assured, my wife.”
His voice was noticeably lower than before. “Tonight will be the same as last night. I will not force you. Let me carry you to the couch so you may rest.”
Su Yu went limp as she was carried away and gently laid down on the couch.
Ji Xuanyue snuffed out the candle and climbed onto it as well. “Can we kiss a little longer?” he asked.
In the darkness, Ji Xuanyue moved closer to her.
Su Yu couldn’t make out his expression. In a hoarse voice, she murmured her agreement.
His lips descended on hers. Through her growing haze of drowsiness, she only vaguely felt warmth rising. She had no idea how much time had passed. Unable to fight off her exhaustion any longer, she finally drifted into a deep sleep.
Ji Xuanyue slowly drew his lips away from the corner of hers. He was a serpent spirit who had cultivated for a thousand years. It was perfectly normal for a mortal to succumb to his saliva and drift into unconsciousness.
He stared for a long moment at Su Yu’s flushed face and the sweat-damp hollow of her neck. Then his golden eyes emerged. He raised a hand and parted the front of her robe. A rich, sweet fragrance welled forth. Every bit of it was precious and not to be wasted. Lowering his head, he swept the beads of sweat from her neck with the tip of his tongue.
Every drop of fluid the medicinal spirit secreted was too precious to waste.
Su Yu only felt a growing heat spreading through her body. It felt as though something smooth and slippery was crawling across her skin. Starting at her shoulder, it wound its way downward, damp and cool to the touch, gliding inch by inch over her body. She wanted to move and brush it away, but she couldn’t lift a fingertip. She grew hotter and hotter, yet the thing not only refused to leave; it kept moving lower with increasing audacity. Then a cool sensation pressed against her.
Su Yu shuddered from head to toe, a muffled whimper escaping her throat. But the faintly cool thing did not stop because of her sound.
In the stillness of the night, through her haze-clouded thoughts, she vaguely heard swallowing, like someone drinking water. Struggling, she forced her heavy eyelids open and looked toward the sound.
Beneath the dim moonlight, she saw only a cascade of ink-black hair, its owner bent over, quietly drinking. As if sensing her movement, the person bent over her suddenly lifted his head. Under the moonlight, the tip of his nose and his lips shimmered with a fine sheen of moisture. His eyes, usually amber, now glowed with a faint golden light. The pupils had narrowed into thin vertical slits, like those of some cold-blooded creature stalking its prey in the darkness.
Beneath the gaze of those golden eyes, Su Yu trembled, her mind going completely blank.
This had to be a dream. Otherwise, why would Ji Xuanyue have his head lowered like that…
Their eyes met. His golden pupils contracted slightly, yet he seemed utterly unconcerned. He simply lowered his head again.
A moment later, the sensation made Su Yu arch sharply. It felt as though something had exploded inside her mind, bursting into a vast expanse of white light. Then her body went limp, and she sank back down, her consciousness slipping completely into an even deeper haze of unconsciousness.