A Long Night

The door closed, leaving the two of us to stare awkwardly at each other. "What are you here for?" I asked. Was he agreeing to my divorce letter? "Well... I've thought about what you said, and realised its true. You're wasted sitting around in the palace." he said slowly.

Feeling like what I had been waiting for was just around the corner, I nodded eagerly.

"We've been married 5 years, and you're 23 now, an age where most noble misses have had 3 or 4 children by now, and I haven't consummated my marriage with any of the concubines." he continued.

That's right, so he's going to agree right? I felt rather elated. I was finally free to explore this world, do what I want, and...

"So I've decided to take you as my wife properly by consummating our marriage." he said.

My heart stopped. What? As I froze in shock, he rose and made his way over to me. A pair of strong arms circled around my back and embraced me gently. I felt his breath above my head as he asked "You don't want to?"

"I...I... Isn't this too sudden?" I sputtered. Yes, I had been a modern woman in my late-twenties when I got here, and definitely had some experiences... but after being here for 5 years with not so much as a kiss from Lu Qing Yu, he wanted to consummate our marriage? Right after I settled the damn bandits? What was with this timing and progression of events?

"Then when did you want to do it?" he asked, pulling away. He was looking at me with a tender, water like gaze. "Erm... I..." I pondered aloud, trying to stall for time to wrap my head around this situation.

"Do you dislike me?" he asked. I shook my head. "No-"

He grabbed my waist and kissed me. Shocked, I could only put my arms on his shoulders. Probably taking this as affirmation, he pressed deeper. I suddenly came to the realisation he didn't know how to kiss. I prodded the entrance of his lips with my tongue and his mouth opened. I made my way into his mouth, twirling my tongue around his. Lu Qing Yu growled, then promptly reciprocated. As we kissed, his hands ran up and down my back, before I felt him start to untie my robes. I pulled away with a gasp.

"Lu Qing Yu, I need to wash! I've been outside all day." I said. His eyes bore into me, looking very unsatisfied. I felt my cheeks heat up. Why was I embarrassed? Adding my lifetimes together, I should be over 30 already, damn it! "Fine." he conceded. "Shall we wash together?" he asked.

I glared at him. "No." I said. "Maids!" he called. Footsteps came from an area rather far from the door, and stopped outside the door. It seemed they didn't want to be too close to the action either. I never understood how people of this era could... could... do it with people right outside the door.

"Yes, Your Highness?" Qiu Le asked. "Help Noble Concubine Ling take a bath. And get us some wine." he said. "Yes, Your Highness.". The door slid open and Qiu Le, who was on duty tonight, accompanied by other maidservants filed in. I looked away. It felt very wrong... like we were caught in the middle of something. "You..." I turned to Lu Qing Yu, only to see him flop onto the sofa. He waved at me to go off, then elegantly picked up his book.

Face burning, I was led to the bath by the entourage of maids. Speaking of which, this era's imperial family sure lived opulently. While waiting for the bath to be prepared, no less than 6 maidservants helped me take off my robes and chatted to me about the events of the day.

Today, I could see they all looked like they wanted to say something but didn't dare to, instead making unrelated small talk while discreetly giving me side eye and wide grins. I was briefly reminded of my time in middle school when my friends would nudge me and give wide grins while teasing me about my crush who walked by. I sighed, thinking about how I would never see those friends again.

After the bath was ready, I was escorted to the bath, which was really a huge room that looked like a man-made hot spring. A large pond? tub? was the centerpiece of the room. The room had an airy white and wood theme, with stone tiles and multiple accessories "needed" for a bath. Steam rose from the tub, making my vision slightly blurry.

Flower petals (even at 8pm) floated on the water. A delicate, flowery smell covered the room. They had been using my "au naturel" essential oils ever since it was invented.

Usually, I insisted on washing myself, unable to get used to the traditions here, but today I sat in the bath in a daze. My mind kept drifting to what was to come. My handmaidens poured water over me. Some washed my hair, while some took my two arms to wash them gently... Hold on.

"Wait. I can wash myself." I said, remembering exactly why I didn't like to be washed by others. "But Noble Concubine, today is an important day!" they said in protest. "It's fine, I know what to do. Can you wait for me outside?" "Alright..."

After the last of them went out, I was finally left alone in the bath. Why was I feeling hot? Was it the steam from the bath? Yes... that must be it. After I finished my bath and dried myself, I went to the outer bath area, where they dressed me in a new... set of robes I hadn't seen before, while drying my hair. "I haven't seen these robes before?" I asked.

"These are auspicious robes. The Empress Dowager sent them over." Qiu Le said proudly. "Auspicious?" I snorted. "Alright, if I'm wearing auspicious robes, what about the bedclothes?" I asked. "They've already been changed, and the room has been set up." she promptly replied. Wow, they sure were thorough. Finally, after we were done, I was abandoned back in the outer room with Lu Qing Yu.

He ran his eyes over me, and nodded in satisfaction. "Don't disturb us tonight." he said. "Yes, Your Highness." the group of them chorused, then gleefully filed out of the room. We were left alone again. "I...erm..." I lost my words. Lu Qing Yu only chuckled, then lifted me up in a princess carry.

"Wait!" I protested, clinging on to him, feeling very nervous off the ground. "Where are we going?" I asked. "To your inner room, silly." he said. "You haven't taken a bath yet." I tried. "Already did just before you got back." he said without missing a beat.

The inner room and outer room were only separated by an archway and a pair of thick drapes. He crossed the distance easily. I got another shock when I saw my room. Was this really my room? The handmaidens had cleaned up the room, changed the bedclothes to an auspicious red and gold design, and laid freshly lit candles at strategic parts of the room.

Jugs of wine and a spread of wine glasses and hors d'oeuvres were spread across the table. In addition, there was a large basin of water beside the dressing table loaded with "essential oils", giving the room a strange and ambiguous ambience.

As we passed through the drapes, the drapes closed, leaving us in the room alone. He placed me on the bed and started to undo my robes...