Chapter 63. Appeasing.

When I opened my eyes again, what came into view was a duster hanging above my head.

Well, she went back to bed.

The bedding was clean and comfortable, as was her body. It was time for Xiao Che to help her dry off and carry her back to bed. The bedding had already been changed. She comfortably wrapped herself in the blanket and rolled around. The faint scent of agarwood lingered around her nose. When she turned her head, she saw that Xiao Che was indeed still there.

He was sitting on the bed fully clothed, holding a copy of "Three Strategies" that he had casually taken from the study, and slowly flipping through it.

Hearing the noise, I turned my head and glanced at her: "Awake?"

He said calmly, "There's another clean set of clothes on the bedside table. It should fit you. You can change into it later. I'm leaving now."

Just as he finished speaking and was about to get out of bed, someone suddenly grabbed his hand from behind.

Yan Jiarou's two small hands could barely grasp his large palms: "Wait... I have something else to ask you."

Xiao Che raised an eyebrow: "What?"

The young girl frowned, asking with a mixture of urgency and uncertainty, "Xiao Wenqi, have we made up?"

In her mind, she and Xiao Che had already reconciled, but Xiao Che's cold attitude made her uneasy. Seeing that he was about to leave again in such an ambiguous manner, she couldn't hold back any longer and wanted to ask him for a definite answer before he left.

Xiao Che frowned, a hint of surprise in his expression: "Make up?"

When he came to his senses, he couldn't help but chuckle slightly.

"Did you let me have sex, or did you agree to break up with Xiao Jue?"

"If you haven't done any of that, then what makes you think this matter is over?"

Yan Jiarou stared wide-eyed in disbelief, her eyes almost instantly reddening, and she cried out in accusation, "You...you're lying!"

"Who lied to you? I've made myself clear enough before."

Xiao Che scoffed, "Little fool."

"You...you treated me like that. I told you, as long as you're willing to move on, I'll do whatever you want to me, except...except for going all the way to the end. But the condition is that you have to make up with me and we can be like before. If I don't agree to this condition, I won't let you treat me like that!"

Xiao Che's eyebrows twitched slightly.

Oh? I see.

No wonder they were so well-behaved before; so that's what they were planning.

This was a profitable deal; he didn't actually have to do it himself, yet he agreed to her request.

The little rabbit is quite good at keeping accounts.

They let him smell the aroma, but didn't give him any meat to eat.

Yet, she unreasonably allowed him to act as if nothing had happened, tacitly condoning her entanglement with Xiao Jue. Then what was he to her?

What, does she get all the benefits in the world by herself?

He lowered his eyes and casually turned the jade thumb ring on his hand, saying only, "I misunderstood. I didn't know that my royal sister was so obedient, it turns out she had other purposes."

"I've already treated you like that, what do you want?" Xiao Che paused, then looked up at her with a sudden smile, his tone carrying an eerie calm beneath a lurking madness: "Kill me?"

Yan Jiarou stared at him blankly for a long time before she reacted: "You! You're a scoundrel! You're shameless!"

"He lied to me and took advantage of me time and time again. He said he liked me, but then he turned around and got entangled with other men."

“If we’re talking about shamelessness and scoundrelliness,” Xiao Che slowly sneered, “who can compare to you, my royal sister?”

"You!" Yan Jiarou cried out in anger, "I'm not like that at all!"

Xiao Che frowned as he looked at her, wanting to pull his hand away, but in the end he didn't force it, and only said coldly, "Let go."

"I won't let go!" Yan Jiarou said, slowly sitting up. The thin blanket that had been wrapped around her body slowly slipped off with her movement, gradually revealing her fair and smooth body.

Xiao Che glanced at it only once before feeling a tightness in his throat and quickly looked away.

"Look at me, why don't you dare look at me?" Yan Jiarou looked at him with teary eyes: "Are you feeling guilty? Look at my body, it's covered in bruises... even my waist... you pushed me there, it's a big patch of bruises, it's all your doing, don't deny it!"

"You bullied me, you...you have to compensate me. If you promise me that, I won't hold it against you. Otherwise, you're just bullying me!"

As she spoke, tears streamed down her face, and her voice trembled with sobs: "You...you can't do this to me..."

"I...I thought we had made up..." She slowly moved closer, and seeing that he seemed a little lost in thought, he didn't push her away coldly. Instead, she gently wrapped her arms around his waist and said softly, "I've spent so much time and effort trying to please you...you...you can't play with me like this..."

She may seem gentle, but when she gets angry, she's incredibly stubborn. She's put in so much effort and thought today, and if she doesn't achieve her goal, she won't give up no matter what!

With a soft, warm body in his arms, Xiao Che looked down and saw a large bruise on her side. He frowned, and the pain and self-reproach in his heart resurfaced.

His gaze shifted downwards, and he could vaguely see the reddened skin on the inside of her slightly parted thighs. Although the skin wasn't broken, it was already somewhat red and swollen from being rubbed by his thing. It must have hurt, since she couldn't even close her legs.

Not to mention other places, his waist, his breasts, everywhere were marks he left behind, pinches, sucks. Like red plum blossoms falling in a snowstorm.

It was truly a terrible sight.

He asked himself if he had deliberately restrained himself, but her skin was more delicate than he had imagined, and even the slightest pressure would leave a mark.

Seeing her covered in wounds now, he found it hard to remain indifferent.

The little girl nestled in his arms, her tears quickly soaking his clothes and soaking his heart, which soon softened and melted.

He was in a state of turmoil, patted her head, and finally sighed, "Don't cry."

I will consider what you said.

Yan Jiarou stopped, looked up at him, and sobbed, "What do you mean by 'consider'?"

Xiao Che's Adam's apple bobbed as he took a deep look at her. The girl's eyes were red-rimmed, her face was streaked with tears, and her body was covered in red marks, looking as if she had been brutally abused. Given her current state, he really couldn't just coldly tell her to get lost.

He tilted his head slightly, his tone somewhat irritated: "Don't you want to move on from that matter? I'll consider it, but before that..."

He turned to look at her again, his voice finally softening. He patted her head and said, "Yan Yan, I think we both need to calm down. After we've calmed down, we can decide what kind of relationship we should have."

"Just then, a flood occurred in the Huaizhou area. My father has sent my second brother and me to raise funds for disaster relief. We will be setting off soon."

"This trip will take more than a month. You want time, right? Fine, I'll give you time. When I get back, I think you should have thought it through by then. Tell me your answer then."

Yan Jiarou stared blankly at him, tears welling up in her eyes. She didn't hear a word he said after that; only one thought filled her mind: He was leaving. And for another month…

Isn't it enough for one prince to go on the trip to Huaizhou? As far as I can recall, there has never been a precedent of two princes going together for disaster relief; usually, it was enough to just send an imperial envoy.

"Are you deliberately avoiding me?" She bit her lip hard, feeling increasingly distressed, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. "Xiao Che...you...you don't want me anymore?"

She looked up at him with her small face upturned, her eyes red-rimmed: "What will I do if you leave?"

“It’s not that I don’t want you. But Yan Yan, I have things I need to do. Besides, from beginning to end, it was you who didn’t want me.” He raised his hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes: “Don’t worry, I will make arrangements. Even if I’m not there, you won’t be affected in any way.”

"You're lying... How could there be no effect at all..." Yan Jiarou sobbed, nestled in his arms.

Xiao Che hasn't left yet, and she already feels like she can't take it anymore. The thought of them being separated for so long makes her incredibly anxious. She simply can't live without him. What if she has a relapse?

Moreover... they haven't made up yet, and Xiao Che is leaving her before they've even reconciled. What if he completely abandons her when he comes back?

Waaah, what will she do then?

No, I must make up with him today!

“A month,” she suddenly lifted her head from his embrace, her pale face streaked with tears, looking like a little kitten with a face covered in sores from crying. At that moment, she didn't care about anything else and hurriedly said:

"Xiao Che, I promise you, if I still love you as much as I do now, and can't live without you, a month from now, I'll choose you, I'll marry you, okay?"

"I think a month should be enough for the Crown Prince to get over the loss of the late Empress. If my feelings for you haven't changed, it means that my feelings for you are not just a passing fancy... What I mean is, from now on, I will only love you, and you will be the only one in my eyes and heart, okay?"

Before his eyes, it was as if fireworks were blooming across the sky during the Lantern Festival. Waves of dizziness washed over him, and the blood in his veins seemed to flow faster than he could have imagined. Xiao Che heard his own voice, trembling slightly, drifting away from him: "You... what did you say?"

After years of unrequited love, and now that the dream is about to be fulfilled, no one could resist the temptation.

He originally promised a month, just so that both sides could cool off. If she could break up with Xiao Jue after a month, that would be best. But if she still couldn't, he asked himself if he could really let her go.

No matter how heartless he tried to appear, it couldn't outweigh the single tear she shed as she cried and begged him.

In his presence, his willpower, which he had always been so proud of, was utterly fragile and vulnerable.

He had expected that there would be another round of entanglement and struggle after she returned, but now she promised that as long as her feelings for him remained unchanged and she couldn't live without him after a month, she would choose him.

He had longed for so many years to be chosen by Yan Jiarou.

A month later, she still couldn't live without him, so she married him. She only liked him, and in his eyes, this was no different from confessing her love to him on the spot.

Of course, she couldn't live without him after a month. How could her strange illness have been cured so suddenly in just one month?

First of all, her body couldn't live without him; she needed his blood.

Secondly, as long as he wanted, he could satisfy her with sweet words, kisses, flirting, and whatever she liked; these methods were simply second nature to him.

In some ways, Yan Jiarou is quite easy to coax. A slightly flirtatious kiss is enough to make her weak and dizzy, lying in his arms and letting him do whatever he wants.

So that's what she likes. That's easy enough.

He gave her whatever she liked.

How could she possibly leave him?

So once the one-month period is over, she will be completely his.

"I will only ever love him," such sweet words.

Many years later, when he looked back on those moments, he realized that Yan Jiarou had been using the same tempting offer to keep him hooked all along.

Each time, they gave him more hope than the last.

It made him feel that what he had longed for was now within reach, right in front of him, so he was unwilling to give up.

But in reality, it was all just a mirage, a reflection in a mirror or the moon's reflection in water; once you tried to reach out and touch it, the illusion would shatter. He simply wasn't aware of this at the time.

She told him to wait.

It was as if he could get what he wanted as long as he was willing to wait.

So much so that when that finally happened, he found himself to have become a complete joke.

Looking back over the past twenty years in a cursory manner, images of Yan Jiarou occupy a surprisingly large portion of the article.

When she was a baby, she would stretch out her chubby little arms and cling to him, calling him "brother" in a fuzzy voice; when she was four or five years old, she would stand in front of him to protect him and comfort him; many years have passed since then, and in the blink of an eye, she has grown up so much.

He didn't know when it started, but he had developed feelings for her differently.

On the day she came of age, he breathed heavily and released himself while calling her name.

The Lanling man's terrifying energy could only be expended by repeatedly fantasizing about her.

From the time she got sick and provoked him until the time before their argument, they were inseparable, but she only allowed him to kiss and hug her.

But in his dreams, she had already been thoroughly violated by him.

Later memories of hers were of her growing infatuation and dependence on him, of her sweating as she intertwined her fingers with his, of her painstakingly kissing him, and of her moans beneath him, "Brother... um... I love it so much..."

After each intimate moment, she would lie on his chest and repeatedly make vows of eternal love: "I will marry you, brother. I will only love you. We will be together forever."

The memory abruptly ended there, and when he looked up again, he saw her utterly indifferent gaze upon him.

There is an absurd sense of disconnect.

She looked at him as if he were an inanimate object.

But even if he wanted to turn back time and start over, even if he wanted to start over a thousand times, he would still repeat the same mistakes.

Because at that moment, he simply couldn't refuse.

——

When Yan Jiarou heard him ask, "What did you say?" but didn't immediately answer, she couldn't help feeling a little uneasy. Her thick eyelashes trembled slightly, and she hesitated whether to repeat herself: "I said..."

But before he could even open his mouth, the back of his neck was pulled forward, and before he could react, the rest of his words were blocked from his lips.

Xiao Che's kiss this time was slightly hasty, lacking the effortless teasing and flirting of before. After releasing her, he pressed his forehead against hers, his breath slightly uneven: "You said it, just one month. No regrets?"

Yan Jiarou felt a little dizzy from the kiss. She subconsciously nodded, then shook her head. But then she felt that both nodding and shaking her head seemed ambiguous, so she quickly added, "No... I won't go back on my word!"

“A gentleman’s word is his bond,” the little girl said, her cheeks puffed out. Despite her still-childish appearance, she seemed to have thought through the rest of her life, as if she had made a firm decision. Her expression was extremely serious: “Although I am not a gentleman, I know the principle of keeping one’s word. I… I will not let you down!”

Xiao Che was taken aback, feeling a warm current flow through his heart, making him feel incredibly soft.

"Silly girl," he said, a smile playing on his lips. He cupped her face in his hands and gently touched his lips to hers, letting out a soft laugh.

His tone remained as casual as ever, but the words he spoke carried a distinctly more tender tone: "Wait to be my bride."

"So...so you agree?" Yan Jiarou blinked, her little face sparkling with excitement. Having learned her lesson last time, she was clearly much more cautious this time: "If you agree, then you have to make up with me!"

"I didn't say I wouldn't make up with you." Xiao Che smiled, pinched her cheek, and whispered intimately in her ear, "A month from now, on our wedding night, see how I deal with you. After that night, you'll truly be unable to live without me."

Yan Jiarou was stunned for a moment before she realized what he meant. Her face flushed red, and she stammered, "I... I meant now, we need to make up now!"

Xiao Che raised an eyebrow, meeting her pleading gaze, and then smiled: "You want to make up with me that much?"

"Alright, but I'm leaving the capital soon, so your one-month stay might have to be postponed. Otherwise, how can I make you like me more and become inseparable from me when I'm not by your side?"

Then, remembering something, she frowned and said, "Hey, Little Rabbit, you're not allowed to see Xiao Jue while I'm gone. Otherwise, it's not fair to me, understand?"

"I will plant spies in the palace to monitor your every move. If I discover that you secretly went to see Xiao Jue while I was away..."

"I won't, brother," the girl interrupted him urgently before he could finish speaking. Her fair arms wrapped around his neck, and as they drew closer, her soft, full breasts gently caressed his chest. Her voice was soft and gentle, with a charming and coquettish quality: "The promise I made to you is that I will be with you, and there will be no one else."

She stared at him intently, her eyes brimming with tenderness: "Brother, let's make up, starting from this moment, okay?"

Xiao Che gave her a deep look, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

His large hands stroked her smooth back, then suddenly pressed down hard, as if he wanted to pull her into his arms and become one with her, so that they would be intertwined.

Yan Jiarou let out a soft cry, her hands trembling as she clung to his neck, giving him a reproachful look: "...So, is it alright?"

He suddenly curled the corners of his lips into a lazy smile: "Okay."

When Xiao Che pressed down on her, kissing and licking her tenderly as before, she belatedly wrapped her arms around his waist, realizing that they had finally made up, and her eyes suddenly stung with tears.

Yan Jiarou, who had just reconciled with him, was really clingy, like a piece of milk candy, fragrant and soft, and extremely cloying.

Fearing that further cuddling would only provoke trouble, Xiao Che patted her bottom and let out a muffled laugh: "Alright, why are you hugging me so tightly? Trying to seduce me? Let go."

"I don't……"

"Sweetie, go back first," Xiao Che kissed her temple and coaxed her softly, "It's not like you're not coming back, baby. We'll have plenty of time to spend together in the future."