SGEIRS -Chapter 517 Once More

Tonight, Gu Jingxi bathed earlier than usual. Meng Jinyao, realizing what he intended, suddenly felt nervous. While he was still finishing his bath, a bright thought struck her: thinking of her son, she turned to Qingqiu and said, “Qingqiu, I want to sleep with Wanwan tonight. Go to the wet nurse and bring him over.”

Before her words had even fallen, a familiar voice rang out from behind her: “I don’t want to sleep with Gu Xiuheng.”

Meng Jinyao quickly turned her head. In the dim yellow light, the man walked toward her with a measured pace, his gaze deep and meaningful as he looked at her. “A-Yao, your husband is at home. Why are you looking for someone else’s husband to sleep with you?”

Meng Jinyao was momentarily speechless. Hearing him say that in such an evocative way, someone unaware might really think she was seeking another man. She said, “Wanwan isn’t ‘someone else.’ He’s still so little. What’s wrong with him sleeping with us?”

Gu Jingxi replied, “I don’t agree.”

Meng Jinyao said, “Then I’ll sleep with him myself.”

“I refuse him on your behalf,” Gu Jingxi said. Then, seeing Qingqiu caught awkwardly in the middle, he added, “It’s late. You should go rest. You’re not needed here anymore.”

Qingqiu quickly responded, “Then I will take my leave. If the marquis and madam need anything, call for me.”

Meng Jinyao watched as Qingqiu left without looking back. She opened her mouth to speak but swallowed her words, turning her attention instead to Gu Jingxi, who had now reached her side. Her fingers nervously twisted the corner of her nightgown.

Gu Jingxi noticed the small gesture, feeling both tender and helpless. Why didn’t A-Yao trust that he wouldn’t mind? He wondered how frightening her sister-in-law must have been to leave her so anxious.

“A-Yao,” Gu Jingxi said, “let’s sleep.”

Meng Jinyao nodded and followed him toward the bed. Once lying down, she saw he made no further moves, and an instant of complicated feelings swept over her—should she feel relieved or disappointed?

But in the next moment, Gu Jingxi pulled her into his arms and, under her startled gaze, bent down to press a kiss on her soft lips.

His kiss was fierce.

Meng Jinyao, passively receiving, slowly closed her eyes and responded.

Time passed unknowingly. Their nightclothes were discarded on the floor, tangled together in disarray, intimate and chaotic.

Meng Jinyao, exhausted, felt she could hardly resist. Her hands pressed against his chest, and with a voice tinged with a whimper, she pleaded, “Husband, shall we continue tomorrow? I want to sleep.”

“Today’s matters, today they end.”

Gu Jingxi, unusually resolute, coldly rejected her request, capturing her lips again to silence her next words.

When the room finally fell silent, Meng Jinyao was too tired to even move her fingers. Seeing Gu Jingxi reach out to hold her, she instinctively shifted back, looking pitifully at him. “Husband, I don’t want it anymore.”

Gu Jingxi saw her hair messy, cheeks flushed, eyes misted with tears, lips slightly swollen, the perfect picture of someone who’d been spoiled—irresistibly tempting. He wanted to tease her a bit more.

He quickly averted his gaze, then without question, pulled her into his arms, kissed her cheek, and said with a smile, “Why hide? Your husband isn’t a beast. I said that was the last time, and it was the last time.”

Meng Jinyao gave him a glare, seeing him looking satisfied while she was completely exhausted. Annoyed, she pinched his waist: “Weren’t you just like a beast?”

Gu Jingxi looked hurt. “So, A-Yao dislikes me?”

Meng Jinyao turned away. “I never said that. That’s what you said yourself.”

He held her for a while, coaxing her, then instructed the maid to prepare water, carried her to the cleansing room, and had the maid tidy up.

After some time, they returned to the room. Meng Jinyao was drowsy, eyelids fluttering. As Gu Jingxi positioned her, she suddenly felt a cool sensation, instantly wide awake, and realized he seemed to be applying medicine.

Her heart leapt. Thinking of the medicine Zhang had given her and its purpose, she immediately burst into tears, choking out, “You said you wouldn’t dislike me, but in the end, you do. If you dislike me so, then take a concubine. Why humiliate me like this?”

Gu Jingxi was momentarily stunned, then quickly understood. He held her close and coaxed, “A-Yao, don’t cry. It’s not what you think.”

Tears streamed down Meng Jinyao’s face. “It’s not what I think? Then what is it?”

“This is anti-swelling medicine. I got it from Imperial Physician Wen today,” Gu Jingxi said, showing her the medicine. “Look closely—it’s not that kind of medicine.”

Meng Jinyao saw that indeed it wasn’t Madam Zhang’s medicine and gradually stopped crying. She asked, “Then what did you do with that medicine?”

Gu Jingxi explained, “That medicine was made by that old Imperial Physician. We didn’t need it, so we returned it to him. I got this anti-swelling medicine from him instead. When I asked, I only said it was given by a colleague and used for maintaining the complexion, and asked if it worked well.”

Meng Jinyao was a bit confused. “I… don’t quite understand.”

Gu Jingxi patiently explained and added, “Don’t overthink in the future. I don’t know what my sister-in-law said, but the issues she mentioned won’t happen with us. Childbearing naturally strains a woman’s body. If a man dislikes his wife for that, he’s not a good man.”

Meng Jinyao asked softly, “Then… have you ever thought…”

Gu Jingxi, anticipating her question, cut her off before she could finish: “No. You’re the same as always. Everyone is different, it’s not the same for everyone.” He reached out to wipe her tears. “Right now, the one being disliked is me—you think I make too much fuss.”

Meng Jinyao stared at him for a while, feeling he wasn’t lying. Suddenly, she pounced on him, pinned him beneath her, and before he could react, said, “Husband, once more—but this time, you must not move.”

Gu Jingxi looked at her in surprise, as if to say: Is this for real?

By the late night, the room had returned to calm.

Meng Jinyao, exhausted and sleepy, didn’t even know when she had fallen asleep.

Gu Jingxi looked at the little “princess” finally settled in his arms, exhaled quietly, and thought that perhaps it wasn’t good for sisters-in-law to be too close. Talking too much, saying everything, and with his sister-in-law’s loose tongue, it was inevitable that A-Yao would be influenced and grow anxious.

Previously, A-Yao rarely overthought things, but after carrying Wanwan, her emotions had become more sensitive, easily influenced by external factors, and prone to anxiety.

He had assumed that after the child was born, this would disappear, but it persisted. The source of anxiety had shifted from childbirth to other matters. Perhaps because he was usually busy with official duties and spent less time with A-Yao, his care and companionship insufficient, which made her more susceptible to outside influence and overthinking.