Chapter 96 The last syllable of Chapter 96 was indistinctly swallowed between the lips and teeth...

The moon is fullest on the sixteenth day of the lunar month, and those who miss the entire fifteenth day will spend the entire sixteenth day in slumber.

Upon receiving the seashell lamp that Feng Mian had personally made early in the morning, Baili Xunzhou felt that the surprise he had prepared the night before was utterly inadequate and not worthy of mention. So, gazing at Feng Mian's face, which was still beautiful even without makeup, he suddenly suggested that he should draw her eyebrows and apply lipstick to properly serve his princess consort.

Feng Mian was thus coaxed into sitting down in front of the dressing table in a daze.

Behind the dressing table was a small window. The courtyard was quiet. Liu Ying and Wu Liu had all the maids and servants gone out, leaving the entire Cang Gong Courtyard to the couple. They were very sensible.

The window frame happened to frame the old locust tree in the courtyard, its branches and leaves still lush, spreading out a dense shade in the autumn light. Sunlight was filtered through the layers of leaves into fine golden spots, falling lightly on the dressing table and casting swaying shadows.

A hand with distinct knuckles entered, hovering over the various eyebrow pencils in the makeup box, hesitant. Baili Xunzhou had always thought Feng Mian's eyebrows were naturally beautiful and didn't need much drawing, but then he remembered that she seemed to have put on new makeup yesterday, her delicate eyebrows curved like crescent moons, perfectly suited for the Mid-Autumn Festival. He felt a sudden urge to draw his own eyebrows.

"Or...maybe we should just leave the eyebrows out?" Feng Mian was actually a little unsure. Would his hands, which were used to handling swords, spears, axes, and halberds, end up making her eyebrows look rough and unruly?

"If you've never drawn eyebrows before, it's easy for your hand to shake and draw them crooked."

Baili Xunzhou said confidently, "Don't worry, I've practiced martial arts for many years, my hands are very steady, I can hold a hundred-pound spear steadily, how could this little eyebrow pencil be difficult for me?"

As he spoke, he picked out a snail-shell eyebrow pencil from his makeup box. He had just examined it closely; among all the eyebrow pencils, this one showed the heaviest signs of use, indicating it was used regularly. Since it was one that Feng Mian liked to use, it couldn't be wrong.

He picked up a fine-tipped eyebrow pencil and applied the dark color to the indigo dye. Then, holding the eyebrow pencil in one hand, he gently placed the other hand on Feng Mian's shoulder.

The bronze mirror was newly polished, clearly reflecting his focused eyes and the movements of his hands.

Feng Mian stared intently at Baili Xunzhou's hand movements in the bronze mirror, determined to stop him immediately if anything seemed amiss. However, the first thing he did was to use the tip of the brush to outline the shape of the eyebrow. Although it was clumsy, it seemed somewhat familiar.

This is how Wu Liu usually starts when she does her eyebrows.

Did Baili Xunzhou often secretly watch her do her makeup?

Feng Mian's lips curled up slightly, but she deliberately scolded, "You're very skilled, aren't you? Did you secretly practice outside?"

These words startled Baili Xunzhou, who could wield a hundred-pound halberd without trembling, so much that he almost drew his eyebrows off. He looked at the bronze mirror with a wronged expression and stared back at her, "How can you wrong your own husband like this?"

"If this gets out, what will become of my reputation? My uncle will probably come knocking on the door with a knife right now."

Baili Xunzhou couldn't help but pinch Feng Mian's cheek with two fingers and shake it, "Don't talk nonsense."

"I was wrong, I was wrong," Feng Mian quickly begged for forgiveness. "Hurry up and finish your painting, or it will be too late to pay your respects to Mother."

“My mother said that I should stay with you today and not disturb her peace.” Baili Xunzhou said, placing his hand on the back of her head again to gently hold it in place so that he could apply more pressure to continue drawing her eyebrows.

"Close your eyes and don't look." Noticing the unwavering gaze fixed on him through the bronze mirror, his voice tightened slightly. "Your stare makes me nervous."

"Alright, alright, I won't disturb Your Highness any longer." Feng Mian obediently closed her eyes, her long eyelashes curling upwards.

After finishing drawing the right eyebrow, Baili Xunzhou admired it with considerable satisfaction before moving on to the left. Just before putting pen to paper, he suddenly remembered that Feng Mian had been sitting with her back straight, so he asked, "Are you tired? Does your back hurt?"

A blush crept onto Feng Mian's cheeks. "I'm not tired, keep drawing."

Baili Xunzhou thought for a moment, then simply stood behind her, pressing her shoulders so she could lean against him. "This should make you more comfortable."

"How am I supposed to draw eyebrows like this?" Feng Mian couldn't help but open her eyes, tilting her head back to look at him with great puzzlement.

Baili Xunzhou leaned slightly forward, and the two met eyes upside down. He stretched out his long arm and wrapped his arms around Feng Mian, saying confidently, "I'm already an expert at drawing upside down, so don't worry."

The "expert" Baili Xunzhou finished drawing the left eyebrow in a strange posture, then put his hand down, gently put his arm around Feng Mian's back, and leaned forward to look at his "masterpiece".

"You're quite the expert now, much faster this time." Feng Mian said, opening her eyes to take a look, only to be met with Baili Xunzhou's magnified face. She was stunned for a moment, "What are you doing?"

"Wait a minute, close your eyes first, I still need to make some changes," Baili Xunzhou coaxed gently.

Feng Mian narrowed his eyes suspiciously, and replied, "Hmm, okay."

She slowly closed her eyes, and then suddenly opened them again as soon as she realized the shadow blocking her view had disappeared. Almost instantly, Baili Xunzhou's hand, holding the eyebrow pencil, covered her eyes with lightning speed.

"How can you say one thing and do another? You don't trust me at all!" Baili Xunzhou complained first, sounding aggrieved.

"Fine, fine, I won't look anymore." Feng Mian closed her eyes reluctantly, but then heard Baili Xunzhou turn the bronze mirror around. "I've already closed my eyes, you..."

She couldn't help but open one eye. "What exactly did you do to my eyebrows?"

Baili Xunzhou lowered his eyes, looking at the two completely asymmetrical eyebrows above Feng Mian's bright eyes, and coaxed her calmly, "Of course it looks normal, it just needs to be fixed."

"Close your eyes."

A cool fingertip pressed against the eyelid of Feng Mian's open eye. Feng Mian closed her eyes and was plunged into darkness again. She could only feel a hand rubbing her eyebrows again and again, then gently tracing them with a fine brush, outlining and filling in the gaps. This was repeated two or three times until a damp cloth covered her eyebrows.

“I suddenly realize that you look best when you don’t draw your eyebrows.” There was a hint of guilt in Baili Xunzhou’s voice.

Feng Mian chuckled, crossing her arms and closing her eyes. Since the bronze mirror had already been turned away by someone, she couldn't see anything anyway. "Whatever you say goes."

She knew she couldn't draw those eyebrows.

"Let's apply lip rouge; it will brighten your complexion." Baili Xunzhou hurriedly wiped away the traces of eyebrow makeup and began to move on to the next step, hesitating once again.

There were about ten boxes of lip rouge on the dressing table. To Baili Xunzhou, the colors were all very similar. He couldn't even tell the difference between the shades of some of them. If it weren't for the different boxes containing the lip rouge, he would have thought that Feng Mian had bought several identical boxes of lip rouge.

Which one should I choose?

He pondered for a moment, then picked up each lip rouge and sniffed them carefully, confirming with satisfaction that each box indeed smelled different. Fortunately, he had tasted them before and knew that the flavor of the sealed lip rouge always changed.

When he smelled one of the boxes of slightly pink lip balms, he paused. The sweet scent reminded him of the lingering aroma that had been on his nose the night before.

This is it.

He dabbed a little lip rouge on his finger and gently applied it to Feng Mian's lips. The lips beneath his fingertip were soft and warm, and as he repeatedly felt the tender touch, his slightly cool fingertip slowly warmed up. Baili Xunzhou, somewhat distracted, slightly increased the pressure of his fingertip's movement, watching as Feng Mian's light-colored lips gradually turned crimson with his touch, as delicate and beautiful as a flower bud in full bloom.

The atmosphere gradually became ambiguous. Baili Xunzhou's fingers repeatedly traced the shape of his lips, and his eyes gradually darkened. Feng Mian suddenly opened her mouth and gently bit his fingertip.

A tingling sensation went straight to the heart.

Baili Xunzhou's gaze shifted from Feng Mian's lips to her shimmering, spring-like eyes, where a faint blush still lingered on her cheeks.

"Lip rouge isn't applied like this...you're applying it like this!" His eyes clearly showed he wasn't innocent!

With a smile in his eyes, Baili Xunzhou leaned forward cheekily, "Then teach me how to apply it? Like this?"

He leaned in to kiss her lips, which had just been rouged, but his kiss landed on nothing.

Feng Mian leaned back to dodge, nimbly slipping away from his hand like a little fish, and stood on the other side of the dressing table, bending down to poke his head with her index finger.

"You did this on purpose."

Baili Xunzhou tilted his head back slightly, following the pressure of her index finger pressed against his forehead. A mischievous smile appeared in his beautiful eyes as he frankly admitted that he had ill intentions.

Feng Mian gave a soft hum, turned the bronze mirror on the table, and examined her face closely in the light. She thought her makeup was acceptable. She nodded in satisfaction, turned around and stretched out her hand to Baili Xunzhou, hooking her fingertips in mid-air. "You're punished to come with me to the swings."

"Don't you want to go out for a stroll today? The lantern festival decorations haven't been taken down yet, and you didn't get a proper look around last night." Baili Xunzhou obediently followed Feng Mian out of the room.

"The lantern festival is best at night. If you can't see it during the Mid-Autumn Festival, you can see it during the New Year. Besides..." Feng Mian paused, waiting for Baili Xunzhou to catch up, but lowered her eyes and didn't look at him, "When you go out, you have to wait for someone to hitch up the carriage, and you'll be surrounded by a bunch of people in front of and behind you..."

She knew that Baili Xunzhou would be leaving again later that day, so she didn't want to waste time on the road or have too many people around her.

A warm hand gently patted her head and coaxed her softly, "Once this is over, I'll leave the military affairs to Yao Zhiyuan and spend a few more days with you."

"The weather in northern Xinjiang gets cold very early, so maybe I can take you ice skating then."

The sorrow that suddenly welled up in Feng Mian's heart dissipated in an instant, and he said with a smile, "Military Advisor Yao has suffered a lot following you."

As they spoke, the two arrived at the swing set in the courtyard. This swing was specially commissioned by the princess to be made in the style of Xueyue Residence when Feng Mian moved to Canggong Courtyard.

"Help me up." With Baili Xunzhou by her side, Feng Mian lifted her skirt and stepped onto the swing, intending to swing standing up. She eagerly instructed, "Push me up higher, so that I can see outside the courtyard from where I am."

"Isn't that a bit too high? Don't be scared and start crying," Baili Xunzhou said, gently pushing the swing, her crimson skirt embroidered with red leaves and chrysanthemums fluttering in the wind.

The swing swung higher and higher, and it seemed as if one could reach out and touch the hibiscus flower hanging from the branch.

As Feng Mian swung the swing to its highest point, she reached out a hand to pick a flower, but just as she did, she lost her balance and fell forward.

The wind whistled past her ears, and she instinctively closed her eyes, falling into a familiar, warm embrace. When she opened her eyes again, she saw Baili Xunzhou's pale face, his voice still trembling with fear, "How dare you let go?"

Feng Mian smiled and tucked the hibiscus in her hand behind his ear, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed his lips. "I knew you would catch me."

The swing behind them swayed gently, making a creaking sound. Baili Xunzhou bit her lip in annoyance, "Don't swing like that anymore."

"Okay."

The final sound was indistinctly swallowed between the lips and teeth.