Chapter 46: Warming More Than His Hands (1)
"Is this my tent?" Rong Yunzhou asked as he pointed at one of the large tents with an iron stove already burning inside. "Yes, this should be mine."
The servant standing in front of the tent immediately bowed. "Please forgive me, Your Highness, but this tent belongs to Prince Rui."
Rong Yunzhou frowned. "Why would he need such a large tent? It’s not like he can move around much anyway."
Lin Xueyi, who had heard his remark, immediately marched toward him. Being a jerk was one thing, but being a jerk and insulting her husband was another.
"His Highness may not be able to move around much, but he still needs many things to keep him warm," Lin Xueyi said, doing her best to keep her voice calm and gentle. "Besides, we can’t simply move to another tent. We’ve already spent quite some time warming this one."
Rong Yunzhou looked Lin Xueyi up and down, making her uncomfortable.
[He already has a wife, yet he still goes to brothels. And now he’s checking out his own brother’s wife?!] Lin Xueyi shouted inwardly in disbelief. [What a total bastard!]
If Rong Yunzhou truly didn’t have even the slightest bit of shame left, he probably would have asked Lin Xueyi to share a tent with him instead.
"Isn’t it troublesome to share a room with someone who uses a wheelchair?" Rong Yunzhou suddenly said. "Why don’t you share a tent with me instead? We’re family after all."
[So shameless!]
[What the hell is wrong with this man?!] Lin Xueyi gasped in surprise. [Doesn’t he have any shame at all?!]
"No, Your Highness," Lin Xueyi replied, holding on to the last bit of courtesy she had left. "Please don’t say such strange things."
"What’s so strange about it?" Rong Yunzhou frowned. "Isn’t it normal for family to share the same bed?"
The corner of Lin Xueyi’s eye twitched. She was ’this’ close to grabbing the wooden bucket nearby and throwing it straight at his head.
Fortunately, before anything bad happened, Rong Shuyan walked over after speaking with a few soldiers.
"Second Brother, what’s wrong?" Rong Shuyan asked, pretending not to know what had happened.
Rong Yunzhou might be shameless, but openly admitting that he had just flirted with his brother’s wife was something he would never say.
"Nothing." Rong Yunzhou shrugged. "I just think this tent is too big for you."
Rong Shuyan had no interest in wasting words with him, so he replied calmly, "I believe the servants and my wife have already explained why I need a large tent."
Rong Yunzhou casually rolled his eyes. "They did. They did."
"If that’s the case, then you should understand that this tent isn’t yours." Rong Shuyan narrowed his eyes slightly. "The servants will prepare another tent for you. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go inside and take my medicine."
Without waiting for Rong Yunzhou to respond, Rong Shuyan turned his wheelchair toward the tent. He simply had no desire to look at his second brother any longer.
Meanwhile, Lin Xueyi felt Rong Yunzhou’s eyes following her again the moment Rong Shuyan entered the tent.
[That damn manwhore. He’s still staring at me!] she complained inwardly.
[That’s it! I really want to gouge his eyes out and—]
"Xueyi."
Rong Shuyan’s calm voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts.
"Can you help me prepare my medicine? My hands are feeling a little numb," he asked.
Lin Xueyi immediately turned away from Rong Yunzhou and hurried toward Rong Shuyan. "Of course! Of course, Your Highness. Let me help you."
After pushing his wheelchair into the tent, she quickly closed the entrance behind them because she didn’t want to see Rong Yunzhou’s face ever again.
But the moment she turned around to look at Rong Shuyan, all the anger in her heart disappeared because his hands really did look numb.
He tried to curl his trembling fingers into a fist, but the cold had left them stiff and almost without feeling.
"Dear Heaven... Are you really this cold, Your Highness?" Lin Xueyi stood there in confusion for a moment before quickly grabbing a thick scarf and bringing it over to him. "Let’s warm you up."
She gently pushed his wheelchair closer to the iron stove the servants had prepared earlier. Then she knelt in front of him and carefully wrapped the thick scarf around his hands.
[They’re freezing! They’re so cold! No wonder he’s been shivering this whole time!]
There weren’t many heaters inside the command tent, so it wasn’t surprising that he had ended up shivering like this.
Holding his hands felt like holding a block of ice.
"I’ve heard that skin-to-skin contact is the fastest way to warm someone up, Your Highness," Lin Xueyi said softly. "I’ll warm your hands too."
Without waiting for his answer, she gently cupped his icy hands between her own.
The cold made her shiver as well, but she didn’t let go. Instead, she rubbed her warm palms over the backs of his hands again and again while softly blowing warm breaths between their joined hands, hoping to bring some warmth back into his frozen fingers.
[His hands feel a little soft...] Lin Xueyi thought. [Maybe it’s because he hasn’t held a weapon in years.]
It was normal for a soldier’s hands to be rough and covered in calluses. But Rong Shuyan had spent years living inside the manor. Since he constantly had to keep himself warm, the roughness on his hands had slowly faded, leaving them much softer than they once were.
There was nothing wrong with having soft hands. But for a man who had once fought countless battles, they felt like a reminder that his best years as a soldier had already slipped away.
However, instead of thinking about the past, Rong Shuyan’s mind was filled with how gently Lin Xueyi was touching him.
Her palms were as soft as cotton, and the warmth she shared with him felt unbelievably comforting.
He had never been touched so gently before.
He lowered his gaze to their joined hands. Lin Xueyi was so focused on warming him that she didn’t even notice how close she had moved.