Chapter 5: Fireworks: It Doesn't Matter If He Has One More Person

Snowflakes were flying everywhere, and when Shen Zhiwei returned to Xiao Lingjun, the banquet was already coming to an end.

At this time, the hall was not as noisy as before. The crown prince leaned against the table with his chin supported, his eyes moving from the red ears of his study partner to the plum branch in his hand.

The white jade pot on the low table was empty. He drank more than usual, and his face flushed, a rare color.

"Third brother is good at offering gifts to Buddha, but has Ah Wei become soft-hearted?"

Shen Zhiwei knew at a glance that her prince was already drunk and confused. Under normal circumstances, Xiao Lingjun would never say such explicit words.

"I dare not."

"It's not that I don't dare, but that I can't."

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince responded with astonishing speed, and when Shen Zhiwei bent down, he grabbed her wrist and pulled it.

The force on his wrist came so suddenly that Shen Bandu lost his balance and fell into the arms of the crown prince, which were filled with the aroma of wine.

They hadn't communicated like this for a long time, and it was like a quarrel between children.

But no one wanted to be rude or hostile.

Shen Zhiwei's heart softened, and she felt as if she was a little drunk. She stood up from Xiao Lingjun's arms. The strength of the Crown Prince's shackles was not strong enough, and it was easy to pull her hands out.

Shen Bandu raised his hand and touched his temples as he did in childhood, temporarily giving up trying to reason with the drunkard: "Your Highness, it's time to return to the palace."

"Aren't we still going to make a snowman?"

The effect of this sentence was immediate.

Shen Zhiwei saw the crown prince rubbing the jade bracelet on her wrist with his fingertips, and mist welled up in her eyes. She reluctantly let go.

Although Xiao Lingjun was smiling, his words were full of condemnation: "Awei is always good at using my words to block people."

The cold-hearted Master Shen turned a deaf ear to these words and helped his prince into the warm sedan chair, occasionally turning his head to glance at him to see if he was cold or sleepy.

Every time I meet the crown prince's smiling gaze.

The road back to the East Palace was short, but the snow was deep. The courtyard had been swept clean long ago, but the snow was still falling, and in just half a cup of tea, shallow traces of snow had formed again.

Shen Zhiwei and Xiao Lingjun crossed the threshold together. It was hard to describe who was supporting whom. The road was slippery in the snow, and neither Shen Zhiwei nor the drunken Crown Prince wanted to let the other fall. Each step was small and light, with a sense of cherishment.

In the eyes of the servants, it was moving at a snail's pace.

The palace maids were waiting in the corridor with lanterns in their hands. When they saw them return, they hurried over to greet them and brought them into the house to serve them ginger soup.

Xiao Lingjun took the jade bowl but didn't drink. He dipped his fingertips into the hot mist and used it to warm Chen Zhiwei's earlobe: "Where's Ah Wei's hand warmer?"

"I just used it to warm the sedan chair for His Highness." Shen Zhiwei let him knead her, coughing lightly with some amusement, and even her voice was stained with the warmth of the crown prince's fingertips, "I am not cold."

There was a subtle tremor at the end of his words. Shen Zhiwei usually had a dead face, but now his eyelashes were still stained with unmelted snow, which showed a rare bit of freshness.

Xiao Lingjun recalled the first snow when he was sixteen years old. Shen Zhiwei, wrapped in red fox fur, stuffed snowballs into his neck and smiled like a cat that had stolen some meat.

Now the fox fur has been replaced by a peacock cloak, and the cat has become a crane with folded wings.

"Nonsense," the crown prince untied his outer robe and wrapped it around her body, which was already thicker than usual. The brocade was warm, "After you finish this, go back to the house."

As he said this, he squatted down first.

Shen Zhiwei watched Xiao Lingjun squat down and make a snowball. The powerful crown prince condescended to make a snowman. If this got out, the censors would probably drop their tablets in shock.

In fact, it is like this every New Year’s Eve.

"Young Master, why are you in a daze? His Highness said yesterday that he wanted to see a snowman wearing a jade crown..." Jing Shu came over with a new cloak, smiled and stuffed it into Shen Zhiwei's hands and winked at her. When she saw the red corners of His Highness the Crown Prince's eyes, she paused and her voice gradually lowered.

Xiao Lingjun was very skillful, and while Jingshu was talking, the snowman had already taken shape into two outlines, one big and one small, both crooked.

It seemed that he was still very drunk. Shen Zhiwei frowned slightly and stepped forward quickly to tighten his cloak for him.

Xiao Lingjun lowered his eyes and smiled, then leaned over and pulled the sweat-soaked plum branch from Shen Zhiwei's hand. Shen Zhiwei had held it too tightly just now, and there was a crack in the middle of the branch.

Before his companion, whose fingertips were shrouded in frost and snow, could stop him, he saw him insert a plum branch into the slightly larger snowman's head. The unmelted ice crystals on the branch sparkled in the light of the glass lamp, making it look like a crooked crown.

"Gu and Awei."

The crown prince's voice was laced with a drunken smile, and the tip of the branch turned and poked the little snowman's heart. The peacock feathers at the collar of Shen Zhiwei's coat trembled in the cold wind, and in a trance, his heart felt like it was immersed in warm water.

So sore and weak.

Shen Zhiwei's Adam's apple rolled as she reached out to support the shaky Xiao Lingjun, only to see the Crown Prince suddenly turn and rest his forehead on her shoulder, his breath mingling with the scent of alcohol and medicine. The Eastern Palace had been filled with the bitter aroma of medicine since the day she arrived, and over the years, even the ends of Xiao Lingjun's hair were stained with the scent of Chinese medicine.

"How come it's colder than a snowman?"

"Your Highness is drunk." She lowered her voice, as if coaxing a child who refused to sleep.

"Um……"

"May I help you return to your bedroom?"

"Awei needs to carry it on his back."

Shen Zhiwei looked at the crown prince, who was half a head taller than her, and then looked at Jingshu helplessly. The little palace maid was giggling with a handkerchief covering her mouth. Seeing Shen Bandu's sharp eyes, she quickly ordered the palace servants to bring the sedan chair.

The warmth of the cage made one's bones numb. The hangover soup on the stove had been warming for a long time, but Xiao Lingjun didn't even glance at it. He leaned back on the couch and said, "Everyone, leave."

The attendants dispersed like the receding tide, and only the two of them were left in the hall.

Shen Zhiwei took off his and Xiao Lingjun's coats and hung them on the fumigation cage to dry. When he turned around, he saw Xiao Lingjun looking at him with his forehead supported.

Perhaps it was because he had taken off the jade crown, the crown prince's eyebrows were soft and almost gentle in the warm light. His scattered hair hung on the collar of his clothes embroidered with python patterns, showing some of his youthful and immature appearance.

Coupled with the fine golden shadows cast by the candlelight on the crown prince's eyelashes, it is indeed a very pleasing sight.

Xiao Lingjun reached out and grasped her wrist as she was arranging the bedding, and with a gentle but unquestionable gesture, he led her to sit on the brocade quilt.

Shen Zhiwei's ears felt warm for some reason, her clenched fingertips curled in the crown prince's palm. From outside the window came the muted laughter of the palace maids who were keeping watch for the New Year. The stomping of their feet and the shaking of snow were distinctly audible, adding to the stillness of the chamber. Ultimately, she didn't move, letting Xiao Lingjun wrap them both in the brocade quilt.

The two of them huddled together in a small blanket, their body temperatures almost blending together.

It was very warm, so warm that Shen Zhiwei felt a little drowsy.

"Awei." The crown prince's gentle voice came from above his head, and Xiao Lingjun's fingertips touched her slightly frowned brows.

"Just smile."

While Shen Zhiwei was dazed, the corners of her mouth were pinched and raised. Xiao Lingjun's thumb rubbed the dimples on her lips, and the drunkenness in his eyes turned into amber frosting: "This looks good."

"I am not a clay doll."

"It's a lonely crane." Xiao Lingjun grabbed her hand that was trying to cover her eyes and eyebrows, interlocked their fingers and pressed them against the pillow. "A crane that drinks ice and eats snow should rest in a warm room."

Shen Zhiwei stared at the crown prince's eyebrows for a while, his eyes curved into thin crescents, and his pronunciation was gentler than ever before.

"I am willing to endure the wind and rain."

The time is approaching, and it is only a matter of time before she commits suicide, and Xiao Lingjun alone cannot stop her.

The palace lanterns swayed in the night wind, and the sound of fireworks pierced the silence. Before Shen Zhiwei could react, Xiao Lingjun had already pulled her up and sat her up, his fingertips prying open half of the carved wooden window.

Thousands of golden rays bloomed in the inky sky, reflecting the snow into the color of glass.

"What is Awei's New Year's wish?"

Xiao Lingjun rested his chin on her shoulder, and Shen Zhiwei looked at the falling fire in the sky.

On that snowy night ten years ago, the young prince held her frozen hands and tied the red silk for blessing to the branches of a dead tree.

At that time, the little prince said that he wanted to be Awei's spring breeze.

"Awei said this while holding it in his mouth," the High Prince blinked and, as if by magic, produced two gold foil-wrapped candies, the wrappers shimmering in the fireworks. "I stole these from the small kitchen."

The crown prince of the current dynasty said the word "shun" without blushing.

Shen Zhiwei opened his lips slightly and accidentally brushed the other person's fingertips with his teeth. At the moment when the sweetness spread, a cluster of fireworks exploded outside the window, illuminating Xiao Lingjun's eyes with stars.

"May Your Highness be safe and sound forever." She spoke vaguely while holding a candy in her mouth.

"What else?"

"May the rivers and seas be peaceful and the people live in peace."

"Awei's wish is never for herself," Xiao Lingjun smiled mischievously, pressing her hand on his warm heart, "Then I will make a wish. Awei and I..."

"Every year the snow falls in my palm, and every year I watch the fireworks together."

…

You could hear a pin drop in the room. Shen Zhiwei suddenly raised her head and saw her own astonished face in Xiao Lingjun's eyes.

“…Your Highness is drunk.”

"Yeah, I'm drunk."

He was so righteous that it made people angry for a moment without knowing why.

"Your Highness said he wanted to be a wise ruler." After a long silence, Shen Zhiwei gritted his teeth and spoke, his voice as light as snow falling on plum branches.

"I remember."

"A wise ruler shouldn't..."

"Your Excellency is also considerate," Xiao Lingjun pulled her into his arms, resting his chin on her head and chuckling softly, "Awei, you should at least allow me to indulge in some pleasure for a while."

There were soft footsteps outside the bedroom, and Jing Shu called softly through the screen: "Your Highness, it's time for the young master to take his medicine."

Xiao Lingjun loosened his arms and glanced at Shen Zhiwei, who still had a faint red tip on her ear.

The crown prince knew his own study partner well enough to know she might be angry. He feigned ignorance and let the girl in. He took the warm medicine bowl and stirred it, then tapped the porcelain spoon lightly on the rim. "I had someone add some acacia honey."

The bitterness of the medicine was diluted by the sweetness. Shen Zhiwei licked the tip of the spoon and raised his eyes to meet Xiao Lingjun's smiling eyes. His anger inexplicably eased a little.

That’s true, but it’s nothing if you just indulge in pleasure for a moment.

At three quarters past midnight, Seventeen climbed through the window holding a red silk package, his dark suit stained with flour. "Your Highness, Young Master, this is a New Year's gift from the Third Prince."

The red silk unfurled to reveal a black fox fur coat. Amidst the snow-white fur lay a gilded hand warmer, its body engraved with plum blossoms. Beneath it lay a New Year's greeting card, inscribed in Xiao Wangqing's powerful handwriting: "The snow is heavy on New Year's Eve, and charcoal fires are harmful to health."

"Why didn't you inform me?" Xiao Lingjun picked up the hand warmer and twirled it in his palm. He could see the contents of the letter clearly by the candlelight and couldn't help laughing. "It uses double gilding. It's more thoughtful than the craftsmen in the Eastern Palace."

Seventeen scratched his cheek and recalled: "The Third Prince came alone and left after seeing him off."

Shen Zhiwei's fingertips brushed the cloud pattern on the collar of the fox fur coat. The fur was softer than she had expected, as if she had scooped up a handful of early spring catkins.

Just as she was hesitating whether to explain, she suddenly felt warmth on her wrist. The crown prince stuffed the hand warmer into her arms and took the fox fur coat and tied the laces carefully.

The fingertips with the scent of medicine brushed across her chin, and she heard Xiao Lingjun's whisper, which was almost a sigh.

"My lonely Awei deserves to be cherished by thousands of people."

"One more person won't hurt."

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Because they know each other's thoughts too well, Shen Zhiwei and Xiao Lingjun rarely quarrel. Their daily routine is conflict, silence, and then they smile at each other.