Chapter 46: The Grand Army of Mao Camp Sets Out, Mandarin Ducks Frolic in the Water
Chapter 46: Chapter 46: The Grand Army of Mao Camp Sets Out, Mandarin Ducks Frolic in the Water
The abandoned Li Family estate, the Mao Camp’s base.
General Li was seeing off the brave warriors under his command.
The Great Zhou had a post station every 70 li. There were 67 post stations between Tongzhou and the Celestial Capital, and two cats would be assigned to each one.
During the time Pei Shaoqing was in seclusion, General Li had essentially subdued all the domestic and stray cats in the city, carefully selecting 136 of them for comprehensive training.
Today was finally the day they would set off on their expedition.
cats of various colors and breeds sat squatting in the courtyard, their little faces serious. Each carried a small bundle on its back containing dried fish and dried mice.
General Li, fat and plump and clearly a head taller than the other cats, stood on a stone mill. He looked down upon his kind, meowing nonstop.
The general meaning was as follows:
"To eat the lord’s grain is to be loyal to his cause! During this time, the master has nourished you all generously with dried fish. Today is the day you repay his kindness! The master has said that after he takes over the world, we cats will be the auspicious beasts of the nation.
Those two-legged beasts will have to provide for us four-legged beasts in every household! There will be an endless supply of dried fish! We can have as many litters as we want, and our kittens will no longer be given away or drowned in latrines, because today, we have bled for the master! We have rendered meritorious service for the master!"
General Li’s cries grew increasingly shrill. After the last word, he threw his head back and let out a great cry.
"Meow~"
"MEOW MEOW MEOW! MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW!"
The clowder of cats instantly responded in kind, their meows unending.
As a Cat Demon, General Li was like an Immortal in the eyes of these cats. Naturally, not a single cat doubted his words, and not a single cat refused to buy into the future he painted for them.
General Li looked back at a calico cat sitting quietly beside him and said, "My beloved consort, lead the grand army and set off. Remember, travel by night. Follow the woods alongside the official road, and absolutely do not take the main road."
The calico cat’s bundle contained the only copy of the route map, as the other cats couldn’t read it. However, those cats would only need to travel the path once to remember the way back.
The calico cat’s mission was to go to the Capital City and act as a spy beside Noble Consort Wan. This allowed her to conveniently lead the other cats to their posts at the stations along the way. Two other cats would also accompany her to the Capital City to help her pass information.
"Meow~" The calico cat, who could understand human speech but not speak it, cried out. She reluctantly moved closer and nuzzled against the tabby cat a few times.
Although General Li often boasted that he wasn’t the sentimental type, at this moment, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of reluctance.
"My beloved consort, you go on ahead. When this general follows the master and storms the Capital City, that will be the day we are reunited."
The calico cat meowed, jumped down, and started to walk away, looking back every three steps. The other cats all followed.
It was a good thing this was happening late at night. If anyone had seen this scene during the day, they probably would have been scared shitless.
General Li stood quietly on the stone mill, watching his beloved consort and the grand army disappear into the distance. It wasn’t until an orange cat, a tuxedo cat, and a black cat jumped up and started rubbing against him that the reluctance in his heart finally dissipated.
One beloved consort may have left.
’But I still have three more!’
General Li was a cat who valued his relationships.
He could only deal with the departure of one female cat by tearfully using the momentary physical pleasure of mating with more female cats to dilute his extreme psychological pain.
It was a pity there were no more Spirit Awakening Pills; otherwise, he could have enlightened more beloved consorts to serve the master’s grand ambition.
"My beloved consorts, attend to this king for bed."
’The master isn’t here, so I can overstep my bounds a little.’
「...」
In the bedroom, behind a screen.
Steam rose from a bathtub filled with flower petals.
"Take off your clothes." Even for a relationship that was already so intimate, Xie Qingwu’s heart still trembled as she said this. She could only keep a straight face and pretend to be calm.
Pei Shaoqing started stripping immediately, asking with a grin, "What’s this? Aren’t you taking your clothes off, my dear?"
"You take yours off first," Xie Qingwu snapped, glaring.
Pei Shaoqing chuckled and stripped completely naked in front of Xie Qingwu. The part of him down below was already up and ready.
"Shameless," Xie Qingwu spat, rolling her eyes. "Hurry up and get in the tub."
Pei Shaoqing stepped into the tub, feeling the hot water envelop him. He let out a long, comfortable sigh and stared intently at Xie Qingwu. "My dear?"
Xie Qingwu bit her lip. Blushing, she slowly removed her dress, eventually stripping down to a white undergarment on her upper body and white silk stockings on her lower body, revealing the full curve of her figure.
Pei Shaoqing had never seen her completely naked before. Just as he was watching with a dry mouth in anticipation of her taking off more, she instead walked towards the tub.
He immediately expressed his criticism of this behavior.
"How can you serve your husband’s bath while wearing clothes? Won’t your clothes get dirty? Take them off too."
"Shut up. Don’t push your luck, or you can wash yourself," Xie Qingwu huffed. Standing by the tub, she tested the water temperature with the tip of her foot. The Ice Silk, as thin as a cicada’s wing, darkened where her toes were soaked.
As she lowered herself into the water, her stockings were completely soaked, along with her upper undergarment. Wet, the fabric clung tightly to her skin, becoming somewhat transparent and revealing the pattern of her dudou underneath.
Xie Qingwu quickly noticed this. Her face flushed red as she kicked Pei Shaoqing under the water and scolded him in a mix of shame and anger, "Turn around. Don’t you dare look back."
Pei Shaoqing turned around reluctantly.
He could feel Xie Qingwu’s soft, warm body press against his back. Her small, delicate hands gently scrubbed his shoulders, while her long, white-stockinged legs and feet would occasionally brush against his own.
’Nice, so nice!’
He soon grew dissatisfied with just this. "My dear, the water is getting cold. When are you going to wash the front?"
Xie Qingwu said in a muffled voice, "Turn around."
Pei Shaoqing quickly turned to face her.
Xie Qingwu’s face was veiled in a layer of steam, giving it a faint pink hue. Her skin looked so delicate it might break at a touch.
"What are you looking at? This is just a bath. Don’t get any ideas," Xie Qingwu warned, glaring at him fiercely, though her heart was already a tempest.
Even though she had long since gotten used to it, she was still startled by the scorching-hot sensation against her thigh.
Pei Shaoqing said, "Your husband has always been a man who believes in repaying a kindness. Let me help wash you too, my dear."
The moment the words left his mouth, he lunged at her.
"Don’t! Pei Shaoqing, let me go!" Xie Qingwu struggled in a panic, sending water splashing everywhere. She yelled, a mixture of shame and fury, "Bastard! I’ll kill you!"
"My dear, to taste heaven in the morning, one could die by evening without regret!"
"Don’t! I’m begging you, don’t do this. Just give me more time." Xie Qingwu was powerless to resist. Her initial threats turned to pleas, tears glistening in her eyes.
But she soon realized that Pei Shaoqing only intended to fool around without going all the way, so she breathed a sigh of relief and began to actively cooperate.
"I may be lecherous, but I wouldn’t stoop to forcing a woman against her will," Pei Shaoqing said afterward, holding her comfortingly.
This was his close comrade-in-arms. He had worked so hard to raise her affection for him to this level; how could he risk turning her against him for a moment of carnal pleasure?
He had to make her give her body to him willingly. Only then could the two of them be truly and completely bound together.
All this fooling around now was just a way to satisfy his own desires while also speeding up the progress toward that goal.
The afterglow had not yet faded from Xie Qingwu’s face. Her eyes were still slightly hazy as she panted softly. After she recovered, she bit her lip and pinched him a few times, saying, "You scared me to death just now."
After witnessing all of Pei Shaoqing’s capabilities and truly understanding her current situation, she actually didn’t mind becoming a real husband and wife with him.
Otherwise, she would never have agreed to attend to him in his bath.
But her original husband had, after all, died at Pei Shaoqing’s hands. Even if she didn’t hold it against him, she felt that Pei Shaoqing might not be able to let down his guard and truly accept her.
Therefore, she had to maintain her bottom line while occasionally giving him a little taste to deepen their bond. This was to prevent Pei Shaoqing from thinking she was a cruel, ruthless, and promiscuous woman, which would only make him look down on her and become even more vigilant.
’To achieve the ideal marital relationship I envision...’
’I have to wait for the right moment.’
Both of them were cautiously moving toward each other.
As for love, they certainly had none at the moment. All they had were their own respective calculations of benefit; both wanted to turn their fake act into a real relationship for their own considerations.
After all, the premise of the saying "love grows over time" is that you need both the "doing it" and the "time."