pdf-ebookys Chapter 268 The Mad Couple 32
Chapter 268 The Mad Couple 32
Wu Chufeng gently held Ji Xiaosong's hand, his gaze tender and deep, as if he wanted to envelop her entirely in his own world.
He leaned slightly closer to her ear, his voice low and expectant: "Songsong, we've been married for a while now. Although I'm busy every day, I always feel like something is missing."
Ji Xiaosong raised her eyes, a hint of doubt in them, and asked softly, "What's missing?"
"Our children are missing."
"Chu Feng, you mean..."
“Songsong, I want to have more children with you. Only they can make me truly feel that there are people in this world who are connected to me by blood. They are our continuation, the closest bond between our family.”
As Wu Chufeng spoke, a barely perceptible softness appeared in his voice:
"Power is important, but what's the point if you don't have blood relatives? I don't want to stand alone at the top in the future, with no one by my side. Songsong, are you willing?"
Ji Xiaosong leaned forward slightly and offered a kiss.
Her lips lightly touched Wu Chufeng's, initially just a fleeting touch, but instantly igniting a passionate connection between them.
Why not just show your willingness with actions?
Suddenly, the candlelight burst into a burst of light, making the pearl pendant on Ji Xiaosong's earlobe flicker.
Her fingers gripped the dark patterned collar of Wu Chufeng's robe, her jade-colored nails tracing delicate wrinkles across his heart through the brocade, like ripples on a lake after a spring rain.
Wu Chufeng felt the warm breath on the side of his neck, and his Adam's apple bobbed heavily.
He raised his hand and cupped the back of the neck of the person in his arms, his fingertips tracing her burning earlobe, his voice hoarse and raspy:
"Is this Madam's answer?"
Ji Xiaosong did not respond, but bit his loose belt with her teeth.
The gold-embroidered Qilin pattern slipped down the fabric, revealing half of her collarbone.
Her nose brushed against the indentation, and she smelled the scent of agarwood mixed with ink.
Wu Chufeng groaned, and the draped gauze curtains were lifted and fell by the wind, swaying in a wave-like arc around the two of them.
"Shh..."
She suddenly pressed her fingertips to his lips, the rouge spreading across the corners of her eyes more vibrant than the crabapple blossoms outside the window. "My husband just said something about being connected by blood, so perhaps..."
The last note faded into soft, labored breaths, as the outer garment slipped off and fell onto the footrest.
Wu Chufeng grabbed her misbehaving wrist with his other hand and turned her over, trapping her in the brocade quilt.
Her long, black hair cascaded down the pillow, and he buried his face in the crook of her neck, his breath filled with the fragrance of jasmine hair oil.
Ji Xiaosong felt his taut back, her calves gently brushing against his lean waist, and the silk trousers embroidered with twin lotus flowers slipped down halfway.
"Songsong..."
His hoarse voice carried a rare hint of panic as his palm pressed against the hollow of her lower back.
Outside the window, the swaying bamboo shadows cast their intertwined silhouettes on the wall, like two climbing trumpet creepers.
As the distant sound of the water clock reached him, Ji Xiaosong was counting the old wounds on his chest with his lips and tongue.
Wu Chufeng suddenly grabbed her trembling fingertips and examined them closely by the dim candlelight. Her ten fingernails, stained with balsam juice, were then chuckled softly, “Tomorrow, have the embroiderer cut a few bolts of soft silk gauze to make a new nightgown for Madam.”
She lazily raised her eyes, her toes hooking the brocade quilt that had slipped down: "I want it embroidered with intertwined branches."
Moonlight streamed in through the cracks in the window lattice, just enough to illuminate the intertwined mandarin duck pendants.
A few peach petals were swept up by the night wind and fluttered against the window paper.
*
The next morning, the first rays of sunlight struggled through the carved window lattice and fell upon the bed, which was filled with an ambiguous atmosphere.
Wu Chufeng slowly woke up, while Ji Xiaosong beside him was still fast asleep. Her cheeks were still flushed from the intimacy of the previous night, like the most delicate petals on a spring branch.
Wu Chufeng's heart was instantly filled with tenderness. He got up quietly, afraid of disturbing the beauty.
He walked to the window, gently pushed it open, and let the fresh air flow into the room.
As he turned around, his gaze fell on the outer garment that Ji Xiaosong had casually tossed aside.
The outer garment was embroidered with delicate peony patterns, but after last night, the silk threads were somewhat disheveled.
Wu Chufeng stared at the peony-patterned outer garment that smelled of jasmine, then suddenly turned and walked toward the sandalwood desk.
He picked up a wolf-hair brush and sketched a few strokes on the gold-flecked paper, creating the design of a moon-white ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress).
The wide sleeves are adorned with flowing cloud patterns embroidered with silver thread, and the skirt hem is decorated with the hidden seal script character "颂" (song) in gold thread. The belt is inlaid with twelve South China Sea pearls.
"Instruct the embroidery workshop to use ice silkworm silk to quickly make it."
He handed the blueprints to the maid waiting outside the door, his fingertips tapping a light rhythm on the door frame. "Then fetch the purple jadeite that His Majesty bestowed the other day, and have the Treasure Pavilion make a phoenix hairpin with pearls in its bead."
When Ji Xiaosong woke up, she found a glass cup filled with rose dew on her pillow.
Upon closer inspection, the cup is covered with miniature portraits of her, depicting her holding a scroll and brewing tea, or drawing a bow and shooting geese. All 360 faces reflect the shimmering morning light.
She was engrossed in watching when she suddenly heard clear, melodious music coming from outside the window.
Following the sound through the corridor, they saw Wu Chufeng sitting upright in the octagonal pavilion.
Beside the seven-stringed zither in front of him sat a jade incense burner, its wisps of smoke carrying the scents of white plum blossoms and agarwood, exactly the fragrance she loved most.
On the right side of the zither table was a plate of crystal shrimp dumplings, the skin so thin that the pink shrimp meat was visible through it, clearly transported by fast horse from a time-honored brand in the south of the city.
"Try it."
His left hand was still caressing the strings of the zither, while his right hand held silver chopsticks as he picked up a dumpling. "I asked the cook to improve the filling and add the matsutake mushrooms that you love."
As he spoke, the music shifted to the tune of "The Phoenix Seeks Its Mate," startling two thrushes under the eaves, which fluttered past her temples.
When handling government affairs in the afternoon, Wu Chufeng specifically ordered someone to move the official documents to Linshui Pavilion.
Between reviewing the case files, he would occasionally use a red pen to sketch the silhouette of Ji Xiaosong's embroidery on scrap paper.
As dusk settled, he suddenly put down his pen and smiled, "Songsong, do you remember saying last month that you wanted to stargaze?"
"What, you want me to see it now?"
Wu Chufeng remained silent, but clapped his hands three times with a smile. More than ten servants carried in a gilded telescope, with fresh vines wrapped around the telescope tube.
As night fell, he magically produced a pair of luminous jade bracelets from his sleeve: "These are meteorites I picked up in the Gobi Desert last month while patrolling the camp. I had a craftsman polish them for a month."
The jade bracelet glowed with a faint blue light in the dark, and its inner side was engraved with tiny characters:
"Ode to Changning".
"Like it?"
"Of course I like it since it's a gift from you."
As the night deepened and the dew grew heavy, Wu Chufeng suddenly embraced Ji Xiaosong, who was removing her hairpins: "How about I take leave tomorrow and accompany you to the hot spring villa? It has running water there, and the bottom of the pool is paved with your favorite pebbles."
He then brought the warmed goat milk to her lips, a freshly picked mint leaf still clinging to the rim of the cup.
"Does Your Majesty permit this?"
Ji Xiaosong knew that Wu Chufeng was always busy and would never think of asking for leave.
"Since I entered the court, I have only had a few days off when I married you. Now that I have just bought a hot spring villa, I would like to take you to see it."