Chapter 212
Chapter 212
A familiar scent surrounded Sun Baoqiong. She recovered from her shock at once, then looked up in alarm at the smiling man holding her. “How can you be so brazen?”
Cheng Cong smiled and brushed the redness at the corner of her eye. “Don’t worry. No one saw me. I’ve been waiting here for you.”
He looked into her eyes. Everything about her beauty suited his deepest desires. Remembering how he had seen her weeping in the Empress Dowager’s arms, pity stirred and he held her tighter. “Are you still grieving over Marquis Shen?”
Sun Baoqiong gave him a look but said nothing. She pushed him away and sat on the chaise.
Cheng Cong loved the aloof pride in her nature. The thought of her pale, celestial body sent heat rushing through him.
It was rare to meet a woman who pleased him in every way. He had devoted himself to flattering and courting her.
Though disappointed when her softness left his arms, he smiled, followed, and sat beside her.
Sun Baoqiong glanced at him and drank her tea in silence, concealing her impatience.
Their ambiguous intimacy disgusted her. Cheng Cong had escorted her when she first came to the capital. During the river journey, bandits attacked their boat. Her guards were drugged, and she nearly lost her body to the criminals.
Cheng Cong had leapt into the water, swum ashore, and returned with rescuers. By then the bandits had torn away her clothes, leaving her almost naked before him. He had wrapped her in his own robe and carried her out.
The journey lasted more than a month. From that day onward, Cheng Cong took liberties with her. When she refused him, he coaxed and threatened, saying he had seen her naked and could make her belong to him.
At inns, he sought opportunities to be alone with her, even lying on her bed at night as though they were husband and wife, kissing and fondling her. Her chastity remained intact, but her reputation lay in his hands.
She needed him to guard the secret. If word reached the capital that bandits had stripped her, her spotless name would be ruined, along with any hope of marrying well.
She had come to marry the finest man in the capital. Her reputation could bear no blemish.
Because Cheng Cong held this leverage, Sun Baoqiong could not openly break with him.
He naturally took one of her hands and toyed with it, regretting that they had met so late. Though they were cousins, he was ten years older.
Sun Baoqiong was ambitious. She did not want to marry him or give him her body, and her temper was fierce.
It was understandable. The Marquis of Yongqing’s title lasted only three generations and would expire with him. He had no distinction of his own, merely an empty post as a Jinyiwei chiliarch. Naturally Sun Baoqiong looked down on him.
But that did not matter. Once she married, he would still hold her secret. How could she escape his bed forever?
Then he would thoroughly soothe the pain of longing.
He studied her face. “I know why you’re unhappy. Ji has married Shen Si safely after all, and you resent it.”
Sun Baoqiong paused but remained silent.
She had not responded when Cheng Cong proposed his plan, yet she had hoped it would succeed.
If something happened to Ji, she would be the most suitable woman to marry Marquis Shen.
Her expression stayed indifferent. “I never said that.”
Unable to read her, Cheng Cong hastened to please her. “Don’t be angry. I truly tried for you. I found where Ji was living, but Marquis Shen guarded her too closely. Three layers of men surrounded the residence. Not even a fly could enter.”
“Ji never went out, and Marquis Shen visited her every day. I had no opportunity to act.”
Sun Baoqiong looked at him and gave a faint laugh.
Cheng Cong took it as mockery of his uselessness. Gritting his teeth, he dragged her into his arms and pinched her face. “So what if they married? Sooner or later, Ji will suffer at my hands.”
He kissed her hard, his eyes turning sinister. “The last attempt wasn’t wholly fruitless. There is someone we can use.”
“Besides, plenty of people hate Shen Si.”
His grip hurt. Sun Baoqiong turned away and shoved him, swallowing the abuse that rose to her lips. “The marriage is settled. Even if something happens to Ji, I cannot marry Marquis Shen now.”
She looked at him. “I don’t cling to grudges. Let this end. If you fall into Marquis Shen’s hands, the loss will outweigh any gain.”
“I care only about my own marriage now. Whatever lay between Marquis Shen and me is over. I no longer care.”
She added coolly, “Shen Si serves at the Censorate, and you would scheme beneath his very eyes? I do not need you to defend me.”
To Cheng Cong, her words only proved her contempt.
He released her and stood. “You were wronged. I must avenge you.”
“Leave it to me. Ji is merely a divorced woman, yet she dared compete with you and make you a laughingstock. I will teach her a lesson.”
He strode out.
Sun Baoqiong watched him leave, startled and uncertain. She had not expected to fail at stopping him, and unease crept through her.
Remembering his kiss, she scrubbed her lips hard with a handkerchief.
Meanwhile, Ji Hanyi spent the afternoon beside the Empress, observing her handle palace affairs. The Empress sat while Ji Hanyi stood, constantly watched and corrected by a female official.
Ji Hanyi’s manners had always been excellent, but the Empress demanded exceptional rigor. Every step, stance, and curtsy had to meet the highest standard.
The smallest lapse earned a quiet correction.
Late that afternoon, the Empress sent Ji Hanyi to her room and ordered her to remain there.
Ji Hanyi agreed respectfully, while inwardly longing to escape.
A palace servant led her to an elegant, richly appointed chamber. It was spacious, with a screen dividing it into two rooms.
Servants brought fruit, pastries, and fine flower tea before withdrawing.
The instant they were gone, Ji Hanyi’s rigid posture collapsed. Her waist aching and back sore, she sprawled facedown on the Luohan couch and asked Rongchun to knead her shoulders.
Rongchun had watched all day. Madam’s bearing was already impeccable, yet the female official still found fault. After standing beside the Empress for hours, of course her body hurt.
Rongchun pitied her but dared not criticize the Empress. She moved the low table to the couch, arranged the tea and fruit, and had Ji Hanyi lie on her side while she massaged her shoulders.
Ji Hanyi soaked a preserved plum in her tea and drank. Only then did some life return to her. Propping her head languidly on one hand, she wondered how she would endure a month of this.
The rules themselves were not difficult. Ji Hanyi knew she could master them and satisfy Her Majesty. It was enduring the hardship that promised torment.