In this realm of ice and snow, a gentle breeze suddenly arose, sweeping flying snow together with crimson petals into the billowing white mist, making Yuanxi feel as if she had stumbled into a fairy paradise. She patted her cheeks, finally becoming somewhat more alert. Her legs had grown stiff from the cold in the accumulated snow, while the hot currents churning nearby seemed like an enticing invitation, arousing longing in her heart. But having grown up in the inner chambers of the chancellor’s mansion, though she was now a married woman, asking her to bathe outdoors so boldly with someone—even if that person was her own husband—still made her feel unable to overcome her embarrassment.

At this moment, Xiao Du had already removed his outer robe and was walking down the stone steps, extending his hand toward her as he said, “Come down quickly, it’s warm in here.”

Yuanxi bit her lip, her face growing somewhat flushed from the steam, and hesitated, “What about the clothes?”

Xiao Du was already leaning comfortably against the pool wall, his soaked inner garment completely open, his bare and solid chest reddened slightly from the hot steam. Hearing her words, he turned around and lay against the stone wall, winking at Yuanxi, “Just take them off. Don’t worry, there’s another villa of mine not far from here with fresh clothes prepared.”

Seeing his mischievous smile, Yuanxi felt he was deliberately teasing her, so she simply turned her head away, “Then I won’t bathe. Where is that house? I’ll go rest there.” She turned to leave, but then heard Xiao Du cry out loudly from the pool, “Ah!”

Yuanxi was startled and turned back to find his figure had disappeared from the pool surface. She hurriedly lifted her skirts and ran to the pool edge, calling loudly, “A’Du, A’Du!”

But the pool surface showed only swirling mist with no trace of him visible. Yuanxi felt her vision blocked by white haze, her heart filled with extreme anxiety. After waiting reluctantly for a moment, she finally decided to tentatively walk down the stone steps, calling as she went, “A’Du? What’s wrong with you? Don’t frighten me!”

Before she had taken but a few steps, Xiao Du’s body suddenly leaped up from the water and pulled her down in one swift motion.

Yuanxi plunged into the steaming hot spring, feeling dizzy and disoriented. Just as her body was about to sink into the water, she was firmly supported by a pair of large hands. Thoroughly frightened, she quickly hooked her arms around the neck of the person before her, practically clinging her entire body to him. When she finally steadied her nerves, she saw Xiao Du’s face beaming with happiness before her eyes. Water droplets fell from the ends of his hair onto his bronze-colored bare skin, making him appear masculine and dazzling. Yuanxi felt her heart beating rapidly at the sight, so she turned her head away and said through gritted teeth, “Xiao Du! You’ve gone too far…”

Before she could finish speaking, her hand was caught and moist lips pressed against hers, followed by wine sliding down his tongue into her throat. The wine’s fragrance was rich and intoxicating, accompanied by his gentle drawing and licking, making her completely bewildered. His solid chest pressed tightly against hers, surrounded by warm flowing water that caressed every inch of skin until it became soft and burning hot.

Not until Yuanxi’s entire body went limp did Xiao Du finally release her lips, then gently took her earlobe between his lips and said hoarsely, “Wine should be drunk this way to be interesting.”

Fine perspiration had already appeared on Yuanxi’s forehead, her eyes misty and confused as she supported herself on his arm, breathing heavily. The spring water moved and white mist swirled around them. Her clothing had completely loosened, floating around her like colorful flower petals. Her skin, white as congealed cream, was flushed rosy by the heat, like red plum blossoms blooming in snow. This scene was too alluring, making Xiao Du’s blood surge. He couldn’t help but reach out to touch that softness, only to have his hand slapped away. Yuanxi had finally come to her senses and was pulling her clothes toward the pool edge while saying indignantly, “In broad daylight, don’t you dare think of anything else.”

Xiao Du lowered his head and chuckled softly, hurrying to follow beside her. Yuanxi had only been shy before, but now that she was already in the water, she simply removed her wet clothes and settled comfortably into the pool water.

Xiao Du watched her undo her hair bun and gently comb through it. Her seaweed-like black hair floated on the water surface, making her exposed shoulders and neck appear even more fair, as if veiled in a layer of rosy silk. Fire seemed ready to leap from Xiao Du’s eyes, but no matter how he tested her, Yuanxi only warned him with her gaze not to misbehave. Finally, he could only sigh helplessly, feeling the pool water was somewhat too hot, wishing he could go into that snow to cool down.

At this moment, Xiao Du’s peripheral vision caught sight of the silk cord draped at the pool’s edge, and he suddenly had an idea. He moved behind her, leaning close to her ear, “If you can’t see, then it wouldn’t count as broad daylight, would it?”

Yuanxi was momentarily stunned, not yet understanding the meaning in his words, when her vision suddenly went dark. A soft silk cord had been gently tied over her eyes. Then Xiao Du picked up the wine pot from the pool’s edge and slowly fed it into her mouth. The fragrant and fiery wine spilled out, flowing down her neck over her entire body. His lips pressed against hers again, entangling with her tongue, gently drawing the remaining wine from her mouth. Earlier he had given, now he sought, but both were equally intoxicating.

Yuanxi felt her mind and body stretched taut to the breaking point, grasping only the last thread of reason as she mumbled, “No…” But he pressed the back of her head, his voice husky as he said, “Don’t speak, just feel.” Those large hands also began roaming restlessly over her body and legs. Because Yuanxi could not see, the sensations on her body became even more intense. His burning breath pressed against her skin, making her tremble in waves. Her heart felt like a small cat clawing and scratching, while her body tingled and burned with shooting fire. Her hands began unconsciously climbing up his chest, her legs unconsciously hooking upward, until she heard a muffled laugh by her ear and realized she was practically hanging on him.

Yuanxi felt so embarrassed she wanted to retreat, but his hands clasped her waist and pressed her against the pool wall, beginning to attack and conquer as if he wanted to devour her alive.

The churning hot currents splashed water with violent impacts, constantly falling on Yuanxi’s back and cheeks, mixing with both their perspiration. With blackness before her eyes, all of Yuanxi’s senses concentrated on that burning point. Sometimes she was cast into the abyss, sometimes thrown into the clouds. This unprecedented experience made her pant urgently, feeling as if she might go mad.

Finally, the pool water gradually calmed. Yuanxi buried her body in Xiao Du’s embrace, looking like a lazy cat. As the pleasure gradually faded and the wine’s effects surged up, she was too lazy even to speak, only leaning against his warm chest and drowsily closing her eyes to sleep.

When she opened her eyes again, she found it was already dusk. The magnificent clouds at the horizon reflected on the misty water surface, creating a rosy soft glow.

Yuanxi squinted her eyes, gently scooping up the pool water beside her and watching it pour through her fingers. She sighed sincerely, “How beautiful.”

Xiao Du embraced her waist, pressing his face against her smooth back and laughing in a muffled voice. Yuanxi felt tickled by him and turned to glare at him reproachfully. Remembering their earlier indulgence still made her blush, when suddenly another thought occurred to her. She gently stroked her lower abdomen and said shyly with lowered head, “Do you think… we’ve been married for some time now, why is there still no…”

Xiao Du gathered her wet hair while smiling, “Why are you in such a hurry? Isn’t it good to have more time together just the two of us?” His hand slid down toward her waist as he breathed softly, “How about we work harder today? Maybe there will be movement.”

Yuanxi slapped away his restless hand, “Always so improper! Tell me, will our first child be a boy or a girl?”

Xiao Du said, “Either would be fine. If it’s a boy, I’ll teach him archery and riding. If it’s a girl, you can teach her poetry and literature…” He paused, his mind conjuring an image of a little girl constantly clamoring to see corpses. This thought made him shudder. Well, if it were a girl, he’d need to carefully screen the books in her room first.

Yuanxi was now immersed in her own thoughts. One day they would have their own child. What would he or she look like, and what kind of fate would they have… At this moment, Xiao Du gently took her hand and guided her to look ahead, “In the future we’ll bring our children here together, let them have snowball fights and build snowmen in the forest while you and I drink and talk in the pavilion. How does that sound?”

Yuanxi looked in the direction he pointed and seemed to see scenes of children playing and frolicking, while they drank wine and called the children’s names, telling them not to play too wildly. The more she thought about it, the more her lips curved upward, her heart filled with sweetness. She asked again, “Have you thought about what to name them?”

Xiao Du thought for a while, “If it’s a boy, we’ll call him Xiao Mu. If it’s a girl, Xiao Yao. What do you think?”

“Xiao Mu, Xiao Yao… yearning for the distant…” Yuanxi murmured the names, sensing something in her heart. He was still thinking of the distant frontier passes after all. She nodded, “Yes, I like both these names.”

Xiao Du held her more tightly, watching the flower petals floating and sinking in the white mist in the pool. Suddenly moved, he said, “Doesn’t this look like the flower lanterns of the Lantern Festival? Why don’t we make a wish?” With that, he leaned against the pool wall and wrote in the snow with his finger: “May my lady be healthy, may we have children soon, may I live long.”

Yuanxi tilted her head to watch him finish writing and laughed, “Where’s the logic in wishing for your own longevity?”

Xiao Du slowly withdrew his finger, his gaze somewhat unfocused, “Because I always worry I’ll die young. Before, I always thought this family still had father and second brother to barely support it, but now that I have you, how could I bear to leave you and our children alone in this world?” He turned his head, speaking somewhat bitterly to Yuanxi, “Xi’er, if one day I truly meet with misfortune, would you…”

Yuanxi grabbed his hand, her eyes bright with tears but her voice very firm, “As long as you can live one more day, I will be happy for one more day. If you truly are no longer here, no matter how difficult it becomes, I will support the marquis’s mansion for you and raise our children to adulthood. I will also tell them what an remarkable person their father was.”

Xiao Du had been afraid she would say something like “if you’re not here, I won’t live either.” Hearing her words now, he finally felt at ease, his eyes growing warm as he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. He should have known that Yuanxi was like reed grass—seemingly fragile but possessing unyielding resilience, able to grow stubbornly in any circumstance.

But at that time, neither of them knew that some things could be more cruel than death by separation, more painfully unforgettable…