Chapter 164: Would You Believe Me If I Said I’m About to Break?
Chapter 164: Chapter 164: Would You Believe Me If I Said I’m About to Break?
Cui Lingyao watched, her eyes slowly turning red.
"I’m not dead yet. Don’t be a crybaby,"
Xie Jinbai pinched her rosy cheek and coaxed her with a smile, "Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to live a long life. I’d never let you become a widow."
Cui Lingyao: "..."
She just stared at him, her eyes still red.
Xie Jinbai sighed, took her by the wrist, and led her inside.
The carriage had stopped right at the entrance to his study.
A moment after they went inside, they reached the rear courtyard.
Xie Jinbai glanced around and asked the person behind him, "Where are the two Daoists?"
"With the Princess Consort staying here, it wasn’t appropriate to have other men on the premises, so they’ve been moved to a separate courtyard," Li Yong said. "This subordinate will go and summon them now."
"There’s no rush," Xie Jinbai said, raising a hand. "Prepare some hot water first."
With that, he led her into the room.
The door slowly closed.
It was the middle of the day, yet Cui Lingyao watched him slide the bolt shut. Recalling his earlier order for hot water, her lips twitched. "What do you think you’re doing?"
Xie Jinbai had already taken off his cloak and was sitting on the daybed. He looked up at her words, saw her indescribable expression, and froze for a second before breaking into a smile.
"In my current condition, what could I possibly do?"
He slumped against the daybed as if boneless, unable to stop laughing, yet still managing to tease her. "But if my dear Yaoyao wants to, I suppose I could try... but you’d have to do all the work."
Cui Lingyao: "..."
Xie Jinbai reached out and pulled the blushing girl before him. "So?" he asked with a grin.
’The hell I will!’
Her embarrassment turning to fury, Cui Lingyao lunged and grabbed his throat. "You do it! I’m not doing anything!"
"Fine, I’ll do it, then."
Xie Jinbai wasn’t picky. He pulled her hand from his neck, wrapped his arm around her waist, and yanked her into his embrace, pulling her down onto the daybed with him.
After a dizzying spin, Cui Lingyao found her back pressed against the soft daybed. Startled, she said urgently, "Don’t you dare do anything foolish!"
’His constitution...’
Xie Jinbai lowered his gaze to the girl beneath him, the smile in his eyes slowly fading.
After a long moment, he bent down and kissed her gently. "My Yaoyao..."
’This is so sappy.’
Cui Lingyao felt a little shy. They had been married for three years and had done countless things far, far more intimate than this, yet now she was blushing.
Xie Jinbai didn’t know what was on her mind.
His lips pressed against her neck, feeling the strong, steady pulse of the girl in his arms. A sudden heat flooded his chest, and his eyes grew red. "You’re going to be the death of me, you know that?"
She had tormented him, putting him through hell and back.
He’d almost given up on living, thinking it would be better to just die with her.
The gut-wrenching agony of losing her was carved into his very bones, and he had been forced to endure it twice.
Even now, holding her in his arms again, it still felt somewhat unreal to Xie Jinbai.
His hand moved down to her sash, untying it and slipping inside.
His broad, calloused palm slowly caressed her delicate waist.
A faint tremor ran through her.
Cui Lingyao buried her face in his chest, clutching the collar of his robes in silence.
It wasn’t until the hand on her waist began to creep upward that she grabbed his wrist. "Don’t. Your body can’t handle any excitement."
She kept refusing him, and always for the same reason: his health. Xie Jinbai was getting a little annoyed. "I’m not that frail. As long as *your* body can handle it, it’s fine. So tell me, can your body handle it?"
Thanks to the System Energy’s repairs, she was healthier than ever. Of course she could handle it.
But Cui Lingyao still refused.
She cupped his face, tilted her head up to kiss his chin, and said, "You know to worry about my body, but can’t you see that I worry about yours too?"
With just that one sentence, she had Xie Jinbai utterly delighted.
The irritation from being rejected several times, the vexation of unfulfilled desire—in an instant, it all vanished without a trace.
He couldn’t keep the smile off his face.
Cui Lingyao pressed her advantage. "Let me see your wound."
She gripped his shoulders, pushed him off of her, and in one fluid motion, swung her leg over him, reversing their positions.
Now, she was sitting on top of him.
She was sitting on top of him...
How could a body that had been abstinent for so many years withstand such a provocation?
The reaction was almost instantaneous.
Cui Lingyao immediately felt the stirring beneath her and shot a glance at the man under her.
Xie Jinbai raised an eyebrow, a smile dancing in his eyes as he looked up at her.
Knowing he was up to no good, Cui Lingyao said nothing and simply reached down to undo his sash.
After removing a few layers of clothing, she saw his wound.
She didn’t know how he’d been treating it, or if he’d even bothered to change the dressing on the road at all.
More than ten days had passed, yet the wound still looked fresh. Blood had soaked through the outermost of the several layers of gauze wrapped around it.
Cui Lingyao’s brow furrowed in anger. "If you keep treating your body this recklessly and actually manage to get yourself killed, I will absolutely not be following you to the grave!"
She had said this to him before.
Back then, her words had twisted his heart with pain, and they did so again now.
The light faded from his eyes. "I know," he said quietly. "You don’t have to remind me over and over."
Cui Lingyao: "..."
She gave a laugh of pure frustration and started to get off him.
"Where are you going?" Xie Jinbai grabbed her by the waist. "What are you upset about? Don’t throw a fit. I’m this injured, can’t you be a little nicer to me?"
’Can’t you be a little nicer to me...’
He sounded just like a neglected wife complaining about her husband.
A bittersweet feeling washed over Cui Lingyao. She couldn’t help but lean down and give him a quick kiss. "Wait here," she coaxed. "I’m going to get you something."
It was a soft, placating kiss.
It was enough to make Xie Jinbai release his grip.
The woman was no longer on top of him, but the heat coursing through his body was difficult to dispel.
When Cui Lingyao returned, she found he had pulled the blanket over himself.
Her lips twitched, and she couldn’t stop herself from saying, "You’re so weak, yet you’re still having those kinds of thoughts?"
’Isn’t it supposed to be "first food, then fornication"?’
’But shouldn’t being healthy and free of pain come first?’
She really couldn’t comprehend his physical reaction.
Xie Jinbai heaved a deep sigh. "If I told you I’m about to break from holding back, would you believe me?"
Three years of abstinence hadn’t felt so difficult.
But to have the love of his life in his arms and be expected to remain a perfect gentleman, to not cross a single line—that was pure torture.
He was a man, after all.
And not an invalid.
But she had insisted that he couldn’t touch her before they were properly married.
So he could only grit his teeth and endure.
Finally, she was back in her own body.
This was the wife he had married with all the proper rites and ceremonies.
And what was the result? He was injured, and she *still* wouldn’t let him touch her.
Xie Jinbai actually felt wronged.
He looked at her and said mournfully, "It’s fine if you don’t get on top. Just don’t look down on me when I’m broken beyond repair."
That look in his eyes.
It was accusatory, wronged, and even a little mournful.
In short, it was a look that said a thousand words he left unspoken.
Especially...
Cui Lingyao was thoroughly stunned into silence.
Witnessing once again just how shameless this man could be, she swallowed hard and handed him the Jade Bottle. "Take this."
Xie Jinbai froze. A thought occurred to him, and he asked in astonishment, "The Hundred Diseases Pill?"
’He just got back to the Capital City, and he already knows the name of the elixir that saved Chen Minrou is the Hundred Diseases Pill.’
’He’s certainly well-informed.’
Cui Lingyao nodded. "You’ve been severely injured multiple times, and your body is incredibly weak. Hurry up and take it. It will help you recover faster, with no lasting ill effects."