The Beauty Within the Gates
Chapter 88
Wen Shuse was startled. Earlier that day, she had only said that casually to Ming Wanrou that she had not expected her husband to truly have a special skill. Both thrilled and excited, she opened it, but the light was too dim to see clearly. She hurriedly got out of bed to light a lamp, set it by the bedside, then climbed back to snuggle beside her husband before opening the booklet once more.
The booklet was full of drawings, with no words. And the scenes were not the same as the ones she had seen before. The young lady and the husband in the drawings were completely bare.
Bare to a rather excessive degree…
This… What was this thing!?
Her husband turned his head and kept watching his little wife. He saw her expression shift from anticipation at first to shock, then bewilderment. Finally, her eyes widened and, with a snap, she shut the booklet. She sat there in a daze. Even under the dim lamplight, he could sense the deep blush spreading across her face.
A newborn calf fears no tiger. Before she knew what it was, she had dared to say anything. Now that she knew, she finally understood embarrassment.
That was more like it.
He had bled through two silk handkerchiefs earlier. Seeing her like this now, his heart recovered a bit of balance. He deliberately asked her, “What is wrong, Wife?”
In the end, the young lady turned her head and looked at him with resentful eyes. Her face a picture of aggrieved distress, her voice trembling, “Why did Husband show me this? What am I supposed to do now? My eyes are no longer pure!”
Xie Shao froze, not understanding what she meant by her eyes no longer pure.
The young lady continued crying her grievance. “I… the first one I saw was actually not my husband’s…” She spoke with such sorrow, genuinely feeling that the things in that booklet had stained her eyes.
Xie Shao finally accepted his fate. His little wife was sent to be the death of him. Pressing the silk handkerchief against the tip of his nose, he said helplessly, “This is a bridal instruction booklet. The figures inside are all false. They do not exist. They are only meant to guide…”
The young lady stared in astonishment for a while, seeming to let out a breath of relief. Very soon, however, confusion appeared again. Her eyes fixed on him, a faint blush rising once more. “Then does that mean… my husband’s is not like this?”
Xie Shao’s eyelids twitched, and the lamplight before him seemed to flicker along with his pulse. The silk handkerchief pressed to his nose was no use. The heat at the tip of his nose, which had only just stopped with great difficulty, returned again. This time, it became uncontrollable. Blood soaked through the handkerchief and dripped onto his clothes.
The young lady was thoroughly frightened. Forgetting all about the booklet, she scrambled to help him sit up, supporting him as they made their way to the washroom. Following the methods her grandmother had used to care for her as a child, she took a cloth, dipped it in cold water, and pressed it to the bridge of his nose, tilting his head back. After a while, seeing the bleeding had eased, she choked out through her sobs, “Husband, what in the world is wrong with you? I’ve heard people say internal bleeding is a grave matter. Let me have Minzhang fetch the physician…”
Then, as though resigning to her fate, she continued, “I’ve thought it all through, we won’t consummate the marriage after all. Let others laugh if they must. I’m not afraid of losing face. At least we’ll live long lives together…”
Her husband stared up at the beam across the ceiling. He wasn’t a dull-witted man, yet every time he faced his little wife, he was left utterly helpless. Through the damp handkerchief, he set the record straight. “I’ve no strange affliction. It’s only an excess of inner heat. Let me calm down for a moment, and it will naturally stop.”
As for consummating the marriage, she needn’t worry about that either.
“If Wife is willing, even if there’s a wound in my shoulder, even if my arm were broken, I could still satisfy you tonight.”
He was already wounded inside and out. There was no real need to put on a brave front.
Excess internal heat? Now she was even more confused. “Just now it was me looking, not you. How did you get internal heat?” Then realization dawned. “Did Husband look at it too?” Well, of course. If he could hand the booklet over to her, he must surely have gone through it himself beforehand.
“Then, Husband’s eyes aren’t pure anymore either.” Without waiting for his answer, most of her guilt dissipated in an instant. She let out a breath. “So, we’re even.”
What kind of twisted logic was that?
After half a night of commotion, her husband’s nosebleed finally stopped. The two of them lay on the bed, both rather exhausted. As for the booklet, he absolutely did not dare let her look at it again. Xie Shao took it back and stuffed it beneath the pillow. “Wife should sleep first. Four days from now, this husband will certainly not disappoint you.”
The young lady had attended to him for the entire day and was utterly worn out. Although the booklet had shaken her understanding, she still could not resist her drowsiness. “All right. Whatever Husband says.”
She closed her eyes and turned to face him, her fingers idly pinching the fabric of his inner garment, rubbing it gently back and forth.
He did not know what sort of strange habit this was. Every night before falling asleep, or whenever she woke in the middle of the night, her hand would reach over and find either his arm or chest. Then her fingers would rub the silk of his robe for quite a while before she could fall asleep again.
With her rubbing him like this, how was he supposed to sleep?
Only after the fingers on his arm stopped moving did he slowly turn his head and look at her sleeping face. Her palm-sized little face was peaceful and well-behaved. It was hard to imagine how lively and spirited those eyes could be when open, enough to drive a man mad.
Whenever his little wife angered him, he would sometimes wonder what sins he had committed in his previous life to have fallen for a young lady like this.
But perhaps it was not a punishment at all. Perhaps it was a blessing.
With his little wife beside him, every day was vivid and eventful, never dull. The only thing he needed to do was train himself until nothing could shake him.
Once again, he did not fall asleep until the middle of the night. Perhaps the three ginseng roots had truly filled him with energy, for he slept unusually deeply. When he opened his eyes the next day, the sun was already high in the sky, and his little wife was no longer beside him.
At some point, a wooden chest had been placed near the bed, with cold mist steadily rising from within.
The seventh month was sweltering, but great care had been taken when this courtyard was built. Bamboo groves and roof beams on both sides blocked the sunlight, and once the lattice windows on all four sides were opened, a breeze passed through. A block of ice placed in the outer room could cool the inner room as well. Since his injury, however, his little wife had worried that dampness might affect him and had never placed ice inside.
Was it really that hot today?
The young lady soon came in carrying a bowl of medicine. Seeing that he was awake, a smile as bright as sunlight appeared on her face. “Husband, you’re awake. Perfect timing. The medicine is ready, too.”
“Thank you for your trouble, Wife.” He turned over, intending to sit up, but the young lady saw and immediately stopped him. She stepped forward, set the medicine bowl on the small wooden table, and carefully helped him upright. “Didn’t we agree that Husband mustn’t move?”
He was not that fragile.
The wound on his shoulder seemed much better today. He had examined it himself just now. The imperial physician had used mulberry-bark thread to stitch the wound, so there was no need to remove the sutures. A layer of scab had already formed over the stitched area.
But today, the young lady did not check his wound again. She had found something else to worry about.
“Husband has too much inner heat, so I had them move the ice inside to help cool it.” Then she asked, “How do you feel? Are you weak or sore anywhere? Does anything hurt? Husband must tell me…”
She was still doubting his health.
Helplessly, when the imperial physician came at noon, Xie Shao asked in front of his little wife, “Lord, please take my pulse again. My wife is worried that the external injury may have affected my internal organs. See whether there might be any hidden ailment.”
Wen Shuse felt somewhat guilty when he put it that way. She had never said all that…
The imperial physician had been specially assigned by the emperor to nurse Xie Shao back to health. He was responsible not only for the wound on Xie Shao’s shoulder blade, if anything else went wrong with his body, the physician would also be held accountable. He quickly reached out and took his pulse.
A moment later, his tone relaxed. “Commander’s pulse is steady, harmonious, and smooth. Madam need not worry. He is in excellent health.”
The young lady’s brows and eyes instantly relaxed. Xie Shao glanced over and caught the look of relief that crossed her face.
At last, she would stop questioning his health.
After the imperial physician left, the young lady did not torment him with any more nourishing medicines. She sat beside the bed, her eyes roaming back and forth over his face.
One moment, she stared at his nose and measured it with her hand. Next, she placed her hand against his face and gauged its dimensions. Then she studied his eyes for a while before closing her own and sinking into deep thought.
Her strange behavior made him uneasy. It would have been better if she had simply made him drink more nourishing medicine. He asked aloud, “What is it, Wife? Am I not handsome enough?”
The young lady shook her head. “Husband is the most handsome man under heaven. Everything about you is handsome…”
Before Xie Shao could figure out what scheme she was plotting, the young lady rose, lifted the pearl curtain, and called Aunt Qing inside. “Aunt Qing, please prepare a set of paints and brushes for me. I want to make a painting.”
So, she wanted to paint him.
That explained all her strange behavior just now. His little wife had never painted him before, and his heart filled with anticipation. He wondered what she would make him look like.
Afraid that speaking might disturb her and affect her work, Xie Shao did not utter a sound.
The young lady sat quietly by herself before the dressing table, lowering her head as she carefully sketched with her brush.
She painted from morning until dusk, stopping only for three meals. Xie Shao could not help wondering what sort of painting required so much work. Only when Aunt Qing came in to light the lamps did he finally urge her, “Wife, is the painting finished?”
The young lady had not expected time to pass so quickly either. She rose and covered the unfinished painting, then rubbed her aching shoulders and twisted her stiff neck. Turning toward her husband, she walked over tiredly. “Not yet. I’m afraid I can’t finish it today. I’ll continue tomorrow, and then I’ll give you a surprise.”
Good things were worth waiting for.
He was not anxious over a little more time. In truth, he also had something he was hiding from her, that his shoulder blade had not hurt at all throughout the day.
The next day, the two of them continued with their own tasks. Her husband quietly nursed his wound while the young lady continued painting. She painted for another entire day, from morning until night, beneath the lamplight. Her husband urged her several times, but the young lady kept calling, “Almost, almost…”
Only at the third quarter of the hour of xu did she finally set down her brush. Her great work was complete. Turning toward her husband, she gave him a triumphant smile. “I’ve finished it.”
Xie Shao had already washed and prepared for bed. He was half-reclining against the bed, and upon closer inspection, one would notice that the inner robe he wore today differed from his usual ones.
The white silk was thinner and far more translucent.
But the young lady was preoccupied with her own secret thoughts and did not notice. She tucked the finished painting into her sleeve and was just about to pounce onto the bed when her husband lifted one foot and blocked her outside.
“Go bathe and change first.”
Wen Shuse froze, then lowered her head and glanced at herself. Quite a few ink stains marked her dress. As expected, her husband was also a refined and particular man. She liked that.
She slid back down from the edge of the bed. “Husband, wait for me. I’ll be very quick.”
Xie Shao smiled. Today, he seemed exceptionally composed. “There’s no hurry. Take your time.”
Her husband could remain calm, but she could not. She hurried to the washroom, took the painting from her sleeve, and placed it somewhere dry. Then she undressed and slipped into the bathing tub, her mind filled with vivid and suggestive scenes.
As the steam rose from the tub, her face grew even redder. She had felt nothing while painting, but now the delayed embarrassment struck with overwhelming force. She slapped her cheeks twice.
All to compete with Ming Wanrou, she had practically forgotten that she was an unmarried maiden at heart.
It was already late. Worried that her husband might fall asleep before seeing her surprise, making all her hurried work today go to waste, she finished bathing, roughly wrung out her hair, and left it half-damp atop her head. Pulling on her inner robe, she hurried outside.
Fortunately, her husband was still awake.
She climbed onto the bed from the foot, moved beside him, and first began keeping him in suspense. “Husband has waited a long time.”
“It’s no trouble.” Xie Shao had already noticed what she was hiding behind her back, but knowingly asked, “Wife has been busy for two days. What exactly did you paint?”
“You.”
As expected…
The young lady added, “And me.”
Xie Shao froze. Did it include both of them? No wonder it had taken two days. His little wife was skilled at painting and had clearly put great care into it. His anticipation grew even stronger. He wondered what he looked like beneath her brush.
“Let me see.”
At last, the young lady brought her hand out from behind her and passed him the booklet that had taken her two days to complete. She was so embarrassed that she could not lift her head. “Would Husband like to look again?”
Green scenery and ornamental rocks filled the cover, with two small figures kneeling beneath them.
The cover was far too familiar. Was this not the bridal instruction booklet he had hidden beneath his pillow?
His eyes twitched twice. He reached beneath the pillow again, but there was nothing there.
He no longer had the attention to wonder when his little wife had quietly stolen it. Unable to understand what she intended, Xie Shao, rarely in his life, felt uneasy. Sensing that nothing good could come of this, he accepted the booklet and opened it. The faces and figures of the man and woman inside had been completely transformed.
Every one of them had been altered.
Changed into…
He and his little wife.
Her husband’s eyes looked ready to spit fire. The young lady glanced at him and said softly, “You made me look at another man first. I wasn’t used to it. It’s the same for you. Whenever I think of you looking at another young lady, I feel uncomfortable, whether those figures are real or not… So, I replaced their faces with ours. As for the bodies, I changed whatever I could. The parts I left unchanged… I don’t know what you look like there.”
What could possibly remain, other than those parts…
He could not look any more closely.
His little wife’s skill ran far too deep. Whether it was the restless fire in his heart or his body’s reaction, either one was enough to drown him completely. He raised his head and looked at the audacious young lady before him, his voice forced hoarse. “Wen Shuse, do you think that because my arm is injured and I can’t do anything to you, you can challenge me again and again like this?”
Wen Shuse did not understand how he could think that. She hurriedly shook her head. “No. I think Husband is very capable.”
“Do you know what happens when a young lady discusses a bridal instruction booklet with her own husband and even alters it to resemble the two of them?”
Wen Shuse continued shaking her head. What could possibly happen? “Could Husband actually eat me?”
Was she not doing this for their sake?
There were only two days left. Learning in advance was surely better than hurriedly trying to understand everything at the last moment. Now that she had changed the faces, neither of them would feel awkward looking at it.
The moment her words fell, her husband suddenly caught her by the shoulders and pressed her down against the pillow beside him. He leaned over her, bracing himself with one arm, and looked down at her from above. His eyes were like flames, as though they might melt her, yet also like cold ice, making her heart tremble.
Looking like this, he truly could eat her.
Wen Shuse gently pushed at him. “Husband, you don’t like it? I spent two days…”
Before she could finish, she felt her husband’s face moving closer little by little, until the tips of their noses touched and their breaths mingled. The young lady’s heartbeat suddenly quickened. Like prey sensing danger, she felt a little panicked, but soon steadied herself, certain that her husband could not truly do anything to her right now.
Her two rows of lashes fluttered upward. She was certainly shy, her eyes misty and timid as she looked at him. “There are still two days. Husband can look through it first…”
She had altered every face in an entire booklet. Naturally, she had already seen most of everything else as well.
“Very well.” Xie Shao still did not move. “Then, Wife can open it and show me.”
How was she supposed to open it and show him like this? He was far too close, making it difficult for her to breathe. Without betraying anything, she shifted backward a little. “That isn’t how you’re supposed to look at it. I’ll go to sleep first, and you can look through it slowly.”
After speaking, she made as if to turn over, but Xie Shao hooked one leg across her and pulled her back.
Wen Shuse froze, staring blankly at the leg her husband had draped over her.
What… what was he trying to do?
Xie Shao’s expression, however, remained calm. He smiled gently. “You put so much effort into this. If I look at it alone and fail to understand something, wouldn’t all your hard work be wasted? Please, keep me company.”
He looked as though he would not let the matter rest unless she viewed it together with him. For a moment, Wen Shuse had no move left.
In truth, because she had rushed to finish it, she had not examined it carefully after completing the drawings.
Fine. They would look.
She reached over and picked up the booklet. The lamp by the bed seemed brighter tonight, as if it had been replaced.
She casually opened it. The moment her gaze fell onto the pictures, her husband’s eyes fixed on her face instead. After several breaths, the young lady’s face had grown so hot that even she could feel it. She turned her head aside and abruptly shoved the booklet in front of him. “Husband can look at it yourself.”
She did not even know whether he could see it clearly. Holding the booklet open with both hands, she faced the drawings toward him.
It was completely silent beside her. Her husband did not speak for a long while.
Her arms were starting to tire. Wen Shuse turned her head and saw her husband staring intently at the pages, his face growing redder by the wave.
Other couples had elders who specially instructed them before marriage. The two of them were truly pitiful, left to fumble and explore everything on their own.
“Hus… Husband, have you finished looking?”
Xie Shao did not answer. Instead, he suddenly asked, “Did Wife only change the faces?”
She did not regularly look at herself in a mirror, so she did not know exactly what she looked like. But aside from the face, she had also adjusted the waist.
The woman in the original drawing had been far too thick around the middle. She wasn’t so unsightly as that…
Her face went burning red. She simply stopped explaining and nodded perfunctorily. “Mm.”
“I’m finished.”
At last, it was over. Wen Shuse drew back her aching arms with a sense of release and was just about to lie back into the covers and sleep.
But a hand pressed down on her shoulder.
“Does my wife not want to try?”
Wen Shuse’s body went rigid. She stared blankly at her husband.
Try? How were they supposed to try…
Her husband raised his brows and said slowly, “It is all only theory on paper. Who knows whether it is truly correct?”
What sort of reasoning was that? The drawings had been perfectly clear. How could they still be wrong?
“Don’t be nervous, Wife. Tonight, we are only discussing it. I am injured. What could I possibly do to you…”
He made himself sound so pitiful. He was probably feeling rather miserable inside as well.
And what he said did make some sense. They had already looked through the booklet, trying once more would hardly make much difference. With the people themselves right here, they would know at once whether it was right or wrong.
Wen Shuse gave a small nod.
But what followed was far from easy. His fingers slowly undid the cross-collar of her robe, step by step, following the booklet.
The lamp beside the bed was far too bright, leaving nowhere for her embarrassment to hide. She wanted him to put it out, but her husband objected, “If the lamp is extinguished, we won’t be able to see.”
Bathed in the bright light, the young lady had nowhere to retreat. Her heart beat faster and faster. Her husband seemed to sense it and lightly kissed her lips.
“My wife can rest assured. This husband is following the booklet. Not a single step is wrong.”
Was that so?
Could he hurry up?
When she said nothing, her husband continued according to the booklet, meticulous and exact, putting everything in its proper place without the slightest deviation.
The instant the snowy silk loosened, the young lady’s breath caught. She closed her eyes. “Husband… hurry.”
“All right.” He parted her a little. The glow of the bedside lamp spilled across the bed, falling perfectly over the figure beneath him.
Her husband’s eyes were dark as a deep sea beneath the night sky. Leaning close to her ear, he asked in a low voice, “Who gave you such boldness?”
Then he lowered himself.
It was like the curved blade at his waist being sent home into its sheath. The newly forged sheath had not yet fitted itself to the blade, the dark, narrow passage, winding and full of resistance. Yet it could not withstand the keenness and force of the blade. After a few trembling thrusts, the hilt seated itself smoothly at the mouth of the sheath.
Her scalp went numb.
His little wife, beneath him, abruptly opened her eyes wide and seized tightly onto whatever she could grasp before her. A breath lodged in her throat, leaving her completely unable to make a sound.