In the early morning at the Prince Xian's Mansion, when the sky was just turning light and the sun had yet to climb out from behind the clouds, Yun Xi covered her ears and grumbled in a plaintive tone:
"Kill me! Can't you just let me sleep a bit more? My ears are itching like crazy!"
Yun Xi wrapped herself in the thin quilt and curled up like a shrimp. Then she rolled towards the inner side of the bed, trying to dodge Qi Rong's "clutches".
Looking at the sleepy Yun Xi, Qi Rong had a smile on his lips. He stretched out his upper arm and grabbed her back again.
Qi Rong encircled Yun Xi in his arms, brushed aside her hand, and bit her earlobe again. In a hoarse voice, he said,
"Little lazybones, get up and practice martial arts quickly. Otherwise, there won't be any meat for you today!"
When her earlobe was bitten, Yun Xi couldn't help but tremble. She opened her sleepy, watery eyes and glared at Qi Rong resentfully:
"Damn it! I think you're just using martial arts practice as a pretext to torture me on purpose!"
Recently, every day before dawn, Qi Rong would try every means to drag her out of bed and take her to the martial arts training ground. After this period of training, she felt that her body was about to fall apart!
She wanted to discuss with him whether she could take a few days off, but no matter how she pleaded, Qi Rong just wouldn't give in!
She felt tired and sleepy every day. Sometimes, when having breakfast, it didn't taste as delicious as before. Because of sleepiness, her head was groggy, and she couldn't even concentrate on savoring the food!
Sometimes when she was extremely sleepy, she couldn't help dozing off on the way to inspect the shops. Yu Zhu would then wake her up when they arrived.
At first, she agreed to practice martial arts with Qi Rong because she could have meat to eat.
However, now she was worried that if this continued, she would die from lack of sleep!
In response to Yun Xi's complaints, Qi Rong smiled gently. He firmly locked her in his arms and whispered suggestively in her ear:
"There are many ways to torture you. Even if I don't let you practice martial arts, I can still keep you from leaving this room for a whole day."
As he spoke, Qi Rong's lips slid down to her fair neck and slowly moved down to her collarbone... His hoarse voice seemed to be full of charm:
"Think clearly. Do you want to stay in the room and sleep, or go out and practice martial arts?"
The feeling of not being able to sleep in was really painful, and Qi Rong's "threat" struck Yun Xi like a thunderbolt. Her whole body tensed up, and her hairs stood on end.
Yun Xi swallowed hard. She put her hands on Qi Rong's head, blushed, and scolded him angrily:
"You win!"
A wise woman doesn't fight when the odds are against her. She decided to compromise for the time being.
Seeing Yun Xi wriggle out of his embrace and sit up on the bed in one go, Qi Rong propped his head up with his hand and looked at her playfully. He smacked his lips and said,
"Oh! You're finally willing to get up? What a pity. I was originally thinking of sleeping with you for a whole day today."
Yun Xi pushed away Qi Rong's hand that was around her waist, quickly got out of bed, and glared at him with a blushing face:
"Stop being so shameless!"
How could he say such things every day? If others heard them, how could she live with herself?
Yun Xi quickly put on the red training outfit for martial arts practice. Then she sat in front of the dressing table and was about to tie a simple braid for herself when Qi Rong snatched the comb away.
Qi Rong stood behind Yun Xi. His slender fingers grasped her smooth, black, and shiny long hair and naturally began to comb it for her.
Yun Xi felt awkward and tried to grab the comb back, but Qi Rong straightened her shoulders and pressed her onto the chair. Looking at her in the bronze mirror, he slowly combed her hair and said with a doting smile:
"Where am I being shameless? You're my wife. Even if I have certain thoughts, it's only natural. Do you think I've endured until now for someone else?"
If it weren't for wanting her to accept him voluntarily and being afraid of scaring her, why would he have to go through all this trouble?
Meeting Qi Rong's burning gaze in the bronze mirror, Yun Xi didn't even dare to look him in the eye.
She involuntarily lowered her head, twiddled her fingers, and murmured softly:
"Who's your wife."
Their relationship didn't even have a marriage certificate. It wasn't even something that could be talked about in public.
If she just became his concubine like this, she would be unwilling!
If their relationship deepened, it would only make it more difficult for her to leave the mansion. Moreover, this wasn't the only thing she was most afraid of.
What if, just what if she had his child, would Qi Rong want this child?
And what would become of her in the future?
Watching the look of loss on Yun Xi's face, Qi Rong's heart tightened. The hand that was holding Yun Xi's hair unconsciously tightened its grip.
"It hurts!"
Yun Xi covered her head and turned to glare at Qi Rong. To her surprise, she caught a rare distracted look on Qi Rong's face.
Just as Yun Xi was surprised, Qi Rong hurriedly hugged her shoulders tightly. His voice was a bit solemn:
"Sorry, I didn't mean to. I'll make it up to you and try my best to be good to you!"
If he could, didn't he also want to marry her openly and righteously?
But thinking about his future situation, if he were to put her in that position openly, it would be no different from putting her on a fire rack!
He didn't dare to take a gamble with her because he couldn't afford to lose. He didn't want her to be hurt even the slightest bit!
So in front of others, she was his concubine. This was what he owed her.
One day, when he no longer had to worry about other things, he would surely present all the best things in the world to her with both hands! He would make sure that she was no longer looked down upon by the world!
Yun Xi had originally just been complaining that Qi Rong had pulled her hair too hard, but seeing Qi Rong looking so ashamed, she was surprised.
She wondered if she had been too intense just now, which was why Qi Rong was acting like this.
"It's not that serious. It's just my hair."
Yun Xi deliberately said generously to avoid looking like she was making a mountain out of a molehill.
Seeing that Qi Rong was still hugging her tightly and didn't move at all, Yun Xi felt a bit uncomfortable. She struggled a bit and said to Qi Rong:
"I'll do it myself."
As she spoke, Yun Xi wanted to take the comb from Qi Rong's hand, but Qi Rong lowered his head and kissed the top of her hair. His voice was very gentle but also very insistent:
"No. From now on, I'll comb your hair myself every morning!"
Yun Xi's hair was as smooth as silk. Once he held it in his palm, he couldn't bear to let it go.
He really enjoyed this experience and didn't want anyone else to do it.
Seeing his determination, Yun Xi didn't stop him anymore. But in her heart, she couldn't help but doubt his skills. She thought that as a man, what kind of hairstyle could he tie for her?
Wasn't he trying to deliberately tie an ugly hairstyle for her to make her look bad?
It was really no wonder that Yun Xi would doubt Qi Rong like this, because based on his usual behavior, he really might do such a thing.
However, before Yun Xi could say anything else, Qi Rong had already started to carefully braid and tie her hair. Before long, Qi Rong had coiled Yun Xi's long black hair into a bun. It was not only neat but also very beautiful.
"Where did you learn this? Your hands are so dexterous."
Yun Xi touched the bun on her head and looked left and right in the bronze mirror, looking amazed.