His move was so sudden that at first she had no reaction at all—her mind went completely blank. Only after a moment did she realize she was being held tightly in his arms, receiving his kiss.

The force with which he embraced her was so great it seemed as though he wanted to press her entire being into his own body. The kiss, too, was utterly domineering, nearly stealing her breath away the instant it began. The two of them were pressed completely together, so tightly that she felt as though a heart was thudding between them—she could not tell whether it was her own heartbeat or his.

What had happened?

Had he not refused her the last time…?

This thought flickered faintly through her mind, only to be pushed aside.

They had been together for more than just two or three days, and this was not the first time they had been intimate.

But somehow, this felt like the first time she had sensed that his embrace and kisses were so fervent and lingering—as if something long suppressed had suddenly burst free of its restraints and surged forth.

Faced with such ardor from him, she was completely unable to resist. Her whole body quickly lost its strength and went soft, all thought drained away from her, and her mind fell blank once more. By the end, she no longer even knew how she had come to lie down.

Deep within the dense, half-person-tall grass, the air was filled with the fresh scent of crushed grass stalks releasing their juice. All around, the grass and leaves swayed in the wind with a soft rustling, like the wind gently singing. And the man’s kisses, laden with ever-intensifying passion and desire, almost drowned her completely…

Just as she was drifting in a daze, a calling voice suddenly floated in on the wind.

She snapped awake.

It was his guards Zhang Ting and Shen Qiao, come searching for them!

The calls drew nearer and nearer—at their closest, they seemed to ring out just around the slope nearby—then gradually faded, dying away.

He stilled, his face pressed against her temple. After a long moment, he slowly shifted. Then Pu Zhu heard him ask quietly in her ear: “Do you want to go back?”

His voice was rough and hoarse, filled with a suppressed quality.

Her heart was still racing. Not quite daring to meet his eyes, she lowered her gaze and gave a barely audible hum of assent.

He seemed to draw a long breath, and at last rolled off her—but he did not rise immediately. Instead, he continued to lie on his back in the grass nearby, eyes closed and motionless, as if steadying his breathing.

After a moment, he finally got up, helped her to her feet, and picked the blades of grass from her hair and clothes one by one. Once she was clean, he took her hand and led her back up the slope, where they met the attendants who had come looking for them.

Zhang Ting and Shen Qiao both let out a breath of relief and explained that when Prince Qin and the Princess Consort had not returned for some time, their horses had been wandering loose. Worried, they had come to search.

Pu Zhu said nothing. She only listened as Li Xuandu said, “I noticed the scenery over here was quite nice, and took a short stroll. Nothing is the matter—let us head back.”

The attendants assented and soon brought the two horses around.

Perhaps because she had been riding for a while and was tired, Pu Zhu now found her legs oddly weak. As she went to mount this time, her movements were not as nimble as when they had set out in the morning. She put one foot in the stirrup and tried to swing her other leg up, but her leg went slightly soft and her body faltered—at that moment, two hands gently took hold of her waist.

She turned her head.

“Can you still ride? If you are weary, I will take you back on mine.” He was standing behind her, looking up at her.

Pu Zhu glanced back at Zhang Ting and Shen Qiao not far behind, lightly bit her lip, shook her head, and with the support of his hands, seated herself on the horse’s back.

He seemed faintly disappointed, but said no more. After mounting his own horse, he turned and set off on the return journey.

On the way back, he rode alongside her—and not only that, but as they traveled, Pu Zhu noticed he kept glancing over at her from time to time.

Her sense of it was…

After encountering the wild donkeys, everything had suddenly changed!

They arrived back at the fortress at dusk. After dismounting, he still kept close by her side and walked with her into the compound—but only a few steps past the main gate, he stopped.

Zhang Shishan, who had just been promoted to Left Marshal, had been waiting for him for quite some time. Seeing him finally return, Zhang Shishan stepped forward briskly to report that several households of Wulei residents, who had previously fled deep into the mountains to escape trouble, now wished to come out and resettle nearby under their protection, and requested the Governor’s permission.

Li Xuandu was a little distracted—his eyes were on Pu Zhu, who had stopped as he had and seemed to be waiting for him—and he immediately nodded. “Granted. Send a few men to help them settle in. Going forward, for matters like this, handle them yourself as you see fit. You need not report to me specifically.”

Zhang Shishan accepted the order and left.

Li Xuandu was just about to escort her further inside when a patrol leader named Ding Shou came to ask for instructions. He said there was an old ball field behind the fortress, left over from previous garrison troops, which he proposed to clear and restamp with packed earth. In the future, when soldiers had free time, they would have a place to play polo—good for entertainment as well as physical conditioning and combat readiness—and he requested the Governor’s approval.

Li Xuandu approved that as well, sent the man away, and walked on with Pu Zhu. But they had hardly taken two more steps before yet another person arrived to say that a few carts of grain and fodder sent from the Shushu Kingdom were nearly here, and the escort was a noble general—how should he be received?

This was normally Ye Xiao’s affair, but he had been nowhere to be seen all day, so the men below could only come to the Governor.

Knowing he could not break free for the moment, Pu Zhu waited no longer and walked on ahead toward the inner compound.

Li Xuandu watched that slender figure disappear through the gate leading to the rear courtyard, and could only go and attend to things first.

Pu Zhu returned to their quarters, rested briefly, ate a little supper, and then went to bathe.

The bathing tub was filled with warm water. She soaked in it, letting the fatigue of the day’s outing melt away. When she was ready to get out, she waited and waited but A’mu did not bring in her clothes. She called out—called several times—yet still heard nothing. She had no choice but to climb out herself, wipe off the water, pick up the robe she had just taken off, and drape it haphazardly over her chest and from the waist downward. She then walked out, and as she lifted her head, she saw a shadowy figure beyond the door curtain and assumed it was A’mu. With a little pout in her voice she called: “A’mu, why didn’t you answer me just now…”

She lifted the curtain and looked up. Her words died. She froze.

There was indeed someone behind the curtain—but it was not A’mu. It was Li Xuandu.

He stood behind the curtain, holding the robe she had meant to put on, utterly silent.

He had clearly been inside for some time. A’mu had undoubtedly stepped out when he arrived—no wonder no one had responded when she called.

But it was still early, barely past the time the lamps were lit. Pu Zhu truly had not expected him to return so soon.

It was not as if she had never been unclothed in front of him—he had seen every inch of her body long ago.

But ever since the night he had refused her, the two of them had observed a mutual propriety. Though they slept in the same bed every night, they had always been properly dressed.

Now like this…

Her ears grew warm. She was just about to step back and retreat into the bathing room when she suddenly heard him murmur, “Don’t go.”

She startled. Her feet seemed to take root, unable to move another step. She could only watch as he reached out and slowly drew away the robe she was clutching.

The garment she had used to cover herself was thus pulled away inch by inch, and inch by inch, she was laid bare—the body she had wanted to conceal fully revealed.

The robe was finally taken away entirely. Her hands were empty. Her whole body—every flawless curve—was exposed completely before his gaze, with nothing to hide behind.

His eyes were unutterably dark.

She began to tremble and involuntarily raised both arms, wanting to cover herself.

His throat moved. The hand that had just taken the robe reached over and gently moved aside the arms she had raised in vain before her, leaving her lovely, increasingly full figure uncovered.

His gaze traced over her for a moment. Then he slowly lowered his head and pressed a tender kiss to her soft chest. After that, he shook out the robe and wrapped it around her body, then brought his lips to her ear and said in a low, hoarse voice: “Didn’t you say you wanted to learn self-defense techniques? I have nothing to do tonight—I’m not going anywhere. I’ll teach you.”

Well. In the beginning, he did indeed teach her a few moves.

But very quickly, while teaching, he ended up bringing her to the bed.

That poor bed, which had not yet been replaced and was not particularly sturdy, could not bear such force and kept letting out a creaking noise—so distracting that she could hardly keep her mind on what he was doing to her. She was afraid the bed might collapse, and equally afraid that the noise would be heard by the people outside. The anxiety was so tense it made him lose control entirely, and it was over quite soon.

When her breathing had settled somewhat, Pu Zhu closed her eyes, and suddenly remembered the scene from that afternoon—remembered the moment he had chimed in with her: “Indeed, it was over too fast…” Comparing the two, she really could not hold it in any longer. She turned her face away and tried with all her might not to let him see her suppressing laughter. Unluckily, he noticed almost at once.

His hand caught her cheek and forcibly turned her head back toward him. He stared at her.

Pu Zhu knew he must have guessed why she was laughing and immediately sensed trouble. She scrambled to explain, begging him not to take it the wrong way—she was not laughing at him. But the more she tried to explain, the darker his expression grew, until finally, without a word, he scooped her up from that bed that had denied him his satisfaction, set her down on the floor mat that had been wiped clean with water earlier that evening, and—inspired by the scene they had witnessed that afternoon—proceeded to tease her at leisure: she let out low, startled cries, struggled and turned her head away, scolding him for being shameless, her expression caught between pique and coy allure. That only made him more unwilling to let her off easily—he gritted his teeth and set himself to conquering her. Back and forth they went, the spring night growing boundless, the candles burning shorter and shorter, the night growing deeper and deeper, until the latter half of the night, when Li Xuandu finally had his fill. He lay back beside her, the two of them resting side by side, and he sank into a deep, heavy sleep.

Pu Zhu, too, had long since exhausted herself—and yet there was still a part of her that was reluctant to simply fall asleep.

She savored in secret the feeling of being held in his arms, curled against him in a long-missed intimate posture…

She could not deceive herself: she truly liked it very much. Just as she truly liked being intimate with him in the ways they had shared tonight, liked that he found satisfaction through her.

That he was satisfied because of her made her feel all the more satisfied in turn.

She guessed that his sudden change in attitude toward her today had been sparked—at least in part—by that chance scene they had witnessed in the afternoon.

When he had held her then, pressing her down and kissing her, she had sensed something different about him.

For a normal man who had long gone without, there was a natural need for release—that was entirely natural.

Whatever the reason, this night, because of his extraordinary ardor, she felt deeply satisfied and genuinely content.

He must feel the same way.

Since they were well-matched and mutually satisfied, that was the best of all possible things. As for whatever unpleasantness had come before—why hold on to it and torment herself?

Pu Zhu nestled a little closer to the sleeping man beside her, pressing more tightly against him, and then slowly closed her eyes, sinking into a deep and peaceful sleep.