Chapter 17: But she still thought of Xiao Ling in her heart.
Xiao Xu left the side hall and returned to the main house.
As soon as I pushed open the door, before my gaze was even focused, I caught a glimpse of a startled tremor out of the corner of my eye.
He turned his head and saw Yun Sheng staring at him with wide eyes.
Xiao Xu smiled slightly: "What's wrong? Thinking about something?"
Yun Sheng shook her head: "No, we're waiting for you. Aren't we going to pay our respects to Father and Mother?"
She had clearly been startled by her distraction, and her cheeks were still flushed, her expression somewhat unnatural.
Xiao Xu looked away without exposing her, and walked to the table to pour himself a cup of tea.
Yun Sheng breathed a slight sigh of relief upon seeing this.
He might know that she was blushing and tense, but he certainly didn't know why.
There was absolutely no way Yun Sheng would tell him that while he was away from the room, she had carefully tidied up the bathroom all by herself.
After Xiao Xu finished his tea, Yun Sheng said, "Chang Yu, shall we go?"
Xiao Xu hummed in agreement and naturally took her hand.
"After today, there will be no need to make a special trip to pay respects to Father and Mother every day."
Yun Sheng asked in confusion, "Why not use it? Didn't Father say that we should not neglect our morning and evening greetings?"
“Mother doesn’t actually like such cumbersome and old-fashioned etiquette. She probably hopes that you can be as comfortable in the Prince Zhao’s residence as you are in your maternal home.”
Yun Sheng hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, but still couldn't help but curl the corners of her lips slightly.
They then went to Rende Hall together, and just as Xiao Xu had said, Shen Yuewan casually asked a few questions about their homecoming today, and then took Yun Sheng's hand and told her that she no longer needed to come to pay her respects every day.
Back in the East Courtyard, dinner had already been prepared and served.
Yun Sheng always felt that her figure was a little chubby, so she always tried to eat as little as possible at dinner.
Today was much later than usual for meals, so she sat at the table and moved her chopsticks very slowly, trying to clear her mind and suppress her cravings.
Xiao Xu glanced at the pumpkin slices in her bowl that had been half-eaten and left untouched for a long time, and asked, "Is it not to your liking?"
Yun Sheng suddenly snapped back to reality, blinking guiltily, "No, I just..."
She looked down and made up an excuse: "I just don't like eating pumpkin."
Xiao Xu picked up his chopsticks and took a slice of bamboo shoot: "Do you like this?"
Almost the instant Yun Sheng nodded perfunctorily, Xiao Xu placed the bamboo shoot into her bowl.
When they took away her chopsticks, they also took away the pumpkin she had half-eaten.
"Changyu, you..."
Before Yun Sheng could finish speaking, she saw Xiao Xu very naturally put the pumpkin slices she had half-eaten into his mouth.
Xiao Xu glanced at him indifferently, as if asking what was wrong.
She had eaten that piece of pumpkin, he asked, and then asked what happened.
Yun Sheng felt a little embarrassed, but then she thought about it and realized that they had already kissed like that in the carriage, and it was just a bitten piece of pumpkin.
Just then, Xiao Xu picked up another shrimp tail for her.
Yun Sheng opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing, and lowered her head to eat in small bites.
But Xiao Xu seemed to have gotten addicted to serving her food. While he was slowly chewing, his chopsticks would be free to keep serving her food.
"No, Changyu, I can't eat anymore."
It's not that I can't eat, or that I don't want to eat, it's that I can't eat anymore.
Xiao Xu paused slightly with his chopsticks: "You're not eating enough. You'll be hungry at night."
Yun Sheng pouted. What she wanted was to eat less; this man didn't understand anything.
"I'm not hungry, I really can't eat anymore."
She glanced at the pork belly she had just taken a big bite of without being able to resist, and felt a surge of indignation.
At home, her father often ate the food that her mother couldn't finish. Xiao Xu had already eaten, so Yun Sheng thought for a moment, then blushed slightly and put the pork belly directly into Xiao Xu's bowl.
Xiao Xu raised an eyebrow slightly, a fleeting emotion—whether surprise or something else—passing through his eyes.
He grunted in agreement and ate the remaining half of the meat that Yun Sheng had left without complaint.
After finishing dinner, Yun Sheng felt a deep sense of guilt.
She has been very disciplined during this period in preparation for her wedding day. Although it has been hard work, it has been somewhat effective.
She always felt lightheaded at night, as if she had truly become as thin as a willow branch.
But today, it's all Xiao Xu's fault for putting so much food on her plate. Before she knew it, she had only half a piece of meat left.
She didn't want her existing achievements to go to waste.
Yun Sheng told Xiao Xu to take a bath first, and then she went to the courtyard to digest her food.
Cuizhu accompanied her for a walk around, and when they returned to the main house, Mushan hurriedly came looking for them.
Mu Shan bowed to Yun Sheng.
Yun Sheng asked, "Is it so late? Are you here to report official business to Chang Yu?"
Mu Shan said apologetically, "Yes, Your Highness, please forgive me. I have important matters to report."
Yun Sheng had assumed that Xiao Xu should have just finished bathing, but since Mu Shan had come looking for her, she had no choice but to walk around the courtyard a little longer.
"Changyu is inside, you can go in."
Mu Shan bowed again and hurriedly headed towards the main house.
For the three days since their marriage, except for the afternoon when Xiao Xu went to Mingyan Mountain, they had been together the whole time. Yun Sheng almost forgot that he was the heir of the Prince Zhao's mansion and also an important official in the court.
He must be very busy on weekdays, and now, even before his honeymoon is over, he's already having a series of business dealings with him.
After that, they won't see each other all the time like this anymore.
Yun Sheng didn't know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing. She felt that being with Xiao Xu all the time was becoming unbearable, but she also anticipated that she would feel lonely if she couldn't see him in the future.
After circling the courtyard a few more times, Cuizhu saw Mushan come out of the main house.
She whispered a reminder: "Princess Consort, Mu Shan has come out."
Yun Sheng said "Oh," and then went back to her room.
Upon entering the room, Yun Sheng saw Xiao Xu standing by the window with his back to her.
She couldn't explain why, but she always felt that his back view exuded a gloomy and violent aura.
But when Xiao Xu turned around upon hearing the sound, his expression remained unchanged, and he even walked towards her.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting outside."
"It's alright, I was just taking a walk in the yard anyway, I only took a few extra steps, I didn't wait too long."
Xiao Xu walked closer, but didn't say anything more.
Yun Sheng casually asked, "Mu Shan is still coming to report official business to you at this hour. Are you usually this busy?"
Xiao Xu's lips tightened, and he drew out his lip line without speaking.
Yun Sheng wasn't looking at him at first, but after not getting a response for a while, she couldn't help but look up.
She looked up and saw that Xiao Xu's eyes were dark. He didn't answer her question, but was quietly looking at her.
Yun Sheng found it strange: "What's wrong? Did I ask something I shouldn't have?"
Xiao Xu finally responded, "No, I have been quite busy in the past, but I will try to spend more time with you in the future."
"...That's not what I meant."
Yun Sheng denied it softly, but she was not ashamed by Xiao Xu's words.
Because she inexplicably felt a strange feeling lingering between them.
She inevitably made some connections.
After a moment, she couldn't help but move her lips slightly and tentatively ask, "Changyu, Mushan came to report to you twice tonight. Was it about Third... Brother? Have you found him?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yun Sheng clearly felt the air fall silent for a moment, and out of the corner of her eye, she also caught a glimpse of Xiao Xu's thin nightgown outlining his taut body lines.
But all of these are fleeting.
Xiao Xu avoided answering, and said in a low voice, "It's getting late. You've been traveling all day and are tired. Go take a bath and let's rest early."
She felt she had guessed correctly.
Yun Sheng frowned slightly, but remained standing still.
Before Xiao Xu could turn around, she reached out and grabbed his arm: "Changyu, there's no need to be so secretive about our third brother. You can tell me directly."
"You really want to know about him?" Xiao Xu's expression was strange.
Yun Sheng said, "I was just saying there's no need to deliberately hide it from me."
This is exactly what I really want to know.
Xiao Xu lowered his eyes, looking at her with an unfathomable gaze. He noticed that the dark emotions hidden in the corners of his mind had once again surfaced uncontrollably.
He wanted to order her not to ask any more questions about Xiao Ling.
Or he could silence her by covering her mouth and making her only make the sounds he wanted to hear.
But she still thought about Xiao Ling.
He wanted to get news about Xiao Ling from him, to know where Xiao Ling was now, and when he would be able to... return to the capital.
Yun Sheng couldn't understand Xiao Xu's emotions at this moment, and even felt a little embarrassed that she might have guessed wrong.
She just felt that since the marriage had already changed, and Xiao Xu himself had said that Xiao Ling would be their younger brother from now on, it would be more normal to face it openly than to deliberately avoid it.
Seeing that Xiao Xu remained silent, she simply stopped asking and instead said, "Then I'm going to take a bath."
Yun Sheng called Cui Zhu into the room to serve her. The warm bathwater enveloped her, and she quickly forgot about the strange, ethereal feeling she had just experienced.
Compared to that little incident that seemed like an illusion, she had other more important things to think about.
Cuizhu, observing the situation, skillfully used the sound of water to cover her voice and asked, "Princess Consort, is something troubling you? Let me help you."
Yun Sheng blinked her eyes and said, "It's not exactly a worry, but I promised to embroider a new sachet for Chang Yu, but I don't have a single idea in my mind."
Cuizhu let out a knowing "Ah".
This matter should not be delayed for too long, but Yun Sheng does not understand Xiao Xu as well as she did Xiao Ling before. She neither wants to be perfunctory nor can she take her time to think it over.
Cuizhu said, "If the Crown Princess feels clueless, why not just try it out? Draw some patterns casually in your spare time, and you might come up with a design you like."
Yun Sheng nodded: "That's true. We're always just thinking about how to get results, but we don't know when we'll have the opportunity."
"Can't I just do it tomorrow when I'm free?"
"I don't want to do this in front of him, it's too embarrassing."
"Then we can only wait until His Highness's wedding leave is over, but it will only be three to five days, not too long."
Yun Sheng frowned, still feeling annoyed.
She was too embarrassed to let Cuizhu know that, besides the matter of the sachet, she was more worried about something else.
She had originally imagined that she would take things step by step with Xiao Xu, but unexpectedly, whether it was because of her lack of willpower or Xiao Xu's intention, their progress was very rapid. In just one day, they had already gone against their original intention of taking things step by step.
She hadn't even had a chance to look through the booklet that Cuizhu had found for her, so she didn't know whether it was normal or not that she had wet her underwear just from a kiss.
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After crawling in the shadows for a long time, you'll eventually be able to stand up and compete.
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