Three days later, Mo Zi and Yuan Cheng returned to Zicao Bay. Yuan Cheng immediately summoned his strategists and generals to the main tent for urgent discussions on the next steps, while Mo Zi, who had originally planned to follow along, was intercepted halfway by the young women who pursued her with questions about where she had gone for her bridal chamber.
“My mother said this kind of thing makes women suffer, but looking at you, why do you seem even more beautiful than before? So radiant, your skin looks like it could be broken with a breath, and you’re enchanting just sitting there.” Qiu Shuang looked her over from head to toe several times, her eyes full of questions.
Luo Ying was a young married woman now and said with a smile, “Either your mother was scaring you, or your father didn’t serve her well.”
Xiao Yi propped up her chin. “What does this have to do with her father?” She was truly the most innocent.
So those who knew a little bit each glanced at Xiao Yi, looked her up and down, and laughed stiffly, not daring to speak up.
“Xiao Yi, when you get married, I’ll give you a proper lesson.” Under Xiao Yi’s prolonged stare, Mo Zi steeled herself and added pressure to herself.
Apart from martial arts, Xiao Yi was a young woman “without much pursuit.” Hearing this, she shook her head to indicate agreement. “After all, you’ve read the spring picture books.”
Mo Zi reached out and flicked her forehead. Facing several pairs of curious eyes, she giggled and planned to change the subject. “Now that I think about it, the wedding was too hasty. My own younger sister wasn’t even there…”
Luo Ying and Qiu Shuang interrupted in unison, “Don’t change the subject. Where exactly was the bridal chamber?”
This was the first time these two were so in sync. They looked at each other and smiled. From then on, these two female warriors of the martial world became close friends.
Where was the bridal chamber?
Mo Zi looked at them, pursed her lips, furrowed her brows, and sighed. “The only thing I can tell you is that a bridal chamber isn’t necessarily a room.”
The women all gasped.
Mo Zi smiled, and her thoughts drifted back to that night.
What lit up before her eyes were water jade lamps, one by one. The lamplight was hazy, rising in pure white halos that dispersed in circles.
Hazy—not only because water jade was a special material, but also because of the environment itself. And she was dazed not because these expensive water jade items were being wastefully used as lamps, nor because she couldn’t see anything magnificent and beautiful at the moment, but because of this pool of gurgling, steaming hot water.
“This is—” She knew what it was, but she didn’t know what Master Yuan’s intention was. Where was the bridal chamber?
“Look up.” Yuan Cheng was busy lighting lamps.
Mo Zi raised her head. In the night sky cut into an irregular circle by the towering cliff rocks, it seemed as if someone had crushed the moonlight—the stars were brilliant.
“Very beautiful.” She murmured. “There’s no—ceiling.”
“The sky as a dome, stone walls as chambers, the hot spring as our wedding bed.” After Yuan Cheng lit all the lamps, he found a jar from somewhere, broke open the mud seal, and immediately a rich wine aroma wafted out. “Plum wine I buried when I was eighteen. Though I’ve quit drinking, today is a great joy, so we must still drink the nuptial wine.”
Mo Zi barely paid attention to what he said afterward. “The hot spring as the wedding bed?” Trust him to think of that.
“Autumn nights are cool, the hot spring is just right. You’re drawn to water, and the scenery is also what I love. I really can’t think of anywhere more suitable than here for our bridal chamber.” Most importantly, no one to disturb them.
“You might as well say using the sky as a blanket and the earth as a mat.” Really, this man was so bold it made her heart pound. Out in the open wilderness—wasn’t that a bit too stimulating?
“Those are the words of sages. They fit this place, but don’t fit my intentions, so I dare not use them carelessly.” Yuan Cheng looked down with a soft laugh. “You don’t like it? What shall we do? Including tonight, we’ll be here for three days and four nights.”
Three days and four nights? Here? Perhaps it was the heat of the hot spring—Mo Zi felt somewhat flustered and hot. “Yuan Cheng, generally speaking, the bridal chamber is only one night. And, allow me to remind you, you’re very busy.” It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he had myriad daily affairs.
Yuan Cheng smiled as he poured two cups of wine and walked toward her. “My wife truly doesn’t understand this husband’s heart. Precisely because I fear we’ll have little time alone together, this husband wants to properly treasure these three days.”
So, he deliberately and carefully chose such a place where calling to heaven wouldn’t work and calling to earth would get no response! Mo Zi inconspicuously retreated, but her back pressed against the cool, damp stone wall. She was a person who came from a thousand years in the future. This wedding night was the first in two lifetimes, and she had never imagined doing that sort of thing in a wilderness without ceiling or bed.
“Yuan Cheng, I think that for something as important as the bridal chamber, we should find a more stable room. How about we return to Yangcheng first?” There was a psychological barrier, though the hot spring was very tempting, and the lamplight and starlight were dreamlike and fantastical.
“Mo Zi, I wish us a hundred years of harmonious union.” The wind as matchmaker, he spoke on its behalf.
The nuptial wine—she couldn’t refuse.
“If you feel uncomfortable, I won’t force you.” He put down the jade cup. “However, it’s already late at night. Going back and waking the boat workers wouldn’t be good either. Let’s just make do here for one night. I brought chess pieces. Want to play? Last time I came, I carved a chess board on the stones. Help me find it.”
“Uh? Mm.” She remembered Qiu Sanniang’s wedding night—one game of go and it got postponed half a year. Perhaps this was also her opportunity? But it wasn’t that she didn’t want to do that—she just couldn’t let go.
She lowered her head to look for the chess board, found it by the hot spring, looked up and said, “Found i—” Her voice trailed off, her eyes went round. “You… you…”
Having removed his wedding robe and inner garments, the man was already bare from the waist up, descending into the hot spring along the natural stone steps. Then, she stared dumbfounded as he immersed himself in the water, then stood up stark naked to place what was suspiciously his trousers on a rock. The spring water reached his waistline—
“…Mo Zi!” he called loudly.
Mo Zi was so startled she sat back. “What?” So loud!
“I’ve called you several times. What are you dazing about?” Yuan Cheng walked to the chess board and rested both arms on the stone. “Now that we’re here, wouldn’t it be a shame not to soak in the hot spring? Who takes black?”
A scheme! Seduction! This wasn’t the first time this person had done this sort of thing. This scene reminded her of the ambiguous moment in that bathhouse in Daqiu, though now the two of them were husband and wife—sparks flying would be perfectly natural and right.
No, no, she couldn’t fall for his scheme. If she couldn’t hold out, that would be tantamount to acquiescing to three days and four nights. Heavens, not one day and one night, not three days and three nights, but three days and four nights! She absolutely couldn’t handle it, absolutely! It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, but she needed to master a reasonable rhythm.
Yuan Cheng looked at her with smiling eyes. “Wife, if you want to go first, go first. No need to clench your fists like you’re going to fight me to the death.”
Mo Zi heard her own breathing, her palms sweating. She couldn’t help but wipe her neck.
“Are you hot?” Yuan Cheng noticed her flushed face.
“How can it not be hot near a hot spring?” Not only hot, her heart was racing too.
“Then take off the wedding dress. There are still clothes underneath anyway.” Very casually, very casually, he said this.
Mo Zi squinted at him, squinted hard at him, couldn’t detect even the slightest meaning beyond concern. Only then did she turn around and remove the bright red wedding dress.
In that instant, Yuan Cheng’s eyes flickered slightly.
Because it was for the wedding, the inner garment was also very exquisite. Light peach-blossom pink gauze, high-waisted and form-fitting. Only the borders were embroidered with bright, translucent lovesick fruit and branches, with no other embroidery. The skirt was divided into twelve panels, and if you looked carefully, they were dyed with white peonies. Around the waist was a two-finger-wide golden silk cord, carved with silver flowers within the thread—also peonies. Hanging from the side of her waist was a string of pure rubies echoing the lovesick beans. Among the gemstones were sound stones that would produce the five musical notes when the wind blew just right—very pleasant to hear.
Mo Zi exhaled, faced Yuan Cheng, and sat gracefully, placing a piece. “Let’s play.”
Yuan Cheng didn’t hesitate and also placed a piece. “Shall we compete for victory?”
“Didn’t you say we’d just make do for one night? Since we’re passing time, of course we won’t compete.” Mo Zi’s dark eyebrows twitched.
Yuan Cheng said fine and held a piece close.
But very soon Mo Zi became flustered again. Sexiness wasn’t in handsome looks. The man across from her was someone she had long coveted. Beneath his refined features was muscle definition that wasn’t at all weak. Hot spring steam clung to his firm arms, and the water jade lamplight reflected a warm glow around his entire body. He focused on the chess board while she focused on him, and the more she looked, the more her mouth went dry.
Three days and four nights! Her brow twitched.
Three days and four nights! She gritted her teeth and held her breath.
“Wife, do you know that the way you look at this husband is hungry as a wolf?” Yuan Cheng’s voice carried hidden laughter.
“I didn’t.” In a fluster, she raised a piece and slapped it down, forgetting that he wasn’t even looking at her, so how would he know what her gaze was like.
“It’s not your turn yet.” Yuan Cheng reached out to stop her. His hand had been soaking in the hot spring, so when he waved, he scattered a spray of water droplets that splashed on Mo Zi’s face and body.
Mo Zi cried out and quickly grabbed her sleeve to wipe her face. “You could have just said it with your mouth. Why wave your hand?”
Yuan Cheng looked at her, unable to suppress his laughter. “Wife, you’re absolutely gorgeous, but with the makeup smeared you look a bit like a cat.”
Only then did Mo Zi remember she had makeup on. Seeing Yuan Cheng laughing like this, she really learned from cats and swiped at him, even meowing.
After Yuan Cheng dodged, he laughed heartily again. “Every time I think I understand you, you do something I can’t anticipate. Mo Zi, Mo Zi, Heaven truly treats me generously.”
Mo Zi’s heart pounded like drums. There it was again—Yuan-style sweet talk, unrivaled under heaven. Three days and four nights, to hell with it, she’d go all in! As the saying goes, train soldiers for a thousand days to use them for one moment. Could her years of physical training really be inferior to this civil official? Besides, this was all proper and legitimate now. What about the wilderness? What about starlight and moonlight?
Thinking this, she jumped into the hot spring and splashed water on her face.
Yuan Cheng’s lips curved upward, his eyes deepened, his expression slightly tense. The bright makeup washed away, but her charm emanated from within, more natural and more beautiful. She was his wife now. Thinking this, an indescribable joy welled up in his heart.
“Do you know?” He slowly moved closer to her.
“What?” Her whole body was burning. At this moment she couldn’t hear her heartbeat, only that black-haired, dark-eyed gentleness occupying her heart and eyes.
“You’re most beautiful in water.” He caressed her pink cheek with one hand and leaned in to kiss her.
She closed her eyes, feeling his warmth lingering between her lips, her arms tightly embracing his waist.
As soon as she responded quietly, he became like an unbridled wild horse, deeply savoring the sweetness of her soft lips, until his palm through her wet clothes felt as if he were grasping fire, and only then did he end that kiss.
“Yuan Cheng.” She panted lightly, opened her eyes to see him lift her up, then lay her flat on a large stone. The hot spring surged onto the stone surface, flowing beneath her body and receding again, making her feel comfortable. “You picked a good place.” She was actually extremely pleased.
“I know.” Yuan Cheng smiled somewhat wickedly, his slender fingers untying her waist sash and lightly tossing it. The sound stone emitted beautiful notes as it fell into the hot spring. “I also picked a good skirt.” That pink skirt, apart from being secured by the waist sash, had no other ties or clasps—it was a very ingeniously wrapped garment.
Mo Zi felt a coolness in front, then immediately felt heat.
Between the two of them there was no longer the slightest barrier, intimately meeting, so very real.
“Um, about this matter of three days and four nights, let me ask.” Mo Zi was very nervous, so she wanted to find something to say. “You’re joking, right?”
Yuan Cheng didn’t speak.
He laughed deeply, his laughter all sinking into the tender land she carried. Three days and four nights—he was anticipating it intensely.