Chapter 52
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Prince Li’s Royal Consort was in a very unpleasant mood.
Jiang Juan lay on the table, his long hair spread out like a waterfall. He was fuming with anger, while Lan Ting picked up a wooden comb and carefully smoothed his hair. Jiang Juan mumbled, “Another lie, His Highness lied again.”
He suddenly turned his head and asked irritably, “Lan Ting, am I really that easy to deceive?”
Lan Ting was startled, and if she hadn’t reacted quickly, she would have almost yanked a strand of his hair out. She said helplessly, “Young Master, be careful. If you pull your hair, you’ll end up in pain and cry again. I won’t be able to comfort you.”
Jiang Juan, feeling even more frustrated, replied, “I’m not that prone to crying.”
Lan Ting: “……”
She opened her mouth, seeming hesitant to speak, but eventually said, “Indeed, Young Master is not that prone to crying.”
After a pause, Lan Ting examined Jiang Juan for a moment. His youthful face was extraordinarily beautiful, like the moon and snow, ethereal and dreamlike—essentially, it was as if he was not of this world.
The celestial beings on the Jade Lake could never understand the dangers of the mortal world.
Lan Ting smiled gently and said, “Young Master, you are inherently simple and trust His Highness immensely, so…”
Jiang Juan explained, “I just think that trust is important in relationships.”
Lan Ting shook her head. Before she could say more, someone knocked on the door. She quickly set down the comb and went to open it.
When she saw who it was, she was momentarily stunned and quickly turned back to Jiang Juan, saying, “Young Master, His Highness is here.”
Jiang Juan did not even look back and said, “Tell him to go away.”
Of course, Lan Ting didn’t dare speak to His Highness like that. She hesitated and said, “Your Highness…”
“It’s nothing.”
The man’s tone was calm, showing no sign of displeasure.
Lan Ting glanced secretly and saw His Highness was drenched and still dripping water from his hair, as if he had rushed over as soon as he learned Jiang Juan was upset and had left.
Recently, Lan Ting had made a few good friends among the ladies at the residence, and she had heard a lot about His Highness’s deeds from them. It made her realize just how far off Jiang Juan’s understanding of His Highness was.
But no matter how far off it was, His Highness had always treated Jiang Juan well, and Lan Ting wouldn’t dare speak out. Moreover, she could see that, even if His Highness had a temper, he didn’t dare show it in front of Jiang Juan.
Indeed, as soon as Jiang Juan was angry, His Highness came over.
Lan Ting stifled a few giggles and then turned back to see Jiang Juan still lying on the table. His back was to her, and a window in front of him cast a faint light, making his silhouette gently sway.
Jiang Juan remained motionless, seemingly unwilling to acknowledge anyone, until the man spoke again, seemingly lost in thought.
“Don’t want to see me?” Xue Fangli said with a hint of regret, “Then I’ll leave first. When you’ve calmed down, I’ll come find you again.”
Jiang Juan: “???”
How could anyone be so unreasonable?
Jiang Juan could no longer endure it. He turned his head angrily and met Xue Fangli’s smiling eyes. Xue Fangli was leisurely watching him, and though he said he was leaving, he showed no sign of actually doing so.
Jiang Juan tensed up, immediately realizing something.
Damn it, he had been tricked again.
His Highness was too cunning.
“Why are you so angry?” Xue Fangli asked with a light laugh.
Jiang Juan’s anger was already high, and Xue Fangli’s behavior only made it worse. He decided to ignore him completely and covered his ears.
Xue Fangli found this amusing, his lips curling up even more. For a while, no one spoke.
After a moment of hesitation, Lan Ting softly said, “Your Highness, the Young Master…”
The person with his ears covered spoke up again, and Jiang Juan shouted at her, “Lan Ting, don’t talk to him. He’s just going to lie.”
Xue Fangli, hearing this, was not offended but just smiled at Jiang Juan.
Whenever he was angry, he wouldn’t share anything with him or talk to him, which was really quite irritating.
He glanced at Jiang Juan, then raised his foot and went outside instead of entering the room.
The next moment, the window was pulled open from outside, and Jiang Juan’s hands were gently held and pressed down from his ears.
“I’m here to take you back.”
Jiang Juan tried to pull his hands away, but Xue Fangli seemed to use minimal force. Still, Jiang Juan couldn’t break free. He glanced at him and said unhappily, “I’m not going back.”
Xue Fangli: “Why?”
Jiang Juan: “Seeing you makes me angry.”
Xue Fangli said slowly, “That’s fine. Usually, you lie in my arms and sleep without seeing me.”
Jiang Juan: “……”
“I don’t want to,” Jiang Juan said slowly, “I want to sleep here tonight.”
“Alright,” Xue Fangli said with an unchanged expression, “Tonight, I’ll stay here with you.”
Jiang Juan: “?”
He asked incredulously, “What do you mean ‘alright’? No, you can’t sleep here. I didn’t agree to it. Tonight, you sleep by yourself, and I won’t sleep with you.”
Xue Fangli frowned slightly and then asked nonchalantly, “What if I sleep alone and my old illness recurs?”
Jiang Juan was taken aback, having completely forgotten about that. He hesitated immediately, and Xue Fangli’s lips curled up a bit.
“Fine,” Xue Fangli said, lowering his gaze, “If you truly don’t want to see me, then I’ll sleep alone tonight.”
“I haven’t coughed up blood for a long time. I should be fine alone.”
Jiang Juan: “……”
Lately, His Highness hadn’t coughed up blood, but such things were unpredictable. Just because he hadn’t had a relapse for a while didn’t guarantee he would be fine tonight.
Despite his anger, Jiang Juan’s concern was genuine. He furrowed his brow and remained indecisive.
Providing companionship for the night wasn’t impossible, but he was still angry.
Refusing to provide companionship, what if Your Highness slept alone and fell ill?
He had indeed thought about living as a widow and imagined how he would enjoy life after His Highness passed away. But the premise of living as a widow was that His Highness should be unable to hold on, not that His Highness should die due to negligence.
Jiang Juan fell into deep thought and, after a long while, said, “I…”
His attitude had clearly softened quite a bit. Xue Fangli looked quite pleased, though he didn’t show it, only speaking in a gentle tone: “You don’t need to worry about me. Tonight, you can have some quiet time on your own.”
Jiang Juan: “?”
Quiet time?
He suddenly recalled that a few days ago, His Highness admitted that on the day of their wedding, he had deliberately shot arrows at him, letting a few arrows narrowly miss him and frightening Jiang Juan immensely.
Jiang Juan slowly raised his head.
With a “bang,” he shoved Xue Fangli’s hand away, quickly closed the window, and locked it. With new grievances and old grudges, Jiang Juan, still the deceived party, could no longer offer companionship.
Xue Fangli: “…”
He looked at the closed window, his brows slightly twitching, clearly surprised that Jiang Juan was no longer falling for this.
However, Xue Fangli soon realized the problem and clicked his tongue lightly, his expression showing deep regret.
— Tonight, he really wouldn’t get to hold him.
Realizing that overdoing it wasn’t effective, Xue Fangli planned to return to Liangfeng Courtyard. But before he had taken more than a few steps, the door creaked open, and Lan Ting came running after him.
“Your Highness.”
Xue Fangli stopped and lazily looked up.
He had come in a rush, still covered in moisture, with wet black hair and red lips, looking strikingly vivid. With Jiang Juan not present, he no longer made an effort to conceal his hostility, and in the night, he appeared cold and sticky.
Lan Ting shivered, feeling that this Xue Fangli was a completely different person from the earlier one. She dared not look too much and hurriedly lowered her head, saying softly, “Young Master asked His Highness to remember to find someone to stay by your side tonight, to prevent you from coughing up blood again.”
Xue Fangli smiled nonchalantly, “I know.”
No matter how angry Jiang Juan was, he still worried about him.
But this little bit of worry was far from enough.
Not being able to smell the youth’s scent or hold him close, this bit of worry could not fill his deep desires.
He needed to come up with a plan to comfort him sooner.
It was truly hard to soothe him once he started crying, and when he was angry, it was just as difficult to comfort him.
Xue Fangli thought deeply and lowered his gaze.
The next day.
In the unbearable pain of life, sleeping late and waking up early was certainly nominated multiple times.
When Jiang Juan was dragged up, he was in a daze. Lan Ting fed him a few sips of water, which helped him come to his senses a bit. He asked, “Who did you say came earlier?”
Lan Ting: “People from the Princess’s residence.”
With the rain pattering outside, Jiang Juan asked again, “What about His Highness?”
Lan Ting answered, “The steward said that His Highness left early in the morning and hasn’t returned yet, so you need to meet the guests.”
Going out in the rain, such weather was perfect for staying in bed.
Jiang Juan lazily flopped back onto the bed, not wanting to get up at all. Lan Ting pulled him up, amused, and said, “Young Master, you can go back to sleep once you return.”
Going back to sleep required him to return first. Jiang Juan was still groggy and weakly said, “So early, and it’s raining so heavily. Where did His Highness go?”
Lan Ting didn’t know either. She shook her head, “I didn’t ask. You can ask the steward when you see him later.”
Jiang Juan let out a reluctant “oh” and climbed out of bed. After getting himself presentable, he walked out.
“Greetings Your Royal Consort.”
The person who came was the palace eunuch, he said with a smile, “When Your Royal Consort and His Highness married, our master was away from the capital. So for this banquet, he specially sent me to deliver the invitation.”
Steward Gao took the invitation and handed it to Jiang Juan. The eunuch continued, “The banquet is set for tomorrow. Your Royal Consort and His Highness must come. Our master has been talking about His Highness and Your Royal Consort all night after hearing about your marriage.”
Jiang Juan, still very sleepy and a bit dazed, didn’t closely examine the invitation and simply replied, “Alright, we’ll go.”
The eunuch smiled and, having delivered the invitation, took his leave. Steward Gao escorted him out.
Once the business was concluded, Jiang Juan put the invitation aside and wanted to go back to sleep. However, just a few steps later, v came running back.
“Your Royal Consort!”
Holding something in his hands, he hurriedly approached Jiang Juan and said, “Your Royal Consort, please try this wisteria cake.”
Without much thought, Jiang Juan accepted the cake from Steward Gao. It was still warm, and as he lowered his head to smell it, he detected a floral fragrance. He took a bite.
It smelled delightful.
The wisteria cake smelled good and tasted even better, with a flavor Jiang Juan liked. The filling was soft and sweet, while the crust was crisp and delicious. Jiang Juan instantly liked it. “It’s delicious.”
Then, he instinctively asked, “Steward, was this made by the chef who was brought back last night?”
Steward Gao hesitated. “…I suppose so.”
If it was, it was. If it wasn’t, it wasn’t. Steward Gao’s vague answer puzzled Jiang Juan, and he glanced at him a few more times. Before he could ask further, Lan Ting identified it right away, “Isn’t this the wisteria cake from Taosu Ji?”
Jiang Juan blinked. “Taosu Ji?”
Lan Ting confirmed, “The chef from Taosu Ji used to be an imperial chef in the palace, preparing snacks for the late emperor. After the late emperor passed away, he left the palace and opened Taosu Ji.”
“Only in April can you eat this wisteria cake. The filling uses wisteria flowers picked in the morning dew, and the water is collected from the snow on plum blossoms. You have to line up early every day; otherwise, you can’t buy it.”
Jiang Juan gasped. “So this wisteria cake…”
Had His Highness ventured out in the rain early in the morning just to buy this wisteria cake for him?
Jiang Juan looked down and gently asked Steward Gao, “Did His Highness buy this for me?”
Steward Gao hesitated, looking at Jiang Juan as if he wanted to say something but then closed his mouth, seemingly reluctant. Jiang Juan couldn’t help but ask, “What do you want to say?”
“Ah, Your Royal Consort, His Highness forbids me from saying. It’s not that I don’t want to say.”
Steward Gao sighed. Though he said His Highness forbade him, the origin of the wisteria cake became quite obvious once he spoke.
It was indeed specially bought by His Highness for him.
Jiang Juan blinked, gently pinching the wisteria cake. It was still warm, with a crisp shell, and had not been dampened at all, suggesting that it had been kept close to His Highness’s chest.
Jiang Juan was a bit touched, his heart softened considerably. He slowly asked, “Then where is His Highness?”
“His Highness…”
Steward Gao started hesitating again.
He glanced at Jiang Juan with visible guilt, but this guilt was short-lived because the next moment, he frowned and said to Jiang Juan, “Your Royal Consort, His Highness also told me not to say too much to avoid making you worry, but I felt I should tell you.”
“His Highness didn’t sleep all night and asked me how to soothe you if you were really angry. I suggested he buy this wisteria cake for you. However—” Steward Gao sighed and said, “The weather today was terrible. It was pouring rain when His Highness went out, and I don’t know if he caught a chill, but upon returning, His Highness started coughing up blood again.”
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