Chapter 17
“Your Highness, I told you before,” Yu Qingci said as she took Yan Lingshu’s hand and placed her fingertips against the back of her own neck. “If I do anything out of line, you can pinch me. There’s no need to hurt yourself like that.”
Yan Lingshu’s fingertips moved slightly.
The Qianyuan’s gland was very hot, as if it still had not recovered from the marking just now.
Yet her words were rational, her emotions steady, and she showed no sign of anything unusual.
Yan Lingshu withdrew her hand and lowered her eyes to the gauze wrapped around her palm.
How could she be so foolish as to only hurt herself?
If Yu Qingci had truly shown any sign of crossing the line earlier, the silver needle in her hand would have immediately stabbed into the Qianyuan’s gland.
It was just that… Yu Qingci was calmer than she had imagined. Even if there was a moment when she overstepped, she would stop in time and go no further.
“Your Highness, are you listening to me?” Yu Qingci looked at the silent beauty before her and sighed softly. “I know I have no right to lecture Your Highness about anything, but since we have formed an alliance, I naturally hope Your Highness will be healthy and free of illness or pain. Your Highness, I hope you can cherish yourself. Hurting yourself is the sort of thing that pains those close to you and delights your enemies. I believe Your Highness will not do it again in the future, right?”
Yan Lingshu lightly clenched her right hand. She lifted her eyes to Yu Qingci. Looking at the sincerity in the other woman’s expression, she could not tell whether it was real or false, nor did she have the heart to distinguish it anymore.
“Qingci need not worry. I understand my own body.”
Yu Qingci smiled helplessly.
Fine. Yan Lingshu had not listened to a word she said.
“In that case,” Yu Qingci changed the subject and asked directly, “can Your Highness tell me how many more times we still need to soothe each other through marking like we did today?”
Since Qin Shuang refused to tell her clearly, she could only ask Yan Lingshu.
Yan Lingshu had long expected this question. “Seven days…”
The moment the words left her mouth, Yu Qingci visibly let out a breath of relief.
Yan Lingshu pressed her lips together, then continued, “Or perhaps one month.”
Yu Qingci frowned. She suspected she had heard wrong. “This matter can still be uncertain?”
“Tomorrow, Qin Shuang will come to check our wellness pulses,” Yan Lingshu said, unwilling to explain further.
Yu Qingci understood. This meant Yan Lingshu wanted her to ask Qin Shuang herself.
“Fine. Then I’m going to sleep.” As Yu Qingci spoke, she stood. But when she turned and saw that narrow little soft couch, she belatedly remembered something.
After being busy all day, she had forgotten to have someone replace the soft couch.
Yu Qingci slowly walked toward the couch and sat down, touching here and there as she tried to estimate how she could sleep without rolling off again.
But the couch was only this small. No matter how she measured, it would not magically gain another inch.
Yu Qingci’s head began to ache a little. She was truly afraid she would climb into Yan Lingshu’s bed again in the middle of the night. Was she supposed to tie herself to the couch?
Yu Qingci picked up her belt and measured whether she should tie one of her hands to the side of the soft couch.
It was difficult for Yan Lingshu not to hear her movements, and equally difficult not to hear the Qianyuan’s muttering—
“This won’t do. It’s too short. It’ll strangle me.”
“Maybe I should tie my legs down? No, I’ll still roll off.”
“This won’t work either. I won’t even be able to stretch…”
Left would not do. Right would not do. Then came a very soft sigh. “Alas. Why is sleeping so hard?”
Yu Qingci lifted her head and looked pitifully toward Yan Lingshu’s large bed.
The bed she had slept in back in her original world had not even been as comfortable as Her Highness’s bed. It was soft and fragrant, and sleeping on it felt as if her entire body could sink into it, wrapped up in comfort.
Perhaps her gaze was too full of longing, because in a daze, she heard Yan Lingshu say, “You may sleep on the outer side.”
“Mm?” Yu Qingci’s gaze moved from the foot of the bed to the head. She looked at Yan Lingshu and hesitated. “Did Your Highness just say I can sleep on the bed?”
Although those muttered words of hers had indeed somewhat been meant for Yan Lingshu to hear, when had Her Highness become so soft-hearted and understanding?
Yu Qingci’s eyes were too bright.
Yan Lingshu turned her gaze away and answered faintly, “Mm.”
Otherwise, if Yu Qingci rolled off the couch again in the middle of the night, she would be woken up again.
It was only one night. And they would sleep under separate quilts. Even if they shared the same bed, so what?
After receiving her answer, Yu Qingci immediately hugged her quilt and happily ran toward the large bed.
Under Yan Lingshu’s gaze, she walked toward the foot of the bed. After thinking for a moment, she changed direction and headed toward the head instead.
Last night, she had slept at the foot of the bed while she was not conscious. She could not point her feet at Her Highness tonight too.
Yan Lingshu had originally been sitting near the outer side. Seeing Yu Qingci come over, she turned sideways and lay toward the inner side.
Yu Qingci quietly and carefully arranged her own quilt, then rolled right into it. Her limbs spread out comfortably.
She felt as if her body was about to melt into the large bed, yet her heart refused to calm.
Last night, she had been asleep and had felt nothing. Tonight, however, her mind was clear and her nose was very sensitive. She could smell the other person’s fragrance on the bedding. That faint green plum scent kept drifting into her nose, making her nose itch, her heart itch, and even the gland at the back of her neck grow a little restless.
Yu Qingci quietly turned over and looked at the person sleeping on the inner side.
Yan Lingshu’s quilt was pulled up to her shoulders. Under the dim candlelight, the color of her sleeping robe appeared dark red, while only the section of neck she revealed remained as snow-white as before.
Yu Qingci pressed the tip of her tongue against her canine teeth. She felt as if she wanted to bite someone again.
Yu Qingci closed her eyes and tried hard to suppress those messy thoughts. Yet the more she suppressed them, the more fiercely they rebounded.
She felt a little empty in her arms.
She remembered the feeling of holding Yan Lingshu. Soft. Every part of her was soft, soft enough that it seemed she could be kneaded and molded however Yu Qingci pleased.
Yu Qingci silently pulled the pillow into her arms.
Fortunately, this pillow was not hard like the ones shown in dramas. It was filled with fluffy, soft cotton. Yu Qingci hugged the pillow in her arms tightly, filling that hollow feeling there.
Who knew how long passed before her chaotic thoughts slowed because of her body’s exhaustion. Gradually, Yu Qingci’s breathing evened out.
Yan Lingshu listened to the steady breathing behind her. Her body, which should have been vigilant, somehow gradually relaxed.
Perhaps Yu Qingci really was different from the Qianyuan she had imagined.
After a peaceful sleep until dawn, when Yu Qingci’s eyelids sensed the light, she subconsciously hugged the pillow in her arms tighter.
Honestly, after hugging the pillow last night, she had slept so well. She had not even had a single messy dream.
It seemed tonight she would need to prepare one extra pillow—one for her head and one for hugging. Wonderful, wonderful.
Yu Qingci thought this happily, her hand moving up and down the pillow as she hugged and rubbed it. But after only a few touches, she felt something was wrong. Why did the texture feel more and more like skin?
Very slowly, Yu Qingci opened her eyes and looked at the “pillow” in her arms—
Yan Lingshu was sleeping in her embrace, pillowed on her arm, her eyes lightly closed and her brows relaxed.
And Yu Qingci’s hand just happened to be resting on Yan Lingshu’s waist. At some unknown point, she had lifted the hem of Yan Lingshu’s sleeping robe and shamelessly touched her waist.
Yu Qingci held her breath. This scene was shockingly familiar. Even worse, in the next instant, the person in her arms showed signs of waking.
Yu Qingci simply turned over and smoothly withdrew the hand on Yan Lingshu’s waist, lying flat on her back.
Yan Lingshu opened her eyes and could only see Yu Qingci’s side profile.
Although her eyes were closed, her lashes kept trembling. One glance was enough to know she was guilty.
Yan Lingshu stared at her and slowly counted in her heart. When she counted to twenty, Yu Qingci woke up.
“Your Highness is awake too.” Yu Qingci turned toward Yan Lingshu and covered her lips as she yawned, taking the chance to try to pull out her left arm, which was being pressed down.
The ever-intelligent Fifth Princess seemed completely unable to understand her meaning at this moment. She continued pillowing on Yu Qingci’s arm and looked straight at her, not moving in the slightest.
Yu Qingci tried tugging once. It did not move.
She had more than enough strength to pull her arm free, but Yan Lingshu was staring at her like this, making her feel truly guilty.
“Why is Your Highness looking at me like that?” Yu Qingci leaned a little closer. “Could it be that you find my arm very comfortable to pillow on and like it very much?”
The Qianyuan’s face was close at hand.
Yan Lingshu was unmoved. “What does Qingci think?”
Yu Qingci decisively surrendered. “Fine, fine. I admit I was wrong. I didn’t mean to hug Your Highness…”
She had been asleep. What could she possibly know? How was she supposed to know she would burrow into Yan Lingshu’s quilt… Wait.
Yu Qingci carefully looked at the quilt covering them. This seemed to be her quilt.
Then she looked at the position where she was sleeping. She was clearly on the outer side.
No, wait. The person who had done something wrong did not seem to be her!
“Oh my, this seems to be my quilt.” Yu Qingci touched the quilt on her body, her meaning obvious.
Yan Lingshu pressed her lips together.
She had subconsciously assumed it was the Qianyuan who had not behaved herself. But after Yu Qingci’s reminder, she vaguely remembered that last night, she seemed to have been the one to burrow into Yu Qingci’s quilt first.
Because the other woman had an alluring scent and body warmth.
Yu Qingci held back her laughter and moved her arm again. “If Your Highness isn’t getting up, should I get up first?”
Yan Lingshu stopped speaking. She turned over and faced inward.
Yu Qingci smoothly pulled her arm free. When she got up, the corners of her lips were lifted high.
Hmph, hmph. It seemed the person who slept restlessly was not her.
Her happiness did not last long. While getting dressed, Yu Qingci suddenly remembered something—she had forgotten to tell Yan Lingshu about going to Qian County.
They were publicly a loving married couple now. There was no reason for her to run off to Qian County alone to have fun. It would be best to have Yan Lingshu cooperate with her in this matter.
But it seemed she had only just annoyed her.
Yu Qingci scratched her hair. When she walked out and saw Yan Lingshu sitting before the bronze mirror combing her hair, she walked over very naturally and took the jade comb from Yan Lingshu’s hand to help her comb.
The black hair in her hands was as smooth and lustrous as silk. Yu Qingci carefully combed through it from top to bottom, and as she did, she asked Yan Lingshu, “Your Highness, did you think last night’s stir-fried spring bamboo shoots with meat tasted good?”
Yan Lingshu looked at Yu Qingci through the bronze mirror, her voice gentle. “How could a dish Qingci made personally not taste good?”
“Your Highness really did guess it.” Yu Qingci’s eyes reflected sparkling starlight. “I only heard that Your Highness had a poor appetite, so I thought I would learn to make some dishes for you. Now that the spring scenery is just right, and the peach blossoms in Qian County are blooming as brilliantly as rosy clouds, does Your Highness want to go out for a walk? Perhaps it will help your appetite.”
After winding around the subject, Yu Qingci still arrived at the main point.
Yan Lingshu lowered her eyes, picked up a jade hairpin, and handed it to Yu Qingci. “I will listen to Qingci.”
Yu Qingci revealed a trace of surprise.
Yan Lingshu had agreed too readily.
Although maidservants were watching from the side and they had to act a little, if Yan Lingshu did not want to go, she could naturally find a suitable excuse.
Only when Qin Shuang came to check their wellness pulses did Yu Qingci understand why Yan Lingshu had agreed so smoothly.
“Physician Qin means that in the coming days, it would be best for Her Highness and me not to separate?” Yu Qingci asked in surprise.
Qin Shuang nodded and explained to Yu Qingci again what she had already told Yan Lingshu. “These past two days, I went back and looked through the medical texts again. With Her Highness’s particular constitution, once she has been temporarily marked, she requires a period of adaptation. Her Highness’s gland has already suffered years of pain from rejecting other Qianyuan scent pheromones. Now, if she separates from the consort again, I fear the symptoms will worsen, which would be harmful to her health. However, Consort, please be at ease. I have already been considering prescriptions to assist in regulating Her Highness’s body. It will not remain like this forever.”
“In other words, Physician Qin also cannot determine how much time will be needed?” Yu Qingci asked.
“That is indeed the case.” Qin Shuang nodded.
Yu Qingci was silent for a moment before suddenly asking, “I remember that Kunze have a rain-dew period of three to five days every month, right?”
According to Qin Shuang, her own symptoms were actually still manageable. If she truly steeled herself, locked herself in a room for seven days, and endured the days of uncontrolled scent pheromones, it would be over.
But Yan Lingshu could not. Her constitution was too weak and could not withstand such torment.
If Yan Lingshu needed a temporary mark to soothe her even during ordinary times, then what would happen once the Kunze’s rain-dew period arrived?
“This…” Qin Shuang fell silent for a moment, then slowly said one sentence. “When a temporary mark is no longer enough, naturally, the only option is to go one step further.”
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