"I'm going to take a bath, you sleep first," Yi Yancen's lips brushed her ear as he whispered softly.
Xie Jiang, like a kitten, unconsciously hummed in response.
Seeing her so obedient, Yi Yancen couldn't bear to look away. He wasn't in a hurry to bathe and instead sat down by the bed.
He suddenly thought that when she was a child, she must have been even more adorable than she was now, asleep.
A good, soft little girl, so pretty, who wouldn't like her?
However, whether she was good or not as a child was hard to say.
Thinking of her as a mischievous, troublesome little thing, Yi Yancen found her even more endearing?
After an unknown amount of time, it felt like only a moment.
Yi Yancen belatedly realized his facial muscles were sore. He then understood he had been sitting there, smiling at her for a long time, and all his fatigue had vanished without him noticing.
A few days apart felt like several years.
Yi Yancen's heart was filled with peace. The storms and struggles beyond the wall seemed like another world. His world contained only her.
Yi Yancen sat for a while longer before getting up to leave. After he washed up and lay down beside her, Xie Jiang, as if sensing him, immediately turned and clung to him.
"Yi Yancen."
She called his name as if in a dream.
"Hmm? Did I wake you?" Yi Yancen responded softly.
"What time is it? Why are you back so late? I've been waiting for you for ages." She said, her voice muffled, her eyes closed.
"Steward Zhang said you came over in the evening. Why didn't you let anyone inform me?"
"I originally wanted to wait for you to have dinner together. I heard you've been increasingly busy lately, so I didn't send anyone to call you. Anyway, I wasn't planning to go back tonight. You wouldn't be staying at Shangyi Pavilion, would you?"
Xie Jiang spoke slowly, half-asleep, word by word. Suddenly, she giggled, "You're the Regent now. Let me smell you. Do you have that regal aura?"
Xie Jiang closed her eyes and nuzzled his neck. "You smell even better?"
Her warm breath, faint and subtle, landed on his neck. Her soft lips, like a butterfly's kiss, fluttered, tickling and numbing him, sending shivers straight to Yi Yancen's heart.
"I just got cleaned up and haven't even put on any perfume, and you can already smell the fragrance?" Yi Yancen rubbed the back of her head, trying to tilt his head back as much as possible.
"It's too late, go to sleep quickly."
Yi Yancen spoke as if coaxing a child.
"I'm sleeping now."
"Can you talk in your sleep?"
"A day apart feels like three years. How many autumns have passed between us? I heard you were made Regent, and I was ready to come and congratulate you that very day. I even picked out two large carts of gifts. Who knew it would rain heavily just as I was about to leave..."
See how much she cared about him!
It was just the heavy rain that blocked her path!
"Weren't you out hunting with a bunch of your cronies that day? And after returning to the city, you rushed to Duke Dingguo's mansion to find Song Ze? Did you even have time to remember that there was a lonely person in this residence?"
Upon hearing Song Ze's name, Xie Jiang was completely awake.
She opened her hazy eyes and looked at him, "What did you use to bathe just now?"
Before Yi Yancen could answer, Xie Jiang laughed, "How many years of aged vinegar does it take to get such a strong scent?"
Yi Yancen played with a strand of her hair, his expression unchanged. "I didn't see you for a few days, I thought you broke your promise."
Xie Jiang asked, "What promise did I break?"
She had broken so many promises, she wondered which one he was referring to.
Yi Yancen reminded her, "You said if I became Regent, you would firmly cling to my thigh."
He paused and asked, "Are you still going to cling?"
Xie Jiang replied, "How could I not! Not clinging would be foolish!"
One of her legs was already possessively draped over him.
Yi Yancen smiled and said, "Then you must hold on tight. If you need my help with anything, just ask. It's free to use, isn't it?" Especially if it was to deal with the Duke of Wei's mansion, he would be happy to lend a hand.
She didn't need to be polite with the people from the Duke of Wei's mansion.
Why should she suffer such grievances... she seemed to be enjoying it?
"Then can I walk sideways in the capital from now on?" Xie Jiang excitedly rolled over and propped herself on the bed, happily envisioning a bright future. "With the Regent as my backer, I can kill anyone I want, set fire to anything I want. If I don't like someone, I'll just kick them, whether they're a prince or a princess, I'll knock them over first. If I like someone, I'll pounce and take a bite..."
It was as if she hadn't been walking sideways in the capital before.
"Who do you like?" Xia Rongyu or Song Ze?
"You." Faced with such questions, Xie Jiang could always answer without hesitation, "Your thigh is the strongest, the easiest to cling to."
Suddenly, Yi Yancen's forehead veins bulged, his whole body tensed, and he gasped, "Xie Jiang!"
Her mischievous hand was...
Was this what he meant by clinging to his thigh!
"You told me to hold on tight, and I'm not even using much force."
"...Do you still want to use me in the future?" Yi Yancen was sweating coldly.
"As if you've ever used me..." Xie Jiang gritted her teeth at the mention of it.
Steward Zhang, who was looking up at the rain from the corridor, yawned and prepared to go to rest. However, he heard a clatter from inside the room.
Steward Zhang looked back at the closed door with suspicion. Didn't the devil Xie sleep long ago? Why did the master wake her up?
Thinking of the master's age and his youthful vigor, and the absence of even a fly in the room, Steward Zhang suddenly understood.
Clatter—
Something hit the door. Steward Zhang instinctively hunched his shoulders and ducked.
Alas.
He hoped the devil Xie could stay at their mansion for a few more days, so they wouldn't keep adding fuel to the fire every time they met.
However, by the next morning, Steward Zhang no longer thought that way.
While the devil Xie couldn't get out of bed, his master was also in a bad state. His face was so gloomy that no one dared to look directly at him, and his legs were not moving smoothly!
Clearly, he had been tormented by the devil Xie last night!
Steward Zhang's face turned green.
Even a rural donkey wasn't worked like this!
But he didn't dare to blame Xie Jiang in the slightest. At most, he could only silently curse in his heart towards the direction of the bedroom.
"Should Young Master Xu be returning to the capital soon?" Steward Zhang quietly asked Wen Feng.
"In these two days."
Wen Feng also felt a lingering fear. Looking at the master's obviously ravaged expression, he wasn't so eager to marry anymore.
"Why are you hoping for Young Master Xu to return soon?" Why bring up Young Master Xu? Didn't they know the master hated Young Master Xu the most? Wen Feng suddenly felt that Steward Zhang's attitude was a bit off.
"Young Master Xu is returning to the capital soon. Miss Xie coming to our mansion at this time, is she trying to appease the master in advance?"
They would drain the master dry for these two days. When Young Master Xu returns, the master can just recuperate. The devil Xie's schedule was perfectly timed. By then, even if the master had the intention, he wouldn't have the strength.
"Now that you put it that way, it makes some sense." For someone with divided loyalties, it must be difficult to manage time by counting fingers.
"Although I shouldn't say this, Young Master Xu's return to the capital can distract Miss Xie's energy, so the master's body doesn't collapse."
"What do you mean distract Miss Xie's energy? What treasonous words are these! The master would absolutely rather be exhausted to death himself!"