The Prisoner of Beauty - Chapter 113

Chapter 113

Wei Shao's steps paused for a brief fraction of a moment.

"I did not come here to listen to Madam recount the past, nor is it appropriate for Madam to confide such matters to me."

He slowly turned his head.

"Madam Su, your stay has already been quite prolonged during this passage through Jinyang. If it is truly due to physical indisposition, then simply nurse your illness well. However..."

His gaze locked directly onto Su Ehuang's increasingly pale face, lingering there for a long moment.

"If you harbor other designs, take my advice and resume your journey as early as possible. I am no longer the Erlang of those past years. Furthermore, I now have a wife; she has completely captured my heart, and I do not wish to create unnecessary complications that might cause her the slightest displeasure."

"I have said all there is to say. Pray nurse your illness."

...

Just like that, he departed, leaving without casting a single backward glance.

Su Ehuang stood frozen, her eyes staring blankly into space. Her entire skin felt as though it had been submerged in ice water, as a fine, piercing chill slowly penetrated her flesh and bone marrow, assailing her from within.

Had she not clamped her teeth tightly together, she would likely have begun shivering uncontrollably by now.

A profound panic gradually seized her heart—the exact kind of panic that arises when matters have spiraled entirely beyond one's calculations.

She had originally believed that no matter what, as long as she could secure an opportunity to speak with him alone, she would be able to steer him toward the outcome she desired.

Yet she had never imagined that from the very first sentence Wei Shao uttered, the situation would completely break free from her expectations.

The men of this world are universally fond of beautiful women; Su Ehuang understood this truth inside out. It had only been a little over a year since Wei Shao married the Qiao daughter, so out of a sense of novelty, he might well be quite partial to her physical charms.

Su Ehuang had prepared herself for this long ago.

What she completely failed to anticipate was that Wei Shao's first words would be an attempt to send her away. Not only that, but he had even spoken the words "she has completely captured my heart" right to her face.

Could it be that the words that had spilled from that wretched servant Chun Niang's mouth that day were actually the absolute truth?

Su Ehuang could not accept it; she simply could not accept it.

Could the Qiao daughter have forced Wei Shao to drive her away? Otherwise, if he truly detested her, why would his demeanor remain so pleasant, to the point of actively offering to dispatch men to escort her to Luoyang?

Wei Shao must definitely still harbor feelings for her!

Perhaps she had simply wounded that youth too deeply all those years ago, leaving him with an unresolvable knot in his heart to this day, which allowed the Qiao daughter to take advantage of the situation and beguile him with her charms. The deaths of Wei Shao's father and elder brother were inextricably linked to the Qiao family's perfidy back then! The sheer agony that the twelve-year-old youth endured—agony that no outsider could ever truly empathize with—she had stood by his side, witnessing every single fraction of it with her own eyes, almost as though she had experienced it firsthand.

Not to mention that half a year later, when he was finally able to step down from his bed, the very first thing he did was kneel before the ancestral tablets in the family shrine and swear a ferocious oath to completely annihilate his enemies one day to comfort the souls of his father and brother!

The ruthless light that had flashed within his eyes at that moment remained fresh in her memory even today.

How could a Wei Shao like that be so single-mindedly infatuated with the daughter of his enemy family, to the point of being unable to extricate himself?

She did not believe it; she refused to believe it.

She needed to think carefully, think carefully... She would surely be able to devise a method to untangle this...

"Aunt! What did the Marquis of Yan come for just now? Why is your expression so dreadful?"

Su Xin, who had been hiding all this time, walked in briskly and supported Su Ehuang, his voice carrying a trace of anxiety.

Su Ehuang's eyes remained vacant, as though she had heard nothing, her body completely motionless.

Su Xin stole a quiet glance at Su Ehuang's expression, feeling increasingly uneasy inside as he said haltingly, "His coming... it couldn't be that he found out about what happened in Yuyang previously?"

Su Ehuang shuddered violently, abruptly snapping her eyes up to glare at Su Xin.

"What nonsense are you babbling? What is this so-called matter of Yuyang?"

She spoke each word in a hushed, lowered tone, her gaze instantly turning icy and filled with a chilling aura.

Su Xin flurriedly replied, "Yes, yes, your nephew was muddled! Aunt, how are you feeling? Why is your complexion so dreadful? Your nephew is deeply worried."

Su Ehuang only felt a progressive buzzing arise within both ears, while the sinews at one side of her temples seemed to twitch violently. Her body swayed slightly; she closed her eyes and reached out blindly into the empty air, haphazardly grabbing hold of one of Su Xin's arms. Pausing for a moment, she murmured, "My head aches terribly. Assist me back so I can lie down; I need to rest."

Her hand was cold and clammy, devoid of the slightest warmth, yet her strength was extraordinarily immense, her fingernails sinking deeply into Su Xin's flesh.

Even through his robes, a sharp, sudden pain shot through Su Xin's arm where she pinched him, but he did not dare make a sound and hurriedly called out loudly for the maidservants.

The maidservants rushed over to assist her. Su Xin took the opportunity to extricate his arm, escorted Su Ehuang back to her chamber, and settled her down to rest.

Su Ehuang kept her eyes closed, remaining entirely motionless as though she had fallen asleep. Just as Su Xin turned around to tiptoe his way out, he suddenly heard a voice rise behind him near the doorway: "Nothing happened just now. Zhonglin had only just returned to Jinyang, and upon learning I was here, he immediately came over to exchange some old memories and urge me to nurse my illness. It was only because he had other important matters to attend to that he departed in such a hurry. Set your mind at ease; everything is within my control."

Su Xin turned his head back. Su Ehuang's eyes remained closed, her expression steadily reverting to tranquility. He murmured a couple of agreements, stepped out beyond the door, and hitched up his sleeve. The flesh of his arm had already been pinched by her to the point of leaving five deep fingernail marks; only then did he let out a quiet hiss of pain and raise his hand to rub at them a few times.

...

Xiao Qiao loved cleanliness, and moreover, it was currently the height of the midsummer heat. The weather was oppressively sultry, and the slightest movement would bring out a sweat, so she naturally bathed every day.

On this evening, after finishing dinner and digesting her food, the sky had just begun to turn dark when she entered the bath as was her usual routine.

Chun Niang had attended to her closely since her youth. Ever since the terrifying incident that occurred at the beginning of the year, even though half a year had passed, she still remained by her side without straying a single step.

Xiao Qiao's body was submerged in the water, revealing only her fragrant shoulders. Her freshly washed, jet-black long hair was entirely gathered in front of her, resting against one side of her petite and increasingly full, rounded chest. She wound the damp tips of her hair around her finger, playing with it a few times, when she heard Chun Niang speak from behind her: "Now that the Lord has returned from this trip, you must absolutely keep him here for a few more days, my Lady! You have been married for quite some time now. Although the Old Madame hasn't pressed for news, she is likely thinking about it every single day."

Chun Niang had always stubbornly maintained that the Old Madame had deliberately gone to Wuzhong City with Madam Zhu at the beginning of the year precisely to make the Lord bring the Lady along, so that the Lady could expand the branches and scatter the leaves of the Wei family as early as possible. Yet the two of them were mostly separated, and down to this day, the Lady's side remained entirely quiet without the slightest sign of news; how could she not feel anxious?

Xiao Qiao offered a soft murmur of assent.

"As for that Su woman, I only just had someone quietly go cast an eye on her today, and she is still taking her sweet time nursing her illness there! To think there could be such a brazen person!"

Whenever Chun Niang thought of that Su woman, it felt as though a lump of foul mud was wedged inside her heart. Kneeling to massage Xiao Qiao's beautiful back, she continued, "You must absolutely not underestimate her, my Lady! She shares a history with the Lord, and based on that alone, she possesses a layer of reliance that others lack. Not to mention that a woman like her must surely possess extraordinary talents within the bed curtains. The men of this world mostly favor women of her type. You were still young back then and did not know, but your Uncle previously kept a concubine who possessed this exact knack for handling men. Before that woman arrived, he would spend roughly a dozen nights out of a month in your Aunt's chambers. Later, once he obtained that woman, it was as though he were cradling a precious treasure; let alone your Aunt's quarters, he rarely even visited the chambers of his other concubines. When that woman fell ill and passed away, he remained sorrowful for quite some time. That woman was merely an ordinary courtesan, so how did she enjoy such favor? It was entirely by relying on a full set of skills for serving men! Although this Su woman was born of noble status, I can tell with a single glance that she has surely experienced a great many things, so what would she ever hesitate to do?"

Xiao Qiao remained silent.

"I shouldn't be speaking of such things before you, my Lady, as it soils your ears. It is only that I fear you are young and inexperienced, failing to comprehend these twisted intricacies, and might suffer a loss if you are negligent. This Su woman is clearly positioning herself here to wait for the Lord's return. If she is willing to discard her modesty to pull off such deeds, and the Lord takes into account his youthful affections for her, should she find the right opportunity to slip through the fence, there's no guaranteeing the Lord won't..."

Chun Niang stole a glance at Xiao Qiao. Seeing her head lowered, using a pale, tender finger to wind a lock of her hair up and then let it loose over and over without pause, she wondered if her previous words had frightened her. She quickly changed her tone to coax her, saying, "But you shouldn't let me scare you either, my Lady. What I said just now was merely a reminder. Your beauty is unmatched by anyone. I see that the Lord truly cradles you in the palm of his hand to dote on you. Once the Lord returns, you need only manage him well and refrain from giving others an opening yourself; then even ten Su daughters would surely be taught to slink away in dejection!"

Chun Niang spoke until her mouth felt dry, yet Xiao Qiao had not uttered a sound throughout. Chun Niang grew somewhat anxious: "My sweet heart, I have said so much, but have you actually taken any of it in?"

Xiao Qiao's thoughts just now had drifted back to the small casket she had encountered when she first arrived at the Wei family estate.

Over these past days, with Su Ehuang's reappearance, the unpleasant memories that the casket had once brought her were gradually resurfacing with absolute clarity.

Seeing that Chun Niang was getting anxious, Xiao Qiao turned her head and said, "I've taken it in, I understand—"

Only then did Chun Niang smile. Stepping in front of Xiao Qiao, she unraveled the few strands of hair wound around her fingers, took a dry towel to blot away the moisture from her hair, and gathered it atop her head. Her gaze swept across the snow-white expanse of her chest half-revealed above the water—which had grown increasingly endearing from careful nurturing—and she let out a sigh: "We keep speaking of the Lord. The Lord's campaigns out there should be drawing to a close soon, right? Thinking on it, it hasn't been easy for him either; half a year has flown by in the blink of an eye since you arrived here at the beginning of the year, my Lady. Throughout these six months, the Lord has barely spent a few days staying within the city to live a peaceful life, always out with the military ranks. My heart aches a little just thinking about it. The Lord labors hard, and you are left with no one to keep you company, my Lady. Always gathering so little and separating so much, I truly don't know when it will finally come to an end..."

Suddenly, the door to the bath chamber was tapped once from the outside.

Thinking it was a maidservant, Chun Niang turned her head and asked, "What is it? The Lady has not yet emerged from her bath."

"It is I."

The steady, deep voice of a man carried inside.

Recognizing it as Wei Shao's voice, Chun Niang was overjoyed. She exchanged a glance with Xiao Qiao, gave her shoulder an encouraging squeeze, and then hurriedly went over to open the door.

Wei Shao was leaning casually against the doorframe.

Suppressing the delight in her heart, Chun Niang bowed and greeted him, "The Lord has returned? When did you return? Was the journey arduous?"

"Just a moment ago."

Wei Shao offered only a brief response, his gaze shifting directly toward Xiao Qiao, who was still within the bath barrel, as he stepped inside.

Chun Niang hastily exited, closing the door behind her. Only the two of them remained within the bath chamber.

Wei Shao walked up to Xiao Qiao's bath barrel, came to a stop, and looked down at her in the water.

Xiao Qiao tilted her face up slightly, meeting his gaze for a few moments, before gently leaning back against the wooden wall of the barrel, her body sliding downward to let the water submerge her fragrant shoulders.

"Why did Husband return without sending word in advance? It would have allowed me to make some preparations," she said softly.

Wei Shao slowly squatted down, bringing his line of sight level with hers across the rim of the bath barrel.

"Come here!"

Xiao Qiao asked, "For what?"

Wei Shao intently regarded her moist face, which was coated in a layer of misty vapor. "Come closer to me."

Xiao Qiao bit her lip slightly. A pair of jade-like arms emerged dripping wet from the water to grip the rim of the bath barrel as she parted the water and slowly moved toward his side. Ultimately, she did indeed lean right next to him, her body turned sideways toward him, her arms propped against the barrel wall as she rested against it. Turning her gaze back, she said coyly, "I've come close now!"

Wei Shao's gaze traveled from her cheek down along her neck to her fragrant shoulders, lingering for a long moment upon the snow-white expanse of her back exposed to him. After watching intently for a brief period, his Adam's apple bobbed. He suddenly extended his arms, pulling her into a tight embrace, and lowered his head, pressing his mouth down to bite at the two beautiful shoulder blades whose shapes resembled butterfly wings.

Xiao Qiao felt as though her very bones had turned soft under his biting, leaving her with no choice but to shrink her neck in an effort to evade his mouth, all the while unable to restrain a fit of giggles.

Wei Shao then closed his eyes, showing not the slightest shred of tenderness or restraint as he fiercely rubbed his cheek—coarse with stiff stubble—against her skin, feeling the softness and warmth of her flesh. He chafed a patch of red marks across her tender shoulders and back. Hearing the whimpering sounds she emitted due to the tingling pain—sounds that seemed to carry pleasure laced with a touch of distress—the bitter ache of longing he had endured over these past months because of her finally seemed to dissolve away.

He dragged her dripping wet from the water like a sleek fish, the two of them tangled into a tight bundle as they tumbled across the water-slicked floor.

Afterward, Wei Shao carried Xiao Qiao, whose body had turned entirely soft upon the floor, back into the water, commanding her to sit flush against his midsection. He leaned back against the wall of the bath barrel, his face darkening as he questioned her, "In the letter I sent you last time, I told you to write back to me posthaste. Why did you not reply?"