With the arrival of the first snow, Yingguan had entered winter once again. Sitting by the window, Feng Lezhen looked out at the swirling snowflakes and sighed gloomily.
“It was only warm for a few days, and now winter’s here again,” she said with a look of melancholy. “I had hoped to go out and clear my mind.”
“Where does Your Highness want to go for that?” Ah Ye leaned over to ask.
Feng Lezhen reclined leisurely against a soft pillow. “As a feudal princess, I’m not permitted to leave without a summons. At most, I can stroll around within Yingguan’s borders.”
“With the Shizi?” Ah Ye asked again.
Feng Lezhen chuckled. “He fell ill again yesterday. Ever since the weather turned cold, he’s been falling sick every few days. How could he still go out?”
“No wonder he hasn’t come by to play chess recently. If you ask me, his body’s really far too frail. Can he truly not recover?” Ah Ye sighed, thinking of someone so noble and refined, yet stuck within four high walls every day. It was hard not to feel a little sorry for him.
Feng Lezhen gave a helpless smile. “Even Suifeng couldn’t cure him. I suppose there’s no helping it.”
It had been a while since Ah Ye had heard the name Shen Suifeng from her mistress. Now that it was mentioned so suddenly, she couldn’t help but hold her breath.
Feng Lezhen cast her a glance. “What are you worried about? It’s all in the past now.”
“Truly?” Ah Ye asked cautiously.
Feng Lezhen looked out the window. “Mm. It’s all over… The Young Shizi’s been sick for so long. Shouldn’t we go visit him?”
“Have others gone already?” she asked.
Ah Ye replied, “This servant asked the governor. He said the Shizi falls ill seven or eight times a year, and the Qi couple long ago refused such formalities. They don’t allow visitors when he’s sick.”
“Then we won’t go either,” Feng Lezhen said, lowering her gaze.
Ah Ye hesitated. “But Your Highness is the Shizi’s only friend. If you don’t go, might that seem too distant?”
“He understands. It’s not appropriate for me to get too close to him,” Feng Lezhen said, yawning as she opened the window to catch a handful of snow.
“Ah, Your Highness, it’s too cold!” Ah Ye quickly pulled her hand back inside and shut the window tightly. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief. “The Shizi really is a rare one. Even though he never steps foot outside the gate, people still speak of him and Lord Fu as the two great talents. If his health were better, he’d probably have surpassed Lord Fu already.”
Then she recalled something and laughed. “After Divine Doctor Shen left, the Shizi kept sending Your Highness tasty things. One time you casually mentioned that the silks from Jiangzhou were beautiful—he immediately had ten crates shipped over. At the time I thought he’d fallen for you. But then he could go days without seeing you or even sending a message. And when he did speak to you, it was all polite small talk—not how someone in love would behave…”
“Looks like I haven’t given you enough work lately,” Feng Lezhen said coolly, giving her a glance.
Ah Ye immediately stood straight. “Plenty! Plenty! Fan Gonggong is getting old—there’s plenty of work for me to take care of around the residence. Truly plenty!”
Feng Lezhen chuckled and took a sip of tea.
Qi Jingqing’s illness seemed unusually stubborn this time. Several days passed and Feng Lezhen didn’t see him again. She only heard bits and pieces from Qi Jingren—how he looked constantly drained and couldn’t even bring himself to eat more than a few bites.
“His appetite’s always been poor, and now he has to swallow two bowls of medicine a day. Of course he doesn’t want to eat,” Qi Jingren said, still visibly worried.
Although they were twins, Qi Jingqing had drawn nearly all of their parents’ attention due to his frail health. Over the years, Qi Jingren had often resented this brother. But now that he seemed truly unwell, she was more worried than anyone.
“If he’d just eat more, his health might improve a little,” Qi Jingren sighed.
When Feng Lezhen heard her words, her brows knit slightly. “How can we get him to eat more?”
Qi Jingren paused, then suddenly looked at her.
Feng Lezhen: “?”
That night, Feng Lezhen, cloaked and wrapped up, snuck into the main residence alongside Qi Jingren.
“I must be insane to be messing around with you,” Feng Lezhen said with a blank expression.
Qi Jingren remained calm. “Your Highness is my brother’s best friend. If you persuade him personally, he’ll surely be willing to eat more.”
Feng Lezhen let out a cold laugh and unfastened her cloak. “After all the trouble I went through to get in here, if he still won’t eat, I’ll dislocate his jaw and force it down his throat.”
With that, she walked straight into the room.
Qi Jingren shivered slightly. Watching her decisive, domineering figure, she suddenly remembered what her brother had said earlier that day—
“I want to go out once. Help me think of a way,” he had said.
She had refused outright. “No. You can’t even stand up right now. How are you going to go out?”
“I’ll use a wheelchair.”
“No.” She still refused. “You want to go find Her Highness, right? You might fool others, but you can’t fool me. As your sister, I advise you to give up on that idea. Not to mention Her Highness doesn’t like you—even if she did, our parents would never approve.”
After spending time with Feng Lezhen, her opinion of her had improved—but that didn’t matter.
Qi Jingqing stared at her for a moment, then said blandly, “You’ve been getting close to Her Highness lately, haven’t you?”
Her: “…”
“Those little tricks you used to coax our parents into giving up power, they don’t seem like your idea,” Qi Jingqing said slowly. “If Father and Mother knew their only daughter was getting cozy with Her Highness, do you think everything you’ve done lately would go up in smoke?”
“You’re threatening me?” she said in disbelief.
Qi Jingqing: “I just want to go out once.”
“No.” She refused again.
The siblings stared at each other. She felt vaguely threatened and, after hesitating a moment, said, “Given your condition, you really shouldn’t go out… how about this? I’ll bring her here instead?”
The door creaked open and then closed again. Qi Jingren came back to her senses, staring at the now shut door, silently thinking: Please don’t blame me, Your Highness. I didn’t mean to trick you… Brother really can’t eat. This isn’t lying. At most, I just told you the truth and you chose to come on your own.
Yes, those who achieve great things don’t fuss over small matters. For the sake of her future, a few pangs of guilt weren’t worth dwelling on. With that, Qi Jingren left.
Inside the room, Feng Lezhen immediately saw Qi Jingqing sitting by the window.
He was dressed in white, focused intently on a chessboard, like some immortal untouched by dust.
“Drop the act,” Feng Lezhen said coolly. “If you didn’t know I was coming, you wouldn’t be dressed so neatly in your own room.”
Qi Jingqing looked up innocently.
“Speak. You deliberately had Qi Jingren trick me here—what do you want?” Feng Lezhen sat directly across from him.
Qi Jingqing: “How does Your Highness know Jingren tricked you?”
“She usually wishes I’d stay eight miles away from you. Today she voluntarily told me your condition, even dropping hints for me to visit. If you didn’t threaten her, then the sun must be rising from the west,” Feng Lezhen said as she placed a black piece on the board.
Qi Jingqing smiled faintly. “I’ve been too bored while sick and wanted to play with Your Highness, but she wouldn’t help me.”
“I wouldn’t help either,” Feng Lezhen glanced at him. “Instead of resting, you’re always thinking about fooling around.”
“I can’t help it. When Your Highness isn’t in Yingguan, I have no friends and can stay quiet. But ever since you arrived, all I can think about is drinking tea and playing chess with you,” Qi Jingqing said, half-laughing at himself.
“From the sound of it, it’s my fault,” Feng Lezhen gave a short laugh and placed another piece after his turn.
Qi Jingqing smiled silently and turned back to studying the board seriously.
By candlelight, Feng Lezhen studied his face closely and noticed that this illness had made him look even thinner. His once gentle features now carried a sharpness that made him seem cold and distant.
“What are you looking at?” Qi Jingqing suddenly raised his eyes.
Caught off guard, Feng Lezhen stayed composed. “Looking at the number one beauty of Great Qian.”
Qi Jingqing’s lips curved upward. “If we’re talking about looks, I haven’t seen a man more handsome than me.”
Feng Lezhen laughed. “How many men have you actually seen?”
“Not many, but Your Highness must have seen a lot,” he replied, his eyes gaining warmth. “Since you say I’m the most beautiful, shouldn’t I be allowed a little pride?”
“Praise away, praise all you like—but after praising, you’d better eat more. I’m still waiting for you to get better so we can go out wandering,” Feng Lezhen instructed.
Qi Jingqing nodded. “Having seen Your Highness today, I’ll eat two more bowls.”
Feng Lezhen crossed her arms lazily. “Tell someone to bring food, then.”
Qi Jingqing’s face stiffened slightly, but he quickly recovered. “I’ll wait another half-hour…”
“I haven’t eaten yet. Let’s eat together.”
Qi Jingqing immediately turned toward the door. “Qi An, bring food.”
His pageboy had been waiting for this cue and quickly called for a full meal to be delivered. Qi Jingqing had no appetite from all the bitter medicine, but with Feng Lezhen present, he forced himself to scoop a bowl of rice.
After just one bite, his brows furrowed.
Feng Lezhen watched, amused. “Is it that bad?”
“I can’t taste it,” Qi Jingqing answered honestly.
“What do you mean you can’t taste it?” Feng Lezhen asked.
“After drinking medicine for so long, my tongue is numb. Everything tastes a little bitter. I can’t really tell what it actually tastes like anymore,” he replied.
In this life, eating and drinking are essential—if you can’t even taste the flavor of food, what joy is there left?
Feng Lezhen fell silent at his words, losing her own appetite. “If I hadn’t insisted on taking you to the pond that year, then maybe today…”
“Then maybe we wouldn’t have made it to today. The late emperor might’ve just used some excuse to exterminate the Qi clan, out of fear of my father,” Qi Jingqing joked.
Feng Lezhen let out a soft laugh. Thinking about it, the late emperor really was capable of something like that.
“What’s more,” the smile on Qi Jingqing’s face faded a little, “Your Highness always feels guilty toward me. But have you ever thought that I’ve also done things that wronged you? If you keep dwelling on the past like this, then I might as well stop taking my medicine and just die here.”
“What could you have done to wrong me?” Feng Lezhen raised her eyebrows.
Qi Jingqing was just about to speak when a knock came from the door.
“Son, are you eating?”
It was Qi Zhen.
Feng Lezhen: “…”
