"Now that our uninvited guest is gone," Lin Yuan said, his gaze meeting hers, "it’s finally just the two of us."
The door of the bedroom was firmly shut. The sunlight filtered through the window, casting a warm, golden glow across the bed. The absolute quiet of the room seemed to amplify the immense weight of his words.
Bai Qingyue’s breath hitched, as a brilliant crimson flush rapidly crawled up her delicate neck and completely took over her cheeks.
She was the former peerless genius of the Bai Clan, a woman who had once stared down bloodthirsty spirit beasts in the Secret Realm without so much as blinking. She had cultivated the supreme arts of her clan, maintaining a famously aloof and untouchable demeanor that had earned her countless titles.
Yet, under the warm, undivided attention of her husband, that demeanor was gone.
She opened her mouth to reply, attempting to salvage some semblance of her former aura, but her mortal body ruthlessly betrayed her.
Hic!
An involuntary hiccup escaped her lips, echoing loudly in the room.
Bai Qingyue froze. Her eyes widened in embarrassment.
For a long moment, neither of them moved. Lin Yuan blinked, staring at his beautiful, blushing wife. Then, the corners of his lips twitched. He tried to hold it in, he truly did, but the contrast between her usual elegance and that adorable, squeaky sound was simply too much.
A deep laughter rumbled from Lin Yuan’s chest, filling the room.
"I... I drank the porridge too fast!" Bai Qingyue stammered hastily, her voice trembling with embarrassment. She desperately grabbed the edges of the blanket and pulled it up over her head, effectively turning herself into a lump on the bed. "Do not look at me! Turn around!"
"Oh? Is the great Fairy Bai currently embarrassed?" Lin Yuan teased, his laughter subsiding into a chuckle as he shifted closer, sitting right beside her. "Wrapping herself to hide from this husband?"
"I am not hiding!" a muffled voice protested from beneath the blanket. "I am... I am simply adjusting my body. Yes. The morning air is quite crisp."
"It’s almost afternoon, Qingyue. And my Foundation Establishment aura is keeping the room warm," Lin Yuan pointed out.
He reached out and gently gripped the top edge of the blanket. "Come now. A wife hiding her face from her husband isn’t right. Let me see you."
"No!" she squeaked, stubbornly holding onto the fabric from the inside.
"If you do not come out," Lin Yuan warned, "this husband will have no choice but to use his cultivation to unravel the blanket. I might accidentally tear it. And we only have one."
Realizing she was entirely outmatched both in strength and in sheer shamelessness, Bai Qingyue slowly loosened her grip.
Lin Yuan gently pulled the blanket down, revealing her face. She was still blushing fiercely, her beautiful eyes darting everywhere except at him, her lower lip caught between her teeth in a pout that was entirely out of character.
"There she is," Lin Yuan said softly, the teasing tone leaving his voice, replaced by a deep, genuine affection.
He reached out. Bai Qingyue instinctively flinched, still carrying the trauma of the abuse she had come to expect from the world. But Lin Yuan’s hand didn’t strike her. His thumb gently brushed the corner of her lips, wiping away a tiny, stray drop of Sweet Lotus Seed Porridge.
His touch was incredibly warm, his skin possessing the flawless texture of an immortal.
"You had a little something right there," Lin Yuan murmured, his thumb lingering against her soft cheek.
Bai Qingyue’s heart slammed against her ribs.
"Your heart is beating like a war drum, Qingyue," Lin Yuan noted softly, leaning in just a fraction closer. "Are you afraid of me?"
"No," Bai Qingyue answered immediately. She finally gathered the courage to meet his gaze. "I am not afraid of you, Lin Yuan. I am... I am afraid of waking up."
Lin Yuan tilted his head slightly. "Waking up?"
She nodded slowly. "Just a few days ago, I was sitting in the cold rain of the inner city, waiting to be discarded. I was mocked, and told that my life was over. Then, I am married off to a stranger in the outer city. But instead of the nightmare I expected... I find a man who shields me from death, feeds me my favorite food, takes in my cousin, and treats me as if I am made of precious glass."
She reached up, her trembling fingers lightly grasping his wrist.
"You are an expert, Lin Yuan," she whispered. "You could walk into the inner city today and have the Patriarch of the Bai Clan personally offer you any beauty in the city. Yet, you sit here in this house, wiping porridge from the face of a crippled mortal. It feels like an illusion. A beautiful, cruel dream that will vanish the moment I open my eyes."
Lin Yuan looked at her, his heart clenching slightly at the profound lack of self-worth the world had beaten into her.
He gently turned his hand, interocking his fingers with hers.
"There is a saying I am quite fond of," Lin Yuan said, his voice a low anchor in the room. "’A flower blooming in a warm greenhouse is common, but a plum blossom that survives the bitter winter frost is a treasure without equal.’ Those beauties in the inner city have never known true hardship. They are hollow."
He moved closer, his shoulders casting a protective shadow over her.
"You endured the highest peaks and the lowest valleys, Qingyue. You maintained your grace even when the world spat on you. To me, you are not a burden. You are my wife. And I am a very stubborn, very territorial man. What is mine, I pamper to the heavens. What is mine, I protect against the very gods themselves."
Bai Qingyue’s breath caught in her throat. The overwhelming conviction in his words shattered the last remaining walls around her battered heart. A single tear slipped down her cheek, but it was not born of sorrow; it was born of an overwhelming relief.
She was truly safe. She was truly cherished.
Lin Yuan raised his free hand and gently cupped the back of her neck, his fingers tangling softly into her hair.
"This is not a dream, Qingyue," Lin Yuan whispered, his face now mere inches from hers. He could feel the soft puffs of her breath against his skin. "Allow me to prove it to you."
Bai Qingyue’s eyelids fluttered shut, her long lashes trembling like butterfly wings. She tilted her chin up, completely surrendering herself to the man who had pulled her from the abyss.
Lin Yuan closed the remaining distance and pressed his lips against hers.
The kiss was incredibly gentle, yet it carried an undeniable, possessive depth. There was no forceful plundering, only a slow, tender exploration. Her lips were impossibly soft, tasting faintly of the rich honey from the meat buns and the lingering sweetness of the Porridge.
Bai Qingyue let out a soft, muted sigh against his lips. Her hands, previously clutching the blanket, slowly slid up his chest, her fingers curling tentatively into the fabric of his robes as she anchored herself to his warmth. The warmth radiating from his body seeped pleasantly into her skin, sending tiny, electrifying shivers down her spine.
Time seemed to entirely stop within the bedroom, and In that lingering moment, there were no immortals and no cripples.
There was only a husband and a wife, sharing their first true taste of a shared life.