The dim oil lamp bathed the room in the sepia tones of an old photograph, hazy and indistinct.
After eating and injecting a vial of diluted Life Source Fluid, Zhang Yuanqing recovered somewhat. Though he was still weak and sickly, at least the coughing had stopped.
He lay on the crude bed beneath a yellowing canopy, watching Queen drag out a dusty clothes chest. After wiping off the dust, she spread the two quilts "Auntie" had given them over it, making a simple bed.
"I want to sleep with Yuanshi Tianzun." Jiang Jingwei sat at the bedside, kicked off her embroidered shoes, removed her tyrant's casual clothes, rolled over Zhang Yuanqing, and curled up on the inner side of the bed.
"Jingwei, you'll sleep with me tonight." Queen disagreed. "You're a young lady. How can you sleep with Yuanshi Tianzun?"
"The bed is more comfortable. I want to sleep in the bed. What's wrong with sleeping with Yuanshi Tianzun? When I got tired from fighting at home, I often slept in my brother's bed." Jiang Jingwei retorted forcefully.
Zhang Yuanqing weakly waved a hand. "Let her sleep there. She's still a child. Queen, give her the quilt."
The distinction between men and women was an adult concept. Jiang Jingwei had not yet developed such awareness; her thoughts were as pure as a child's. She probably saw him as something like an older brother.
"Then I want to sleep there too." Queen smiled sweetly.
"You can't." Zhang Yuanqing refused without hesitation. "Your chest is too big. If you sleep on the bed, my thoughts won't stay pure."
Queen tossed the thin coarse-cloth blanket over.
Zhang Yuanqing tossed it to Jingwei, and Jiang Jingwei rolled it up, muttering, "It smells moldy."
She raised her head, glanced at Yuanshi Tianzun, then at Queen,