In the following days, Xiao Yi stayed in the study until dawn the next day, then returned to his room to make up for an hour, and then hurried into the palace, often returning in the evening.
Zhao Pei rarely saw him, and she felt relieved. But she couldn't help but admire him for being so energetic despite being so tired and having so little sleep.
She didn't act like a princess in the palace. She didn't have to take care of the trivial matters in the palace. She was just a guest. She had nothing to do every day, but she explored the palace and got to know some of the servants and guards in the palace, including Shui Niang.
After staying for more than a month, the feeling of alienation gradually faded. She rarely saw her husband, which saved her a lot of brainpower. She usually buried herself in sorting out her poems and articles. Although she didn't know whether this was useful, it killed a lot of time. When she had time, she would chat with the maids and listen to their gossips about the neighbors. Or she would go to the kitchen with Shui Niang to learn some small things. She lived a comfortable life and her heart became lazy.
But one day, she suddenly realized her crisis.
In the middle of the night, Zhao Pei felt a little thirsty and tried to get out of bed to drink some water, but was tripped by a foreign object. She touched a warm and solid body and thought she was dreaming, but she found that it was real, with rising and falling breath and heat. She was stunned and did not react for a while, thinking that it seemed to be a man's body.
Suddenly, a low voice was heard in the dark night: "Have you touched enough?" It was cold, but it was not difficult to detect a hint of teasing.
The thunderclap suddenly struck Zhao Pei, scaring her out of her sleepiness. She quickly withdrew her hand and crawled back into the quilt, her heart beating hard: "You, why are you here?"
"Why not? This is also my room and my bed." Xiao Yi replied.
"You, what are you doing here? Aren't you going to deal with official documents?" Zhao Pei asked while wrapping herself tightly in the quilt.
I couldn't see him, but I heard him chuckle, then he said patiently, "Of course I'm sleeping, what else can I do? I've been tired for so many days, I need to have a good rest for a while. Why are you so nervous? I'm very tired, I won't do anything to you."
Zhao Pei knew without even looking that her face was red. She suddenly remembered what her aunt had taught her in the palace, and her whole body suddenly became hot. She tried to defend herself again: "I, I, I, where am I, where am I nervous?"
In a daze, she felt him sitting up and moving towards her. Zhao Pei subconsciously stepped back and bumped into the wall. The back of her head hurt but she didn't dare to say a word.
"Then why are you stuttering?"
"How could I!" he replied immediately, but after thinking about it he felt unsure so he added, "Is it okay that I'm cold? I'm so cold that my teeth are chattering and my tongue is knotted, is it okay? I, I'm still shivering." This was indeed true.
Xiao Yi then said, "Why don't you lie down if that's the case?"
Lie down? Lie down with you? Zhao Pei hesitated for a long time, until Xiao Yi impatiently pulled her down on the bed. "Bang!" Her head hit the porcelain pillow, and many stars floated in front of her eyes.
"Are you okay?" He seemed to know that he had done something wrong, and reached out to touch her head and rubbed it. Zhao Pei froze there, slowly moving inward and stopped about a foot away from him. She wanted to hide as far away as possible, but she was already pressed against the wall.
He was silent for a long time and then said tiredly, "Go to sleep." Then there was no more sound. Zhao Pei leaned against the cold wall, her heart still beating violently. She couldn't see anything in the dark night, and she felt relieved and relaxed after faintly hearing his steady breathing. She fell asleep.
A year ago, she would not have thought of them now, and now she would not have thought of them many years later. (To be continued)