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"NO!" Wang Li screamed.
It would not change anything. The Yang family had decreed that Xi Xiuying must be a witch, to be married to Yang Zunxu for so long without bearing him a child. He wasn't even the heir! They didn't need a child from him! Why were they treating her mistress so?
She sobbed. She wished she'd told her Xiuying to have a child with Lord Yang, whatever it took. She wished she could have it all back.
Abruptly, a green glow grew in her vision. She turned, but it was all around her. No-one else seemed to see it-
Then, she was in the Yang Manor again. All was quiet and normal, with none of the tension and hostility of the past months.
Xie'er walked past. She'd left over a year ago to get married.
Was this- Was this the past?
Wang Li rushed to Xiuying's rooms. Could it be-
Xiuying wasn't there. Wang Li looked out the window. The afternoon. Of course. She'd be in the library.
She walked to the library at a more reasonable pace. She was going fast, too eager, but all the other servants were used to it by now.
Xiuying was, indeed, there, sitting by a window. She was reading a travelogue of Dongying, so Wang Li had been sent back two years and one month.
She looked up from her book as Wang Li approached. "What has you in such a tizzy, Ah Li?"
Wang Li knelt by her side. "I heard the Yang family wants to send you away, because you haven't given Master Yang even a single child."
Xiuying's face grew tight. "You know Zunxu can't."
"Is he unable, or does he simply not want to?" Wang Li grabbed Xiuying's hands. "Please, Xiuying. Your life is at risk."
Xiuying looked at her sadly. "I'll just have to convince the Yang clan I am not a problem for them."
She had tried. It hadn't been enough.
"I have an idea," Wang Li said.
Xiuying and Lord Yang shared an evening meal. Wang Li knew her Xiuying's cycle intimately, so she had chosen to execute her plan today. Lord Yang didn't notice what she'd slipped into his drink.
At the close of the meal, Lord Yang looked slightly troubled. He squirmed in his seat.
"Is something the matter?"
"No, I would never trouble my lady with this."
Xiuying glanced at the servants. "We can discuss in private."
This seemed to appease Lord Yang. He was probably envisioning that he would explain the matter to Xiuying, who would then depart, and he could take care of the matter himself.
Wang Li shadowed them to Lord Yang's bedroom. She closed the door behind them and stood guard.
She couldn't resist pressing her ear to the door, though. The door was too thick for her to hear the full conversation, but she could hear snatches.
"Zunxu, please, you know your parents want a grandchild."
Indistinct murmurs, then Xiuying sounding surprised, followed by Lord Yang forcefully saying, "No, I really haven't. Ever. I haven't even tried."
His rant continued, snatches of him saying he'd never even wanted to, so he'd never done it. Lord Yang, past thirty, and still a virgin? Wang Li wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't witnessed his confession herself. Certainly no-one else would, of a married man.
Then there was the sound of footsteps away from the door, and Wang Li couldn't hear any more words. She did recognize the sounds, though: everything was going according to her plan.
She told herself this was exactly what she wanted. Hopefully this would be enough. She didn't want anyone else with her Xiuying.
It took, on the first try. Wang Li sighed with relief at Xi Xiuying avoiding the tragic fate she'd had in the life she'd lived before.
Lord Yang had been sad and out of sorts for a few months, but with Xiuying's belly swelling, he'd snapped out of it and gone back to being Xiuying's friend. Wang Li let him.
Now, it was the evening, and Xiuying was in her room, alone with Wang Li. Wang Li reverently undid all the ties holding together her clothes and slid them off, layer by layer, peeling off all that hid her Xiuying from the world until all that was left was skin.
Her stomach had grown during the day again. Wang Li kissed it where stretch marks were beginning to form and ran her hands over the sides. Her Xiuying was spectacular, and she would lave attention on all parts of her. There was so much more of her to love, now, with how she was stretching around this child she was making inside her, all by herself. It was intoxicating.
Wang Li detoured for a moment to kiss Xiuying's overly sensitive breasts, also swollen, then returned to Xiuying's belly. It was still something that could be hidden with clothing, albeit barely. Soon it would protrude too much to disguise.
She ran her hands along the taut skin of her Xiuying's belly and cradled it. With a final kiss, she headed down.
Xiuying was drenched for Wang Li. She settled between her Xiuying's legs and licked her, burying her face in her warmth. She loved this, loved feeling her entire world be reduced to Xiuying and Xiuying alone.
She licked. Xiuying twitched. So sensitive, now!
Wang Li licked again, and again, and again. She loved Xiuying, and would spend all evening here, face buried against her. She ran her lips against Xiuying's lips, tongue against Xiuying's pearl, licked and sucked and mouthed with all her ability.
Xiuying shuddered to a climax, her first of the night. Wang Li did not intend to let her out of bed until she'd had enough to fall unconscious.