Chapter 37: My Dear

You change your expression so quickly.

Li Youqing closed her eyes, feeling the towel here was coarse enough to scrape her skin. She endured it without saying anything.

After washing her face, she asked expectantly, “I haven’t bathed for days and feel uncomfortable. Could you fetch some hot water for me to soak in?”

Xuan Rui threw the cloth into the basin, sat back in the recliner, and glanced at her indifferently. “No.”

“Why not!” Li Youqing grew flustered and angry, sitting up to glare at him.

Outside, the wind howled, and the window suddenly blew open with a sharp “crack” that seemed particularly abrupt.

Startled, Li Youqing hurriedly covered her ears and shifted closer to him.

Xuan Rui leaned over to close the window. As he looked up, he noticed snowflakes drifting down from the sky and froze for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” Seeing him pause, Li Youqing moved closer and knelt beside him, peering outside.

The dark night sky was illuminated by the snowflakes, as if a shower of translucent pear blossoms was falling.

Li Youqing rubbed her hands together. “It’s so cold.”

To close the window, Xuan Rui had leaned his upper body entirely onto the bed. Now, seeing the small figure half-kneeling beside him, her eyes sparkling as she stared outside like a little cat yearning for freedom, he couldn’t help but frown.

With a “snap,” the bamboo window shut.

“What are you doing? Can’t I even look outside?” Li Youqing pouted discontentedly, silently cursing him in her heart.

She wasn’t allowed to do anything she wanted, and he wore that stern, lifeless expression every day—who was he trying to impress?

“After it snows, the Mountain Closure begins.” Noticing her expression shift, seemingly disappointed, Xuan Rui asked in a low voice, “Where else did you want to go?”

His tone carried a hint of impatience. Li Youqing looked up and saw the man’s gaze, rough and gritty like the northwestern deserts, fixed directly on her.

“You said yourself that after it snows, the Mountain Closure starts. Where could I possibly go?” Not daring to oppose him, Li Youqing sat on the bed with her knees drawn up, pulling the quilt tightly around herself.

These past few days, he had been busy, and they had barely spoken. But whenever she recalled the scene of him forcing medicine down her throat that night, she couldn’t help but feel a chill in her heart.

Almost instinctively, the bitter taste resurfaced in her mouth.

Xuan Rui let out a cold snort and straightened up. “Don’t even think about it.”

His words tightened her heart. Remembering her Father Emperor, who doted on her the most, she sniffled and said, “I won’t run off again.”

Seeing her pitiful expression, Xuan Rui crossed his arms and said flatly, “Stop beating around the bush with me. I don’t have time to watch you every day. You’d better stay alert on your own and not get kidnapped again in a moment of carelessness.”

“Who got kidnapped?” Li Youqing, irritated by his blunt words, felt even more stifled.

The stove in the room burned fiercely. As a martial artist, Xuan Rui naturally had a fiery temper. Her words only fueled his anger. He tugged at his collar and said, “Right, you were the one who abducted someone else. Should those thirty lashes have landed on your backside instead?”

His tone was mocking, his scorching gaze seeming to pierce through Li Youqing’s skin.

Repeatedly bested by him and offended by his crude language, Li Youqing felt her heart twist into a tangled mess. In a fit of pique, she threw a pillow at him. “Then hit me! Why don’t you?”

Xuan Rui caught the pillow with one hand, pressed his temples, and forced his emotions to settle.

Forget it. What’s the use of reasoning with this nuisance?

Putting down the pillow, he tilted his chin upward, signaling her to quickly lie down and sleep.

Seeing her still frozen in place with reddened eyes and faint signs of impending tears, he leaned closer and said, “Enough. The entire army now knows you’re under my protection. Offending you means facing punishment, and no one will dare provoke you from now on.”

Li Youqing bit her lower lip unconsciously, meeting his gaze with lingering concern. “What if I get into disputes with others in the future? What will you do then?”

“No one would be so foolish.” Xuan Rui frowned, pressing his thumb gently against her lips. “Stop biting them – they’re already chapped.”

As if unaware of his hand, Li Youqing pressed further: “What if it’s someone close to you? Your parents, relatives, or trusted friends? Who would you side with then?”

Her eyes were rimmed with red, gaze burning with urgency as her hands instinctively clutched at his sleeve.

Sitting face to face, every nuance in each other’s expressions was clearly visible. Xuan Rui’s eyes rested on her slightly flushed cheeks as his breathing gradually grew heavier.

His fingertips still lingered on her warm, soft lips. Perhaps because he’d long been alone in this world, or maybe bewitched by her charms, he murmured lowly: “I’d side with you.”

Li Youqing’s face flushed even deeper this time, and she bowed her head speechlessly.

“You’re ‘You Qing Lian Fang Cao’ – that You Qing?” Xuan Rui gently lifted her chin, drawing her closer.

Though exhausted from drilling troops all day, being with her now made him feel brimming with energy.

He’d always considered women troublesome, yet this particular little vixen constantly occupied his thoughts.

Every time he saw that stubborn yet vulnerable look in her eyes, his heart would clench painfully.

He truly couldn’t bear to see her wronged – as if such a delicate creature was meant to be cherished in the palm of one’s hand.

It took Li Youqing a moment to process his question before she responded thoughtfully, “Bring me paper and brush.”

The room brightened as the man lit a lamp before stepping out.

He returned shortly, spreading xuan paper over the small square table and dipping a brush in prepared ink, his eyes urging her to hurry over.

Having just put on her outer robe against the chill, Li Youqing was still struggling with her bedside shoes.

She’d shoved half her foot in with the heel stepping on the back, too lazy to bend over and properly wear them as she prepared to walk over.

Xuan Rui’s brow furrowed as he strode over, pressing her down before kneeling to remove and properly put on her shoes.

When his rough hand suddenly grasped her foot, Li Youqing squirmed from the ticklish sensation, barely suppressing her laughter.

But when he reached for the other foot, she finally broke, collapsing backward onto the bed with giggles, kicking off the already-worn embroidered shoe.

Her fair feet now flushed pink. Xuan Rui remained half-kneeling, grasping her flailing ankle with a slight smirk. “What’s wrong with you?”

Li Youqing pinched her palm to regain composure.

Sitting up, she pointed at the distant shoe. “Retrieve that for me. I’ll put it on myself.”

Xuan Rui had no patience left, simply lifting and carrying her over instead.

Finding the wooden chair too cold, he settled her curled in his lap, nodding toward the writing materials to hurry her along.

After a moment’s hesitation, Li Youqing finally picked up the brush and wrote her name.

“Li Youqing,” he read aloud, pursing his lips. “The youngest in your family?”

“Mhm.” She nodded, admitting she was the youngest princess in the palace.

“Qingqing.” He suddenly called out softly, embracing her from behind and kissing the nape of her neck.

Li Youqing felt somewhat shy and struggled to break free, but his arms held her firmly in place. A hint of menace crept into his tone: “The interrogation hasn’t even begun, and you’re already trying to escape?”

“But I’m still a patient.” Feeling uncomfortable, she squirmed restlessly and complained unhappily, “Besides, you’re hurting me.”

Xuan Rui instinctively leaned back, lifting her to adjust their positions so they faced each other.

He then grabbed the heavy cloak from the nearby rack and wrapped it around her from behind to prevent further fidgeting.

“Where do you live? Who are your family members? And why did you come to Lu Ming Mountain with those noble youths that day?” His gaze sharpened as he began a formal-sounding interrogation: “Tell me the truth.”

[Your handwriting is quite elegant—you must have been educated since childhood. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be so sharp-tongued.]

Li Youqing, however, regretted staying up so late.

“My home is in the capital. Both my parents are alive. As for siblings… having them is worse than having none.” At this point, she glared at Xuan Rui: “Didn’t you say you’d only ask a little each day? Isn’t this enough for today?”

Unexpectedly, the hand supporting her waist gently tickled inward.

Li Youqing collapsed laughing against him, twisting like a tangled rope, her small feet kicking uncontrollably against him.

Xuan Rui felt he’d dug his own grave—why threaten her this way of all methods?

Having just recovered from a serious illness, Li Youqing grew breathless after the playful struggle and gradually lay limp and still in his embrace.

“So hard, it’s uncomfortable. I want to sleep in my bed.” Her voice turned unbearably childish, like a ten-year-old’s.

Xuan Rui’s brow twitched. After confirming he hadn’t injured her, he replied stiffly, “What nonsense are you talking?”

“Your chest really is too hard—it bumped my nose bridge.” She touched her nose aggrievedly, the delicate tip seeming genuinely flushed.

Xuan Rui cupped her face, intending to check if she was truly hurt, but seeing her exquisite features scrunched up, he couldn’t resist lowering his head to kiss her.

His lips first brushed lightly against her nose bridge, then trailed downward to plant soft kisses on her lips.

Unlike last time’s intensity, he kissed with extreme patience now, his hands loosely cradling her shoulders with utmost tenderness and inclusiveness.

Li Youqing felt as if she were tasting that sweet spring from her dreams again, a ticklish sensation in her heart, and she didn’t struggle much.

Curled entirely against him, her bare feet pressed against his firm abdomen, she vividly felt the latent power coiled in his body.

Suddenly, she recalled Auntie Chen’s remarks about military men having greater needs in bed…

And the most outrageous line: women only gain true benefit when they receive tangible advantages…

Then she remembered the two male concubines attending The Eldest Princess—both robust men, yet neither compared to the one before her.

“Mmph…” Feeling him deepen the kiss slightly, Li Youqing let out a soft whimper, her slender arms unconsciously circling his neck.

Undeniably, he’d grown much more skilled than last time, at least making her no longer resistant to the act.

Fearing she might exhaust herself, Xuan Rui paused after a while, stroking her cheek as he asked gently, “Are you thirsty?”

Li Youqing shook her head and puffed out her cheeks, saying, “You change your expression so quickly.”

“Hmm?” He was confused, unsure how he had offended this little ancestor again.

“When you forced me to drink the medicine, you were so fierce, and just now too, interrogating me with a stern face…”

Xuan Rui smiled without saying a word, then lowered his head and kissed her again.

[Author’s Note]

His kissing skills have improved—excellent!