Chapter 18.1 (1/2)

Chapter Eighteen (Part 1)

Pei Jin understood the saying a day equals a year.

During the nights Pei Jin fisted his hands and during the early mornings his intuition warned him Bei Dou was omitting something from him.

‘Bei Dou is it today?’ Pei Jin asked.

Bei Dou silently cursed Pei Jin. Pei Jin woke him up too early in the mornings.

Pei Jin smiled, he never seen Bei Dou silently holding back words to that extent.

Bei Dou passed Pei Jin a small bottle.

‘What is this?’ Pei Jin asked.

‘Prevents pregnancy,’ Bei Dou said.

Suddenly the small bottle felt heavy in Pei Jin’s hand and his face darkened.

‘If you don’t care about the throne then you’re not impatient to have children,’ Bei Dou said.

They both knew Yan Shi Ning’s life would be endanger if she was pregnant with Pei Jin’s child. Pei Jin put the small bottle in a pouch.

‘I forgot to tell you the remedy will be harmful to the body if used over a long period,’ Bei Dou said.

‘You’ve been playing me!’ Pei Jin said.

Pei Jin realised it was safe for him to eat Yan Shi Ning long ago, but Bei Dou poured cold water on him by purposely making him wait a long time.

Bei Dou didn’t care about Pei Jin’s resentful eyes of daggers.

Pei Jin left the Bei Dou’s chamber in an angry state. When he returned to his and Yan Shi Ning’s chamber, he saw Yan Shi Ning rubbing her neck and his anger disappeared.

Pei Jin remembered he was too excited in the middle of night and suckled Yan Shi Ning’s neck.

‘Big brother, you dare smile!’ Yan Shi Ning said. ‘Tonight is the harvest festival banquet. What am I going to wear to hide this?’

Yan Shi Ning picked up a spoonful of chicken congee and ate it but she was too angry to taste anything.

‘Wear a dress with a high collar,’ Pei Jin said.

Pei Jin sat next to Yan Shi Ning at the table and he ate half of her bowl of chicken congee.

‘Big brother, that’s my bowl of chicken congee,’ Yan Shi Ning said.

Pei Jin licked his lips and smiled like a demon. ‘What can saliva do?’

Yan Shi Ning thought about Pei Jin kissing her each night and she blushed. What saliva? What prince? If Pei Jin was a prince, how could he shamelessly eat her half eaten bowl of congee?

‘Ninth prince, mistress, Lady Su’s messenger delivered a chest,’ a maid said from outside the chamber.

Pei Jin accepted the chest from the maid and showed it to Yan Shi Ning. Lady Su was the best dressmaker in the imperial city. He asked Lady Su to make a heavenly dress for Yan Shi Ning. He opened the chest and the dress inside satisfied his request.

‘Wife, come here and see if this dress fits,’ Pei Jin said.

‘Is this dress for me?’ Yan Shi Ning asked.

Pei Jin laughed. ‘Do you think it’s for me?’