Walking up to Xu Changâan, she leaned forward and whispered seriously in his ear, "Do I really have to say it out loud?"
Or should she beg him herself.
Thinking about it, Yun Qian pointed to the corner of her mouth, where some of the rouge had been inadvertently eaten by her.
"The rouge is still quite sweet," Yun Qian said. "Want to taste it?"
As Yun Qian spoke, the fire in the brazier burned brightly, making crackling sounds.
"Miss, youâve won."
Xu Changâan suddenly realized that the reason dreams were dreams was because they couldnât compare to the real world.
"Whatâs there to win or lose."
"Thatâs right."
ââ
Celestial Bright Peak, the cool breeze blows across the clean bluestone path, not stirring a speck of dust.
Soon after, Yun Qian hugged a pair of pillows, looking sickly, as if recovering from a long illness.
"Go on, take care of your own business," Yun Qian yawned, obviously very tired.
"Go... where?" Xu Changâan was quite helpless.
Though he said that, if he could leave Yun Qian alone at home to cultivate, he might as well stab himself.
This was the reason for his repeated patience.
Alright, letâs take care of Miss Yun then.
Cultivation matters would just have to be postponed for a day.
Though today was his last day off, there was no other way, fortunately, even when work resumed, it wouldnât be too busy.
ââ
Yun Qian slept until almost noon and after lunch, knowing Xu Changâan wasnât planning to leave, she put forward a request.
At that moment.
Yun Qian sat on a soft floor couch, wearing a white and black water skirt, her outer sleeves embroidered with exquisite white flowers, adding a touch of noble cold elegance.
Xu Changâan was lying in front of her, enjoying the lap pillow.
"Miss, I donât need to sleep," Xu Changâan was quite helpless.
"Rest for a while," Yun Qian insisted.
"... Got it." Xu Changâan had no choice, closed his eyes, and after a while said, "If your legs go numb, donât mind me, did you hear?"
The lap pillow would probably make her unable to stand in just a quarter hour.
"Sleep, less talk," Yun Qian frowned.
Xu Changâan: "..."
He listened to Yun Qian and closed his eyes, planning just to lie down for a while before getting up.
Then...
He fell asleep.
Yun Qian blinked, lowered her head, her long hair cascading onto Xu Changâanâs face, thinking she just wanted to see his peaceful sleeping face.
Xu Changâan felt she had changed a lot, but then again, so had he.
ââ
Time passed, no one knew how many hours had gone by.
The Great Sun moved west.
The light of the warm sun took on a slight yellow hue.
Two braziers were lit in the room, making it quite warm.
Yun Qian looked at the sleeping Xu Changâan on the floor couch.
The lap pillow she offered on a whim hadnât lasted long, her legs went numb within a quarter hour, and so she let him rest his head on a pillow, sitting to the side, watching him all this time.
After all, she was obedient.
Yet, she didnât know why, despite just having two eyes, a nose, and a mouth, she never seemed to get tired of looking at Xu Changâan, unlike flowers which could become tiresome.
Was it because he was good-looking?
Yun Qian felt it wasnât about that.
A while later.
Yun Qian noticed Xu Changâanâs subtle expressions and thought it was about time.
Sure enough, shortly after Xu Changâan slowly opened his eyes.
"What time is it?"
"Itâs 3:00 PM."
"Iâll go make dinner." Xu Changâan looked at the pillow beside him, surprised he had slept so long, his eye twitched uncontrollably.
How could he have just fallen asleep like that, how odd.
Thinking deeply, he figured it was the overly tender environment.
"Iâm hungry too," Yun Qian nodded.
After a simple dinner, the sky outside had darkened.
"Are you leaving?" Yun Qian asked.
"Yes," Xu Changâan replied.
Yun Qian rested her face on one hand, tilted her head, and looked at Xu Changâan.
Spending the day with him naturally made her happy, yet she suddenly asked, "Did I interrupt your important work?"
"Whatâs important work?" Xu Changâan countered.
"I donât really know," Yun Qian thought, she had indeed been very happy today.
"The tender environment truly is dangerous," Xu Changâan rubbed his forehead.
He had said yesterday heâd focus on cultivation.
Yet... the first day of the Open Source Realm was thus wasted.
Canât blame Yun Qian, it was his lack of self-control.
Xu Changâan took a deep breath, he couldnât become a lazy person, nor could he let Yun Qian become a reason for his laziness; if this sort of thing happened a few more times... it would be unbearable.
Once he returned, he would focus on cultivation.
"Today made me really happy," Yun Qian came over, tied a sachet containing strands of their hair at Xu Changâanâs waist, and escorted him to the door, saying, "Go on."
This time Xu Changâan didnât hesitate, after instructing Yun Qian on a few things, he turned and left.
"..."
Watching Xu Changâanâs figure disappear, Yun Qian returned to the empty room, picked up the pair of pillows from the floor, and sat in front of the dressing table.
She put away the rouge box on the table, thinking that makeup didnât really make a difference in making Xu Changâan like her more.
The book said, if external beauty fails, one must strive to improve internally.
Therefore, she tried playing the role of a gentle and virtuous wife in the afternoon, offering Xu Changâan the lap pillow, which proved ineffective, disrupting his important work instead.
Yun Qian didnât want to become a stumbling block before her husband, knowing that stumbling blocks are eventually kicked aside.
She blinked.
Thatâs not it.
The term "stumbling block" sounded unpleasant; "fatal beauty" seemed more fitting for her.
He cared greatly about cultivation, if she cultivated diligently, he should be delighted.
However, cultivation needs techniques, which she didnât currently possess nor did she know her talent, so...
She should get some sleep now, having watched him all afternoon was actually quite tiring.
ââ
Xu Changâan walked along the path on Celestial Bright Peak, glanced back, an expression of helplessness on his face.
Yun Qian would sometimes learn odd things, and thus the sudden lap pillow wasnât surprising, however...
All his plans for today had been disrupted, which was also true.
Just as he was thinking, Xu Changâan noticed a middle-aged woman approaching and suddenly paused.
Beneath the setting sun, the shadows of him and the woman in front extended greatly.
"..."
"Tsk."
Steward Qin looked at the young man before her, her gaze passing over the elegant sachet at his waist.
"Came in the morning, now only leaving," Steward Qin said with a sigh, "You take my words as if they were wind in your ears."
"Senior..." Xu Changâan showed a slightly embarrassed look.
What surprised Xu Changâan was that Steward Qin scanned him from head to toe and then asked, "Did you open the source?"
The young man before her had become much more handsome overnight, at first, she thought it was because Xu Changâan had been spending time with his wife, making him appear relaxed and refreshed.
Upon closer inspection, she sensed something was amiss.
Xu Changâan nodded, explaining his successful opening of the source to Steward Qin.
"In just one nightâs time, it seems that as long as you want to achieve something, you can," Steward Qin gave Xu Changâan a gentle smile, walked over, and patted his shoulder, "Well done."
She understood why Zhu Pingniang wanted Xu Changâan to bring his wife up the mountain, regardless of the process, the result was good.
"I clearly donât quite understand Mu Yu Peakâs method of cultivation... perhaps tenderness is beneficial for you, thus it might not be considered indulging,"
Steward Qin thought for a moment and said, "Xu Neizhi, previously what I said to you, you can consider as wind in your ears, come whenever you want to see your wife."
Xu Changâan: "..."