Chapter 207 -

Chapter 207: Chapter

Yueqing froze in her tracks, one foot still resting on the windowsill. The room was dark, but that low, rough voice made her heart jump right into her throat.

"Where did you go to?"

Nine had already vanished into thin air the second Yueqing touched the window, leaving her completely alone to face her husband.

Yueqing slowly turned her head. Wenzhe was sitting up in the large bed, leaning heavily against the wooden headboard. His face was pale from the fever, but his dark eyes watched her sharply from the shadows.

Yueqing’s brain started spinning fast.

[Crap! Why is he awake? I can’t let him know I sneaked out to the Cold Palace to see Xiao Chen! If Wenzhe finds out I tackled that stubborn prince in the dirt tonight, he will absolutely lose his mind.]

Wenzhe sat perfectly still. Thanks to his family’s hidden ability, he heard every single loud thought echoing right inside his own head.

When he heard the name ’Xiao Chen’ and the word ’tackled’, a dark, heavy anger burned in his chest. His jaw clenched tight. He wanted to yell at her. He wanted to demand why she was secretly meeting his rival in the middle of the night. But he bit his tongue. He could not openly ask her, because he could never let her know he could read her mind.

Instead, he just stared at her coldly and waited for her excuse.

Yueqing put on a calm face and pulled off her heavy cloak. "I just went out to the garden for some fresh air," she lied smoothly, walking toward the table. "The room was too hot and stuffy. I used the window so I would not wake you or alert Dong Li."

[Yes, that sounds perfectly normal. A nice, quiet walk in the garden. Just act natural and don’t let him see my dirty shoes.]

Wenzhe’s eyes slowly moved from her face down to her dress. The bottom of her skirt was covered in dry grass and thick dust from the ruined courtyard.

"A walk in the garden," Wenzhe repeated, his voice cold and tight. "And I suppose the garden was so dark that you decided to roll around in the dirt?"

Yueqing gasped softly and quickly brushed at her skirt.

[Oh no, the dirt from fighting Xiao Chen! Play it cool, Yueqing. Do not panic.]

"I tripped," she said quickly, forcing a small, embarrassed laugh. "I could not see well in the dark and fell over a large rock in the garden path. It was very clumsy of me."

Wenzhe gripped the bedsheets under his hands. Hearing her lie so easily to his face while thinking about Xiao Chen made his blood boil. But he forced his expression to stay totally blank.

"Is that so?" Wenzhe asked, narrowing his tired eyes at her. "Next time you feel the need to take a midnight walk... use the door. And try not to trip over any stubborn rocks."

Yueqing nodded quickly, totally missing his hidden warning.

[Phew! He actually bought it! I am a genius. He has no idea about Xiao Chen.]

Wenzhe just closed his eyes and let out a heavy, annoyed sigh. She was definitely not a genius, and her loud, lying brain was only making his fever headache much worse.

Yueqing quickly grabbed a clean towel from the table. She wanted to escape his sharp eyes before she messed up her lie.

"I will go behind the screen and clean up," she told him, pointing to the wash basin in the corner of the room. "You still have a bright red fever, Wenzhe. You need to lie back down and try to get some more sleep."

Wenzhe did not move an inch. Instead of lying down, he sat up even straighter. His face was dark, and his eyes were completely annoyed.

"I am not sleepy," he snapped, turning his face away to stare at the blank wall.

Yueqing blinked, surprised by his sudden, biting tone.

[Why is he suddenly in such a terrible mood? He was just resting peacefully a minute ago! Did the fever make him cranky? Or is he just being his usual grumpy self?]

Wenzhe’s jaw tightened. He heard every single loud word echoing in his head.

I am not cranky, he yelled in his own mind. I am annoyed because my wife was secretly meeting Xiao Chen in the dark!

But he could not say that out loud. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest, gripping his sleeves.

"Just go wash the dirt off yourself," he ordered bluntly, his voice thick with irritation. "You smell like dry grass and dust. It is bothering me."

Yueqing rolled her eyes so hard they hurt.

[What a picky jerk. I just risked my neck tackling that stubborn prince in the dirt trying to fix his broken friendship, and here he is complaining about how I smell!]

Wenzhe almost choked on his own breath. He snapped his head back around to stare at her, his eyes wide with pure shock.

Fix my broken friendship? he thought, his heart suddenly hammering against his ribs. She talked to Xiao Chen about... me?

But Yueqing had already walked behind the wooden changing screen, totally unaware of the massive bomb she had just dropped directly into his mind.

A few moments later, Yueqing stepped out from behind the wooden screen. She had washed off the dirt and changed into her soft, white inner sleeping garments. Her long, dark hair was no longer tied up in heavy pins; it tumbled freely over her shoulders and down her back. In the dim light of the bedroom, she looked incredibly beautiful and deeply desirable.

Wenzhe stopped breathing for a second. His angry mood from just a minute ago vanished completely. He sat frozen on the bed, his dark eyes locked entirely onto her. He did not blink. He did not look away. He just stared as she walked toward the bed.

Yueqing immediately felt the intense, heavy weight of his gaze. She stopped a few feet away and crossed her arms over her chest, going on high alert.

[Why is he staring at me like a starving wolf? Did he figure out my lie? No, his eyes are looking way too intense right now...]

"Keep your eyes off me," Yueqing ordered, frowning and taking a small step back. "Stop staring."

But Wenzhe did not look away. He did not even try to hide what he was thinking. His dark eyes slowly dragged down her figure and right back up to her face.

"I can’t," Wenzhe answered. His rough voice suddenly dropped dangerously low in the quiet room.

"What do you mean you can’t?" she snapped, her heart suddenly beating a little faster. "Turn your head around!"

"I mean exactly what I said," he replied bluntly, totally ignoring the fact that he was supposed to be sick. He leaned forward slightly, his gaze burning right into hers. "You always look good, Yueqing. And right now, looking at you like this is turning me on."