Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Si Yan’s mind was working sluggishly. Or rather, her attention was elsewhere.
Her eyes were half closed, her lips redder than before. Her hot breath brushed his jaw.
“…Hmm?” she asked dazedly.
Jiang Youze spoke at an unhurried pace. “Didn’t you say someone had entered your courtyard?”
“That person was Zhao Huaining. She copied the handwriting on your draft paper and meant to frame you.”
Si Yan’s lashes trembled. Her breathing quickened a little as her thoughts slowly turned.
No wonder Zhao Huaining had handed her work in last.
She had written two copies. Naturally, she had needed twice as much time as anyone else.
Court Lady Lin must have kept Si Yan’s original poem, so he had written a new one for her.
“What poem… did you submit?”
Jiang Youze’s gaze left his hand and met her misty eyes.
They held the particular haze of desire, shimmering without end like Jiangnan veiled in the mists and rain of the third month.
A wicked smile slowly curved his mouth, control and teasing in his eyes.
“Want to know?”
Candlelight danced in her eyes. Si Yan’s brows drew together in pain, but she obediently nodded.
Those watery eyes were full of a wish to understand, so docile and pitiful.
She had no idea how enticing she looked at this moment.
So soft and defenseless, so completely at his mercy.
It only made his already obsessive heart want to torment her with still greater abandon.
Jiang Youze felt an itch at the roots of his teeth.
An itch seeping from the very seams of his bones, making him want to bite something.
Anything that belonged to her would do. Especially what he held in his hand.
He spoke hoarsely. “Then kiss me.”
He said it with perfect assurance, without the slightest embarrassment.
Si Yan lifted her face and touched her lips to his, then drew back and looked at him with wet eyes.
There. Now tell me.
But Jiang Youze showed no intention of speaking.
He only watched her at his leisure, raising one brow slightly, the smile at his lips deepening.
Not enough.
Greedy!
Si Yan silently chided him, without the slightest real annoyance.
She reached around his neck, drew him down with a little strength, and kissed him again of her own accord.
Candlelight cast shifting silhouettes on the wall, too indistinct to reveal the details.
A moment later, Jiang Youze’s low laughter rose from his chest, pleased and satisfied at getting his way.
He murmured a few indistinct words, but she heard them clearly.
Heat flooded Si Yan’s body. With shy reproach in her eyes, she bit him in mortification.
Jiang Youze gave a sound of pain. Laughter reached the corners of his eyes as he took the lead and returned her kiss.
The early-summer breeze came through the half-open window and softly brushed the candle stand.
The flames danced, bright one moment and dim the next, now hot and brilliant, now weak and wavering.
Jihe lay in bed, covering her ears, blinking countless times in the dark.
Afraid of making them late as she had yesterday, she had not put cotton in her ears tonight.
As a result, she had scarcely fallen asleep before sounds from the main room woke her.
Whenever she thought they must have stopped, she uncovered her ears only to hear her mistress’s voice.
Heavens! This was unbearable.
She turned over beneath the quilt, pulled it over her head, and silently recited a prayer to calm her mind.
After two lines, she could recite no more. Her mistress’s soft call came from the main room.
“Jiang Youze…”
Si Yan lightly bit her lip, looking at the man above her with that wicked smile on his mouth.
Jiang Youze watched her embarrassment with interest. His fingertip rested against her lips as he coaxed her quietly.
“Be good, Qingqing.”
She gave a few small, pleading sounds and gently shook her head.
But how could he let such a chance to tease her pass?
He had always delighted in seeing her flustered and shy, forced to give in.
She turned her head to hide. He caught her chin and turned it back, his eyes darkening further.
Jiang Youze brought his lips to her ear, his hot breath spilling over it.
His low, hoarse voice held a trace of amusement as he asked a question to which he already knew the answer. “Well?”
“…”
Si Yan’s mind exploded. All the blood in her body seemed to rush to her face.
He actually had the nerve to ask!
“Hmm?”
His insistence nearly made her cry. She cursed him indistinctly, without the slightest force.
“Jiang Youze… You bastard…”
He laughed softly, lowered his head, and silenced every sound.
By the time he released her, Si Yan had no temper left at all.
She lay limp in his arms, listening to his strong heartbeat, her eyelids too heavy to lift.
“That poem… you gave His Majesty… What did you write…?”
Jiang Youze looked down at her.
She was so sleepy she could barely speak, yet still thinking about this.
He leaned to her ear, lowered his voice, and recited the poem for her.
When he finished, he tried to withdraw his arm and rise, but she caught his robe.
“Qingqing?”
“You’re not allowed to leave…”
Si Yan turned and flung herself into his embrace, shifting her hands to circle his waist. Her voice was soft and indistinct.
“All your fault… Keeping me up so late… I couldn’t get up this morning…”
Her brows were drawn together as she spoke, unwiped tears still clinging to her lashes.
Jiang Youze gently brushed the dampness from the corner of her eye, his voice very soft.
“Didn’t your maid wake you?”
At that, Si Yan blushed again.
Remembering the sounds she had been unable to suppress just now, she wondered whether Jihe had heard.
The more she thought, the more embarrassed she grew; the more embarrassed, the more annoyed; the more annoyed, the more it was all his fault.
She buried her face deeper in his chest, unreasonable and imperious in her softness.
“I don’t care. You’re not allowed to go…”
Jiang Youze gave a low laugh.
Whenever she wheedled or refused to be reasonable, he had no choice but to surrender.
“All right. I won’t go.”
He enclosed her entirely in his arms and rubbed his chin over the soft hair on her head.
“Sleep.”
Si Yan buried her face against his neck, her nose almost touching his skin.
After several breaths of silence, her muffled voice sounded again. “Jiang Youze…”
“Hmm?”
“Could you take your clothes off?”
His long robe was embroidered, and it prickled a little against her skin.
The jade belt at his waist also pressed uncomfortably against her lower belly.