She stopped her crying and was only softly sobbing now. Her hands were still gripping onto his shirt, but she loosened it a bit from her tight hold earlier. She used her hands to wipe away at her tears that were blurring her vision and patted his chest to release her. After she felt her back turn cold from the absence of his touch, she couldn't help but shudder from the chill and wrapped her arms around herself.
Before she could get use to the cold, she felt a warm blanket drape over her back and her hands reflexively held it closer to herself, covering the nakedness of her body. She just realized how embarrassing and awkward her situation was and couldn't help but move her hands and feet closer to herself, trying to shrink her existence. She could feel herself blushing from the shame of having her body exposed like this.
She accidentally looked up at her half-brother and saw him stare intently at her body, without thinking she immediately buried her head inside the blanket she was holding to hide from his eyes. His gaze was too much, it felt like it was burning her body and she shivered unconsciously.
"Xiu Ying, do not be ashamed, your body is beautiful and perfect the way it is." His hand reached out to touch it, but he stopped himself at the last minute and placed it gently on her half-revealed head from out of the blanket instead, softly soothing it with his movements.
Feeling his touch on her head, her body shook even more, however; it wasn't from fear but instead it was from a strange feeling that was starting to form from the depths of her belly. His gentleness was causing her body to feel weird again. The more his hand soothed her head, the more she almost felt like his hand was going to burn her whole and her body couldn't help but shake some more.
Her head was still buried in the blanket but the grip on them was so hard that her hands were turning white. She was trying to suppress the weird feeling her body was giving her from his hand, this feeling was making her breath come out hard and she didn't know what was going on.
Cheng Da saw her shake from his touch and his movements stopped, reluctantly he removed his hand from her head.
Feeling the emptiness from her head, her heart couldn't help but feel a bit cold and reluctant that he removed it so quickly. She lifted her buried head from the blanket to look at him.
"Elder brother?" Why did he stop soothing her head? His gentleness was comfortable to feel, although it also brought a weird feeling to well up inside her body, she didn't dislike it, it was more like she felt pleasant with his touch on her head.
Cheng Da tried to sound neutral even though he was aroused by the sight of her moist clear deer-like eyes that looked at him and her soft voice that tickled his heart.
"Xiu Ying, it's late, since your clothes are currently not available for you to wear, you should stay here for the night and I'll send a servant girl to give you new clothes later." He needed to quickly leave or else he won't be able to calm down his arousal.
He got up to leave the bed but immediately stopped because he felt a tug on his clothes.
He turned back to look at her, "Xiu Ying?" He was curious about her actions.
Her hands totally reacted first before her mind could, even she didn't know why she grabbed onto him. All she knew was that for some reason, her heart didn't want him to leave. She was already cold from the absence of his touch, but now that he was going to leave the room entirely, her body instantly reacted, and she just let her hand grab onto him. It was like she was seeking for something from him, but she didn't know what it was.
"I…don't go elder brother, stay with me." She really didn't want to be alone right now, or else her thoughts about the past might drown her alive. She felt that if he was besides her, she wouldn't think about those things.
"Xiu Ying, you—"
"Please, elder brother, just for tonight." She was gripping onto his clothes tighter now, she was afraid that he would leave.
Seeing her nervous but determined expression, Cheng Da stood still for a moment before relenting and got back on the bed with her. The curtains that he tied up earlier were now loosen by him, obscuring their sights from anything but the bed.
Tian He saw him get back on the bed and she relaxed her hold on his clothes. When the surroundings grew dim again because he let down the curtains, her heart suddenly felt a bit nervous. She realized she was still naked and she actually asked him to stay with her. She felt her face flush even more and she unconsciously scooted closer to the wall behind her.
Seeing her nervous but cute movements, Cheng Da let out a chuckle in amusement. Wasn't she just determined to let him stay a second ago, but now looking at her cute actions, he felt that she was really a funny yet adorable person.
Hearing him laugh at her, her face flushed even more, and she felt a hint of anger. What was he laughing about? It was his fault that she had no clothes to wear now, it was all torn up by him.
This half-brother of hers is going to get it now, she hasn't even calculated what he'd done to her, and he still had the freedom to laugh at her.
He…He…she wouldn't be Tian He if she didn't get him back for this.
"Elder brother, Xiu Ying is cold because you've torn up my clothes. Elder brother has on many layers while I don't even have on a single one." She was going to have him feel how cold it was without his clothes on. Of course, she won't have him stripe all the way, just enough that he's covered but still can feel the cold.
Catching the mischievous glint in her eyes, he smiled even more, especially after hearing her words, of course she would try to get back at him for his earlier actions. She was just that adorable.
Just when she was about to admonish him more for laughing at her, she saw him loosen the sash around his waist and soon, his slightly tanned chest was exposed in front of her. His hard muscles on his abdomen and arms looked powerful and his robust chest gave out a strong aura. When she gazed up at him from looking at his exposed skin, she saw him look intensely at her, his eyes could really burn her whole and her body couldn't help but stiffen before unconsciously shrinking even closer to the wall behind her.
Cheng Da caught her actions and his mouth curved up in a wide smile. For some reason, he wanted to tease her for being naughty in getting him to remove his clothes. He moved closer to her until his body was almost touching hers through the blanket she was holding.
"Xiu Ying, look, elder brother has striped his outer clothing for you. Let me help you put them all on so you wouldn't be cold." His hands tugged at her blanket, only using a bit of his strength so he wouldn't scare her again.
Feeling the tug on her blanket, she cursed under her breath, how shameless can this half-brother of hers be?! The scenario she was hoping for was for him to kindly place those clothes on the bed and get out of here, so she could 'take her time' to change into them, while he froze outside. The scene where she imagined herself taunting him was not happening, instead he was actually asking her to remove her blankets and change in front of him. Even volunteering himself to help her put them on!
She was really pissed off now. She looked up from her blankets to glare at him but her body ended up frozen instead. His face was only a few inches away from hers, she could even feel his warm breath on her nose when he breathed out. His eyes were watching her intently, almost burning her with them, she suddenly felt her heartbeat speed up and she wanted to scoot further away from him but to her dismay, her back was already to the wall, so this was the farthest she could go.
"Elder brother, you're too close. You have to give room for me to change, I can't move like this." His body was so close that if he were to lift his arms, she would immediately be trapped in his embrace.
"Oh, really?" He moved back a bit, but he was still close enough to be able to smell her sweet honey scent.
"What about now?" His voice teasingly asked her.
Seeing that he only moved back a bit, not even far enough that if she were to stretch her arms, she could immediately touch his bare chest. She grew a bit irritated, this half-brother of hers was really having fun playing with her.
"Elder brother, could Xiu Ying ask you to please step out of the bed? I could only smoothly change if you aren't here." She could barely even move a bit with him staring at her.
Cheng Da saw her shyness and heard her grumpy tone and decided he played enough, after all, he didn't want her to hate him again.
"Alright, elder brother was just messing around with Xiu Ying earlier, I'll obediently leave the bed now." He gets up from his sitting position and lifts the curtains to go out.
When Tian He saw him finally leave, she breathed out a sigh of relief. She turned her attention to the clothes that he placed on the bed for her, her hands reached for it and got ready to change into them. Incidentally, when she lifted it up to her face, she could smell his scent, it was a nice woody smell, she guessed this goes to show how much time he spends in his study room full of that woody incense.
After she finished dressing herself, she called for her half-brother to come back inside. She was originally going to take her time with changing and let him freeze a bit longer outside, but she realized she was just too tired and wanted to rest instead.
Cheng Da entered the bed and saw that his Xiu Ying was already laying on the inside of the bed with a blanket covering herself and her back faced towards him. Imprinting this scene in his mind, he pledged that one day he'll see her everyday welcoming him to bed like this, his heart couldn't get enough of her comforting presence.
Tian He felt the warmness of her half-brother's body next to hers and her heart suddenly felt a sense of warmth and comfort seep into it, her body unconsciously relaxed and her weary mind became even more heavy, she couldn't keep herself awake any longer.
However, before her mind could fully enter slumber, she suddenly felt his large warm arms wrap around her body and his strong legs around hers. When she was about to say something, she heard him whisper into her left ear.
"Xiu Ying, just for tonight, let me hug you to sleep like this." His heart and body wanted to feel the entirety of her warmth, at least for tonight, he won't ever touch her again until she willingly asks for it.
Feeling the warmth breath near her ear and listening to his plead, she suddenly realized that she didn't feel abhorred by his touch but on the contrary, it was much more relaxing and comfortable that she realized. That small amount of warmth that seeped into her heart earlier was nothing in comparison to this, it was like it became a flood that rapidly entered her heart, filling it quickly with warmth and ease. Although her heart was pounding, it wasn't due to nervousness but instead, it was because of the extreme comforting pleasure she felt, it was safe and reassuring to be in his arms.
She consented to his request by not saying anything or moving away from his touch, she just wanted to enjoy this moment of warmth and calm she felt because of him, she told herself that she'll be selfish just this once and relax, it doesn't matter if she could love or trust in the future, she only needed to remember and treasure this rare peace of sincerity she felt.
Cheng Da's nerves finally relaxed when he saw that she consented to his request, he couldn't help but smile happily at her acceptance, at least she doesn't hate him and is starting to accept his touch, it was enough for now.
He moved his arms and legs a bit more, making sure to wrap her entirely into his embrace, his face was near her neck, savoring the sweet honey scent she naturally emitted, he breathed it in constantly until his heart felt contented, and soon, he too, fell into a deep slumber.
…..
When Tian He woke up from the morning rays that slipped through the slits of the bed curtains, she already found the spot next to hers was empty, touching it briefly, it was cold. It looks like her half-brother had awaken a while ago, but she didn't notice, it seems like her sleep was deeper than she thought.
When she lifted the bed curtains and dismounted the bed, she found a lady's shirt and skirt waiting for her on the bed stand. The outfit was a pale peach color with large peonies and several butterflies embroidered on it, the sunlight that shone on it made it look nice and enchanting, she thought it was a lovely piece.
After dressing and freshening up, she walked out of the bedroom and into the study room that was connected to it. Upon her arrival, she saw her half-brother sitting in his study desk and on a table not far away, were untouched plates of food for their morning meal, it looks like this half-brother of hers hasn't eaten yet.
Was he waiting for her?
Feeling a bit touched, she moved closer to his desk to get his attention.
"Elder brother, good morning. Are we going to eat breakfast together?" She was quite famished this morning, perhaps it was due to yesterday's 'exercise', but she desperately needed to replenish her energy.
Cheng Da saw her the moment she stepped into his study room, but he opted to try to focus on his documents instead, after their interaction yesterday, he knew that he would eventually face her decision, but because of her cries of sadness stopped his actions, he never got the answer on why she wanted to leave him.
However, after seeing her eager face to eat, he decided he'll put this subject off until they had their breakfast. He got up from his study's chair and moved over to the table full of food to join her for breakfast.
As soon as she saw him start eating, Tian He also picked up her chopsticks to dig into her food. For breakfast, he had ordered her favorite donut sticks with salted egg and meat porridge along with stir fried soy sauce noodles. There were also a few vegetable dishes and two dumplings dishes, she especially liked the taste of the herbs fish soup, the fish's soft texture simply melted in her mouth, and its liquid itself filled her body with warmness as it went down her throat. Her whole attention was totally on eating and satisfying her hungry stomach, completely ignoring the slow eating half-brother of hers who sat across from her.
When Cheng Da saw her hearty appetite, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry at her display, here he was on the edge with nervousness about yesterday's matters, and she ate like she didn't care about it, worse of all, he felt like his existence didn't compare with the food she was eating. His heart couldn't help but feel a bit abandoned and he unconsciously started using more strength to pick up his food.
Finally, he couldn't wait any longer and began speaking.
"Xiu Ying, about yesterday's event, you never told elder brother the reason for you wanting to leave me?" Although his voice sounded calm, his heart was already madly pounding in his chest and his grip on the chopsticks he held unnoticeably became tighter.
Tian He heard his question and paused in her movements, she had thought it over carefully before she exited the bedroom and has already come with an answer to solve all the problems, although it would hurt him later, she didn't have a choice since this was the best path for the both of them.
She placed down her chopsticks and looked directly into her half-brother's eyes, "Elder brother, your younger sister Xiu Ying will not leave you, until the day you kick Xiu Ying out, Xiu Ying will always stay in this mansion with elder brother." Of course, the original owner will not leave him since she needed him to fund her studies at the Arts College but that didn't mean that she, Tian He, wouldn't leave him, however; since he didn't know her real name, she was safe from him spotting her lies.
Cheng Da looked directly into her eyes but even after looking for a while, he didn't spot any lies within them, they were clear and held no ripples which means that she was telling the truth. His hanging heart finally fell back in place and he relaxed the breath he was holding, he trusted the perceptiveness of his soul strength, there was no way she could escape lying under its power.
However, that leaves the question of why she was so adamant yesterday and also why he spotted that she lied to him when she told him she wouldn't leave him. Was he mistaken? He couldn't be since his soul strength has never failed him before, but then after looking into her eyes just now, she obviously wasn't lying, so what was going on?
Although he couldn't figure it out, he still withdrew those thoughts away from his mind, all that matters is that her promise right now is genuine, that's all he needed to calm his heart and feel assured.
Unbeknownst to the both of them, Tian He was gripping her skirt in nervousness, waiting for his answer, if this didn't work, she didn't what would. However, she finally saw him nod and she relaxed her grip on her skirt unconsciously and focused her attention back on the food.
After she finished her morning meal with her half-brother, she headed back to her courtyard to finish practicing for the upcoming annual Arts contest. When she woke up this morning, she has already thought of what kind of painting she wanted to submit to the contest, it will probably be one of her most memorable paintings she will ever do.
However, before she could enter her courtyard, she saw an elderly woman standing in front of its entrance, from her point of view, she looked nervous and weary from the way she stood and the constant movements of her fingers. She was not familiar with this woman but nevertheless, since she was the Young Miss of this mansion, that person had to greet her first.
It looks like the elderly woman spotted her figure and began nervously walking towards her, she maintained a neutral expression while observing the elderly woman's features. Although it looked like she maintained herself well, she still couldn't hide the graying hairs and wrinkles on her face and neck that was evidence of her advanced age.
The elderly woman paused a few steps away from her and before she knew it, she saw her kneel down in front of her.
"Servant Nanny Lan begs Young Miss to forgive servant for her past actions, I was muddleheaded and had forgotten my status as your nanny, please Young Miss, find it within yourself to forgive this poor servant's mistakes, servant promises to wholeheartedly serve Young Miss from now on." Nanny Lan kowtowed with her head on the ground, banging on it so many times that a wound started to form, and blood could be seen flowing down her face.
Oh, now she remembers, it's the bully of a nanny that tortured the original owner with her petty schemes over and over. It was her fault that the original owner could barely eat or wear enough, and she probably had a hand in the arrest and frame the original owner had to go through, no way would she believe that this cockroach of a nanny who always finds ridiculous reasons to bully the original owner was uninformed about her arrest.
Looking at her blood-filled forehead and insincere cries, she really wanted to give her to her elder brother and tell him what the original owner went through so that he can 'repay' her for all the deeds she'd done, it would be way more satisfying than just a small beat down her own hands could do.
However, a bully has its own uses, if she didn't want to keep her to find the identity of the person who framed the original owner, she would already have gotten rid of this scheming nanny and judging by this nanny's attitude, it looks like she knows who to beg to save her own skin, so at least she wasn't stupid.
She walked towards Nanny Lan and reached out her arms to pull her up from her kneeling position, donning a gentle look, she spoke to her, "Nanny Lan, what is there to forgive? Xiu Ying knows that you've only acted the way you did is because you cared for me. I have always seen you as one of my precious people, even if you made any mistakes, Xiu Ying will never blame you."
She really has to thank all those times she practiced her acting skills, just saying these words was making her stomach have the urge to hurl.
Nanny Lan didn't see any lies in her words and secretly blessed herself for having such a stupid Young Miss as her master.
"Young Miss, I knew you would forgive your nanny, after all, I did take care of you all this time after the Master and Madam passed away, it gives me great comfort knowing that you took after them in their kindness." Nanny Lan patted Tian He's hands and donned a touched look.
Tian He really wanted to immediately remove her hands from hers and slap that fake smile off her face but since they were still outside her courtyard, she endured.
"Nanny Lan, you've come at the right time, Xiu Ying was hoping for some company to join me for some tea, you wouldn't decline my invitation, right?" She looked innocently at Nanny Lan's face.
"Of course not, Young Miss, I would be happy to join you." Nanny Lan went to the doors and opened them politely for her Young Miss to enter.
Tian He smiled thankfully and entered into her courtyard with Nanny Lan following behind her. After she asked Nanny Lan to close the main hall's doors behind them, she immediately put away her gentle look and sat in the center front seat of the hall, staring at Nanny Lan with her resolute eyes.
Nanny Lan sensed the change in the Young Miss immediately when she saw her face turn indifferent and her fierce eyes that looked directly at her. She couldn't help feeling a bad premonition about this sudden change, but before she could say anything, the Young Miss spoke first.
"Nanny Lan, you really are something else, for four whole years since the passing of my adopted parents, you bullied me relentlessly, not even letting off a 14-year-old girl. I've remembered that I even had to go through a whole day without food because I retorted you that one time. All this time, you took advantage of the fact that my elder brother didn't care about my well-being to use me as your tool to vent your random stress, you really should die ten times over for your cruel actions against a child." Tian He's cold voice echoed in the dreary looking hall.
After Nanny Lan finally snapped out from the shock she felt after hearing the Young Miss's words, she rapidly kneeled down and crawled towards her, trying to hold her leg and beg for forgiveness. The Young Miss was acting this whole time, she knew all along what she had done to her and remembered it. If she told the young clan leader now, her life would be over, the exalted Wang clan's leader means of torture, no one dares to try it, especially now since the Young Miss is being cared for by him.
Tian He saw her groveling but disdained to pay any attention to it, she kicked her hand away and stood up from her seat.
"Nanny Lan, do you really think your fake cries of mercy would really mean anything to me? The moment I go easy on people like you, I wouldn't even know how I was bitten back." She hated people who betrayed others and took advantage of their kindness to do harmful deeds, these kinds of people were not worth living at all.
Nanny Lan was shaking in fear, she needed to seek the Young Miss's forgiveness for her to survive.
"Young Miss, please I beg you, don't tell the young clan leader, I would be doomed, he would never let me off." She kowtowed her head repeatedly against the floors.
She was really afraid, since the young clan leader made the announcement to all the servants to treat the Young Miss well, she was always fearful that the Young Miss would tell her previous actions to him. However, just when she celebrated that the Young Miss was too dimwitted, she was suddenly faced with the condemning words on her crimes.
Finally getting sick of looking at her fake begging, Tian He spoke.
"Nanny Lan, didn't you ever wonder why I didn't tell my elder brother about your previous actions?" She sat back down and looked directly at her.
Nanny Lan stopped her kowtowing and looked up at her. Now that she mentioned it, why didn't she say anything?
Not letting her wait long, she continued, "Nanny Lan, you see, I have use for you. I have a task here that only you can complete, but— if you're not willing, I won't force you either. It's just that once you're no longer useful, I would have no choice but to turn you over to my elder brother to handle." Tian He indifferently said.
Nanny Lan understood immediately and crawled towards the Young Miss, "Young Miss, this servant is willing to work for Young Miss, I will do my best to complete your task, please believe in me." She was trying her best to sound sincere, this was her last saving straw and she wasn't going to let it slip away.
Tian He didn't beat around the bush and began telling her of the task she assigned her. After she finished, she sent her away to perform it and she herself withdrew to her small painting room.
Looking at the table full of paints and an empty large canvas in front of her, Tian He breathed out deeply to relax herself.
"Time to finally paint the most memorable and realistic painting I will probably ever do." Tian He thought of what she was about to paint and couldn't help herself from forming a small smile.
"Elder brother, this will be Tian He's present to you." This will be something that I hope you would cherish even after I have left you.
After finally gathering her thoughts, she took a small paintbrush from one of the glass containers and began dabbing on the white canvas to start her painting.
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