Chapter 50 "No, it's that I miss you."...
His hand was lightly grasped by a warm palm. Chen Xi was stunned. His gaze slowly moved upward and he saw a pair of deep eyes half-open, with a gentle color in their pupils.
She was momentarily stunned.
Xie Chengyan spoke again, his low, husky voice tinged with amusement: "What, don't you recognize me?"
Shen Xi then seemed to wake from a dream, grasped his hand in return, and smiled, saying softly, "I thought you would sleep for two or three days before you woke up."
Xie Chengyan also tugged at the corner of his lips, his gaze lingering on her face. He noticed the faint dark circles under her eyes, raised his hand, and lightly rubbed his fingertip under her eyes, frowning involuntarily.
"You kept watch all night?"
Shen Xi shook her head: "Not all night. Doctor Wen and Liang Tuo were there for the first half of the night."
Having said that, he grasped Xie Chengyan's hand and stopped him from moving.
She was easily embarrassed, and thinking of Xie Chengyan's earlier teasing, she felt a little ashamed. So she forced herself to remain calm and subtly avoided his gaze.
But when his gaze fell upon that bare, muscular chest again, Shen Xi's eyes hardened once more.
Before she could move away again, a soft sneer suddenly fell from above, as if it had seen through her thoughts: "I didn't say you couldn't touch it."
As he spoke, he directly guided her hand towards her chest.
Shen Xi's ears immediately flushed red, and she glared at him angrily: "It seems you've really recovered, and you still have the mind to tease me."
She then pulled her hand away and stood up. Taking advantage of his injury and bedridden state, which prevented him from stopping her, she turned around directly, ignoring the suppressed laughter behind her, and strode quickly towards the outer room without looking back.
"The medicine should be ready by now. I'll go and bring it to you."
It was still early, and Renfeng Hall had not yet opened, but the young boy Wangyou had gotten up early to sweep the courtyard.
A sudden storm raged overnight, and most of the withered branches and yellow leaves fell, but the sky remained overcast and the sun was nowhere to be seen.
Wangyou was sweeping the fallen leaves into a spot when she saw Shenxi come out. She greeted her with delight, "Good morning, Sister Shen! What brings you here?"
He slept soundly last night and was unaware of what was happening here.
Shen Xi walked toward the stove where medicine was being decocted, and saw him nod and explain, "Good morning, I encountered an injury I was unsure about, and I came here last night to trouble you, Master, to treat me."
Upon hearing this, Wangyou stopped sweeping: "What injury happened so suddenly?"
Shen Xi was carefully removing the medicine pot and didn't have time to answer him.
Wangyou approached, looked her up and down, and asked curiously, "Sister Chen, are you hot?"
As Shen Xi poured out the medicinal soup, she looked up in confusion: "Why is it hot so early in the morning?"
Wangyou leaned closer to look at her, pointed to her ears, and said innocently, "But your ears are all red."
It would have been better if she hadn't mentioned it, because once it was mentioned, Shen Xi instantly remembered the reason, and her neck turned red.
The two did have a rather unpleasant falling out before parting ways, arguing back and forth without reaching a conclusion.
But during the three months Xie Chengyan was away, when I occasionally thought about it, it seemed that the two of them hadn't reached the point of being irreconcilable enemies, and in fact, he seemed to have given in every time.
By peeling back the layers of their past relationship, Shen Xi gradually came to a conclusion about their marriage, which was formed as a temporary measure.
Especially last night, when he braved the cold night and wind and rain to come to her and embraced her.
Shen Xi had to admit that she did miss him a little.
But how could she reveal these thoughts to Wangyou, a child? Shenxi could only nod with a flushed face, look at the medicine soup in front of her, and calmly say, "It was from the heat."
Wangyou, being so quick-witted, wouldn't be fooled by her words. She asked doubtfully, "But you were already red when you came out..."
Shen Xi stopped explaining and glanced at him, saying, "Have you finished sweeping the courtyard? I remember Master wanted to test your knowledge of herbs today."
Reminded by her, Wangyou immediately slumped her head and wailed, "What should I do, Sister Chen? I still can't tell the difference between Bai Shu and Cang Shu. They look so similar."
Shen Xi bent down, picked up the medicine bowl, glanced at him, and smiled, saying, "I can't help you. Good luck."
After saying that, he took the medicine and went back to his room.
Inside the room, Xie Chengyan leaned against the couch, half-clothed, his gaze lingering on a spot outside the window, seemingly lost in thought.
Shen Xi curiously followed his gaze and saw an early bird hopping among the branches that had lost most of their leaves, occasionally letting out a few clear chirps.
She looked away, approached, and asked softly, "Are you still going to sleep? Did I disturb your rest?"
When the two slept in the same bed, Shen Xi noticed that Xie Chengyan was a light sleeper. He would open his eyes alertly at the slightest sound or movement, and it was rare for him to get a good night's sleep.
Therefore, when she heard birds chirping outside the window, she subconsciously thought of this.
Xie Chengyan didn't turn around; his gaze remained fixed on the bird. He said in a low voice, "You get along very well with them."
A faint smile lingered on his lips, but his eyes remained as indifferent as ever.
Shen Xi put down the medicine bowl, not having heard his low, murmured words clearly, and asked, "What did you just say?"
Xie Chengyan then turned around and looked at her, his gaze lingering slightly near Shen Xi's ear. A smile appeared in his eyes as he asked seriously, "You're red, is it really from the heat?"
Shen Xi was stunned for a moment by his serious tone before she realized what he meant, and her brows furrowed immediately.
"Thank you, Chengyan!"
Seeing that she was about to get angry, Xie Chengyan stopped teasing her, chuckled softly, and stretched out his hand to her: "Xi'er, come here."
His face was still somewhat pale from illness, but his eyes and brows were gentle. As the light outside the window gradually brightened, the sunlight streamed in and softly enveloped him.
The anger was extinguished by the surge of emotion welling up inside her. Chen Xi felt a pang of sadness, walked over, and sat down beside him.
Because I was worried about his wounds, I didn't dare get too close.
Xie Chengyan ignored her and grabbed her wrist as soon as Shen Xi approached, pulling her forcefully towards him.
Shen Xi stumbled and quickly braced herself with her hands, afraid of pressing on his injuries. She exclaimed, "Xie Chengyan, what are you doing? You're still injured."
As he spoke, Xie Chengyan had already pulled her close to his chest and embraced her.
Just as Shen Xi was about to get up, she heard a sigh from above and the hand on her back tightened its grip, saying, "Let me hold you for a while, just a little while."
Warm, familiar breath sprayed on her neck. Shen Xi hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not move.
But considering that Xie Chengyan was still injured, she half-supported herself and didn't dare to completely relax her weight and throw herself into his arms as she had done before.
The room fell silent for a moment. Shen Xi could almost clearly hear the two of them beating their hearts in their ears, one after another, before finally calming down and gradually becoming the same rhythm.
Driven by the atmosphere, she subconsciously nuzzled against his chest, slightly adjusted her posture, and put one hand on his shoulder.
She rested her chin on his shoulder and asked softly, "How did you get a burn on your shoulder?"
Upon hearing this, Xie Chengyan chuckled softly, his chest heaving, and moved his palm from her back to her waist: "Xi'er, we've been so honest with each other so many times before, how come you didn't notice?"
Shen Xi's cheeks flushed red, and she subconsciously retorted, "It's because you always like to attack from behind..."
He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence, realizing the situation was turning sour, and changed the subject, saying, "At a time like that, who would be in the mood to look at what you look like?"
In the end, her voice trailed off.
Xie Chengyan gently stroked her waist with his palm and whispered in her ear with a smile: "Really? But I looked closely and saw that Xi'er has a small mole here, which is very pretty."
As he spoke, he tapped her waist with his fingertip.
Even through a layer of clothing, Shen Xi couldn't help but shrink back.
Enraged, she pinched his waist and threatened, "Xie Chengyan, you're not allowed to tease me anymore."
Her force wasn't strong, but it still aggravated the wound. Xie Chengyan gasped, but Shen Xi remained unmoved, clearly intending to see him in pain.
Xie Chengyan lowered his eyes and saw that she looked slightly haggard with dark circles under her eyes, but her eyes were bright and her expression was exceptionally lively, no longer the unfamiliar look he had when he left the capital.
His eyes darkened instantly, and he leaned down to kiss her.
Their lips and tongues were burning hot, their breaths mingled, and months of longing were exchanged in this knowing kiss.
Until Shen Xi couldn't breathe and pushed him away.
But Xie Chengyan didn't back away, pressing his forehead against hers, giving her some breathing room.
After a long, passionate kiss, the person before him was clearly moved; his eyes were glistening with tears, his lips were rosy, and they trembled slightly with his unsteady breathing.
He swallowed hard, then remembered to answer Chen Xi's question, and said in a hoarse voice, "When I was six years old, I was caught in a fire and burned while trying to escape."
Shen Xi's eyelashes fluttered as she looked at his face so close to hers: "Six years old?"
Xie Chengyan nodded, but didn't say anything more.
Shen Xi pursed her lips and said, "With so many injuries on your body, you didn't even take care of yourself. It wouldn't have mattered if you had been a day or two late. Why did you have to rush back yesterday?"
Xie Chengyan's eyes darkened, and he then remembered to ask her, "Didn't I tell you before I left not to go to the Duke's mansion? Why did you still go?"
Shen Xi wrinkled his nose: "My mother came to the General's Mansion to find me in person. She is your mother, so I can't really embarrass her."
"It doesn't matter who it is. From now on, I will avoid going to the Duke's mansion if possible."
Xie Chengyan lowered his eyelids slightly, concealing the color in his eyes, while his hands continued to knead her neck, sometimes lightly and sometimes heavily.
Shen Xi's heart sank, and she said slowly, "So, is it because you were worried that something might happen to me at the Duke's mansion that you rushed back so urgently?"
"No, it's because I miss you."
After saying that, seeing that she had rested enough, he pretended to lean forward to kiss her again, but Shen Xi dodged him and instead placed his lips on her neck.
"Stop messing around. Your wound reopened badly last night. You need to rest."
Xie Chengyan buried his face in her neck, leaving a string of fine marks, and mumbled, "It's nothing."
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and Xie Chengyan had been missing her terribly. This morning, as soon as he opened his eyes, she started teasing him, and he couldn't resist.
He held her tighter and tighter, and Shen Xi also sensed something was wrong. The atmosphere gradually heated up, and the longing she had felt for him after being apart for so long began to resurface, becoming clearer in her mind.
She acted decisively, taking advantage of Xie Chengyan's inattention to get up and step back two steps.
Meeting Xie Chengyan's obviously dark and gloomy eyes, she turned her back, straightened her clothes, and pointed to the medicine beside her: "Since it's not a problem, drink it yourself. We'll pack up and go back to the manor together later."
Having said that, he didn't linger any longer and immediately turned and left.
Xie Chengyan looked at the back of the person who was avoiding him like the plague, and couldn't help but chuckle. He tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and placed his well-defined hand over his eyes, gradually letting the light out.
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Author's note: Oh God, please don't lock it! There's really nothing there! [crying emoji]
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