One of Xiao Junling’s delicate hands was still clasped in Bai Yi’s, but she didn’t seem to care. She simply used her free hand to tidy the books on the desk.

Watching Xiao Junling silently tidy up without saying a word, Bai Yi could more or less tell that his wife was upset.

What she was upset about, though, he had no idea…

Bai Yi gently drew her hand toward him, and the woman in front of him came along with it, falling into his arms.

The scent of aged sandalwood incense drifted from her. She was tall, yet surprisingly light; even sitting across his lap, all he felt was the warmth of her supple body, hardly any weight at all.

Xiao Junling’s long hair, loose down her back, brushed against Bai Yi’s face and made it itch. He reached out to smooth the ends of his wife’s hair, then slipped his hand around her slender waist and held her close.

Bai Yi held Xiao Junling’s hand with one of his and wrapped the other around her waist. He buried his face against her fragrant shoulder, cheek to cheek, then gently pressed his lips to her face and spoke.

“What’s wrong? Who upset my wife this time?”

Sitting across Bai Yi’s lap, Xiao Junling trembled slightly. A faint blush had already spread across her neck, but she still turned her cool, pretty face away.

Seeing that his wife still wouldn’t speak, Bai Yi wasn’t in a hurry. It seemed he was used to this.

The hand around Xiao Junling began to gently stroke her lower abdomen, then slowly pressed and rubbed.

Xiao Junling was slight to begin with, and now she was sitting across Bai Yi’s lap. She immediately realized what he was doing, feeling a strange sensation beneath her…

A blush spread across Xiao Junling’s cool, lovely face. She turned around in mock anger, her alluring eyes fixed on Bai Yi.

“You—”

Xiao Junling had only just started to speak when Bai Yi suddenly lifted her up from behind, then gently pressed her down against the desk. He held both her delicate hands aloft with one hand.

At the same time, she felt warmth behind her. Her slender waist was slowly pressed down, and her long, delicate legs were forced to bend…

Xiao Junling panicked at once. The cool composure she’d had before was nowhere to be seen, and even her ears began to turn red.

“…No… We haven’t even had breakfast…”

Bai Yi looked at the delicate body trembling beneath him. He gathered up her hair and slowly rubbed it between his fingers, while keeping his other hand against Xiao Junling’s slender waist to stop her from getting up. Then he spoke with a smug smile.

“So my wife’s finally willing to talk?”

Xiao Junling was furious, but there was nothing she could do. She squeezed her eyes shut. Her smooth, pale neck was already flushed red, and, fighting her embarrassment, she buried her face in the book and parted her red lips.

“After breakfast… Later… I’ll do it for you later…”

Looking at Xiao Junling beneath him, already beginning to “beg for mercy,” Bai Yi’s smile grew more and more shameless.

Bai Yi bent down too, pressing close to Xiao Junling’s face, then gently caught her earlobe between his teeth.

A muffled gasp escaped her. Xiao Junling bit down hard on her red lips, her breath sweet and fragrant. Even her usually cool voice had softened.

“…No… Later…”

Bai Yi had no intention of letting her go. He placed one hand on Xiao Junling’s shoulder and gently stroked her smooth skin.

“…No… Not here…”

Xiao Junling’s soft breaths sounded by his ear, but Bai Yi acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing. The hand pressing against her waist only grew firmer, and her long, snow-white legs had no choice but to bend again…

Bai Yi had little trouble being “considerate.” Apart from the hem and a few phoenixes embroidered in gold thread across the chest, Xiao Junling’s red robe had a simple design. It was easy to remove most of it, though he didn’t take it all off…

Her snow-white back was exposed to the air. Even the lightest touch found her skin cool and smooth. Her dark hair still fell across her back, the last thing covering her modesty.

“…Yi.”

Xiao Junling softly called his name from beneath him.

Bai Yi looked at the dark hair tangled across Xiao Junling’s pale back. A smile slowly appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he spoke.

“My wife’s hair really is beautiful. It feels lovely, too. But…”

“When we’re done, would you rather leave it down… or have me tie it up?”

Feeling the delicate body trembling faintly beneath him,

Xiao Junling braced both hands on the desk, her peerlessly beautiful face still buried in the book. She panted heavily, breathing out warm, sweet breaths.

At Bai Yi’s “thoughtful” question, her eyes shimmered with emotion and her blush deepened. Her red lips trembled as she murmured in a voice so faint it was almost inaudible.

“…T-tie… tie it up.”

Bai Yi smiled knowingly.

“All right~ Then Ling’er has to call me ‘husband.’”

Xiao Junling gave a soft reply from beneath him.

“H-husband… Mm—”

After who knew how long, their passion finally subsided…

The two of them slumped down in front of the chair, wrapped in each other’s arms, both panting.

But while Bai Yi was only breathing hard from exhaustion, Xiao Junling’s breaths came fast and carried a tender, breathless sweetness.

Bai Yi looked down at Xiao Junling in his arms, gasping for breath, and felt a little guilty…

You wouldn’t know it from how his wife acted every day, all cold and imposing.

When it came to this sort of thing, she was just like Xiao Bai. No, she was the type who was terrible at it but loved it anyway—and she was always refusing to admit defeat. Usually, though, her waist would give out after just a few minutes…

The only thing about her that was truly tough was probably her mouth.

Bai Yi held Xiao Junling around the waist. He was just about to brush aside the hair stuck to her face with sweat when he suddenly felt that familiar pain in the tender flesh of his back.

“Easy, easy, darling! I was wrong, okay? I was wrong!”

Xiao Junling, in front of him, had gradually caught her breath. Her pretty face had returned to its usual cool expression, though her voice still sounded a little unsteady.

“…What were you wrong about?”

“Huh?”

Bai Yi was momentarily dumbfounded. He’d only been asking for forgiveness out of habit. If he actually had to name what he’d done wrong… he hadn’t really done anything…

He’d just read medical books for a while and then… fallen asleep? Something like that…

That wasn’t really doing anything wrong…

“Uh, I was wrong because, um…”

Watching Bai Yi stammer in front of her, Xiao Junling’s expression turned even colder. She grabbed his ear and demanded in a frosty voice,

“You got up early, and I couldn’t find you anywhere.”

“Are these books… more important than I am?”

Bai Yi could only force himself to endure the pain and give a wry smile.

“How could they be, darling?”

“These books are dead. No matter how thoroughly I read them, even if I turned them into the words of sages, they could never be worth half as much as my wife.”

Xiao Junling wasn’t about to let him off the hook. She continued,

“Then why did you have to get up so early? Couldn’t you read those books at any time? You even have to read when you’re supposed to be sleeping?”

Xiao Junling didn’t mind her husband reading and learning, of course. But the two of them slept in each other’s arms every night. Bai Yi had promised her that when they married: every day, every night, he would hold her as they fell asleep…

But when Xiao Junling got up early that morning, he was nowhere to be found. That was why she was so angry and upset.