When Xie Tao woke up again, she opened her eyes to see a face close at hand.
It was Wei Yun.
At that moment, he was still asleep, his breathing extremely light and slow, even his usually furrowed brow was now rarely relaxed, his face under the dim light coming through the window lattice, adding a few more layers of haziness.
Xie Tao realized she was curled up in his embrace, and his hand was also unconsciously wrapped around her waist.
The distance between the two was very close, she leaned against his chest, the light cold fragrance from his body filled her nose.
It was, after all, a pleasing scent.
Just like him, clear and cool, refreshing.
Xie Tao quietly watched him for a while, unable to resist reaching out to touch his eyelashes.
It was at that moment, he suddenly opened his eyes, seizing her wrist before she could withdraw it.
His eyes were deep and dark, filled with intense wariness, even a hint of coldness.
Xie Tao was startled, blinked, and forgot to react.
Her wrist was still tightly held by Wei Yun, the force so strong it made her furrow her brow in pain.
Upon seeing Xie Tao’s face, Wei Yun’s fingers, which had tightened, suddenly loosened a bit.
“Sorry.”
His voice, carrying a bit of the hoarseness unique to just waking up, asked, “Did it hurt?”
Xie Tao held her wrist, pursed her lips, and shook her head.
Outside the window, the rain kept drizzling, as if it had never stopped.
Both resting their heads on a soft pillow, when their eyes met, it seemed as if nothing else remained around them, even the sound of the rain outside gradually faded away.
Wei Yun couldn’t deny that he very much liked this moment.
Not needing to do anything, not needing to think about anything, just staying quietly like this, as if time should stand still right here.
His hand gently brushed past the light hair by her ear, and he suddenly asked her in a low voice, “Sleep some more?”
Xie Tao shook her head, looking at him, her lips pursed in a smile.
Wei Yun couldn’t help but stretch out his hand again to pinch her cheek.
At that moment, a faint smile also appeared on his lips.
“Get up.”
In the end, he only said this much, then lifted the quilt and got off the soft couch.
Wei Yun had not slept all night, and his clothes were still unchanged. He straightened out his somewhat wrinkled sleeves, and when he turned around, he saw the girl lying on the soft couch still wearing her thin nightgown.
He paused for a moment, then lifted the curtain and went to the outer room, opening the door.
“Shiyi.”
Since Wei Jing was not there, Wei Yun called another guard who was standing in the courtyard.
Wei Shiyi quickly leaped down from the nearby courtyard wall and swiftly came before Wei Yun, bowing at the steps, “My lord.”
Wei Shiyi was the youngest among the guards in his residence, only fifteen years old, and somewhat slender compared to the other guards, but this did not hinder his obsession with martial arts.
His martial arts skills were not weak.
“Go and ask Shao Liyin to bring a set of clothes over.” Wei Yun stood in the corridor and instructed in a calm voice.
Wei Shiyi was a bit slow to react, but after Wei Yun glanced at him, he instinctively straightened up and quickly bowed in agreement.
Then he flashed away, leaving the scene.
Standing in the corridor, Wei Yun stretched out his hand to catch the rainwater, the wet and cold raindrops falling on his palm. He looked at the misty and dark sky, his sleeve getting wet from the rainwater outside the eave, leaving a deeper mark.
He turned around and went back to the study. As soon as he lifted the tassel curtain to enter, he saw the little girl wrapped in a quilt, stretching her hand towards the pastries placed on the small table beside the soft couch.
As soon as Wei Yun entered, she immediately withdrew her hand, looking at him with her round apricot eyes, and even chuckled foolishly.
Wei Yun tugged at the corner of his lips and simply reached out to grab a piece of chestnut cake and handed it to her.
Xie Tao took it, and after taking a bite, heard him say, “Shao Liyin will bring you clothes later, just call her in when she arrives.”
“Where are you going?” Xie Tao asked with a mouthful of cake, looking at him.
Hearing this, Wei Yun lowered his eyelids, coughed lightly, and said somewhat unnaturally, “I’m going to the bathhouse, I’ll be back soon.”
After saying this, he turned and walked out.
He lifted the curtain and left, the swaying tassel hiding his silhouette.
Xie Tao, eating the chestnut cake, took a hot tea from the small table, which Wei Yun had moved closer to her, and took a sip.
At this moment, the sound of rain seemed like the most beautiful background music. Holding the tea, with a mouthful of cake, Xie Tao contentedly curved her eyes.
Because she hadn’t had breakfast, she was a bit hungry, so she finished all the chestnut cakes on the table.
While holding the tea cup, Xie Tao heard Shao Liyin’s voice from outside, “My lord, the clothes are here.”
“Liyin, come in!” Xie Tao hurriedly called her.
Shao Liyin, waiting outside, did not hear Wei Yun’s voice, but instead heard Xie Tao’s voice. She paused for a moment, her expression flickered, but then she regained her calm demeanor.
The master she was ordered to protect had the same way of speaking as the family head, Sheng Yueqi, from time to time. They also came up with some strange gadgets and would disappear and appear mysteriously just as well.
But curiosity was something she, as a subordinate, should not have.
Although her surname was Shao, she was ultimately of the Sheng family’s servant lineage.
People like her were born to be a knife in their master’s hand, never inquiring about things they shouldn’t inquire about.
Shao Liyin pushed the door and entered, holding a tray with a neatly folded set of clothes.
Lifting the tassel curtain, Shao Liyin entered and saw Xie Tao wrapped in a quilt sitting there. She paused for a moment, then walked over with the tray, bowing and saying, “Master, please change your clothes.”
Xie Tao smiled at her and said, “Thank you.”
“Your words carry great weight,” Shao Liyin bowed, placing the tray in front of Xie Tao before bowing again. “I shall take my leave.”
After she left, Xie Tao reached out to unfold the dress set on the tray.
It was a thistle-white cross-collar top paired with a skirt of the same color, but the waist was autumn fragrance color, embroidered with silver thread peach petals. A few small pearls were pinned on the waistband, and it was covered with an autumn fragrance colored bead coat, fluffy inside, looking very warm.
The bead coat was also embroidered with delicate peach petals in silver thread, and small pearls were embedded one by one at the collar, a very beautiful design.
Xie Tao joyfully put it on and then ran out.
Waiting outside, Shao Liyin looked up at Xie Tao’s ponytail, hesitated for a moment, but still asked, “Would you like me to comb your hair, my lord?”
Xie Tao, realizing belatedly, touched her ponytail and then nodded, “Yes!”
Sitting at a table outside the study, Xie Tao let Shao Liyin gently undo her ponytail, using a small sandalwood comb she carried with her to carefully comb Xie Tao’s hair.
“Do you always carry a comb with you, Liyin?”
Xie Tao asked.
Shao Liyin paused for a moment, seeming a bit embarrassed, this usually icy girl showing a hint of awkwardness on her face.
After a while, she softly responded.
Shao Liyin worked quickly, taking less than seven minutes to tie Xie Tao’s hair into a simple bun.
Looking at herself in the mirror standing in the dressing case, Xie Tao then turned to look at the girl behind her, “Thank you, Liyin.”
She specially took out the hairpin Wei Yun had given her and pinned it in her hair.
Shao Liyin, who had also taken the opportunity to open the drawers of the dressing case while getting the clothes, picked out a ginger yellow silk flower, tentatively asking Xie Tao, “Would you like to wear this?”
“Sure.” Xie Tao nodded and smiled at her.
Shao Liyin, usually expressionless, showed a slight softening in her face, pinning two ginger yellow silk flowers in Xie Tao’s black hair bun and also a pearl hairpin.
There were many pairs of earrings in the box, but Xie Tao did not have pierced ears and could not wear them.
Seeing Shao Liyin’s meticulousness in these tasks made her turn around and look at the girl.
Xie Tao had seen her kill people.
Her clean, fair face smeared with blood, as if she never smiled, her long sword piercing through many chests without even a frown.
But at this moment, Xie Tao discovered her delicate and gentle side as a girl.
“What’s the matter, my lord?”
Seeing Xie Tao suddenly staring at her, Shao Liyin touched her own face.
“This is for you!”
Xie Tao picked a pair of earrings from the dressing case in front of her and placed them in Shao Liyin’s hands.
Saying so, she stood up and pressed Shao Liyin down on the chair.
“My lord…” Shao Liyin started to say but was pressed down by Xie Tao.
“Did you bring the lipstick I gave you last time?” Xie Tao suddenly asked her.
Shao Liyin nodded in a daze.
To Xie Tao’s surprise, this girl, always with her hair tied up like a man and dressed in men’s clothes, was actually very good at makeup.
According to Shao Liyin, she learned these skills while working as a table miss in Yecheng.
Because it was necessary to conform to the identity of a lady in seclusion, Sheng Yueqi specifically had someone teach her a lot.
“When I arrive, you won’t be able to be the ‘table miss’ anymore?” Xie Tao was applying lipstick for her, and when she heard this, she paused.
Shao Liyin shook her head, “I don’t want to be a lady confined to the inner chambers. Such a role is actually a restraint to me,”
She looked up at Xie Tao, a trace of a barely visible smile appearing at the corners of her lips, “If it weren’t for you, my lord, I might still have to stay in Ye City.”
As the two of them spoke, they seemed just like ordinary little girls, with even less distance between them than usual.
Xie Tao, who had never applied makeup before, was even struggling to apply lipstick for Shao Liyin properly.
In the end, it was Shao Liyin who did it herself.
Shao Liyin even applied makeup for her, using the bottles and jars from the very bottom of the makeup box.
Xie Tao was dazzled, unable to distinguish one from another.
A vermillion flower mark was placed at the center of her forehead, light powder was brushed on, and a light touch of rouge seemed like the residual color of clouds dispersing at dawn, while the water-red lipstick was carefully brushed on her lips by Shao Liyin.
Looking at herself in the mirror, Xie Tao couldn’t help but laugh, “This feels so strange…”
She had never dressed up like this before and felt somewhat uneasy.
But Shao Liyin said, “My lord looks very beautiful this way.”
