Chapter 55: At the Hour of Hai
Yu Yeqing did not move.
He still held her tightly in his arms, a strange stubbornness rising within him. "You still haven't answered my question."
Song Hemei avoided his gaze and turned her head to the other side, only to regret that the bed had neither covers nor pillows—there was simply nowhere for her to hide herself.
Perhaps seeing that she could not calm herself enough to answer, Yu Yeqing spoke again. "No one will see us. This room has been empty for three years; why would anyone come here?"
Song Hemei's voice grew smaller. "But what if your aunt suddenly returns?"
She had just given that woman a stern warning, and now to be caught piled together with her nephew—what kind of picture would that paint?
"She won't," Yu Yeqing said, his tone quite certain. "She seems to be very afraid of you. As long as you're here, she wouldn't dare come near even if she did return."
His gaze traced the lines of her face, and he asked stubbornly once more, "When you speak of making amends—does that mean you'll do anything?"
Song Hemei swallowed. "That's not exactly what I meant..."
Yu Yeqing lowered his body, pressing even closer and tighter against her. "But you said just now that you would willingly."
Song Hemei instinctively tightened her grip on his shoulders, her fingertips tingling. She swallowed again. "Well, it still depends on what it is. It's not like I'd go along with murder or arson, would I?"
Yu Yeqing let out a faint, barely perceptible laugh, but he was pressed so close that she could feel the tremor in his chest.
It was too close. His clear, handsome face hovered right before her, his thin lips still stained with a trace of her lip balm. If she looked carefully at his jaw, she could even see a faint redness—marks she had left behind.
Her heart was pounding so fast she couldn't control it. If not for all that had come before, she might have thought he was trying to bewitch her, to seduce her.
And then, the next moment, he leaned in, his nose brushing against hers, rubbing gently in an intimate, ambiguous gesture.
This kind of closeness blanked her mind completely, but Yu Yeqing's voice once again entered her ears. "You know what I'm talking about."
He closed his eyes and gave her a light peck on the lips before pulling away. This made Song Hemei's body even more tense, her legs instinctively wanting to draw together.
She bit her lip, her mind in a fog, and blurted out, "After all, what happened back then was my fault. If you want to... it's not out of the question."
But no sooner had the words left her mouth than she felt a pang of regret. Could this really be considered making amends?
It seemed far too light a price.
But she had already more or less agreed, and backing out now would seem insincere. She swallowed again. "Can we not do it here?"
Her voice had dropped considerably, the words hard to say. "This place hasn't been lived in for ages. There's nothing here. I don't even know if the well has run dry..."
Song Hemei's thoughts were a tangled mess now, with no order to them.
Now that it had truly come to this, the most urgent concern turned out to be just this one thing—how were they supposed to get water here?
Not to mention the filth, but worse, she could catch a chill from sitting on such a cold bed.
Back then, Yu Yeqing had always been the one to boil water beforehand and clean up the bedding afterward. Could he still do such things now?
Surely she wasn't supposed to be the one to...
But while her thoughts were in chaos, Yu Yeqing straightened up slightly, putting a little distance between them. "You and Song Yunyao truly are devoted siblings. To protect him, you're willing to do anything."
He stared at her, his expression unreadable—neither pleased nor angry.
Song Hemei was bewildered. "How can you say it's for him?"
She swallowed, and when she met his deep, dark pupils, she couldn't help but want to look away.
The guilt in her heart surged up, and she lowered her eyes, speaking quietly. "I just feel I've wronged you. If you're angry and want to do something to my elder brother, I won't stop you. Even if you want to visit what happened three years ago upon him, that's fine too."
She took a deep breath. "If you're still not satisfied, you can take it out on me instead."
She released her grip on his shoulder and opened her palm before him, a gesture of sincerity.
But in response, she got only a sneer from Yu Yeqing.
"If that were the case, you would not survive."
Song Hemei's pupils trembled slightly. This matter was even heavier than she had imagined.
Yu Yeqing let go of the hand he had been holding at the crown of her head, and instead laced his fingers through hers, pressing her hand down onto the bed.
"If it were someone else today, would you still make the same decision?"
His grip tightened, his voice unusually low, his whole demeanor radiating danger. "You feel you've wronged me, so you're willing to accept everything I just did. If one day you feel you've wronged someone else, would you let them do the same?"
Song Hemei felt as though he were deliberately picking a fight. Where would she find so many other people she had wronged?
But he had often asked such questions in the past.
Yet some things simply couldn't be explained by reason. Even if she had met someone else back then, if that person were not as handsome as him, not as temperamentally suited to her, not living alone at home, not yet promised in marriage, not as pleasing in speech—all these myriad differences might never have led to the same outcome.
Some things were off by a hair, and the result was a thousand miles off. Looking at any single factor wouldn't account for it. No wonder some people liked to speak of fate.
She swallowed, and in the end could only say one thing. "Only you."
She paused, then added, "There is no one else, and there never will be."
Having one such person was already hard enough to handle. What kind of terrible karma would she have to have for there to be another?
Her reckless confession seemed to have some effect. Yu Yeqing's pupils quivered, and something that had been blocking his heart seemed to gradually melt away.
The lingering pain in the crevices of his bones seemed to want to pull his reason back, but looking at the unnatural flush on the woman beneath him—a flush he had brought about—seeing her pupils filled entirely with him, feeling every moment of her nervous tension, the old wounds did not restore his reason. Instead, they gave him a strange sense of reassurance. Every inch of pain reminded him that now he had the mandate to possess her completely, to keep her from refusing.
His gaze darkened, and as if possessed, he spoke. "Where do you want to do it?"
Song Hemei was stunned for a moment before she understood, and immediately felt a burning heat rising from her neck upward.
But where else could they go?
An inn? That would be far too conspicuous. In Changzhou, members of the Song family might not be recognized walking on the street, but if they stepped into a shop, which shopkeeper wouldn't know them?
Or would she have to rent a separate house just for this kind of thing?
No matter how prepared she thought she was, being stared at by him like this still made her feel embarrassed.
"Maybe... you could come back to the Song residence with me?"
But then she thought of what her brother had done to him—if they met under the same roof, wouldn't that only anger him further?
She quickly added, "You can enter through the side gate. I'll come find you. No one will see."
Even as she said it, the words felt strange. This so-called making amends sounded less than proper—it was more like she was inviting him to sneak in for an illicit rendezvous—
Yu Yeqing seemed to have thought of the same thing, and his brow arched slightly. "Are you sure you want to do that?"
Song Hemei gritted her teeth and closed her eyes in resignation. "Yes, yes. Can you stop asking?"
Yu Yeqing let out a soft laugh, then buried his face in the crook of her neck. His breath fell upon it, ticklish, and she instinctively lifted her arms to wrap around his back.
Hadn't they already agreed to go back to the Song residence first?!
But before she could speak, she first felt the oppressive danger retreat somewhat. He seemed to take a deep breath, and when he spoke, his voice was muffled. "Then what about Lord Shao?"
Song Hemei had never really taken Shao Wen'ang seriously from start to finish. Caught off guard by the question, she blurted out, "He won't know."
The moment the words left her mouth, she felt a sudden burning heat at her neck, followed by the sensation of a sharp suction. A wave of tingling numbness traveled down her entire spine.
Though she knew what he was doing, the sensation was unfamiliar. Three years ago, he had never left marks on her before.
Perhaps this was a reaction that only came with true passion, or perhaps back then he had still kept his wits about him and understood restraint.
But at this moment, his heavy, slightly irritated kiss landed on her already sensitive neck. That tingling numbness surged uncontrollably down to her lower abdomen, instantly stirring up a familiar yet strange arousal. She felt a warm, itchy sensation in that instant.
Song Hemei squeezed her eyes shut. She wished she could find a hole to crawl into.
This was truly the height of regret.
She shouldn't have let him lead her into mentioning Shao Wen'ang. Who would want to talk about another man at a time like this?
She also shouldn't have suggested going back to the Song residence. This tingling numbness was truly unbearable...
She swallowed, took a few breaths to steady herself, and lightly patted his shoulder. Even her voice came out wrong. "Don't do that."
The warm, moist sensation on her neck continued. After that fatal suction, he kissed his way along her neck bit by bit. Every touch made her tense up, made her eyes feel hot and her scalp tingle.
Until finally he stopped, and his low, husky voice sounded by her ear, as if in surprise or confusion. "You like this?"
Song Hemei blurted out, "I don't! Don't talk nonsense!"
Perhaps because she had no confidence in her denial, her voice was considerably louder.
Yu Yeqing paused and said nothing more, but he leaned down again, his lips pressing back against her skin as if to test her once more.
Song Hemei's whole body was taut with tension. In her panic, she forgot everything else and shrank her neck away, pushing at him with all her might. "I said I don't, and I don't! Let me go! You already agreed we wouldn't do it here."
Yu Yeqing paused. In the end, he did not continue. He braced his hands on either side of her and slowly rose.
She finally felt she could breathe again. His broad shoulders blocked the light from outside, casting a shadow that enveloped her, giving her the illusion that she had narrowly escaped disaster.
Song Hemei swallowed quickly, pulled her legs back, and took the chance to sit up as well. She turned sideways and tugged her skirt down, afraid he would suddenly speak again and notice her agitation.
He seemed far too perceptive about her physical reactions.
She leaned against the bedpost in chagrin, unsure how to face him. He sat right beside her, their loosened garments still tangled together, her sash hung over his leg.
Yu Yeqing paused, then reached out and grasped her sash. In the past, under every instance of forbearance and restraint, he had done the same.
But now, he seemed finally able to ask the question directly. "You want to keep it from him?"
Song Hemei pressed her lips together and nodded.
Was she supposed to announce it to the whole world?
When she went back, she would find a way to discuss an amicable divorce with her father. There was no need to go through the local authorities. As long as her father agreed, a simple letter of amicable divorce would suffice.
If Shao Wen'ang found out about her and Yu Yeqing, he might stir up trouble out of spite, making things hard to resolve.
But her reaction earned her a clear, cold laugh from Yu Yeqing.
He rarely showed displeasure so openly. Song Hemei didn't understand him. When he made such requests, had he forgotten that she still had Shao Wen'ang to deal with?
But even so, he did not abandon his intent. He spoke in a low voice, "What time?"
Was she supposed to choose the time too?
Song Hemei swallowed. "Then... let it be at Hai hour."
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