As the young nobles milled about saying their ’thank you’s’ and ’goodbyes’, Bai Li waited patiently for i ili to co free, before stepping forwards.
"Miss i, you wanted to speak with before I leave?"
"Yes! Commander Bai, firstly, my sincere thanks again for saving my life last week. It appears I really do owe you more than I can repay in this lifeti, though I’ll certainly do my best to repay you."
"I was only doing my job Miss i. And I’ve told you before, there is a way you can repay . But we can discuss that on another occasion in more detail. What was the other thing you wanted to tell ?"
She covered her mouth with her hand and leant in towards him, standing on tiptoe to reach his ear, which was still so way off. He leant down to et her halfway, with a wry smile. "I hope this is not too much to ask," she whispered, "but Princess Sofya wishes to use the hot spring I’m lucky enough to have in my courtyard. I’ve had an issue in the past with soone climbing our roof and spying on . After the events of last week, I’m even more concerned. Could I ask you to bring your patrol by this evening to keep an eye on our compound?"
He gave a little bow. "Of course, Miss i, that’s only what I should do," he said seriously. "It would be disastrous for sothing to happen while the Princess is in your mansion."
He avoided the topic of the previous spying like the plague. He knew who those culprits were, so he thought it unlikely that they’d return, unless Tan Bowen had a death wish.
"Thank you, Bai Li," she smiled genuinely at him, and his heart sped up involuntarily.
"Enjoy your evening with the princess without any concerns," he said.
Now for Tan Bowen, she thought. She marched over to him.
"Tan Bowen," she whispered up at the tall fellow.
"Yes i ili," he stage-whispered back.
"This evening, I will be using the hot spring in my courtyard with Princess Sofya."
This topic again, he thought, he already knew about this plan, but having her tell him directly felt like an invitation. He gulped, scratching at his neck.
"I know you don’t normally drop by unexpectedly in the evening, but please make sure to stay away today."
"O..of course," he stuttered nervously.
He would do his utmost to honour those two words, though he could already feel the pull of that imagined scene, luring him in like an irresistible siren’s song.
Sofya travelled back to the i mansion with ili. She planned to spend the night in a guestroom after their evening dip together. Her brother had sent four guards with her to keep her safe. Now that the perceived threat had beco real, they weren’t taking any chances.
They entered ili’s private courtyard, and the princess’s guards took their places outside the entrance doors.
Manni had left them both in light white robes, ready to bathe in the hot spring. Sofya dropped her robe without a care in the world and dipped her toe in the warm spring water.
"Oh, deliciously warm ili, how lovely!"
ili stared in fascination at Sofya from behind. She had never seen another woman naked before, not even in a book, so she was sowhat fixated by the sight, and very self-conscious about her own body.
Sofya looked exactly as she thought a beautiful woman should look. In all of the art and paintings she had seen, a beautiful woman should have a graceful, slim, elegant profile like a swan, with soft curves just enough to be seen. Not chubby, and not too rounded.
In the fading afternoon light ili could see that Sofya’s pretty little figure had not an ounce of fat, a tiny waist, and a prettily rounded bottom. Sofya turned to face ili and wave her into the water.
ili ducked her head shyly when she saw Sofya’s chest and the secret ’v’ between her thighs. She was all creamy white skin with the most perfect peach-like breasts that looked like they wouldn’t even wobble without a chest binding.
Sofya peeled with laughter. "Co on ili, don’t be so shy. This is the natural body the heavens have gifted us with," she twirled 360 degrees in the water. "Only n can make us ashad of it."
"That’s easy for you to say, who’ve been gifted with such a beautiful figure, like a fairy dancer descended from the heavens. I’ve really been gifted with a lump of coal. I look like a cow that urgently needs milking," said ili mournfully.
It wasn’t going to get any easier to do this, she realised. She would just have to be brave. She slipped out of her robe and tiptoed into the water.
"I would be lying if I didn’t admit that they are so of the largest I’ve seen on a young woman..."
ili splashed under the water face-first, dying of embarassnt.
Sofya hauled her back up by the shoulders. "Let finish. But they are honestly very beautiful, and I promise you that your husband will love your body just as it is."
"It’s kind of you to say that," said ili glumly.
"n are not that discerning ili. They just like won’s bodies, in all of their shapes and sizes. If your husband loves you, he will definitely love your figure."
ili was sowhat comforted by that. It was as her mother had told her many tis. A good man would love her for who she was, and he would love all of her.
ili quickly beca comfortable with her body in the company of the princess. She could feel her lack of confidence in her figure evaporating in the face of Sofya’s no-nonsense attitude. She believed this straightforward girl who told her that there was nothing at all wrong with her, nor anything she hadn’t seen at the bathhouse.
She was coming to the realisation that perhaps she was comparing herself with her brothers and her deep unhappiness with her figure might be the uneasiness of a child becoming a woman.
Tan Bowen lurked in the dark outside the mansion, as the very scenes that he had imagined were occurring in the courtyard. He had walked towards the compound walls and then away from them again at least six tis now, wrestling with his conscience versus his natural desires.
At last, he decided that this was an opportunity that would never co again, and he would surely regret not grabbing it, much more than he would regret the small breach of ili’s trust. He would tell her about it when they were betrothed, and she would forgive him. Afterall, it was his obsession with her that drove his actions.
Now that his mind was made up, he sprang up onto the wall in the shadow of a huge loquat tree. As he balanced briefly on the top, he felt sothing hard hit him first on one ankle, and then rapidly on the other. His feet now swept out from under him, he tumbled back onto the grass outside the mansion.
He groaned as he gripped his throbbing ankles. What the hell was that?
Bai Li ca strolling out of the darkness with his bow in hand, bending to collect the two blunt tipped arrows he had shot into Tan Bowen’s ankles. Then he picked up the fellow himself by the scruff of his neck and started to drag him away from the mansion.
Tan Bowen’s ankles wouldn’t work, so his feet dragged along the cobbles in a scene that felt eerily similar to the night ili had first tasted huangjiu.
"Look, I can explain Bai Li," he tugged at his robe.
"Mmm hmm. You can explain it to my fist when I drag you to a quiet place."
"It’s really not what you think. I planned to simply sit and guard the rooftop for them."
"Is that so? Well, I plan to take you to an inn and toast you."
"Really?"
"No."
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