Chapter 47 [VIP]

Chapter Summary: Consciousness.

"Thank you, Xuan," Yu Jing said softly.

Xie Xuan gently shifted his head, and as they whispered sweet nothings to each other, even the flickering candlelight became ambiguous.

"I...I'm a little cold," Yu Jing stammered.

"Oh." Xie Xuan snapped out of his daze, hurriedly picked up the clothes, and helped Yu Jing put them on. Then he carefully tied the ties for Yu Jing, helped her lie down, and turned to leave.

Yu Jing lay down, staring blankly at the tent ceiling, unconsciously touching her limp wrist. Now, the Heavenly Lord's object of affection had become her. Therefore, she no longer needed to prevent the Heavenly Lord from meeting the Third Princess. But no matter what Yu Jing thought, this matter was even more difficult than preventing the Heavenly Lord from falling in love with the Third Princess.

Just then, a noise came from outside the door. Yu Jing knew it was Xie Xuan returning, and she lay on the couch, not daring to breathe. Xie Xuan entered the room, his heart still pounding. He tiptoed to the candlestick and said, "I've extinguished the candles."

"Okay," Yu Jing replied, and then everything went black before her eyes, with the sound of fabric rustling in her ears. Then she felt a cool breeze, and Xie Xuan lay down beside her, as if adjusting his sleeping position, and after a while he calmed down.

Xie Xuan closed his eyes, and there was Yu Jing just now: red eyes, a white cotton towel wrapped around her chest, her collarbone faintly visible. A faint scent of soap wafted from her body, her breath brushing against his neck, as delicate as orchids. Even though she hadn't done anything, every move she made was incredibly alluring.

Yu Jing felt her hair was very sticky. She reached out and touched it. Since she fell into the water and came out, although she often changed her dressings and wiped her body, she had never washed her hair.

"Thank you, Xuan."

Xie Xuan suddenly opened his eyes. Everything was pitch black, but Yu Jing's voice was exceptionally clear in his ears. He didn't speak, only murmured a soft "hmm" through his throat.

"I...I'd like to wash my hair," Yu Jing said, then felt a warmth on her wrist and added, "Tomorrow, would you wash my hair for me?"

Xie Xuan choked, swallowed, and replied, "Okay."

Yu Jing ate a lot that night, and although her mind was in a mess, she soon fell asleep on the couch.

After a while, Xie Xuan heard her even breathing.

"Thank you, Xuan."

"Hmm." Xie Xuan thought he had misheard; Yu Jing wasn't asleep. But after waiting for a while, he still didn't hear Yu Jing say anything more.

"Guiyi?" Xie Xuan called out tentatively. He only heard her hum and mumble a couple of times before falling asleep.

Xie Xuan couldn't help but chuckle. He suddenly realized that Yu Jing kept calling his name unconsciously. This was because their relationship was very close. But she had also...

Xie Xuan kept thinking about this matter and couldn't sleep all night.

The next day, when Yu Jing woke up, the person beside her was empty. Yu Jing breathed a sigh of relief, as this saved her from embarrassment.

Li Yun went out early in the morning to pick mushrooms, and Sun Jun went up the mountain to chop firewood. Xie Xuan stayed at home, fed Yu Jing breakfast, and brewed medicine. When she came out of the house, Li Yun was just returning from the doorway. Xie Xuan, holding a bowl, said to Li Yun, "Big sister is back."

"Mm." Li Yun responded with a smile, raising the bamboo basket in his hand. "We've been eating mushrooms for two days, so today I sold them all and bought a piece of pork. I also picked some magnolia flowers to make flower cakes, and I picked some peaches!"

As Li Yun spoke, he reached out and pulled out two peaches to show Xie Xuan. These were ordinary, worthless things to Xie Xuan, but seeing Li Yun do this made him happy.

The two went to the kitchen together. Xie Xuan washed the bowls he had brought from the house, and Li Yun took the things out of the bamboo basket. Remembering Yu Jing's words from the previous night, Xie Xuan said to Li Yun, "Elder sister, Gui Yi said she wants to wash her hair, what do you think..."

Li Yun looked up at Xie Xuan as he spoke, and replied, "Hey, I thought you wanted to discuss something important with me. Your wife wants to wash her hair, just boil some water, and put the soap on the windowsill."

"By the way, the weather is nice today, let's move the table out of the house and wash it in the yard."

"Okay." Xie Xuan replied, put down the washed bowls and chopsticks, and then went to boil water.

When Xie Xuan entered the room, Yu Jing was sitting on the couch in a daze. There were no storybooks here, and she was quite bored staying in the room all day. The weather was nice today, and the sunlight outside was dazzling. Xie Xuan pushed open the door and walked to the table, saying, "I've already boiled the water. The weather is nice today, and my elder sister said it's stuffy in the room, so it's better to put it in the yard to wash her hair."

"Mm," Yu Jing replied. After Xie Xuan finished arranging the things, he came in to help her. Yu Jing leaned on Xie Xuan and went out. On the table in the courtyard was a copper basin, with soap and cotton towels next to it. Because Yu Jing was injured, sitting down and bending her head would aggravate her injury, so she stood.

Xie Xuan loosened Yu Jing's hair and slowly combed it down. She lowered her head, her dark hair soaking in the warm water, smooth and thick.

They stood there, Xie Xuan close by, his hand touching her hair. Yu Jing felt a tingling, pleasant sensation on her head.

As Xie Xuan was combing her hair, a sentence suddenly came to mind: "When a man combs a woman's hair, it's because he wants to grow old with her. If he and Yu Jingzhen..."

"Will it be too heavy?" Xie Xuan asked, lowering his eyes.

"No," Yu Jing replied, her head bowed, her voice muffled.

Her neck was extremely fair, and her hair was jet black; the distinct colors stimulated Xie Xuan's senses. A faint scent of soapberry lingered throughout the courtyard.

Xie Xuan washed her hair and dried it with a cotton towel. Li Yun also brought out magnolia flowers and sat under the eaves to pick them. Seeing their harmonious relationship, she smiled and asked, "Guiyi, is your injury any better?"

"I'm much better, thank you for your concern, elder sister," Yu Jing replied, watching Li Yun select magnolia flowers.

"Are you going to make magnolia flower cakes later, eldest sister?" Yu Jing asked, trying to start a conversation.

"yes."

"Then let me do it with my older sister in a little while?" Yu Jing suggested.

"Your injury?" Li Yun asked hesitantly.

"It's alright, I'm much better now. Staying in the house is quite boring anyway. If I can't help, watching my older sister do it is quite interesting," Yu Jing replied.

“Staying indoors all day is indeed quite boring,” Li Yun replied. “But I heard from Aunt Pang that in a few days, a puppet troupe will be coming to town to perform a puppet show. If you are able to walk around, you can have your husband take you to see it.”

"Puppet show?" Yu Jing asked in surprise, "What's that?"

"You don't know this play?" Li Yun paused in his hand movements, then explained, "It's about making wooden puppets, then manipulating them with strings on white silk cloth to create a play."

"How interesting!" Yu Jing couldn't help but exclaim. She had never heard of such a thing before. "Xie Xuan, let's go and see it another day."

When Yu Jing suddenly mentioned his name, Xie Xuan was taken aback and replied, "Okay."

Li Yun had carefully selected the magnolia flowers, and Yu Jing's hair was almost dry. The magnolia flowers that had been used to adorn her hair yesterday had wilted, so she had to find a wooden stick to replace them.

Seeing that Xie Xuan had been picking and choosing for a long time without finding a satisfactory one, Li Yun suggested, "There is a piece of fine peach wood in the backyard. If you don't mind, you can use that wood to make a hairpin for your wife."

Xie Xuan's heart stirred, and he replied, "Then thank you very much, elder sister."

"Hey, why are you being so polite with us?" Li Yun continued, "Just pick one and make do."

"Um."

Having styled Yu Jing's hair before, Xie Xuan was much more adept this time, finishing it in no time. Yu Jing followed Xie Xuan into the kitchen, where Li Yun had already chopped magnolia flowers and was preparing flour. Yu Jing and Xie Xuan went over together and sat down next to Li Yun.

Yu Jing watched as Li Yun poured half of the magnolia flower petals into the flour, kneading it for a while until the flour turned a pale red. Then she lit the stove, poured the other half of the petals into a jar, and added a generous amount of maltose to stir-fry. The aroma of the flowers mixed with the sweet, cloying scent of the maltose filled the entire kitchen. After Li Yun finished making the flower jam, she returned to her worktable, cut the dough into small pieces, flattened them into discs, and filled them with the flower jam.

Yu Jing watched Li Yun do it carefully. After Li Yun did two, he said, "You guys try it."

Yu Jing took a dough ball and flattened it; her hands were not in good condition, so she couldn't hold the flower jam.

Xie Xuan understood and scooped a spoonful of flower sauce into Yu Jing's pancake, which Yu Jing couldn't roll up with one hand.

She felt a warmth on her wrist, turned her head to look at Xie Xuan, and said in a sweet voice, "Xie Xuan."

Xie Xuan hesitated for a long time before reaching out, intending to take the dumpling from Yu Jing's hand and help her put the flower jam into the pancake. Unexpectedly, Yu Jing showed no intention of letting go. After a moment of stunned silence, he reached out again. Yu Jing's hand was very cold, and his heart skipped a beat the instant his hand touched hers.

Yu Jing's heart had just been fluttering, and when she came to her senses, Xie Xuan had already covered her hand, and her face instantly turned red.

The fingertips are the most sensitive to touch. When their fingertips touched and rubbed against each other, Yu Jing felt her hands slowly warming up and her heartbeat becoming uncontrollable.

After making one flower cake, Yu Jing felt much warmer. While they were making one, Li Yun had already made several.

Yu Jing was somewhat restless: "I'm a little tired, I want to go back and rest."

"Then I'll take you back to your room first," Xie Xuan replied from beside her. His voice was very close, and for some reason, it wasn't as clear as usual; instead, it was deep and slightly hoarse.

"Hmm." Yu Jing nodded hesitantly.

After escorting Yu Jing back to her house, Xie Xuan pondered for a moment, then went straight to the backyard. There was a small pile of wood there, and Xie Xuan immediately spotted the peach wood Li Yun had mentioned. He picked up the wood, stroked it a couple of times, and, recalling Yu Jing wearing the magnolia flower, an idea formed in his mind. He hadn't studied carpentry, but he figured carving shouldn't be too difficult. With that thought, Xie Xuan took the wood outside.

When Xie Xuan entered the kitchen, Li Yun had already prepared a table full of flower-shaped cakes. Seeing Xie Xuan come in, she said, "After you all left, I remembered I also picked some peaches. Lunch won't be ready for a while yet, so take two peaches and share them with your wife. They're so fresh and sweet!"

Xie Xuan nodded and replied, "Okay."

[Author's Note]

I usually update every two days, so don't wait next time, or I'm afraid the Northwest Hammer King will hammer me to death!