Chapter 161:
The two lingered in tender intimacy for a while longer before Pei Yuqing got up first.
He had no habit of letting maidservants attend to him, and Xie Wanning had not the slightest awareness as a wife to help her husband dress, so she just lounged on the couch, watching him get out of bed and put on his clothes himself.
To be fair, his physique did not look at all like that of someone who had been frail since childhood; his waist and abdomen were lean and firm, with very attractive muscle lines.
Her unabashed scrutiny made Pei Yuqing pause in his dressing, and he looked down at his own body before asking her, “Good-looking?”
Xie Wanning was stunned; how was she supposed to answer that.
“Want to leave a mark?” he coaxed. “Then I’d be your possession alone, alright?”
Compared to her, his bare upper body had not even the faintest ambiguous kiss marks, let alone scratches from nails…
“Are you being childish?” Xie Wanning frowned. “Even if I don’t leave a mark, does that mean you’re not mine alone?”
With a question like that, how could Pei Yuqing dare deny it? He stopped dawdling, quickly dressed himself properly, then tried to attend to her, but after being refused, he reluctantly called in the maidservants.
By the time the two had finished washing up, it was already mealtime, but fortunately the elders were tolerant and did not require morning and evening greetings; there was no taking the wife to task over trifles.
Princess Duanyang had always believed her son had a hidden illness, so her attitude toward Xie Wanning, this daughter-in-law, had always been gentle and mild; whenever there was something good, she would send a share to Xuan Hua Courtyard.
After more than half a year of marriage into Duke Pei’s Mansion, with a gentle husband, a considerate mother-in-law, and a lively and adorable husband’s younger sister who was also affectionate toward her, Xie Wanning truly had not suffered a single grievance or cold glance, nor any pressure over offspring; her days were in no way inferior to those in her boudoir.
Compared to the hardships she had endured at Wuyuan Marquis’s Estate in her past life, aside from not yet having children, this marriage of hers was already perfectly blissful.
Thinking of offspring, Xie Wanning placed her hand on her lower abdomen.
In her past life, after marrying Lu Ziyan, though their affection was not particularly intimate, as long as he was in the capital city, their conjugal affairs as a couple were never few.
The stern youth of eighteen or nineteen, once on the couch, had stamina and energy so overwhelming it made one want to cry, yet after nearly two years of marriage, she had never conceived.
Born into a duke or marquis household and raised with utmost care since childhood, proficient in horse riding and archery, her body was in excellent condition, but… she had simply never been pregnant.
Not even once.
“What are you thinking about?” Scooping a bowl of nourishing chicken soup, Pei Yuqing looked at her hand and frowned. “Stomach hurting?”
“…No,” Xie Wanning took the soup bowl, thought for a moment, then still asked, “You often take my pulse; is my body alright? Do I have any hidden illness unknown to others?”
The sudden question made Pei Yuqing’s expression tense. “Where exactly do you feel uncomfortable?”
“Nowhere uncomfortable, it’s just…” Xie Wanning hesitated. “It’s been so long; how come I still haven’t gotten pregnant?”
Pei Yuqing: “…”
His gaze was complicated. “Is Wanwan hinting that your husband has been too courteous these past few months?”
She had forbidden him from entering her room, and he truly had not crossed that line until last night when he finally could not hold back completely…
“What nonsense are you saying! I’m just worried whether I might not be able to get pregnant.” As she spoke, Xie Wanning also recalled that they had only been intimate for two nights in total… Not being pregnant was the norm.
…Her words did indeed carry some suggestive meaning.
Her face reddened, and she stammered, “I didn’t mean that.”
To explain, the reason for fewer recent updates is that it’s summer vacation; the author is taking the holiday to travel in Tibet, visiting the places Su Su and Xi Shen passed through, and will make up the updates for everyone after returning.
