Chapter 19: Bathing

  The wedding night, one of the four greatest joys in life. But in Lingyun's wedding chamber, there was no beautiful bride, only two shy and lovely little girls. The three books and six rites had all been completed, but now his wife had left him to discuss something outside, leaving him alone to guard the wedding chamber. Lingyun really felt a faint sense of melancholy. Being abandoned in the wedding chamber by his wife, this feeling was just like being a little girl.

  The bridal chamber was empty of the bride, so naturally there was no teasing or drinking wine with the red veil. Logically speaking, Mulan and Qinglian, these two little maids, were supposed to be the new wife's attendants, and now they should also be considered his concubines. With his wife not around, they could also serve as substitutes for her in bed. However, firstly, the two girls were really too young and immature, their breasts hadn't even developed yet, and he couldn't bring himself to be so beastly. Moreover, this was the first night of marriage, and after much effort, he had finally gotten close to Gao Shanshuang, he didn't want to ruin it by sleeping with her personal maid on the first night and making Gao Shanshuang unhappy. Who made him a son-in-law who married into the family?

  After returning to the house, the first thing I did was to have the two maids heat up a large bucket of hot water and take a refreshing hot bath. These past few days, I've been nursing my injuries and hadn't had a chance to properly wash myself, so I felt like there were some odors on my body. Just now, after the surgery, I also got splattered with quite a bit of blood, so it was just right that I could relax and unwind by soaking in a hot bath. The two little maids seemed to think that staying in the room with their new master was a bit awkward, so they were very enthusiastic about having something to do to pass the time. Before long, they had already filled up the large bathtub, which was half as tall as a person. Fortunately, they only directed some of the servants to boil water and carry it, or else Lingyun would have felt a little sorry for the two maids. However, carrying water could be assigned to the servants, but washing their master's body wasn't something that just any servant could do. Mulan and Qinglian had to take care of it personally - they were going to be the people in charge of their master's quarters from now on, even though they hadn't officially taken over yet. These things were their responsibility, as well as their privilege - ordinary maids didn't have this opportunity.

  Lingyun took off his clothes and stepped into the bathtub, closing his eyes with a comfortable sigh. Immediately, he felt several delicate small hands touching his body, wrapping around him like an octopus. He quickly opened his eyes to see that Mulan and Qinglian, the two maidservants, had changed out of their previous clothes and were now wearing thin white robes that revealed their figures, including their adorable breastbands. Lingyun was not seeing Tang Dynasty women's undergarments for the first time; previously, when he rescued Gao Shanshu from drowning by the river, he had unbuttoned her collar and chest. At the time, he found this style of chest garment strange and it took him some effort to undo it. Later, he learned that in the Northern Dynasties, women's breastbands were called "袜" (wà), which was not worn on the feet but wrapped around the chest as a type of undershirt. This Sui Dynasty breastband had no straps and was tied at the bottom, differing greatly from the later Tang Dynasty's "诃子" (huāng zǐ) and "肚兜" (dù dōu). The two young maidservants were only 14 years old, not yet of marriageable age even in the early-marriage Sui Dynasty. Under their breastbands, they were slightly rounded, with Mulan's being a bit larger, estimated to be B-cup, while Qinglian might be A-cup, although it was also possible that the breastband had no effect on accentuating their figures.

  It's not obvious that they are also two young and inexperienced little girls. At this time, dressed like this, like two small white sheep, they stood on the side, blushing all over their faces, and didn't know whether it was due to the steam or excitement.

  "Brother-in-law, I'll help you with your bath!"

  "This, this isn't quite right, I'll do it myself." Lingyun swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said somewhat uneasily. He had heard that during the Sui and Tang dynasties, the status of slaves was extremely low, just like in ancient times. Even if the master killed a slave, nothing would happen to him. Lingyun was worried, Gao Shanshuai was a wealthy and beautiful woman, what if she saw two little maids eating her husband ahead of time, wouldn't she be so angry that she would beat the two maids to death?

  "Hubby has already married the young lady, and from now on he is the big master of our house. Serving you with bathing is what we should do, doesn't hubby look down on us?" Qinglian said with a wronged expression.

  After a few days of getting along, Lingyun had discovered that most of the women who handled matters efficiently around Gao Qianshuo were female attendants, but the two personal maids who followed her closely were Mulan and Qinglian. Moreover, he found that Mulan was more straightforward and bold in character, while Qinglian seemed more introverted and reserved. At this moment, when she opened her mouth, that lovely appearance truly made one feel a sense of tenderness and pity, and it was hard to bear the thought of putting her through any hardship.

  "It's nothing, why would I be disliked? As long as you don't dislike me, that's enough."

  Lingyun's words made the two maids giggle, and the atmosphere suddenly relaxed a lot. It has to be said that these two girls used to serve Gao Qianshuai, and their service skills were indeed impressive. Lingyun truly experienced what it means to be exploited by the feudal landlord class, what it means to live a corrupt and rotten life. Enjoyment, extreme enjoyment. Those small hands, soft and gentle, pressed every part, immediately making the pores open wide.

  Cool!

  "Huh, what's this thing! It's hard and has elasticity!" A pair of hands that were helping Lingyun massage and knead the wooden lan suddenly grasped something strange in a weird place, squeezed it a few times, and then said in surprise.

  Lingyun suddenly stiffened there, and not only was he stiff there, but his whole body was stiff. I'm leaning on it, this little girl doesn't understand or pretends to be stupid, or is she intentionally teasing him?

  "A Lian, you touch it too, it's so strange, Da Lang is still wearing it after taking a bath."

  Qinglian, who was helping Lingyun massage her long hair, also hurriedly and curiously put her hand into the hot water, following Mulan's hand to that strange place in Mulan's mouth.

  "Is it a root stick?"

  "What kind of flexible stick is this!" Mulan immediately retorted. While speaking, she also pinched a few more times with force.

  Lingyun took a deep breath of cold air, and the feeling of being caught off guard was truly complex - it was refreshing, comfortable, yet also somewhat embarrassing.

  "What is it, Dàláng?"

  "It's a treasure!" Lingyun exclaimed.

  Mulans curiosity was piqued by Lingyuns appearance, "Take it out and have a look." As she spoke, she pulled with force, this time almost taking Lingyuns life.

  "Don't pull, don't pull! It hurts!" Lingyun hastily pressed down on those two small hands.

  Lingyun's reaction finally made Qinglian, who understood a little more, feel something. Her face suddenly turned bright red. As a personal maid to the young lady, she was still young and although she had occasionally heard about these things before, this was her first real experience. She let out a soft, shy cry of surprise and quickly tried to pull her hand back. But Lingyun held onto both their hands tightly.

  "You just hurt it, now rub it."

  Qinglian's small face was as red as a large piece of cloth, only the coarse-branched and big-leaved Magnolia had not yet discovered that she was holding a treasure.

  Qinglian pulled her hand back several times, but still turned her head to one side, letting the young master have his way. Although she felt embarrassed in her heart, she also knew that although tonight's ceremony had not been completed, originally she and Mulan were supposed to accompany Miss together with the young master for the ceremony. In the future, they would be Miss's accompanying maids, people in the young master's household; if the young master took a liking to them, he would take them as concubines. Sooner or later, she would be the young master's person, unless the young master didn't like her. Her small hand was grasped by the young master's large hand, continuing to hold onto that thing, lightly rubbing and kneading; she felt her heartbeat getting faster and faster, her breathing getting heavier. On the other hand, Mulan still seemed rather silly and ignorant, just standing there giggling foolishly.

  Lingyun's breathing became more and more urgent, gradually accompanied by a few long inhalations, his eyes also becoming dazed. It was too chaotic, too shameless, but also too stimulating. Let him push the two little loli down like a beast, he found it hard to do, but as it is now, playing some edge ball, coincidentally, it's also an unexpected welfare.

  With a long "oh" sound, Lingyun slumped softly in the bathtub.