Chapter 315: The War King Is Shy
Yan Xiaosi shrank in the bedding and swallowed her saliva.
Long Yu’s expression at this moment was so serious that she felt waves of guilt.
The two of them stared at each other like this for a long time.
Long Yu finally spoke to break this strange silence.
However, his first sentence nearly made Yan Xiaosi choke on her own saliva again.
He said: “Do you know that you are a woman?”
Yan Xiaosi cleared her throat and then rolled her eyes.
What nonsense—who wouldn’t know whether they were male or female?
“I know.”
“Do you know that you’re having your monthly flow?”
“I know.”
Long Yu saw her blinking and answering honestly, which made him grit his teeth in anger, yet he could only sigh helplessly.
“Since you know you’re a woman, and you also know you’re having your monthly flow, why didn’t you stop me when I just ordered Long Yi to call that little wretch Murong?”
Yan Xiaosi felt more wronged than Dou E (tl: see note at bottom).
Thinking about how she had deceived Long Yu for so long, and even after they had established that kind of relationship, she still hadn’t confessed her gender to Long Yu—while Yan Xiaosi felt wronged, she didn’t dare show attitude to Long Yu at this moment.
She extended one hand from under the bedding and obediently tugged at Long Yu’s sleeve.
“Your Highness, I did want to stop you just now, but you spoke too quickly. I simply didn’t have time.”
“Hmph! Don’t act cute in front of me.”
Long Yu snorted coldly, not falling for her act.
Yan Xiaosi tugged at his sleeve coquettishly: “Your Highness, I didn’t intentionally hide it from you either. My mother gave birth to three daughters in a row, and those two old fossils from the Yan family told my father back then that if my mother couldn’t give birth to a son, they would make my father take a concubine. From birth, I was raised as a boy. Everyone in the village knows I’m a boy, and I’m used to my identity. At the time, I was somewhat lazy about telling you. Besides, apart from camp followers, young women aren’t allowed in military camps. If I had revealed my identity, it would have reflected poorly on Your Highness—whoever heard of taking family members to war?”
Hearing the words “family members,” the corners of Long Yu’s mouth lifted almost imperceptibly.
Then his brow furrowed as he looked at Yan Xiaosi with heartache, before silently laughing at his own stupidity.
Not long ago, in Daxing Town when dealing with Yan Bozhang, the little thing had changed into women’s clothing in front of him. At the time, he had only thought that the little thing looked stunning in women’s clothing, more stunning than actual women, yet he had never once suspected the little thing’s gender.
His warm large hand gently stroked Yan Xiaosi’s disheveled hair.
“So, from childhood to now, you’ve never worn women’s clothing?”
Yan Xiaosi looked completely content, very much enjoying his caressing. The warm, slightly rough large hand stroking her head made even her abdomen feel less painful.
“Your Highness, you really are a noble person who forgets many things. Not long ago, when we were dealing with Yan Bozhang in Daxing Town, didn’t I wear women’s clothing?”
“Besides that time?”
He was referring to Yan Xiaosi’s daily life over these fourteen years.
Yan Xiaosi thought for a moment and said: “I wore it once. When I was living at Big Sister Peak, I once wore Third Sister’s clothes to gather herbs on the mountain, and I encountered a strange man. Fortunately, that man wasn’t from Shaoyao Village, otherwise my gender would have been exposed.”
Long Yu frowned, suddenly feeling somewhat jealous of that strange man.
While chatting, Yan Xiaosi suddenly let out a soft groan, her small face scrunching up.
“What’s wrong?”
Long Yu looked nervous and at a loss, not knowing what he could do to help the little thing during her monthly flow besides having Long Yi prepare menstrual cloths.
“Where does it hurt? Should I call that little wretch Murong again?”
Yan Xiaosi turned over, changing to a side-lying position, curling up her body as she lay there, feeling slightly more comfortable.
Just moving slightly, she felt something flowing out from her body.
The bed sheet probably couldn’t be salvaged.
She took a deep breath and smiled with a grimace.
“Master Murong can’t have my monthly flow for me, so what’s the point of calling him? My stomach hurts a bit. How about Your Highness rub my stomach for me?”
Before knowing that Yan Xiaosi was a woman, Long Yu had put his arm around her shoulders, hugged and embraced her, even shared a bed with her, and thought nothing of it. Now knowing that Yan Xiaosi was a woman, he suddenly felt somewhat hesitant to act.
Yan Xiaosi saw him extend his hand beside her but hesitate to make contact, and said with a bitter face: “Could it be that Your Highness only likes men, and now that you know I’m a woman, you don’t like me anymore?”
That was a possibility.
“No.”
Long Yu hurriedly denied it.
“Before meeting you, I had no inclination toward men. What I like is you as a person. Whether you’re male or female, I like you.”
Yan Xiaosi visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
“Then please rub it for me. I feel terrible.”
Long Yu approached as if facing a great enemy. When his hand touched Yan Xiaosi’s body, he was somewhat stiff, not knowing how to proceed.
“Xiaosi, when a woman and man have physical contact, do you know what this means?”
Yan Xiaosi certainly knew.
“When a woman and man have physical contact, it means the woman’s reputation is ruined. In the future, she must marry that man, or else she’ll be drowned in a pig cage.”
“So are you willing to marry me?”
Actually, Yan Xiaosi hadn’t thought it through, but at this moment her lower abdomen was uncomfortable, and Long Yu’s large hand massaging her with just the right pressure had a healing effect.
But seeing His Highness’s expectant expression, if she didn’t answer accordingly, she’d probably be in trouble.
She was having her period right now—she couldn’t fight His Highness.
“As long as Your Highness always treats me as before, I’m naturally willing to marry Your Highness.”
Getting a satisfactory answer, Long Yu raised his eyebrows, his whole person refreshed and spirited.
“Then lie flat so I can properly rub your stomach.”
Yan Xiaosi had originally been lying on her side facing him, so she had to turn over again and lie flat.
Long Yu’s warm large hand gently covered the bedding, massaging her lower abdomen through the layer of bedding with just the right pressure.
It indeed had a healing effect.
Yan Xiaosi contentedly squinted her eyes. Not only had the pain eased, but her stomach was also getting a bit hungry.
Hearing a rumbling sound, Yan Xiaosi smacked her lips and said: “Your Highness, I’m hungry. Are there any meat buns? Let me have something to tide me over first, and I’ll eat porridge later.”
“I’ll go to the kitchen to get some for you.”
Long Yu withdrew his hand and stood up.
Yan Xiaosi watched his hasty retreat and his completely red ear tips, lying on the bed and letting out a soft chuckle.
She hadn’t expected that the war god of the Great Chu Dynasty would actually be shy—how coldly adorable.
Long Er and Long San were guarding outside. Seeing their master lift the curtain and walk out without even glancing at them, striding toward the kitchen with large steps.
The two looked at each other, completely bewildered.
What was their master going to the kitchen for? Weren’t they the ones who usually went to get their master’s and Young Master Yan’s meals from the kitchen? Or the kitchen staff would deliver them. But since their master hadn’t told them to follow, the two didn’t dare follow.
Long San withdrew his curious gaze and asked Long Er in a low voice: “Master’s ears seem to be red. Second Brother, did you see that?”
Note: “Dou E” refers to the protagonist of “The Injustice to Dou E,” a famous Chinese opera about a wrongly accused woman, hence the expression “more wronged than Dou E” meaning extremely wronged or innocent.