Yang Wan looked up, “I originally wanted to find you at the Hall of Supreme Harmony, but I didn’t want to disturb your work. I thought since it’s Mid-Autumn Festival, you’d return earlier, but I was wrong.”
After speaking, she coughed several more times, her face turning somewhat pale.
“Open the door and let me in.”
Only then did Deng Ying react, quickly getting up to open the door.
Yang Wan trembled as she shuffled into Deng Ying’s room.
The room was pitch dark. As Deng Ying searched for candles on his desk, he heard Yang Wan standing by the door, coughing almost uncontrollably. He quickly closed the doors and windows, frustrated that his quarters were so sparse they didn’t even have extra lamps or candles.
“Deng Ying.”
Yang Wan called from behind him, and he quickly turned to respond: “I’m here.”
Yang Wan’s eyes were red. She felt she must have caught a chill – her face, which had been ice-cold earlier, now felt somewhat hot, yet her body was still stiff with cold.
She couldn’t help sniffling, saying in a stuffy voice: “Deng Ying, I’m still a bit cold.”
Deng Ying looked around the room – besides a few unwashed clothes, there was only one cotton quilt. He looked at Yang Wan with great hesitation.
He was unwilling to let his items touch her body, yet he had nothing else to help her keep warm.
Yang Wan coughed again, sniffling uncomfortably while shrugging her shoulders.
Deng Ying truly couldn’t consider anything else now and lit a candle as he walked to his couch.
“Come warm up on my couch for a while.”
Saying this, he bent down to spread out his cotton quilt, “Come.”
Yang Wan crouched by the bed to remove her shoes, then hugged her knees as she curled up under Deng Ying’s quilt.
His cotton quilt wasn’t as soft as the silk quilts in Chengrong Palace, but it had a faint scent of soapbean.
Deng Ying stood behind her, placing his pillow behind her back, then turned to tell her: “I’ll go boil some hot water.”
Yang Wan shook her head and grabbed the hem of his clothes, “No need, I’ll be fine after warming up for a while. Sit.”
Deng Ying sat down along the edge of the bed, bending down to arrange Yang Wan’s shoes neatly to one side, but after straightening up he remained silent.
Yang Wan wrapped herself in the quilt, moving closer to where he sat.
“What’s wrong?”
Deng Ying looked at Yang Wan’s shoes with their dark embroidered patterns, “This place of mine is too cramped.”
“Not at all. The quilt is very warm. After warming up like this for a while, I feel much better than before.”
After speaking, she tucked her head under the quilt as well.
“When I was little and sick, I liked to hide under the quilt like this and not come out.”
Deng Ying looked at her feverish red face, “Are you running a fever?”
As he spoke, he unconsciously raised his hand to touch her forehead but stopped halfway.
Unexpectedly, Yang Wan raised her hand and gently pressed it against his forehead, while her other hand felt her forehead. She said with some frustration: “Oh no.”
After speaking, she withdrew her hand and wrapped herself up again, “Deng Ying.”
“Mm?”
“Go eat the mooncakes.”
She nodded toward the front, “I put them on the table.”
Deng Ying turned to look at the oiled paper package but didn’t move.
Yang Wan said helplessly: “You’re not speaking again.”
“I don’t know…”
His hands lightly gripped his knees, “How am I worthy of you treating me this way.”