novelaction Chapter 448: Discovering the Forbidden Book
Chapter 448: Discovering the Forbidden Book
Chapter 448
After a short rest, everyone set off again. In the carriage, Chun Xing was unhappy, but she could only watch the man with ill intentions riding in the same carriage with her young lady.
…………
But the scene inside the carriage wasn't as intimate and romantic as Chun Xing had imagined. Ever since boarding the carriage, Luo Shuiyao and Ye Yunzhou had sat on opposite sides of the carriage. A considerable distance separated them, like an invisible barrier. Luo Shuiyao never glanced at Ye Yunzhou. She reached into the sandalwood box in the corner of the carriage and pulled out an embroidered handkerchief.
Before leaving the capital, Chuntao had personally drawn this pattern, having dictated it to her, saying it was for her to pass the time while traveling. Because she wasn't very skilled at embroidery, her stitches were crooked and she worked very slowly, so she'd only finished half of it in a few days. Now, sitting across from Ye Yunzhou in this cramped carriage, it felt awkward to just sit there, so she decided to slowly finish the rest.
Ye Yunzhou saw her board the carriage, acting as if she wasn't familiar with him, but he raised an eyebrow and said nothing. It wasn't until she picked up her handkerchief and began embroidering that he couldn't help but glance down curiously. He saw that her handkerchief wasn't embroidered with flowers and asparagus fern like an ordinary woman's, but instead, it was a chubby, adorable rabbit holding a carrot. However, because her embroidery wasn't very good, the rabbit, while cute, had a slightly crooked eye.
"I never thought you could embroider." After watching for a while, Ye Yunzhou said.
Luo Shuiyao paused slightly while threading the needle, looked up at him and said, "Life is boring, I have to learn something to pass the time." This was her response to him.
Ye Yunzhou originally wanted to strike up a conversation with her and get closer to her. He nodded and said with a smile, "Your pattern is very cute. If you finish embroidering it, could you give it to me?"
Luo Shuiyao didn't think much of it. This thing was originally for her to practice. If he didn't mind, she wouldn't mind giving it to someone else. She nodded and said, "If you don't mind it being ugly, I can embroider it for you after I finish it."
"No, I like the things you gave me so much, how could I dislike them?" His eyes were burning, his words were suggestive, and the ending tone was vaguely ambiguous, as if to make the air in this small compartment hot.
Hearing that his words were beginning to contain a hint of romance again, Luo Shuiyao frowned slightly and subtly turned sideways to avoid his burning gaze. The embroidered handkerchief in her hand fluttered like a butterfly, but she no longer had the intention to talk to him.
Ye Yunzhou gazed at her downcast brows, a soft chuckle escaping his throat. All those carefully studied rules of courtship suddenly flooded back to him—the man had repeatedly warned him not to pursue a woman relentlessly if she showed signs of impatience. He stroked the jade pendant at his waist, a glint of determination in his eyes. Sharing a ride with her this time was already a pleasant surprise; why rush?
The carriage made a small noise as it rolled over the gravel road.
Ye Yunzhou leaned back against the cushions, closing his eyes to rest. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the faint blush on Luo Shuiyao's ears, and his smile deepened. There's still a long way to go, and this drama needs to be sung slowly to be interesting.
As he leaned back, Ye Yunzhou felt something poking at him from behind. He leaned slightly, his slender fingers slid into the cushions, and pulled out a book. He caught sight of the small, gold-embossed words "Taoyuan Notes" on the cover. He instinctively assumed it was a travelogue Luo Shuiyao had prepared for fun. Since he had nothing else to do, he might as well read it.
In a flash, he saw Luo Shuiyao still concentrating on the embroidered handkerchief in her hands, not noticing him at all. Ye Yunzhou casually flipped a page, but as the pages turned, the relaxed expression on his face gradually froze—the book was filled with all kinds of explicit descriptions and illustrations of all kinds of bizarre poses.
His Adam's apple moved slightly, his fingers unconsciously clenched the pages of the book, and he couldn't help but look up and look at Luo Shuiyao's peaceful profile again.
Luo Shuiyao was unnerved by the intense gaze. She frowned, then finally looked up, only to meet Ye Yunzhou's dark gaze. She followed his stiff arm, and the moment she saw the book clearly, her handkerchief slipped from her hand and fell to the ground.
"You, how could you..." After a moment of silence, she reached out to grab it in panic, but Ye Yunzhou raised his hand to avoid it.
Ye Yunzhou held the book high with one hand, and with the other hand pressed down her shoulder as she tried to stand up. A playful smile appeared on the corner of his lips: "Yaoyao is so anxious, are you afraid that I'll see something I shouldn't?"
He deliberately dragged out the last word, the smile in his eyes growing wider. "If I had known you had such a wonderful book hidden away, I should have taken it out earlier to relieve the fatigue of this journey."
Luo Shuiyao was anxious and annoyed, her cheeks flushed red, and she struggled to take the book back: "Nonsense, this is not what you think!"
"Oh? What is that?" Ye Yunzhou leaned against the cushion, playing with the corners of the book with his slender fingers, and his half-smile in his eyes trapped her in a panic.
Luo Shuiyao was suddenly at a loss for words—how could she explain it? She couldn't just say that Chun Xing had bought it from someone else, could she? The defense in her throat turned into a soft hum. She bit her lower lip and turned her face away, saying nothing more.
Seeing this, Ye Yunzhou's eyes became even more profound. He flicked the gold-stamped cover with his fingers and said, "It's not yours? Then could it be... someone secretly slipped it in?"
Before he could finish his words, the carriage suddenly jolted slightly, and he reached out with his long arms, unexpectedly pulling her into his arms. The faint scent of cedar, wrapped in warm breath, brushed past her ears. "How about I help you read it through and then tell you in detail?"
Luo Shuiyao's face had already turned red. Upon hearing this, she glared at him hatefully: "Shameless, vulgar!"
Ye Yunzhou didn't take it seriously. His fingertips slowly stroked the spine of the book, and he raised his eyebrows and smiled, "It's just a travelogue. Why are you reacting so strongly?"
As he spoke, he deliberately turned a page and read out in a serious tone: "'The posture of a couple practicing together requires...'" Before he could finish his words, Luo Shuiyao reached out and covered his mouth.
Ye Yunzhou didn't struggle, but relaxed his body, letting her throw herself on him. He leaned back slightly, his back against the cushion, his long arms hanging naturally at his sides. He seemed defenseless, but there was a sly smile in his eyes.
The distance between them suddenly shortened, and Luo Shuiyao's rapid breathing swept across his cheek, but he just looked at her with a smile in his eyes, watching the redness on the tip of her ear gradually spread to her neck, like a rouge-colored crabapple quietly blooming in spring.
Seeing her extremely embarrassed and angry, Ye Yunzhou knew when to stop. He shook the book in his hand and casually placed it on the cushion beside him, the meaning of which was obvious.
Seeing this, Luo Shuiyao's tense back finally relaxed, and she slowly withdrew her fingers from his lips. Only then did she realize how ambiguous their position was. In a moment of desperation, she had straddled his legs, half of her body pressed against his chest, and she could even clearly see the dark patterns on Ye Yunzhou's clothes.
She tried to stand up and leave, but her hair got caught on Ye Yunzhou's collar as she stood up. She hissed in pain and had to stop.
"Don't move, I'll help you get it out." Ye Yunzhou frowned when he saw this, protecting her neck with one hand and gently removing the hair wrapped around her collar with the other hand.
As soon as she regained her freedom, Luo Shuiyao immediately turned around and walked away, sitting aside. She picked up the books that Ye Yunzhou had casually thrown aside and tried to throw them out the window.
"Throw it out now. If the guards outside and your little maid see it, how will you explain it?" Ye Yunzhou suddenly spoke just before the book fell from his hand.
Luo Shuiyao's hands froze in place. A sudden vision flashed through her mind of everyone seeing the contents of the book after she threw it out, casting strange glances at her. Even jumping into the Yellow River wouldn't be enough to wash her away. With this thought, she abruptly stopped moving. Leaving the book in the carriage would make the future awkward.
Luo Shuiyao's fingertips, which were clutching the book, turned slightly white. She didn't know what to do for a moment and could only stand there awkwardly.
Luo Shuiyao's fingertips, clutching the book, trembled slightly, their knuckles turning pale. Ye Yunzhou suddenly opened his hand, his bony fingers gleaming palely in the light of the carriage, the lines on his palm clear enough to be bewitching. "Give it to me."
When he raised his eyebrows, a hint of crimson hued at the corners of his eyes. His eyes were as cunning as a fox, and his tone was lingering. "It's just a travelogue, just to entertain me in my spare time. This book naturally has nothing to do with you, Yaoyao. Even if others knew about it, they would only laugh at me."
Luo Shuiyao stood there in a daze, her ears buzzing. His words were clearly meant to help her out, but the intimate way he addressed her made her heart beat unsteadily.
While she was hesitating, Ye Yunzhou leaned closer, his warm breath brushing against her burning earlobe, "Could it be that Yaoyao is reluctant to let you go?"
"Who wouldn't want to?" Luo Shuiyao, hearing this, no longer hesitated and stuffed the book directly into his arms, then shrank back as if avoiding a hot potato. Just as her lower back touched the cushion, her fingertips subconsciously reached behind her and touched a hard object. The familiar touch suddenly reminded her - there was another book! If she took it out now, she would undoubtedly reveal to Ye Yunzhou that she had secretly read the banned book; but if she continued to hide it, there was no guarantee that Ye Yunzhou would not discover it again. By then, he might think of her as someone who deliberately hid the book, which would be even more difficult to explain.
Seeing her face turn from pink to pale, Ye Yunzhou thought she had moved too hastily and perhaps hit her waist. His smile faded, and his tone was tinged with worry. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Let me take a look." Before he finished speaking, his palm reached for her lower back.
Luo Shuiyao stiffened, subconsciously dodging to the side. The pearls in her hair shone with tiny silver glints as she moved. Ye Yunzhou's hand, suspended in mid-air, suddenly stopped—through the gap in the cushions behind her, the gilded edges of another book, identical in binding to the previous one, were revealed.
The air solidified instantly.
He slowly raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping across Luo Shuiyao's panicked, dodging eyelashes, and then landing on her tense, almost trembling shoulders. The corners of his lips curled up in a meaningful arc: "So... there's a surprise?"
Luo Shuiyao's heart suddenly surged with foreboding. She looked up and met Ye Yunzhou's half-smile. Following his gaze to the side, the half-exposed gilded book corner pricked her eyes and made them burn. "It's over."
A low murmur escaped her throat, and she raised her hand to stuff the book back into the gap, but her fingertips froze the moment they touched the cover - such an attempt to cover up the truth would only deepen the misunderstanding.
Seeing her face turn pale and then pale, Ye Yunzhou finally softened. He said nothing more, but reached out and gently tucked the exposed corner of the book back into the gap between the cushions. When his fingertips brushed her burning ear, he paused and said with a half-smile, "Look at me, I actually like to hide these books in pairs."
With that, he casually pulled out the book he'd just tucked into his sleeve. His bony fingers slowly and methodically stroked the gilded cover, making a slight rustling sound. Then, without waiting for Luo Shuiyao to react, he reached out and delicately pulled out the book hidden behind her. His slender fingertips brushed against the cover with the same pattern, creating a hint of ambiguous air.
"This is my fault,"
Ye Yunzhou lowered his eyes and chuckled softly, his eyelashes casting a small shadow under his eyes. He held the two books side by side in his arms, "I hope Yaoyao won't be angry."
He suddenly raised his eyes, staring at the tips of her ears, which were burning red. "I will put them away properly so that they won't come out and scare people next time. Of course, if Yaoyao wants to hear them, you can call me anytime."
This series of events was truly humiliating. Perhaps it was a case of extremes leading to their own downfall. After hearing Ye Yunzhou's words, Luo Shuiyao gradually calmed down. She glanced up at him, gently shifting her stiff, numb body and adjusting her sitting position.
"Okay, thank you for your kindness, but I really don't need it." Having said that, his tone no longer had the previous annoyance, and there was even a slight unnatural tremor in the ending tone.
It had been a long time since he had heard her call him "Big Brother." Ye Yunzhou suddenly felt a surge of nostalgia. But looking at Luo Shuiyao's tense shoulders and reddened eyes, he also understood the anger hidden in the name.
To avoid truly angering someone and ultimately shooting himself in the foot, he tucked the two books neatly into the secret compartment, his fingertips making a soft sound as they brushed the lid. He stopped teasing and leaned forward, his voice soft and coaxing, "Don't be angry with me. I swear I won't tell anyone a word."
Luo Shuiyao raised her eyelids slightly, her eyes swept over his washed-out cloth, and said in a cold tone: "Thank you very much, big brother. But now I think there is no danger. When we reach the next place, I hope you will leave as soon as possible."
As she finished speaking, her fingertips unconsciously stroked the hem of her skirt, and she turned her head to the side of the window, no longer looking at him. The air in the carriage instantly became stagnant, and only the sound of the wheels rolling over the gravel could be heard.
It was obvious that this was the way it should be, but for some reason, as soon as she said this, she felt an inexplicable guilt deep down in her heart. Luo Shuiyao could only frown and turn her head away, not daring to look him in the eye.
The air was stagnant for a moment, and Ye Yunzhou suddenly broke the silence: "I'm afraid it won't work."
"Why?" Luo Shuiyao suddenly turned her head to look at him. She obviously didn't expect him to refuse so straightforwardly. Her eyes were full of surprise and confusion.
Ye Yunzhou didn't answer her. Instead, he raised his arm and a hint of ambiguous smile appeared on the corner of his lips: "Your medical skills are not bad. Why don't you take a closer look for me and ask the reason."
Luo Shuiyao was even more confused. She had only taken his pulse briefly before, and apart from noticing excessive blood loss, she hadn't found anything else unusual. But what exactly did he mean by this?
As she thought this, her hand had already been placed gently on his wrist.
Her fingertips touched the cool skin, and the pulse in her wrist beat steadily. After a long moment, Luo Shuiyao raised her eyes to look at Ye Yunzhou, her tone filled with suspicion: "Apart from the excessive blood loss, are there any other abnormalities?"
She always felt that Ye Yunzhou was deliberately deceiving her.