Chapter 424

Xie Xuanchen pulled it out carefully, for fear of it tangling onto Mu Mingtang’s hair. Gradually, the jewellery pieces in the bun decreased and finally, she pulled out the last jade hairpin, resulting in her long hair cascading down like a waterfall. Xie Xuanchen watched as Mu Mingtang combed her hair to smoothen it as he tickled a lock of her long hair, playing with it between his fingers.

Mu Mingtang took it back several times but her actions were to no avail, so she could only let him do what he wanted. She combed her hair, looked at the mirror and let out a long sigh of relief.

“We finally came back. I’m almost exhausted from standing with such heavy jewellery all day.”

Seeing this, Xie Xuanchen pressed the back of Mu Mingtang’s head and slowly kneaded the acupuncture points for her, “Thank you for your hard work, it will be better after a few days.”

Mu Mingtang’s long hair was all loose now and Xie Xuanchen’s fingers ran through it. Like flowing water flowing around his fingertips, her hair was soft and smooth, making his heart itch. Mu Mingtang didn’t pay attention to this as she took a handkerchief and looked at Xie Xuanchen from the mirror when she heard this, “I’m tired, but not because of the banquet.”

Xie Xuanchen didn’t answer these words. He smiled without saying a word and saw Mu Mingtang wet the handkerchief. He asked curiously, “What are you going to do with that?”

“Remove the lipstick on my mouth,” Mu Mingtang didn’t care as she replied casually, “I’m going to take a shower later, so the makeup on my face must be wiped off first.”

Xie Xuanchen replied with an ‘oh’ and suddenly said to Mu Mingtang, “Turn around, there is something on your face that hasn’t been wiped clean.”

Mu Mingtang didn’t think much and turned her cheek subconsciously, but Xie Xuanchen took the opportunity to lean over and kiss her lips.

Mu Mingtang was caught off guard since she really thought that Xie Xuanchen was going to help her wipe some marks on her face, but she didn’t expect him to do this all of a sudden. She kissed him back lightly as she was slightly pushed back with her arms propped up on the mirror stand. 

The tinkling sound of the hairpins on the dressing table colliding with each other was endless, but Xie Xuanchen turned a deaf ear to it as he softly bit Mu Mingtang’s lower lip. Never having a partner romantically before her, he tried his best to control his strength. Carefully, he sc.r.a.ped off the lipstick on her lip with his mouth, wanting to explore the cavern inside(1). When Xie Xuanchen finally let go, Mu Mingtang was already laid on the dressing table, panting breathlessly. Despite returning the kiss, she glared at Xie Xuanchen shyly and angrily, “What are you doing?”

(T/N: Ancient China lipstick papers were made of stuff like flowers and similar things, so this is okay)

“I’m removing your makeup for you,” Xie Xuanchen looked indifferent as to what he just did. Rubbing Mu Mingtang’s red lips with his fingers, he added, “You don’t need that to remove your lipstick; just let me do it.”

Mu Mingtang patted Xie Xuanchen ‘angrily’, but now that she was half lying on the dressing table, with a slight movement of her sleeves, she swept down many bottles and boxes off of it. With that, Mu Mingtang didn’t dare to move anymore, so she could only make a half-threat to Xie Xuanchen in a rather unconvincing tone, “Stop making trouble, we still have business tomorrow.”

“That’s right, the morning celebration can’t be delayed,” Xie Xuanchen said and hugged Mu Mingtang directly in this posture, “So we have to hurry up and not waste time.”

Mu Mingtang was suddenly lifted into the air as she wrapped her arms around Xie Xuanchen’s shoulders. The feeling of emptiness on her back made her panic a little, so she could only hug his shoulders while complaining, “Let go, I still have to take a bath.”

“Why a.s.sume that you’re not going to?” Xie Xuanchen murmured to himself, “It would be better for us to have water around us.”

Mu Mingtang was surprised when Xie Xuanchen carried her to the cleaning room and suddenly felt a sense of crisis, “What are you going to do?”

“Don’t be afraid, it’s just exactly what you think,” Xie Xuanchen had already walked into the cleaning room. When he first built the mansion, he wanted nothing less than extravagance, so even the cleaning room had a luxurious bathing pool with special water supply pipes. At this moment, hot water had been put in the bath and the temperature was more than suitable. 

This was his first and last relationship— he had an eternity to love her both in the ways he knew how and the ways he still had to learn.