Under the gaze of the crowd, Ye Xi left the Guili Plains with Klee.
Rather than returning to the city, he flew straight up to the Jade Chamber.
"Amazing!"
"Big Brother Ye Xi, you're amazing!"
After landing on the Jade Chamber, Klee bounced about in excitement.
Ye Xi marveled to himself again and again—this Klee really did have guts.
Anyone else, never mind another child, even a grown adult would probably have gone weak in the knees from fright.
Yet Klee, of all things, had grown happier the higher they flew, and after coming down she was still hopping and skipping about, just like someone without a care in the world!
Truly worthy of a girl raised playing with bombs—she'd seen every kind of spectacle there was.
"Master Ye Xi, you're back!"
The little secretary Baiwen hurried over to greet him, a faint blush on her face.
She very much wanted to get close to Ye Xi.
"Mm."
"Master, Lady Ningguang hasn't finished work yet. Do you want to see Lady Ningguang, or would you rather head home?"
Hearing this, Ye Xi was slightly taken aback—he hadn't expected Ningguang to be this busy.
He'd originally meant to look for Ningguang, but in the end he decided not to disturb her work.
So he said, "I'll head home first."
"Yes!"
Ye Xi took Klee by the hand and headed downstairs.
Gazing at Ye Xi's receding figure, Baiwen let out a soft little sigh.
Every conversation amounted to only a few scant words, which left her feeling quite dejected.
But then again, she was just a little secretary—what right did she have to exchange more than a few words with a great personage like him?
Just then, Ye Xi suddenly turned his head back and said, "Baiwen, you, Baishi, and Baixiao should come back and stay over tonight too."
"Without you all there waiting on her, Ningguang isn't used to it."
"Eh——!?"
Baiwen let out an instinctive cry of surprise.
"You don't want to? Then just forget I said anything..."
"No, no, no! Master! I'm willing!"
Baiwen hadn't expected happiness to come so suddenly, and she hurried closer, saying, "Master, we'll do whatever you say! Whatever you want us to do is fine by us!"
"I'll go tell Baishi and Baixiao this happy—er, this news right away!"
"Oh... oh."
Seeing Baiwen so worked up, Ye Xi was a bit startled: "Then you get back to your work; Klee and I will head off first."
With that, he stepped into the portal.
Baiwen hastily bowed and said, "Take care on your way!"
Once Ye Xi had gone back, Baiwen couldn't help clenching her fist in excitement.
She rushed headlong into the office.
Before long, cheers of delight came from inside.
...
Inside the Serenitea Pot.
After Ye Xi returned, he discovered that Dehya and Dunyarzad and the others had long since come back.
The key thing was, besides them, there was one more unexpected figure in the house.
"Ying'er?"
"Master Ye Xi, yesterday this humble maiden left her door wide open and waited for you the entire day~"
"Haah...."
Ying'er beat her chest and stamped her feet, putting on a pitiful act: "This humble maiden toiled for you night after night, until her very bones grew weak and frail."
"And in the end, after several nights of effort, I still never got the honor of your visit, boo-hoo-hoo...."
The moment these words came out, Ye Xi hurriedly covered Klee's ears.
Good grief.
Words that would have been perfectly ordinary, coming out of this woman's mouth, somehow always sounded improper.
Still, he finally remembered the thing he'd forgotten earlier!
That day he'd promised to go see Ying'er, and Ying'er had even specially reminded him about it a couple of times.
He never imagined that, busy as he'd been yesterday, he'd still gone and forgotten.
Dehya leaned in and whispered, "Master, today we just happened to pass by the Chunxiang Kiln."
"Miss Ying'er said the scented balm was ready, but it hadn't been paid for yet. I offered her Mora, but she wouldn't take it—she insisted on seeing you in person."
"My guess is, she's definitely got her eye on your body!"
"What do you think, Master?"
"If she's to your liking, why not just take her in!"
"That way, everyone will have an endless supply of scented balm!"
Ye Xi didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
This Dehya—for the sake of scented balm, she'd actually go and hand over her own Master to someone else on a silver platter.
Still, Dehya's idea was rather commendable.
Ah, Ying'er.
If this woman were brought into the household, then the household would have all three heavyweights gathered together.
Lisa, Yae Miko, plus Ying'er.
Who could possibly withstand that?
At this thought, he spoke up: "Ying'er, yesterday I was simply too busy. I really did break our appointment."
"Mm-hm, I know~"
Ying'er's eyes brimmed with adoration as she said, "Yesterday, your speech up on the Jade Chamber was wonderful!"
"So commanding, and so dashing~"
"With you being so busy, missing our appointment couldn't be helped."
Ye Xi nodded and let go of Klee's little ears.
He felt that Ying'er had become a little more normal.
However, before he could even send Klee back to her room, Ying'er suddenly spoke up again: "It's just that, that day, I taught you the thing I treasure most."
"With an attitude like yours, there's a word for it—it's called 'heartless'~"
"Cough, cough, cough...."
Ye Xi gave a dry cough and asked, "Ying'er? The thing you treasure most that you mentioned—that's the scented balm, right?!"
"That's right~"
"What did you think it was...?"
"Uh..."
This sudden counter-question left Ye Xi a little tongue-tied.
This woman was a sly little fox if there ever was one.
The way she flirted made it utterly impossible to fend her off!
Especially seeing that smiling, narrow-eyed look on Ying'er's face, it felt exactly like falling into this woman's trap.
"In any case, let's go inside and talk first."
Hearing Ye Xi's suggestion, Ying'er followed him into the house.
Klee said she wanted to go make bombs, so she went off to the courtyard.
Seeing the child leave, only then did Ye Xi let out a breath of relief.
He led Ying'er to the study, and once they'd sat down he asked, "Ying'er, what is it you mean?"
"Hehe, Master, you should know about Liyue's spirit of contract, right?"
Ying'er said with a smile, "He who breaks his word shall suffer the punishment of eating rock. You've gone back on our contract."
"Of course I won't make you eat rock."
"And so, this humble maiden has a proposal."
As she spoke, a rare flush of bashfulness appeared on Ying'er's face.
Ye Xi nodded and said, "You want to punish me? Let's hear it."
Ying'er gave a charming, alluring smile and said, "I'd like to offer myself to you—as your punishment~"
Ye Xi: ???
What kind of punishment was that?
Could he have a bit more of it!?
To be honest, Ying'er coming on so aggressively caught him a little off guard.
Worried that this way of putting it might displease Ye Xi, Ying'er hurriedly said, "Master Ye Xi, I won't joke anymore. Let me just lay my cards on the table."
"The truth is, an outstanding young gentleman like you has set this humble maiden's heart aflutter."
"Of course, by now every girl in all of Liyue Harbor has secretly given her heart to you, and I'm no more than one of them."
"Even so, I wanted to come with the thought of just giving it a try, in hopes of winning your favor."
"Even if it's only a night or two.... I'll do everything I can to satisfy you~"
Hearing this, Ye Xi smiled.
Such an earnest confession was truly a rare thing coming from Ying'er.
But should he accept it or not?
Clearly there was no reason to refuse.
Ying'er was good-looking, and her skill at making scented balm was excellent too.
What's more, Ying'er could do more than just make scented balm—her tailoring skills were also quite remarkable.
Whenever Ningguang had clothes made, she would seek Ying'er's help.
It was said that Ying'er's tailoring skills were among the very best in all of Liyue.
Though there were many wives in the household, few of them were any good at tailoring.
Dunyarzad was a young noble lady, so naturally she'd never handled a needle and thread.
The only one with any skill, in fact, was Collei.
Back in those days she'd had Eleazar, and her fingers wouldn't obey her at all, yet in order to sew clothes for Amber, her fingers had become riddled with wounds.
Even though the things she stitched back then looked rather ugly, she still kept on, under Lisa's encouragement, persevering in learning the craft of sewing.
Cuilein-Anbar was made by her own hands.
Now that her Eleazar had been cured, her skills were all the more practiced.
But even so, she still fell far short of Ying'er, a renowned master of Liyue.
So, taking Ying'er home as a wife was a pretty good idea.
She could make scented balm for the girls, and also do some tailoring work for the household.
Just as he was about to nod in agreement, an amusing thought suddenly occurred to him.
Looking at Ying'er, who was nervously awaiting his reply, he asked teasingly, "Ying'er, as you can see, I have a great many wives."
"Each of them has her own special talents, and every one of them is a beauty."
"So then—what about you?"
"Give me one reason to take you in."
Hearing this, Ying'er was not the least bit surprised; on the contrary, she was overjoyed inside.
Because the very fact that Ye Xi said such a thing meant she had a sliver of a chance!
She hurriedly said, "Master, the truth is, last night I made a scented balm for you as well."
"How about I help you put some on?"
"This scented balm doesn't just have a fresh fragrance—it also has a moisturizing effect, and it's very nice to use!"
"Oh?"
Ye Xi felt rather indifferent.
A big man like him—what would he want with scented balm?
But, to be honest, sometimes after washing his face, his skin really did feel a bit dry.
Back when he was in Sumeru, the climate was hot and muggy with plenty of rain, so his skin had been quite moist.
Liyue Harbor was close to the sea, yet because of the sea breeze, if you weren't careful your skin would crack.
At this thought, he nodded and said, "I can give it a try."
"Wonderful~"
Ying'er slipped her little hand into her collar and drew out a small bottle of scented balm from somewhere.
Her lovely eyes brimming with tender affection, she said with a soft laugh, "Master, this is actually the first time I've ever applied scented balm for a man~"
"My skills are really quite good, you know~"
As she spoke, she poured out some of the scented balm from the little bottle and spread it over her small hands.
Her already soft, rosy little hands now looked all the more glossy and smooth.
.....
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