Chapter 27 “You won’t stay by my side forever…”

What’s there to be happy about?

Happy that she hasn’t remembered anything?

No, how could it be that.

Seeing Xiao Rong holding the flower basket tightly with one hand, his fingertips gently stroking its edges, Si Jin thought to herself that he must be happy about the flowers she gave him.

Just moments ago he was pressing her with such tense urgency about her whereabouts, and now a simple flower basket had made him happy.

Si Jin couldn’t help but silently complain about how quickly his moods seemed to change.

Xiao Rong was usually extremely composed most of the time – she had never seen him like this before.

It seemed like he had lost control of his emotions, yet there were no visible signs of intense emotional display, making the earlier hair-raising fright now feel vague and elusive, impossible to grasp.

It seemed like he cared about her a bit too much.

Recalling that feeling, Si Jin couldn’t quite identify her own current state of mind.

Somewhat overwhelmed, and somewhat unsure how to respond.

She thought perhaps it was because she no longer remembered the past, and therefore couldn’t reclaim the bonds between them.

Without pondering further, Si Jin tugged at Xiao Rong’s sleeve and returned to the residence with him.

The path to Qiu Shui Courtyard was illuminated by lanterns on both sides, providing clear visibility and revealing the servants who had vanished without a trace earlier.

Si Jin couldn’t help but tilt her head and whisper: “Did you tell all the servants to withdraw earlier?”

“No.” Xiao Rong’s tone was natural. “When we’re conversing, the servants should know to make themselves scarce. It’s always been this way.”

Si Jin opened her mouth slightly, silently forming an “oh.”

That did sound reasonable.

As they were thinking, they had already returned to Qiu Shui Courtyard.

Si Jin entered the room first, glancing back to see Xiao Rong speaking to the attendants in the courtyard at the doorway.

From what she could hear, he seemed to be mentioning something about a vase.

When he entered the room, she asked: “Are you going to arrange the flowers?”

“Yes, some buds haven’t fully bloomed yet. We can nurture them together, and the others will last longer too.”

Hearing this, Si Jin blinked, suddenly realizing that the gift she bought, though vibrant now, would eventually wither.

For Xiao Rong, who had just been so anxious about her possibly disappearing, this didn’t seem like a gift with particularly good symbolism.

Thinking this, Si Jin stepped forward: “I didn’t think that much about it at the time. I’ll get you something else next time.”

She reached out to take the flower basket that Xiao Rong still hadn’t put down.

But Xiao Rong slightly raised his hand, deftly avoiding her grasp.

His gaze rested on her face, as if he could see right through her thoughts.

There was no smile on his face, his expression holding some unfathomable meaning as he said: “Didn’t I tell you? I’m very happy.”

Si Jin couldn’t read him, only speculating to herself: “You make it sound like I’ve never given you gifts before.”

“Of course not.”

Si Jin withdrew her hand, deciding not to dwell on the matter further, and was about to step aside to let Xiao Rong arrange the flowers.

As her gaze swept across his chest, she suddenly noticed something.

“Wait.”

She grabbed his arm.

Moving closer to him, she stared directly at the overlapping collar of his robe. Her not yet fully withdrawn hand lifted again, reaching toward the flash of white visible within his collar.

“What is this…!” Si Jin’s breath caught, her eyes widening.

Xiao Rong: “…”

It seemed that carrying the flower basket along the way had shifted the clothing on his chest, causing this item to peek out.

A momentary lapse of attention.

Si Jin held the familiar object in her hand. Though it belonged to her, its current warmth—foreign to her own—made her pinch it between two fingers, uncertain how to grasp it properly.

“You… this… how could…?”

She had actually retrieved her own Maiden’s Undergarment from Xiao Rong’s robes.

How absurd—and it was the very one whose ties had been torn by his rough movements on the bed last time.

Si Jin’s face flushed crimson instantly.

Had they not been alone in the bedchamber, she might have been so mortified as to wish for a hole to crawl into.

The atmosphere in the room gradually thickened with awkward tension.

“Didn’t you say you threw it away?”

Xiao Rong: “I didn’t say that. You did.”

“But you…”

Si Jin trailed off, recalling their earlier conversation. It seemed she truly hadn’t heard Xiao Rong respond to that remark.

But was that any reason for him to keep this garment and carry it close to his body!

Xiao Rong’s typically calm and handsome face showed rare traces of fluster.

Yet that fluster seemed deliberately conjured for the occasion.

He blinked and reached to hook her fingers: “Xiao Jin, don’t be angry.”

Si Jin immediately withdrew her hand—not to avoid his touch, but fearing he might seize the undergarment while she was distracted.

Just as he had evaded her when she tried to take the flower basket earlier.

She hid her hand behind her back, keeping the garment away from him.

The undergarment ended up clutched in her palm, its fabric radiating warmth that seeped into her skin, tingling her fingertips. Unbidden, indecent images surfaced in her mind.

Xiao Rong explained: “I brought it because I’ll be traveling for a few days.”

Otherwise, it would have remained quietly in its proper place, unnoticed by Si Jin.

His words only fueled her irritation.

He had returned within a day—hardly a lengthy journey.

But she quickly grasped the implication: “Have you always done this during your past travels?”

Wait—not just the past.

When he was searching for her outside, without even a maid around, he had produced both a Maiden’s Undergarment and Drawers for her to change into.

Si Jin’s brow twitched. Her face flushed, lips parted, but no sound emerged from her throat.

During that month apart, why had he carried her intimate garments with him?

Surely not…

Xiao Rong: “I didn’t.”

“Not then. It was clean when I gave it to you.”

His words made her heart pound wildly.

And before he gave it to her?

“How could you…”

Blushing, countless reproaches swirled in her mind, but she only managed to grit out through clenched teeth: “Pervert.”

Xiao Rong lowered his head to conceal his barely restrained emotions, murmuring an apology: “I didn’t mean to.”

Yet the corners of his lips still curled upward involuntarily.

Her reaction was too adorable.

He wanted to kiss her.

His body moved faster than his reason.

By the time Xiao Rong regained his senses, he was already leaning in.

“Don’t come closer.” Still angry, Si Jin pushed him with her free hand.

The feeble resistance made Xiao Rong refrain from forcing the matter, yet he still managed to capture the corner of her lips.

Her breath caught, mind clouded with heat, and without thinking, she bit him.

“Mmph…”

Xiao Rong groaned softly, his abdomen tightening abruptly.

Si Jin’s eyes widened in shock, and this time she shoved him away with genuine force.

“You…”

She had bitten down hard earlier, and Xiao Rong’s lips had already turned a vivid red, with a clear tooth mark visible on his lower lip.

But he…

Xiao Rong glanced down, slightly lifting the hem of his robe, his voice hoarse as he licked his lips: “It doesn’t hurt, don’t worry.”

What did she have to worry about!

Si Jin glared at him angrily, her breathing steadying again and again, but in the end, she could only turn away from him in a huff.

After the earlier commotion, all of Si Jin’s tangled emotions had vanished.

Even the overwhelming anger that had surged up earlier had dissolved into silent embarrassment as she soaked in the warm bathwater.

After bathing, Si Jin returned to the bedchamber through the side door but did not see Xiao Rong.

He had already bathed earlier, taking a bit more time than usual. She wondered if he had done something in the bathroom that was hard to put into words.

But where had he gone if he wasn’t in the room?

Si Jin walked past the screen separating the bedchamber from the main hall and noticed the main door was slightly ajar, as if someone had just entered or left.

The night was deep, and the darkness seeping through the crack in the door made it impossible to see anything clearly.

Si Jin stepped toward the door.

As she drew closer, she heard Xiao Rong’s low voice from the doorway: “Is that so?”

“My lord, this servant…”

Then came Lan Xin’s voice, but it cut off abruptly.

Si Jin pushed the door open and saw the two of them standing at the entrance.

Xiao Rong was half-turned away from her, one side of his face obscured in the darkness of the night, the other illuminated by the light from the open door, revealing an inscrutable expression.

But that expression was fleeting.

By the time Xiao Rong turned to look at her, he had resumed his usual demeanor: “It’s cold outside. Why did you come out?”

Si Jin blinked, still processing the situation, when Xiao Rong’s tall frame enveloped her, guiding her back into the room.

The door closed, shutting out the chill of the night. The clean, crisp scent of Xiao Rong surrounded her, a comforting presence.

“I didn’t see you when I returned to the room, so I came out to check,” Si Jin said, looking up at him from his chest. “What were you and Lan Xin talking about just now?”

“Just asking about your experiences outside today.”

Si Jin was taken aback. She thought the matter was over, never expecting him to still be concerned about it.

“Why not ask me directly?”

“I was afraid you wouldn’t tell me.”

Xiao Rong stopped behind the screen and smoothly changed the subject. “Do you want to return to the bed or stay here for a while?”

“Let’s go back to the bed. I’m a bit tired.”

But Si Jin wasn’t so easily diverted. She pressed on, “You never even asked me. How do you know I wouldn’t tell you?”

It sounded as though she had done something wrong.

Xiao Rong guided her to sit at the edge of the bed and, as usual, knelt effortlessly before her to remove her shoes.

“Then what did you do today?”

Si Jin lifted her toes, amused by his line of questioning.

“Who asks like that? Do I have to recount every step I took and every word I said outside?”

The embroidered shoes came off and were neatly placed by the bedside by Xiao Rong.

He looked up at her from his position at her feet, his tone earnest: “Yes.”

Si Jin froze, the smile on her lips slowly stiffening.

Because she sensed that Xiao Rong wasn’t joking—he meant it.

She tugged at the corner of her mouth and withdrew her leg from his grasp. “Stop joking. No one asks about such things.”

No, that wasn’t entirely true.

When interrogating prisoners, they would question in such meticulous detail.

But those were prisoners.

Xiao Rong rose and settled onto the bed, not allowing Si Jin to create too much distance between them.

He looked at her and said softly, “I just wanted to know what new experiences you had while I wasn’t by your side.”

Si Jin still found it somewhat strange, but she began recounting nonetheless: “There wasn’t really much to tell. Since I didn’t know where to go, I spent most of the time in the carriage until I reached the Flower and Bird Market.”

As Si Jin spoke, Xiao Rong got up to extinguish the candle lamp.

By the time he returned to the bedside, Si Jin had already continued with her story.

“The carriage couldn’t drive inside, so I got out and walked. The Flower and Bird Market in the capital is very large. I wandered around for a long time but still couldn’t decide what to buy.”

Si Jin’s voice was soft, her pace gentle and unhurried.

Xiao Rong remained quiet, but she could sense he was listening attentively.

The atmosphere was entirely different from what she had imagined earlier—like interrogating a prisoner—which made Si Jin unconsciously elaborate in greater detail.

When she reached the part about finishing her stroll around the outermost circle of stalls at the Flower and Bird Market, Xiao Rong lay down on the bed and pulled her into his embrace.

“Why did you stop talking?”

Because she had reached the part about encountering Shen Chi.

Si Jin fell silent, though her body relaxed as she nestled in Xiao Rong’s arms.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t tell him; it was just that she was still full of doubts about Shen Chi and didn’t know how to explain.

Moreover, given how much Xiao Rong cared for her, hearing her speak of another man would likely dampen his spirits again.

Si Jin instinctively glanced up at Xiao Rong.

But in the darkened room, even though they were close, her vision was unclear, and she couldn’t discern his emotions.

Si Jin decided to skip that part and instead said, “Then I noticed a stall selling flower baskets. The camellias looked so beautiful, so I bought one and brought it back for you.”

After hearing this, Xiao Rong remained silent for a long while before asking, “And then?”

“And then I returned to the estate.” Si Jin unconsciously tightened her grip on his lapel. “So now you know what new experiences I had while you weren’t by my side. Isn’t it all rather dull?”

Xiao Rong reached out and enveloped her clenched fist. “It’s fascinating.”

Si Jin was taken aback, then buried her face in his chest and chuckled softly. “You’re lying through your teeth.”

It was clearly just a mundane account of trivial events—how could it be fascinating?

“What about you?” Si Jin asked. “Why did you return so quickly from visiting your mother? How is her health?”

“Nothing much,” Xiao Rong replied indifferently.

Just as Si Jin frowned in dissatisfaction, about to chide him for not elaborating, Xiao Rong added in an unemotional tone, “She might be dying soon.”

“Wh-what?”

Si Jin thought she had misheard.

But Xiao Rong repeated, “She’s dying soon.”

Si Jin’s eyes widened, filled with shock and disbelief.

She was stunned not only by the severity of the situation but also by Xiao Rong’s tone and choice of words.

Was he talking about his own mother?

Xiao Rong glanced down at her in his arms. “Did I scare you?”

“How… how can you say that?”

As Xiao Rong turned his head, the darkness concealed the faint, pleased smile at the corner of his lips.

When he spoke again, his deep, measured voice betrayed no emotion. “This time, I learned of my father’s death. My mother has been seriously ill for a long time, but because she loved him deeply, she clung to the hope of receiving news about him as a lifeline to keep living.”

“Now that my father is dead, she won’t last long either.”

Xiao Rong finished speaking these words with an utterly detached tone, as if narrating someone else’s story.

Yet even if it were about others, there was an indescribable strangeness in his delivery.

Si Jin instinctively leaned closer, wanting to see his expression clearly in this moment.

Was it because he was too distressed?

Though she couldn’t see Xiao Rong’s face, she felt certain it must be clouded with gloom.

Her heart ached for him, yet she didn’t know how to comfort him properly. She could only wrap her arms tighter around his waist, pressing herself deeper into his embrace.

“Husband, don’t be sad.”

Xiao Rong’s breathing hitched slightly, leaving only the sound of Si Jin’s breaths spreading across his chest.

Was this something to be sad about?

Yet why did he feel utterly delighted in both body and mind?

Xiao Rong turned his head back toward her, unable to resist reaching out to stroke her cheek.

Si Jin’s meager attempt at comfort lost all words when she saw the increasingly widening smile at the corner of Xiao Rong’s lips.

Why was he smiling?

His smile sent chills down her spine.

It appeared even more eerie in the dim light.

“Don’t be like this…”

Si Jin’s lips trembled as she realized even her voice was shaking.

Xiao Rong tightened his arms, holding her firmly against him. His fingers slowly moved from her cheek toward her quivering lips, until his thumb pressed down with ambiguous intent, making the soft flesh form an alluring indentation.

“I’m not sad. How could I be sad when I have you by my side?”

As he spoke, his fingers continued caressing her lips, making the soft flesh glisten with moisture, plump and inviting enough to make one want to taste them.

Si Jin grew somewhat distracted under his touch but still responded: “Mm, I’ll stay with you.”

“Always? Forever?”

This was a solemn vow, one they should have made as a loving couple from the moment they married.

Si Jin opened her mouth but found no sound emerging from her throat.

Such hesitation at this moment would undoubtedly strike a greater blow to a man in low spirits, yet Si Jin saw Xiao Rong smile again.

The strange feeling that had flashed by earlier resurfaced in her heart.

But before she could process it, darkness descended before her eyes.

Xiao Rong released her lips and lowered his head to kiss her.

The response Si Jin had finally mustered to her lips was blocked along with everything else.

Xiao Rong kissed her fiercely, prying open her teeth and plunging deep without hesitation.

Between lips and tongues, their breathing quickly grew ragged, the rising heat clearly foreshadowing what was to come.

Yet while Xiao Rong’s kisses were urgent, he showed remarkable patience for what followed.

He kissed her repeatedly, his large hands gripping her painfully tight, yet his lips and tongue never leaving hers.

“Mmm…”

Si Jin whimpered softly, unsure what she intended to say.

Urging him on, or stopping him?

Xiao Rong spoke first, his voice hoarse against her lips: “Lick me.”

Si Jin’s eyelashes fluttered, another whimper escaping instantly.

What was he saying?

“Like last time.” Xiao Rong moved his tongue slightly, even demonstrating for her after speaking.

When Xiao Rong kissed her, he would similarly stir her tongue.

But when it was her turn, his words made it sound so indecent.

Keeping her eyes tightly shut, Si Jin still extended her tongue.

She couldn’t remember how she had licked him before, so she could only rely on instinct. But after searching around his lips for a while, she couldn’t find his tongue.

Xiao Rong suddenly opened his mouth and gave her a light bite.

Unlike the force with which she had bitten his lips earlier, this gentle touch made her body go limp.

Xiao Rong’s voice grew deeper in her ear: “Don’t just lick the outside.”

What was he saying!

“Mm…”

Tears welled up again at the corners of Si Jin’s eyes. She didn’t know where they came from—was she about to cry just from his words?

Her tongue still ventured into Xiao Rong’s mouth.

Before she could even search, Xiao Rong offered himself to her.

“Lick like this.”

He had taken on the role of teacher again.

Si Jin tilted her neck back, her cheeks flushed as she learned well, but her thoughts were carried away by the slippery sensation, leaving her mind blank.

Though it seemed she was taking the initiative, her body had long been under Xiao Rong’s control.

She didn’t even know when he had stripped off her clothes. The surrounding warmth, wrapped in desire, kept her from feeling the slightest chill.

When she couldn’t catch her breath, she instinctively pulled back from Xiao Rong’s lips, only for her waist to be seized and lifted by a pair of large hands in the next moment.

It was then that Xiao Rong returned to his earlier question, leaning close to her ear to ask, “Will you stay with me forever? Always?”

Si Jin opened her mouth, a sound escaping her throat, but her tone suddenly shifted.

The overwhelming intrusion scattered her thoughts.

She suspected Xiao Rong never intended to hear her answer.

Then why did he ask!

More forceful and urgent than the kiss, her waist was gripped so tightly it ached, only to be quickly overshadowed by another sensation.

The storm was always this wild.

All that remained on her lips were fragmented, incoherent sounds.

At the most intense moment, she seemed to hear him ask that question again.

Si Jin bit her lip, indignantly scratching a mark on his arm.

Her lips were pried open by his thumb, saliva she couldn’t contain staining his fingers, and her silent tongue was punished with relentless stirring.

“Shall I spill it on you?”

Though her ears were ringing, Si Jin instantly opened her eyes, tears shimmering in them.

“No…”

For some reason, she remembered the Maiden’s Undergarment he had tucked into his robes at that moment.

Worn, unworn, remembered, forgotten.

“Please.”

Xiao Rong’s breathing grew heavy and labored, suppressed as if he were on the verge of release.

Si Jin let out a shameful whimper.

Turning her head away, she silently acquiesced.

As her body emptied, warmth flowed, surpassing even the feeling of fullness.

Xiao Rong’s breath was uneven, his chest still heaving as he pressed against her.

He kissed her ear in a daze: “Xiao Jin, I love you so much.”

Naturally, the result was the need for another bath.

Si Jin, her body limp, didn’t want to move. She even had the bathwater brought into the room instead of going to the Bathroom.

As steam filled the room, she still hadn’t realized anything.

But just as she shed the outer robe draped over her, footsteps suddenly sounded from behind the screen.

“It’s so sticky. I need to wash too.”

Who was the clingy one here?

Si Jin had no time to avoid him before Xiao Rong pressed her into the bathtub for another round.

By the time the bathwater was changed again, she seemed to notice the accustomed expression on the faces of the servants who entered the room.

Exhausted and having spent most of the day wandering outside, Si Jin lazily let Xiao Rong change her into clean sleepwear. Before he had even finished tying the waistband, her eyes had already closed.

Her mind wasn’t fully asleep, but her body refused to move an inch.

Like a doll to be manipulated, she was lifted by Xiao Rong and pulled into his embrace without a single objection.

“Xiao Jin, do you love me?”

In a daze, Si Jin seemed to hear Xiao Rong asking her this.

He was questioning her again.

What should she answer, or was he truly willing to listen to her response this time?

Her muddled thoughts could no longer form a precise reply, only letting a murmur slip from her lips: “Love you…”

After a long silence in the darkness, a low, pleased chuckle sounded.

Xiao Rong’s eyes reflected a glimmer of light as his gaze shamelessly lingered on the sleeping face of the young girl.

“Liar.”

“You won’t stay by my side forever, nor do you love me.”