Chapter Fifty-Five

Yangzhou.

After seeing off Gu Datong, Qi Wei, and Yin Yuanyuan, Mu Mingxuan returned to the rice dumpling shop to move her bedding to the Qi Family Salt Shop.

Mu Mingxuan’s maiden family ran a rice firm. Before her marriage, she had always helped out at the firm and understood various sales techniques. Now, applying those rice-selling techniques to selling salt seemed to be remarkably effective.

After moving into the Qi Family Salt Shop, Mu Mingxuan worked tirelessly from dawn till dusk. Just as she pursued perfection in her poetry, she pursued perfection in managing the salt shop. She kept the accounts personally, and the ledgers were meticulously clear. However, being advanced in years, she often felt that her physical strength fell short of her ambitions. She fell ill frequently. Every time she fell ill, Hui'er would invariably drop her duties at the salt-panning field and rush to the Qi Family Salt Shop to take care of her.

Hui'er was now snatching moments of leisure amidst her busy schedule. Living at her home by the salt-panning field, although she had to rise early every day—both to assign tasks to more than a hundred salt workers and to inspect the salt pans; since the vast salt-panning field contained several hundred pans, a single inspection took at least a couple of hours—Hui'er relished every moment of it.

Hui'er managed the salt-panning field with methods superior to those of her husband, Gu Datong. Escorting and transporting salt was no longer something Hui'er had to worry about. Whenever the salt-panning field had a harvest, Magistrate Yang of the Yangzhou Prefecture would dispatch men and carts to transport the salt back to Yangcheng, protected along the way by government guards. Once the salt was brought back to Yangcheng, whatever remained unloads at the Qi Family Salt Shop was bought back at fair prices by the Yangzhou Prefecture's Purchasing Bureau. In the past, when Gu Datong managed the salt field, he always seemed flustered and overwhelmed every day. The exact same work, now taken over by Hui'er, was handled with ease and composure, busy though it was. Recently, when the imperial court launched a fundraising campaign, Hui'er participated enthusiastically.

Though Hui'er spent most of her time busy at the salt field, she could never completely set aside her worry for her mother at the Qi Family Salt Shop. Therefore, every ten days or half a month, she would make a trip to the salt shop to help her mother with the accounts and chat for a while, only feeling at ease upon returning.

Hui'er now lived alone at home. Because she needed to wake up early, she always closed her doors and went to bed as soon as darkness fell. Awakening from her sleep precisely at the crowing of the rooster marked the moment when the salt workers rose to begin their toil.

That night, just as Hui'er lay down in bed, she heard the howling of a cat. She had frequently heard such sounds during the nights of late.

"The neighbor's cat is in heat again!" Hui'er closed the windows, drew the curtains, and extinguished the lamp.

The cat's howling drew closer and closer from afar, eventually arriving right outside Hui'er's window.

"Who's there?" Hui'er sat up in bed, reaching beneath her pillow to grope for a dagger—a weapon Gu Datong had given her for self-defense when he left the salt field. Hui'er always placed it under her pillow before going to sleep every night.

The cat's howling stopped. Hui'er heard a figure moving in the darkness. The silhouette was robust, clearly that of a man.

"Who is it? If you don't speak, I'll call for help!" Hui'er shouted sternly toward the window.

The figure began to move again.

"Meow-00—" Another trembling, prolonged, mournful feline wail drifted from outside the window, moving from near to far until it gradually faded away.

Hui'er got out of bed, gently pushed the window open, and peered in the direction of the howling. She noticed that the man's retreating figure bore a striking resemblance to that of Master Guo, a major local landowner.

The next day, Hui'er recounted the incident of the "cat howling" in the night to everyone at the salt-panning field, taking care to specifically warn the young maidens and young wives to be extremely careful.

Before long, a security patrol team composed of a dozen robust young men was established at the salt field. They were specifically assigned to protect the residential areas of the salt-panning field.

The Yangzhou Prefecture also posted public notices offering a bounty for the capture of the person imitating the "cat's howl."

---

The Northwestern Frontier — Pan Cheng.

Every night, all around Pan Cheng, the Tatars ignited piles of bonfires. Their soldiers sang and danced around the blazing fires.

On the watchtowers of the Yuha Pass, Gu Yusheng, Xiao Guimu, Li Muwen, Ziyou Meigui, and others seemed to be watching the Tatars' "bonfire party."

Ziyou Meigui said angrily to Gu Yusheng, "Marshal Gu, tell me, are these Tatars completely crazy, singing and dancing last night and doing the same thing again tonight?"

Gu Yusheng furrowed his brows deeply and said, "This isn't madness! This is Mangshannai's psychological strategy. His purpose in doing this is to show me that their soldiers have meat and wine every day and are overflowing with vitality!"

Ziyou Meigui said with sudden realization, "This Mangshannai is truly insidious! When I inspected the ranks this afternoon, I found many of our soldiers listless and dejected. Marshal, what do you suggest we do?"

Gu Yusheng’s eyes darted back and forth between Xiao Guimu and Li Muwen. He smiled mischievously at Ziyou Meigui and said, "What do we do? Let's learn from the Tatars and have some fun ourselves!"

Early the next morning, on the southern gate watchtower.

Gu Yusheng said to Xiao Guimu, "Sister Guimu, you and Brother Muwen are no longer young! You've been engaged for so long; it's about time you got married!"

Xiao Guimu said with biting sarcasm, "Oh, and who do you think you are? Whether this general and Deputy Commander Li Muwen get married or not is none of your damn business!"

Gu Yusheng said with absolute confidence, "How is it not my business? First of all, I have obtained my mother's consent; secondly, I am Brother Muwen's second elder brother, and an elder brother naturally has to worry about his younger brother's marriage."

Looking thoroughly infuriated, Xiao Guimu muttered with a pout, "Stop talking nonsense. Even if you talk until the sky falls, this vanguard officer is not getting married today."

Gu Yusheng seemed to grow even more spirited, raising his voice considerably: "You still know you're a vanguard officer? Please open your eyes and look at the current condition of the entire Northwestern Army! Let me tell you: morale is rock-bottom, and there isn't a shred of fighting spirit left! If the Tatars suddenly attack the city right now, what do you, vanguard officer, propose to do?"

Xiao Guimu lowered her head and muttered, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it—soldiers block, water covers."

Inwardly, Gu Yusheng was secretly delighted. He said, "Oh? Let me ask you, can soldiers in this state possibly block them? Don't you know the Tatar forces are twice our size?"

Xiao Guimu still spoke in a weird, mocking tone: "So you, Marshal Gu, came up with a method to make a clown out of me, Xiao Guimu, having me put on a show for the soldiers to boost everyone's spirits, is that it?"

Gu Yusheng turned his face away, not daring to meet Xiao Guimu's gaze, and said in a low voice, "I had no intention of making you a clown. Since you don't agree, we'll just have to drop the matter."

Xiao Guimu, however, seemed to warm up to the idea and said, "Don't! Since you, Marshal Gu, have already brought it up, this subordinate cannot refuse to comply!"

Gu Yusheng asked in pleasant surprise, "Does that mean you agree?"

Blushing fiercely, Xiao Guimu said, "I will agree only if you, Marshal Gu, can promise this vanguard officer one condition."

Gu Yusheng asked happily, "What condition? Let's hear it."

Xiao Guimu said, "I want to be carried out in a bridal sedan chair borne by men, and I want you, Marshal Gu, to personally help carry the sedan chair."

Gu Yusheng said awkwardly, "That's two conditions..."

Xiao Guimu said with finality, "One word: agree to it and it's settled, refuse and the deal is off."

Gu Yusheng bit his lip and nodded, "This marshal agrees."

Shortly after, Prime Minister Lü made an announcement: "Today, Vanguard Officer Xiao is getting married. Everyone gets one piece of horse meat, and those carrying the sedan chair get two."

At morning's dawn, the sounds of firecrackers, gongs, drums, suonas, and cheering echoed across the skies of Pan Cheng. A festive sedan chair made of red silk swayed like a blooming flower amidst the fluttering snowflakes.

The "sedan-bearers" were seven robust soldiers from the Vanguard Battalion along with Marshal Gu Yusheng.

A soldier asked Gu Yusheng, "Marshal Gu, why are you also helping to carry the bridal sedan chair?"

Gu Yusheng replied, "Brother, the military supervisor just announced that those who carry the sedan chair get two pieces of horse meat each. Do you think this marshal could possibly miss out on such a good bargain?"

The soldier smiled and said, "I thought my willingness to carry the chair just for an extra piece of horse meat was a vulgar act, but it seems everyone is the same—we're all practical people!"

Gu Yusheng patted his sunken belly and laughed, "You're right, brother; one cannot survive without being practical! Listen, my stomach is staging a rebellion right now."

The soldier asked again, "Marshal Gu, when will the imperial court's provisions arrive?"

Even Gu Yusheng couldn't be certain. But to reassure the soldier, he said, "Soon, probably within these next few days."

The soldier said, "If the court's provisions don't arrive soon, the horses in our Vanguard Battalion are going to be eaten down to the last one!"

Gu Yusheng offered reassuringly, "Horses can be bought again once they're gone; as long as the soldiers stay alive, that's what matters."

The soldier said with deep emotion, "Marshal Gu is truly wonderful! Thank you, Marshal."

---

The wedding procession first went to the North Gate to receive the bride, then made its way amidst music and firecrackers to the West Gate, then to the East Gate, and finally returned to the groom's home at the South Gate. Li Muwen, riding a horse, stood before the bridal sedan chair.

The sound of gongs, drums, firecrackers, and bustling noise within Pan Cheng drifted across the city walls, accompanying the snowflakes into the sky above the Tatar camp, deafening Marshal Mangshannai.

Mangshannai cursed, "Damn it, what a racket! I'll starve you bastards for another ten days or half a month and see if you still have the energy to make a fuss!"

He turned and issued an order: "Vanguard Grass-on-the-Wind, listen up! I want you to reinforce the siege forces, making it three layers deep on the inside and five on the outside, and step up patrols. I am going to starve Gu Yusheng and his troops to death inside Pan Cheng."

---

Inside the bridal chamber, candlelight flickered. Xiao Guimu sat on the edge of the bed, dizzy with hunger. To cooperate with the "performance," she had sat in the sedan chair for most of the day, and between exhaustion and the biting cold, she longed to collapse onto the bed and sleep for a day and a night. Through her haze, she finally saw a familiar figure stagger into the bridal chamber and collapse onto the bed.

Xiao Guimu asked, "Is that you, White-Clothed Scholar? Why are you so drunk?"

Lying on the bed, Li Muwen said feebly, "It's this subordinate. Today is our day of great joy; I'd love to get drunk, but where on earth is there any wine?"

Xiao Guimu cursed weakly, "Why did you collapse on the bed the moment you walked in? The red veil hasn't even been lifted yet."

Too lazy to move, Li Muwen said, "Why don't you lift it yourself?"

Xiao Guimu scolded, "Nonsense! Where is the logic in a bride lifting her own red veil?"

Li Muwen explained in a low voice, "I haven't eaten for three days, and today I had to cooperate with the 'performance' by riding a horse for most of the day. I can't move!"

Xiao Guimu asked, "I haven't eaten for three days either. Where are the two pieces of horse meat issued to you today? Can you bring them over and share one with me?"

Li Muwen said, "I'm so sorry! I had Jianghong take those two pieces of meat to feed the wounded soldiers. Where did you put your two pieces? Can you take them out and share one with me?"

Xiao Guimu lifted the red veil herself and burst into laughter.

Li Muwen asked, "Why are you laughing? ... Oh, right! Those two pieces of meat were your own rations, I shouldn't have—"

Xiao Guimu hurriedly stopped him: "No, no, no! White-Clothed Scholar, you misunderstood me! I thought that since we were getting married today, you would also receive two pieces of horse meat and we could share them one each, so I had Ziyou Meigui give my share to the wounded soldiers too."

Lying on the bed, Li Muwen laughed until tears came to his eyes. "The two of us are truly a matched pair..."

Xiao Guimu also collapsed onto the bed, laughing heartily. "A matched pair! ... Say, White-Clothed Scholar... oh, I should call you husband! Husband, come here!"

Li Muwen asked, "What is it?"

Xiao Guimu said, "Of course there's something!"

Li Muwen asked, "What is it?"

Xiao Guimu said, "Tonight is our bridal night, and you haven't touched me yet."

Li Muwen said, "So it should be! But my stomach is empty and I really can't move. Why don't you come over to my side?"

Xiao Guimu said, "Fine! The wife follows the husband's lead! Hurry and stretch out your hand to pull me over." Before she could finish speaking, she fell fast asleep.

---

Meanwhile, blocked by the blizzard, the grain transport convoy of the imperial court led by deputy commanders Qi Wei and Yin Yuanyuan had no choice but to take shelter from the weather in a village three hundred li away from Yuha Pass.

Two days later, the blizzard finally stopped.

In the morning, Qi Wei lifted the coir raincoat covering the large cart, grabbed a handful of rice, and brought it close to his nose to sniff deeply.

He walked over to Yin Yuanyuan holding the handful of rice and said, "Madam, take a sniff. Despite the relentless blizzard all the way, we still managed to protect these provisions very well. They smell so fresh!"

Yin Yuanyuan lowered her head to sniff it and said with satisfaction, "Not bad! This is entirely thanks to Deputy Commander Qi Wei's meticulous care along the way."

Qi Wei wore a smug expression as he said, "Deputy Commander Yin Yuanyuan also shares equal credit."

Yin Yuanyuan said, "Because of the blizzard, we've lost quite a few days on the road. Now that the snow has stopped, shall we set off immediately?"

Qi Wei said, "My thoughts exactly."

He walked over to a large cart, leaped lightly onto the roof of the cart, and shouted loudly, "Fellow soldiers, the snow has stopped, time to move out!"

As his voice faded, a scout came running over at full speed, bowed, and reported, "Reporting to General Qi, two fast horses have been spotted on the main road ahead, heading straight toward us."

Qi Wei asked, "Who are they?"

The scout reported, "They are two women."

Qi Wei asked again, "Could they be female bandits?" Having operated the Qi Family Salt Shop in Yangcheng and frequently escorted salt transports, he knew road conditions intimately.

The scout reported, "That, this humble one could not tell." Because snowflakes clung to Qi Yaoyao and Gu Yuru, the scout could not tell whether they were wearing battle robes.

Standing atop the cart, Qi Wei shouted loudly, "Fellow soldiers, two unidentified individuals are approaching us on the main road ahead and will be here shortly. Please exercise utmost caution, protect the provisions, and obey all commands given by this deputy commander!" With that, he leaped down from the cart.

Qi Wei walked up to Yin Yuanyuan and said in a low voice, "Madam, watch over the grain carts here while I go ahead to take a look."

Yin Yuanyuan unbuckled the Lou Family Double Dragon Swords from her waist, held them in her hand, and said, "Go ahead, but be extremely careful."

Yin Yuanyuan was the deputy grain transport officer. She knew the vital importance of provisions. Therefore, she deeply understood why her husband—the grain transport officer—had been so anxious and meticulous throughout the journey.

She stood beside a large cart. This cart carried the military pay issued by the imperial court for the Northwestern Army soldiers. This cart was crucial and absolutely could not afford any mishaps.

Suddenly, Yin Yuanyuan grew worried about her husband Qi Wei: "He went ahead alone; if anything happens, there's no one to watch his back." Thus, she called over a retainer surnamed Zhou and ordered him to also head up the main road to keep watch, so that if trouble arose, he could lend her husband a hand.

Retainer Zhou rode off on a warhorse. Yet in less than a quarter of an hour, Retainer Zhou returned, followed closely by three horses.

From afar, Retainer Zhou shouted to Yin Yuanyuan, "General Yin, Marshal Gu has sent the Deputy Marshal, the General Pacifying the West, and the Right Cavalry General to meet us!"

Shortly after, Qi Yaoyao and Gu Yuru dismounted swiftly before Yin Yuanyuan.

Qi Yaoyao cried out, "Mother..."

Gu Yuru also called out, "Aunt-Master Yin..."

Yin Yuanyuan was already bathed in tears. She stepped forward, grasping Qi Yaoyao with one hand and Gu Yuru with the other, and said, "Yaoyao, Yuru, ever since you two sisters-in-law left the Qi Family Salt Shop for the capital all those years ago, we haven't seen each other in over ten years!"

Though it was a long-awaited reunion, Qi Yaoyao was by now faint with hunger. She asked straight to the point, "Mother, is there anything to eat? The two of us are about to starve to death!"

By then, Yin Yuanyuan had regained her composure, looked affectionately at her daughter, and said, "Your mother is the grain transport officer, of course there's food!" With that, she leaped onto the cart, fished two large rice balls out of a provision bag, and handed one to Gu Yuru and the other to Qi Yaoyao.

As she chewed on the rice ball, Qi Yaoyao mumbled indistinctly, "Mother, the frontier garrison has run out of food for many days now!"

Yin Yuanyuan kicked away a drift of snow on the ground with her foot and said, "It was all delayed by this damned blizzard! A highway stretching hundreds of li was blocked by thick snow, making carts and pedestrians alike unable to move an inch!"

Qi Yaoyao asked, "The snow ahead is getting thicker and thicker, what should we do?"

Yin Yuanyuan clenched her fists and said, "Your father and I have already discussed this. If the carts cannot pass ahead, we will abandon the carts, pack the grain onto pack animals, and carry it on our backs. No matter how great the difficulties, we must deliver these provisions into Pan Cheng before nightfall tomorrow!"

Qi Yaoyao said, "Mother, the Tatars have already surrounded Pan Cheng three layers deep inside and five outside. We won't be able to force our way through."

Yin Yuanyuan said, "If we don't force our way through, how else can we enter Pan Cheng?"

Qi Yaoyao said, "Mother, rest assured! We have a secret passage! Sister Yuru and I will lead the grain transport convoy quietly into Pan Cheng through the secret passage."

Yin Yuanyuan said, "In that case, let's hurry on our way!"

"Right!"

---

On the watchtower of Pan Cheng's South Gate.

Early in the morning, Xiao Guimu woke from a deep sleep. Aside from feeling an intense pang of hunger, her head felt dizzy. Summoning her remaining strength, she rolled over, preparing to get up. As she opened her heavy eyelids, she suddenly discovered her face was right against a man's mouth. Taken aback, she flipped herself up, sat on the bed, and patted the man's face lightly, saying, "Hey, wake up... why are you sleeping here?"

Awakened from his daze, Li Muwen felt as though he had lived through another lifetime. He asked in astonishment, "Where is this?"

"This is your bridal chamber!" Lou Mingxuan walked into the room carrying two bowls of millet congee. "You two have been asleep for two days and a night! Get up quickly and drink these bowls of millet congee."

Li Muwen asked, "Mother, where did this millet congee come from?"

Lou Mingxuan said, "The court's provisions arrived last night!"

Li Muwen said, "Uncle-Masters Qi Wei and Yin Yuanyuan have arrived in Pan Cheng too? That's wonderful! I'll go see them right away and ask them to come to the North Gate to help our Vanguard Battalion defend the pass."

Xiao Guimu said, "Shopkeeper Qi and Madam Yin are both our elders with formidable martial arts skills. If they are willing to come to the Vanguard Battalion to help us defend the pass, that would be the best thing possible. But they are grain transport officers under the jurisdiction of Prime Minister Lü, so we must first obtain Prime Minister Lü's consent."

Li Muwen said, "Prime Minister Lü will agree! There's no time to lose, I'm going to petition Prime Minister Lü right now." As he spoke, he tumbled out of bed, muttering, "Ouch, I'm dizzy..."

Lou Mingxuan cast a sidelong glance at her son and said, "You're married now yet you're still the same—as impatient as a monkey! The two elders just arrived at the frontier, they aren't going anywhere! Drink that bowl of congee first before you go!"

Li Muwen picked up the congee bowl and poured it straight into his mouth, mumbling, "Mother, Uncle Gu Datong said my temperament is just like yours!"

Lou Mingxuan gave her son another sideways look.

---

After dinner, Xiao Guimu and Li Muwen went on a joint patrol of the city.

Standing atop the high parapet of a beacon tower, watching the movements of the Tatar camp to the north, Xiao Guimu said to her husband Li Muwen standing beside her, "The feeling of being full is wonderful. I haven't had this feeling in half a month!"

Li Muwen said, "Me too! Now my body is filled with strength, and I really want to charge down the city walls and slaughter the Tatars."

Xiao Guimu turned to stare fixedly at Li Muwen and said, "Judging by your usual scholarly demeanor, I took you for a gentle person, but you're actually a brute!"

Li Muwen asked, "How so?"

Xiao Guimu said, "The Tatars have half a million elite troops while we only have two hundred and fifty thousand—only half their numbers. Furthermore, their camp is filled with fierce generals, and there are plenty of warriors whose martial arts surpass yours, White-Clothed Scholar! If you charged down alone, would you come back alive? Isn't someone who says things like that a brute?"

Li Muwen said, "This deputy vanguard officer understands all that logic; I was just speaking metaphorically! Unlike certain people who clearly knew the imperial court was hunting them down yet willingly walked right into the trap!"

Xiao Guimu knew that the "certain person" Li Muwen referred to was none of other than herself. His ridicule struck right at her raw nerve. Fixing her fiery gaze on Li Muwen's face, she said agitatedly, "Willingly? Walked into the trap? Deputy Vanguard Officer Li speaks the absolute truth! Back then, for the sake of my mother and her fellow sisters who were slaves in Beizhen, I, Xiao Guimu, truly walked willingly into the trap! But the one who suffered was me—what on earth does that have to do with you, Deputy Vanguard Officer Li?"

Looking equally agitated, Li Muwen retorted, "You are my fiancée, how could it have nothing to do with me?"

Staring into Li Muwen's face, Xiao Guimu sneered, "What righteous words! As far as I know, back then you and Sister Jianghong were as thick as thieves, completely inseparable—did you even give a single thought to a fiancée you had never met?"

Li Muwen said angrily, "You really are ungrateful! Let's not even settle the score of you misappropriating my name to participate in the martial arts examinations! I only ask you, why did Jianghong and I travel thousands of years—thousands of li—from Yangcheng to Jingnan? Why were we forced to turn bandit at the Yuni Lake stronghold? And after you were banished to the Dapu military camp, Jianghong and I searched everywhere for your whereabouts—were all those actions just empty pretenses?"

With a face full of remorse, Xiao Guimu asked, "Are you saying these things are true? How is it that I knew nothing about them?"

Li Muwen said, "There are many things you don't know. Let's spill it all out today: after you entered the Ministry of Punishments prison, Big Brother Yure, Second Brother Yusheng, Sister-in-law Qiongqiong, and Aunt-Master Zhao Chaoyun prayed everywhere and spent a fortune to save your wretched life; after you were banished to the Dapu military camp, Uncle Gu Datong, Aunt Hui'er, Uncle Qi Wei, and Aunt Yin Yuanyuan rushed from Yangcheng to the Dapu camp hoping to redeem you; after someone bought your freedom, my mother mourned while inquiring about your whereabouts in the ancient coastal town..."

Xiao Guimu was already sobbing uncontrollably. She lowered her head as teardrops fell patter-patter onto the ground.

Li Muwen quickly stopped talking, muttering to himself, "Damn it, why did I run my mouth off so much today?"

Xiao Guimu suddenly raised her head, faced Li Muwen, pressed her hands together in front of her chest, and bowed deeply. "White-Clothed Scholar, to repay your kindness, I, Xiao Guimu, will bear you a plump, healthy son."

Overjoyed, Li Muwen asked, "You're already pregnant? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

---

Inside the tent of Military Supervisor Prime Minister Lü.

With the arrival of the court's grain supplies, the soldiers all had food to eat, and Prime Minister Lü finally had the leisure to read books.

In the evening, Prime Minister Lü sat composedly at his desk reading a book. His previously haggard complexion had begun to flush with a healthy glow now that he had food. As the old saying goes: "Man is steel, rice is iron; go a single meal without it and you starve with fright!" Prime Minister Lü had been half-starved for over twenty days, so a haggard appearance had been inevitable.

Li Jingxian naturally possessed a robust constitution; now that she had food, not only had her physical strength recovered, but her various feminine desires had returned as well. She had laid out the bedding, sat cross-legged on the bed meditating for a while, then opened her eyes, looked toward Prime Minister Lü, and let out two consecutive "Ah-hems," but Prime Minister Lü pretended not to hear.

Li Jingxian slipped off the bed, walked up to the desk, and said, "Your Excellency, come to bed and rest. You've been busy all day, aren't you tired?"

Prime Minister Lü replied, "It's precisely because I'm tired that I'm reading! Didn't you know? I, Lü Xun, am a bookworm; reading is the best way to relieve fatigue!"

Li Jingxian smiled dismissively and said, "Then take your time reading, Your Excellency! I'll be waiting for you in the covers; come to bed the moment your fatigue is gone!" With that, she scrambled swiftly back onto the bed and burrowed beneath the covers.

Prime Minister Lü glanced at the bed, sat quietly for a moment, then put down his book, crawled onto the bed as well, and slipped under the covers. Knowing his body was cold, he didn't dare press against Li Jingxian's body. Yet Li Jingxian threw her arms wide, hugged his neck tightly, and asked breathlessly, "What are you hiding from?"

Prime Minister Lü said, "My body is cold; I'm afraid of freezing you!"

Li Jingxian pressed her voluptuous breasts tightly against his chest and murmured, "You won't freeze me! Jingxian was born to warm Your Excellency's body..." As she spoke, she wrapped one of her bare legs around his bare leg.

He reached out and stroked her breasts. She twisted her body, breathing heavily.

Clasping him tightly, she pressed her lips to his and slid her tongue into his mouth.

His lower abdomen shuddered. He flipped over, pinning her beneath him.

...After the storm, she and he lay quietly beneath the covers.

Still feeling unsatisfied, she said to him, "Your Excellency, I heard that girl Guimu is already pregnant, wonderful! If I were ten years younger, I'd want to bear a child for Your Excellency too!"

Prime Minister Lü stroked Li Jingxian's back and said, "Thank you for having such a thought! But I, Lü Xun, am fated to have no sons; I won't force it!"

Li Jingxian muttered softly, "Perhaps! It would have been even better if you could have married me twenty years ago!"

Prime Minister Lü said, "Marrying you now is even better!"

"What's so good about it?" Her body began to stir restlessly once more.

He drew back slightly and said, "People often say that at thirty a woman is like a wolf, at forty like a tiger. Now that you're nearly fifty, why is your sexual desire still so intense?"

Li Jingxian said shyly, "I'm just trying to make up for all the time we lost before..."