Chapter 009: A Kiss

At this moment, inside Huage.

Huage, as the name suggests, is a pavilion within a garden. It can serve as a gazebo but is larger, with more furnishings inside. It is well-ventilated on all sides, featuring expansive window views covered with thin gauze, often used for admiring flowers during banquets.

Sitting inside, one can see the flowers outside.

Huage is a two-story pavilion. The first floor is arranged with a tea table for drinking tea, while the second floor holds a guqin for playing music.

Bai Yuning and Zhou Chiye were currently on the second floor.

The elegant and ethereal young lady sat behind the guqin playing, while the tall and handsome young man stood leaning against the window. She played the qin, and he watched her.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, bright beams illuminating the dust particles dancing in the air of Huage with striking clarity. Amidst these swirling beams of light, the goddess sat behind the qin, quietly playing a piece.

The flowing melody reached his ears like heavenly music drifting into a dream. Zhou Chiye leaned against the window, gazing at her, utterly entranced.

He completely forgot her identity as the troublesome daughter of a disgraced official, forgot her past engagement to his elder brother, forgot his mother’s previous intention to drive her away. He only remembered this moment, him and her.

Youth knows not love, yet it harbors the most stirring emotions of a lifetime.

As he watched her, Bai Yuning’s cheeks flushed with warmth.

His gaze was so intense, so piercing—how could she not notice?

And to be honest, she felt Zhou Chiye was better than Zhou Yuanting.

Zhou Yuanting resembled Zhongyi Marquis in nature—cold and calculating, always weighing pros and cons, doing only what benefited himself. Zhou Yuanting’s current kindness toward her wasn’t out of affection but rather his dislike for Shizi Furen. Being with Shizi Furen disgusted him, while being with Bai Yuning pleased him, so he chose to stay with her.

From beginning to end, everything Zhou Yuanting did was for his own satisfaction.

However, if Zhou Yuanting truly stayed with her, it wouldn’t be long before he grew weary of her background and felt she was inferior to other noble ladies.

Back when Zhou Yuanting learned he was to marry someone else as his wife, he hadn’t put up a fierce resistance. It was only after meeting Shizi Furen and finding her unsatisfactory that he made a fuss. If Shizi Furen had been clever and charming enough to captivate him, he would never have clung to Bai Yuning so persistently.

Through these ups and downs, she saw through Zhou Yuanting’s true nature.

To keep Zhou Yuanting fond of her, she would have to constantly act, pretend, and endure many grievances.

But Zhou Chiye was not such a person.

Bai Yuning could sense that Zhou Chiye was bright and passionate, a burning torch. He didn’t care about status or background, nor would he look at other women. He carried the loyalty and protectiveness ingrained in the bones of the Qin family. Zhou Chiye would surely not make things difficult for her. If only she could be with Zhou Chiye—but not long ago, she had just used him—

These thoughts flashed through her mind, and her fingers slipped, hitting a wrong note on the qin. She froze for a moment.

And in that very moment, she heard Zhou Chiye’s voice.

“Yuning played a wrong note.”

His voice was husky, tinged with an indescribable desire. A shiver ran down Bai Yuning’s spine. She looked up and saw Zhou Chiye, who had been by the window, now closing in on her.

He wore a dark martial artist’s round-collared robe today, embroidered with silver bamboo patterns. As he had not yet reached the age of twenty, his hair was tied up with only a single dark jade silver hairpin, revealing a strikingly sharp face.

He slowly walked over, bent down, and crouched, looking at her across an ancient zither.

He stepped into the light, his back to the bright sunlight behind him. His features gradually blurred into the glow, leaving only his tall, sturdy frame. As he drew near, a scorching warmth washed over her. In the interplay of light and shadow, she could not see his face clearly, only hearing the thunderous beating of her own heart. He asked, “Is it because you were distracted, thinking of me?”

Was it?

Bai Yuning did not know. She only heard her own heart pounding deafeningly in her ears. She could only see his dusky pink lips parting and closing, as if drawn by some magnetic force. His gaze burned upon her, kissing her before his lips ever did.

Her body moved uncontrollably, instinctively leaning closer to him.

Closer.

Zhou Chiye’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he, too, slowly leaned in.

In the silent Huage, the martial artist’s firm hands gently cradled the Young Lady’s head from behind, while her pearly white teeth bit into his dusky pink lips. Between breaths, their heartbeats thundered deafeningly.

Time itself seemed to stand still in that moment, with only love surging forth.

Zhou Chiye was immersed in this boundless affection, deafened, blinded, his heart muddled, as if everything had been forgotten—so much so that he did not even hear the footsteps coming from the staircase.

——

At that moment, Zhou Yuanting was walking up to the second floor, filled with anticipation.

He knew he could not be mistaken—the one playing the zither in the Huage was Bai Yuning.

This melody was composed to express mutual affection between a man and a woman, conveying longing. Bai Yuning playing it alone in the Huage now was clearly thinking of him.

Having been confined for so long, Bai Yuning must have missed him terribly. Now that he was appearing in the Huage, he could only imagine how overjoyed she would be!

His heart felt as if warmed by a bowl of hot soup, soothing his very flesh and blood, filling him with excitement.

His mother had already softened her stance, and Liu Yandai was no obstacle at all. Although Bai Yuning was not yet his concubine, he had no intention of touching Liu Yandai. As long as he ensured Bai Yuning conceived first, his mother would surely allow her into the household for the sake of the pregnancy.

In the future, he would be with his Bai Yuning every day. As for Liu Yandai… out of respect for his maternal uncle, he could grant her the title of a co-wife.

Lost in these thoughts, he quickened his pace.

As he rushed to the second floor, before even entering, he could not help but call out, “Bai Yuning—”

The moment his voice rang out, he stepped into the pavilion and was met with a sight that caught him completely off guard.

In the Huage, his Xinshang Ren, Bai Yuning, was embracing and kissing his own younger brother!

At the sight, Zhou Yuanting felt as if a thunderbolt had exploded in his mind. He stared at them in shock, his entire body frozen stiff in place.

Meanwhile, the two who had just been kissing were suddenly caught in the act and panicked, unsure of what to do. Upon seeing that it was Zhou Yuanting who had discovered them, both were momentarily at a loss.

“You… you two!” Zhou Yuanting pointed at them, his voice trembling with rage. “What are you doing! Zhou Chiye, this is your elder sister-in-law! What are you doing to your elder sister-in-law!”

Zhou Yuanting’s furious roar was almost louder than the earlier zither music, causing some panic among the crowd waiting below the Huage.

“What’s happening?” Liu Yandai was the first to grow anxious. “Why is my husband shouting like that?”

Her husband had always been gentle and proper, never once losing his composure. For him to shout like this now, something must have gone terribly wrong.

“Quick!” Liu Yandai immediately led her people upstairs. “Hurry and protect my husband.”

She only had this one husband—what would she do if she became a widow!

As she rushed upstairs, a crowd of people hurriedly followed behind. In an instant, they reached the upper floor and arrived at the Huage. There, Liu Yandai saw the second son of the Houfu, her Xiaoshu Zhou Chiye, shielding Bai Yuning behind him. Bai Yuning was pitifully huddled under his arm, her panicked eyes stirring sympathy.

Zhou Chiye, his expression icy, spoke firmly to her husband, Zhou Yuanting: “Elder brother, Bai Yuning is not my elder sister-in-law, nor is she your wife. Her engagement to you was dissolved long ago! Moreover, you married someone else—you betrayed her!”

“I had wanted to find a time to make this clear to you, but elder brother was confined to the Ancestral Hall, and I never found the opportunity. Since you have seen it today, I will make it plain: I have already pledged my love to Bai Yuning. Today, I will go to Mother to propose marriage. In the future, I will marry her. From then on, she will have no connection to you, elder brother—she will be my wife! And you, elder brother, have already married. You should abide by the family rules, remaining with your wife for all eternity, and not covet mine!”

As he spoke, Zhou Chiye glanced at Liu Yandai and said, “Elder sister-in-law, keep your husband in check!”

The words “elder sister-in-law” were uttered with heavy emphasis.

Everyone present felt as if struck by thunder.

Among them, Liu Yandai was likely the most panicked.

How… how could she possibly control him?!

In a daze, she realized why her Pomu had asked her to bring her husband out today, and why those servants had led them this way—because Pomu knew something would happen here today!

Tears welled up in Liu Yandai’s eyes as she thought, Pomu is truly wicked! Won’t this lead to a fight?

What should she, the lawful wife, do if her husband fought with his own brother over Miss Bai? According to “Fu Wei Qi Gang,” she ought to help her husband fight Miss Bai, but… but—

Liu Yandai didn’t dare to fight at all. She could only shrink back and hide in a corner.

She… she was about to faint!

However, even more overwhelmed than her was Zhou Yuanting.

Zhou Yuanting was nearly enraged to death. After pointing at Zhou Chiye and shouting “Shut up!” he turned to Bai Yuning and cursed, “You… you treacherous woman! How dare you betray me, how dare you seduce my brother! What does he have that I don’t? I am the heir!”

After today, his dignity would be utterly shattered!