For some inexplicable reason, he found himself mimicking her actions, sitting down and taking the muskmelon from her hand.
Yuan Siyin snorted coldly.
She knew it!
He was just coveting her melon!
The confined space quickly filled with the sweet fragrance of fruit. As if afraid he might snatch it back, Yuan Siyin lowered her head and devoured the melon rapidly.
When she finally set down the rind with satisfaction, her mouth and even the tip of her nose were smeared with sticky sweet juice.
Looking at her equally sticky hands, she turned her scheming gaze toward Yu Shiyan.
“Yu Shiyan, let’s make a deal.”
“I refuse.”
Yu Shiyan seemed to have guessed her intention and immediately rejected her with a cold expression.
“Help me get the handkerchief, it’s right here!”
Yuan Siyin selectively ignored his refusal, pretending not to have heard him. She raised both hands toward Yu Shiyan simultaneously, though it looked less like a request for help and more like she was asking for a hug.
“Just pick any sleeve, take whichever one you want.”
Seeing him remain unmoved, Yuan Siyin thought for a moment and raised three fingers: “How about this? If you help me get the handkerchief, I promise I’ll never bully you again. I’ll even protect you and let you strut around the entire palace as you please.”
As she spoke, Yuan Siyan proudly patted her own…
Wait.
She patted…
Alright, she now officially declared that nothing had happened.
Even if something did happen, she would absolutely never admit it.
Yu Shiyan let out an ambiguous low hum: “Never bully me again?”
“Of course, I’ve turned over a new leaf.”
Yuan Siyin sighed, staring worriedly at her hands.
Should she just wipe them on her clothes since she was already in this mess, or continue begging Yu Shiyan for help?
Forget it. Even if she begged him, he might not help in the end. She might as well solve it herself. At worst, she could just change clothes when she returned.
With this thought, she was about to wipe her hands on her skirt when Yu Shiyan suddenly grabbed her wrist, exerting some force to pull her hand back.
Yuan Siyin froze in fear.
Had she said something wrong to upset him?
Was he going to silence her right now?
Please no!
She hadn’t even washed her hands yet!
…
The wrist he held was so slender that even Yu Shiyan felt surprised.
How could this woman hit people with such force without worrying about breaking her own wrist?
He pursed his lips, his slender fingers deftly slipping into his sleeve, the cold touch making Yuan Siyin shiver.
“Ouch… Your hand’s so cold? Kidney deficiency? Or spleen and stomach problems?”
Yu Shiyan gritted his teeth, his eyes concealing some anger as he looked at her: “Shut up.”
“Oh…”
Yuan Siyin obediently closed her mouth and said nothing more.
So petty about having kidney deficiency mentioned.
What a narrow mindset.
After wiping her hands, Yuan Siyan bent down to pick up the melon rind, shot him a glare, and hurried away.
It was all Yu Shiyan’s fault for dawdling! The sweet juice on her hands wasn’t wiped off in time, and after air-drying, it became even stickier!
Unacceptable! This was pure torture for her! Absolutely unbearable!
When Yuan Siyan rushed back to Jianzhang Palace and finished washing her hands refreshingly clean, she instinctively reached into her other sleeve.
Empty.
Well, well. She had left with two handkerchiefs intact, but returned with only one.
After struggling to recall, she remembered that she had shaken her hands irritably after leaving the rockery. That must have been when she dropped it.
After all, it was something Zi Yuan had painstakingly embroidered with her stitch by stitch. Even if she didn’t cherish it dearly, she at least couldn’t afford to lose it.
Having made up her mind, she turned back. But just as she reached behind the rockery, she overheard several women chattering away.
“Have you seen Yuan Siyin? Is she really as the rumors say? If you ask me, it’s better to keep our distance.”