Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After all that back-and-forth, Xie Tingshu and I finally made our feelings clear to one another.

My mother-in-law sent me a letter.

“How have you been lately? You haven’t asked me for money in months. If you’re having a hard time, you must tell me immediately.”

“It was the Qingming Festival a few days ago, so I went to sweep Yanzhi’s grave. It’s only been two years, but the grass on the mound is already waist-high. It’s so green.”

I gripped the letter, so embarrassed that I couldn’t speak for a long time.

Yanzhi was my dead husband, Wei Yanzhi.

He really must be watching from above with those sharp eyes of his.

Xie Tingshu set down his brush and looked over.

Guiltily, I folded the letter.

“It’s a letter from my mother. I’ll reply later.”

Over the past few months, I had often studied with Xie Tingshu.

Of course, it was also an excuse to flirt with him.

Back in the capital, I was considered well-read, so I always had plenty to talk about with him.

Xie Tingshu was gentle and well-mannered.

He always managed to restrain himself from getting too intimate with me.

He said that after he went to the capital for the Spring Imperial Examination, he would come to my door to formally propose.

He coaxed me so well that I almost forgot.

I came here to treat an illness, not to look for a second husband.

After much hesitation, I decided to be more proactive. Otherwise, the grass on my dead husband’s grave would have grown tall for nothing.

He might not be sensible, but I had been tutored by my mother-in-law.

I snatched the book from his hand, pushed his ink and brushes aside, and straddled his lap, planting a kiss on his lips.

He was very busy.

He had to steady me with one hand while trying to push me away with the other.

After all that effort, he achieved nothing, and I still got the better of him.

Xie Tingshu looked a bit helpless and shy. My lip glaze was smeared on his mouth, making him look even more enticing.

“How do you change your mood so quickly?”

Changing faces was my specialty.

One second, I’d be discussing poetry and literature with him, and the next, my impulses would take over, and I’d be talking about… more physical matters.

Whenever I encountered a question that was hard to answer, I just stayed silent.

I lowered my head and kissed him fiercely.

Xie Tingshu leaned his head back.

I realized he was incredibly shrewd; whenever things reached this point, he would clutch his belt and refuse to let go.

His breathing was ragged, but he still insisted, “This sort of thing must wait until after marriage.”

I looked at him. “Your mouth is so stubborn. It’s as hard as… well, everything else.”

Xie Tingshu: “…”

Since he wouldn’t let go of his belt, I started undoing mine.

He continued his frantic, clumsy attempts to stop me.

I said piteously, “I’m so hot.”

Xie Tingshu reached back and opened the window.

A cool breeze blew in, and the chill made me burrow into his arms.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and began to sob softly, my voice tender.

“I really am hot. It’s a condition I’ve had since birth. It always happens for a few days after my period, and it’s agonizing. If you won’t help me, I’ll have to use a knife on myself.”

I pushed up my sleeve, revealing a smooth, fair wrist.

There were no cuts, no marks. I didn’t even bother to fake it.

Xie Tingshu couldn’t bear to look, yet he believed me.

With his eyes half-closed, he pulled my sleeve back down, his voice husky.

“…”

“Fine. I’ll help you.”

I used every trick and bit of strength I had.

He finally relented.

The bed curtains were lowered, and the red candles were blown out.

After that encounter, I recalled a question I had once discussed with Xie Tingshu.

Which younger brothers possess abilities that far surpass their elder brothers?

The answer wasn’t Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang.

It was Xie Tingshu and his ‘little brother.’