Volume One, Chapter 12: Sleeping with Women

“So?”

The man pressed his hand against her waist, his chin nearly touching her forehead, warm breath cascading over Ning Yu’s profile.

Ning Yu clenched her palm. “Someone might walk by.”

“That makes it even more thrilling.” Li Shiyan chuckled disdainfully, his movements unabated, showing no intention of letting her go.

Ning Yu gripped his sleeve, desperate to stop him. “Aren’t you at all afraid someone will find out?”

“Find out what? That I slept with my future niece-in-law?” Li Shiyan laughed as if hearing the biggest joke in the world. “Do you really think the Lin family’s old mansion is some clean place?”

Ning Yu was speechless.

The wealthier the family, the more scandalous their affairs. What respectable clan doesn’t have its dirty secrets?

Especially the Lin family—a powerful, prosperous aristocratic household bustling with relatives. Beneath the solemn, grand facade of their ancestral home, who knows what sordid things lie hidden?

But everyone was clever enough to keep such matters unspoken. Most were tacitly acknowledged and quietly overlooked; airing them publicly to disgust others would be a different matter altogether.

If such scandals ever leaked, it would be a dead end for the Lin family’s reputation.

The man in front of her knew about Lin Haoyu and Ning Yunyun but acted so recklessly, clearly enjoying stirring up trouble.

If it did get out, the blame would fall solely on her—labeled as a wanton woman, not satisfied with marrying into the Lin family’s main branch, brazenly trying to seduce Lord Li.

His face was too dark to read; she could only feel the tension radiating from him. Then his large hand shifted deliberately to the spot she found most unbearable.

“Now you’re scared? Don’t you think it’s a little late?”

Ning Yu took a deep breath, suppressing her discomfort. “Doctor Li, I’m just an ordinary woman from head to toe, truly unworthy of you. We already talked about it last time; what happened that day was my fault—I was not in my right mind and made a mistake. Other than that, you can ask for anything.”

She couldn’t think of any way to deal with Li Shiyan.

First, he was uncontrollable, like a ticking bomb that could reduce her to nothing at any moment.

Second, she knew she owed him.

“Whether you’re worthy or not, who gets to decide?” Li Shiyan sneered without stopping, his voice growing more wicked in the endless night. “You really think it’s still eight years ago? You sleep with me once, I sleep with you once. Isn’t that fair?”

Fair, yes—but couldn’t he choose a better place?

She wasn’t a virgin anymore, and with him, the chemistry was undeniable. She wasn’t prudish like a pure maiden.

But the bathroom stall was Lin Haoyu and Ning Yunyun’s domain, and the Lin family’s old mansion was even worse—any noise would be known to everyone.

Was there anywhere better?

Ning Yu’s head ached as she felt his hand moving.

Suddenly, footsteps approached. She felt like a taut string ready to snap. Voices of servants came through the door.

“Hey, where’s Miss Ning? Have you seen her?”

Ning Yu didn’t dare breathe, frantically clutching his hand and digging her nails into it.

“It’s late; she must have gone to bed after getting a drink. That’s not the real problem. Just now, the old master said he needed Lord Li, but the entire North Courtyard has been turned upside down with no sign of him.”

Another servant hurried over. “The North Courtyard staff say they saw Lord Li coming this way. Maybe he’s around here.”

The servants’ chatter frayed Ning Yu’s nerves, and the man’s actions before her challenged her reason.

She dug her nails into his hand harder.

Li Shiyan chuckled softly, voice calm as ever. “That hurts.”

Ning Yu’s eyes widened. The servants outside fell silent for two seconds before speaking again.

“Lord Li? That sounded like Lord Li’s voice… Could he be inside?”

No answer came. The servants knocked on the door.

“Lord Li? Are you in there?”

Ning Yu wanted to bite Li Shiyan to death right then.

But the servants wouldn’t stop.

“Strange, we clearly heard someone speaking, why isn’t anyone answering now?”

“If no one’s there, let’s go in and check.”

Though they said that, few dared enter Li Shiyan’s room, even if it was just a voice that resembled his.

More knocking came in a sudden storm.

Ning Yu felt blood surge through her body, clutched his sleeve tightly, and whispered hoarsely on tiptoe:

“I’ll come to your place three days from now. Not today.”

The servants decided to push the door open. As the handle moved, a sliver of light spilled inside.

The man’s low, hoarse voice scolded, “Get lost!”

The startled servants hurriedly withdrew, barely daring to breathe, afraid of angering their master.

He bent close to her ear. “I’ll wait for you at most three days.”

With that, Li Shiyan left the room, closing the door behind him. Ning Yu remained hidden in the darkness, gasping for breath.

He was too difficult.

More difficult than anyone.

…

In the main courtyard, the study on the second floor was lit.

Li Shiyan stepped inside without even glancing at the stern old Lin patriarch sitting upright.

“What have you been doing?” the old man asked, lifting his eyelids with a neutral tone.

Li Shiyan casually sat on the sofa’s edge, crossing his long legs. “Sleeping with women.”

“Don’t get unruly in the old mansion!” the old man snapped.

Li Shiyan propped his elbow up. “Relax, I didn’t succeed. Didn’t I ruin your fun?”

The old man’s veins bulged with anger. “You’re thirty-two already. It’s time to settle down! Play enough and come back to the company. We’re short-staffed.”

Li Shiyan simply stared at the Buddhist beads on his wrist. “I don’t deal with trash. Leave it to you to manage for your old age.”

Countless people fought tooth and nail to get into the Lin Group. The Lin family’s branches endlessly vied for control, their interests tangled in open and covert battles.

But when it came out of Li Shiyan’s mouth, the whole thing was trash.

So arrogant.

If anyone else said it, they’d be called crazy. But from Li Shiyan, it was sheer contempt.

After all, his surname was Li.

The old patriarch, a veteran of the capital’s business circles, swallowed his anger and smoothly changed the subject. “What do you think of the Ning family’s two daughters?”

“The younger one’s average,” Li Shiyan said lazily. “The elder… who was she again?”

He hadn’t been paying attention. The old man scrutinized him for a moment. “None of them are easy to deal with, not suitable for the Lin family. If not for Haoyu insisting on the engagement, the Ning family wouldn’t be considered.”

Li Shiyan seemed indifferent but pondered the Ning family’s eldest daughter, then suddenly said, “I remember now. She acts well—could be a decent stepmother for me. Your funeral will be lively then.”

“Bastard! Are you trying to kill your old man with anger?” The old man was furious, flinging a teacup at him.

“Clang!”

The cup shattered at Li Shiyan’s feet, tea splashing everywhere.

Unmoved, Li Shiyan rubbed the beads on his wrist. “Fine, I’ll burn an extra incense stick for you every year.”

“Get out! Get out of here!”

That single command nearly left the old man breathless with rage.

The more displeased he was, the more pleased Li Shiyan seemed. “By the way, I’ll stay in the old mansion for three days.”

Without waiting for the old man’s ragged breathing behind him, Li Shiyan stood and left.

As he exited, the servants, hearing the commotion, hurried in carrying various medicines.