Chapter 26 Chapter 26 The princess gave Fu a handmade string of hands...

It was already dark at 11:00 PM, and warm yellow candles were burning in the house.

The young man's stern brows were softened by the candlelight, his eyelashes drooped, his voice was very soft, yet very low and hoarse, and a slight tremor could be heard.

The hand she couldn't see was tightly gripping the edge of the chair, the knuckles were so tight that they turned blue and white. Shen Qingchen tried his best to control his emotions and looked at her.

Jiang Hexue was stunned when she met his moist eyes.

"You missed me." After a moment, she spoke with certainty.

Shen Qingchen did not refute.

Her heart felt soft and wet. Jiang Hexue took his hand, spread his fingers apart, and put her fingers between his.

Shen Qingchen held on tightly, clasping his fingers with hers.

"Tomorrow we'll have the New Year's Eve banquet. I'll go home with you afterward." Jiang Hexue held on to his bottom line. "Of course I don't want you."

"Having her company is enough for me," she added comfortingly. "Except for the bland food and the lack of grapes and water, there's nothing to complain about."

Even though the food was not to her liking, she still had to stay with Fu Wang.

Is Fu Wang so much better than me?

Shen Qingchen said in a muffled tone: “There are grapes thirsty for water in the palace.”

"It really can't be done today." Jiang Hexue refused sternly.

He hummed softly and didn't insist. His feathery eyelashes drooped wetly, and his beautiful eyebrows were covered with an obvious loss.

"I'll be with you for the entire New Year holiday, okay?" Jiang Hexue shook his hand. "I'll be with you for as many days as you take off."

"Okay." Shen Qingchen said this time, with a faint red on the tip of his nose.

"You were so fierce just now, but now you're so cute." Jiang Hexue's heart softened. She stood up and stretched out her arms to hug him. "Hug Zhaohua."

She stood while he sat. In this position, she was half a head taller than him. Shen Qingchen hugged her back and rubbed his nose against her shoulder.

The soft hair also made her neck itchy.

"Are you acting like a spoiled brat?" Jiang Hexue pushed aside the strands of hair and smiled.

Shen Qingchen did not answer, but raised his finger and placed it lightly on the back of her fragile and defenseless neck.

As long as he exerted a little force, she would faint, and then he would carry her home to be with him instead of with Fu Wang.

But if that were the case, she would definitely get tired of him when she woke up.

The surging possessiveness was suppressed with all his strength, Shen Qingchen calmed his breathing and buried his whole face in her shoulder.

He raised his nose slightly and carefully sniffed the fragrance on her body.

"Zhaohua, you're just acting like a spoiled brat." Jiang Hexue hugged him tightly and raised her hand to touch the top of his head. "Pattern your head, smooth your fur."

His hair was jet black and felt soft and smooth. She couldn't help but touch it a few more times. As she touched it, she began to rub it: "Cute baby."

The crimson color immediately stained his cold white ears and spread down his neck.

"You're embarrassed." Jiang Hexue pinched his earlobe, deliberately teasing him. "Baby?"

Shen Qingchen looked up, her eyelashes trembling violently, she moved her lips, but said nothing.

I want to tell her "no", but it seems that my true feelings are against it.

He also wanted to ask her if she would call other people like this, but he was afraid that she would be annoyed by his talkativeness.

He then buried his head again and called softly, "Qiong Qiong."

"Don't be like this anymore." Jiang Hexue stroked his hair, amused and softened by his clinginess. "I'll go back home tomorrow and stick with you."

"Clingy baby," she kissed him lovingly. "Qiong Qiong's good baby."

-

The reason for living in Princess Kunyi's mansion is that after curfew, Jiang Hexue has to make incense with Ruan Yueyi.

The calming incense mud for the concubines had been prepared. Jiang Hexue picked up the dried snow-covered spring incense beads and strung them together, one by one, and one by one, a red jade rabbit bead.

Ruan Yueyi sat across from her, tired of painting, and absentmindedly fed Xiao Qionghua some melon seeds: "It's so fat."

"How can you not get fat if you feed melon seeds all day long?" Jiang Hexue said, stringing her beads. "I feed cornmeal in the palace."

"It loves to eat." Ruan Yueyi ruffled the little Qionghua's fluffy feathers and said to it. "If you keep eating too much, you'll get as fat as a chicken."

"How could that be!" Jiang Hexue retorted in surprise. "Little Qionghua, come to mother."

"Scoundrel!" Little Qionghua cursed Ruan Yueyi before flapping her wings and flying over. After being rubbed by her, she lay still on the table, round and fluffy like a ball.

"It listens to Zhao Hua the most and learns everything he teaches it." Jiang Hexue said with a smile while stringing her beads.

"Zhaohua! Zhaohua!" Xiao Qionghua called out in cooperation.

"I'll take you back to see daddy tomorrow." After the bracelet was strung together, Jiang Hexue looked at it with satisfaction and hung it on the bamboo rack for drying.

"You're raising it like your own son? You're actually calling it little uncle." Ruan Yueyi tutted. "You know how to tame a husband."

"Zhaohua is good enough," Jiang Hexue said with a smile. "She's a bit quiet, but gentle and considerate, and sometimes... she's even cute."

"I'm afraid we don't know the same person." Ruan Yueyi shook her head in amusement, then suddenly sighed. "I thought you would marry Fu Wang."

"No." Jiang Hexue shook her head firmly. "Even if it wasn't Zhao Hua, it wouldn't be Fu Er."

"When I was young, Jiang Tao stopped me from getting the uterine sac implanted." She opened her mouth to Ruan Yueyi's surprised gaze, unable to reveal the past to her. "Even if they hadn't kicked me out, when I came of age, they would have used this to accuse me of losing my virginity..."

"Fu Er is unbridled, but Uncle Fu values ​​his reputation above all else." She poked Xiao Qionghua intermittently, saying nonchalantly, "I've never considered marrying him. It's just that having a childhood marriage would save a lot of trouble. Besides, he's not ugly, so it won't bring shame."

"From what I hear, Jiang Tao is even more vicious than Ruan Ming." Ruan Yueyi sighed, stood up and walked towards her. "I've finished making the incense. There's a palace banquet tomorrow. Do you want to make some nail polish?"

Jiang Hexue looked at the empty nails and nodded happily: "I want to fix the shape and add a few more South China pearls."

"Scoundrel!" Xiao Qionghua held a grudge and started cursing again when she saw Ruan Yueyi standing in front of her.

"Fat bird." Ruan Yueyi poked it. "Chicken."

Little Qionghua pecked her angrily.

"Don't be angry, don't be angry." Jiang Hexue brought it back, rubbed its fur soothingly, and said to Ruan Yueyi, "Don't take it with you, so you won't have to argue."

The candles were blown out and the two girls returned to their room side by side.

In the moonlight, the chubby little Qionghua squatting on the table shook its feathers, tilted its head to look at the gorgeous and exquisite bracelet, and then looked at the table opposite which only had a few pieces of rice paper on it.

The dark eyes blinked and came to a conclusion.

The annoying "fat chicken" is richer than my mother, so this gorgeous bracelet must be hers!

It stretched its neck and pecked at the scent beads.

-

The 22nd year of Yongjia. New Year's Day

When Jiang Hexue woke up in the morning, she collapsed.

"You're stupid! Stupid bird!" She looked at the bracelet with a distressed look, wanting to cry but unable to. "Mother has been making New Year's gifts for Daddy for several days!"

"It's not a big deal." Ruan Yueyi leaned over to take a look. "It's just that these two incense beads are broken into a small piece. The rest are all tiny pecking marks, which are not noticeable unless you look closely."

"But this is for Zhaohua." Jiang Hexue sighed. "He's so perfect, I can't tolerate even the slightest flaw."

"Although the New Year's Day is long, today is the first day. He will definitely give me a New Year's gift today... I will think about it for a while." She still carefully put the beads into her purse, grabbed the back of Xiao Qionghua's neck and put it back into the birdcage, and then left the house with Ruan Yueyi to attend the banquet.

When we arrived at the palace, we were an hour early.

Ruan Yueyi was going to pay her respects to Emperor Hengshun, and Jiang Hexue was waiting for Shen Qingchen to enter the palace, so she simply wandered around the Imperial Garden.

While strolling around, I was thinking about the New Year gifts.

"Fu has met the princess."

"Why are you here so early?" Jiang Hexue asked casually, pulling the flower stem without interest.

"I'm just free." Fu Wang answered casually. "Are you worried about something?"

He was always full of clever ideas, so Jiang Hexue simply told him everything. At the end, she drooped her eyelashes and said, "Zhao Hua must have prepared it very carefully. Maybe he made it himself..."

Fu Wang took the bracelet and looked at it carefully.

"I have an idea." After thinking for a moment, he said it, then rummaged through his purse, found a piece of incense and handed it to her.

"What kind of fragrance is this?" Jiang Hexue took it and sniffed it, but found nothing after trying to identify it, so he asked in surprise.

"From Qingyuan," Fu Wang replied. "I was staying at the same posthouse as the Qingyuan envoy, and I exchanged two coins."

"I can give it to you," he said, noting her fondness. "But it has to be in exchange."

"You want this bracelet?" Jiang Hexue hooked it back with her finger. "No."

"You're taking it for nothing! I'm here to help you out of your immediate need!" Fu Wang jumped up and down. "Since you're not giving it to him, why not give it to me?"

"I will definitely make up for him in the future. If you two have the same one, what will it matter?"

"I'm not wearing it," Fu Wang said. "My niece is almost a year old. She's a little girl, and she likes pretty and interesting things. I took this to amuse her. Originally, this incense pendant was given to her."

"Sister Fu Xian is married and has children now." Jiang Hexue sighed, loosening her grip. "Then change it. Please take it back."

Fu Wang took it and assured with a smile.

-

After confirming with Jiang Xingcong that everything was correct, Shen Qingchen followed the message from the palace people and went to the Imperial Garden to look for Jiang Hexue.

"Mr. Fu greets His Highness and wishes you a happy new year." He took a few steps and bumped into Fu Wang.

"Have fun together." Shen Qingchen said perfunctorily.

"I have known Your Highness for many years. I did not reminisce with Your Highness last time. It was a breach of etiquette on my part." Fu Wang insisted on continuing.

"This prince and Master Fu have no past to discuss." Shen Qingchen did not want to say more and walked around him and went inside.

"That's right. After all, the one who has deep feelings for Fu is..." Fu Wang didn't chase after her, but just smiled nonchalantly.

Shen Qingchen stopped: “Xuezhu.”

"I'm here." Xue Zhu understood and dismissed the eunuchs who were accompanying him. "His Highness is discussing matters with Master Fu. Everyone, please step aside."

"Such ambiguous words will damage the reputation of the princess." Shen Qingchen said coldly. "Master Fu, please be careful with your words."

"I'm not talking nonsense." Fu Wang laughed recklessly. "Your Highness cherishes the princess so much, can you expect the princess to treat you sincerely?"

Shen Qingchen did not answer: "Mr. Fu has overstepped the bounds."

"In the eyes of His Highness, I am already disrespectful and unruly." Fu Wang spread his hands meaninglessly and suddenly said, "Today is New Year's Day. Has Your Highness received the New Year's gift from the princess?"

“Fu has received it.” He avoided Shen Qingchen’s gradually cold eyes, stroked the red jade fragrance beads on his wrist, and smiled.

"It's a string of beads made by the princess herself."