Chapter 7

Li Wu had a splitting headache. In his heart, Zhu Yu was like a younger sister, a little spoiled and mischievous.

But now that confession was hammering at him like a sledgehammer, forcing him to face the truth: she wasn't a sister, she was a woman.

"I'm finished eating. I'm going out for a walk." Zhu Yu said to Li Wu, who still hadn't looked up, and let him know where she was going.

"Mm."

The awkward memory from last night was still fresh. Li Wu kept his head down, cutting off Zhu Yu's gaze.

"Hey, why won't you look at me?" Zhu Yu asked, puzzled.

"Why would I look at you?" Li Wu replied without lifting his head.

"Then what's your answer to what I said last night?"

"Cough, cough, cough!"

That bomb was tossed out so casually that Li Wu, who was drinking his porridge, suddenly choked and coughed hard.

"Y-you..." Li Wu didn't know what to say.

"Then I'll give you a little more time to think about it." Maybe her confession had been too abrupt; it was normal for an honest man to have trouble accepting it at first. With that, she left.

"Can this fabric be cut into something like this?" Zhu Yu asked, holding up a length of soft cloth and sketching out the design with her hands.

Thanks to the chief clerk, she had a full two taels of silver to spend. She might as well buy some good clothes, powder, and the other feminine things she wanted.

The shopkeeper was a woman. Watching Zhu Yu gesture, she seemed to think of something; surprise flickered across her face, then she smiled knowingly. "Young lady, you've got quite a few ideas. If I make it like that, your husband will be crazy about you."

Zhu Yu was speechless. Wasn't this just modern lingerie? In ancient times, it had become something erotic. She really couldn't stand those belly bands; she'd rather have a little top fastened with straps.

The woman brought out a wooden box from the back room and motioned Zhu Yu over. Inside were a few pieces of gauze thin as cicada wings. Their exquisite tailoring made the clothes look hazy, half-hidden and half-revealed - a masterpiece.

Zhu Yu stared in disbelief. Since ancient times the western regions had been more open than the Central Plains, but she hadn't expected the business of sensual clothing to be this developed too.

The woman covered the corner of her mouth and laughed softly. "From the style of your little top, I figured you were one of us. These clothes are the pride of my shop. I had someone bring them back from Dashi for me, and today I'll sell them to you."

"Deal!" Zhu Yu paid happily.

Heh-heh, Li Wu, just wait.

At that moment, Li Wu, far away in a dense forest outside the town, shivered.

"My lord, what's wrong?" asked one of the elite soldiers dressed as commoners beside him.

"Nothing. Let's continue." Li Wu waved a hand, signaling them to keep studying the map.

After he uncovered the secrets of this little town, Li Wu had already sent carrier pigeons to contact the nearby cities that had come under the Prince of Qin's rule.

And the local administrator just happened to be one of his former subordinates, so he brought people over overnight, planning to find a chance to take that band of thieves down together and escort them to Youzhou.

"See you at the private residence at the Hour of the Tiger."

These past few days he had already traced out the private residences of A Buji and the chief clerk. By then he would be able to arrest them both at once.

As for the county magistrate, he was nothing more than a puppet in this collusion between officials and bandits. Once the chief clerk was taken, the rest would naturally come to light.

"Yes." The elite soldiers answered and dispersed separately into the city to prepare for tonight's operation.

Li Wu looked at the branches swaying in the wind and suddenly felt uneasy, as if something bad were about to happen.

Then he spent the rest of the day in growing unease.

Meals - normal

Going out to investigate the county magistrate's residence - normal

Changing the dressing at night - normal

Most important of all, Zhu Yu - normal (she hadn't said anything weird) crossed out

Lying in bed, Li Wu reviewed the day and wondered if it was just his imagination.

He closed his eyes and rested up, storing his strength for the action ahead.

In the quiet room, about a quarter of an hour passed.

A hand slowly reached out from under the bed. Small and fair, it looked to be a woman's hand.

And that person was Zhu Yu.

Holding her breath, she quietly crawled out from under the bed and carefully straightened up to see whether Li Wu was asleep.

Seeing his eyes closed, Zhu Yu finally let out a breath. Hiding under the bed for so long had not been easy.

Then she tiptoed to the side of the bed and started to climb up onto it.

The moment her right foot stepped over Li Wu, something unexpected happened.

"Who is it?!" Li Wu suddenly sat up, caught Zhu Yu with one hand, and a palm strike swept toward her neck.

Terrified, Zhu Yu hurriedly shouted, "It's me!"

"Zhu Yu?" Li Wu froze, then said in shock, "Why are you in my room?"

"Who told you to spend the whole day hiding from me and ignoring me? I came to find you, that's why." Zhu Yu pouted, making excuses for her sneak attack and throwing the blame back at him.

Li Wu had nothing to say. He pulled on Zhu Yu, trying to drag her down from the bed. "A young woman can't just barge into a man's room like this. Get back to your room at once!"

"No!" Zhu Yu clung to the bed rail and fought with all her might.

How could a woman's strength compare to a man's? On top of that, Li Wu was a skilled fighter; dragging her was as easy as pulling up vegetables.

Panicking, Zhu Yu shouted toward the door, "Li Wu, what's that?!"

Zhu Yu's urgent cry drew Li Wu's attention. He instinctively glanced toward the doorway too.

He only heard a sharp snap, and when he looked back, there were suddenly a pair of handcuffs on his wrist.

"?" Li Wu froze.

Taking advantage of that moment, Zhu Yu yanked his hands down and sat directly on top of them.

The hot, damp sensation traveled through his skin and straight into Li Wu's mind. He stared up at Zhu Yu in a daze.

"Y-you're not wearing any pants!!" Li Wu cried in despair.

That was right. Zhu Yu had only come over in her inner robe, not even wearing panties. Right now her bare sex was pressed straight against Li Wu's fingers, and with just a little reach he could touch her pussy.

Zhu Yu blinked innocently and said, "I never like wearing clothes when I sleep."

"Get up already!"

"Nope."

The two of them faced off. The moral sense in Li Wu's heart kept him from crossing that dangerous line, but that same moral sense also had him pinned by Zhu Yu, leaving him completely at a loss for what to do now.

"Do you want to undo them?" Zhu Yu asked with a soft laugh. She leaned close to Li Wu's ear and breathed softly. "As long as you find the key and unlock the handcuffs, I'll leave right away."

Li Wu stared at her, as if checking whether her words were true. In the end, he compromised. "Where's the key?"

"Somewhere on me." Zhu Yu's fingers traced lightly as she slowly undid her inner robe.

What came into view was a little top made of pale lotus-pink cloth, held in place by straps at the back, lifting up her breasts and even forcing a deep valley between them.

Li Wu had never seen anything like this before. Heat rushed to his head; his ears went red enough to drip blood, and even his nose burned. He struggled hard just to avoid the humiliation of a nosebleed.

"All right, go ahead and look for it." Zhu Yu leaned forward.

Without help from his hands, Li Wu could only search with his mouth. Looking at Zhu Yu's faintly smiling expression, he knew exactly what she was up to.

Sure enough, his intuition was never wrong...

Li Wu took a deep breath and, hesitating, slowly brought his mouth down to that cleft, using his tongue to probe along the edge and search for the key's trace.

"Mm..." The wet sensation made Zhu Yu let out a soft moan.

After a moment, Li Wu muttered, "No..."

There was only so much his tongue could reach. If he wanted to see clearly, he would have to... pull that piece of cloth down.

Li Wu bit down on the edge of the fabric and yanked it lower. Her round white mounds bounced free with a pop. That bright red cherry was so vivid it burned itself straight into Li Wu's eyes.

That breathtaking scene amid the snow-white flesh made Li Wu unable to look away. Zhu Yu wrapped her arms around his neck like vines and murmured sweetly, "Li Wu... kiss it."

The cherry was pressed right up to Li Wu's mouth. He lowered his head and took it in, his nose pressing fully against her chest, filling his lungs with the sweet fragrance of a young woman - intoxicating, enough to steal away all reason.

Li Wu began to suck hard on that cherry. He licked it, nipped it, and worked the nipple until it hardened and stood up.

"Ahh..." Zhu Yu tipped back her head, seeming unable to bear it.

Hearing that sound, Li Wu wickedly tugged at the little peak, stretching it longer, making Zhu Yu cry out again with a faint sting of pain.

The wet smacking sounds never stopped. Her white mounds were licked until they shone slick and bright, glistening with crystal light. The red cherries had also been bitten a deeper red, swollen and pitiful.

"Good." Zhu Yu panted softly, worked up by the licking, and couldn't help kissing him.

"No... the key..." Li Wu dodged, unwilling to go any further in taking liberties with her.

Zhu Yu tempted him. "Maybe the key is in my mouth, too."

"How could..." Before he could finish, the little tongue that darted in hooked his own and left him unable to speak. That small tongue seemed to have found paradise; for a moment it licked the roof of his mouth, and then it tugged his tongue into a dance with it.

A few threads of silver saliva slid from the corner of their mouths, dripping onto her fair collarbone and quietly slipping into that bottomless cleft.

"The other side." After enough kissing, Zhu Yu kindly reminded him.

The cloth on the other side was bitten away, and another equally large white mound sprang free, receiving the same treatment. Licked until it gleamed, sucked until it turned bright red.

"Mmm, ahh..." Zhu Yu felt as though her soul was about to be sucked out of her. She could not help swaying her hips, rubbing her sex against Li Wu's fingers. The rough calluses on those fingers made perfect massage points; the dense, fine stimulation made her shiver, and her pussy began to drip slick.

"There's still nothing..." Even with the front of her chest laid bare, there was still no sign of the key. Only one place remained... that was...

Li Wu felt the wetness in his palm and could not help flexing his fingers. The callused edge brushed over the little bud of her clit, and Zhu Yu cried out at once.

Here?

It was as if Zhu Yu could hear his thoughts. Her beautiful face flushed red, and she smiled charmingly, like a fox spirit who had cultivated for many years, luring in a scholar. "The answer is right in front of you."

The instant his finger slid inside, the flesh of her pussy tightened around it on its own, squeezing and sliding along his finger, as if guiding him deeper in to open that door.

Li Wu's fingers were long, and once he brought them together he could easily find the little bud inside her pussy and set her crying out again.

This sensitive?

Li Wu raised an eyebrow, beginning to see through this paper tiger for what it really was.

With a little revenge in mind, he used his other hand to pinch that bud and start rolling it between his fingers, even tugging at it.

"Mm! Nn... no..." Zhu Yu was hit by the intense stimulation, and water dripped in streaks from below. At a loss, she clung to Li Wu and pleaded miserably, "Don't pinch it..."

But Li Wu's heart was already heating up from the way she had toyed with him. How could he let her off that easily?

He dug into those pink pussy lips, pushing his hand deeper and deeper into her sex as if he meant to scoop out every drop of slick before he stopped.

"Mm! Mm!" Zhu Yu panted hard, pleasure taking over all her thoughts.

Before long, she came.