17 - Sweetness

Chapter 17 – Sweetness

After seeing that the guards had released her, Si Liujing turned around and walked out. Bai Yuxiao flashed them a meaningful glance before she followed behind Si Liujing. He got into the carriage and she also followed him into the carriage. After getting into the carriage, she automatically knelt before him and lowered her head with a pitiful look.

Si Liujing did not say a word from beginning to end and let her kneel.

While he was happy to have found Shui’er but he was also angry at her for disregarding him and hiding away.

If he did not set up this trap to expose her, did she intend to hide from him and let him treat her coldly, never to enter her courtyard and just remain in her rear courtyard as a ‘widow’ for the rest of her life?

By doing this, it shows she does not care for him!

If it is said that she does not care for him but she risked her life to save him, found ways to lead the enemies away, and dedicated herself to help him detoxify the poison. She wholeheartedly took care of him for a month and also gathered clues for him.

If this is not caring for him, then what is?

She seems to have feelings for him but it does not appear so……..

She seems to care for him but it does not appear like it……..

This is exactly what made him hesitant and he is unsure of the kind of mentality he should adopt to treat her.

After returning to the royal mansion, Bai Liangdi was placed under house arrest while Zhaolu and Shuang’er were taken to the royal mansion’s dungeon.

When Bai Yuxiao found out her two maids were locked in the dungeon then only did she realize that Si Liujing was really serious this time. She became anxious and wanted to plead with Si Liujing, but she was placed under house arrest and her courtyard was guarded.

So how is she able to plead with him?

Bai Yuxiao paced back and forth in the house. She recalled the time she saved him out of kindness and even if there was no merit, there was still hard work involved. If he had punished her alone, it would be alright but unexpectedly, he had locked up Zhaolu and Shuang’er to prevent her from feeling at ease.

It was all in vain for her to serve him with all her heart in bed and helped him to detoxify!

This fellow must be taking revenge on her for the kick she gave him!

Ai, he is treating her as such and her heart had turned cold.

Bai Yuxiao was in a bad mood and she could not even work up an appetite for the meal sent by the kitchen. The pair of chopsticks was not even touched and was just left lying idle there.

Suddenly, she seemed to have thought of something, and hurriedly walked back to the dining table. She studied the dishes carefully and then her eyes lit up.

All the dishes were her usual favorite foods.

Thinly sliced bamboo shoots stir-fried with ginger sauce, stewed shredded chicken wrapped in lotus leaf, lotus root with sliced tripe soup, and on a white porcelain jade plate, there were two slices of cold-melon.

Staring at the dishes, Bai Yuxiao was able to deduce something. On the surface, Wangye said he is punishing her but all the dishes delivered were the food she likes.

Doesn’t this show he is unable to bear the thought of her suffering any grievance?

But thinking over this again, she felt uncertain.

Does she hold such importance in Si Liujing’s heart?

During these past two years, she had witnessed Si Liujing’s cold-heartedness and his lack of emotions. In the inner courtyards, she watched the other concubines strained their necks and harbored hopes to receive his favor. Although there was no lack of food and clothing, they could not get the husband’s care and attention and they were only like decorative items in the inner courtyards.

That time when they spent a whole month together in the fenced up thatched hut, it was the only time she got to enjoy the special favor of Si Liujing. However, she had always believed he favored her because he needed her help at that time.

Now when she looked back, he had indeed relentlessly and unyieldingly searched for her. Although now she is placed under house arrest, he ordered for her favorite dishes to be served which showed he is not as cold and ruthless as she initially thought.

Can it be that her status in his heart had undergone a drastic change from the past?

To confirm her thoughts are correct, Bai Yuxiao decided to conduct an experiment.

If Si Liujing truly cares for her, he will secretly send people to monitor her every move. If he truly has her in his heart, then he will certainly not mete out heavy punishment to her maids.

At most, the maids would only be locked up in the dungeon as a show.

After thinking through this matter, the frustration in Bai Yuxiao’s heart dissipated but she could not display a happy disposition and had to do something that would make Si Liujing happy. So she sat at the dining table for a while and two drops of tears eventually appeared in her beautiful eyes. As the tears slipped down her face, she picked up the bowl and chopsticks and began to eat.

This meal is so delicious! It can be seen that the meal is prepared with care. This man cares for her and Bai Yuxiao could not help but feel the sweetness in her heart.

It was a very dangerous situation. If she had foolishly refused to eat the meal and showed an appearance of being half-dead, Si Liujing would be very unhappy. So she had to finish the dishes but she could not act too senselessly. She had to shed a few drops of tear, put on a miserable expression to appease him, and make him feel at ease.

When Si Liujing returned from the palace, he went to the main courtyard to let the servants help to change his robes. After changing into his normal clothes, he went to the study to listen to the secret guard’s report. When he listened to the report about Bai Liangdi’s situation, he did not know whether to cry or laugh.

“You said she cried as she ate and finished all the food?”

“Yes.”

“She even finished the soup?”

“Yes.”

“Did she eat the cold-melon?”

“ Niangniang didn’t eat the cold-melon.”

“Why?”

The secret guard thought for a while and then replied. “ Niangniang just brought the plate of cold-melon to the pavilion and placed it on the table. Then she stared absent-mindedly at the courtyard entrance.”

“Oh?” Si Liujing fell into deep thought after hearing this and a while later, he seemed to have figured it out.

Can it be she had kept the cold-melon and sat in the pavilion to wait for him to go over so that she could give him the cold-melon to lower his internal heat?

Si Liujing smiled.

After all, he is the master of this royal mansion and as his woman, she should look forward with anticipation of his arrival. Shui’er’s behavior elevated his good mood.

To punish her, he had put her under house arrest and locked up her two maids in the dungeon. She had made him suffer for several months, so he also wanted her to experience the same kind of anxiety and also let her have a taste of not getting her wish.

If she had gone on a hunger strike to oppose him, he would feel angrier but she had finished the meal which showed that she likes him and it made him feel she is very adorable.

Sure enough, the woman he likes is indeed different from other women and it is not a waste of time for him to keep thinking of her!

These few days of giving her the cold shoulder should be enough. Not to mention her suffering, he was also feeling frustrated. Now that he had finally found her and she is residing in his rear courtyard, does he not want to hug her?

Thinking of this, his mood became good and he felt a sense of comfort that he could get his wish tonight. However, he was not in a hurry to go over and continued to talk business with his subordinates. It was until bedtime that he headed to Wutong Courtyard with a happy heart.

When Si Liujing walked into the house, Bai Yuxao was also very excited. Her guess was right! She was under house arrest for only three days and this person could not wait to see her.

It seems that this cold and heartless man cares for her and she has some importance in his heart otherwise he could have continued to ignore her.

There was a feeling of excitement in her heart but on the surface, she pretended to be sad.

On seeing him, she immediately knelt in front of him and bowed her head to admit her mistake. Her appearance pleased Si Liujing and his heart softened.

With a stern expression, he walked past her then sat on the bed and ordered her. “Why are you still there? Seeing that Benwang has arrived, don’t you know how to serve?”

Bai Yuxiao almost died from laughter by his pretense.

She was thinking……. since you can act, do you think I can’t?

At this time, a servant took the initiative to bring in a basin of water. Bai Yuxiao tactfully wet the towel to let him clean his face and then handed him another clean towel for him to dry his face. Then she knelt to help him take off his boots and socks and then personally washed his feet. After everything was done, the maidservant took the basin of water out of the room while Bai Yuxiao still knelt with her head bowed.

He asked coldly. “Are you going to continue kneeling like this?”

Bai Yuxiao raised her head and looked at him pitifully. Then she lowered her head again and said. “Husband is angry with Shui’er, so Shui’er does not dare to get up.”

She referred to him as ‘Husband’ and not ‘Wangye’ , and called herself ‘ Shui’er’ and not ‘Concubine’ .

It was a deliberate move to narrow the distance between both of them and it was a secret shared by them. At the same time, she was also telling him that she is the Shui’er that slept beside him every night when he was in trouble and the Shui’er who did not give up on him nor abandoned him.

The two people remained there in silence without saying a word and it was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

A little while later, Si Liujing suddenly stretched out his hands and pulled her onto the bed. Under the bed canopy, he kissed her fiercely.

Bai Yuxiao let out a delicate groan and snickered in her heart. With a pounding heart, she clasped her hands tightly around his neck and responded eagerly to his kiss.

Since the dry wood was already lighted up with fire and once the flame started, it went out of control.

The two people seemed to have returned to the fenced-up thatched hut and as he kissed her crazily, he tore off her clothes. His broad palms started to explore and kneaded her full mounds. Likewise, she kissed him without courtesy and touched him with a similar urgency that showed her desire for him. She was no longer passive and cautious and had turned into the Shui’er who was bold enough to oppress him.

When the sounds of fierce movements behind the closed door drifted to the outside, immediately everyone tactfully left for the outer hall leaving behind a pair of entangled figures in the inner bedchamber to release their passions under the bed canopy.

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