Chapter 75

 Bao Ning was startled by his gaze and stammered, “What... what lesson?”

“Don’t you like children?” Pei Yuan smiled at her with a teasing expression. Leaning against the wall, he stood up, knelt on one knee, and cornered Bao Ning against the wall, tilting his head to unfasten his clothes.

The candlelight was blocked by his body, and Bao Ning tilted her head slightly, sitting in Pei Yuan’s shadow.

He quickly undressed, throwing his inner garments onto the floor, revealing his strong upper body. His chest muscles were firm and shiny, his abdomen had a neatly defined six-pack, and his waistline tapered down smoothly, with the lower part hidden in his trousers. Pei Yuan had many scars on his body, but in this context, they didn't detract from his attractiveness; they made him seem even more rugged.

Bao Ning had seen him before, but today, perhaps due to the overly intimate atmosphere, she was a bit stunned by his presence.

Pei Yuan's eyes were fixed on her increasingly flushed neck, his lips curled into a smile. He placed his hand on his belt, slowly unfastening it. Halfway through, he stopped and took Bao Ning’s hand to place it there: “You do it.”

Bao Ning’s fingers were trembling. She quickly pulled her hand back, “I don’t know how!”

“What’s there to not know?” Pei Yuan said. “This morning, weren’t you the one who tied it for me?”

He forcibly held her wrist, moving her hand away from the belt to a slightly lower position, making Bao Ning shiver from the sensation.

Pei Yuan asked, “What does it feel like?”

“I don’t know,” Bao Ning was deeply embarrassed and furious, her face reddened, “I don’t know!”

“You’ve touched it before, forgotten?” Pei Yuan held her hand tightly, not letting her pull away, pressing it firmly in place. Bao Ning felt the sensation in her palm slowly changing, becoming hard and hot.

Pei Yuan whispered enticingly, “Big bugs produce liquid, white, sticky, hot, and a bit fishy. It’s in your palm.”

Pei Yuan controlled her hand, slowly rubbing it over the area, and Bao Ning noticed his expression had changed, and his breath had become heavier.

Pei Yuan pressed closer, leaning in her ear, and asked softly, “Do you want to taste it?”

Bao Ning was about to cry. She felt that Pei Yuan was being so indecent. Couldn’t he be more serious, couldn’t he speak properly?

Pei Yuan bit her earlobe and laughed softly, “What’s there to be afraid of? In the future, there will be even more intimate contact. When you grow a bit more, it won’t hurt.”

He pointed to Bao Ning’s lower abdomen, “It will be buried here, very comfortable.”

His tone was like that of a villain. Bao Ning, curled up in Pei Yuan’s arms, could no longer hold back and tears began to fall.

Pei Yuan had no intention of letting her go. He drew circles on her abdomen and asked, “Ning Ning, do you think that after the big bug goes into your belly, here,” he rubbed around her belly button, “will it create some kind of shape? Hmm, for example, will it stretch?”

Bao Ning pushed his hand away and tried to crawl out, “I don’t know, I don’t want to talk to you anymore…”

Pei Yuan grabbed her ankle and pulled her back, pinching her chin, and asked with a smile, “Don’t you want children? You have to understand how to make them first.”

Bao Ning shook her head repeatedly, “I don’t want to, I don’t want to.”

“Then it’s not up to you,” Pei Yuan lightly bit her cheek, giving it a hard suck, and reached behind her to unfasten her straps, “Good Ning Ning, look at me, I’m almost suffering here. I can’t get the meat into my mouth; at least let me have some soup, let me touch…”

Bao Ning, pitifully trapped in the corner, bit her lip tightly, and after a while, her eyes were misty with tears.

...

Bao Ning deeply regretted having prepared such a delicious meal and letting him eat so much. His energy was like that of a wild beast, moving her from the soft couch to the table, from the table to the dressing table, and finally onto the bed.

When she got up the next morning, she found her two areas were still red.

Her lips were swollen as well.

Pei Yuan, looking satisfied and with eyes brighter than usual, gently kissed the corner of her lips, “It’s my fault; I was too rough. I didn’t realize you were so delicate. Next time, I’ll be gentler, just sucking, not biting.”

Bao Ning didn’t believe his nonsense and kicked him away with her foot. She turned her back to the wall, angry and with her eyes closed, not wanting to speak to him.

Pei Yuan, feeling embarrassed, got up and prepared her face wash and breakfast, trying to be attentive.

Old Liu had already started preparing the meal. It was a simple dish Bao Ning had ordered last night: dried vegetable and Chinese toon leaves mixed with porridge.

The toon leaves picked yesterday were cleaned, blanched in hot water, squeezed dry, chopped finely, mixed with some salt, and stirred into the cooked porridge. It was fragrant, refreshing, and very tasty.

Along with a scallion pancake and a small dish of garlic eggplant, it was enough.

Pei Yuan couldn't help with the cooking as Bao Ning didn’t like what he made, so he waited on the side.

The small courtyard was full of life in the morning, with cicadas chirping as soon as the sun appeared. Pei Yuan sat on the threshold with his knees apart, staring at a tree in the distance, and after a while, he asked Old Liu, “In a few days, it will be the start of the dog days. Can you find a few people to catch those cicadas and fry them? Do you think Madam would like them?”

Old Liu hesitated, “I don’t think she would like them. They’re quite scary.”

Pei Yuan responded, “They are indeed scary, but they’re crispy and taste good. I’ll make them myself another day and let her try.”

Old Liu looked at him strangely, thinking that the current Pei Yuan seemed different from the one she had previously interacted with. In her impression, the Fourth Prince was strong-willed, always gloomy, rarely smiled, and was hard to approach. They had interacted for two or three months, and Pei Yuan’s words to her had rarely exceeded five sentences, mostly asking her to serve tea or water.

But his tone just now, though not exactly gentle, was at least mild.

The content of the conversation was also mild, as if he were an ordinary man, buying an extra portion of something tasty from the street and bringing it home for his wife to try.

Old Liu smiled, “The young mistress will surely be very happy.”

Pei Yuan nodded and said no more.

A-Huang, having woken up and gone out to play, saw Pei Yuan and ran over happily. Pei Yuan playfully tapped its head. After a while, A-Mian also ran over, holding a rose from Bao Ning’s garden in its mouth.

Pei Yuan’s heart skipped a beat when he saw this and quickly tapped A-Mian’s forehead, “Hurry up and return it. Why are you chewing on her flowers? When she wakes up, she’ll definitely blame me for ordering it!”

A-Mian barked, chewed on the flower, and ate it.

Pei Yuan laughed, pointing at it, “You’ve got some nerve.”

Old Liu looked at him again, with a hint of a smile, thinking to herself that the Fourth Prince, who seemed unapproachable, was surprisingly good at coaxing people and had an interesting way of speaking.

When she brought the meal back, Bao Ning was already up, sitting at the dressing table and combing her hair. When she saw Pei Yuan enter, she quickly tightened her clothing and looked at him warily.

Pei Yuan said, “Don’t worry, I won’t bother you. Come and eat.”

Bao Ning gave him a skeptical look and walked over.

Pei Yuan laid out the dishes from the food box, placed the chopsticks, and served her diligently, like a devoted servant, except he didn’t feed her himself. Bao Ning felt comfortable being served and gradually relaxed, showing a smile on her face.

Seeing her smile, Pei Yuan felt more confident and said, “Ning Ning, you still need to learn. About last night, what’s there to be embarrassed about? You should learn more and put in some effort. I’ll go to the capital the day after tomorrow and bring back some illustrated books. You know what kind I mean, right?”

Bao Ning’s smile gradually faded.

Pei Yuan, somewhat confused, finished his porridge and continued, "You should take a look more often. There are many variations to that matter, and we can explore them slowly... Hey, why are you kicking me?"

"Stop eating and get out, go outside!" Bao Ning snatched the bowl from his hand, pushed him by the shoulder to drive him away, and said with wide eyes, "Don’t come back."

"I..." Pei Yuan wanted to say something, but Bao Ning took a step back and closed the door with a bang, nearly hitting his nose.

Pei Yuan didn’t mind; he was full and in a good mood. He adjusted his clothes and slowly walked towards the study.

After finishing her meal, Bao Ning went about feeding her pets as usual.

Ah Huang ate meat porridge, but Lucky needed big bones to feel full. Ah Huang couldn’t chew big bones, so it had to stick to porridge. Ah Mian ate grass mixed with a handful of salt, as sheep liked salt. There were also leeches that required fresh snails; the number of leeches kept increasing, needing a pound of snails per meal.

Pei Yuan still needed to detoxify every half month as before, which was effective and had become a familiar pain.

Except for rainy days and detox sessions, he was like a normal person. Bao Ning used to enjoy peaceful rainy days, but now she disliked them.

But now, there was no other way.

Bao Ning suddenly thought that Pei Yuan would be going out the day after tomorrow. She hoped he wouldn’t encounter rain. Speaking of which, what was he going out for? She hadn’t asked.

Was she being too indifferent?

After the incident with Ji Jiaying, Bao Ning had been avoiding Pei Yuan's conflicts. Like this time, she didn’t even dare to ask, partly because she felt she wouldn’t be of any help, and partly because she was subconsciously avoiding it.

She liked peaceful days, and Pei Yuan’s actions went against her expectations, so she simply ignored it, as if it hadn’t happened.

Bao Ning wondered if she could really avoid it. They were married and would have children in the future; it would be difficult to separate in this lifetime. As husband and wife, every plan of Pei Yuan’s would affect her, and whether good or bad, they should face it together, right? It couldn’t be solved just by closing her eyes and covering her ears.

But for Bao Ning, this was still a challenging step.

After feeding the leeches, Bao Ning had nothing else to do in the morning. She moved a stool outside to bask in the sun, pondering the preparations needed for opening her shop, and chatted with Liu Mama.

Liu Mama was making shoe soles and reminisced about Pei Yuan’s words from the morning, sighing, "The relationship between the mistress and the Fourth Prince is really good."

Bao Ning smiled, "It’s okay, quite good."

Liu Mama said, "Sometimes I think, when I was young, why didn’t I choose a better husband? Not to say he had to be successful, but at least someone who knew how to treat others well and live a steady life. If that were the case, he wouldn’t have died early, and I wouldn’t have ended up as a wet nurse in the General’s residence right after giving birth to my son. By now, I don’t even have a home."

Bao Ning was surprised to learn about Liu Mama’s past and couldn’t help asking, "How did he die so young?"

Liu Mama sighed, "I also made mistakes. If I had stopped him back then, maybe it wouldn’t have ended like that."

Bao Ning was even more confused, "He was ill?"

Liu Mama said, "He was beaten to death."

Bao Ning was so shocked that she dropped the book she was holding. She picked it up, dusted it off, and repeated in disbelief, "Beaten to death?"

"When I married him, he was a thug, involved in gambling. I didn’t like his profession or him, but his family was wealthy, and I was forced to marry him." Liu Mama shook her head. "After we married, we just got by. We had a few children. I initially advised him to quit, but he didn’t listen. Later, I was busy with household matters and the children, so I stopped bothering with him."

Bao Ning asked, "Then what happened?"

"Later, his father fell ill, spending a lot of money, and the family funds were nearly exhausted. He wasn’t used to being poor and got anxious, which might have led to his bad plans. I noticed it early on, but I didn’t intervene. I thought it was his own problem, not related to me. I was a woman, and I just needed to manage my own affairs."

Bao Ning asked, "Then… what happened next?"

"One rainy day, he wanted to go out. I noticed something was off; he was too excited and it was late at night. What was he going out for? Surely not for good purposes."

Liu Mama continued, "But I still didn’t stop him. The child cried, I went to feed the child, and he left. Looking back, I regret it so much. If I had stopped him and not let him go, would he not have been beaten to death? Or if I had cared more about him earlier, would it not have reached that point?"

She placed the shoe sole aside, wiped her tears with a handkerchief, and smiled awkwardly, "Young Mistress, I’ve embarrassed myself in front of you."

Bao Ning patted her back comfortingly and said softly, "It’s okay."

Thinking about the past, Liu Mama felt upset, and Bao Ning’s heart shrank as well. She felt scared and realized she hadn’t paid enough attention to Pei Yuan. Bao Ning thought that even if she couldn’t help, she should at least know what Pei Yuan was doing.

Liu Mama’s husband and Pei Yuan had no connection, and their situations were completely different, but the phrase "beaten to death" still led Bao Ning to unpleasant associations.

Should she really inquire about Pei Yuan’s matters?

In the study, Pei Yuan was reading the military training notes sent by Zhang Yun, while Wei Meng sat beside him studying the terrain map of Lihu.

Wei Meng, tired of sitting with his legs crossed, changed his position and said to Pei Yuan, "Little General, I think you’re being unreasonable. Jia Ling is who? The Young Mistress’s brother-in-law! If you want to know about his situation, why not ask the Young Mistress? If she doesn’t know, send an invitation to the Chongyuan Marquis’s residence and directly ask her elder sister Ji Xiangzhen. As her pillow partner, she should have some useful information."

Pei Yuan didn’t look up and said lightly, "She doesn’t like these things, don’t bother her."

"You two are a married couple." Wei Meng stood up and walked to his side, tapping the table impatiently. "Looking long-term, if you become emperor in the future, won’t the Young Mistress have to learn to be the empress? Or, if you return to the north and become the King of Jibei, she will be the princess consort. In such a vast area as the north, the princess consort cannot just be a title; she has responsibilities!"

Pei Yuan looked at him with a frown, displeased, "She’s a young lady, why are you forcing her to do things?"

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