Chapter 40: Your Highness’s Mouth Soft When Kissed

Xiao Ji: “…”

His face darkened, and just as he was about to speak, he saw Si-nan take two steps, then suddenly seem to realize something.

With a loud creak, Si-nan turned and shut the study door.

Xiao Ji almost laughed from anger.

He had never known this fool Si-nan to have such tact.

“Your Highness, it hurts.”

A faint, weak voice came from beneath him, and Xiao Ji finally realized he was still pressing down on Xie Yao.

The truth was, when he had heard Si-nan’s footsteps just now, he had instinctively leaned over her, shielding her curvaceous figure from sight.

But he had overlooked that his thin robe was far too close-fitting, and her figure… could never be hidden by just a single layer of cloth.

Thus, their bodies were pressed even closer together.

At the time, he had only felt as if he had crashed into a pile of cotton, without thinking further.

Now, snapping back to his senses, he became acutely aware of every sensation of her body shifting shape beneath his touch.

He abruptly pushed himself up, yet his hand on her wrist pulled with it.

Xie Yao, tugged forward, landed seated upon the desk.

Her balance unstable, she pitched forward into Xiao Ji’s chest.

He instinctively caught her, then just as quickly released her as if burned. “Sit properly.”

His face was red as a cooked shrimp, his heart pounding wildly.

Xie Yao was the first woman he had ever had so much contact with, but each time, the impact on him was overwhelming.

“Your Highness.” Xie Yao’s soft voice carried a trace of grievance. “It hurts.”

“I will summon someone,” Xiao Ji said.

He turned to leave, but she grabbed his hand. “Don’t, Your Highness.”

“It’s, it’s here that hurts.” She raised her other hand and pitifully pointed at her chest. “If Your Highness calls someone in, how am I supposed to explain? Shall I say it was Your Highness who crushed me?”

“…”

The study fell into utter silence.

Xiao Ji, clever and proud since birth, had never been so at a loss. “Then… what should be done?”

He couldn’t… massage her again, like last time, could he?

The thought had barely formed when he felt a sudden heat at his nose.

Xie Yao’s eyes widened. “Your Highness, you’re bleeding!”

Without hesitation, she whipped off the handkerchief at her side and pressed it to his face, quickly staining it red.

Her eyes turned misty, and she shouted at once, “Si-nan! Si-nan!”

Xiao Ji, still covering his nose, didn’t have time to stop her.

—-

In the study chamber.

Xiao Ji was forced to lie on the bed under Xie Yao’s firm insistence, while she, Si-nan, and the court physician surrounded him.

Xie Yao’s eyes were reddened. “Physician, is His Highness unwell? You must do your utmost to cure him. No matter what medicine is required, just say the word.”

The Zhao family’s business had flourished in recent years, especially after Cousin Zhao Ying took charge. Their caravans traveled far and wide, gathering the finest medicinal herbs.

Si-nan’s expression was equally grave. Could it be the remnants of the witchcraft poison acting up prematurely? But His Highness had never bled from the nose before.

The physician’s expression grew more awkward still.

After much hesitation, he finally said, “His Highness is not in serious danger.”

“Truly?” Xie Yao’s doubt was clear. “But he’s bleeding from the nose! Physician, at a time like this, do not try to hide the truth from me.”

Seeing the physician unmoved, she turned her gaze to Xiao Ji. “Your Highness…”

Xiao Ji closed his eyes. “It is nothing.”

This sort of matter… he would rather die than say aloud.

“Crown Princess, I am truly fine. You should return first.”

“I won’t.” Xie Yao was stubborn. “If Your Highness refuses to tell me, then I will not leave. I’ll stay here to watch over you.”

“…”

Xiao Ji knew she was perfectly capable of doing so.

He drew a deep breath and looked at Si-nan. “Leave us.”

When only three people remained, Xiao Ji signaled the physician to speak.

The physician coughed lightly, and then said, “His Highness suffers from excessive kidney energy. Prolonged lack of release has led to fire trapped within. I can prescribe some cooling medicines to relieve the symptoms, but… it will not cure the root.”

He wiped sweat from his brow, then quietly withdrew.

The study fell terrifyingly silent.

Xie Yao was dumbfounded. She had never imagined… that Xiao Ji’s nosebleed would be for such a reason.

“Does Your Highness despise me?”

She bit her lip softly, her gaze misty as she looked at him, appearing fragile and pitiful.

Xiao Ji’s throat bobbed. For the first time, he thought being forced to lie in bed wasn’t so bad.

His voice was hoarse, yet firm. “No.”

Xie Yao… was wonderful.

“Then why, Your Highness, why…” Though she had always been bold with him, this subject was still one she could not say plainly.

But the meaning was obvious to them both.

After a long silence, Xiao Ji forced out two words: “Forgive me.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Contrary to his expectations, she did not run off in tears. Instead, she grew calm.

“I do not believe in this nonsense of a ‘fated solitary life.’”

Her stubborn gaze fixed upon him.

Even if he had such a fate, it could not overcome her blessed body of fertility, nor the children she would bear.

Xiao Ji’s pupils trembled. He had never imagined she would say such a thing.

She continued, “I could accept it if Your Highness simply disliked me, loathed me, rejected me… and therefore refused…”

“But what I cannot accept is that you use this so-called fate as an excuse to keep me a thousand miles away.”

Still, Xiao Ji said nothing.

“Then if Your Highness insists, why not grant me freedom instead; let me find another husband…”

She distinctly heard the grinding crack of joints.

It was Xiao Ji.

His fists clenched so tightly the veins stood out, as if he were at the edge of breaking.

Yet he still held his tongue.

Xie Yao had not expected him to endure this much.

She drew a long breath, and then turned her steps. Instead of leaving, she cupped his face firmly in her hands and leaned down to kiss him.

Her lips were soft and sweet, yet carried fierce dominance and aggression.

In an instant, Xiao Ji’s defenses crumbled. He pulled her close, one hand at the back of her head, the other at her waist, deepening the kiss just as she desired.

At first, she managed to respond. But soon, she was like a lone skiff adrift upon the vast sea, tossed wherever the waves carried her…

Only after a long while, when she was nearly breathless, did he finally release her. She collapsed against his lap, panting heavily, her chest rising and falling with each breath.

Xiao Ji fared no better. His eyes were bloodshot, as if he wished to devour her whole.

Yet the taut string of his reason still held.

Some things could be done. Some things… could not.

The corners of Xie Yao’s lips curved slightly upward. Her reddened eyes were tinged with fragility, yet even her pride and smugness looked charming.

She tilted her head, slender fingers brushing across his lips to silence him, and spoke first. “Your Highness’s mouth may be hard, but when kissed… it’s very soft.”