Did the third place winner regret it today?

Chapter 41

The maids came out first.
Yin Shi asked, "Where's my cousin?"
Lu Yan replied: "Hanlin said he would come out after sobering up."
Yin Shi yawned again. There was nothing he could do. The brides were always woken up in the middle of the night and had been up till now. She was almost exhausted.
He Xin and Lu Yan went to remake the bed - it was already messed up by Yin Shi's sleep.
Shen Ti came out.

The sobering soup must have taken effect, his steps became much steadier.
After taking a bath, he changed into his daily clothes. Because he was in the inner room, he did not tie a silk ribbon, so he looked handsome and elegant.
His face didn't turn red when he drank, but his eyes became brighter than usual.
But he didn't look at Yin Shi, only at the maids: "Leave."

After he gave the order, Luyan, Hexin and Kuier all left.
Lu Yan was responsible for closing the door outside. Kui'er stood on tiptoe to take a look inside and saw Yin Shi standing up.
The girl in her family has always been carefree and never in a hurry. Even on her wedding night she was still like this.
Kui'er was very worried.
The lattice door closed, blocking her view.

Finally there was no one else, Yin Shi stood up: "Shen Ti."
Shen Ti said, "My courtesy name is Jiyun. If you don't want to call me husband, you can call me by my courtesy name."
"Okay, brother Jiyun." Yin Shi said, "Can you look at your sister straight in the eye?"

Shen Ti pursed her lips, and finally shifted her gaze to Yin Shi.
Her face looked like peach blossoms in March in the candlelight, and her black hair fell like a waterfall. She crossed her arms over her chest, and her fingertips gently pulled at the collar of her coat.

Shen Ti had only seen his mother with her hair down when he was very young, and after he grew up a little, he had never seen any woman's inner room again.
At this moment, although he knew clearly the agreement between them that they would not be husband and wife, but only siblings, collaborators, and partners living together, Shen Ti's heart still beat uncontrollably when he was alone in a room with such a young beauty, with his clothes loose.
The body also has a tendency to become aroused.

Shen Ti quickly looked away and looked at the chaise longue in the room: "Tonight I will..."
"Stop it." Yin Shi interrupted him.
As soon as he opened his mouth, she knew what he was going to do: "I sleep on the bed and you sleep on the couch, right? Can you sleep on the couch for the rest of your life?"
Especially the couch in the inner room was a chaise longue, unlike the big wooden couch in the side room, which could be a big bed if the couch table was removed. The maids slept on the couch in the side room at night.

Shen Ti was silent for a moment, then asked, "What do you mean, sister...?"
"Although we agreed not to be a real couple, if nothing unexpected happens, we will probably be together for the rest of our lives. So you have to adapt to it."
Yin Shi said, taking off the coat draped over his shoulders and putting it on his arm, then tapped his shoulder: "First, you have to get used to looking me in the eye."

Shen Ti finally turned his gaze over again, and this time he did not look away, staring straight at Yin Shi.
"Yes, that's it." Yin Shi approved.
She said, "You and I will be husband and wife in the future, and we will spend most of our time together in the inner chamber. You will see me like this every day, you have to get used to it."
She added, "It's only a few months now, and it's still a little chilly in the morning and evening. I can't let myself get burned to death in June or July, and I'll definitely have to expose my arms and shoulders in the inner room. You'd better be prepared."

Shen Ti took a deep breath.
I had thought too simply when I made the agreement with her. At that time, I only thought about how to protect Feng Luoyi, and I didn't think that even if I was a fake couple with Yin Shi, I would have to spend time alone in the inner room, day and night.
But he knew that things had come to this point and he had to face it.
"Okay." He responded.

"The second one." Yin Shi said, "You want me to sleep on the bed and you to sleep on the couch, right?"
She asked, "How long can you hold on? Also, how can you avoid being discovered by the maids and being reported to your aunt?"

Shen Ti actually knew that since he and she lived together as husband and wife, it was impossible for them to sleep in separate beds forever.
It couldn't be hidden from the maid who served him personally.
Maids are such that they are not even asked to help the master take a bath, and they also have to work at night. It is almost impossible to hide the master's affairs from the personal maids.

"If my aunt and uncle knew that you treated me coldly and didn't sleep with me, they would probably blame that person for everything," Yin Shi said. "Do you remember what I said at the beginning? Anything you did wrong would be blamed on her."
Shen Ti was silent for a moment and said, "You are right."

Yin Shi hooked her finger at him: "Come over here, the bed is so big, half for each of you. Hurry up, we have something else to do."
Shen Ti: “?”
She turned and walked into the bed.
Shen Ti hesitated for a moment and followed him in.

After he came in, Yin Shi looked at the direction of the lattice door and confirmed that it was closed. She put down the curtain, turned around and climbed onto the bed, took something out from under the pillow, turned over and called Shen Ti: "Come here, this depends on you. I can't do it, I'm afraid of pain."
Shen Ti: “???”

"What's the matter?" She was lying on the bed, wearing only her middle shirt. Although Shen Ti was a little stiff, when he heard her say that she had to rely on him for something, he still moved closer to her as she said.
Yin Shi stretched out his hand to him: "Give me your hand... Hey, your right hand is for writing, left hand, left hand, give me your left hand."
Shen Ti followed her instructions and extended her left hand to her.

Yin Shi grabbed his left hand and raised his own hand, his fingertips flashing coldly in the dim light.
What she was holding turned out to be a small knife, which looked quite sharp.
Shen Ti: “???”

"Wait a minute!" Shen Ti quickly blocked Yin Shi's knife with her right hand, "What are you doing?"
"I want to borrow some of your blood." Yin Shi said, lifting up the quilt that Lu Yan had just spread out. "You want this? You don't know what this is, do you?"
Under the mandarin duck brocade quilt, on the silky sheets, there was a piece of pure white gauze.

Of course Shen Ti knew what this was used for.
Verify chastity.
So that's how it is. She really thought it through.
Shen Ti let go: "Come on."

Yin Shi had a full ten months to prepare for this matter, and the knife had already been sharpened to a very sharp point.
But when the real thing came to the point, she pinched Shen Ti's fingers and gestured again and again, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.
After hesitating for a while, Shen Ti couldn't bear it anymore and simply reached out: "Forget it, I'll do it myself."

Yin Shi obediently handed him the knife.
Shen Ti pinched her fingertips and lightly scratched them with the blade, and bright red blood flowed out.
He squeezed some in the middle of the white silk: "Is that enough?" "Enough." Yin Shi smiled happily.
She explained, "I actually considered using chicken blood, duck blood, etc. But it's not convenient for me, and blood will coagulate very quickly, so it has to be fresh. And I can't discuss this with you in advance, and the fewer people who know about our relationship, the better. So after thinking it over, I can only trouble you."
As she spoke happily, she took out another piece of white gauze from under the pillow, wrapped it around Shen Ti's fingertips, and squeezed it hard: "Press it for a while to stop the bleeding quickly."

Shen Ti: “…”
What thorough preparations!
How should I put it? I should be glad that she is careful in her work. After all, it is definitely beneficial for the other party if the partner is thoughtful and careful in his work.
But I don’t know why, I always feel a little complicated.

"Okay. No more bleeding." Yin Shi cleaned up the mess. "We need to find a way to deal with this tomorrow and destroy the body."
She also destroyed the body.
Shen Ti was speechless and took it: "Give it to me. I'll deal with it tomorrow."
Yin Shi was happy: "That's right, you are much more convenient than me."
Give him the gauze.

"Okay, let's go to sleep." Yin Shi began to divide the territory, "I'll sleep over there, and you sleep over here."
The bed was big, so she climbed into it first.
This is against the rules. Shen Ti said, "The husband is inside and the wife is outside."

Of course Yin Shi knew this broken rule.
The wife sleeps outside so that it is convenient for her to serve her husband, such as serving tea, pouring water, and holding the chamber pot.
"We are not a real couple, so there is no need to be so particular." Yin Shi instructed him with a smile, "Over there, take off your clothes and put them there."
There is a place for clothes inside the bed, and the step-out bed is really luxurious.

Shen Ti discovered that his cousin was a very flexible person.
OK.
He looked at Yin Shi, who had already climbed into the bed and got under the quilt, looking at him, waiting for him to go to bed with her.
Pure sleep.

This is his and her daily life from now on, and they must adapt to it.
Shen Ti turned her back, unbuttoned her coat and hung it on the hanger. When she turned around again, Yin Shi was already lying flat.
Shen Ti could only put the dark shade on the lampshade herself, then go back to the bed, put down the curtain, lift up her own quilt, and lie down.
The two lay side by side, both staring at the ceiling of the tent.
How should I put it, the embroidery on the tent ceiling is quite beautiful?

Of course it's impossible to fall asleep immediately.
Moreover, the two finally met again after ten months, and there were still some things that needed to be discussed regarding this marriage by agreement.
Yin Shi spoke first: "How are your Miss Feng arranged now?"
"She's waiting for you. Waiting for you to get married and let her serve you tea." Shen Ti said.

Taking a concubine is not the same as marrying a wife. Some families hold a banquet when taking a concubine, but it is not necessary. It is more for receiving gifts and making money.
Nafeng Luoyi and the Shen family have already reached a tacit understanding that they should not make a scene and just do it quietly.

Yin Shi suggested: "Don't be anxious, at least don't act rashly in the first three days. The whole family will be watching the bride in the first three days. It's not good for you to rush here now."
"I understand. You don't have to worry." Shen Ti said, and then realized what was going on. "Sister, do you think I'm the kind of person who acts ridiculously?"

At this age in high school, I love to go against the whole world, especially my parents and elders. I am very rebellious.
But Yin Shi has lived here for ten years and has rich experience in getting along with his brothers and sisters and coaxing children.
She turned sideways and said, "I don't think you're ridiculous at all."

Shen Ti turned her head and looked.
Yin Shi rested his head on his elbows: "Given her family's situation and her reduced status, you refused to abandon her and even fought against the marriage with her parents for her. I think you are amazing."

Her face is like a lotus, her eyes are like water, and her breath is like orchid.
So close to my pillow, and her voice so gentle.
But what made Shen Ti palpitate more than all this was what she said.

No one has praised him like this in more than two years.
In fact, everyone who knew the inside story thought he was immature and impulsive, or that he was obsessed with sex.
Because Feng Luoyi is indeed very beautiful.
No one thought that it was "remarkable" that he did not abandon her.
After more than two years, someone finally recognized him.

Shen Ti said "hmm", turned over and faced outside: "It should be like this."
Leave Yin Shi with a back.
But when he turned over, Yin Shi clearly saw a flash of tears in the corner of the boy's eyes.

Yin Shi's mood of coaxing the child faded away, and he truly felt sympathy for the young boy and girl, the star-crossed couple.
If you do the math, Shen Ti was probably only 15 or 16 years old when this happened. At this age, it must have been very hard to fight with her parents over such a big thing.
Especially in a society where rulers rule, subjects govern, fathers are fathers, and sons are sons.

In fact, she also felt that Shen Ti was still young and immature, because she heard from Mrs. Shen that Miss Feng's father was not convicted because of work mistakes or corruption. He was convicted for his words.
What does it mean to be punished for speech? To put it bluntly, he offended the emperor.
Yin Shi guessed that this was also the reason why the Shen family did not directly marry Feng Luoyi to save her from suffering at the time. It was all political considerations. Lord Shen did what he thought was right.
From this perspective, Shen Ti's behavior does seem immature.

But it does not prevent her from feeling that the love of youth is the most beautiful love.
This beauty will probably fade away as you get older, and by middle age it will become completely unrecognizable, hateful and disgusting.
But it was really beautiful while it still existed.
It makes people miss it, smile and sigh.

"Don't worry." Yin Shi said lovingly, "I will help you from now on."
Shen Ti's eyes were still sore at this moment, and she didn't dare to turn back. She said sullenly, "Okay."
after awhile--
"Thank you."

(End of this chapter)