Jiang Wuyan’s expression remained indifferent, projecting a sense of cool, serious detachment. Since they had already rested side-by-side during the day, Xiao Jinxu didn’t overthink it and lay down in the empty space beside her.
However, the moment he settled in, Jiang Wuyan rolled over, pressed her body against his, and wrapped her arms around him!
Xiao Jinxu froze. As he came to his senses and reached out to pull her away—
"Don't move." Jiang Wuyan’s voice was a low, sharp command. She pressed her face into his chest, drinking in his warmth like a succubus feeding on human essence.
Her voice was husky, a hint of seduction bleeding into her cold, monotonous tone: "Distinguishing between fruits is quite simple..."
Xiao Jinxu subconsciously halted his struggle.
"...Once you’ve consumed enough of the bad ones, you naturally learn to tell the difference."
Xiao Jinxu’s first instinct was that this woman was playing games with him. He grabbed her hand to pull her off, only to belatedly realize her skin temperature was abnormal. He then noticed that the forehead pressed against his chest—which had "shamelessly" burrowed into his collar—was burning hot.
"You... are you sick?"
He felt a bit flustered. After all, as the Crown Prince, anyone around him who fell ill would be kept at a distance, for fear of passing the sickness on to him.
Yet, no one would dare to intentionally press themselves into his embrace while knowingly ill... it was completely upside-down, wasn't it?
And this was his future sister-in-law, to boot!
Xiao Jinxu, possessing little capacity for sympathy, tried to push her away once more.
"I never expected..." she murmured, eyes closed, as if talking in her sleep, "that you would actually be struck by Heart-Entangling Sleep."
Xiao Jinxu’s heart skipped a beat, though his expression remained perfectly neutral. He gently rested his hand on her shoulder, right near her neck. "What are you talking about?"
As if she hadn't heard him, Jiang Wuyan continued on her own: "It is only Heart-Entangling Sleep. I can cure it."
The hand resting on her shoulder—slender, with prominent knuckles and hidden strength—trembled ever so slightly.
Just as he was about to speak, Jiang Wuyan, sounding as if she were drifting off to sleep, softly changed the subject: "I have already taken medicine. I just need to get a good night's sleep, and I will be fine..."
She would never be a burden to others... she was particularly good at taking care of herself!
As her voice trailed off, she allowed her consciousness to be swallowed by the darkness.
Xiao Jinxu found he could no longer push her away. He let his future sister-in-law use him as a space heater, sucking up his warmth as she drifted into a deep sleep.
His hand gripped her shoulder, tensing and releasing several times, before finally moving to her waist, pulling her firmly into his embrace.
*Fine, very fine, Jiang Wuyan? Not a word? I have noted this!*
***
"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang—"
A deafening sound of gongs jolted everyone awake.
Jiang Wuyan opened her eyes and fumbled to sit up...
"Da'an really ought to pass one more decree: it should be a crime for a woman to indecently assault a man."
The chest her fingers had been resting upon vibrated slightly as he spoke, and the lingering warmth that seemed to have assimilated into her own skin made her fingertips tingle. She couldn't tell if it was physical or psychological, but after all... she had never been this close to a man before.
Still, the feeling wasn't bad.
At the very least, the physique under her hands wasn't half bad.
Clearly, she ought to think more of herself and not hang her hopes on a single man, thereby losing out on so much pleasure.
Naturally, her face remained calm and unruffled, as if she had no thoughts whatsoever about his sturdy chest. She sat up gracefully, and though she still felt a bit dizzy, her condition had improved significantly.
She then directed her voice outward: "Let’s go see what the commotion is about."
Xiao Jinxu: "..." He had nearly failed to maintain his guise as a simple, innocent young master and almost let slip a sharp retort.
However, the gonging outside was truly annoying, so he had to set aside their pre-sleep encounter for the moment.
Xiao Jinxu climbed off the wooden bed, his habit leading him to walk toward the exit. After a few steps, he realized something was off and looked back, finding Jiang Wuyan still sitting on the edge of the bed. "Weren't you going to go look at the commotion?"
Jiang Wuyan’s reply was to raise her hand in his direction.
She was just a pitiful blind woman in an unfamiliar place; if he didn't come to guide her, how was she supposed to go?
She waited a brief moment before he turned back, hauled her up, and grabbed her arm. He was just a young master with brute strength and no experience in taking care of others; he dragged Jiang Wuyan along, stumbling her at one point.
Jiang Wuyan didn't try to force it, and when they crossed the threshold, she let herself "stumble."
With her thin frame and leg injury, she couldn't get back up immediately after falling. Being unable to see, she had to grope on the ground for her cane. Her face, devoid of expression as if she were accustomed to all forms of suffering, bore a fresh scrape, which was far more heart-wrenching than the wailing of someone protesting their pain.
She looked like a cat that had grown used to its own disability.
Xiao Jinxu looked down at her from his height. After a long moment, he bent down, picked up her cane, and hauled her up from the ground.
His movements were still far from gentle, but when he led her outside, he slowed his pace.
Jiang Wuyan kept her head down, passively following him. The arm he was gripping ached; the man likely had no idea that his strength caused discomfort to someone so fragile, nor did he know how to be gentle. But regarding this pain, she smiled in a somewhat neurotic fashion...
***
The source of the gonging was at the back of the village.
The villagers had gathered there, holding torches and surrounding the mouth of a cave.
When Xiao Jinxu arrived with Jiang Wuyan, they were at the very back, blocked by villagers from seeing what was happening at the front.
Just as Xiao Jinxu was debating whether to push through with Jiang Wuyan, Tao Youcai spotted them and took the initiative to walk over: "The two of you have come as well?"
Though he said this, he didn't look surprised. He smiled and added, "Let me take you to the front."
He walked ahead to guide them. Wherever he passed, the villagers automatically parted to make way.
This served Xiao Jinxu’s wishes, yet he couldn't help but feel that Tao Youcai’s words sounded strangely off. As they followed him through the parting crowd, the gaze of the villagers upon them was eerily fervent!
Xiao Jinxu had originally been holding Jiang Wuyan’s arm casually, but at some point, he had changed his grip to hold her hand, tightening his fingers to remind the sightless Jiang Wuyan to be careful.
Jiang Wuyan was naturally sharper than he was; she feigned fear of the unfamiliar environment and tucked herself behind Xiao Jinxu.
These events happened in the span of a moment. Tao Youcai brought them to the very front. Jiang Wuyan felt the heat of the fire, and the smoke made her uncomfortable enough to press against Xiao Jinxu’s back, using him as a human shield.
Xiao Jinxu, at this point, couldn't care about the fact that he was a dignified Crown Prince acting in such a manner... well, he had hidden his identity, so they didn't know, but it was still quite extreme... However, the scene before him prevented him from bickering with Jiang Wuyan.
In front of the cave, a large bonfire had been lit. The flames roared, illuminating the surroundings brightly.
A woman with disheveled hair, her features obscured, was bound tightly and kneeling before the cave. Her head was pressed to the ground, and she hadn't moved for a long time, leaving it unclear if she were dead or alive.
Beside her stood a man who appeared to be a shaman. His hair was braided into numerous tiny pigtails, with one even dangling from his beard. He wore a wide, tattered cloak made of various scraps of cloth, and held a ceremonial object resembling a bell, though it emitted no sound as he shook it.
He was chanting something, preparing to perform some sort of ritual.
Xiao Jinxu swept his gaze across the surroundings and discovered that all the villagers who had arrived were men. Aside from the bound woman kneeling at the cave entrance and Jiang Wuyan hiding behind him, there was not a single other woman present!