Impératrice douairière Xiaoxuan

Chapitre 140

Touched, Zhan Zhao took her hand and nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Oh, right, those candles!" Mo Yan jumped up with a smile and lit the red candles. Zhan Zhao wanted to stop her, but seeing her thin figure from the exhaustion of the past few days, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to speak.

Mo Yan carefully placed the item in a sheltered spot, then turned to Zhan Zhao and smiled, "Brother, does it look good?"

"It looks good." Zhan Zhao smiled, with a hint of bitterness in his eyes.

Mo Yan smiled and was about to return to his side when she suddenly heard Yelü Pusa Nu's voice from the next room. It wasn't too loud or too soft, but it reached her ears clearly: "It's raining, why aren't you coming out to bring in the laundry!"

Author's Note: Ahem, feel free to voice your opinions, it's no problem.

Chapter 72

Rain streamed down the eaves, forming a curtain of water before the window. Yelü Pusa Nu stood there quietly ever since he shouted. He saw Mo Yan rush out like an arrow to collect the clothes, then quickly run back inside. Mo Yan's figure could still be seen swaying, seemingly carrying blankets to spread on the floor. The warm candlelight from their room shone through, appearing exceptionally bright in the rainy night.

Yelü Pusa Nu sighed inwardly, sat back down in his chair, and, finding no hot tea beside him, simply held his cup and stared blankly into space. Fortunately, Zhao Yu's room was divided into an inner and outer room; otherwise, he feared he would have had to spend the night in the kitchen.

Zhao Yu, who was lying inside, had slept too much during the day and was now wide awake. Because of his sternum injury, he could not lean against the bed and could only lie straight, listening to the pattering rain outside the window.

She naturally heard Yelü Pusa Nu shout that voice, and only then did she realize with a start that it wasn't Mo Yan but him who was in the room with her. She also heard Mo Yan's footsteps splashing water as he ran into the courtyard, but the footsteps didn't enter the house. She waited for a long time, but still didn't hear Mo Yan come in. She felt both angry and ashamed. She was still unmarried, and she cursed Mo Yan inwardly for leaving her alone with another man.

Zhao Yu was still in a daze when she suddenly heard the sound of dripping water nearby. Looking in the direction of the sound, she realized that there was a leak in the roof, and unfortunately, the rain was dripping right at her feet. She lay stiffly on the bed, unable to move, and unwilling to call Yelü Pusa Nu in, she secretly groaned and could only hope that the rain would stop soon.

Fate was against her wishes; the rain showed no sign of stopping and instead poured down harder. Before long, a large puddle of water had soaked the blankets around her feet, and a chill seeped into her body. Although she couldn't see it, she could feel the coldness spreading all the way to the wound on her calf.

It seemed she couldn't bear it any longer. She bit her lower lip and said softly, "Lord Yelü, may I come in for a moment?"

After saying that, she waited for a while, but there was no sound outside.

She had no choice but to raise her voice slightly: "Lord Yelü, are you outside?"

No one came in yet; it was quiet outside, as if no one was there.

Having no other choice, Zhao Yu took a deep breath and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Is anyone outside?"

Finally, there was movement outside. The curtain was lifted, and Yelü Pusa Nu poked his head in, asking indifferently, "Does the princess need something?"

"The roof is leaking." Zhao Yu tried to be concise and to the point, avoiding unnecessary words.

He glanced up at the ceiling, then down at the bedding, his face darkening. "The blankets are all wet! Why didn't you say so sooner?" Actually, he had heard Zhao Yu call him twice, but if he had responded immediately, it would have seemed like he was overly concerned. So he pretended to hear it only on the third call. Now, seeing the soaked bedding, right over his injured leg, he couldn't help but want to reprimand her.

Zhao Yu pursed her lips and remained silent, a glint of light flickering in her slightly lowered eyes. Having been pampered in the palace since childhood, she had never experienced anything like this: severely injured and unable to move, stranded in a desolate town, living in a leaky, dilapidated house. These were things she had never even imagined before. Now, on top of that, she was being scolded by a Khitan man, and the grievances in her heart could no longer be contained.

Despite the dim candlelight, Yelü Pusa Nu could still see the tears welling up in her eyes. In order not to let them fall and cause embarrassment for everyone, he swallowed back the sarcastic words that were on the tip of his tongue.

"The wound shouldn't get wet. I'll change your dressing again." He said in a flat tone.

Zhao Yu wanted to ask him to call Mo Yan over, but Yelü Pusa Nu suddenly went out again, brought in his own quilt and spread it on the ground, then picked up Zhao Yu and put him on it.

"The bed is so wet that we can't sleep on it. I'm afraid the princess will have to make do tonight," he said expressionlessly.

Zhao Yu nodded slightly, indicating that sleeping on the floor was fine, but after hesitating for a moment, she still asked, "Um... where is Mo Yan?"

Yelü Pusa Nu had already reached out to change her dressing, but stopped when he heard this: "She's getting married to Zhan Zhao tonight. Do you want me to go and call her?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yu was shocked: "She's marrying Zhan Zhao? Wasn't Guard Zhan seriously injured?"

“He was badly injured,” he paused before continuing, “so I think that’s why she insisted on marrying Zhan Zhao.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yu remained silent for a long time, her heart filled with turmoil. For the past few days, she had been lying in bed wallowing in self-pity, while Mo Yan had been constantly by her side, bringing her tea, water, changing her medicine, and changing her clothes, yet she hadn't paid any attention to her at all. Zhan Zhao was her beloved, and he had been inexplicably and severely injured; she must have been incredibly worried, and she hadn't even offered him a word of comfort. It was rare for her to have such courage, to marry Zhan Zhao at this time and place. Only now did she realize that although she was a princess, she was no match for her.

"Princess, shall we call her over?"

Yelü Pusa Nu patiently waited for her to lose herself in thought for a while before asking again.

Zhao Yu shook her head: "No, don't call her. Just let them stay quietly." She sighed inwardly, realizing how little she could do for them compared to what they had done for them.

Yelü Pusa Nu remained silent, lowering his head to untie the bandages around her legs and change her dressing. Being a man, his hands and feet were naturally much heavier than Mo Yan's; waves of pain surged through her. Her face was pale, and she bit her lip tightly, afraid to cry out. As if sensing something, his hand paused slightly, and he glanced at her impassively. Thunder rumbled across the rooftop, and flashes of lightning occasionally illuminated the room in a blinding white light, revealing her bloodless face. He sighed inwardly, his movements becoming gentler.

Another bolt of lightning struck, followed by a deafening clap of thunder. The rain intensified, the pattering rain enveloping the house completely...

Exhausted from the day, Mo Yan slept quite soundly. Even though a thunderclap was nearby, she only murmured softly, pulled the blanket over her head, and continued to sleep.

Zhan Zhao was startled awake. Although the oil lamp in the room had gone out, the two red candles were still burning, their wax dripping low, their flames bright. He propped himself up, peered at Mo Yan on the floor, and couldn't help but sigh softly…

The house was leaking, and half of Mo Yan's quilt was already soaked. Surprisingly, she was completely unaware and fell asleep, which was quite remarkable.

"Xiao Qi, Xiao Qi..." he called softly.

His voice was naturally not as deafening as thunder, but Mo Yan sat up abruptly, looking at him in surprise and asking, "Big brother, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"I'm fine," Zhan Zhao said gently. "This house is leaking. Look, is your blanket wet?"

"..."

Mo Yan then looked down and touched the blanket. Sure enough, it was wet. She looked up at the ceiling in annoyance. Fortunately, it was only leaking in her spot. "This lousy house, I'll have to have a good talk with the landlord tomorrow." She yawned wearily, scratched her ear, turned the blanket around, and actually prepared to lie down and go back to sleep.

Zhan Zhao sighed inwardly and called her again: "Xiao Qi, check if your clothes are wet, don't catch a cold. Also, the quilt is all wet, how can you sleep anymore?"

"My clothes are fine, only part of my shoulders are wet," Mo Yan said nonchalantly.

"Hurry up and change it," Zhan Zhao urged her.

"oh."

She had no choice but to get up and fetch clean clothes. Just as she was about to change, she suddenly froze, looked at Zhan Zhao, and her face flushed red: "Brother, can you turn your face away?"

Actually, Zhan Zhao would have turned his head away long ago without her saying it, but when he heard her say it, his face turned slightly red, and he urged, "Change quickly, don't catch a cold."