"Still dare to spout nonsense?"
Xiao Jue, utterly exhausted, could only shake his head repeatedly.
Satisfied, Leng Yan rewarded his sweaty forehead with a kiss, then rolled off the bed and scooped him up horizontally. "I'm going to bathe... and wash you along the way, so we don't have to heat more water."
"..."
Leng Yan carried him into the bathing chamber, added the previously heated water to the tub, and settled him inside. She carefully massaged every inch of his emaciated body, skin stretched taut over bone.
Cradled in the arms of his long-yearned-for beloved, treated with such tenderness, Xiao Jue began doubting this sudden happiness again. "Yan'er..."
Leng Yan raised an eyebrow at the man in her arms. "What do you want to say?"
Xiao Jue swallowed hard, swallowing his original words too, and randomly fabricated something trivial. "I'm hungry..."
Leng Yan curled her lips and kissed behind his ear. "After all that, you're still not full? And you call yourself useless?"
Xiao Jue was nearly in tears. "Yan'er..."
Seeing his pitiful state, Leng Yan finally dissipated her anger completely. "Speak. What do you want to eat?"
Xiao Jue pressed his lips together. "Anything I want?"
"You've devoured me whole - what couldn't I give you to eat?"
"Yan'er..."
"Say it. What to eat?"
"I heard people in the capital say... your braised pork is especially delicious..."
Leng Yan thoughtfully stroked Xiao Jue's body nestled against her. "You do need nourishing. So thin like this, holding you feels all bony."
"..."
Leng Yan finished washing him, carefully dried him, placed a soft, clean white padding beneath him, helped him dress, carried him back to bed, attending to each step methodically and skillfully, as if it had long been committed to memory.
"Yan'er..."
"Hmm?"
"You before... did you..."
Leng Yan waited but heard no continuation. "Did what?"
Xiao Jue's face turned terribly pale. "Did you... serve someone else like this before..."
Leng Yan promptly gave him a solid knock on the head. "What nonsense are you thinking... It was all for you, specially learned from the palace attendants."
"If you had served others... it wouldn't matter..."
Leng Yan pressed her hand against his abdomen, narrowing her eyes at him. "Do you still have energy with nowhere to use it?"
"No... none at all..."
By the time Leng Yan returned with the stewed meat, Xiao Jue was already exhausted and asleep. In his dreams, he caught the rich aroma of meat and woke in a daze.
"So fragrant..."
"The rumors outside are all exaggerated. Don't set your hopes too high and blame me for deceiving you."
Leng Yan sat by the bedside with a bowl of braised pork, picked up a piece, blew on it gently, and brought it to Xiao Jue's lips. Xiao Jue took the whole piece, chewing contentedly with his mouth full. "Delicious..."
Watching Xiao Jue eat like a starving child returning home after a long day, Leng Yan felt a pang of heartache.
This man used to gallop on horseback, wielding blades, commanding the battlefield - even her father, who had fought for most of his life, praised this noble-born yet hardworking youth. Now, forget holding a blade, he couldn't even grip chopsticks firmly...
"Eat slowly. It's all yours."
After feeding him a few pieces, Leng Yan set the bowl aside. Xiao Jue looked at her resentfully. "You just said it was all mine...""My stomach isn't good but I still want to eat greedily... From now on you need to eat smaller meals more frequently. I'll heat up the rest for you later - no one's competing with you for it."
"Yan'er..."
"Trying to say something foolish again?"
"No, nothing..."
"Hmm?"
Xiao Jue pressed his lips together, grasping for words, "Before I leave this place, I need to bid farewell to Seventh Uncle, you..."
"I'd forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it." Leng Yan smiled and leaned down, sucking a red mark onto Xiao Jue's snow-white neck. "I need to let everyone know that you're mine now."
Feeling the heat on his neck and looking at Leng Yan's vividly beautiful face, Xiao Jue's expression darkened again, "Certainly no one would compete with you for me... but surely someone would compete with me for you..."
"Where's your backbone? Can't you fight for me then?"
"What right do I have to compete with others..."
"What do you think?"
"Yan'er..."
"Don't forget, I'm already yours, completely yours."
"I am too..."
☆、65 Roasted Whole Lamb (1)
Fine wine in golden cups costs dear,
Piping on horseback invites us to drink.
Don't laugh if we lie drunk on the battleground!
How many ever return from the war?
—Wang Han, Song of Liangzhou
When the two woke up one after another the next day, the sky was already bright.
Chu Chu nestled in Xiao Jin Yu's slightly cool embrace, drowsily wrapping her arms around his waist and rubbing against him a few times. "Wang Ye... it hurts..."
Xiao Jin Yu's drowsiness vanished instantly with her words. True, he had drunk quite a lot last night and taken Mind-Calming Powder, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to stay energetic throughout such an exhausting day while still recovering from serious illness, and then at night... He had no prior experience, but as a grown man, he understood everything he needed to. Even if he were drunk enough to forget his own name, he would never hurt her. He had been extremely careful, so how could she still...
Just as Xiao Jin Yu grew tense, he heard the second half of Chu Chu's sentence, "My waist hurts..."
"..."
Xiao Jin Yu didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he raised his hand to gently massage circles on her lower back. Chu Chu enjoyed his massage, rubbing against him like a pampered kitten and making soft murmuring sounds in her half-asleep state. "Wang Ye..."
"Hmm?"
"Am I your wife now?"
"Yes."
"For my whole life?"
"Mmm..."
"What about the next life?"
"That too."
"And the life after that?"
"As long as you want."
"I want to be yours forever..."
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