This statent was clearly a sign that he was no longer angry with her! Ran Yan smiled joyfully and quickly pecked his forehead, breaking precedent with a joke, "With a husband so virtuous, your concubine feels utterly relieved."
Xiao Song looked at her radiant smile and sighed, "You should really focus on your studies more."
Ran Yan would wager that Xiao Song had no idea she had perford artificial respiration on Sang Chen, otherwise, he surely wouldn’t have just this attitude. If it had been before, Ran Yan wouldn’t fear anyone knowing about it, but now she was truly afraid for Xiao Song to find out. Once he did, who knows what his thunderous rage might be like.
Regarding this matter, Xiao Song was really not a magnanimous person; he had traveled back to Chang’an in a flurry, having heard that his wife had risked her life for another man, and he arrived ho seething with rage. Ran Yan didn’t know just how intimidating the air about him had been when he burst into the villa, the wrath in his eyes so piercing that it had left everyone afraid to even breathe too loudly for days.
But this fury, upon seeing Ran Yan’s emaciated figure lying on the bed, was extinguished by half, and after Liu Qingsong’s exaggerations that her life was in danger, his feelings were a tumult of distress, anger, and a touch of sadness. He really wanted to ask her: What did other n’s lives have to do with her? Where was she placing him with such actions!
During the days he watched over her bed, Xiao Song thought a lot about the dream Ran Yan had shared with him in Jushui Town. Perhaps it was with that regret that she couldn’t bear to see Sang Chen die horribly... As the anger gradually dissipated, he also felt guilty; it was his failure to protect his own wife that led to this situation.
He rembered writing to her before that "now I am here, there are no hidden blades within the pipe," but he had broken his word to her.
Xiao Song ordered soone to help Ran Yan freshen up, and then brought over so clear porridge, feeding her himself.
Ran Yan felt a bit embarrassed, she wasn’t incapacitated, so why must she be fed by soone else? But, despite her hints both subtle and overt, Xiao Song remained indifferent, and so she had no choice but to enjoy it.
After they had finished eating, they each went to take a bath. Bearing in mind Ran Yan’s frailty, Xiao Song refrained from pressing for marital relations, rely holding her in the corridor to enjoy the cool air, now and then indulging in a bit of ’tofu.’
In professional terms, such behavior is known as ’boundary testing,’ using small intimate gestures to vent one’s desires. If soone else were to act thus with Ran Yan, she would surely be very averse to it, but with Xiao Song, she just felt heartache.
To think of him, a grown man, forced to maintain his chastity, and finally, after much difficulty, taking a wife, only to endure restraint so shortly afterward—first for observing mourning, then separation, and after a brief reunion hoping for warm intimacy, only to be greeted by his wife lying unconscious from saving another man.
"By the way, have you reported back to the palace yet?" Ran Yan watched Xiao Song’s skilled tea-making and suddenly rembered this matter.
Xiao Song glanced at her with a smile, "The miracle of how you saved Sang Suiyuan has already spread far and wide; all of Chang’an City practically worships you as a deity. The Emperor, of course, was especially gracious and sent a ssage yesterday granting five days’ leave. It won’t be too late for to report back after you’ve awakened."
Ran Yan was a tad surprised but then relented, "Effort spent tending flowers may not make them blossom, carelessly planting willows may create shade."
"That’s an interesting way to put it," Xiao Song handed her a cup of Fusang Drink and poured himself a cup of tea, "But it’s a fitting line of poetry."
Ran Yan’s face darkened, and she turned away, no longer paying him any attention.
"I heard Sister-in-law Jiu woke up, so I ca to see how she was doing," Liu Qingsong couldn’t very well call out "Ran Yan, Ran Yan" in Xiao Song’s presence, so he behaved and respectfully referred to her as ’sister-in-law.’
Xiao Song said, "Sit down, how is Sang Suiyuan doing?"
Liu Qingsong knelt and sat down on the mat, answering, "He’s much better now, already able to leave the bed, but he lost too much blood, so he’ll need to be taken good care of for a while."
"Well, you stay at the manor and look after him for a while. I will return to the city with your sister-in-law Jiulang tomorrow. Let know if you need anything, and I’ll send soone to bring it over," Xiao Song said, passing him a cup of tea with an air of calm.
Liu Qingsong paused for a mont before taking the tea cup with a look of surprise, lowering his voice, "Jiulang, if you have any grievances, just say it. Don’t keep it bottled up and pretend to be magnanimous."
"Roll out before I start throwing punches," Xiao Song sipped his tea, giving him a cool glance.
Liu Qingsong sprang to his feet, "I’m decisively leaving." Before he left, he leaned towards Ran Yan and whispered, "Ms. Ran, you really have a way. You managed to extinguish Xiao Jiu’s volcanic eruption in no ti. Share your valuable experience with later!"
After saying that, he darted out, afraid that Xiao Song might actually take a swing at him.
When they were little, Liu Qingsong often quarreled with Xiao Song, but he always ended up on the losing side. Back then, he felt humiliated being beaten up by a kid, but what troubled him even more was: This was a twisted love of a man towards another man that was both physical and emotional!
During that period, he was lost in his fantasy scenarios, unable to extricate himself. After a series of brutal ntal struggles, he decisively decided to go along with the plot and seduce Xiao Song, then take him down when he was unguarded. Although he couldn’t accept being the bottom, he figured he could tolerate being the top, especially since Xiao Song was also good-looking.
But the result was, he got beaten up again.
Ran Yan watched Liu Qingsong run off as quickly as Sang Chen’s rabbit and humd, "It’s evident, how brutal you usually are to him."
Xiao Song didn’t speak, just looked at her with a smile brimming with aning.
After a while without a response, Ran Yan turned back to find the golden-red sunset casting a warm glow all around him, softening the harshness of his features. Xiao Song’s unshaven beard, giving him a mature and handso appearance, made Ran Yan feel sowhat dazzled.
"You keeping this beard makes feel like more than a decade has passed, as if we’re an old married couple," Ran Yan murmured.
The warmth in Xiao Song’s dazzling smile blended perfectly with the sunlight, "You’re saying I’m old in a roundabout way."
Ran Yan laughed, "Old is old, you look good with a beard. Let trim it for you."
"Hmm," Xiao Song was the type who didn’t fuss over his appearance, and with his wife happy to groom him, he quite enjoyed it. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welco to co to Qidian (qidian) and cast your recomndation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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