I didn't get to drink any wine in the end.
Nor did I get to taste any sweetness.
Xie Jiang could only pin Xu Hengyan onto the stone table in the courtyard in her dreams and toss him around.
The next day.
Xu Hengyan, riding his horse, felt a scorching gaze on his back.
It had been staring at him since they left the post station.
Xu Hengyan suddenly turned his horse and headed towards the carriage.
Xie Jiang had one arm propped on the carriage window, shamelessly staring at Xu Hengyan.
Even when Xu Hengyan reached her, she showed no signs of restraint.
"Are you still angry that I didn't let you drink last night? Your tolerance for alcohol isn't that great. If you had gotten drunk, you would have suffered today. You always complain about feeling sore from sitting in the carriage. If you were drunk, you'd have a headache too."
Xu Hengyan tried to reason with her patiently.
It wasn't that he didn't want her to drink.
It was just that he felt it wasn't appropriate while traveling.
If she felt unwell, she would be the one to suffer.
Moreover, he also considered safety on the road.
"The Baiyou region is densely forested with mountains and is frequented by bandits. As we travel through this stretch, we must remain alert. It is truly not advisable to drink."
But seeing how much she dwelled on it, how she had been thinking about it all night and still held a grudge, Xu Hengyan was considering letting her have a little tonight.
He stared intently, intending to let her have just a little to satisfy her craving.
Xie Jiang blinked her eyes.
Was she thinking about drinking?
She was thinking about what happened after drinking.
What did he take her for?
She wasn't a rabbit; why would she be vegetarian?
However, since Xu Hengyan had so innocently delivered himself to her, wouldn't it be a disservice to this fine weather if she didn't get some compensation?
"How do you plan to compensate me?"
"Compensate?"
It was as if she had suffered a great loss!
"I didn't get to drink yesterday, and I've been listless all day today. It's so tragic..."
One moment she was leaning leisurely by the window, savoring Xu Hengyan's retreating back, and the next she drooped her body and her eyes, looking at Xu Hengyan and putting on a pitiful act.
"Did you not sleep well?" Xu Hengyan asked suspiciously.
"How could I have slept well?" Xie Jiang complained.
"What compensation do you want?"
Xu Hengyan's words were tinged with caution, not knowing what trick she was up to.
"Tell me a bedtime story when we sleep tonight!" Xie Jiang felt this was not an unreasonable request. He wouldn't be unwilling to coax her to sleep with his own actions, would he?
"Tell a bedtime story?" Meaning to coax her to sleep, Xu Hengyan was speechless. "How old are you?"
"Then let me drink tonight, or tell me a bedtime story. You choose."
Was this giving him a choice? "I don't know how to tell stories."
"Then just say anything. Your voice is pleasant anyway, and I'll like listening to whatever you say." Xie Jiang stared at him adoringly.
Who could withstand that!
Xu Hengyan certainly couldn't.
She was doing this on purpose!
How could she stare at a man like that, at a person like that!
Neither man nor woman could withstand it.
Xu Hengyan directly pushed her head back into the carriage.
Why was she so mischievous!
Xu Hengyan turned his horse and galloped to the front. He needed to calm himself, his heart having been thrown into disarray by that moment.
This mischievous monkey, if it were a boy, could already make his heart race. If it were a girl, wouldn't it be a disaster for the nation?
In the past, Xu Hengyan never believed that beauty could overturn mountains and change the course of events.
That was merely an excuse used by decadent rulers of fallen kingdoms who indulged in excess and neglected state affairs, unwilling to take responsibility.
How could a dignified man dare to blame the ruin of a nation on women!
Now, a captivating creature like Xie Jiang had appeared by his side.
"Yan Yan, Yan Yan—"
Xie Jiang, unyielding, quickly poked her head out of the carriage window again, waving her devilish claws at his fleeing figure and shouting.
She was definitely doing it on purpose!
This scoundrel!
Hearing that suffocating address, Xu Hengyan's scalp prickled.
As expected, he saw Xie Jiang's servants secretly glancing at him.
They were also exchanging knowing glances, their expressions all peculiar.
Even his usually stern and solemn guards seemed a little unsettled.
When it was just the two of them, he had gritted his teeth and endured her calling him whatever she pleased.
How could she do this in public...
Xu Hengyan turned back, intending to shut her up!
"Don't call me that!"
Xu Hengyan said sternly, his face cold.
Xie Jiang seemed to be startled and clamped her mouth shut, looking at him with a bewildered and lost expression.
Xu Hengyan couldn't help but reflect if his tone had been too harsh.
"If you're feeling bored, you can come out and ride. You've been well-behaved all day. We can discuss what happens tonight later."
He couldn't tell stories, especially not stories to lull people to sleep. He was completely clueless about that. However, a casual chat before bed wasn't too much to ask.
"I knew Yan Yan was the best."
Seeing her smile reappear, Xu Hengyan sighed silently.
...
Tonight, they were staying in Gangshi Town.
They found the largest inn in town to accommodate their group of over thirty people.
Aunt He, along with two maids, stripped all the bedding from Xie Jiang's room for the night and replaced it with their own.
Xie Jiang rolled back and forth on the cushions laid out in the corridor.
After three days of bumpy travel, her bones ached terribly.
Xu Hengyan was also worried that she wouldn't be able to handle it.
After all, her illness in the Dali Temple prison had been serious. She had just recovered and was immediately rushed into action, first spending a whole day playing in Xihua Mountain, and then, more outrageously, going to a place of revelry at night.
Then, still hungover, she had left with him.
For the past three days, they had been traveling non-stop.
"How are you? Can you still hold on?"
Xie Jiang immediately flipped over and lay on the cushion, looking up at him with pleading eyes. "If I sleep well tonight, I can hold on tomorrow."
She was best at seizing opportunities.
Xu Hengyan chuckled.
Wasn't this a reminder for him to tell her a story later?
"When you were at home, who used to tell you stories?" Xu Hengyan sat down beside her and took the water cup handed to him by Guang Bai.
"They're... gone."
Xie Jiang's smile faded, her expression becoming a little somber, with a hint of nostalgia.
"I'm very sorry, I didn't know..."
Xu Hengyan thought she was referring to deceased elders.
"It's nothing."
Xie Jiang smiled at him instead. "They're just not in this world. They're in another world."
Da Chui, carrying two rabbits he had caught on the road, excitedly ran up to Xie Jiang.
"Jiang Jiang, grilled meat!"
"We had it yesterday. I'm sick of eating it every day."
"But I want to eat it. I just want to eat meat."
"Then find someone to grill it for you yourself."
Da Chui, carrying two overly plump rabbits, rushed to Nie Tong and pestered him to grill the rabbits. Nie Tong was the best at barbecuing among their group, besides Xie Jiang.
Nie Tong agreed to grill them in exchange for two rabbit heads.
After they were grilled, Da Chui brought all eight rabbit legs to Xie Jiang.
"Jiang Jiang, rabbit legs."
Xie Jiang gave two legs to Xu Hengyan, took one for herself, and returned the rest to Da Chui.
Da Chui looked at the two rabbit legs in front of Xu Hengyan, then at the five legs on his own plate, and then happily took his plate and walked away, eating as he went.
Xu Hengyan: "..."