The wind howled, rattling the already dilapidated windows, and the howling of owls from somewhere only made the night in the meditation room even more unbearable.
There was only one bench in the room, and Wei Shuwan and Li Qingchen each sat at one end. Although the two tried to keep their distance from each other, the bench was just big enough for both of them.
Although Wei Shuwan had her own selfish reasons and was unwilling to remind Li Qingchen to leave, it was still the first time she had spent the whole night in a room with a man from another family, so she was always on edge and found it hard to relax.
Li Qingchen cleared his throat, and Wei Shuwan immediately tensed up, guessing that he was about to speak and worried that he was about to take his leave.
However, Li Qingchen said, "If you are sleepy, you can lie down on the table and take a nap."
Wei Shuwan turned to look at him with a slight surprise. Did he mean he had no intention of leaving? Could it be that he had noticed her timidity and wanted to stay with her tonight to repay her for taking care of him all night yesterday?
With that in mind, Wei Shuwan felt relieved.
Despite feeling at ease, she still couldn't fall asleep. How could she possibly sleep with a grown man sitting right next to her?
She shook her head: "I'm not sleepy."
"So you're going to sit like this all night?" Li Qingchen asked, looking at her.
Wei Shuwan nodded seriously.
Li Qingchen didn't try to persuade him any further and took out a seemingly ordinary small knife from his waist. Wei Shuwan saw the flash of metallic luster and her heart jumped, unsure of what he was planning to do.
Li Qingchen threw the knife out the window, and it seemed to have eyes as it slipped through the gap in the window frame!
Wei Shuwan's first reaction was: "An assassin?" As she made this suspicion, she jumped up from the stool.
She had witnessed Li Qingchen's keen senses and sharp eyesight; with him sitting here, he could probably control everything within a mile radius. Therefore, she had no doubt about his on-the-spot judgment.
Li Qingchen chuckled lightly, "No need to worry, nothing."
As he spoke, the small knife that had flown out earlier circled back into his hand, bringing with it a small piece of tender green leaf.
Wei Shuwan was even more puzzled. She sat back down on the stool, watching his movements carefully.
Then Li Qingchen picked out the most intact leaf, wiped it twice on his sleeve, and then leisurely blew on it.
She would light an incense burner for him, and he would respond with a song, "Sleeping Under the Moon."
The sound produced by the leaf was different from that of metal and silk instruments; it was soft and ethereal, seemingly appearing and disappearing without a trace, its origin and end unknown. If Wei Shuwan hadn't been sitting right next to Li Qingchen, watching him play the leaf, she probably wouldn't have been able to discern where the sound came from.
The sound wouldn't disturb anyone in the Wei residence, so Wei Shuwan wasn't worried at all. She simply rested her elbow on the table beside her and listened with her chin in her hand.
At first, she almost couldn't help but ask him how he learned to play this. But in the end, she held back.
The music was melodious and soothing, and she really couldn't bear to interrupt it.
But as she listened to the music, Wei Shuwan gradually felt her body begin to tire, and her head became dizzy, as if she was about to fall asleep at any moment.
She struggled to keep her eyes open, reminding herself not to fall asleep, but after a moment, her head finally drooped. The instant Wei Shuwan's head touched the table, she was instantly awakened, and then continued to force herself to stay awake.
Li Qingchen remained outwardly calm, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see Wei Shuwan's head swaying precariously, sometimes tilting east, sometimes falling west. Every time he was alarmed, she would always manage to regain her balance in time.
But just as the music was about to end, Wei Shuwan could no longer support her head and fell to the right!
Li Qingchen was sitting to her right. Seeing that she had really fallen over this time, he quickly reached out and cupped her head. He thought she would wake up immediately when she touched the table, just like the previous times, but this time she actually fell asleep with her head on his palm.
Li Qingchen let out a long sigh of relief. It was a rare treat; he had finally managed to coax her to sleep.
He heard from the maid that Wei Shuwan hadn't slept a wink last night to take care of him, and if she were to stay up all night again tonight, not to mention a delicate young girl, even a man would not be able to endure it.
Now, although she's been coaxed to sleep, she's in the most difficult position to be moved: the table is on the left, but she's tilted her head to the right. Li Qingchen tried to move her to the table, but he couldn't manage it.
In the end, he had no choice but to give up, sighed resignedly, and decided to let her sleep with her head on his palm for one night.
Maintaining this posture is not easy. It's manageable for a short while, but if he holds on until dawn... Li Qingchen is afraid his arm will break.
And because he was using his right hand, the wound on his right chest was inevitably aggravated, and there were faint signs of it reopening.
Li Qingchen sighed again and simply let Wei Shuwan's head slump onto his shoulder. He'd already hugged her before, so what was one more time?
He convinced himself of this.
In the latter half of the night, the moonlight gradually disappeared behind the dark clouds, and the wind grew stronger, carrying a cool mist of rain that seeped in through the cracks in the windows and doors.
As Li Qingchen was wondering whether the rain would start, he suddenly felt a slight tremor on his left shoulder. Looking down, he saw the young woman leaning against him shivering.
Knowing he couldn't escape punishment, he didn't bother wearing more clothes.
Li Qingchen untied the ribbon around his neck, carefully removed his cloak, and draped it over Wei Shuwan. She finally stopped trembling.
When he looked up again, the rain outside the window had become denser. Li Qingchen sat there with his back straight, watching the rain through the window.
As the rain intensified and rumbled thunder on the horizon, Wei Shuwan began to feel uneasy in her sleep. She clung tightly to whatever she could hold onto, just as she would instinctively clutch her pillow every rainy night.
Li Qingchen, who was being clung to by her, looked rather unpleasant. He recalled how, during the same lightning flash last night, she had also suddenly clung to his arm in a similar, greedy manner. He frowned, hesitating whether to wake her up directly.
Just then, I heard a soft sob.
Li Qingchen struggled to turn his head to look at her, his arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Sure enough, he saw that she was crying pitifully, but her eyes were still closed.
Is this a nightmare?
Since that was the case, he had no choice but to wake her up. Li Qingchen gently pushed Wei Shuwan's shoulder, without using much force, but she immediately opened her eyes, indicating that she had been in a state of semi-consciousness.
Wei Shuwan's eyes were brimming with tears, her watery eyes trembled slightly, and she stared blankly at the person in front of her, as if she had not yet completely withdrawn from the dream and could not distinguish between dream and reality for a moment.
"It's alright, it was just a dream," Li Qingchen whispered to her, his voice sounding especially gentle on such a rainy night.
Wei Shuwan then felt her mind gradually clearing up. She raised her hand to wipe away her tears, then silently lowered her head without saying a word.
Li Qingchen then realized that perhaps her sadness was not entirely due to a nightmare, or perhaps there were overlaps between the nightmare and reality.
So he said, "It is said that nightmares can be washed away if you tell someone about them. If you want to tell me, I am willing to listen."
“That’s not a dream.” After a moment, Wei Shuwan finally spoke.
"It's just something that happened twelve years ago, coming back to my eyes and mind once again."
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