She had just felt guilty for a long time; if she were to believe that she was his sweetheart, she might as well believe that the sun rises in the west.
After returning to her room, Shen Wan poured herself a cup of tea and gulped it down in a few mouthfuls.
To avoid letting her mind wander, Shen Wan picked up her embroidery hoop and continued doing her needlework.
Haitang noticed that something was wrong with Shen Wan and quietly asked Yinshuang, "What's wrong, Your Highness?"
Yinshuang was about to answer when Shen Wan glared at her angrily. Yinshuang dared not utter a single word and shook her head vigorously.
Before Shen Wan could finish embroidering an orchid, it was lunchtime. Although Shen Wan didn't have much of an appetite, the small kitchen still delivered the food on time, and also sent a portion to the study. Shen Wan and Xie Jingyan each ate their own food.
Lunch and dinner were eaten separately.
After dinner, seeing that it was still early, Shen Wan took Yinshuang and Haitang to the garden for a stroll. When they returned, the lanterns were already lit, and the lanterns on the corridors illuminated the night as if it were daytime.
Shen Wan stepped up the stairs, intending to go back to her room, but after thinking for a moment, she turned around and went to the study. It was still a bit early to go to bed, and she didn't want to kill time with needlework anymore. She hadn't even read the books she had found earlier.
Inside the study, Xie Jingyan was reading. Shen Wan knocked on the door, but no one answered, so she simply pushed the door open and went in.
Upon seeing it was her, Xie Jingyan raised an eyebrow and Shen Wan asked, "Where did you put the book I left on the table yesterday?"
Xie Jingyan casually flipped through the page. "It's on the desk."
Shen Wan looked around and found it. She picked up the book and left without disturbing Xie Jingyan's reading.
After reading half a book in her room, Haitang prepared hot water, and Shen Wan took off her clothes and went into the bathtub to soak in the hot water. The hot water, which exuded a light floral fragrance, enveloped her body, opened her pores, and dispelled her fatigue. Shen Wan almost fell asleep in the bathtub.
After soaking for fifteen minutes, Shen Wan came out of the bathtub, put on her undergarments, and came out from behind the screen. She saw that there was an extra quilt and pillow on the large rosewood carved bed.
Shen Wan wanted to ask who had brought it back, but there was no one else in the inner room except for her.
Footsteps approached, and Shen Wan glanced over to see Xie Jingyan walk in. Before she could speak, Xie Jingyan spoke first, "Did you have someone bring my bedding back to the room?"
"I didn't!" Shen Wan hurriedly denied.
Xie Jingyan raised an eyebrow and said, "If it wasn't you, did the bedding grow legs and run back by itself?"
She also wanted to know whose foot had carried the bedding back, and Chen Wan gritted her teeth in anger, "I'll take it back to you."
Having finally returned, how could he possibly sleep in the study again? Xie Jingyan sat down on the bed without changing his expression. "Since you've brought him back, just make do with it."
After saying that, he lay down.
Shen Wan initially felt a little guilty, but when she heard Xie Jingyan say to make do, her guilt turned into anger. She reached out to pull him, "Get up, I'll help you carry the bedding back to the study. You don't have to make do."
But with her meager strength, she couldn't possibly pull Xie Jingyan away.
Not only could Xie Jingyan not pull her, but with the slightest effort, Shen Wan uncontrollably threw herself into his arms.
With another roll, she was pinned beneath him, and a deluge of kisses rained down upon her. Shen Wan's resistance turned into muffled moans, all swallowed up by him.
As she kissed herself until she was weak and her eyes were glazed over, Xie Jingyan's heavy breathing sounded in her ear, "Take back what you just said, or I'll take you right now."
Shen Wan dared not look into his eyes, biting her lip and turning her head away.
She didn't speak, so Xie Jingyan took it as a yes.
He gently stroked Shen Wan's moist, glossy lips with his fingertips, suppressing his desire, his voice low and husky, "I'll move back in. I won't touch you until you're sure of my feelings for you."
The man was unaware that he had been led astray by Shen Wan, even though Shen Wan did not do it on purpose.
Shen Wan could see the longing in Xie Jingyan's eyes. She couldn't understand it before. How could someone who was so virtuous in her past life, who never married or took a concubine, keep flirting with her all day long? She pretended not to see it before, but now she was afraid to see it. She was extremely resistant to the fact that Xie Jingyan died from being pierced by a thousand arrows while saving "her". She couldn't bear this love, and she didn't deserve it.
Shen Wan remained silent. Xie Jingyan asked, "Why aren't you saying anything?"
Shen Wan whispered, "You're hurting me."
The soft, sticky voice was like a feather teasing Xie Jingyan's heart, and those misty eyes were truly captivating.
Xie Jingyan got off Shen Wan and held her in his arms. Shen Wan said, "You said you wouldn't touch me..."
Xie Jingyan said, "I only said I wouldn't touch you, but I didn't say I wouldn't hug or kiss you."
Justified and confident.
Shen Wan struggled, but Xie Jingyan held her even tighter. "Don't move, or I can't guarantee I won't go back on my word."
His self-control, which he was so proud of, crumbled when he was with her.
At the prime of their youth, having already tasted the sweetness of life, things that used to require seven-tenths of their effort to endure now require twelve-tenths.
After holding Shen Wan for only a short while, Xie Jingyan got up to take a cold shower.
I woke up three times during the night.
Shen Wan slept in his arms. Every time Xie Jingyan woke up, no matter how careful he was, Shen Wan would inevitably be startled awake, but she would continue to pretend to be asleep so that Xie Jingyan wouldn't know.
How much water did he drink that he needed to get up so many times in the night, and then it took him ages to come back from the bathroom?
Shen Wan was lost in thought when she heard Xie Jingyan's footsteps. Xie Jingyan stood by the bed for a while, sighed, and then got into bed. This time he didn't hug her. Not only did he not hug her, but he also pushed her into the inner room, covered her with the quilt, and then pulled the quilt over himself, turned over, and slept with his face facing outwards.
This sleeping arrangement, where they share the same bed but dream different dreams, is not the same person who holds her tightly before sleep, someone she feels she can't help but want to meld into her very bones.
Shen Wan, "..."
Shen Wan was also very sleepy, her eyelids were drooping, and she fell into a deep sleep.
When they were asleep, one of them was sleeping close to the inside of the bed, while the other could roll off the bed with a simple turn. But when they woke up, they were still hugging each other, with Shen Wan hugging Xie Jingyan. Shen Wan was annoyed; she was just too restless in her sleep in this life.
Xie Jingyan's eyelids were dark, clearly indicating he hadn't slept well. His gaze towards Shen Wan was filled with a hint of gritted teeth; this woman was definitely born to torment him.
Shen Wan had just woken up, her face still showing signs of drowsiness, making her look incredibly alluring. Xie Jingyan raised his hand to cover Shen Wan's eyes, and Shen Wan asked, "What are you doing?"
Xie Jingyan said, "I want to live for two more years."
Shen Wan, “…???”
What the hell is that bastard talking about?
Xie Jingyan had already gotten out of bed, taken the brocade robe from the shelf beside the bed, put it on, and went out.
Shen Wan sat on the bed, watching him leave. Yin Shuang and Hai Tang came in, and Shen Wan looked at them and asked, "Who brought his bedding and pillows back last night?"
Haitang looked at Yinshuang, who didn't know where to look, and stammered, "Yes, Chen Feng asked me to bring it back..."
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