Four Seasons Brocade – CH 161

Chapter 161 ☆、

Ah Wu wanted to kick Chu Mao to death, but even with tremendous effort, she could only slightly twitch her fingers. The lingering scent of cold plum blossoms filled her nostrils. The medicine had been forced down her throat, but that tongue was still ravaging her mouth like a glutton.

Ah Wu thought, “This is really enough! I was fed like this once this morning, and now it’s happening again. He is just taking advantage of the fact that I cannot move.” Ah Wu, in a fit of rage, opened her mouth and bit down. She heard a soft “hmm” from the other person, who then coiled her tongue around, sucking and drawing it in. What she thought was the force of biting off his tongue felt more like a slight movement of her teeth, a lover’s invitation.

Finally, Chu Mao released her mouth, allowing Ah Wu to catch her breath. She opened her eyes abruptly, only to find the room quiet; no one was there. Ah Wu managed to regain some control of her body. She slightly twisted her shoulders, trying to sit up.

“What’s wrong?” Chu Mao rushed in from the outer room, putting his arm around Ah Wu’s shoulder and gently helping her up slightly. He placed his palm an inch below her abdomen and asked, “Do you need to urinate?”

Ah Wu could not speak. Whether it was her tongue being inflexible or her anger preventing her from speaking, how could Chu Mao dare say the word “urinate” in front of her? Unfortunately, a gentle press from Chu Mao’s hand made Ah Wu feel a bit suffocated.

It turned out that Ah Wu was not awakened by Chu Mao’s kiss but rather by the urge to relieve herself. In her dazed state, she could not tell if the experiences of being given medicine were a dream or reality.

Unable to resist, Ah Wu was lifted by Chu Mao and, when she came to her senses, was already sitting on the Ruyi Barrel. The Ruyi Barrel here only used the name; it was actually more like a chair with an oval opening in the seat, and even more luxuriously, it was made of jade.

Chu Mao gently leaned Ah Wu against the carved dragon-patterned chair back, supporting her lower back with a light blue embroidered scrollwork and insect-patterned gold satin cushion. He then knelt to untie the straps of Ah Wu’s underpants. To Ah Wu’s astonishment, he slightly lifted her, pulled her underpants down a bit, helped her sit up, and considerately placed her arms on the armrests for support.

Ah Wu was completely unresponsive, staring blankly ahead. She heard Chu Mao say, “I will wait for you outside. If you need anything, just ring this bell.”

Chu Mao was very thoughtful, even considering Ah Wu’s lack of strength to speak. He placed a small bell near Ah Wu’s fingers; a gentle touch would cause the bell to roll and ring.

After Chu Mao left, Ah Wu’s tears streamed down her face like a broken string of pearls. She dared not sob a sound, trying desperately to hold back her urination, but her lower abdomen was unbearably bloated. Finally, she urinated while crying, making a “whoosh” sound. Ah Wu was terrified and quickly tried to hold it in again, controlling the flow and releasing it in small, intermittent bursts until she finally finished.

Ah Wu’s eyes were now so blurred with tears that she could barely see anything in front of her. The fact that she had made a sound while urinating and that Chu Mao had been standing outside the door listening had completely crossed Ah Wu’s line. She now wished she had never lived.

Ah Wu strained with all her might to barely move her hand and grasp the tie of her underpants, but she could not lift them. She braced herself against the nearby cabinet and shakily stood up, but having not eaten for days, only surviving on rice and oil, she felt dizzy and lightheaded as soon as she stood, unable to stand. With a thud, she collapsed onto the floor of the bathing room, landing flat on her backside.

“Ah Wu.” Chu Mao entered at the sound of her voice and saw Ah Wu lying on the floor, her light red underpants half-pulled down, barely covering half of her snow-white buttocks, revealing a slit in her buttocks.

At this point, who could have any romantic thoughts? Chu Mao quickly helped Ah Wu up, laying her on his arm, pressing on her elbows, hips, and then her knees. “Are you hurt?”

Ah Wu could only cry, “Zi-Shan…” She meant to call Zi-Shan in but could only utter the two words “Zi-Shan.”

Chu Mao ignored Ah Wu’s words, checking her body again to make sure her bones were alright, before turning his attention back to her half-undone underpants.

The light red underpants hung loosely on her snow-white lower abdomen, making her skin appear even more like cream, not to mention the tuft of pubic hair peeking out.

Chu Mao pulled Ah Wu’s underpants up, then picked her up and carried her through a side door.

Inside was a bathing room, with a two-person-wide white marble bathtub in the center, half above ground and half below. Steam was rising from it. Chu Mao placed Ah Wu on a huanghuali-style reclining chair beside the tub, letting her recline.

Ah Wu had seen this chair earlier; it clashed terribly with the bathing room’s furnishings, looking like it had been moved there temporarily.

Ah Wu was both embarrassed and annoyed, confused as to why Chu Mao had placed her there. Unfortunately, her limbs were weak and limp, and she could barely lift herself for a few breaths.

Chu Mao filled a basin with water from the bath using a fish-shaped tub and placed a small, snow-white cotton handkerchief inside. Ah Wu saw him put the basin down, then squat down in front of her and reach to untie her underpants.

Ah Wu wanted to jump up and scream.

“No—” Ah Wu could only weakly murmur, her hand moving from the armrest to her lower abdomen, hooking the ties, trying to stop Chu Mao from continuing.

“I will wash you.”

Ah Wu stubbornly said, “No.” Their relationship was not that intimate; even a married couple would not be that close.

“We did not use paper earlier.” Chu Mao moved Ah Wu’s hand away and untied the ties of her underpants.

Ah Wu’s already pale face flushed red again. She thought she had already experienced the worst, and there could not be anything more humiliating, but…

Ah Wu watched as Chu Mao expertly removed her underpants, revealing two long, bare legs. He then placed her legs on the armrests of the chair. At the top of the armrests was a cloth strap; after placing her legs on it, he fastened the strap to prevent them from slipping down.

To anyone else, this would look like the way adults held a child to urinate, only this time on a different chair. Ah Wu trembled with anger, her limbs growing weaker.

“I want Zi-Shan, I want Zi-Shan,” Ah Wu finally managed to coax out. Sitting on the chair, Ah Wu, tears streaming down her face, gasped for breath, her voice weak and pitiful. That delicate fragility, in Chu Mao’s eyes, was even more alluring than the phrase “a maidservant helping her up, weak and feeble.”

“Zi-Shan and the others made a mistake; be good.” Chu Mao took a handkerchief from the basin and gently covered Ah Wu’s private parts.

Ah Wu’s private parts were only a pale blush, delicate and tender like a newly blossoming orchid, looking so fragile that it seemed unable to withstand the slightest touch. Even Chu Mao, who had once utterly despised this part of a woman, could not look away upon first sight.

Ah Wu’s body stiffened. The unprecedented touching of her deepest secret garden snapped the last thread of her mind. “Nanny Sang, I want Nanny Sang,” Ah Wu cried.

“Nanny Sang is ill.” Chu Mao moved the cloth aside and gently rubbed Ah Wu’s orchid petals with his fingers to clean them more thoroughly.

Ah Wu’s fingers clenched tightly on the armrest, and she cried incoherently, “Zi-Shan, I want Zi-Shan…”

“Serving you like this, even a maid would not do. Only I can touch you here.” As Chu Mao spoke, he applied a little more pressure to Ah Wu’s tender spot.

Ah Wu was sweating profusely, desperate. She could not think of anything else and could only plead through her tears, “It’s dirty…”

Chu Mao took a handkerchief and wiped Ah Wu’s private parts. Hearing her words, he looked up and said, “No.”

Ah Wu watched in a daze as Chu Mao lowered his head, his lips covering her rosy cheeks, his tongue even teasingly slipping inside. Ah Wu’s petals involuntarily trembled.

When Chu Mao finished his feast and looked up again, Ah Wu had even forgotten to cry. She felt nothing at all, only a hazy, dreamlike state, as if even if the sky were to fall and the earth were to crack, she would not even blink.

It could be said that Chu Mao used the most forceful method to ruthlessly cleave through Ah Wu’s layers of hard shell, exposing her most tender and delicate nerves to the sunlight. If they did not crumble, they could only become stronger.

“You sweated while you slept; why not take a bath?” Chu Mao reached out and unbuttoned Ah Wu’s undergarments.

Even though Ah Wu’s nerves had hardened, she could not help but clutch her undergarments tightly. Only when her hands touched them did she realize that she was not even wearing a bodice underneath.

Ah Wu had cried all her tears by now, but Chu Mao did not make things difficult for her. He simply untied her legs, picked her up, and placed her in the bathtub.

The thin undergarments, soaked and clinging to her body, were not only uncomfortable but also unsightly, not to mention the noticeably heavier breathing of the person behind her.

“Take off your clothes and wash, alright?” Chu Mao’s voice came from above Ah Wu’s head. Ah Wu remained silent as Chu Mao’s hand slid beneath her clothes, untying the sash.

Ah Wu’s tears, perhaps moistened by the steam from the bath, welled up again. Chu Mao gently wiped her back, then moved around her ribs, carefully massaging the area below her chest where sweat tended to accumulate.

Poor Ah Wu’s two soft, white breasts, never having seen the sun, landed in Chu Mao’s slightly rough hands. Thanks to Lady Cui’s good care, Ah Wu’s period started when she was fourteen. In the past year or so, her breasts had grown quite a bit, from small, round eggs to round ones, though not exactly impressive, just barely noticeable.

Even when Ah Wu bathed herself, she would always shyly turn away, only applying a little bath powder and rinsing. Today, Chu Mao held her in his hands, playing with her, kneading and manipulating her. Ah Wu had never experienced this before, and she did not know whether Chu Mao was just cleaning her or taking liberties with her. Well, saying “taking liberties” was already a very mild way of putting it.

Chu Mao washed Ah Wu for a while, even massaging her navel and cleaning between her fingers and toes, making sure she was thoroughly clean. Finally, he carried her out of the bathtub and took a large cotton towel from the clothes rack to wrap her up.

“Can you stand?” Chu Mao asked, resting his chin on Ah Wu’s head.

Ah Wu, thinking he was going to put her down, was more than happy to oblige and nodded.

Chu Mao put Ah Wu down, letting her lean against him to stand, and reached for the small garment he had prepared for her, intending to put it on her.

However, both Chu Mao and Ah Wu overestimated Ah Wu’s strength; her body slid down Chu Mao’s chest, and in her panic, she grabbed onto something protruding to try to steady herself.

Meanwhile, Chu Mao was reaching for her clothes, momentarily distracted by Ah Wu. As she slipped, he quickly grabbed her arm.

But Ah Wu’s hand had already grasped the rod-like thing.

Both Ah Wu and Chu Mao were silent for a moment, Chu Mao even letting out a gasp. Luckily, he pulled her up quickly; otherwise, she might have broken him today.

Chu Mao, enduring the pain, helped Ah Wu to a chair. Ah Wu, enjoying Chu Mao’s pained expression, even forgot to feel disgusted that she had grabbed a man’s genitals.

Ah Wu’s face flushed red. She knew what it was; it was in the picture book Lady Cui had given her, and she had even hinted at it a little. But Ah Wu never expected that just touching it would cause Chu Mao so much pain. She forgot about crying, only blinking her big eyes, glancing at Chu Mao’s face, then at his genitals.

Chu Mao finally recovered. He was in considerable pain, not so much from the pain itself, but because Ah Wu’s eyes kept darting towards his crotch and groin, her bewildered gaze making the pain both intense and unbearable. He could not bother to hide it, though the bathing room was warm; even in spring, the air was still chilly. Afraid Ah Wu would catch a cold, he quickly knelt and dressed her in her undergarments, then carried her out and placed her on the bed.

“Lie down for a bit; I will go change. Call me if you need anything,” Chu Mao said, then disappeared behind the screen.

Ah Wu’s mind was a mess. She tried her best not to think about what had just happened. She did not understand why, after just one illness, Chu Mao seemed like a completely different person. Not only did he help her change and bathe, but he even… did not seem to mind. If she called him lewd and shameless, it seemed like he was genuinely serving her.

Lying quietly in bed, Ah Wu realized she was not in Yulan Hall. Judging by her appearance, she guessed she was in Bingxue Forest, the place Chu Mao forbade her to set foot in again.

Chu Mao emerged, dressed in a dark purple robe with silver auspicious cloud patterns, wearing a jade crown and a white jade hairpin with a lotus-shaped inlay. He exuded an air of noble elegance. Who would have thought he would be serving her to change clothes? Ah Wu thought ironically.

Although Ah Wu was a hundred times unwilling to admit it, she knew that this was not the first time Chu Mao had changed her clothes or bathed her while she was unconscious. As for the earlier incident of feeding her medicine with his tongue, which had troubled Ah Wu, it now seemed insignificant.

“Let me recite a sutra for you.”

Only then did Ah Wu notice the string of prayer beads in his hand. He sat on the embroidered stool at the head of Ah Wu’s bed, took a sutra from the shelf beside him, and began to recite softly.

Chu Mao’s voice was deep and resonant, with a quality like cold jade, as he slowly began to chant scriptures. It was very pleasant to the ear, but unfortunately, Ah Wu could not appreciate it. She could not understand why Chu Mao had suddenly decided to chant scriptures for her. Was he admonishing her to be virtuous from now on, or was he chanting scriptures to help her pass on?

Ah Wu frowned. Chu Mao immediately put down his prayer beads and helped Ah Wu sit up.

“Would you like some water?” Chu Mao asked softly.

Ah Wu thought for a moment. She did want some water, but when Chu Mao brought the cup to her lips, Ah Wu could not help but think about what would happen if she drank too much. So she only took a sip and turned her head away.

“How long have I been asleep?” Ah Wu asked, her voice a little hoarse, but she could speak again.

“Eight days.” Chu Mao put down the cup, then helped Ah Wu sit up against the bed, placing a pillow behind her back. Ah Wu had not expected to be unconscious for so long. Was she not just suffering from shock and a slight cold? How could she have been unconscious for so long? Even Ah Wu herself did not know; her soul had essentially circled the gates of hell before being called back.

“Zi-Shan and the others…” Ah Wu wanted Zi-Shan and the others to serve her, and she also wanted to know how Chu Mao had punished them. Only with their presence could Ah Wu understand what had happened.

“You should take good care of yourself. I will release the maids from Yulan Hall when you are fully recovered.”

Ah Wu hated this about Chu Mao the most. On the surface, he was incredibly friendly, but when it came to matters, there was no room for negotiation. He could turn on you in an instant. Although he had not turned on her yet, it was still incredibly frustrating.

Ah Wu closed her eyes, avoiding Chu Mao’s gaze, as if to say, “I need to rest.”

Just then, someone outside, oblivious to the danger, announced, “Your Highness, the Princess’s medicine is ready.”

“Bring it in,” Chu Mao said, then stood up and placed a cotton towel under Ah Wu’s chin.

Lu Ruoxing, head bowed, brought the medicine bowl to Chu Mao’s side, along with a small dish of candied fruit. Ah Wu finally understood why the medicine tasted first like bitter juice and then like sweet water.

Chu Mao held the spoon to Ah Wu’s lips, but she did not open her mouth. Chu Mao did not force her, putting down the bowl and looking into Ah Wu’s eyes, asking, “Do you still want me to feed you?”

Author’s Note:
Master Ming: Brother Si-Mao…
Dang’s Mom: Brother Si-Mao…
Brother Si-Mao: (Angry) Haven’t you ever seen such a considerate and attentive man?
Ah Wu: I want to break him!