A Quiet Homecoming
Chen Yao's waterfall of hair lay scattered across the bed, and she looked up, dazed, at the soft silk canopy overhead, breathing in small, shallow gasps.
Only when she was pressed until her limbs went numb did she shift her small body slightly, only to faintly feel a hard pressure against her lower abdomen.
The young woman frowned, almost instinctively twisting her body, then whispered in a small voice, "The dagger at your waist..."
—It was the same conversation that had taken place in the changing room.
Only, Chen Yao was too easily embarrassed, and last time she had been kissed dizzy by the man, so even though it was an intimate matter she had already experienced, she still looked innocent and oblivious, having learned nothing at all.
"Hm?" Xiao Mingting was somewhat addicted to lightly sniffing the faint fragrance emanating from the young woman, and an unconscious low breath rolled from his throat.
What dagger? He never carried one...
The thought had barely turned in his mind when Xiao Mingting immediately realized what she was referring to.
But the young woman beneath him was still, unaware, twisting and rubbing against him, and for a moment, he felt as if all the blood in his body surged upward.
The man's face buried in her neck was tightly drawn, and in the end, he still couldn't restrain himself and let out a low, muffled groan.
"Don't move, be good." Xiao Mingting coaxed in a low voice.
The warm breath brushed over the young woman's skin, causing her to shiver involuntarily.
Chen Yao heard the suppression in his tone and thought that her random movements had made him a bit angry, so she quickly stiffened her small body and dared not move.
But in the end, she still pursed her lips and weakly defended herself, "But... it's a bit uncomfortable being poked."
In the dim light, Xiao Mingting's eyes were heavy and dark, like an unfathomable abyss, with faint, fragmented glimmers flickering within.
He raised his head, then pressed his forehead against the young woman's, staring at her with more and more desire burning in his gaze.
"Then let Yao Yao help me take the dagger away, hmm?" The man's voice was gentle and hoarse, his tone full of coaxing intent.
Before Chen Yao could react, her soft little hand was guided by the man's strong grip, slowly moving downward...
Xiao Mingting still didn't take it to the final step; instead, from the young woman's snow-white neck downward, he spread out, leaving one after another mottled red mark like scattered stars.
Chen Yao bit her lip, crystal beads of sweat forming on her fair forehead, her entire aura in disarray, a beautiful flush spreading over her whole body.
Xiao Mingting looked at the young woman beneath him, her fragile, weak, and endearing appearance, and felt that his breathing, which had just calmed down, was once again provoked into becoming heavy.
His eyes were deep and dark, and he couldn't help but reach out to pinch her chin, then lower his head and kiss her deeply again.
So the quiet bedchamber soon once more echoed with ambiguous sounds of water, and the young woman's soft, kitten-like, coquettish sounds of refusal.
*
After all, Yuan Wangshu had been entrusted by Shen Yunxiu, and she was on fairly close terms with Xie Chenyao privately as well.
So she thought, since the weather had been clear and fine these days, she might as well send someone to deliver a post to the Shen residence, inviting the young woman over for a visit.
But no sooner had her invitation been sent, and not even half an hour had passed, than the servant she had dispatched returned in a hurry.
Then, lowering his head, he reported, "Miss, according to Miss Dou Kou of the Shen residence, Madam Shen was summoned into the palace by the Empress Dowager five days ago, and she still has not returned home."
Yuan Wangshu, who had been carefully trimming flower branches with silver scissors, paused slightly in her movements at the words.
The Empress Dowager's fondness for Xie Chenyao was certainly known to all the mansions in the capital, including hers, and for a time, invitations to banquets for her had even come in an endless stream.
But even if the Empress Dowager regarded her highly, it would be normal to keep her for a night or two in the palace, but now five days had passed—why had she been kept for so long?
She looked at the pure white and elegant lily in her hand, but felt a strange, unsettling emotion stir in her heart.
Even if the Empress Dowager was kind and loving, Xie Chenyao was, after all, not a palace consort, but the wife of an official outside the court. With Shen Yunxiu not in the capital, her being kept in the palace for so long always felt a bit unsettling.
In the end, she still couldn't put her worries aside.
The next day, Yuan Wangshu asked a palace maid in the Yuan household who was familiar with the palace to try to find out about Xie Chenyao's current situation in the palace.
"There's no need to be too detailed; I only ask whether Madam Shen is comfortable staying in the palace," she said, her tone full of gentleness.
But the palace attendant who had been summoned to the Yuan mansion lowered her head and, with a timid evasiveness, said, "Miss Yuan, regarding Miss Xie's matters, this slave truly dares not speak of them."
Yuan Wangshu was startled.
She had originally only been worried that the young woman might feel constrained in the palace, but looking at the palace maid's enigmatic attitude, and her address of "Miss Xie," she simply didn't dare to think about it further.
So in the latter half of the day, when Qu Zhujun, who rarely stayed outside the city's military camp, came to the Yuan mansion to look for her, she saw her good friend staring blankly out the window, her brows knitted into knots.
"What happened? Who made you so upset?"
Qu Zhujun sat down with her usual familiarity, then reached for the brush on the desk and began twirling it in her hand as a pastime.
Yuan Wangshu, who was also at a loss for ideas at the moment, just happened to have Qu Zhujun come over, so she sighed and told her all the ins and outs.
"That's not right, why would the palace call Chenyao that way?" Qu Zhujun said, even stopping the twirling of the brush in her hand.
She frowned and thought for a moment, but in the end, she still couldn't figure it out. She simply gave up in frustration, tossed the brush aside, and flopped heavily onto the desk in front of her.
"That's what worries me too. But regarding matters of the palace, I truly don't dare to make wild guesses."
Yuan Wangshu raised a hand and rubbed her forehead, a bit distressed.
She was worried that the Empress Dowager, or even the Emperor, might have the intention to arrange another marriage for Shen Yunxiu. Otherwise, why would the palace attendants have taken the liberty to change their address, erasing Xie Chenyao's title of "Madam Shen"?
In the end, it was Qu Zhujun who sat up straight and slapped the desk heavily, saying, "Instead of us guessing blindly here, why not just hand in a plaque to the palace? We'll use the pretext of paying respects to the Empress Dowager, and once inside, we can secretly meet with Chenyao and just ask the person involved directly."
"But what if the Empress Dowager refuses to see us?"
Since they had no leads at all, Yuan Wangshu reacted, strangely enough, not with skepticism, but instinctively with worry about the feasibility.
"Why think so much?" Qu Zhujun had always been a woman of action, and immediately raised her eyebrows and said, "Let's hand in the plaque first and talk about it later."
Although Yuan Wangshu was still a bit hesitant, thinking of Xie Chenyao's possible situation in the palace, she gritted her teeth, "Alright, we'll do as you say."
They had originally thought that after handing in the plaque, they would have to wait a day or two at least for a reply, and they had even mentally prepared for a refusal.
But unexpectedly, only a little over an hour later, they quickly received an oral decree from the Shou'an Palace saying that "the Empress Dowager will grant an audience tomorrow."
Yuan Wangshu and Qu Zhujun looked at each other, both feeling quite surprised.