In the end, when Xie Tao and Shao Liyin stepped out of the study, Shao Liyin also relied on Xie Tao, redoing her own hair bun.
Waiting outside, Wei Shiyi, who had been lying on the wooden railing in front of the veranda, fell into the rainy ground at the sight of Shao Liyin’s light makeup and red lips. This fifteen-year-old boy ended up in the mud.
Shao Liyin glanced emotionlessly at the embarrassed Wei Shiyi in the rain.
Xie Tao couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Just then, Wei Yun arrived from the moon gate on the other side, accompanied by Wei Jing holding a cyan oil-paper umbrella for him.
He had changed out of his previous clothes, now wearing a dark blue brocade robe, a silver crown with a jade belt, his hair like satin, and in the misty rain, his face was still as flawless as jade.
Wei Shiyi had just embarrassingly stood up, only to see Wei Yun and Wei Jing walking over, and he immediately bowed in greeting.
“Wei Yun!”
Upon seeing Wei Yun, Xie Tao lifted her skirt and ran down the steps.
When Wei Yun looked up, he saw her lowering her head and rushing into the rain.
Frowning slightly, Wei Yun snatched the oil-paper umbrella from Wei Jing’s hand and walked over quickly.
Under the cyan paper umbrella, raindrops gathered and fell from the edge of the umbrella, wetting his shoulders and soaking his hair.
“What are you doing running down here?” His cool voice contained a hint of displeasure.
But under the dim light shielded by the paper umbrella, he saw the girl in front of him suddenly lift her head.
A vermilion mark like cinnabar was on her forehead, a face fair and beautiful lightly touched with powder and rouge, her cheeks faintly blushed, her lips the color of poppies.
The girl in front of him seemed even more radiant than usual, like the blooming apricot flowers of spring, dazzling and moving, momentarily making him unable to look away.
“Strange, is it?” Xie Tao noticed his gaze, and her cheeks involuntarily warmed up a bit. She felt uneasy and touched her face, appearing somewhat shy.
Wei Yun finally snapped back to reality, his eyes flickered, and he cleared his throat. His voice, still very calm, said, “Not at all.”
Then he took her hand and started walking up the stairs.
At this moment, Wei Bo also hurried over, followed by two servants who were adding coal to the fire.
Wei Bo first paid his respects to Wei Yun, and then when he looked up at Xie Tao, the old man smiled so broadly that his eyes squinted, “Miss, you look so beautiful dressed up like this!”
Xie Tao giggled, slightly embarrassed, and lowered her head.
After Wei Yun led Xie Tao into the study, the two servants inside quickly added coal to the fire, bowed, and hurriedly left.
Standing outside, Wei Jing kept glancing at Shao Liyin, standing on the other side, utterly astonished.
In his memory, she was always like a tomboy, but at this moment, he clearly saw her wearing a lady’s hair bun, even with earrings, light rouge, and her lips painted red.
Indeed, she looked like a lively young lady.
Quite novel.
Until Shao Liyin glanced at him.
That was definitely a murderous look.
“…”
Disturbed.
Wei Jing held his sword, stood straight with his back upright, looking straight ahead.
Inside the study’s inner chamber, Xie Tao watched Wei Yun take a book from the shelf and sit down at the table. She stared at him for a moment, then moved a stool over to sit next to him.
When Wei Yun opened the book, just as Xie Tao leaned her head in, “Wei Yun, you haven’t told me, do I look good today?”
He tensed his fingers around the spine of the book, pretending to be calm as he poked her cheek, prompting her to sit properly.
“Do I look bad?” Xie Tao began to doubt her life.
She held her makeup box and scrutinized her reflection in the mirror for a long while, pouting, and was about to rub off the decorative mark on her forehead.
But Wei Yun stretched out his hand and grasped her wrist.
“What are you doing?” he glanced at her lightly.
Xie Tao looked a bit deflated, “I might as well wash it off…”
Wei Yun held her wrist, making her sit down again.
It seemed like an eternity before Xie Tao suddenly heard him say:
“Beautiful.”
As if she had heard a hallucination, Xie Tao looked up at him, but saw his gaze still fixed on the book in his hand, not sparing her a glance.
But she clearly saw the slight redness on his earlobe.
Xie Tao immediately smiled, threw herself into his arms, and kissed him on the cheek.
Instantly, a red lip mark was left on his cold, pale face.
Caught off guard by her kiss, Wei Yun’s dark eyelashes trembled, and the reaction from his ears was even more direct, beginning to heat up.
He seemed annoyed as he stretched out his hand to pinch her cheek, looking down at the girl lying in his arms. In her eyes, which seemed to ripple like clear waves, he seemed to catch a glimpse of his own reflection.
“Xie Tao,”
He suddenly called her name, his voice unexpectedly hoarse, “As a woman, do you know what ‘modesty’ means?”
“Hmm?” His tone lifted at the end, yet his voice remained deep and seductive.
Xie Tao’s cheeks were pinched by him, forcing her to blink and purse her lips. After a moment, she lowered her eyelids and muttered softly, “I didn’t kiss anyone else; why do I need to be modest when kissing my boyfriend?”
“You…” Wei Yun was momentarily speechless.
“You don’t kiss me, yet you won’t let me kiss you…” she continued to complain in a tiny voice, a bit pouty.
Wei Yun remained silent for a while, his expression turning into something like amused exasperation. The dark hues in his eyes swirled intensely, like ink spreading thickly.
His chuckle was low but still remarkably clear and enticing.
Then, the book in his hand dropped from his fingers to the ground, its pages turned by the wind coming through the window.
He released her cheek but gripped her chin, forcing her to look up before he fiercely bit her lips.
The taste of her lipstick, slightly sweet, made him linger profoundly and passionately.
Xie Tao could only helplessly grasp his shirt, her almond-shaped eyes widened, and she dared not move as his other hand supported the back of her head.
Later, he bit her lower lip hard enough to break the skin.
The sharp pain made Xie Tao frown.
When he released her, their warm breaths mingled, and his fingers gently brushed her lip, now dotted with tiny beads of blood. Despite the numbness from the heat around his ears and the blood, his demeanor was much more unrestrained than usual, even deliberately harsh.
This was a side of him Xie Tao had never seen before.
So, she stared at him dumbfounded, forgetting to react.
At this moment, Wei Yun’s lips, stained with her lipstick, showed a gradient of colors, adding an indescribably lethal allure to him.
His fingers gently touched the lipstick that had spread from the corner of her lips, his movements delicate and tender.
“Is this what you wanted?”
Then, he suddenly leaned closer to her ear and whispered softly.
His hoarse voice carried a hint of a teasing smile.
His warm breath by her ear made Xie Tao’s pale face instantly blush, as if rouge had been clumsily spread all over her face, this time even her neck tinted a light pink.
Xie Tao couldn’t speak, her eyes blinking rapidly, too afraid to look at him.
At that moment, the voice of Wei Jing suddenly came from outside the door, “My lord.”
Upon hearing his voice, Wei Yun’s gentle expression instantly turned cold, “What is it?”
“This…”
Wei Jing hesitated outside the door, wanting to speak but stopped himself.
Wei Yun glanced at the tasseled curtain that swayed slightly in the breeze, then gently stroked Xie Tao’s hair and stood up. When he walked out of the inner room, he was already holding a brocade handkerchief, wiping the remaining lipstick from his lips unhurriedly, not forgetting to clean the marks on his cheeks, before finally opening the door to the outer room and looking towards Wei Jing, who was waiting outside.
At that moment, Shao Liyin had already consciously stood in the corridor not far away.
“Sir, the Prince’s envoy has sent a message, wishing to see you,” Wei Jing said to Wei Yun with a bow, in a low voice.
However, when he looked up at Wei Yun, he suddenly saw a faint red mark on the snow-white collar exposed under his dark blue brocade robe.
Hmm? What was that?
Wei Jing, a man who had never been in love and was straightforward, couldn’t figure it out.
Wei Yun’s expression became slightly stern, as if he pondered for a moment, then suddenly tugged at his lips.
Then he turned and walked back into the inner room. Seeing Xie Tao lying on the table with her head buried in her arms, a faint smile appeared in his eyes again. However, after a moment, his face also flushed slightly, and his ears remained somewhat hot.
He walked over and called her softly, “Tao Tao,”
“I have some things to do and I’m afraid… I can’t accompany you today.”
His voice carried a hint of apology.
Every time Xie Tao heard him call her “Tao Tao,” she couldn’t help but feel thrilled. Upon hearing his words this time, she lifted her head from her arms and looked at him, her face still flushed, and her almond eyes misty.
“You… go ahead with your tasks,” she said, moving her lips and even pushing him slightly.
After Wei Yun left, Xie Tao had planned to stay in the study to read books, waiting for the time to return.
But shortly after, she looked up to see a young man dressed in a green and white brocade robe suddenly appearing at the door. It was none other than the heir of the Marquis of Nanping’s house—Qi Ji.
“We meet again, Miss Cousin.”
The handsome young man held a jade-handled fan, smiling warmly and gently.
As he entered, Xie Tao instinctively sat up straight, saying dryly, “Hello…”
“I was actually here to see Yanchen, but it just so happened that he was out. So, I thought it would be good to visit my little cousin as well,” Qi Ji said casually, sitting down at the table and pouring himself a cup of tea.
“Oh…” Xie Tao touched the back of her head, not quite sure what to say to him.
“I am a good friend of Yanchen, and since you are his cousin, my calling you ‘cousin’ shouldn’t make much difference, right?” Qi Ji asked with a smile.
Xie Tao chuckled dryly, unsure of what to say.
However, Qi Ji observed the young girl in front of him without a change in his expression, as if he had thought of something. Looking at her, he suddenly asked tentatively, “Do you know that the Imperial Historian Sun has requested the Emperor to allow his eldest daughter to be betrothed to Yanchen?”
Upon hearing Qi Ji’s words, Xie Tao abruptly looked up at him:
“What?”
