Chapter 86
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Jiang Juan: “?”
His Highness actually thought he was annoying.
Who exactly had shaken him awake?
Jiang Juan found Xue Fangli annoying as well; he felt like he was being unfairly blamed.
Since the memorials had already been left behind and His Highness had lost his use for them, Jiang Juan decided to ignore him and began listlessly listening to their conversation. It was so boring that, before long, Jiang Juan found his mind wandering elsewhere.
For most of the day, Jiang Juan was pinned in the study, forced to listen in.
As dusk approached, the final memorial was finally dealt with. Gu Yunzhi and the others had no intention of staying any longer, so they prepared to take their leave. However, Xue Fangli said, “Wait a moment.”
“Let’s review the memorial from Yangzhou again.”
This meant they needed to discuss it further.
Hearing that the Yangzhou memorial was being discussed, Jiang Juan perked up. After lounging around in Xue Fangli’s embrace for the whole day, his bones felt like they were about to turn to jelly, so he took the opportunity to stretch. Xue Fangli noticed and remarked: “You seem to have energy now that we’re talking about this.”
Jiang Juan, with a sense of righteous indignation, replied, “This is what I wanted to hear, so of course I have energy.”
Xue Fangli glanced at him and held Jiang Juan’s hand, clasping it between his fingers before speaking, “The geography and climate of Jiangnan are prone to flooding. In the past years, there were no issues, only good luck.”
Gu Yunzhi: “Does Your Highness mean…?”
Xue Fangli: “Allocate funds for flood management.”
Managing it well was possible, given that the southern region had many hazards. However, the problem was how to manage it and who to send for the task. Gu Yunzhi sighed, “In previous years, there was Chang Jiushan, but since his resignation, there has been no one in the court skilled in flood management. No one is available to take on this task.”
Xue Fangli said flatly, “If no one in the court is available, then recruit widely and appoint those capable.”
What a coincidence, Jiang Juan had recently encountered someone who might be suitable. He hesitated and said, “I know of someone who might be able.”
“He is skilled in water management and enjoys working on things that could help prevent floods. Even my…”
Jiang Juan earnestly fabricated, “Even my grandfather praised him as a flood management genius, but he never passed the imperial examination, so he has never been appointed as an official or given a proper role.”
Mentioning his grandfather’s high status, Jiang Juan hoped Gu Yunzhi would be more convinced. If his grandfather approved of this person, Gu Yunzhi might be more inclined to trust him.
Sure enough, upon hearing that even Bai Xuechao praised him, Gu Yunzhi became interested and eagerly asked, “Who is he? His water management skills are even praised by Mr. Bai.”
Jiang Juan replied, “His name is Xie Bailu. He is a stableman at the Imperial Stable.”
“Xie Bailu…”
Gu Yunzhi repeated the name a few times, “I will go to the Imperial Stable to find him with someone tomorrow.”
If this person is suitable, it would surely help alleviate the situation in Jiangnan for a while.
In the novel, Gu Yunzhi is a flood management genius himself, so his personal search for this person indicates he still wants to confirm his abilities. Jiang Juan wasn’t worried about this. He simply said, “Prime Minister Gu, if he is willing, he might not want to go south…”
Jiang Juan remembered that the protagonist shou and the Marquis of Anping had to visit him three times to persuade him to manage the floods. To save his own life, even as lazy as he was, Jiang Juan thought it best to make a few more trips. “If he’s unwilling, His Highness and I can visit him in person.”
Gu Yunzhi was taken aback, then smiled, “Alright, I will go see him tomorrow.”
With everything in place, they just needed Xie Bailu. Jiang Juan felt a great sense of relief as Gu Yunzhi and the others took their leave.
Outside, night had fallen.
“I thought His Highness still needed some tempering, but unexpectedly… he has quite a bit of insight and ideas.”
Gu Yunzhi smiled. Today, he had assisted from the sidelines and initially thought that this prince would need time to get the hang of handling state affairs for the first time. However, to his surprise, His Highness handled both personnel matters and decisions with remarkable ease.
Su Feiyue wasn’t surprised at all. “For him, there’s nothing he can’t do; it’s just a matter of whether he wants to.”
Gu Yunzhi agreed and added, “The same goes for the Crown Prince Consort.”
“He is kind-hearted and cares about the well-being of the people. With hia virtuous nature, he will surely be a great asset to His Highness in the future.”
The virtuous Crown Prince Consort was feeling quite guilty at the moment.
He managed to deceive Gu Yunzhi but couldn’t fool Xue Fangli, who had also been present when Xie Bailu was seen that day.
Once everyone had left, the study fell silent. Jiang Juan waited for a while but didn’t hear Xue Fangli ask him anything, so he decided to break the silence himself. “Your Highness, why aren’t you asking me anything?”
“What’s there to ask?” Xue Fangli replied blandly.
Jiang Juan had been nervous, thinking Xue Fangli would ask him something, but now that he wasn’t being questioned, Jiang Juan felt a bit displeased. “What’s with you? Don’t you have any curiosity at all?”
Xue Fangli: “I’m not you.”
After a pause, Xue Fangli lifted his gaze again and continued, “I can never figure out what you’re thinking every day. Even if I wanted to question you, I wouldn’t get any clear answers.”
Jiang Juan: …
This is frustrating.
“Besides…” Xue Fangli asked, “Even if I did question you, would you give me an honest answer?”
Of course not, Jiang Juan remained silent. He awkwardly changed the subject. “Your Highness, will you be this busy every day?”
Xue Fangli glanced at him. “Not necessarily.”
Jiang Juan replied with a simple “oh.” Still sitting in Xue Fangli’s lap, he was truly tired from sitting. He tried to get up but was suddenly pulled back and held around the waist.
“Your Highness, what are you doing?”
Jiang Juan couldn’t see, and the sudden pull startled him. Fortunately, he was pulled back into Xue Fangli’s embrace and ended up sitting on his lap rather than falling.
Xue Fangli slowly asked, “Do you remember what you promised me before we came here?”
Jiang Juan blinked. “Huh? What did I promise?”
Xue Fangli held his chin. “I said… tonight, I would teach you something new.”
Jiang Juan curiously asked, “What new thing?”
Xue Fangli raised an eyebrow with a smirk. “Aren’t you curious about what we’re going to do?”
When he made the promise, Jiang Juan hadn’t thought much of it, only focused on clearing things up for himself. Hearing Xue Fangli’s question now, he pondered for a moment.
“Are we playing with me?”
Jiang Juan asked softly. He didn’t dislike being affectionate with Xue Fangli; in fact, he quite enjoyed it. As long as Xue Fangli wasn’t too rough with his waist, Jiang Juan said, “You can play with me. But be gentle, though I won’t break, I’m afraid it will hurt.”
He spoke so straightforwardly, yet his innocent expression made it quite irresistible.
Xue Fangli’s throat moved as he replied with a “Hmm,” casually ordering, “Everyone, leave.”
The servants in the study were all dismissed. Jiang Juan climbed onto Xue Fangli’s neck, tilting his head up, waiting for his kiss.
The youth’s lips had been gently caressed by Xue Fangli many times before—soft and moist. At this moment, the flushed pink of his lips had faded, turning a lighter shade. Xue Fangli preferred to see the youth’s face flushed with a rosy glow.
He could tease him like this, kiss him like this, and also…
Tantalize him like this.
The kiss started off tenderly, so tender that Jiang Juan could still think of little grievances and asked, “Your Highness, is there any cat hair in my mouth?”
As the kiss grew hotter, their breaths intertwined, Xue Fangli’s lips and tongue invaded persistently. Jiang Juan was kissed to the point of almost melting into the man’s embrace, only able to moan softly.
Jiang Juan truly lacked self-control. After being kissed once to the point of daze, it happened again. In his foggy state, his clothes were loosened, and his legs were grasped.
These legs were well-proportioned, with just a bit of soft flesh, feeling as tender as snow.
With firm hands, his fingertips sank slightly into the flesh. Jiang Juan, lost in the kiss, couldn’t focus on anything else and could only breathe heavily—just like the previous night, he was kissed to the point of losing all clarity, allowing someone to take advantage of him, but his memory was as short as ever.
Until that hand became restless.
Jiang Juan gasped and instinctively clamped down on the hand. He turned his head slightly, trying to clear his head, not wanting to continue. But Xue Fangli showed no signs of stopping, chasing him down with kisses.
“I don’t…”
Even the slowest prey realized the danger at this moment, but it was too late. Xue Fangli, as if to punish him, lightly bit him, holding Jiang Juan’s head tightly, leaving him no escape, forcing him to endure this highly aggressive kiss.
Before long, Jiang Juan was once again dazed by the kiss. The hand he had clamped down on was freed and began to roam on his body.
…
It was hard to tell how much time had passed before Xue Fangli lowered his head, his voice languid. “Do you like this new way of playing?”
Jiang Juan slowly shook his head. His hair was scattered in wet strands around his neck, and his eyelashes were damp, as if he was about to cry, saying, “…I don’t like it.”
“After kissing for so long, why isn’t your mouth softer?”
Xue Fangli slowly wiped his hands and asked, “Why are you sitting so far away?”
Jiang Juan was almost sitting on Xue Fangli’s lap. Xue Fangli reached out to pull him back, but Jiang Juan shook his head repeatedly and pushed him in a panic, saying, “I don’t want to sit back, you…you…”
“What?”
“…It’s uncomfortable.”
Xue Fangli paused his action of cleaning his fingers, looked at Jiang Juan with a half-smile, and said, “I won’t touch you for now, so what are you afraid of?”
Jiang Juan accused, “Was it a ghost touching me just now?”
Xue Fangli: “Don’t you want to be the Royal Consort?”
His voice was leisurely, “I’m just teaching you how to be the Royal Consort—or rather, the Crown Prince Consort now.”
Jiang Juan didn’t want to engage with him. He sat far away, refusing to move back. So Xue Fangli leaned forward and hugged him, his chin resting on Jiang Juan’s shoulder, inhaling the faint herbal scent on the young man. Xue Fangli said slowly, “You still have a long way to go.”
“In a few days, I’ll teach you some more interesting things.”
Jiang Juan: “……….”
What games? He wouldn’t let the prince play with him anymore.
In the future, only kisses were allowed, no more playing!
Having learned his lesson, Jiang Juan wouldn’t be fooled again. He complained, “What’s more interesting? You just want to bully me. You won’t trick me again.”
Xue Fangli didn’t mind and lazily said, “Next time, don’t try to trap my hand again. You can’t hold it anyway, it’s pointless.”
“In the end, with just a kiss, you turn into a puddle of water.”
His tone seemed regretful, but his expression was thoroughly satisfied, “So spineless.”
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