Chapter 71
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Jiang Juan felt immense sympathy for Jiang Qingliang’s situation, knowing he was indeed wronged—but he was carried away.
In the guest room, Jiang Juan was placed on the bed. Seeing she wasn’t needed, the maid quietly left, closing the door softly.
After a brief sound, the room fell silent. For some reason, Jiang Juan suddenly felt nervous.
He shouldn’t have looked around so recklessly, nor let his thoughts wander.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t feel awkward now whenever he saw His Highness.
Jiang Juan was annoyed with himself. His pale fingers brushed his brow, and Xue Fangli looked down and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Jiang Juan shook his head randomly, avoiding Xue Fangli’s gaze, “Nothing.”
Then Jiang Juan added, “Your Highness, I really am fine.”
Xue Fangli continued watching him, noting Jiang Juan’s unease, but didn’t react much. He just said indifferently, “Let the doctor examine you first. Rest a bit.”
Seeing no other option, Jiang Juan resigned himself. He muttered an “Oh” and lay down on the bed, flat.
But after a few seconds, he sat up again.
“…It’s hard.”
Jiang Juan rubbed his sore back.
At Prince Li Residence, he knew Jiang Juan was precious. Whether it was a place to sit or lie down, Xue Fangli had several layers of soft cushions laid out to keep Jiang Juan from complaining about discomfort.
But this was the General Residence. General Jiang was not one to indulge in comfort. Not only were there no cushions, but even the beds were significantly harder than elsewhere. Jiang Juan found it difficult to sleep.
Xue Fangli asked him, “Want me to hold you?”
It wasn’t like he couldn’t. It wasn’t a big deal. His Highness’s embrace was comfortable. Jiang Juan mentally prepared himself and then slowly said, “Maybe… never mind.”
His Highness’s embrace typically meant Jiang Juan lying in his arms. Jiang Juan used to sleep very well and was very accustomed to it. But now, the indecent scenes from the book kept flooding his mind, impossible to shake off. Jiang Juan sighed in despair and muttered, “The bed isn’t that hard. I can still sleep on it. I’ll just endure it.”
“Your Highness, you don’t need to worry about me.”
After saying this, Jiang Juan lay back down.
He endured for a while, then another while, and then another…
Jiang Juan couldn’t stand it anymore. The bed was really too hard and uncomfortable. He started tossing and turning, as if he were lying on a hot oil pan, flipping over and over. After watching him for a long time, Xue Fangli reached out to hold him. Jiang Juan instinctively pushed him away, but Xue Fangli firmly pulled him into his arms, his eyes dark. “If you can’t sleep, why won’t you let me hold you?”
“Are you still upset that I kissed you?”
Jiang Juan: ”Huh?”
He widened his eyes slightly, stared blankly for a while, then shook his head. “…No.”
Xue Fangli, emotionless, asked him, “Then why won’t you let me hold you?”
It wasn’t that he wouldn’t let him; it was just awkward.
How could he explain?
Jiang Juan couldn’t explain it to His Highness. If he had to, he’d have to start from the time he picked up that “Peaceful Travels,” which was too embarrassing.
Jiang Juan felt utterly defeated.
“I’m not stopping you from holding me,” Jiang Juan said guiltily. “You are holding me, aren’t you?”
Xue Fangli didn’t respond, just stared at Jiang Juan, clearly not believing him.
Jiang Juan felt conflicted.
If he told the truth, it would be so embarrassing.
If he didn’t, it seemed like His Highness misunderstood.
As Jiang Juan was struggling internally, Xue Fangli spoke again, casually, “If you don’t like me being close to you, just tell me. There’s no need to cry and then give me the cold shoulder.”
“Don’t be like her… Jiang Qingmei, who despises me but often calls me to her side.”
Why bring up Beauty Yu out of nowhere?
Jiang Juan wanted to stop him, but before he could, Xue Fangli continued, his tone cold, “She always calls me to her side, eager to play the most ordinary mother in the world, making tea and preparing meals for me. But she poisons the tea and puts blood in the pastries.”
“Your Highness…”
Jiang Juan froze. Every time His Highness mentioned Beauty Yu, it was never a good thing. What was more frightening was that His Highness had told him many things about Beauty Yu, but each time it was something new that Jiang Juan didn’t know, and every time it was about Beauty Yu tormenting His Highness.
Jiang Juan had learned a lot about His Highness’s past, but he felt it was just the tip of the iceberg. His Highness had endured far more suffering than he had ever spoken of. So, every time His Highness talked about Beauty Yu, Jiang Juan’s heart would soften.
This time was no different, but this time, Jiang Juan also felt a bit guilty.
If it weren’t for him, His Highness wouldn’t be overthinking.
Jiang Juan: “It’s not that I dislike it…”
Xue Fangli: “Then why don’t you let me hold you?”
They had come full circle back to this question.
He needed to be honest.
He couldn’t let His Highness continue to misunderstand.
So what if it was embarrassing?
Jiang Juan comforted himself and mustered the courage to say, “Your Highness…”
Xue Fangli lowered his eyes and met his gaze. As Jiang Juan looked at him, he couldn’t help but recall that scene again—an intimate posture, a familiar scenario. That day, he had chafed his inner thigh while riding a horse, and His Highness had applied medicine to him just like this.
Jiang Juan: “………….”
Xue Fangli said, “If you don’t dislike it, why were you crying, and why wouldn’t you let me hold you?”
Jiang Juan felt deflated, his eyes darting around. In a moment of panic, he grabbed a random excuse. “You ask me why. You promised not to kiss, and yet you bit me several times, and then kissed me again at the end.”
“You’re so excessive, and you still ask why I was crying and why I wouldn’t let you hold me.”
Since it was just an excuse, Jiang Juan didn’t sound very convincing. As he complained to Xue Fangli, he quietly tried to crawl out of his embrace. But before he could get far, his ankle was grabbed, and he was pulled back. Xue Fangli pressed him into his arms again. “Yes, it was my fault for being too excessive.”
Jiang Juan looked down at the hand that held him captive and said gloomily, “You’re so excessive, and instead of reflecting on it, you pull me back. Why?”
Xue Fangli gazed at him. “To make it up to you.”
Jiang Juan blinked. “How are you going to make it up to me?”
Xue Fangli asked, “Do you want to kiss me back or bite me back?”
Maybe it was because he had just mentioned Beauty Yu, but the man’s interest seemed low, and he looked quite weary. On a normal day, Jiang Juan might have angrily bitten him, but now, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. After all, he had just listened to His Highness’s tragic past.
Jiang Juan said softly, “I’m not like you, always wanting to bite people.”
As for kissing back, Jiang Juan pretended not to hear.
He didn’t choose either. Xue Fangli stared at Jiang Juan for a long time before slowly saying, “You dislike me being close to you.”
Jiang Juan hurriedly shook his head. “I don’t dislike it, really, Your Highness, I don’t.”
Xue Fangli lowered his gaze and spoke softly, “There’s no need to comfort me. If you truly dislike it, you don’t have to worry about me, and you certainly don’t need to torture yourself.”
“When she sees me, it’s just mutual torment. You don’t have to make yourself suffer for my sake.”
The man’s voice was calm, but Jiang Juan felt he was hiding many emotions. Jiang Juan panicked, feeling as though he had made His Highness even sadder.
After thinking it over, Jiang Juan took Xue Fangli’s hand and placed it on his chest. “Your Highness, I feel a bit uncomfortable here. Could you rub it for me?”
To prove he didn’t dislike His Highness’s closeness, Jiang Juan took a deep breath and slowly said, “You’ve taken advantage of me so many times. I haven’t decided whether to kiss you back or bite you back, so let’s put it on hold. Let me think about it, okay?”
The young man looked up at Xue Fangli, his fluttering eyelashes carrying a soft, watery glow. He was both uneasy and nervous, but he looked only at Xue Fangli. His compassion, his affection, his focus, and seriousness seemed to be for Xue Fangli alone.
At this moment, the young man was no longer the little Bodhisattva on the lotus seat, untouched by dust, with a mind free of worries. Sitting in Xue Fangli’s arms, he had fallen into a trap of softness, into the tumultuous world of emotions.
“Alright.”
After a long while, Xue Fangli responded. His lips curled slightly, but he quickly hid it. He lowered his head and began to gently rub Jiang Juan’s chest with his fingers.
Just like this.
Whether Jiang Juan disliked his closeness or not, Xue Fangli could disregard it.
As long as the little Bodhisattva showed him some compassion, that was enough.
He was so pitiful. Little Bodhisattva, please be kind and love him a little more.
In Liangxi Courtyard.
“Young Master, sour plum soup.”
A maid took sour plum soup from the ice chest, and Jiang Qingliang, slumped in a chair, took it and drank it down in one go.
His father had punished him to run thirty laps around the training ground. Jiang Qingliang hadn’t even finished half the laps before he was practically carried back, feeling as if he was about to lose his life.
The cold sour plum soup was quite refreshing. Jiang Qingliang let out a long sigh but still felt hot. He grabbed a book from the desk to fan himself. After just a couple of waves, the cover fell to the ground with a “thud.” Jiang Qingliang looked down.
Oh, it was *Peaceful Travels*.
The book Brother Juan had just picked up.
He didn’t bother to pick it up, feeling puzzled. A classmate had mysteriously told him it was a good book, but Jiang Qingliang hadn’t looked at it. To him, travelogues weren’t interesting, so he had left it on the desk.
Thinking this, Jiang Qingliang glanced at it out of boredom, but his movements froze.
The cover had fallen off, so this book should only have a title page left. But it had another cover with a few large characters written in flamboyant script.
*Spring Palace Illustrations*.
Note: basically pornography.
Jiang Qingliang: “?”
Jiang Qingliang: “???”
Damn.
How could it be a Spring Palace Illustration?
Jiang Juan had just taken this book. Would he think Qingliang spends all day looking at this kind of stuff?
Jiang Qingliang was utterly distraught, feeling more wronged than Dou E. However, as he continued to panic, a sudden realization struck him.
Jiang Qingliang: “…”
Could it be?
Brother Juan blushed very suddenly.
Brother Juan kept saying it was nothing, that he was fine.
Maybe, just maybe, Brother Juan wasn’t having a heart episode at all. Maybe he just has a thin skin and accidentally saw the Spring Palace Illustration, leading to everything that happened afterward.
Jiang Qingliang: “…”
How wronged was he?
Twelve laps! He had run twelve laps around the training ground!
He felt incredibly wronged!
Realizing the truth, Jiang Qingliang slowly exhaled a long breath.
Who could he blame?
Brother Juan hadn’t lied. He kept saying he was fine.
It was he himself who didn’t believe him and insisted on calling a doctor.
In the end, Jiang Juan really was fine, and Jiang Qingliang was the only one who suffered, punished by his father to run thirty laps.
Jiang Qingliang almost wanted to vomit blood. He downed several more cups of sour plum soup, trying to drown his sorrows. But still feeling frustrated, he couldn’t sit still any longer and grabbed the book, running outside.
The guest room wasn’t far from his courtyard, so it didn’t take long for Jiang Qingliang to arrive.
He came just in time. The doctor had finished diagnosing Jiang Juan and was about to leave. Xue Fangli insisted on personally seeing him off, so the poor old doctor had to nervously accompany the notorious prince.
Jiang Qingliang knocked on the door, and once he confirmed the prince wasn’t inside, he immediately became bold. He patted the book and incredulously asked, “Brother Juan, so you didn’t have a heart episode. Earlier, you acted like that because you saw this book?”
Jiang Juan, feeling defensive, replied, “What else? I told you I was fine, but you didn’t believe me.”
Jiang Qingliang was speechless, “Brother Juan, was it really necessary?”
It was just a *Spring Palace Illustration*, but Jiang Juan not only blushed but also said his heart was racing, scaring everyone half to death.
Jiang Juan glanced at him, “None of your business.”
Jiang Qingliang said irritably, “Come on, it’s just a Spring Palace Illustration. You’ve been married to His Highness for so long. Even if you haven’t seen a pig run, haven’t you at least eaten pork?”
Jiang Juan: “…”
Good question. Jiang Juan really hadn’t, and he fell silent.
This unusual silence made Jiang Qingliang realize something. He was shocked and said, “You really haven’t?”
Jiang Juan’s eyes wandered again, “Why are you asking so many questions?”
Jiang Qingliang was stunned. As far as he knew, His Highness really adored Jiang Juan. This didn’t make sense, it really didn’t. After thinking it over, Jiang Qingliang asked with a serious expression, “Is it that… His Highness can’t?”
Jiang Juan: “???”
Since it concerned His Highness, Jiang Juan felt obligated to defend him, “You’re the one who can’t. His Highness is perfectly fine.”
“Then why haven’t you…”
Jiang Juan really didn’t want to discuss this. Flustered and angry, he said, “Get out, just get out.”
Jiang Qingliang had originally come just to vent his grievances. Now that he had, he didn’t dare stay any longer, fearing he might run into Xue Fangli. Jiang Juan chased him out, so he didn’t provoke him further.
—His Brother Juan had a heart condition; he couldn’t afford to provoke him.
Jiang Qingliang slunk away dejectedly, but as soon as he opened the door, he ran into someone.
Xue Fangli had returned at some point and stood there. He glanced at Jiang Qingliang without much expression, then looked down at the Spring Palace Illustration in his hand.
Jiang Qingliang: “…”
Under Xue Fangli’s gaze, his fingers couldn’t help but tremble. Remembering what he had said, Jiang Qingliang felt a chill run down his spine, hoping Xue Fangli hadn’t heard too much.
But fate was unkind. Jiang Juan, seeing that Jiang Qingliang hadn’t left, emphasized again, “I told you, His Highness is fine. Why aren’t you leaving?”
Jiang Qingliang felt utterly hopeless.
Next, Jiang Juan was also taken aback.
“Thank you, wife, for clarifying for me.”
Xue Fangli took the book from Jiang Qingliang’s hand, flipped through it briefly, and with a faint smile said, “So, it turns out wife wasn’t having a heart episode, but was just looking at a Spring Palace Illustration with someone.”
“It really made me worry for nothing.”
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