TAMW CH53

Precisely because Yuqing was now a mother, one would think he should be well-versed in worldly affairs and seasoned in such intimacies. Yet Yuqing was entirely different.

Even consummating the marriage on their wedding night had been something he learned only by studying erotic prints beforehand. In the past, knowing full well that Zhou Xiao was unwilling and disliked him, teasing the man had carried a certain playful amusement. But when it came to actual practice, Yuqing’s body had matured, while his experience remained utterly green.

His pelvic bones had widened from childbirth, rendering his waist narrower by contrast, while his buttocks—already enticingly soft—had gathered even more lush curves. Zhou Xiao’s hands were large, yet gripping one side, his fingers could scarcely contain it, his palms slick with fragrant warmth.

As Yuqing lay back, his waist was pinned in that iron grip. Anyone watching would think Zhou Xiao had been starved of food his entire life.

Several times, Yuqing felt as though he were meeting the Zhou family ancestors, his vision blurring white, his eyes rolling back. His constitution was fragile to begin with; no matter how much Zhou Xiao tried to pace himself, Yuqing still found himself gasping for breath.

Yuqing pushed at him several times throughout, murmuring that Qingming might wake and that he wanted to check on him. The moment his wrist parted the bed hangings, preparing to slip out and flee, Zhou Xiao seized his wrist and dragged him right back: “If Qingming cries, the wet nurse will bring him over.”

Yuqing refused to relent, still worrying the child might fuss. Refusing to part from him, Zhou Xiao lifted him bodily, wrapping Yuqing’s legs around his waist, and stepped straight out of bed. Carried through life-and-death swells in the man’s arms, Yuqing found his back pressed against the wooden door in a daze.

Bracing against the door, Zhou Xiao called out to the servants waiting outside: “Has the young master been fussing?”

A voice from outside replied, “Not yet, Master. The young master hasn’t woken.”

Yuqing clapped a hand over his mouth, nearly crying out in despair.

Rarely in his life had he truly resented anyone, but right now Zhou Xiao certainly counted as one. He bit down viciously on the man’s shoulder. He had only intended to coax him, never expecting this rogue to seize a mere scrap of an opening and refuse to let go.

Hearing that nothing was amiss, the servants quickly retreated from the courtyard.

It was not until evening that Master Zhou casually slipped on a dress shirt and emerged from the bedchamber. He ordered hot water brought in to fill the bath barrel right inside the room.

The servants who entered dared not linger for a second. The air in the room hung heavy with a damp, musky warmth, and even the tiger-skin rug on the floor was stained wet in places. Behind the bed curtains, the scene remained obscured. None dared pry; having poured the water, they scurried straight out.

Several sharp, unmistakable nail scratches ran down Master Zhou’s neck, trailing from his collarbones all the way down to his chest.

Testing the water temperature, he lit the long pipe his wife had used and took a draw. Seated in the master’s chair, his slender fingers tapped his knee, his sharp ears picking up the faint, ragged breaths Yuqing still drew behind the curtain. Though covered in scratches and bleeding in spots, he felt utterly refreshed and content.

Just like drawing on this pipe stem. The jasmine petals and mint leaves were packed far too densely together—so wonderfully tight. Yet having borne a child, it was miraculously soft.

Those two contradictory sensations could somehow describe the exact same place.

Precisely because he had given birth, Yuqing’s water-like body was slicker than ever. Coupling with Yuqing now that he was a mother gave Zhou Xiao the exhilarating rush of stealing illicit pleasures. Having never known a real mother in his youth, he felt he too deserved a gentle mother capable of sheltering all his foul tempers.

And so Zhou Xiao had stayed submerged within him all afternoon, deeply sated. Though only half-full, a long-held wish had finally been fulfilled.

Yuqing’s body had to recover at its own pace; he couldn’t push too hard all at once, or he might lose the chance to taste him again. He had to be obedient; he had to coax him. Now that the man was a mother, how could he not be gentle?

At that thought, Zhou Xiao quickly got up to check the water.

The temperature was just right. Delighted, he crouched by the bed and kissed the beauty’s temples: “Qingqing, let me bathe you.”

Yuqing was prone to sweating easily these days—a lingering symptom of his depleted vitality. The doctor had said these night sweats had to be purged gradually, or internal chill would persist. Normally, a simple wipe would suffice, but the sticky mess across Yuqing’s lower abdomen was simply too uncomfortable. Zhou Xiao was terrified of another pregnancy, and the fluid on Yuqing’s belly had already dried into a frosty white glaze like salt crust.

Zhou Xiao had to wash him thoroughly; he couldn’t let him fall asleep feeling sticky.

Yuqing extended his arms, letting himself be lifted into the bath barrel. He leaned languidly against the wooden rim, his flushed, delicate eyelids fluttering faintly upon opening.

Soaking in the steaming water eased his aches considerably. Zhou Xiao’s face soon leaned in from behind his neck, pressing kisses to the water droplets clinging to his skin amidst the swirling steam: “My good Qingqing, you’ve left marks everywhere.”

“Gnawed by a dog,” Yuqing retorted.

Zhou Xiao wasn’t offended in the slightest. Because today he had reached the exact same depth where Qingming had once resided, he was puffed up with pride, wishing he could hold every inch of Yuqing’s skin in his mouth.

Yuqing lacked stamina and drifted off to sleep while still in the bath.

Zhou Xiao had long since mastered the art of tending to his wife. He wiped the moisture from his body and lit a fresh stick of calming incense. Calculating the time, he had Qingming brought in for him to see, knowing a mother’s heart would fret otherwise.

Qingming was still small, and night feedings were noisy affairs. Mindful of letting Yuqing sleep through the night, Zhou Xiao only let the child linger in Yuqing’s arms for a brief moment before sending the wet nurse away with him.

Yuqing thought to himself that in a few days, Qingming should be moved into the room to sleep.

Zhou Xiao raised no objection, speaking with great understanding: “A child is naturally better off by his mother’s side.”

He had grown up without a mother himself; putting himself in the child’s shoes, he wanted his son to have a happy, complete home.

Yuqing found him surprisingly well-behaved at moments like this.

Qingming lay in the center of the bed, flanked by his father and mother. Having eaten his fill, he had a good half-hour of wakeful playfulness.

Zhou Xiao hurriedly had Deng Yongquan dig out the parcel he had brought back from the docks days ago, filled with toys meant to amuse infants. Yuqing shook a rattle drum, making rhythmic thump-thump-thump sounds to tease him.

Toothless as he was, Qingming’s eyes curved into crescents as he smiled, his chubby little paws swatting aimlessly at the air, his mouth letting out cooing wa-wa sounds.

“Does this child seem to be growing livelier?” Yuqing tilted his head, gently grazing the baby’s nose with the rattle drum.

Zhou Xiao gave an “Mm.” “He was premature, after all. His constitution was likely frail at birth, but now that he’s being nursed and gaining strength, he’s bound to grow into a sturdy, chubby lad.”

“I don’t ask for chubby, only healthy. Resembling you is best,” Yuqing said.

On every level, he wished for the child to take after Zhou Xiao.

Yet looking closely, Zhou Xiao always felt the baby resembled Yuqing more: fair skin, a gentle, quiet temperament, obedient and sensible. Knowing Yuqing’s blood flowed in Qingming’s veins made everything about the child wonderful.

Zhou Xiao looked back and forth with a silly grin: “All good. Whatever you say is good. As long as he’s healthy, resembling me is fine, resembling you is even better—he resembles both of us.”

When Qingming wasn’t smiling, his eyes were round like apricots, double-lidded and utterly endearing.

Shamelessly leaning his face beside the child’s, Zhou Xiao looked at Yuqing with longing eyes: “Mother, take a look—do we really look alike?”

“Since we share the same bloodline, you won’t be biased and only love Qingming, will you?”

“With you throwing such fits, Qingming truly suffers having you as a father,” Yuqing suppressed a laugh. “Always spouting nonsense.”

“How is it nonsense?” Zhou Xiao whispered close to his ear. “Qingming can’t speak yet. As his father, what’s wrong with calling you ‘Mother’ on his behalf?”

Rolling behind Yuqing, Zhou Xiao wrapped an arm around his waist, nudging him lightly, nipping at his earlobe with clingy sweetness: “Mother…”

Yuqing’s ears burned at the address. He nudged him back with an elbow: “Qingming is right here, Master. Do not forget your propriety.”

“Propriety outside the door is one thing, but must there be propriety while lying in bed with my own wife? Since when did the Zhou family have so many rules?” Zhou Xiao countered. “I’ll go inspect the ancestral rulebook in a moment to see which rule forbids calling one’s wife ‘Mother’ in bed…”

“If there truly is such a rule, I will willingly kneel in the ancestral hall as punishment.”

Massaging his leg, Zhou Xiao’s lips unconsciously scattered soft kisses along Yuqing’s neck.

Propping up his upper body with one hand, cradling Qingming with the other, Yuqing couldn’t move freely. Being kissed, his head tilted back, his eyes closing, appearing to quietly relish the sensation.

“The child is right here. You are not allowed inside,” Yuqing murmured, turning his head.

Zhou Xiao mumbled, “I’m not…”

“Pressed against me like this, you still dare say you aren’t?” Yuqing sometimes truly marveled at Zhou Xiao; this foreign-educated gentleman certainly possessed a stubborn mouth. Furthermore, Zhou Xiao could reverse black and white without a shred of shame, his tongue utterly formidable.

Indeed… if his mouth weren’t so formidable, his tongue wouldn’t be so nimble either.

Sensing that the man behind him was growing restless, Yuqing quickly summoned the servants to carry the child away.

The moment the bed curtains dropped, Zhou Xiao slid smoothly inside.

Once the child was taken, Yuqing hadn’t shifted an inch, merely reaching out to grip the bed hangings, his slender, pale fingers swaying with the motion.

To this day, their bedchamber had never been fitted with a Western bed. The Zhou estate had been bestowed by the former emperor, after all; every plant, stone, and structure followed an exquisite layout, and only an antique wooden bed harmonized with the room.

Now that spring had arrived, the wind outside no longer made the paper lanterns rustle against the eaves.

What was most common in spring? In an ancient estate like this, caterwauling stray cats were naturally the most common. In the dead of night, an involuntary cry would echo out, sounding somewhat mournful, but looking closer, the vocal cat was simply rolling on the ground, exposing its belly in pure delight.

The next morning, Zhou Xiao was still inside Yuqing.

He coaxed him for a while, savoring his fill before finally rising.

Every morning, his very first order of business was to check the kitchen and see how the daily meals were prepared. Now that they were husband and wife, Zhou Xiao’s sharp wit quickly mastered Yuqing’s palate, instructing the cooks on dishes that would entice Yuqing to eat more. Even with medicinal tonics, Zhou Xiao tasted them personally before telling the cooks what flavors to adjust.

Yuqing’s affairs were of paramount importance.

Zhou Xiao closed the wooden door and departed.

The bedchamber fell silent. In such an ancient estate, with doors and windows shut, the room was bathed in deep, rich wood tones. Within this hushed chamber, past the folding screen, a porcelain arm slipped carelessly from the canopy hangings.

Yuqing lay upon the mattress, his soft thighs not yet closed, a quilt draped over his middle. The buttons of his inner robe had been fastened incorrectly, exposing his left shoulder, which bore two distinct teeth marks. His black hair was strewn across the sheet, every strand seemingly steeped in jasmine fragrance.

He was the sole vibrant, seductive color within this decaying mansion.

Yuqing rested for a while before sitting up. Even though Zhou Xiao had promised he was only stepping out to check on breakfast and would return shortly, Yuqing chose to rise after catching his breath. Otherwise, Zhou Xiao would surely crawl back into bed, and heaven knew how long it would be before he could see his child.

Zhou Xiao was still swept up in the novelty of it all, which Yuqing understood. It was just that his body had become remarkably sensitive after childbirth, growing even slicker than during pregnancy, leading Zhou Xiao to mistake it for boundless passion and labor with unyielding fervor…

Bracing his lower back with one hand, his long hair spilled over his shoulder.

He took two steps and leaned against the folding screen to rest, startled by his reflection in the bronze mirror. Dressed, he looked fine, but with his inner robes parted, teeth marks and red bruises littered his skin—anyone looking would think he had contracted some contagious plague…

Especially with thin robes, Zhou Xiao was like a teething infant, biting and fretting without room for negotiation. Yuqing frequently felt the man licking him all over in his sleep. Yet Zhou Xiao always measured his touch with great precision, keeping it painless and gentle, and Yuqing had always indulged him.

Now that he had broken his fast, Zhou Xiao couldn’t rein himself in; the unsightly swelling of his chest looked shameful even to Yuqing himself.

This man… And how on earth was Zhou Xiao built? Did living in France truly make a man’s constitution that robust?

Yuqing wondered if it was simply that his own health was too frail. An entire afternoon of tangled passion yesterday hadn’t been enough; holding Qingming for less than half an hour last night, Zhou Xiao had pressed against him until Yuqing had no choice but to send the baby away.

He hadn’t expected that this morning, while still sound asleep, his entire world would begin rocking. By the time he woke, it was already too late.

Holding his aching back, Yuqing didn’t even have the energy to comb his hair. He wondered: was it because Zhou Xiao was three years younger than him?

Seeing that Qingming would be moved into the room in a few months, Zhou Xiao carrying on like this would be out of the question. It would make noise and disturb the baby’s sleep. As his wife, Yuqing naturally had to consider his husband’s comfort, so he weighed the thought of taking a concubine for Zhou Xiao. At least until the child turned three, he would be preoccupied with raising the boy and unable to attend to Zhou Xiao…

Yet Yuqing only turned the thought over in his mind, not daring to speak it aloud. Such things had to wait until Zhou Xiao raised them himself; if Yuqing brought it up, the household would be turned upside down…

Sitting before the vanity, Yuqing pondered the matter. Brilliant as he was, he was entirely green when it came to managing a husband. How could he keep Zhou Xiao from being so wild? Stripped of his clothes, the sight was simply too scandalous…

When Zhou Xiao returned after seeing to breakfast and saw Yuqing staring blankly at the mirror, he took up the wooden comb to brush Yuqing’s hair. Within days, Zhou Xiao had mastered pinning his hair with a jade hairpin.

Yuqing pointed at his collarbone, just about to tell him to exercise restraint in the future, when Zhou Xiao flared up in protest: “Who else could possibly see it besides me?”

“Who could see it out in the open?”

“What, is someone going to look at your feet? Is someone going to press against your chest? A baby as tiny as Qingming won’t remember anything! He won’t know a thing. Besides me and Qingming, who could ever know? This is entirely normal between husband and wife—why forbid it?”

“Am I still your husband or not? If even this is forbidden, what am I to you?!”

Yuqing: “…”

He thought to himself: I was merely making a suggestion.

Zhou Xiao then yanked his own collar open: “If we’re settling scores, look at my body—what do these count as? Must you clog my chest with misery first thing in the morning?!”

Yuqing: “…”

Parting his lips, before Yuqing could argue his case, Zhou Xiao dropped straight to his knees beside him, resting his head in his lap: “Qingqing, I only do this because I love you beyond control… is even this not allowed?”

“When have you ever truly held me in your heart? Qingqing, don’t be like this…”

“I never wanted to return to this Zhou house. For your sake, even after the grievances I suffered here, I was willing to live with you. For your sake, I endured every misery! Look at yesterday—look across all of Baizhou—”

“Who would ever let their wife meet with an old flame? What respectable master stays home minding the baby while waiting for his wife to return? I obey your every word, and in the end, you won’t even let me be intimate with you…”

The more Zhou Xiao spoke, the more aggrieved he sounded, as though Yuqing’s words had been a decree casting him out of the house.

Seeing Yuqing remain impassive, he hastily took his hand and pressed it against his cheek. Yuqing couldn’t tell whether his fingers were being licked or bathed in tears; with Zhou Xiao’s head blocking the view, he only felt a warm, wet slickness.

“Qingqing, you’ve always been cruel to me… don’t treat me like this, even if only for Father’s sake…”

Yuqing’s heart softened: “Alright, I didn’t say much of anything…”

“You simply bite too hard. Look—wearing clothes, it pokes through, looking thoroughly unpresentable.”

“If your body could nurse Qingming, you wouldn’t say a word. You have no idea—children torment people far worse than I do. I hear that when they teethe, they bite until the skin breaks. Don’t I have far more restraint than a child?”

Hearing this, Yuqing truly couldn’t out-argue him. Indeed, if Qingming had bitten him, he would have had nothing to say. What Zhou Xiao said made sense; unable to dispute it, Yuqing rubbed his temples and let it go. As long as it wasn’t visible under clothing, so be it.

Framed that way, Zhou Xiao did possess restraint.

Yuqing smiled: “Alright, whatever you say goes. How could I ever out-argue you?”

Zhou Xiao gave a soft snort, keeping his head resting against his wife’s lap, savoring the softness beneath his cheek, gently nudging the tender inner flesh with his nose. The flesh there was impossibly soft, like a warm water bladder, offering an extraordinary sensation.

His arms wrapped possessively around his wife’s slender waist, pushing his boundaries: “Mother is so generous… I knew you wouldn’t be unreasonable; you always indulge me.”

Resting against his lower abdomen, when he tilted his head, his lips grazed the spot below the navel. He had visited this place yesterday.

He had once envied Qingming immensely because the child was Yuqing’s own flesh and blood, nurtured within his body for months, drinking in all his essence, merging as one with his celestial wife. But yesterday, he had reached that place too, and all that envy had evaporated. Because that internal warmth and softness had been felt by Zhou Xiao just the same.

Coupled face-to-face, buried within his wife’s embrace, it felt as though he were resting inside that gestational sanctuary, wrapped in absolute security. At such moments, he couldn’t resist leaving marks upon Yuqing—be it bites or bruises.

Yuqing lowered his head gently, his hair brushing across the man’s brow.

Feeling the tickle, Zhou Xiao looked up into his wife’s eyes. The deep pools of his own gaze held a faint crimson glint—the look of insatiable greed.

“Zezhi…” Yuqing called softly.

“Mm…” Zhou Xiao answered.

For some reason, being called like that smoothed all his fur, swallowing the hundred roars waiting in his throat.

And so he turned docile once more: “I’ll obey you, my good Qingqing…”

“Tomorrow, whether you wish to see the doctor or have new clothes fitted, I’ll accompany you, alright?”

It sounded like a sweet gesture, yet Yuqing couldn’t shake the feeling that he was getting the short end of the stick. Zhou Xiao offered to accompany him, but to his ears, it sounded far more like keeping him under surveillance.

Soon after Yuqing was able to step out, the Baizhou Chamber of Commerce saw a change of guard.

More than half of the hundred-plus merchant houses cast their ballots for Qingming Bank. The remainder were split between the Li and Ruan families—after all, superficial courtesies were maintained for clans with deep roots in Baizhou.

On election day, Yuqing found many of the merchant faces unfamiliar, unlike those who had long done business in Baizhou. Zhou Xiao explained that many had fled during the recent skirmish, and these bosses were newcomers to the city.

Yuqing had already controlled the port; ascending to Chamber President placed land transport firmly in his grasp as well. Opium shipments were completely halted, and within half a month, the entire Ruan family faced total economic collapse.

Zhao Fu had long been assigned to the bank by Zhou Xiao. Even when returning to deliver ledgers, he rarely saw Yuqing, because Master Zhou woke too early, intercepting the ledgers at the gate before delivering them to his wife himself. Zhou Xiao spared such men only because they were useful, not to let them draw near his wife.

By the time Qingming reached four months, he had been moved back into the bedchamber.

At this age, the infant could drink rice porridge, and Qingming was remarkably docile; waking, he didn’t cry, but swatted at the air, playing by himself.

The crib stood beside the bed. When sleeping, the bed curtains were drawn, but the gauze was semi-translucent; if the child woke and played with his hands, they could see him.

Yet most of the time, only Zhou Xiao saw it.

Because in the morning, Zhou Xiao knelt on the bed with Yuqing beneath him, the soft flesh of his thighs rolling like waves, Yuqing drifting half-awake, unable to open his eyes.

Zhou Xiao had always lived by the creed that the early bird gets the worm, refusing to leave the bed until he had eaten and drunk his fill.

By the time Qingming was lifted into bed, Yuqing was usually awake, though thoroughly drained of strength. Sometimes the child smacked his lips beside him, and Yuqing tried to nurse him, only to find the granary had long been emptied.

Eaten clean by a greedy mouse while he slept. When Zhou Xiao was in high spirits, he might leave a little for the child, but he was prone to morning grumpiness, finding peace only after playing the spoiled child against his wife’s breast.