Chapter 204

Chapter 204

Ji Hanyi gave Nanny Chen a silent look. She understood the implication: Her Majesty the Empress had sent the woman to watch her every word and gesture. Nanny Chen might even report her conduct to the palace.

Ji Hanyi could hardly insist on driving her away. For now, she could only endure it.

She looked around the room but saw no sign of Shen Si. When a matron told her he was in the study, she hesitated over whether she ought to go and see if he needed anything.

Surely she could not go to sleep without waiting for him.

While she was still wavering, the matron added, “The Marquis said he would come shortly and that Madam should sleep first.”

Reassured, Ji Hanyi returned to the dressing table. She was almost dizzy with exhaustion as the maids took down her hair and applied scented lotion to her skin.

In truth, Shen Si’s absence allowed her to relax considerably. Yet every maid in the room had adopted his solemn habits. None of them uttered a sound, and as a newcomer Ji Hanyi still felt constrained.

Even Rongchun, who loved to talk, was too self-conscious to speak.

Once everything was finished, the servants withdrew beyond the curtain. With Ji Hanyi seated on the bed and Shen Si still absent, mistress and maid could finally exchange a few whispers.

Rongchun murmured, “Why are all the maids in this courtyard like stone statues? I tried to befriend the senior maids today and find out what gossip there is around here, but their lips are sealed tight. I could say ten sentences and get only a few words back.”

Ji Hanyi took a sip of fragrant tea flavored with rosewater. Its perfume filled her mouth, and its warmth eased the tension from her body. She no longer held herself as rigidly as she had all day. Her shoulders relaxed, her back softened, and she leaned sideways against a large cushion embroidered with peacocks and peonies.

At Rongchun’s whisper, she lowered her own voice. “There must be many rules here. Don’t pry, and don’t go talking out of turn.”

Rongchun pouted. “I’ve nearly suffocated from keeping quiet all day. There isn’t a soul to talk to. I don’t know how they bear it.”

Then she leaned close to Ji Hanyi’s ear. “One look and you can tell they’re maids from Marquis Shen’s courtyard. No wonder I’ve heard that no one else wants to be assigned here. They say he’s difficult to serve and it’s all too easy to make a mistake.”

Ji Hanyi pictured Shen Si’s aloof, forbidding face. Who would willingly come here? Even she was afraid of him.

She laughed softly. “If I were a maid, I certainly wouldn’t want to come either.”

“He truly is difficult to serve.”

Mistress and maid looked at each other and dissolved into quiet laughter. The delicate sound traveled past the screen before the bed and reached Shen Si, who stood just beyond it.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Shen Si pressed his lips into a thin line. Something shifted in his cool expression before he stepped inside.

The laughter stopped at once. Rongchun nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of him and hurriedly retreated behind the screen.

Ji Hanyi was startled as well. She quickly sat upright, abandoning the cushion. She had clearly instructed the maids outside the curtain to announce Shen Si’s return. It seemed they obeyed only him, not her.

Then again, that was understandable. She had been here only two days. Between her and Shen Si, of course they would listen to him.

Her thoughts returned to the whispers she had shared with Rongchun. Had he heard them?

As she wondered, a shadow fell over her. Cool fingers lifted her chin, and in the dim light she saw Shen Si bending close, his eyes fixed on her.

Those eyes were cold and fathomless, making her heart tighten.

Shen Si took in Ji Hanyi’s moon-white underrobe and lovely unadorned face. She looked white as snow from head to toe.

Her long hair streamed down, black strands spilling over her collar and revealing tantalizing glimpses of her pale neck.

She appeared extraordinarily obedient now, sitting straight with her teacup still in both hands. Her dark almond-shaped eyes turned toward him, and the soft fragrance of her body caught in his breath.
In a husky voice, he asked, “What were you laughing about just now?”

Naturally, Ji Hanyi did not dare admit that they had been laughing over how frightened his maids were of him. Avoiding his eyes, she invented the first excuse that came to mind. “I merely thought the tea tasted good.”

Shen Si raised a brow at her obvious lie.

So she could laugh readily enough while criticizing him behind his back. Still, there was no point taking offense. Was that not precisely how she saw him?

His thumb stroked the smooth skin beneath her chin. Watching her lower her eyes, Shen Si swallowed and said, “It’s time to sleep.”

Ji Hanyi tensed at once, though she forced herself to nod with composure.

Shen Si studied the faint nervousness on her face, then released her.

Still not daring to look at him, Ji Hanyi climbed onto the bed and retreated to her usual corner.

They had already dealt with their wedding night yesterday. Surely she would not have to do so again tonight.

The memory of what had happened made her cheeks burn. She turned her back to Shen Si, unwilling to face him.

Shen Si sat on the edge of the bed and regarded her turned back. Then he climbed in at his leisure and lowered the curtains. A slight reach of his arm was enough to scoop her into his embrace and hold her there.

Ji Hanyi did not dare move. Shen Si’s collar hung loosely before her, and the heat of his skin washed over her cheeks.

The hand at the small of her back kept caressing her, sometimes lightly, sometimes with greater pressure. Now and then it slipped beneath the hem of her robe, his fingertips brushing the bare skin of her waist before withdrawing, as though he were deliberately teasing her.

Ji Hanyi was most sensitive along her waist. Each touch made her tremble.

Shen Si said nothing. Ji Hanyi waited in mounting uncertainty, her thoughts hazy. Did he intend to make Nanny Chen outside listen again tonight?

Then his deep voice sounded above her. “What did you say when you followed Changling outside today?”

Ji Hanyi had not expected him to ask about that now. She knew he had seen her that morning; she simply had not imagined he would bring it up.

She answered honestly.

She had been worried about Shen Changling. In truth, her impression of him had always been favorable.

His gaze was clear and clean, and he spoke without guile. Being with him made her feel at ease.

Shen Si gave a noncommittal hum. His fingers slowly slipped beneath Ji Hanyi’s robe and continued upward.

Her body went rigid. Instinctively, she caught hold of his sleeve.

Shen Si stopped and looked down at her. “Did it feel unpleasant last night?”

Heat flooded Ji Hanyi’s cheeks. “We… we…”

“Didn’t we marry to avoid the imperial marriage decree?”

Shen Si’s dark eyes lowered to her face. “What does that matter, if I can give you pleasure?”

Ji Hanyi fell speechless. Her mind went blank, unable to find a rebuttal, yet with the relationship between them, doing such things somehow seemed wrong…

Shen Si knew exactly what she was thinking. He bent slowly toward her and tipped up her chin, making her meet his gaze. “We are husband and wife. We will spend the rest of our lives together and share this bed every night.”

“In time, we will have children as well. It is only natural.”

Ji Hanyi stared at him. “Children…”

Children belonging to her and Shen Si…

He had mentioned it before.

But she truly had never considered it. When she agreed to marry him, it had never occurred to her that they would have children…

She opened her mouth. “But you never said so at the time… I didn’t realize…”

Shen Si was already pressing his body over hers. He gave her no chance to think, lowering his head to claim her lips as his practiced fingers sought the place where she was most sensitive, just as they had the night before.