The bed was damp, the heavy black ink fading into a thin, misty grey—melting from Yu Lingxin’s body onto Jiang Nong’s, leaving both of them stained with that soft grey.
Her fair skin flushed a delicate pink, the ink standing out sharply against it. Yu Lingxin, as if savoring some rare confection, licked away every trace of ink from her skin, leaving a trail of wet marks in his wake.
In the end, Yu Lingxin changed the bedding himself—it was too much of a mess for Jiang Nong to bear calling anyone in.
He volunteered for the task, and in the process, scooped her up and nibbled on her for a good while. She’d just bathed and was fresh and clean—now covered in his saliva. Unable to stand it any longer, she punched him twice. She didn’t know what had made him so happy, but his eyes lit up suddenly, and like a dog gnawing on a bone, he went over her face and neck with the same fervor.
He’d licked off the moisturizer she’d just applied. She wanted to scold him, but her mouth was occupied—so she landed two more solid punches.
She punched hard, but his muscles were hard too—her fists hurt, and still he leaned in, eyes bright, asking for the same on his face.
When had he picked up this bad habit? Wasn’t this fetish a bit perverse? Had he been beaten too much in the Side Courts back then?
Sometimes he’d actively ask for a slap, and Jiang Nong’s heart would ache—she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Her raised hand would fall back, and she’d let him nuzzle her face as he pleased.
Seeing her hand retreat, Yu Lingxin quickly pressed his face against it himself, then got up to spread the fresh bedding. He carried her back, heated a handkerchief, pressed it warm over her face, wiped her clean, and rummaged through the jars to find the moisturizer and apply it for her.
The Yu Lingxin who couldn’t even tell rouge apart was dead. In his place was a Yu Lingxin who knew every jar on her table by heart.
Men who claimed not to understand women’s things were just pretending. If you don’t understand, learn—and now Yu Lingxin had learned, earning his wife’s approval and creating many more opportunities to touch her face.
He’d cleaned her up. Her face, flushed pink from the warm handkerchief, was fair and lovely. She sat quietly by the bed, a little drowsy, lips pursed. Yu Lingxin’s heart burned at the sight—he wanted to lick her all over again. But he held back, afraid she’d really get angry. He settled for pressing several kisses to her face, his lips tasting the bitter scent of moisturizer.
They slept early that night. Before drifting off, Jiang Nong thought of the things they’d written on the paper—it gave her something to look forward to, and she felt much more settled than she had in recent days. A steady happiness filled her heart.
If you counted being together, she and Yu Lingxin had been together for many years. But in terms of truly living well together, this was their first year. She was terrified of making mistakes. She didn’t know how other couples managed. But Yu Lingxin’s reassurance calmed her.
The crickets outside chirped softly. She tossed and turned a few times, drifting off with a sense of happiness—bright moon, clear breeze. The more she thought, the warmer her heart grew. The fatigue and drowsiness gradually dissipated, replaced by a new energy. Her blood felt hot; she wanted to run a few laps, or find something to do.
She rolled around in Yu Lingxin’s arms a few more times. He instinctively patted her arm—like gently soothing a child to sleep.
That would have been fine—but the moment he patted her, she sat straight up and whispered: “Are you not asleep either?”
???
Since Jiang Nong had spoken, even if Yu Lingxin had been asleep, he’d have said he wasn’t. With his eyes still closed, as if sleepwalking, he said: “No, I’m not.”
“…Never mind. You look tired. Go back to sleep.” She patted his chest regretfully, signaling him to continue.
Yu Lingxin finally forced his eyes open, blinked, and opened them wide: “Really, I’m not asleep. I’m not tired. Go on.”
Jiang Nong studied him—his eyes were open and bright. “Do you want to climb a mountain and watch the sunrise? I think I can postpone the tree-planting wish. Can we do this first?”
It wasn’t a question. A clever man would understand—it meant: “I want to climb a mountain and watch the sunrise. Will you come with me?”
At the third watch of the night—climbing a mountain. It sounded absurd.
If Yu Lingxin loved her less, he might have played dumb: “Nongnong, I’m not really up for it, and it’s late. When I have time, we can go during the day, okay?”
But even with his mind foggy with sleep, Yu Lingxin’s first reaction was joy.
To wake him in the dead of night and ask to climb a mountain—how unreasonable! Yet Jiang Nong had actually made such a request of him! He was certain—aside from him, she had never asked anyone for anything so “unreasonable.”
She was always afraid of troubling others.
Yu Lingxin was silent. Jiang Nong, feeling sheepish, started to lie back down—she’d gotten carried away in her excitement. It was a spoiled, unreasonable demand. Who would go with her in the middle of the night? Probably no one. Yu Lingxin was likely figuring out how to refuse.
She didn’t want him to make excuses. She preempted him: “Never mind. I don’t really want to go anyway. I was just talking.”
Yu Lingxin was already propping himself up on the bed, sitting upright: “Let’s go. Get dressed. Now.”
His arm went weak and he nearly collapsed again. He secretly pinched his thigh hard and continued, still talking as if in a dream, saying whatever came to mind: “I think your idea is especially original—there’s something profound about man and nature in it. Ordinary mortals probably couldn’t come up with such a brilliant plan…”
Jiang Nong hadn’t expected him to agree so readily. She let out a cheer, threw herself on him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him several times. Yu Lingxin, pinned to the soft bed, grew even dizzier. Willpower alone made him struggle to get up—if he lay there any longer, he’d really fall asleep.
The mountain she wanted to climb wasn’t the little rockery in the palace—it was the one near the Spring Plowing Ceremony site. Clearly, she’d been planning this for a while.
Actually, this idea had been with Jiang Nong since she was very young. She wanted to climb a mountain on a misty night, watch the sky grow brighter, and see the sunrise from the peak. She could already imagine the cool, fresh breeze rustling the trees, the moonlight turning the mountain paths silver-white, the quiet dangers of the wilderness—filled with freedom and adventure.
The thought had lingered for years but never materialized. She’d never had the chance; she could only bury it in her heart.
After all, a woman climbing a mountain at night was already highly improper. She was a princess, confined to the deep palace, unable to leave without a token. Word would spread, and people would talk.
By telling Yu Lingxin tonight, perhaps subconsciously she knew he wouldn’t say it was wrong—even if he didn’t want to go, he wouldn’t think her idea was against the rules.
Yu Lingxin would unconditionally agree that Jiang Nong was right! If they disagreed, then Yu Lingxin was wrong!
They changed into light clothes, slipped out of the palace on horseback, tied the horses at the foot of the mountain, and walked the rest of the way.
The moon was bright. Jiang Nong held Yu Lingxin’s hand and trotted up the mountain path, stopping now and then to catch her breath. On steep slopes, she grabbed tree trunks and roots to pull herself up.
Her hand was warm. The climb flushed her cheeks with color. Her round, bright eyes and beautiful lashes curved at the corners. When she turned back to look at him, smiling, Yu Lingxin’s first thought was happiness—his heart racing.
Then came a question: why was Jiang Nong so full of energy?
Jiang Nong chattered on: “Do you think there’ll be snakes on the road? Or wolves? What should we do if we meet one?”
She picked up a stick and swept it through the grass, letting go of his hand in the process.
Yu Lingxin caught it again, insisting she hold it, then considered her question seriously: “Then you can throw me to the wolves.”
“That would make me terrible. I couldn’t do that,” she said with a smile.
He joked back: “It’s alright—if you can’t do it, I’ll throw myself to the wolves. Then Jiang Nong wouldn’t be the bad one.”
Some jokes invite lightning from the heavens. They laughed and carried on—then turned and both came face to face with a pair of green eyes in the bushes.
The two of them, one wolf—three pairs of eyes staring at each other in silence.
Jiang Nong snapped out of it, screamed, and grabbed Yu Lingxin’s hand as they ran. As she ran, she wanted to slap her own mouth—what terrible luck, saying exactly what she feared! If she hadn’t been so stubborn about climbing at night, this wouldn’t have happened.
Hadn’t they said there were no wolves near the farms?
Where were the guards? Their shadow guards? She’d said she wanted to climb with just the two of them—and he’d taken her literally and brought no one?
The wind whistled past her ears as the wolves howled behind them—one became two, two became three, drawing closer and closer. Jiang Nong was running until she felt like coughing up blood. The horses were at the foot of the mountain. Two legs couldn’t outrun four.
Yu Lingxin didn’t know why they were running either—three or five wolves were nothing to him. But Jiang Nong pulling him along the forest path, running for their lives, fleeing from the noise of the world, leaving only the two of them, their interlocked hands passing each other’s heartbeats—this feeling was wonderful.
Jiang Nong looked back and saw Yu Lingxin was still smiling.
Huh? Was he crazy?
The lead wolf lunged, tearing off a piece of his robe. Jiang Nong couldn’t run anymore—she had no strength left. She drew her sword, ready to fight. She thought: if they died here today, it would make history—the first imperial couple to be killed by wolves. How ridiculous. Future generations would sing of their sweet love, but also think they were both out of their minds for climbing a mountain at midnight.
Just as she was thinking this, she felt a tight grip around her waist—Yu Lingxin lifted her and tossed her onto a nearby tree branch.
“Zing—” A sharp blade sang below. Yu Lingxin had drawn his sword.
???
What was happening? Was he really going to feed himself to the wolves?
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