Chapter 24
Seeing her relax, Xie Yao’s fingertips wandered, concentrating on examining her less obvious injuries.
Moving downwards, he touched a soft redness.
The touch and color made his breath catch.
He suddenly touched a spot. Yuli trembled violently and let out a low cry. It was as if the injury was a little painful, but also not quite.
Yuli suddenly dodged, resisting his touch, her strength surprisingly great.
Xie Yao pressed her down with his leg, leaned over, and held her wrists with both hands, squeezing one tightly and pressing it above her head.
Yuli was already unable to move. He let go of her wrist, turned her face over, and kissed her eye.
“Open your eyes and look at me.”
Yuli dared not disobey. She opened her eyes, her gaze shattered.
It was the first time Yuli had felt such a feeling, a strange sense of losing control, as if her blood were flowing backwards, drowning her five senses.
Yuli tensed her body in resistance, telling him to stop.
Xie Yao paused but did not obey.
Yuli was extremely flustered. She was a person who liked to do things step by step and did not like stimulation that exceeded her expectations, neither good nor bad.
Perhaps it was due to years of a boring life. She wanted all her feelings to be within a controllable range, plain and simple. Once she had a new experience, the first thing it brought was not novelty, but a sense of insecurity.
Her unease was obvious, and Xie Yao quickly sensed it.
Xie Yao paused, and in the end, he let her go.
Yuli felt as if she had been granted amnesty and took deep breaths to calm her heart.
Xie Yao actually brought a clean cloth to wipe her. She moved towards the inside of the bed, almost touching the bed rail, and lay on her stomach, curled up tightly.
Xie Yao extinguished the light and lay down beside her, with no physical contact.
“Are you better now?” Xie Yao suddenly turned his head to ask, his voice low, hoarse, and deep.
“Mm,” Yuli said weakly, as if she were really very uncomfortable.
Xie Yao didn’t say anything more, just hummed in agreement.
The two of them lay quietly. Yuli quickly relaxed and fell asleep.
Hearing her even breathing, Xie Yao turned over and watched her silently in the darkness for a long time.
Before the sky was bright, Xie Yao got up by himself, kissed Yuli’s forehead, and left.
Yuli slept until she woke up naturally. She sat up. Her bottom hurt a little more than yesterday. She slowly got out of bed, and Xiyun came in.
The rain had stopped today, but she couldn’t walk for too long, so she didn’t go to inspect her garden.
Xiyun could see that Yuli was a little bored. She thought that she probably didn’t go out because of her status that couldn’t see the light of day, so she didn’t try to persuade her, but tried to find ways to relieve her boredom.
“Didn’t the Mistress want to learn to write? Why not let Jingyu invite a private tutor to teach you properly?”
Yuli’s eyes lit up. Yes, there were still things she wanted to learn, many of them.
So Yuli had Jingyu invite a private tutor, not only to learn to write but also to learn to paint.
Yuli got into the swing of learning, making some progress every day, which gave her a sense of accomplishment, and her days became lively again.
Xiyun had followed the county magistrate’s daughter before and had seen some of the pleasures of the inner chambers. After discussing with Jingyu, she went to find some storybooks for Yuli to read.
The storybooks were of varying quality. For Yuli, who had read countless texts, it was just a way to pass the time.
Until Xiyun suggested inviting a theater troupe to perform.
Yuli thought of the concerts she had wanted to go to but never did in her past life. Her interest was piqued.
“Is there a female singer with an unparalleled voice, famous throughout the world, and so beautiful that many people would squeeze through crowds just to hear her sing?” Yuli said to Xiyun.
Xiyun had no clue about this. She told Jingyu. Jingyu had a candidate in mind but didn’t dare to mention it.
The kind of person the Mistress was talking about could only be found in a place like Pingkang Fang.
She believed that the Mistress was just looking for some ordinary entertainment, but thinking of the master’s birth mother’s background, Jingyu didn’t dare to mention a single word.
After Xiyun had told Jingyu, there was no reply for a long time. She inquired with others and found out that there was indeed a songstress in the capital whom everyone was desperate to hear sing. She was immediately energized. She thought that Young Master Xie was already wronging Yuli by keeping her confined, so satisfying her small wish should be no problem. So, when Xie Yao was present, she pretended to casually bring it up with Yuli.
“Didn’t the Mistress say a few days ago that you wanted to listen to some music? I heard that there is a songstress in the capital with an amazing voice. She is very popular in the capital right now. Even Uncle Hu and the others have heard of her. Why not let the Young Master take you to see her?” Xiyun knew she was overstepping her bounds, but she pretended to be calm on the surface.
Jingyu, who was standing on the side and had not yet left, broke out in a cold sweat. She looked at the clueless master and servant, then at the master, and finally at the ignorant Xiyun.
Xie Yao was silent for a moment, then looked at Yuli.
Yuli really wanted to go. In her past life, she was a person who couldn’t live without music. Every day on her way to and from work, when she was so squeezed in the subway that she couldn’t even take out her phone to look, she would rely on the music in her headphones to escape reality for a moment.
“Is that okay?” Yuli was full of anticipation, but she was also prepared to be rejected by Xie Yao.
“You can’t go to that place, but we can invite her to the residence,” Xie Yao said.
Yuli would have preferred to go out to listen. After all, listening to a concert was not just about listening to the singer sing; it also required that lively atmosphere. If they invited her here, and she was the only one in the audience, how awkward and boring would that be?
But Xiyun happily pulled her and smiled, as if it were even more precious that Xie Yao could agree to invite her.
In the end, Yuli didn’t say anything and smiled and thanked Xie Yao.
Both Yuli and Xiyun were overjoyed. Only Jingyu slowly let out a breath without a trace.