Chapter 56
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Jiang Juan thought for a long time.
His Highness also had his own life.
His Highness could interact with the protagonist shou as he wished, and if he wanted to make a pact with Marquis Anping, that was also fine. This was part of His Highness’s normal social life.
He shouldn’t hold a grudge; he should be more magnanimous.
He was a salted fish with a large amount of salt, never holding grudges and not being childish. Unlike the Sixth Prince and Jiang Qingliang, who argued about being the best under heaven.
Jiang Juan forced himself to calm down and saw a long-fingered hand holding a cup of wine being offered to him. The man’s voice was languid.
“Osmanthus wine, care to try a sip?”
Jiang Juan shook his head, “I don’t drink.”
Xue Fangli: “It’s sweet. You like sweet things.”
Jiang Juan refused to admit it, “I don’t like sweets, and I don’t like sweet wine either.”
Xue Fangli raised his eyebrows and looked down at him.
Jiang Juan ignored him. If he said he didn’t want osmanthus wine, he meant it. He pushed away Xue Fangli’s persistent hand holding the cup, lowered his head, and bit the tip of his chopsticks as if contemplating what to eat.
In reality, Jiang Juan had lost his appetite entirely; even the crab no longer seemed appetizing.
His eyelashes drooped, and he was unusually quiet. Xue Fangli, who had been observing him, naturally noticed this but said nothing. He didn’t expose Jiang Juan’s clumsy lie either. Instead, he spoke in his usual tone, “Hmm, you don’t like it, but I do. Try a sip.”
With that, Xue Fangli raised his hand again.
Jiang Juan sat in his embrace, and Xue Fangli, with one hand resting on his waist and the other lifting the cup, tried to feed him the osmanthus wine.
The sweet aroma of osmanthus wafted through. Jiang Juan hesitated for a moment but shook his head. Xue Fangli noticed his hesitation, so he didn’t pull back. Instead, he pinched Jiang Juan’s chin to help him drink, saying, “It tastes similar to Autumn Dew White.”
Even if it were Autumn Dew White, Jiang Juan wouldn’t drink it now. As the cup was brought closer, Jiang Juan tried to push it away. In a moment of carelessness, he lightly swatted Xue Fangli’s face, producing a loud “smack” as if he had slapped him.
Jiang Juan’s eyelashes fluttered, stunned. His fingers curled slightly, unsure whether to pull back, and he was taken aback.
“Your Highness…”
Though the sound wasn’t loud, the slap drew the attention of Xue Fuying and Su Feiyue. Jiang Juan was merely stunned, but the two of them were shocked.
— Regardless of what happened, their nephew had a temper, and being slapped like that was quite something. How could this be?
From any angle, Jiang Juan appeared to be in danger.
As an elder, Xue Fuying wasn’t sure if Xue Fangli would give her face, but she still smiled and mediated, “Juan Juan, even though Fangli treats you well, you shouldn’t behave like this. Quickly, apologize to him.”
“Your Highness, I…”
Jiang Juan felt guilty himself. He spoke in a small voice, but his wrist was grabbed.
“Fangli!”
“Your Highness, Prince Li!”
Xue Fuying and Su Feiyue both felt a chill as they spoke in unison, fearing that Xue Fangli would break Jiang Juan’s hand. But the next moment, something unexpected happened.
Xue Fangli held Jiang Juan’s wrist, pulling it closer without showing any expression. He glanced at it for a moment and then asked Jiang Juan, “Does it hurt?”
Jiang Juan blinked, realizing he was being asked if his hand hurt. He shook his head and replied, “It doesn’t hurt.”
Although he said it didn’t hurt, Xue Fangli still held Jiang Juan’s fingers and gently rubbed them. Without looking up, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
Xue Fuying: “…”
Su Feiyue: “…”
What could be wrong?
Fearing that he might break Jiang Juan’s hand, Xue Fangli, who had been slapped, was now asking if Jiang Juan’s hand hurt.
This, this—how is this even possible?
Is this really Xue Fangli? Or has someone taken over his body?
No one responded, so Xue Fangli raised his eyelids and called, “Aunt, Uncle?”
Xue Fuying and Su Feiyue exchanged glances before Xue Fuying answered openly, “It’s nothing. Just now, seeing your stern face, I was worried about Juan Juan’s heart condition. I was about to remind you not to frighten him.”
Xue Fangli squeezed Jiang Juan’s fingers and let out a snort, “You’re worried that I’ll bully him, aren’t you?”
He calmly said, “How would I dare bully him? It’s always been him bullying me.”
After saying this, Xue Fangli lowered his eyes and softly asked Jiang Juan, “What are you angry about this time?”
“What did I do to upset you again?”
Jiang Juan stubbornly replied, “I’m not angry.”
Xue Fangli, half-smiling, asked, “I like sweet food and Autumn Dew White, is that it?”
Jiang Juan: “…”
He pondered for a few seconds and couldn’t come up with an answer, so he chose to pull his hand back and unreasonably said, “I’m just not angry.”
At that moment, Jiang Juan’s sleeve knocked over the wine cup with a “bang,” spilling the wine all over himself.
Jiang Juan shook his sleeve, feeling even worse. He murmured softly, “….. Why am I so unlucky?”
Seeing this, Xue Fuying quickly hid her astonishment and said to Jiang Juan, “Don’t catch a chill. Go clean up and change into dry clothes before coming back.”
She gave a meaningful look to Sun Gonggong, who had served her for many years. He immediately stepped forward and respectfully said, “Your Royal Consort, please come with this old servant.”
Already in a foul mood, Jiang Juan had no intention of staying longer since Jiang Nian had been dealt with. Xue Fangli calmly said, “There’s no need. He’ll come back to the residence with me.”
Hearing this, Jiang Juan suddenly felt rebellious and slowly said, “But I feel so uncomfortable. I want to change my clothes first.”
Xue Fangli raised his eyelids, looking at Jiang Juan with an almost smile.
Jiang Juan, somewhat defiant, said, “The osmanthus wine is sticky and uncomfortable on my body.”
After a pause, Jiang Juan added, “It’s all your fault.”
Xue Fuying watched them, hesitating to speak, but Su Feiyue gently pressed her hand. Turning to look at him, Su Feiyue smiled and shook his head, signaling her to wait and see. Xue Fuying relented.
“Was it me who knocked over the wine cup?”
“No.”
“But you put the cup there and kept asking why I was angry,” Jiang Juan replied, without a hint of guilt. “If it’s not your fault, then whose? Mine?”
Though he claimed not to be angry, his eyes and brows were full of annoyance. His groundless accusation even seemed somewhat opportunistic. Xue Fangli watched him for a long time before chuckling softly.
“Then let it be my fault.”
Jiang Juan, still unwilling to let it go, said, “What do you mean by ‘let it be your fault’? It was your fault to begin with.”
Xue Fangli, going along with him, said, “Yes, it’s my fault.”
Finally getting His Highness to admit fault, Jiang Juan’s mood improved slightly. He graciously allowed Sun Gonggong to take him to bathe.
As for Xue Fuying, this scene left her stunned. It wasn’t until Jiang Juan had been gone for a while that she recovered, “Fangli, Juan Juan said you treated him well, but I didn’t expect it to be to this extent.”
“With this, we can finally give a proper account to me and the Prince Consort.”
Initially, they doubted Jiang Juan’s claims about being treated well, but after witnessing these incidents, they had no choice but to believe it. If Xue Fuying had to describe it, only one word came to mind.
——Entitled and spoiled.
Xue Fuying clapped her hands and sighed, “I never expected this, Fangli, you’re actually afraid of your wife.”
Her nephew, the formidable Prince Li, despite his ruthless and domineering nature, would still admit his faults when faced with his delicate consort back at the residence.
Xue Fuying found this amusing, and Xue Fangli showed no signs of displeasure, lazily saying, “As I said, I dare not bully him.”
He’s very delicate and hard to please.
He didn’t want to bring trouble upon himself.
At the Eldest Princess Residence, a hot spring had been dug out, and Jiang Juan felt so comfortable soaking in it that he didn’t want to move. By the time he had cleaned himself and changed into clean clothes, it was already late.
Sun Gonggong waited outside and respectfully said, “Your Royal Consort, His Highness is waiting for you in the garden.”
Jiang Juan responded with an “oh.” Although he felt better after arguing with His Highness, he felt a bit uneasy again after soaking in the hot spring.
Sun Gonggong carried a lantern to lead the way. Jiang Juan, deep in thought, followed him but stopped after a few steps, sighing.
Sun Gonggong turned back with a smile, “Your Royal Consort, what’s the matter?”
Jiang Juan asked wistfully, “You know…”
“There’s something I’m curious about and want to figure out, but it seems like a small matter. Asking about it feels strange. Should I ask?”
Sun Gonggong was taken aback. He pondered for a moment before saying, “Your Royal Consort, you are of noble status. Anything that catches your attention is not a small matter. You should naturally get to the bottom of it.”
After a pause, he added, “You are the Royal Consort. Whatever you want to do is justified, and no one can object.”
Jiang Juan blinked. His Highness had said something similar to him before.
After a few seconds of thought, Jiang Juan decided to stop tormenting himself.
He would torment His Highness instead. After all, His Highness had told him to be arrogant and not to worry about making him unhappy but to deal with it.
So he decided to be impolite.
Jiang Juan made up his mind and nodded, sincerely saying, “Thank you.”
Sun Gonggong smiled, shook his head, and then turned back, leading Jiang Juan into the garden with the lantern.
In the pavilion, a row of maidservants stood holding lanterns, while the man sat idly by, tossing nuts into the lake. The koi fish, with their red tails, gathered around, causing the water to splash with a gentle “splash.”
“Your Highness.”
Jiang Juan called him, and Xue Fangli didn’t look up. He merely threw the remaining nuts into the water and then said, “Ready to go back to the residence?”
“Wait a moment. I need to talk to you.”
Xue Fangli raised an eyebrow and finally looked at him.
“You…”
Jiang Juan found it difficult to start. After a long while, he managed to say, “You…”
Xue Fangli, patiently waiting, said, “Hmm? What about me?”
Jiang Juan looked down, “It’s just…”
Outside the pavilion, peonies were in full bloom, with several branches extending inside. The buds overlapped, their colors strikingly vibrant. Jiang Juan reached out and began to pluck the petals one by one.
“Why did you meet with my brother behind my back?”
It was unnecessary, but Jiang Juan just had to know. He mustered the courage to ask, keeping his head down the whole time and nervously plucking petals off the peonies to calm himself.
“You said… he told you bad things about me, but I don’t even know when that happened.”
Jiang Juan’s voice was so soft it seemed like a breeze could scatter it.
But Xue Fangli heard him.
Every word was clear, and each one seemed to scratch at his heart. Xue Fangli realized something, staring at Jiang Juan in a daze before he finally laughed softly.
Already feeling embarrassed, Jiang Juan was even more irritated by His Highness’s laughter. “What are you laughing at?”
“It’s not like it’s a secret you can’t ask about.”
Xue Fangli leisurely replied, “You can indeed ask.”
Jiang Juan glanced at him, “Then hurry up and answer.”
Xue Fangli lowered his eyes, staring intently at Jiang Juan. His voice was low but resonant, “Why should I answer just because you ask?”
“Because…”
I’m your Royal Consort.
You told me to be a bit arrogant.
Jiang Juan’s eyelashes fluttered, suddenly feeling nervous. He couldn’t bring himself to say those words.
“Hmm?”
Xue Fangli pressed, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
With that, Xue Fangli reached out, gently lifting Jiang Juan’s chin. In the flickering firelight, the youth’s face was exquisitely beautiful. Xue Fangli met his gaze and slowly spoke.
“You can ask, but I don’t have to answer. Unless…”
Xue Fangli smiled nonchalantly, “Call me ‘husband’ and let’s see.”
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