Chapter 41. He kissed her palm.
"Host, you have gained 1 point of Popularity Points, from Song Jie," the system announced.
Xie Yushu didn't hear clearly. She lay on the bathtub and dozed off for a while. She was so tired after the whole night, and her head kept wanting to sink into the water.
The system was afraid she would choke to death, so it called her several times before waking her up.
Xie Yushu felt incredibly heavy-handed. He touched the clothes Jiang Hua had placed beside the bathtub and put them on, only to find they fit perfectly.
Wasn't it Song Jie who gave her his clothes to wear?
She examined the undergarment closely and found that the stitches were fine and the fabric was soft and new, as if it had just been made.
Did Song Jie specially make this for her? But where did he get the measurements?
A "thump-thump" sound came from outside the door.
Xie Yushu put on her outer robe, turned around the screen, walked over and opened the door. In the night rain, Panpan squatted at the door, wagging its tail at her, its big tail hitting the door panel with a "thump thump".
"It's Panpan knocking on the door!" Xie Yushu couldn't help but laugh. He boldly reached out and touched Panpan's big head, finding that its fur was fluffy again and not wet at all, and it even smelled of soap. "You've had a bath and been blow-dried, haven't you?"
Panpan, panting heavily as she stroked it, swished its tail vigorously, as if trying to show friendliness and reassure her.
So incredibly cute.
Xie Yushu couldn't help but squat down and rub its two big ears with both hands. Panpan was so happy from being rubbed that it tilted its body and fell heavily at her feet, pushing her down to the ground. Panpan rolled around at her feet like a big catfish.
Her hair was still wet from her bath, and her wide robe hung on the ground. Her hands were busy rubbing Panpan all over, and she made a deliberately childish voice: "Fat Panpan, such a plump Panpan..."
It's like teasing a child.
He stood there watching for a long time. It was amazing. He felt that Xie Yushu in this scene was the real, completely relaxed Xie Yushu. She would make strange laughs and say strange things in a cute tone. These were not acted at all.
“Even Panpan likes Miss so much.” Jiang Hua, who was following behind him, said softly.
Yes, even Panpan could so easily like Xie Yushu and show her her belly. Even Jia Ning was hesitant to approach Panpan back then, and Panpan was always wary of Jia Ning.
What is it about Xie Yushu that makes him so attractive?
Song Jie thought about it over and over in his mind, and slowly walked towards her.
When he stopped a few steps away from her, Panpan finally sat up, grinned, and happily wagged her tail at him.
She remained squatting on the ground, raising her face to look at him, her smile still on her face, her eyes curving like two crescent moons: "Besides Jiang Hua, there is another woman in your household."
"Who?" Song Jie didn't react.
She smiled and patted Panpan's back: "Panpan."
Song Jie then realized that she was saying Panpan was a female dog.
It was such a childish joke, but for some reason Song Jie was amused. Her heart and body felt light because of her childishness. She reached out her hand to her and said, "Get up first, isn't the ground cold?"
She didn't refuse him at all. She naturally took his hand and stood up, saying casually, "Your hands are so cold. Have you taken a bath?"
Song Jie looked at her, his heart skipped a beat. Her hands were so warm, always like a little heater, making him reluctant to let go.
"Host, you've gained another point of 'charm' value." The system's voice appeared, unsurprisingly, it still came from Song Jie.
He falls for that.
Xie Yushu pretended nothing had happened and withdrew her hand, walking towards the ginger flowers behind him. She asked, "It smells so good, is it edible?"
Jiang Hua, carrying a food basket, bowed to her and smiled, saying, "The Prime Minister was worried that you might catch a cold, so he instructed me to cook ginger soup and some food."
"What is it?" Her attention was completely drawn to it.
Song Jie withdrew his hand, coughed a few times from the wind, and went into the house with Panpan.
Panpan followed the scent of the ground toward the screen, as if it had smelled something.
Song Jie followed it and saw her wet clothes draped next to the bathtub behind the screen. There were eggshells on the chair next to the wet clothes. She ate the eggs that had been used to treat her wounds.
Song Jie couldn't help but laugh. When he returned to the main room, Xie Yushu was already sitting at the table eating.
The food wasn't actually very good. Since Song Jie's instructions were so sudden, Jiang Hua had no choice but to use the ingredients she had in the kitchen to make some steamed dumplings and heat up a plate of glutinous rice lotus root, which she then brought over along with ginger soup.
Xie Yushu ate with great relish and praised Jiang Hua's cooking skills without reservation.
Song Jie sat down next to her and watched as she ate four fist-sized steamed dumplings in a short time. He couldn't help but ask, "Didn't the nun Yu Su and Xiao Zhen feed you enough?"
Xie Yushu frankly said, "The female Taoist priestess Yusu eats vegetarian food, but it's too vegetarian and doesn't keep you full."
Song Jie laughed again, surprised that someone so thin could eat so much.
He watched her devour a steamed dumpling in a few bites, and he suddenly felt a little hungry too. He then slowly ate two steamed dumplings with her.
Jiang Hua served him from the side. Seeing that Song Jie had eaten three steamed dumplings and two slices of glutinous rice lotus root, and that the whole plate of steamed dumplings was eaten without leaving a single one, she couldn't help but be happy. She had been working as a cook in the Prime Minister's mansion for almost ten years. Every time she carefully prepared a meal, there would be a lot of leftovers. Sometimes a dish would be sent back untouched. She often wondered if her cooking skills were not to the Prime Minister's liking.
It seems that the Prime Minister is too lonely now. There is a saying in her hometown: food tastes better when everyone is fighting for it.
She watched the Prime Minister and Miss Yushu drinking ginger soup together, and she was genuinely happy for the Prime Minister.
On a rainy night, with two candles lit inside, two people and a dog sat at the table, and even without a heater, they didn't feel cold.
When Cang Shu hurriedly returned with Physician Lu Kang, they saw the Prime Minister sitting in a chair drying Miss Yu Shu's hair, while Miss Yu Shu sat on a stool in front of his knees playing with a plate.
He paused for a moment at the door, but the Prime Minister naturally invited Physician Lu in.
When Physician Lu entered carrying his medicine chest, he was somewhat bewildered to see Xie Yushu. He had suspected a close relationship between her and the Prime Minister after treating her mother last time, but later he heard that this Miss Yushu was the wife of Pei Shilin, the third-ranked scholar in the imperial examinations…
A married woman appearing in the prime minister's room late at night, in such an intimate manner, is certainly enough to make people think a lot.
What surprised Physician Lu even more was the Prime Minister's attitude. From the moment he stepped into the room, the Prime Minister's hand, which was drying his hair, never stopped. If it were an affair, the Prime Minister was far too unconcerned, acting as if this Miss Yushu was his wife.
Miss Yu Shu was even more at ease and greeted him, saying, "Long time no see, Physician Lu."
Physician Lu was the most embarrassed person. He smiled and went over, not daring to ask or look too much. He focused on taking Miss Yushu's pulse and told the Prime Minister that she was fine.
But the Prime Minister still had him prescribe some medicine to prevent colds.
Lu Kang was still in a daze when he was sent out of the Prime Minister's residence. If Cang Shu hadn't given him a thousand taels of silver and whispered to him, "Don't tell anyone about seeing Miss Yu Shu at the Prime Minister's residence tonight," he would have been completely stunned.
He almost doubted whether he had remembered it wrong; Miss Yushu had not married Pei Tanhua, but Prime Minister Song.
※
"Why are you prescribing medicine when I don't even have a cold?" Xie Yushu asked Song Jie, straightening his curly hair.
"Prepare this." Song Jie glanced at the prescription. "It'll be good if you feel unwell tomorrow morning, so you can prepare the medicine in time."
It was as if they thought she was bound to get a fever tomorrow.
Xie Yushu thought to himself: Only someone as sickly as you would get a fever from being caught in the rain.
He said, "Alright, give me the prescription, and I'll go back to the manor and have Xizhi get the medicine."
Song Jie looked up from the prescription at her. Go back to the manor? In this heavy rain, she still wanted to go back to the Pei manor? Did she really not want to stay with him?
"Host, you have gained 1 point of green hat value." The system reported: "From Song Jie."
Xie Yushu smiled to herself. It seemed that Song Jie had developed a lot of goodwill towards her tonight. Just saying that he was leaving would make him feel cuckolded.
He got up without saying a word, and when he came back, he had three gold notes in his hand, each worth ten thousand taels. He gently tossed them on the table and said to her, "The thirty thousand taels of gold notes will remain at the Prime Minister's residence tonight."
Xie Yushu glanced at the gold notes, then lowered his head and touched the plate, saying, "But I'm too tired tonight, I don't want to play Xie Jianing."
Song Jie felt a lump in his throat: "I didn't ask you to play Xie Jianing."
"Then why are you spending money to keep me here?" She looked at him in confusion. "Do you mean you're spending 30,000 taels of gold to keep me in your mansion for a nap?"
Song Jie felt even more choked up by her question, with many words stuck in his throat, unable to be uttered.
Was he going to say: Yes, he just wanted her to stay; she didn't need to do anything, he just wanted to see her, smell her, hear her…
Or perhaps he felt it was well worth the money if she simply stayed in this room, whether playing with Panpan or resting quietly.
No, he didn't dare to say it.
He was afraid that if she heard this, she would realize his inappropriate feelings for him and reject him directly, keeping her away from him.
She was also afraid to confront her own infidelity, for being so unfaithful to both her and Jia Ning.
He felt a strong sense of regret; if only he hadn't treated her as a substitute for Jia Ning.
He could openly express his affection for her, and even force Pei Shilin to divorce her, keeping her in the mansion forever.
Perhaps she might develop even the slightest bit of affection for him?
But now she's convinced that his "closeness" to her is only because she resembles Xie Jianing, and that he'll say he likes her, Xie Yushu.
She'll definitely feel disgusted...
Song Jie's throat tightened with a bitter taste. He watched as she swallowed all her words, and all he could manage to say was, "It's too cold tonight."
For the first time in his life, he pretended to be unwell and coughed, lying, "I got caught in the rain and I'm not feeling well... I'm afraid my old illness will flare up tonight and I'll need you."
He dared not look at her, afraid that she would see through his poor acting skills.
She sighed softly, reached for the gold coins, and said, troubled, "Fine, I can stay, but where will I sleep?"
Song Jie covered his mouth and coughed again, saying, "You sleep in my bed." Afraid she would refuse, he pointed to the side couch, "I'll sleep on that side couch."
"Shall we share a room?" she asked hesitantly.
Song Jie thought she was concerned about her reputation, and wondered if adding more gold coins would be enough to sway her.
But then she said, "Your cough will wake me up."
Song Jie paused for a moment and noticed that her eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion; she looked truly tired. "I will try my best not to cough."
Xie Yushu was indeed extremely sleepy; the system interface showed that it was already 1:35 AM.
She couldn't muster any energy, so she just grunted in response and took the gold coins to Song Jie's bedside.
The mattress and pillows were all freshly changed by Jiang Hua, and they were laid out flat and soft.
She pressed the gold coins under her pillow, turned over and lay down on the bed. She was so sleepy that she only had time to say to Song Jie, "Then I'm going to sleep..." before she lost consciousness.
Song Jie heard her stop mid-sentence and softly called out, "Xie Yushu?"
She did not respond.
The room was so quiet that only the sound of rain could be heard.
Song Jie waited for a while, then got up and tiptoed over. He lifted the bed curtains and saw that she was already asleep on the bed, her outer robe still on and her feet dangling off the edge of the bed.
I do remember to hide the gold coins.
He started laughing for no reason, without even realizing when he had become so fond of laughing.
Panpan hummed and groaned as it stretched its big head to the edge of the bed.
He reached out and pressed down on the head of the sniffing bird, gave a "shh" sound with a finger, and gestured for it to go away with a nod of his chin.
Panpan obediently withdrew.
Song Jie bent down and gently and slowly lifted her feet into the blanket. Her feet were so warm. He carefully held them, and the warm feet felt warmer and warmer in his cold palms.
The tent was soon filled with her fragrance.
It's strange, even though she was wearing his new clothes and hadn't used any perfume or cosmetics, she still smelled wonderful.
Song Jie couldn't help but lean down and gently sniff her back. The scent of dried floral dew wafted from under her clothes, on her skin, and from her body temperature, so much like the fragrance of osmanthus in the autumn breeze when he was a child.
His nose unconsciously brushed against her back, and he could feel her warmth even through her soft undergarments.
Song Jie's heart was pounding. In the dim light, his cheeks were burning as he quietly watched her. She was sleeping so soundly and deeply, as if she would never be woken up.
The wind and rain outside were so fierce, but the tent was filled with her fragrance and warmth.
He didn't want to leave, so like a sneaky thief, he lay down beside her fully clothed, tentatively took her wrist, and gently lifted it to his waist.
She was still fast asleep.
Song Jie carefully wrapped his arms around her waist, turning her to the side and pulling her into his embrace...
This time, she stirred slightly from the disturbance, but only stretched her legs out of the blanket as if she were hot, and put them on Song Jie's knees.
Taking advantage of the situation, Song Jie pulled her into his arms, turning to face her and embracing her.
Her face rested against his chest, and she drifted off to sleep again.
Inside the quiet bed curtains, only Song Jie's heartbeat and the distant sound of rain could be heard.
It was the first time he had heard his own heart pounding so hard, so hard that it made his body go numb and feel like it was burning.
His gaze was completely fixed on her face. She had such long eyelashes, such a beautiful mole on the tip of her nose, and her full lips were always rosy. Her collarbone was faintly visible beneath her slightly open collar...
Amidst his pounding heartbeat, he raised his hand and gently touched her lips; even those lips were warm.
He felt an unimaginable numbness throughout his body, and unconsciously moved closer to her, but dared not kiss her lips, afraid of waking her, afraid that she would leave his mansion in disgust.
He only dared to lightly touch the small mole on the tip of her nose with the tip of his nose. When he smelled her soft breath, his mind went blank and his body felt extremely numb. He carefully took her hand and placed it on his cheek.
She did not wake up.
He closed his eyes again and gently placed her palm on his lips, smelling the floral fragrance in her palm, and couldn't help but kiss her palm...
Something was burning hot.
"Host," the system spoke hesitantly, unsure whether to wake Xie Yushu, and simply reported, "You've gained 4 points of Popularity Points..."
It all comes from Song Jie at this very moment.
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Author's Note: Don't get me wrong, my face felt like it was burning hot. [shy]
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