Chapter 53 Chapter 53 You love me the most, why do you go to a brothel...
Realizing that they were tears, Jiang Hexue stood there in a daze.
Shen Qingchen's palms became stronger and stronger. He pressed her shoulder with one hand and her lower back with the other, desperately pressing her into his arms.
Her arms were shaking, her body was trembling slightly, her face was pressed tightly against his shoulder, her whole body was pressed tightly against him.
Jiang Hexue wanted to free her arm to pat him, but she was restrained and unable to move. She could only speak as softly and quietly as possible: "Husband."
"My wife." After a while, Shen Qingchen responded to her, her voice hoarse as if she hadn't heard it. "Princess."
"I'm here," Jiang Hexue coaxed patiently. "Let me hold out my hand, sweetie."
Shen Qingchen reluctantly loosened his grip a little, letting her put her arms around his neck, and then hugged her tightly without waiting any longer.
"He Xue."
"Qiong Qiong."
"My dear."
"Cat. Baby."
He called her by name one by one, and Jiang Hexue responded seriously every time: "I'm here."
A soft and gentle voice fell into her ears, and her breathing softened, gradually calming the fear in her heart.
Shen Qingchen's emotions gradually calmed down. Realizing that he had gone too far, he whispered "sorry" and was about to let go.
Jiang Hexue didn't let up: "What happened?"
She could vaguely discern his emotions just now.
As if he was afraid, as if he was repeatedly confirming her existence.
Shen Qingchen shook his head and whispered, "It's okay."
"It's not appropriate with other people around." He only then remembered.
"If you don't tell me, I'll forcefully kiss you in front of everyone else." Jiang Hexue covered his eyes, secretly glancing at Jiang Heye and Shen Chuning, who were grilling fish with their backs to them, and then she lied to him. "Confess and I'll give you some leniency."
Shen Qingchen's eyelashes moved under his palm, and they were wet.
"I just opened my eyes and didn't see you." He mumbled for a moment. "I was worried you'd get into an accident."
I'm afraid you'll leave me secretly while I'm sleeping.
Jiang Hexue obviously didn't believe it, but she just rubbed the corner of his eye with her fingertips and let go of him: "We are grilling fish, together?"
Shen Qingchen nodded.
"Go back and put on a cloak first." She added. "You look so anxious, aren't you cold?"
Shen Qingchen shook his head and stood there without moving.
"I'm staying here. I won't leave." Jiang Hexue looked at him and spoke solemnly. "I'll wait for you. Or should I accompany you back?"
Shen Qingchen pursed his lips and avoided her sight.
She was too smart. She noticed the clues when I lost control once, and she must not let it happen again.
"Soon," he said finally, turning and hurried away.
Jiang Hexue stared at his back in a daze.
"Is the fish cooked?" Jiang Heye turned his head. "Don't look at it anymore. It's like a wife-waiting rock."
"You should be more careful with your words!" Shen Chuning slapped him, her cheeks flushed with shame. "Auntie, don't bother with him."
Jiang Hexue naturally didn't know how to do that. She squatted down and flipped the fish over. Seeing that the flesh was already browned and the skin was slightly wrinkled, she poked the fish's belly with a bamboo chopstick, easily breaking it apart before saying, "It's cooked. Bring me another one."
She poured some rice wine on this one before grilling it, and didn't let Jiang Heye and Shen Chuning do it.
"Aunt Imperial, you and Uncle Imperial are really close." Shen Chuning wiped her hands slightly and said with her hands on her cheeks.
Jiang Hexue thought she was talking about the hug and laughed, "He just woke up and didn't mean to show it to you."
"She was talking about the studs on His Highness's ears." Jiang Heye shook his head. "She was saying that someone as obedient as His Highness would actually pierce his ears, and pierce them in the ear bones, and the studs were shaped like snowflakes, so beautiful."
"Isn't this just..." Shen Chuning was halfway through her words when Jiang Heye forced a piece of fish into her mouth. The burn made her jump up and down, pulling out his handkerchief and spitting it out. "Jiang Heye! You're so annoying!"
"Yes, I'm annoying." Jiang Heye drawled slowly. "I'm the most annoying guy you've ever met—"
"Jiang Heye!"
"I know my mistake!"
Jiang Hexue was so amused by the two of them that she smiled and forgot what Shen Chuning had said halfway. She grilled fish while listening to their bickering with a smile.
-
Just as the last fish was grilled, Shen Qingchen arrived.
He was neatly dressed and looked indifferent. He sat down beside her, took the stick from her hand and grilled the fish for her.
Jiang Hexue tilted her head, brushed aside the loose hair on his temples, and looked at his ear bone studs.
It is truly a lifelike magnolia.
But she didn't look at him for long. She stared at the scar on his ear with even more worry: "Why is it still swollen?"
"It's scabbed over. The doctor said it will heal after a while."
Jiang Hexue asked, "Why did you pierce your ears then?"
Before Shen Qingchen could answer, she saw Shen Chuning trotting over, breathlessly asking Jiang Hexue to advocate for justice: “Aunt Huang, he is unreasonable!”
"Who's being unreasonable?" Jiang Heye walked over slowly. "I have six ear holes and ear bones. If you don't want to see them, why do you insist on asking Your Highness to see them?"
"You hit four more?" Jiang Hexue raised an eyebrow, but then thought about his unruly nature, which was the same as when he was young, and she wasn't surprised. "Quickly, tell His Highness how to take care of this ear hole. He has a serious allergy."
"Sensitive disease?" Jiang Heye asked. "Metal? Your Highness doesn't seem like someone who would indulge in alcohol and spicy food when cultivating his ears."
Shen Qingchen flipped the fish and said, “Hmm.”
"If you're allergic to metal, why would you pierce your ears?" Jiang Heye was puzzled, leaning forward slightly to take a look. "You can only take care of it. If it's too serious, you can remove it and wait for it to grow back."
Shen Qingchen didn't answer, but thanked him, took the grilled fish off, wiped his fingers with a towel, and cut the fish into pieces for Jiang Hexue.
Shen Chuning saw this and started arguing with Jiang Heye again.
"He used to argue with me like this when he was younger." Jiang Hexue snuggled up to Shen Qingchen's shoulder, watching the two of them playfully chatting. "Time really flies... It's been five years since we last met."
It has been exactly five years since the first month of the seventeenth year of Yongjia.
"He seemed shorter than me then, but he's grown up now." She pointed to her ears with her hand, nostalgic. "He, Fu Er, Gan Le, and some friends I didn't know well always went out together... Aside from the Marquis of Zhenbei, I still miss Liangzhou quite a bit."
"Let's recognize each other and go back together."
Jiang Hexue smiled and said, "I'm afraid that the Marquis of Zhenbei will find out and want to kill us both. Why would I get into trouble?"
"Then strike first."
Jiang Hexue nodded instinctively, then realized something was wrong: "Huh? Kill him?"
"I think so, but it's like hitting a rock with an egg." She sighed. "The Marquis of Zhenbei has been entrenched in Liang Province for years. Despite his numerous crimes, how can he be punished? Furthermore, Liang Province is located on the northern border, and neighboring Beixuan is not a friendly nation. Even if we can kill this local tyrant, Liang Province will be leaderless. What will become of it? If Beixuan takes advantage of the situation and invades, how will it end?"
She uttered a long string of questions like a cannonball, and when she raised her eyes again, she saw Shen Qingchen looking at her with the corners of his lips curved.
"What are you doing?" He smiled brightly and gently, and Jiang Hexue's ears were burning. "You smile so seductively."
"I was just thinking that there's more than just He Ye who has grown up." Shen Qingchen put his arm around her shoulders and let her rest her head on his shoulders.
Jiang Hexue understood and leaned over, saying with dissatisfaction: "When I look at Heye, it's like a sister looking at a brother. It's fine to say anything about him, but why are you also talking about me? We..."
She changed the subject and pretended to be serious: "I forgot about that little old-fashioned guy. He had a mature and cold demeanor since he was young."
Shen Qingchen hugged her tighter, but whispered: "It's my fault."
If he could have realized the plot of the Marquis of Zhenbei earlier, perhaps he could have protected her from the disaster; if he could have found her earlier, she would have suffered less torture.
She was intelligent by nature and could think of all these things, but he would never be grateful for the sharpness and maturity that suffering had brought her.
"Hello." Jiang Hexue played with the scented beads on his wrist. "Zhaohua is the best. I like Zhaohua the most."
Shen Qingchen chuckled.
"Then trust me," he said in a light but firm tone. "Qiong Qiong, this year, everything you wish for will come true."
-
Jiang Hexue and Shen Qingchen did not stay in Renshu Temple.
Because Jiang Heye deliberately said that he was going to improve his martial arts and Shen Chuning also wanted to return to the palace, Jiang Hexue repeatedly asked him not to take risks or get hurt, and asked him to come back after he swore.
Qianxiangfang was put on hold for a few days, and orders piled up again. Jiang Hexue was as busy as before, but this time without Ah Cheng by her side, it was He Fu and He Xin, so she felt a little more relaxed. She would occasionally take time to go back home to see Shen Qingchen.
After the incident at Renshu Temple, she felt that something was wrong with Shen Qingchen. She went back to the mansion to rest twice and realized that his abnormality was more serious than she expected.
The first time she woke up in the middle of the night, she opened her eyes and unexpectedly met Shen Qingchen's gaze. His eyes were clear, and it was obvious that he had not fallen asleep yet at three o'clock. He told her that he was not tired during the day and could not sleep.
The second time, Jiang Hexue prepared a calming incense for him and brought it back, which did not make him suffer from insomnia in the middle of the night. However, with a slight touch from her, he woke up very quickly and slept very lightly.
Jiang Hexue was worried and tried to make many recipes for calming incense at Qianxiangfang, but she couldn't come up with a better one.
"Jiang Hexue! You're truly heartless!" Just as he was lost in thought over the desk, the curtain to the inner room rustled open, and Fu Wang rushed in breathlessly. "The Spring Examination results are out today, and why is it that Ruan Yueyi is the only one who came to congratulate me? You..."
He saw her worried look and stopped talking for a moment: "Why not?"
Ruan Yueyi was beside him, and said worriedly, "I rarely see you like this."
"Zhaohua has been suffering from insomnia lately," Jiang Hexue briefly mentioned, smiling at the two of them. "How did you do on the exam?"
"Not first place, but I won." Fu Wang grinned. "Don't worry, let's go eat and drink and relax first! Princess, let's go!"
"I'm busy," Ruan Yueyi refused. "Today is my future mother-in-law's birthday, and I absolutely cannot be absent."
"Princess." Fu Wang looked at Jiang Hexue pitifully. "Could it be that even though I passed the imperial examination, I didn't have any friends to celebrate with? Our brief friendship at the academy can't compare to our childhood friendship with you..."
"Go ahead." Jiang Hexue thought about the time and agreed.
The palace examination will be held one month after the spring examination. With Fu Wang's talent... and she really wasn't trying to belittle him, he probably couldn't even think about passing the imperial examination. It would be hard to even get into the top few imperial examinations. He might as well go back and inherit the title of Marquis of Changping.
After the palace examination, he returned to Liangzhou, and no one knew when we would meet again.
"Tell His Highness that I will be back later today." She gave the order before going out with Fu Wang.
"Let's go to Zuileju?" Fu Wang suggested. "It's a newly opened exotic restaurant. I heard the musicians play exotic music and the aromatherapy is unique. Who knows, maybe they have a new recipe for your highness to help him sleep?"
Jiang Hexue sighed, "You're so kind."
-
"Zui Le Ju." Inside the Heng'an Palace, Shen Qingchen stared at the note. "It's Fu Wang again."
"Your Highness, they're here to investigate," the attendant hurriedly reported. "It's an exotic restaurant, to be sure, but... it's no different from a brothel."
Shen Qingchen grabbed the atlas he handed over.
The musicians on the stage wore masks and held their zithers, one on each side, entertaining the distinguished guests. Their upper bodies were exposed, and their pearl necklaces were intricately arranged...
Shen Qingchen glanced again at the signboard that read "The fifteenth day of the first lunar month".
"Prepare the horses and go to Zuileju."
-----------------------
The author has something to say: Think about it, Zhaohua is more than two years older than Qiongqiong.
Tsuruno is more than three years older than the little princess
But the way of getting along is completely different (Tsuruno, you really owe it) [Glasses]
As expected, being older is a feeling [spreading hands]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
