[Alternate t.i.tle: Living The High Life
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For what happens on wedding night, if one of them has no experience, then the other has a bit of a free advantage. But if both of them have no experience, then they"re destined to do a lot of hard work in a flurry of limbs…
Well, were it to be said that Rong Jiahui didn"t have any sort of knowledge at all, then that wouldn"t be entirely true. She hadn"t yet experienced anything, nor had she learned anything second-hand, but thinking about when she secretly took out the certain book from under the mattress the last time around, and then secretly flipped through it with great vigor, it was like she discovered a whole new world. But is that anything like what"s happening right now? No matter how many books you read, it"s useless in actual combat!
She kisses like her head"s on the chopping block; with too much strength, and teeth nearly knocking together. Those were fine, but the knocking did break open the skin of her lips. There was some pain when she traced it with the tip of her tongue, along with the faint taste of blood.
A layer of broken skin isn"t important and Jiahui takes no mind of it. She clung onto the other"s body like an octopus, peering at the face before her that she"d been thinking about day and night, a devoted smile on her face. As for Great General Zhongli Luo, she looked to be at a complete loss, as if she were the bride who had been bashfully sitting in the bridal chamber with that red veil on her head for a few shichen.
Rong Jiahui gently takes one of her hands. It"s not as smooth and delicate as an ordinary woman"s, but it isn"t as rough and calloused-covered as a soldier"s, either. It"s clear, slim, and warm.
Zhongli Luo"s eyes that had once been sparkling as if there were light within them were now hazy and unfocused, as if there was a layer of mist covering them. She took Jiahui"s hand in her own, placed it on her face, and kissed it with extreme gentleness.
With that faint puff of breath, Jiahui"s burning smirk immediately turned into a flushed face.
Under the joyous, warm light, Zhongli Luo looked at the girl who was firmly hanging onto her. She had elegant features without a hint of makeup, two clouds of blush placed upon her fair face. Her long hair, dark as sandalwood, was scattered about either side of her, hanging down to her chest, giving off a slight fragrance that makes her greedy for more.
Red permeates everything on wedding night; the two longfeng candles, the red muslin curtains, the red paper cutouts…
Even their clothes are a brilliant red, and among the color of cinnabar is a patch of snow white. Zhongli Luo was a bit undaring to look at it any longer, and she slowly raised a hand to cup Jiahui"s beet-red little face. From the corner of her eye to the corner of her mouth, she kissed softly and meticulously. Jiahui looks like her mother, with the same natural beauty; she was beautiful to begin with, but now, she"s even more breath-taking. Having normally lived a life of luxury, her frame is graceful and supple, her skin the same sort of snowy-jade white as the highest quality of silk, smooth and ethereal.
Jiahui"s cool, jadeite hand slides along the back of Zhongli Luo"s neck, slipping into her soft hair that seems to have the faint dampness of sweat.
Their lips and teeth move together, wandering and rubbing against each other, leaving them somewhat out of breath and flushed crimson.
Jiahui"s mouth has the taste of those longans and jujubes, and mixed with the flavor of the wine, it"s much sweeter than Zhongli Luo had imagined it would be. Her hands feel like they"re on fire now – wherever they touch, they seem like they"re burning up…
The somewhat disoriented pair had their minds in a confused muddle. Though not at all clear on what they were doing, they still sunk cun by cun into their instincts, drowning out all their reason as they fooled around with a great amount of effort.
Both of their foreheads are covered in fine beads of sweat. Zhongli Luo"s gentle kiss falls onto the watery edge of Jiahui"s eye, who trembled slightly and then buried her head into the crook of Zhongli Luo"s neck.
It was like they had just been taking a hike in the middle of June"s summer, the scorching hot sun beating down upon them, or as if they had been inside a steamer basket, the stifling heat leaving them without air. Now it seems like they had gone into early March, the spring breeze enough to warm a person while still being slightly cool…
In the early morning of the next day, when the maids entered to wait upon them, what greeted them was the sight of two people, one occupying each side of the bed and both covered with a different blanket, not daring to see anyone else.
As they"ve changed over families, now would usually be the time that the married couple would get up early and go pay respects to the husband"s parents together. Since this event has absolutely no relevance to Jiahui and Zhongli Luo, their nest doesn"t need to be disturbed until tomorrow.
However, nesting like this won"t work in the long-term. Jiahui b.u.mped the blanket next door from beneath the cover of her own. “Quick, you get up and get out first. I"ll do it after.”
Zhongli Luo"s sheets suddenly moved, her head slowly extending out from inside.
Seeing that, the several maids found stifling their laughter to be extremely difficult.
They"d served under Rong Jiahui for ten or so years, but in the wake of their Master marrying into the Zhongli Estate, it"s natural that she"s already begun to misplace her priorities.
“You should get up, Madam.” They quickly corrected themselves, speaking and smiling as they coordinated with each other in a tug-of-war to get Jiahui out of the sheets.
Jiahui is unwavering in her tugging, but it"s hard for two hands to resist eight claws, and in the end, they managed to lift her blanket off. Ashamed beyond measure, she obediently got up; she can"t avoid others her whole life, after all.
Plus, she really… wasn"t of a clear mind yesterday, and with those lascivious thoughts, she actually did end up sleeping with this pure-hearted Great General! The first thing she felt in the morning was that her behavior had been worse than a beast"s, with all her initiative-taking and clothes-tearing, and now she didn"t have the guts to see anyone at all.
Yeesh, that wine really was liquid courage.
Even so, when she looked at the woman that wasn"t too far away, she felt a bit of excitement deep down in her heart. Despite her beastliness, being so close to her favorite person is really the most unspeakably beautiful thing in the world.
Zhongli Luo can sense her staring, her ears rapidly going red. The contrast of her crimson ears versus her neck has Jiahui giggling uncontrollably.
Her eyes curve as she smiles. “Hey, surname Zhongli,” she says, “how come you"re in your twenties yet you turn red at the drop of a hat?”
Hearing that, Zhongli Luo doesn"t know what to do with herself. She turns her head, the tips of her ears promptly getting a bit redder. “Hah?”
Jiahui covered her smiling face. A long time after, she parted her middle and ring fingers from each other to reveal a pair of shiny black eyes. “What"s the matter? Are you starting to regret taking me back home now?”
Seeing that brilliant, shimmering look, Zhongli Luo shakes her head.
“I love you,” is her response.
Jiahui hadn"t expected that, staring for an extended moment of time before she finally reacted. She"s been the one taking all the first steps for half her life; for the first time, this person isn"t evading the issue and then waiting for her to come be forceful about it.
Lips curving up, she cheerfully embraces her.
“I love you, too.”
On the surface, Marquis Pingbei"s Estate is entirely Zhongli Luo"s, but everyone within the Estate is very clear on the fact that this is Rong Jiahui"s domain alone.
When she was far off in the Northwest, Jiahui was fond of playing hostess, and now that she has the proper t.i.tle, the job"s gotten worse. They just had a small courtyard in the Northwest, but now, it"s a huge residence that isn"t any smaller than Marquis Zhenguo"s. Today she"ll plant flowers, tomorrow she"ll plant trees, the day after tomorrow she"ll raise a bunch of fish, and the day after that… it makes her busy, and isn"t that just grand?
The two Estates aren"t too far from each other, and she likes to return home when she has nothing else to do. Her simple life is much more free than the one she had before.
She originally believed that when she was at a party with all her female friends, she would no longer need to be the only one sitting in the middle of a crowd that she shared nothing in common with.
However, the reality was…
Wen Anying felt her cousin"s round belly and grinned. “Ah-Heng, I remember my stomach being as round as yours when I was carrying that little brat around. Hm, when I was like you, I loved to eat sour things. That"s why your family is definitely going to be like mine and have a mischievous little boy! Your husband is mischievous, too, so he"s probably going to be like his dad.”
The three words ‘mischievous little boy" did not have Song Heng revealing the smile Wen Anying had been expecting, but instead some amount of anxiousness. “Cousin, my husband"s been hoping that it"s going to be a girl this whole time. If I have a son, he"s probably going to want to kill himself.”
“He wants a girl?” Wen Anying pauses. “Your hubbie is really unconventional. Mine also wants a daughter to spoil, just like I do, but a son is what he lives for.”
Song Heng turned to eye Rong Jiahui, some sourness in her heart. “He wants a daughter, and he hopes that she looks like his big sister. If she doesn"t look like her, then looking like me would be more than fine. If she doesn"t even look like me, but more like him, then he"d only be able to accept that in tears.”
Jiahui nearly sprayed out a mouthful of old blood. Jiaze is such a… if her sister-in-law really does have a girl that resembles her, and he has a girl that looks like his older sister calling him ‘dad", is his conscience not going to hurt?!
Wen Anying restrained her smile at Jiahui"s outraged face. “Are you always bullying your little brother? Look, now he"s dreaming about hearing you call him dad.”
After rolling her eyes at Wen Anying, she said peacefully to Song Heng, “Ah-Heng, when you go back, let Ah-Ze know that the next time I see him, he"s getting hit!”
That little imp is getting all the more cheeky.
After that, she silently went and moved over to the ones without children, thinking that she would get some peace over there, but…
Yu Yixiang was looking at Xu Zhaoyu"s touchingly beautiful face laced with distress, and asked with worry, “Sister Xu, what"s going on with you these days? Why do you look so poorly?”
Xu Zhaoyu sighed. “Sister Yu, I"ve been married for so many years, yet I"m still not with child. My in-laws watched me grow up and used to be very polite, but now they barely speak to me. My husband is also quite disappointed in me. I think… in a few months, I"ll have to make up a few rooms for concubines to live in. So long as I"m thinking of this, I get anxious. He and I are childhood sweethearts, and we grew up together, I don"t want to…”
As Yu Yixiang also hasn"t had any children in these few years of marriage, this is something she can sympathize a bit with. In her situation, the only comfort is likely her husband"s extreme tolerance towards her, and her fretting is mostly stemming from her own guilt.
Yu Yixiang also sighed. “So that"s what you"re worrying over, Sister Xu. As luck would have it, some time ago, I received a secret recipe written by the highly skilled Imperial Doctor. I might be able to send it to you some other day.”
A faint flash of happy surprise appeared on Xu Zhaoyu"s face. “This Zhaoyu will thank you many times over beforehand, then, Sister Yu,” she says gratefully.
“We"re all sisters here. There"s no need for thanks.”
Listening to all that gabber forces Jiahui to leave quietly, lest her baby-crazy cousin turns around and wants to give her a copy. Sheesh. She had been wanting to find her place in this heap of women, but there still wasn"t one she could bore into…
The author says: *gentle slap* My surge of power has been exhausted _(:з」∠)_
The translator says: I died O(—( [Jiahui"s living that lesbian, childfree dream life LOL]
[1] The priorities that are being misplaced here are that the wife is supposed to get up before the husband so she can wait on him before he goes to court/work/whatever. Patriarchy.