Wedding night (part two)

The night breeze was slightly chilly as it drifted through the half-open red window, gently stirring the nearly spent red candles.

Inside the bridal chamber, bright red decorations brimmed with the joy of a momentous celebration.

A graceful figure sat on the crimson silk bedding, her head covered by a red bridal veil.

After waiting so long without Chen Yang appearing, Yun Yun had begun to feel drowsy.

But remembering that tonight was her wedding night with Chen Yang, she forced herself to stay awake.

A few more hours, and dawn would be breaking.

Yanran had returned and reported that her teacher, Jia Xingtian, and those other old fellows had been plying Chen Yang with drinks all afternoon. Surely he was now too drunk to know anything.

Perhaps she would not have to lose her virginity tonight.

At that thought, a little thrill of delight stirred in Yun Yun's heart.

She casually picked up the four kinds of dried treats beside her—red dates, peanuts, dried longan, and lotus seeds—and ate them one by one.

She would wait another half an incense stick's worth of time. If he still did not return, she would stop waiting.

She would simply lie down and sleep.

Yun Yun made up her mind.

Suddenly, she heard movement outside and sensed someone approaching.

Her delicate brows immediately furrowed.

She drew her hands into her sleeves and clenched them tightly, her heartbeat suddenly quickening.

He was here!

After spending three days with Chen Yang, Yun Yun had already memorized his aura.

Thus, the moment Chen Yang appeared outside the bridal chamber, Yun Yun knew it was him.

Chen Yang pushed open the tightly shut door. Silver moonlight fell across his back, as though coating him in silver paint.

As the door swung open, clear, pale moonlight poured into the dim bridal chamber through the doorway, making it noticeably brighter.

Chen Yang swept his gaze around the chamber. Seeing that Yun Yun had eaten more than half the red dates, peanuts, dried longan, and lotus seeds on the table, his lips curved into a smile.

His gaze then settled on Yun Yun, who sat rigidly upright on the bed.

His eyes passed over her folded hands. Seeing how tightly she was secretly clenching them, his gaze sharpened slightly, and he stepped toward her.

Sensing Chen Yang drawing closer, Yun Yun twitched her nose slightly.

When she failed to smell the alcohol she had expected, her delicate brows furrowed again, and confusion filled her eyes.

Hmm! Why was this different from what she had imagined?!

Why wasn't he reeking of alcohol?

This shouldn't be right!

Yun Yun puzzled over it but could not make sense of it.

Logically, after an entire afternoon of entertaining guests and having her teacher and Jia Xingtian team up to pour so much liquor down his throat, Chen Yang should not have been completely free of its smell.

Where had things gone wrong?

Alcohol evaporated readily. Normally, even a single small drink would leave some trace of its smell.

Yun Yun's curiosity had been stirred.

Had circumstances allowed, she would have lifted her veil herself and leaned closer for a careful sniff.

Chen Yang sat beside Yun Yun, picked up the jade ruyi scepter nearby, and carefully lifted her veil.

Once the groom lifted the bride's veil, the two would be husband and wife from that moment onward.

Chen Yang drew a deep breath, suppressed his wildly pounding heart, and lifted the veil that had sealed away his bride's beauty.

From raising its edge to lifting it away entirely, he did it in one smooth motion, without the slightest hesitation.

As the veil came away, the peerless face hidden beneath it appeared before Chen Yang once more.

Her skin was fair and delicate, like congealed cream, and her clear, limpid eyes sparkled with life, as though they were the finest sight in the mortal world.

Looking at that breathtaking face, Chen Yang abruptly held his breath, and his heart skipped a beat.

"So beautiful!"

The words slipped out before he even realized it.

Hearing them, Yun Yun did not blush with bashful delight. Instead, disgust appeared on her face.

She clenched her pearly teeth slightly, her words icy.

"What does my beauty have to do with you?!"

Chen Yang placed the veil and jade ruyi scepter on a tray beside them, then rested both hands on Yun Yun's shoulders and stared straight into her eyes.

"Of course it has something to do with me. You're my wife!"

Yun Yun: "...!"

Then she gritted her teeth. "You threatened me into marrying you."

Chen Yang spread his hands and pursed his lips. "So what? We announced it to the world and performed the wedding rites. Everyone in the Jia Ma Empire knows we're husband and wife."

"You're my wife, Chen Yang's wife. You're Mrs. Chen!"

Faced with Chen Yang's unreasonable behavior, Yun Yun trembled with agitation, her teeth itching to sink into him. She wanted to bite him hard and show him why blood was red.

Yun Yun was still fuming at Chen Yang when, a moment later, she screamed in shock.

"You... what are you doing, putting your hands all over me?!"

"Why are you taking off my clothes?!"

While Yun Yun was shrieking, Chen Yang had already completely removed the bright red qipao she wore.

With a casual movement, he also removed the phoenix crown and phoenix hairpin from her head, placing them all on the tray beside them.

In the blink of an eye, before Yun Yun could react, he had stripped her down to her dudou.

Large stretches of creamy white skin were exposed, appearing before Chen Yang like flawless jade.

Chen Yang's breathing grew rapid and his heartbeat quickened. A surge of heat rushed through him, and a wildfire began gathering in his lower body.

Feeling Chen Yang's burning gaze, Yun Yun instinctively looked up.

When she saw the intense lust in his eyes, Yun Yun was so frightened that she covered her chest with both hands, hurriedly moved away from him, and shrank into a corner of the bed.

Although he had expected it, Chen Yang's eyes still dimmed at Yun Yun's reaction.

A forced marriage was still a forced marriage. Sure enough, her heart was unwilling.

But if she thought he would let her go because of this, that was impossible.

As the old saying went, a forcibly plucked melon might not be sweet, but it was enough if it could quench thirst.

Someone lost in the desert would drink even the bitter juice of a cactus, let alone eat an unsweet watermelon.

"Don't come any closer. Get out!" Yun Yun guarded herself tightly, not giving Chen Yang the slightest opening to continue.

Chen Yang stopped moving too, watching with interest as she ducked her head like an ostrich.

For some reason, he just... just found her terribly adorable, making him unable to resist the urge to bully her.

Chen Yang simply began undoing his own clothes, casually tossing his outer robe aside and landing it precisely on the rack.

Seeing Chen Yang undressing right in front of her, Yun Yun, already panicked, became even more frantic.

"You... why are you taking off your clothes?!"

"I... I will never consummate this marriage with you. Give up on that idea!"

Naturally, Chen Yang simply ignored Yun Yun's utterly toothless threat.

With a thoroughly wicked sense of amusement, he said, "To! Fuck! You! Of! Course!"

"My dear wife."

"Tonight is our wedding night. I'm legally entitled to round the bases, and you can't get away."

"Besides, I have one little quirk: the more you resist, the more excited I might get."

"And once I get excited, tonight might turn into a sleepless night."

After speaking, Chen Yang wiped the tears from the corners of Yun Yun's eyes with his thumb.

Then his sturdy body pressed down over her.

The atmosphere gradually grew intimate throughout the room, and soon, pleasing, catlike cries drifted from within.