Sunlight slanted through the carved window, bathing the room in warmth and radiance.
Within the canopy bed.
Their breaths mingled, his pressing her to the point of breathlessness.
“You get up first.”
Hearing this, Xiao Chi Zhan slightly propped himself up. In the lamplight, his chiseled features were imbued with an inexplicably alluring, almost demonic, hue.
He reached out to stroke her cheek, his touch slow and deliberate.
“Luan Luan, I love you too.”
He seemed to deliberately lower his voice, his tone carrying a hint of languid sincerity.
Ye Luan’s eyelids fluttered, and she changed the subject, “I’m so hungry.”
“Mm, let’s eat first.”
He reached out and pulled her up.
She was wearing only a thin red silk robe. Although the room wasn’t cold, it was hardly proper to be dressed like this.
She took a skirt from the rack, intending to change in the back, but her hand was stopped.
“Where are you going?”
Ye Luan replied, “To change my clothes.”
The girl’s lithe and shapely body was clad only in a red gauze gown, vaguely revealing the fair and tender jade skin beneath. Scenes of past wild and passionate encounters flashed through his mind.
Xiao Chi Zhan’s eyes deepened, and he felt a dryness in his throat, involuntarily swallowing.
“Let go.”
He came back to himself and said, “Change it here.”
His gaze was like a hungry wolf.
Ye Luan, of course, understood his intentions, and her gaze turned cold.
“I’m afraid you’ll be cold, nothing else,” he said.
As he spoke, Xiao Chi Zhan coughed lightly, the impulse he could no longer suppress being forcibly suppressed by her indifferent gaze.
“Your Highness promised me that we are now equals, and you will not interfere with what I do.”
Hearing this, his gaze lowered slightly, and he released her hand, gently picking up a strand of her hair from her cheek and tucking it behind her ear.
“Naturally.”
Ye Luan turned and headed for the washroom.
As she changed, she discovered that there was hardly a spot on her body that wasn't marked. Love bites were everywhere.
She suddenly felt a dull ache all over.
Damn it, she was injured, and he was still driven by lust while she slept.
Ye Luan quickly got dressed and walked into the outer room, only to see that the meal had already been served.
She sat down directly and began to eat heartily.
“Your Highness, I plan to visit Wu Hui Gate tomorrow. You should return to Da Liang first.”
A hint of displeasure flashed in Xiao Chi Zhan’s deep crimson eyes. He calmly drank his soup and said indifferently, “Why are you going to Wu Hui Gate?”
Ye Luan said, “I want to find a certain medicinal herb.”
“You want to save Lu Fei Bai, don’t you?”
His tone rose slightly, and the ferocity on his face became somewhat uncontrollable.
“Didn’t Your Highness just say something? Are you going back on your word now?”
Ye Luan’s words blocked him. The hand holding the spoon turned white, and his dark, ominous crimson eyes flickered with an unknown meaning, as if he were calculating something.
“Lu Fei Bai’s life is in grave danger. He saved me before, and I just want to help him,” Ye Luan patiently continued to explain. “My feelings for him are just like yours for Li Qiong Yu and the others.”
Xiao Chi Zhan didn’t hear her.
He suppressed the murderous intent in his heart, reached out to ladle soup for her, and said with a gentle expression, “If you want to go to Wu Hui Gate, I’ll accompany you.”
If he went, it would cause chaos in the world.
Ye Luan refused, “I might also be looking for the whereabouts of Han Dan Zhu, and I don’t know when I’ll be back. Aren’t you at war? The military situation is urgent, don’t waste time because of me.”
Xiao Chi Zhan said, “No rush.”
“-----”
“Luan Luan, I want to see him too. After all, it’s a human life. If he needs any help, I will do my utmost.”
Ye Luan narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked at him. Seeing his harmless appearance, she raised an eyebrow.
“How about Your Highness help me find the whereabouts of Han Dan Zhu?”
Lu Fei Bai’s illness really couldn’t wait any longer, and her own strength was limited.
“Of course, Luan Luan. Whatever you want, this Prince will get it for you.”
Han Dan Zhu?!
The medicinal ingredient to treat that sickly boy Lu Fei Bai?!
Heh.
Ye Luan drank her chicken soup and said indifferently, “Your Highness knows I can practice medicine. Don’t play any tricks.”
“-----” Xiao Chi Zhan said aggrievedly, “Luan Luan, you really scared me that day. I’m changing, I’m really changing.”
Before, he had always been a ruthless and indifferent madman, and he never hid it from her. This current demeanor left her feeling somewhat at a loss.
But Xiao Chi Zhan, a perverted madman, was fundamentally wicked, and she couldn’t just look at his surface.
“Mm, then thank you, Your Highness.”
Xiao Chi Zhan said, “Don’t be so formal with me.” As he spoke, he picked up food for her, “Eat more, you’ve lost weight.”
At his words, Ye Luan couldn’t help but think of the red marks all over her body, like a fierce wolf, his scent everywhere.
After eating, Xiao Chi Zhan wanted to change her dressing.
Ye Luan glanced at the sky outside and frowned, “Do we have to change it now? It’s not dark yet.”
He walked over with the medicine bottle and bandaging tools.
“You changed this medicine last night, but not today.”
Ye Luan sat at the dressing table and said indifferently, “Then Your Highness should go out first, I’ll change it myself.”
Xiao Chi Zhan’s hand paused, and he slightly lowered his eyes, proposing, “It requires applying medicine and bandaging. You can’t manage with one hand, and if the wound splits open, you’ll be the one suffering.”
“Aren’t there many maids outside? Call one in to help me.”
Xiao Chi Zhan said, “I was afraid you’d find them annoying, so I sent them away. No one is here.”
“-----”
He added, “Don’t worry, I won’t touch you without your permission.”
He truly wanted to ravish her right there at the dressing table. He had endured for several months. If it weren’t for fear of her turning hostile and concern for her wound, he would have already done so.
That bone-deep craving was driving him mad.
Ye Luan pursed her lips. Seeing him unwrap the bandages, she gasped in pain.
“I’ll do it myself.”
Her fair chest was a field of bloody marks, and Xiao Chi Zhan’s eyes grew darker as he looked at them.
“This medicine is excellent. After a few more changes, the pain will subside.”
Ye Luan nodded slightly. After applying the medicine, a cooling sensation spread over the wound, which felt like being torn by a knife. She let out a sigh of relief, and her furrowed brow relaxed.
After Xiao Chi Zhan finished bandaging her, he suddenly bent down and knelt before her.
“Luan Luan, you said I didn’t respect you, that I imprisoned you. I didn’t understand before, and I was wrong.”
Ye Luan was slightly stunned and inadvertently said, “Love requires mutual affection. Possession and imprisonment are not love.”
“I’ll learn, I’ll restrain myself.”
The wind from the northern regions was a bit cold, blowing through the gaps in the window, making her shiver slightly.
She lowered her eyes to look at the man on the ground. His fierce and cold eyebrows seemed to have softened as if tempered by light.
His deep crimson eyes were filled with a genuine earnestness. His tightly pursed thin lips curved into a gentle smile, exuding docility.
What was he doing?
“Then, how about… Your Highness sleeps in the study from now on?”
A shadow of darkness flashed through Xiao Chi Zhan’s heart, but he replied obediently, “Alright. Once we are married, it will be proper.”
Seeing this, Ye Luan breathed a sigh of relief. “Then Your Highness, please go out. I want to take a nap.”
“Mm.”
He stood up and suddenly leaned down to kiss her cheek.
Ye Luan immediately pushed against his chest and said earnestly, “You cannot touch me casually without seeking permission.”
“Then can I kiss you now?”
“No, I don’t like it.”
Xiao Chi Zhan said, “But I’ve been looking for you for so long, I miss you so much.”
Ye Luan remained silent, her expression indifferent.
He pursed his lips, a flicker of loneliness in his eyes. He gently stroked her head and smiled faintly, “Then you rest.”