Chapter 53

The moon hung high in the sky, the night breeze gentle, and bamboo leaves fell to the ground. After some time passed, everything returned to silence, leaving no trace behind.

When Sang Yao slowly regained some consciousness, she gradually pieced together what had happened tonight in her mind.

A little eunuch was chasing her, and then she was taken down by someone.

Later, when the irreversible force invaded her mind, her memory became somewhat blurry.

But she vaguely remembered that Xie Yun had saved her again.

It seemed like Brother Yang had also come.

She didn’t move, half-opening her eyes to clear her mind.

Then, the scene of the intimate kiss gradually became clear in her mind.

Xie Yun at that time seemed a bit overbearing, as if he wanted to devour her. Obviously, this wasn’t true.

But she felt like she hadn’t been asleep just now. If she hadn’t been asleep, why did she dream about Xie Yun again?

Could it be that every time she had a fever, she would dream about Xie Yun?

That would be too much.

And this dream was unusually real. She even remembered how Xie Yun in the dream entangled his lips and tongue with hers, and how he lowered his voice to teach her to respond.

Unlike the simple touch of lips in previous dreams, this time it seemed much more passionate, far beyond her imagination of kissing, her lips were numb from the kiss, and her neck was sore from tilting it.

Huh?

Wait a minute, her neck does seem to really hurt.

Sang Yao barely came to her senses. She slowly raised her eyes and saw a pair of black deer-hide boots opposite her.

Looking up, she saw Xie Yun’s cold and restrained face.

He was sitting opposite her, half-leaning on the railing, his long legs casually placed, his pitch-black eyes fixedly staring at her.

Sang Yao was startled, her heart skipped a beat.

This face was impossible to associate with the situation in her dream, so Sang Yao first thought that she was indeed dreaming.

And at this moment, she felt a sense of embarrassment as if she had been caught dreaming about someone else. She panicked, could it be that Xie Yun was watching her like this while she was dreaming?

She shouldn’t have said anything outrageous, right? It’s okay, she doesn’t talk in her sleep.

Feeling somewhat awkward, she sat up straight and said, “You… why are you here too?”

Her mouth also felt a little sore, as if it had split. …Did she get angry after just one sleep?

The two looked at each other, and Xie Yun said, “Don’t you remember?”

Sang Yao nodded, then shook her head and said, “I remember you saved me.”

Xie Yun replied truthfully, “That’s right.”

In the past half hour or so, although the first half was spent kissing him, in the last fifteen minutes, she did lean against him to rest.

Just don’t know if she fell asleep.

After getting a positive answer, Sang Yao felt even more guilty.

Xie Yun had saved her and even sat with her in this cool pavilion to clear her mind. She actually shamelessly had a dream like that.

She even dreamt about him in such an embarrassing way, she really deserved to die.

Her cheeks began to flush again, and she murmured an acknowledgment, not saying anything else.

Xie Yun asked again, “What else do you remember?”

“What else do you remember?”

Sang Yao didn’t understand why Xie Yun was asking this.

She tried hard to recall, trying to separate reality from dreams.

After racking her brains for a long time, she said to Xie Yun, “Brother Yang, did he come over?”

She remembered she seemed to have seen him.

The night was dark, and Sang Yao couldn’t see the man’s expression clearly.

But he took a while before replying to her, his voice sounding a bit cold, as if he wasn’t very pleased: “You remembered wrong.”

Sang Yao was puzzled. She felt like she had really heard Yang Wenchuan’s voice. “But I think I heard his voice.”

Xie Yun was silent for a moment before saying, “You’re right, he did come over.”

Sang Yao said, “I told you so.”

“Why did Brother Yang come?”

Xie Yun replied, “He was passing by, but then he left because there were too many mosquitoes.”

Xie Yun didn’t say much more. He stood up first, his tall figure imposing.

“Now that you’re awake, let’s go.”

Sang Yao didn’t really understand the current situation.

For example, why were they both here in this pavilion? Had Xie Yun been with her all along? Was she actually running a fever?

She stood up with the help of a pillar because she was still weak from just recovering.

She took a step forward but stumbled. Fortunately, Xie Yun reached out in time and supported her waist.

After she steadied herself, the man withdrew his hand without hesitation.

Sang Yao said sincerely, “Thank you.”

Xie Yun just grunted in response.

She felt even more guilty because when Xie Yun had put his hand on her waist just now, she suddenly felt as if he had been holding her for a long time.

As they walked out of the pavilion, Sang Yao asked in a low voice, “Were you with me the whole time?”

Xie Yun said, “If it wasn’t me, who else could it be? Your brother Chuan?”

Although Sang Yao was very grateful to him, she had really heard enough.

“… Can you stop mentioning him?”

“Wasn’t it you who mentioned him first?”

“I was just asking, why are you so sensitive?” Xie Yun found this amusing. “Do I seem like a sensitive person to you?”

Sang Yao didn’t say anything, but she thought he did.

Xie Yun didn’t seem to want to talk to her anymore.

After they had walked a distance, Sang Yao wanted to ask Xie Yun what had happened tonight.

But as soon as she opened her mouth, her lips were pulled.

She sucked in a breath of cold air and covered her lips with her hand, whispering, “It hurts.” She felt uncomfortable all over, with no strength in her body, sore lips, and an uncomfortable neck.

She had just fallen asleep like this, not knowing what had happened.

After she finished speaking, the man walking beside her, Xie Yun, paused in his steps and said, “Let me see.”

Sang Yao was a little surprised. Although Xie Yun had helped her several times before, she had always thought of him as aloof and taciturn.

Why was he so concerned about her today?

Although it was a bit strange to let someone else look at her lips, Xie Yun’s unusual kindness was so rare that she couldn’t help but stop.

Sang Yao looked up at Xie Yun, and his gaze fell directly on her lips.

Xie Yun gently lifted her chin, and the girl’s tender lips were exposed to him in a way that was tempting.

Actually, he had already looked at them just now. There was no break in the skin, but they were a bit swollen and looked especially red.

As he stared at them, Sang Yao felt her lips go numb.

In fact, she had doubted for a moment just now.

Because her discomfort was so obvious, she always wondered if her so-called dream was real.

But every time she thought this, she would just look at Xie Yun’s face, so cold and natural, and feel full of guilt.

He was always so indifferent, except for the last time he hit

She hadn’t taken advantage of him, nor had he been particularly gentle with her. She didn’t want to be presumptuous.

As they spent more time together, Sang Yao increasingly felt that this person was actually very serious.

As for why that book looked like that, she didn’t quite understand either.

But if he had really taken advantage of her, shouldn’t he feel a little guilty? Yet he looked completely untroubled.

“How are you feeling?” Sang Yao asked softly, then added:

“After waking up, I feel like this. Am I having an internal heat?”

Xie Yun didn’t deny it and said, “Let’s go back and have someone get some medicine for you.”

He withdrew his hand and walked alongside Sang Yao.

She was panting, struggling to keep up with his pace. She said, “No need, I’ll be fine in a couple of days.”

Unlike Xie Yun’s tall and straight figure, she was petite.

Even if Xie Yun walked slowly, she still couldn’t catch up.

However, after a while, she suddenly realized that she seemed to be able to keep up with him without needing to make an effort to speed up her pace.

She looked up and could see his clear and smooth jawline from this angle, with the bright round moon hanging in the deep blue night sky, shining on his profile.

He had actually never changed.

Back when Sang Yao hadn’t talked to him much, he had always passed through the crowd with the same indifferent expression, not stopping for anyone or giving anyone a second glance.

It was really strange. Sang Yao had been confused more than once.

Could intelligent people also be good at acting? He looked so refined and gentlemanly, completely different from the man in the book who could be so whatever at any time.

After looking for a while, Xie Yun suddenly spoke in a low voice, “Had enough?”

Caught peeking again. Sang Yao was already used to it. She quickly lowered her head and said, “Xie Yun, do you know why that little eunuch was chasing me?”

Xie Yun said, “I know.”

You know, but you won’t say!

“Why… why was that?”

As they spoke, the two had already walked out of the garden.

Jing Lian had been guarding here since he had finished his work. It was already midnight, but he still looked spirited.

It wasn’t his fault, because tonight, he had finally achieved his ultimate goal in life.

Think about it, a drugged beautiful girl and a tall handsome man together in a small grove, with no one else around.

If nothing happened, it would be simply unreasonable.

So, he stood diligently at the entrance of the garden, enduring the annoyance of being bitten by mosquitoes. With him around, no one could enter.

Jing Lian smiled and approached, saying, “Young Master, Miss Sang.”

Great, it probably wouldn’t be long before he could change his address. His gaze couldn’t help but look at Sang Yao, excitedly thinking, maybe he already had a little master now.

The more Jing Lian thought about it, the harder it was to contain his smile.

His face full of joy, he reported, “Master, the little eunuch has been caught. How should we deal with him?”

Xie Yun said, “Hand him over to Rong Yan.” Sang Yao widened her eyes, finally understanding.

She almost screamed out loud, but then remembered they were still outside. She covered her mouth and whispered to Xie Yun, “Ah, why him?”

She didn’t know when she had been exposed, let alone how the little eunuch, who had been helping her father pass on messages, had turned against her.

More importantly, the last time she had seen Rong Yan, he had been smiling and greeting her so kindly.

But then he turned around and harmed her. Sang Yao suddenly felt her scalp tingle.

Sang Yao felt a chill down her spine. If she hadn’t run into Xie Yun today, she might really have been in danger.

At this moment, Sang Yao’s gratitude towards Xie Yun peaked.

She would never again say that Xie Yun was unfeeling. He was truly a great person.

Not only had he stayed with her in the pavilion, but he had also just looked at her lips.

She looked at Xie Yun, pursed her lips, and seemed to want to say something but hesitated.

Xie Yun looked calmly at her and said, “Speak.”

Sang Yao earnestly grabbed Xie Yun’s sleeve and said, “Xie Yun, I didn’t expect you to be so cold on the outside but warm on the inside!”

She had always thought that when Xie Yun reached his current position, it was not just because of his intelligence, but also because of his kindness that he won people over.

“Sorry! I used to believe rumors and thought you were some cold-hearted demon king.”

Xie Yun remained silent. Jing Lian stood by as if nothing had happened, looking around, constantly feeling guilty for his master.

After a while, he heard his master say indifferently, “It’s good that you know.”

Shameless!

Moreover, he didn’t need to stay with Miss Sang like he had just now.

He was not convenient himself, but he could have easily asked a palace maid to help Miss Sang back.

Yet he insisted on accompanying her personally.

What kind of behavior was this?

He was pretending to be a good person.

As they spoke, they had reached the end of the palace road. Normally, Sang Yao would have to part ways with Xie Yun here.

Because a short distance ahead was where she lived, just across another palace road and around a corner.

But the road ahead was pitch black, the long and narrow corridor seeming to have no end in sight.

She remembered Rong Yan’s smiling face and couldn’t help feeling a bit scared.

She asked, “Where is Rong Yan now?”

Xie Yun said, “In his room.”

Sang Yao nodded. They had reached a fork in the road, and she had to separate from Xie Yun.

Sang Yao asked again, “Do you think he will retaliate against me?”

Sang Yao nodded again, dragging her feet without turning back. She hesitated for a long time before saying, “…But I still don’t have much strength. If someone tries to grab me, I won’t be able to fight back.”

With her small stature, she couldn’t afford to be aggressive.

Xie Yun stopped and asked knowingly, “So what do you want to say?”

Sang Yao pouted, pointing ahead pitifully, and said, “Can you accompany me a little further?”