Chapter 1018 Sibling Affection [Seeking monthly votes at the beginning of the month!]
The moonlight shines brightly outside the window, while a solitary lamp burns inside.
The dim, orange light faintly illuminated the scene on the bed.
The bedding was neatly arranged and not yet lifted. The young woman lay diagonally on the couch, her body half-bent. Her nightgown was thin, revealing a section of her fragrant shoulder. Her legs were half-bent, and the hem of the skirt barely covered some of her thighs.
The girl's fair thighs were firm and rounded, full of youthful beauty. Below that were her calves, the exposed flesh of which was porcelain white, symmetrical and delicate, like exquisite porcelain. However, her small feet were covered by foot bags, which also concealed her taut ankles.
This scene vaguely corresponds to a line in the book about a woman lying prone.
Ouyang Rong glanced at it again, then quickly looked away.
However, he heard Ah Qing's somewhat even breathing, which sounded rather loud in the quiet room, as if it were coming right next to his ear. At the same time, the girl's faint body fragrance also entered his nose.
Ah Qing must have been waiting for him and accidentally fell asleep. That makes sense; the Empress Palace was already exhausting, so staying by Lady Zhi Shuang's side must have been difficult. After receiving his letter today, she immediately rushed back... Even if a Qi cultivator's body could withstand it, their mind would still feel tired.
Ouyang Rong forgot which book he read it in, but he thought it made a lot of sense... Most people tend to feel sleepy when they are with someone they are close to and trust, because they feel safe. So their tense mind, which was previously focused on outside, relaxes at this moment and they become easily tired, like a taut string that has suddenly lost its tension and naturally becomes taut quite quickly.
Therefore, sometimes when people are with their lovers or relatives, they feel sleepy not because they don't care about the other person, but because it is a kind of relaxation similar to "coming home".
Ouyang Rong remained silent for a while, then bent down in front of the bed, first taking out a pillow and placing it on the chair next to him.
He didn't take off his shoes and get into bed with Aqing. Instead, he silently reached out and placed his palm on Aqing's forehead, as if checking something. After a moment, he nodded almost imperceptibly.
Ouyang Rong immediately released his hand from touching her forehead and instead lifted Aqing's little head, gently placing her on the remaining pillow amidst her slightly dazed and whimpering murmurs.
Then he helped the little girl tidy up her disheveled nightgown, and finally, he pulled up the blankets that she had been lying on and carefully covered her up... Ouyang Rong seemed to be preparing to leave the bed with his own pillow.
Just as he was about to complete this familiar routine, a murmured sound came from the bed:
"Ah, brother..."
It's Aqing.
The girl in the nightgown seemed half-awake, her head turned towards him, and she murmured something.
A small hand suddenly appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Ouyang Rong's hand as he was covering A Qing with a blanket, gripping it quite tightly.
Ouyang Rong sat down again by the bed and asked softly:
"What's wrong?"
Ah Qing muttered something:
"Brother, why aren't you asleep yet..."
Ouyang Rong did not answer immediately and remained silent for a moment.
Sure enough, the young woman on the bed opened her eyes a crack, then closed them again, her head sinking back into the pillow. She even turned over slightly, and after a while, her breathing became even again.
Ouyang Rong felt that the strength of A Qing's small hand on the back of his hand had weakened considerably.
The little girl drifted off to sleep again.
Ouyang Rong breathed a barely perceptible sigh of relief, gently covered her small hand with his other hand, took her hand down, tucked it into the blankets, and then tidied the bed.
After doing all this, Ouyang Rong took the pillow, left the inner room, and went to the desk.
I'll be sleeping on the floor again tonight.
...
The next morning, the sun was shining brightly.
Perhaps because he didn't have to work, Ouyang Rong got up very late, around 1:45 AM, which was quite late compared to his previous disciplined lifestyle.
When he opened his eyes, the bright sunlight was already streaming through the window next to his desk and falling on the bedding on him.
He felt the blankets on him were a bit heavy. He looked down and found that there was an extra layer of blankets, and his robe had also been covered on top of the blankets.
Ouyang Rong was startled. While he was sleeping, he did vaguely feel someone approaching, and it seemed like someone gently stroked his face, and then something was pressed against him...
When Ouyang Rong heard the sound of washing clothes coming from the courtyard outside, he knew without guessing who it was.
It must have been Aqing; she goes to bed early and gets up early, and she covered him with an extra set of blankets...
Ouyang Rong's brain was in a state of just rebooting. He was lost in thought for a moment before leisurely lifting the covers and getting out of bed to start a new day.
Upon reaching the doorway, he stretched and took a deep breath of fresh air.
Speaking of which, he hasn't experienced the feeling of waking up early for a long time since he started working the night shift. In the past, he would come back to sleep before dawn, or like a few days ago, he would not return until the morning. He was too lazy to even wash up and would just fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow... He spent most of his daytime sleeping.
The last time I woke up this early was two months ago.
As Ouyang Rong stretched his limbs at the doorway, a glance caught sight of a pretty young woman's back as she stood by the well, washing clothes by hand. Among them were A Qing's snow-white Wu-style skirt and Ouyang Rong's long robe...
I don't know how long the little girl was busy this morning.
Ouyang Rong walked towards the well, sniffing the air as he went. He then glanced towards the kitchen and smelled the aroma of hot porridge.
It must have been breakfast that Aqing made.
Ouyang Rong felt a warm feeling in his heart, as if he had drunk porridge.
Beside the well, the hardworking girl seemed to hear footsteps behind her. She turned around with a hint of surprise, wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, and happily called out:
"Good morning, brother."
The young woman rolled up her sleeves, revealing her slender, white arms. Some glistening water droplets clung to her forearms, flowing down her elbows and onto her fair wrists. Her wrists resembled frost and snow in winter, appearing almost luminous under the sun. Combined with the water droplets, they looked as if ice and snow had melted, a truly pleasing sight.
Looking at the bright and lively young woman, Ouyang Rong's mood was unconsciously infected by her, and he smiled and went up to greet her:
"Good morning, why are you up so early?"
Aqing said crisply:
“Brother, I went to bed early last night, and when I was in the Queen's Palace, my master was very strict. I had to get up before dawn to practice swordsmanship in Peach Valley... I’m used to it.”
Ouyang Rong smiled and asked, "Is this Queen's Palace even more exploitative than the old Yue Sword Shop?"
Aqing smiled sheepishly: "It seems so, but Master and the Liu family are ultimately different. Master is doing this for my own good."
Upon hearing this, Ouyang Rong looked at her earnest little face, and sighed as if he had thought of something: "Aqing has indeed grown up."
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Aqing glanced at him again and whispered:
"Really? I feel like my brother still sees me as a little girl."
Ouyang Rong was silent for a moment, unsure how to answer. After a while, he glared at her and casually said, "In your brother's eyes, you'll always be a little girl."
Ah Qing, however, said earnestly with a focused expression, "Brother, but I don't want to be a little girl anymore..."
Ouyang Rong frowned slightly, and was about to speak when A Qing quickly changed the subject:
"Brother, are you very tired? You're sleeping so soundly."
Ouyang Rong pursed his lips and asked, "Was it because you covered me with a blanket that I didn't wake up?"
"Hmm... I used to be very alert. If someone got close, I would open my eyes..."
Ouyang Rong said helplessly, "That's because you're here. Otherwise, how could I be so careless? When you're not here, I always have Miaosi or [Craftsman] guard the house for me to prevent outsiders from entering."
Upon hearing this, Aqing looked delighted and said:
"Then I'll come back often from now on, okay, brother?"
Ouyang Rong shook his head: "Don't do it because of me..."
Aqing explained:
"No, brother, as I mentioned before, Master promised me that as long as I reach the middle level, she would allow me to come back every day and not have to stay in the Queen's Palace all the time. Don't worry, it definitely won't affect my cultivation. Otherwise, Master would be so strict and wouldn't have allowed me to make this request."
All of Ouyang Rong's possible reasons were shut down, so he had no choice but to temporarily put the matter aside:
"Then we'll talk about it when the time comes. You should first reach the middle rank before discussing this matter."
"Um."
Ouyang Rong was about to help with the laundry, but Aqing had already spread her hands with a smile:
"Almost done washing, just the last item. Brother, go get some porridge. By the way, brother, when are you going to the storeroom to meet up for the trip down the mountain this morning?"
Ouyang Rong had already gone to the kitchen, waving his hand and saying:
"There's still an hour left. They're very slow over there. No rush. I'll send you away first."
"Alright, we can't delay your important business, brother."
"Don't worry, your brother knows all this. Do you need to teach him?"
"whee."
After Ouyang Rong brought out two bowls of hot porridge and placed them on the table, along with several side dishes, Aqing had just finished hanging up the laundry.
The young woman lowered her rolled-up sleeves, walked to the table and sat down. Smiling, she picked up a bowl of hot porridge, covered the warm bowl with both hands, and her eyes unconsciously curved into crescents.
"Brother."
"Um?"
Aqing held the bowl of porridge, taking small sips. From Ouyang Rong's perspective, the bowl obscured her face, and only her voice could be heard:
Did you cover me with the blanket last night too?
Ouyang Rong calmly sipped his porridge:
"Hmm, I remember you seemed to be awake for a while. Was I too rough, brother? I'll be gentler next time and take the pillow and blanket away beforehand."
"I do have some recollection of it..."
Ah Qing lowered the bowl of porridge that was covering her face and whispered:
"Why isn't my brother sleeping on the couch? Why is he sleeping on a makeshift bed by the desk? It's almost autumn, and the floor is getting cold..."
Ouyang Rong laughed and said, "My brother is a restless sleeper and tends to kick people, so I'm afraid it will disturb Ah Qing's sleep..."
Aqing remained silent, ceasing her porridge. She turned her head and glanced at the warm sunlight in the courtyard, which shone like gold on the ground, making even early risers feel drowsy.
Aqing suddenly said with a hint of reproach:
“My brother didn’t wake me up last night, so I accidentally fell asleep.”
Ouyang Rong was taken aback, not expecting her to ask that, and asked back out of curiosity:
"Why did I wake you up? Isn't it a good thing to go to bed early? Aqing just said that she's used to going to bed early too."
Ah Qing said in a very soft voice:
"I don't want to go to bed so early. My brother will leave as soon as I wake up. I want to go to bed later and talk to you more. Brother, it's been so long since we had a proper chat."
Ouyang Rong remained silent for a moment.
I wanted to say that we could chat now, but then I remembered that I was leaving soon and didn't have much time left, so I swallowed the words back down.
To be honest, since entering Yunmeng Sword Marsh, Ouyang Rong has indeed been "in a hurry," and he has seen A Qing less and less. The few times they did manage to meet, they would only rest for one night before returning to their respective places and busying themselves the next day.
Aqing was brought here personally by Ouyang Rong. According to Liu's mother's expectations, she should have been there to accompany and protect him. But now, it has become Aqing "protecting" him, covering for him, and gathering intelligence for him. Ouyang Rong rarely has time to spend with her anymore, and he even has to put her in the "dangerous" Queen's Palace...
The rest of the breakfast was spent in quiet silence between the two.
Aqing originally wanted to see Ouyang Rong off, but Ouyang Rong stopped her and took the initiative to escort Aqing to the ferry.
On the way, Ouyang Rong reminded A Qing about Yun Xiangyi's situation, in case Yun Xiangyi went to the Queen's Palace to investigate or try to get information out of her. The two siblings agreed on their story beforehand.
Before parting, Aqing suddenly turned back and said to him:
“Brother, I’ve packed the clothes you need to wear and the things you need to go down the mountain. I’ve put the bundle on the bed. You can just take it when you go back.”
Ouyang Rong paused for a moment, then nodded:
"good."
Soon, Ouyang Rong saw A Qing off and returned to the courtyard. He put the wonderful ideas and the Peach Blossom Spring painting into a bamboo tube, hung it on his waist, and went to the bed that the girl had tidied up. He picked up a bundle and tied it to his back.
In addition, he also carried with him the stack of scriptures he had annotated while staying up all night.
Before leaving, Ouyang Rong glanced back at the bed where A Qing had slept the night before.
A faint fragrance of gardenias lingered in the room, refusing to dissipate for a long time.
A moment later, the taciturn young man strode out the door and locked them inside.
...
This time, just like the previous two times, the Lantang Yue women regularly left the Yunmeng fleet, while the warehouse's purchasing ships were sandwiched in the fleet, all going down the mountain together.
Ouyang Rong was assigned to the storeroom next to Madam Chen's, nominally to represent the cooks of Qingliang Valley Restaurant to purchase special ingredients in town, including vegetarian meals needed by Yutang and the Water Prison.
There's really no reason to complain.
But in fact, if someone were to investigate closely, they would naturally discover some anomalies. However, since Ouyang Rong had worked in the storeroom and had a good relationship with the servants, and everyone in the storeroom knew that he had a powerful "background," plus with Madam Chen backing him up... naturally no one would nitpick or meddle in this matter.
The Lantang fleet spent most of the day navigating the white fog walls and poisonous barriers surrounding Yunmengze. By the time they left the foggy area, it was already sunset at the foot of the mountain.
The island, which Lantang had designated as a safe house, was about ten miles from the mainland where Taoyuan Town was located. When the fleet docked at the island, they could still see the dazzling lights of Taoyuan Town in the distance by the last rays of dawn...
(End of this chapter)
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