The bridal chamber’s bed had some years on it. As Yu Tingwan lay down, it swayed slightly, letting out creaking sounds.
The bedboard was very hard and couldn’t compare to the huanghuali luohan bed in the Shun Guo Duke’s residence.
[huanghuali (黄花梨) – a rare and valuable type of rosewood; luohan bed (罗汉床) – a traditional Chinese canopy-less daybed often used for sitting and lying down.]
But Wei Zhao had fought battles and gone on military campaigns, eating wind and sleeping dew was a common thing—he was not some pampered young master who couldn’t endure hardship, so he didn’t feel it was just making do.
The bed he had once slept in was now being occupied by the young girl who was taking herself as the wife.
The girl wore a wedding dress, had her brows drawn, lips red and glossy, and her face was dusted with powder.
This appearance was truly…
Eye-catching.
If not for the fact that the Hu family had a scholar feared by outsiders, and that Yu Tingwan seldom went out, this kind of beauty likely couldn’t have been kept safe in an ordinary household.
Wei Zhao didn’t know what he thought of, and became dazed.
Yu Tingwan waited for a good while, but still didn’t wait for Wei Zhao to make a move.
Her eyelashes trembled like flitting butterfly wings. Yu Tingwan quietly cracked open her tightly shut eyes.
??
The belt had been undone halfway and he was spacing out.
Yu Tingwan: “Want me to help?”
Wei Zhao returned to his senses, tone calm: “No need.”
Yu Tingwan: “Then hurry up.”
Since they were already husband and wife, she also straightforwardly spoke her mind.
“There’s a banquet outside with food and wine, won’t disperse for a while. If we make too big a commotion, it wouldn’t be good.”
Wei Zhao was silent, giving Yu Tingwan a deep look, wanting to hear what more she could say.
The young girl didn’t disappoint him.
“Before, when Hu Dalang married Little Xu-shi, the bed was made just two years ago, so it should’ve been extra sturdy. But at night it still went creak creak nonstop.”
And Little Xu-shi’s voice wasn’t quiet, completely unrestrained. It sounded like pain, like pleasure. Not the same as her usual sharp tone—there was a seductive quality to it.
At first Hu Dalang still worried about Yu Tingwan next door and would cover Little Xu-shi’s mouth. But later on, Little Xu-shi would whisper indecent words into his ear, arousing him until he didn’t care anymore.
It was so noisy Yu Tingwan couldn’t sleep. She had to get up early every day to prepare morning meals. Yet she had no way to go knock on the door and tell them to tone it down.
Having said this much, the young girl couldn’t help but go on.
“After the busy farming season, to help with household expenses, my uncle went around the streets and alleys with a general goods seller, even went to the city, so he wasn’t home every day. Hu Yaozu stayed at the academy and rarely came back.”
Yu Tingwan’s tone was firm: “Wang-shi isn’t deaf, she definitely heard it too! But she was eager to carry a grandson.”
“But she was also afraid Hu Dalang would ruin his body from lusting after women, so every time she looked at Little Xu-shi, it was eyes not eyes, nose not nose.” [“眼睛不是眼睛，鼻子不是鼻子” – literally, “eyes not like eyes, nose not like nose”, an idiom describing someone giving sharp, unfriendly, judgmental looks.]
“Definitely still wanted to scold Little Xu-shi as a vixen.”
Wei Zhao also didn’t understand—why did he have to listen to all this?
But the young girl had said so much, so he had to at least give some kind of perfunctory response.
“Why didn’t she scold?”
Yu Tingwan looked at him with a strange expression.
She said with full confidence: “But the real fox spirit in the house is me.”
Wei Zhao: …
You’re even quite proud of it.
Yu Tingwan: “Later on, Hu Dazhu came back early one night and happened to catch them.”
The niece was still a young maiden! How could she listen to that kind of thing! Even Hu Dazhu felt embarrassed listening.
But he couldn’t scold the daughter-in-law, so Hu Dazhu darkened his face, directly knocked on the door and called Hu Dalang out.
“After that night, there was an extra slap mark on Hu Dalang’s face.”
And for a whole month after, Hu Dalang didn’t dare speak to Yu Tingwan. From then on, next door also quieted down quite a bit.
After saying this, Yu Tingwan went back to the previous topic.
“Our bed won’t collapse, right?”
She worried anxiously: “If it collapses, we’ll have to sleep on the floor at night.”
Yu Tingwan glanced at Wei Zhao, whose expression had turned heavy.
“Right, what kind of answer could I expect asking you.”
Wei Shen is also a novice!
Though her face was thicker than most girls’, she could still feel shy.
Yu Tingwan even thoughtfully added: “You’re still injured, later on move more gently.”
When she said these words, her expression was as usual. Like she was completing a task that had to be done.
The admiring, affectionate gazes those noble girls of Shangjing gave Wei Zhao never appeared on Yu Tingwan’s face.
Yu Tingwan only thought about starting sooner to finish sooner, so she wasn’t even the least bit shy or hesitant.
She found a comfortable posture and continued lying down, reaching out to unbutton. Unlike Wei Zhao’s slowness, her actions were very quick.
Wei Zhao’s eyelid twitched, and he saw the girl’s collar open along with it, revealing skin white as snow.
He didn’t know whether all women were like this, or if she was especially white.
How could someone be this white?
Wei Zhao, who was planning to lean back, had his eyes darken, yet he still paused for a moment, then sat down on the bed, just about to lean down and raise his hand to touch.
But the girl disliked how slow he was. She grabbed him, taking care not to touch his wound, and pulled him toward herself.
Wei Zhao was unprepared and fell forward.
Beneath him were the girl’s bright and vivid brows and eyes, her soft body, and her chest that rose and fell with her breathing.
As if she wouldn’t push him away, letting him take whatever he wanted.
Wei Zhao—when had he ever been this intimate with a woman?
At his coming-of-age ceremony, the Shun Guo Duke’s wife had indeed arranged a tongfang for him, but Wei Zhao hadn’t even taken a look and directly sent her away.
[\及冠 – “coming-of-age”, traditionally at 20 for men.
通房 (tongfang) – literally “shared room servant”, referring to a concubine-like maid who served a man both domestically and sexually.]
He did not lust after women.
Even at night, he rarely needed to release or relieve himself.
And yet, at this moment, Yu Tingwan lightly complained next to his ear—
“You’re so heavy.”
The speaker spoke unintentionally, but the listener took it to heart.
If he didn’t know what kind of person Yu Tingwan was, Wei Zhao would’ve thought she was intentionally seducing him.
After all, Wei Zhao was still a man.
Though fortunately, at this moment, he only wanted to die.
Don’t look at how knowledgeable Yu Tingwan seemed—she had no actual experience.
And it just so happened that the man who was supposed to take initiative—Wei Zhao—was acting like a block of wood.
The two stared wide-eyed at each other, locked in a deadlock for a long time.
Outside were the sounds of people chatting and laughing, as well as the voices of the lizheng and the others drinking and playing finger-guessing games—it was very lively.
Inside the room… it was deathly silent.
Yu Tingwan waited a long time before hesitantly speaking: “You… don’t know how?”
Wei Zhao moved, reached out to adjust the girl’s open collar, and reached inside.
Whether it was due to poor health or the wind blowing in from outside, his fingertips were especially cold.
Yu Tingwan flinched and shivered, her body tensing slightly, and she instinctively held her breath as she felt Wei Zhao’s hand slide all the way to the back of her neck.
The next instant, something was pulled out.
It was the peace charm Yu Tingwan had been wearing the past few days.
Wei Zhao held it in his palm, like a heart that had fallen into fragments being temporarily pieced together.
His mood improved quite a bit. He looked at the stunned Yu Tingwan, and mimicked her tone: “Then… why don’t you teach me?”
Yu Tingwan: ???
Do you even hear yourself?
The girl who had taken the initiative multiple times was now truly angry out of shame.
“If you don’t want to, then forget it. Don’t come begging me later!”
Wei Zhao didn’t think that such a day would ever come.
She kept a straight face: “Get off!”
Wei Zhao didn’t move: “When you pulled me down, you should’ve thought of this.”
Thought of what?
Thought that when you sat next to me, you weren’t coming for me?
Wei Zhao slowly said: “I can’t get up.”
What could Yu Tingwan do?
Even if angry, she still had to push Wei Zhao toward the edge of the bed.
Her virtuous self thought about it, and even covered him with the blanket.
She tugged her collar and headed out.
Wei Zhao had just closed his eyes when he heard footsteps turning back.
Yu Tingwan walked faster and faster, stopped in front of the bed, and—venting her frustration—gave him another punch.
Wei Zhao: …
Forget it. It’s not like it’s the first time he’s been punched.