Chapter 4: Poor Yanyan
In the end, Lin Xueyi was only allowed to wear a plain white inner robe after insisting on staying in Rong Shuyan’s bedroom.
The servants had also taken away all of her hair ornaments. They didn’t even let her keep the hairpin she normally used to tie up her long hair.
[I know he’s just being cautious, but this is way too hot!] Lin Xueyi resisted the urge to pull at her hair. [This is torture! I seriously can’t stand this long hair anymore!]
Back in her old world, she had always kept her hair at shoulder length. It wasn’t because she disliked long hair, but because she was simply lazy.
Short hair was easier to wash, easier to dry, and much more comfortable during the summer. Unfortunately, the original Lin Xueyi’s hair was incredibly long, and it was also unbelievably thick.
[Why is there so much of it?!] Lin Xueyi silently stared at the heavy black hair draped over her shoulders. [This isn’t hair anymore. This is a blanket!]
After grumbling about her hair for a while, her attention shifted to something else. [But more importantly, why is this room so hot?! I swear the hallway was freezing just a little while ago.]
She had even laid down on the floor mattress, but instead of feeling cold, her back soon began to sweat. The floor was surprisingly warm, so warm that it almost felt hot against her skin.
The difference between the temperature inside Rong Shuyan’s room and the chilly air outside was unbelievable. It felt as though she had stepped out of one season and straight into another.
At first, she thought it was because she had been too nervous. After all, she had spent the past few hours convincing herself that Rong Shuyan was going to turn her into a human hot pot. Maybe all that fear had made her feel colder than she actually was.
But after a while, she suddenly remembered something. [Wait a minute...] Her eyes widened slightly. [Isn’t Rong Shuyan’s body supposed to be cold all the time?]
The novel had mentioned it several times. When Rong Shuyan was twenty years old, he had been poisoned. The poison was a combination of cold poison and a toxin that damaged his meridians. Although the Imperial Physicians had managed to save his life, they had never been able to completely remove the poison from his body.
As a result, his body remained abnormally cold throughout the year, even in the middle of summer, his hands felt like ice.
[Oh, poor Yanyan!] Lin Xueyi almost burst into tears the moment she remembered it. [This is why I really hate this book! How can someone write a story filled with nothing but pain and suffering? Yanyan deserves so much better!]
Meanwhile, Rong Shuyan nearly choked on his own breath when he heard her call him by such a sweet nickname. A strange shiver ran down his spine, and goosebumps instantly covered his skin. For some reason, he felt even colder than before.
He quickly pulled the blanket up to his neck and shut his eyes tighter, pretending to sleep. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, sleep refused to come. Lin Xueyi’s thoughts were like an endless stream of chatter, filling the room with noise that only he could hear.
One moment she was worried about him. The next, she was complaining about the story. Then she would jump to something completely unrelated before circling back again.
But there was one thing that kept bothering him: why did she keep insisting that this world was a novel?
The question lingered in Rong Shuyan’s mind, and before he knew it, he had started thinking about it seriously.
[But it’s still so hot!] Lin Xueyi suddenly cried out in her mind. Unable to bear it any longer, she kicked away the thin blanket covering her and rolled back and forth across the floor mattress.
[I really want to open the window!]
"If you don’t like sleeping here, then go back to your room." Rong Shuyan’s voice suddenly broke the silence, startling Lin Xueyi so badly that she nearly jumped. "There’s no need to make such a commotion."
Lin Xueyi instantly froze in place. Every movement came to a stop as she stared at Rong Shuyan’s bed with wide eyes, looking exactly like a rabbit that had just been caught causing trouble.
"This consort likes it here," she replied at once, afraid that he might actually send her away.
[If I go back to my room, those assassins will probably get me!]
"I just feel a little hot," Lin Xueyi said. Then, realizing how that might sound, she quickly corrected herself. "I mean the room. The room is hot, Your Highness."
Rong Shuyan ignored her last remark and explained, "It’s hot because a warming formation has been engraved beneath the floor, keeping the room warm throughout the year."
[Is he sure this is only a warming formation?] Lin Xueyi wondered. [This feels more like a boiling formation!]
"If you don’t want to feel too hot, then stay off the floor," Rong Shuyan added. "The chair—what are you doing?"
Lin Xueyi had already climbed onto his bed before Rong Shuyan could finish his sentence. After settling herself neatly at the very edge, she looked up at him and smiled innocently.
"Didn’t Your Highness just tell this consort to stay off the floor?" she asked. "See? I’m not on the floor anymore."
Rong Shuyan’s eyelid twitched. "I did not tell you to get onto my bed," he said.
"But... there isn’t another bed in the room," Lin Xueyi replied as if she were stating the most reasonable thing in the world. "This consort won’t do anything strange, and I’ll stay at the very edge. Your Highness doesn’t need to worry."
[If I sleep in that chair, my back will probably be broken by tomorrow!] Lin Xueyi cried out in her mind. [I’ll just pretend I don’t understand what he means. As long as I’m sleeping at the edge of the bed, nothing will happen!]
After a brief pause, another thought appeared. [Besides, Yanyan is impotent!]