Chapter 52 Chapter 52 He seemed to be crying
Jiang Hexue slept until dusk.
When I woke up from sleep, before I opened my eyes, I felt something warm under my legs, and the touch of warm jade was also warm.
Her reaction was still slow. After holding him for a while, she opened her eyes and found that Shen Qingchen was lying beside her.
Her legs were pressed against his waist, her arms were placed on his neck, and her feet were held in his palms.
Jiang Hexue was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses.
"My own personal hidden sac?" She leaned over and chuckled in his ear. "You were the one who helped me get my hands and feet up?"
Shen Qingchen was asleep and would not answer her, but he seemed to notice her movement and tightened the grip on his hands.
His fingertips just happened to touch the softest part of her foot, his palm wrapped around her entire foot, his thin wrist bones pressed against her ankle, and the red jade bracelet was worn properly on his wrist, which also poked the delicate skin of her foot.
Jiang Hexue felt itchy from his touch and just wanted to shrink back.
This posture always reminded her of the seductive way he would kiss the soles of her feet with his moist thin lips every time she kicked his shoulder in anger.
Thinking of this, and remembering his refusal during the day, he couldn't help but feel resentful.
Is she that envious?
…Well, she did. She felt a pleasurable pleasure just being close to him.
He still held her feet tightly, and Jiang Hexue struggled in vain. She was afraid of waking him up, so she stopped moving and looked at him quietly.
Shen Qingchen had indeed lost a lot of weight, with sunken eye sockets and almost no cheek flesh. Although his bone structure looked more superior and handsome, it made her feel distressed just looking at him.
Jiang Hexue couldn't help but raise her hand and gently tapped his drooping eyelashes, muttering, "Zhaohua, are you too tired?"
Shen Qingchen slept very soundly, probably because he was extremely tired, but he did not snore, and his breathing was steady and long, unlike the Marquis of Zhenbei, who sometimes snored so loudly that she could hear it from across the yard.
"I'll make you something delicious." Jiang Hexue recalled the time when Shen Qingchen accompanied her for a drink. "Take care of you."
She gently moved Shen Qingchen's hand away, pulled her foot out, and carefully moved the other arm around her waist.
This time he didn't move.
Shen Qingchen's hands tightened, he turned sideways and hugged her, muttering something.
"It'll press on your earring." Jiang Hexue didn't hear clearly and quickly reached out to support the edge of his ear. "It will hurt, my dear."
Shen Qingchen seemed to understand, responded vaguely, and hugged her back, pressing her on top of him.
This made it easier for Jiang Hexue to move his arm again.
But the sleeping Shen Qingchen was not easy to deal with at all. She moved for a quarter of an hour, but to no avail. Every time she moved an inch away, he would cling to her and hold her tighter and tighter.
The more Jiang Hexue struggled, the more counterproductive it became.
"Don't..." Shen Qingchen hugged her tightly, and this time she heard the whisper clearly. "No..."
His voice was shaking, as if he had dreamed of something extremely terrifying, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
"Did you have a nightmare?" Jiang Hexue leaned close to him and asked softly. "My dear, what's wrong?"
She didn't know what Shen Qingchen was afraid of, and she had never seen him show fear about anything, so she could only pat the back of his hand to comfort him: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, dear baby, husband, don't be afraid."
After coaxing her gently for a long time, he gradually calmed down, but he still held her tightly and refused to let her go.
"I'm going to the bathroom." Jiang Hexue glanced helplessly at the darkening sky outside the window and lied to him. "I'll be right back, dear."
After finally getting free, she got off the bed, put on a fox fur coat, and went out.
-
Naturally, the cooking in Renshu Temple was not as convenient as that in the palace. The kitchen was used to prepare vegetarian meals for the abbot and pilgrims, and was very busy. Jiang Hexue was embarrassed to go in and borrow a stove for Shen Qingchen to cook.
I walked out of the crowded kitchen, feeling worried, when I saw two familiar figures coming towards me side by side. The taller one was holding a bamboo basket in his hand.
She squinted and recognized Jiang Heye and Shen Chuning.
"Auntie!" Shen Chuning waved to her enthusiastically. Jiang Heye beside her was stunned for a moment and saluted: "Princess."
"What are you doing here?" The bamboo basket in his hand kept making noises, and Jiang Hexue tilted his head curiously.
"Borrow some sauce and grill the fish!" Shen Chuning pulled the bamboo basket in Jiang Heye's hand to show Jiang Hexue.
There were several fat and lively fish inside. Jiang Heye said that they were caught from the river in the back mountain and invited her to join in.
"Sure, I'm just worried about how to get some more dishes for Zhaohua." Jiang Hexue agreed happily, but paused, then realized something was wrong. "Does he like fish?"
She thought hard for a long time before she vaguely remembered that he didn't eat spicy food, so she looked at Shen Chuning for help.
"I don't know." Shen Chuning thought about it for a long time, shook her head helplessly, and asked Jiang Heye. "Does the emperor's uncle like to eat fish?"
"Ask me?" Jiang Heye was surprised and looked at Jiang Hexue. "He is your husband."
Then he looked at Shen Chuning: "He is your uncle."
"If you two don't know, how should I know?" Ever since he knew that Jiang Hexue was his biological sister, he spoke without restraint, as unrestrained as when he was a teenager.
When Jiang Hexue heard what he said, and thought about the dishes that were extremely delicious every time she dined with Chen Qingchen, she suddenly felt guilty.
"I'll go borrow some seasoning." The corners of her lips drooped.
"It's all your fault." Shen Chuning hit Jiang Heye and then said to Jiang Hexue with a curved lip. "Auntie, I haven't heard that the uncle has any dietary restrictions. I'll go with you. We can grill a few more flavors."
They carried out large and small jars and found a pavilion. Jiang Heye went to pick up some firewood, and Shen Chuning squatted down to drill wood to make fire.
"You have a tinder, why are you drilling?" Jiang Heye squatted aside to light the fire. He was about to deal with the fish, but when he turned around, he saw that the fish had been knocked to death. Jiang Hexue was handling the fish's internal organs with a dagger in his hand.
He didn't mind the fishy smell and his movements were as skillful as a fishmonger.
He suddenly remembered what Shen Qingchen had said to him that day.
"He Xue has suffered more than you over the years. She used to be a carefree girl, but now she's been fleeing, opening a shop to make a living, and looking for you. She loves beauty so much, but the calluses on her fingertips are no thinner than those of a martial artist."
"She wants to recognize you, but she's worried about your amnesia and doesn't want you to accept it abruptly. But I'm different. I care about her more."
"Be nice to her. Your sister is very nice, different from the rest of your family. You'll like her."
"Help you?" When asking, Jiang Heye had been squatting beside her for a long time.
"Don't get your hands dirty." Jiang Hexue refused, as if dismissing a child. "Go play with the little princess."
Jiang Heye tsks, "It's the new year, and I'm already eighteen."
Jiang Hexue didn't even look at him. She scraped the scales off the last fish and piled the filth on the leaves beside her. "Oh, you've grown up."
"...I'll go take care of it." Jiang Heye wisely took the leaf away and heard her voice from behind. "Pick up some branches and bring them back to string the fish."
After sending him away, Jiang Hexue smiled, shook his head, and began to add seasoning to the porcelain bowl.
Shen Chuning couldn't help either. She just watched her from the side and told her about the old times with Jiang Heye: "One time, he and I were craving grilled fish in the middle of the night, but we had run out of tinderboxes. So he taught me how to make fire by rubbing two sticks together. I finally succeeded, but it suddenly rained and all that was left was sparks. I couldn't light it no matter what I did."
Jiang Hexue froze in his action of pouring the fermented black beans.
She suddenly thought of Shen Qingchen.
Shen Qingchen, who had never quarreled with her and never showed any temper.
Did he not have any at all, or was his temper just like the firewood in Shen Chuning's mouth, which was completely extinguished before she could even see the fire?
"Would you mind telling me about your uncle?" Jiang Hexue said softly.
She had known Shen Qingchen since she was thirteen or fourteen years old, but now she finally realized that she didn't understand him at all. As he said, her feelings for him were too shallow.
"Uncle Emperor... Uncle Emperor doesn't have much interesting stories to tell." Shen Chuning thought for a long time and shook her head. "Aunt Emperor knows that Uncle Emperor is not much older than my eldest brother and eldest sister. To my father, he is basically a 'younger brother like a son.'"
"But in Rongchang's memory, even the most gentle and polite Second Sister Rouyang was criticized by the Emperor, but the Emperor's uncle never did."
"He has always been a role model for me and all my siblings. I can never find fault with him. Rongchang remembers that when he was nine years old, the emperor's uncle went away to study. I was so envious at the time... Yes, studying!"
Jiang Hexue knew that he was studying in Liangzhou and living in the mansion of the Marquis of Zhenbei. He had helped her with her homework for almost a year.
It’s called a study tour, but it seems more like an investigation into the folk customs of Liangzhou.
"What about study tour?"
"Aunt, fish..." Shen Chuning pointed to the processed fish on the ground. Jiang Hexue lowered her eyes and found that the fish was covered with fermented black beans because of her absent-mindedness.
The fermented black beans were moist, not dry. She squeezed out a lot of them, but a lot of soup still seeped in.
"I'm afraid it will be a bit salty." Jiang Hexue smiled helplessly. "It's okay, I can pickle other things."
Shen Chuning nodded and continued, "My father always urges my uncle and my eldest brother to get married. I remember that not long after my uncle returned from his studies, my father told me that he might soon have an aunt... But then I waited for a long time, but it never happened..."
"What are you talking about?" Shen Chuning was interrupted by Jiang Heye, who was holding a clay pot and a few pine branches to string fish.
"Don't use pine branches. They're oily and will smoke if you roast them." Jiang Hexue glanced at him. "Go and see if you have any poplar branches."
Jiang Heye responded, placed the pottery jar at her feet, and took the initiative to explain: "Rice wine. Don't you like drinking?"
"How do you know?" Jiang Hexue was stunned for a moment and looked at him expectantly.
"Intuition." Jiang Heye didn't know why, but just now he saw a young abbot secretly drinking, so he instinctively asked for it. "I'll go pick it up again."
Being interrupted by him, Shen Chuning forgot what she was talking about. After thinking for a while, she still couldn't remember, so she continued: "But I heard the emperor's uncle and father quarreling last year."
She hesitated for a moment, fearing that others might hear, and then whispered in Jiang Hexue's ear, "Auntie, please don't tell anyone else. Uncle Huang won't let Rongchang tell you, but Rongchang thinks you're husband and wife, so it's okay for him to tell you."
-
Jiang Hexue was grilling the fish carelessly, his mind full of Shen Chuning's shocking words -
"The emperor's uncle seemed to want to become a monk at that time."
She was thinking and grilling fish, but suddenly she heard Xue Lan's voice as if she had been pardoned: "Princess, Princess, you are here..."
She turned her head and shouted at the top of her voice: "Your Highness, the princess is here!"
Jiang Hexue looked in the direction she turned her head, only to see Shen Qingchen standing there in a single layer of clothing, staring at her intently.
The next moment, he hugged her tightly.
Shen Qingchen's arms were shaking, and she kept exerting force, pressing so hard that her shoulders and waist ached.
"Zhaohua?" Jiang Hexue called out. "You..."
The voice stopped abruptly.
A drop of cool liquid hit the crook of her neck.
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