Chapter 97 Sleepless Nights Qi Jingxuan, put me down, do you hear me!...
A light rain began to fall outside the window. Qi Jingxuan listened to the rain, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling, unable to sleep for a long time.
Although we managed to keep Aci here for the time being, what about tomorrow and the day after? Can we soften her heart every day by crying and begging? The same tricks can't be used repeatedly, and Aci isn't the kind of person who will always soften her heart because of other people's tears.
So... what should he do?
Qi Jingxuan lay blankly on the bed, unable to sleep. He got up and went to the bedside, gently lifting the bed curtains to look at the person lying inside.
Since they got married, he had always secretly watched her like this. She discovered him once when a thunderclap startled her in the middle of the night, but she was unaware of it the rest of the time.
In the past, looking at her like this would make Qi Jingxuan feel at ease and happy, allowing him to fall asleep peacefully after lying back on the couch. But today, the more he looked at her, the more uneasy he felt. For some reason, a thought popped into his mind: what if she secretly left while he was asleep?
Thinking about this, Qi Jingxuan couldn't sleep at all. He tossed and turned on the couch for half the night without closing his eyes. Finally, he simply wrapped himself in the quilt and lay straight on the footstool by the bed.
That way, he'll know as soon as Shen Yan gets out of bed and can follow her immediately.
Qi Jingxuan felt this method was good. Although he didn't sleep comfortably, he felt much more at ease and gradually closed his eyes.
Shen Yan is usually a good sleeper, but she didn't sleep very soundly today.
She was determined to leave the palace. She had no regrets about leaving the mansion. The only thing she was reluctant to leave behind was... just being alone.
These slight reluctances were not enough to make her stay, but they inevitably left her with some lingering concerns.
Waking up to the sound of rain in the middle of the night, Shen Yan couldn't fall back asleep for a while, so she lifted the bed curtains and glanced at the daybed at the other end of the room.
She had only wanted to check if Qi Jingxuan was asleep, but when she looked, she found that there was no one on the daybed.
Shen Yan frowned and scanned the room by the faint moonlight from the window, but Qi Jingxuan was nowhere to be seen.
It's the middle of the night, and it's raining outside. Where could he go?
Shen Yan hurriedly got up, wanting to call the servants on night watch outside to ask them.
But before she could even get out of bed and call out for help, she felt something soft under her feet.
The thing she stepped on cried out "Ouch!" and instinctively moved to avoid the heavy object falling on it, startling Shen Yan into quickly withdrawing her foot.
Shen Yan examined "that thing" for a moment, then asked with surprise and uncertainty, "Your Highness?"
Qi Jingxuan clutched his stomach and curled up in a ball: "It's...it's me, Aci, why are you up?"
Shen Yan was speechless for a moment: "I saw that the prince was not on the bed, so I thought of getting up to look for him, but who knew..."
Just then, a servant's voice came from outside the door, asking what had happened and whether they needed to come in to serve them.
Qi Jingxuan quickly said, "It's alright, you don't need to come in."
If someone came in and said he was sleeping on a footstool and Aci stepped on it, it would be too embarrassing. He had already wailed and lost face during the day, and he didn't want to lose face again now.
"Are you really alright? Should we call the imperial physician to come and take a look?"
Shen Yan squatted down beside him, rubbing his stomach as she asked.
"It's really okay, you're not heavy."
Qi Jingxuan said.
After saying that, to prove he was telling the truth, he immediately pushed himself up to stand up. Once he was standing, as he brushed the dust off his clothes, he remembered that Aci had been rubbing his stomach earlier; he should have lay down a little longer and pretended to be pitiful.
He felt remorseful, but it was too late. He pushed Shen Yan's shoulder and said, "Aci, you can go back to sleep. Don't worry about me."
Shen Yan looked at the blankets scattered on the floor: "So, are you planning to sleep on the footstool?"
Qi Jingxuan remained silent, which clearly indicated that this was indeed his plan.
Shen Yan roughly guessed what he was thinking and said helplessly, "It's the middle of the night, and there's a curfew outside. Where can I go?"
He then pushed Qi Jingxuan toward the daybed, saying, "Go back and get some sleep."
Qi Jingxuan twisted his body unhappily, but he couldn't resist Shen Yan's insistence. Seeing that no one could sleep if they kept fussing like this, he had no choice but to lie down obediently. After lying down, he looked at Shen Yan hesitantly and said, "Aci, you can't sneak away while I'm asleep. Then... then I'll chase you to the ends of the earth to bring you back."
"Go to sleep, it's already so late."
Shen Yan said helplessly.
Qi Jingxuan said "oh," and after pulling the covers over himself, he didn't close his eyes, continuing to stare at the ceiling as he had done in the first half of the night.
He stared like that for who knows how long, until the sky outside gradually brightened, before he finally couldn't stay awake any longer and fell asleep.
…………
Shen Yan didn't sleep well last night, so she woke up a little late today. When she opened her eyes, it was already bright outside.
It rained last night, but today is a sunny day with beautiful weather outside. It's a great day to go out.
Seeing that Qi Jingxuan was still asleep, she guessed that he had slept even less than she had last night, so she didn't wake him. She got up quietly, ate breakfast, and said to Qingtuan beside her, "Have the stables prepare the carriage. I need to go out for a while."
Qingtuan agreed, then glanced at the quiet inner room. Just as she was about to ask, Shen Yan said, "The prince didn't sleep well last night, so don't disturb him. I can go by myself."
The carriage was quickly prepared, and Shen Yan walked out from the inner courtyard, intending to board it at the second gate. As she passed through the garden, she saw several maids hurrying along, carrying some wet things in their hands, as if they were about to wash and dry them.
The things were a jumbled mess: untouched fabrics, finished garments, exquisitely embroidered handkerchiefs and purses, and even a few books.
The group was caught off guard and somewhat flustered, not expecting the princess to pass by so early in the morning and bump into them.
The group stopped to pay their respects. The leader noticed her glancing at the items and quickly explained, "A few days ago, the Xie family led troops in rebellion. Someone threw stones into the mansion, and one of them hit the roof of a warehouse."
"At that time, there was chaos and no one paid attention. The warehouse was in a remote location and not used often, so no one discovered it."
"It rained last night, and today the staff were doing their usual inspection of the warehouses to check for leaks. That's when they discovered that the roof was broken and a lot of things inside were wet."
"After we found out, we quickly tidied up and took out all the wet items to wash and dry."
This is really not their fault. They are not responsible for guarding the warehouse or storing these items. They were just temporarily ordered to take out the wet items and wash and dry them.
Shen Yan found all these things unfamiliar. Some of the clothes she had never seen Qi Jingxuan wear before, and they didn't seem to fit her properly, so she guessed they were old items.
She nodded, said "Thank you for your hard work," and then stopped paying attention and continued walking outside.
Just as she was about to pass by the group, she caught a glimpse of a handkerchief on a tray out of the corner of her eye, and immediately stopped in her tracks.
The maids were bowing and preparing to see her off when she suddenly stopped, which puzzled them.
Shen Yan stopped in front of the maid carrying the tray and picked up the damp handkerchief inside: "...This is..."
The maid looked puzzled: "It was just taken out of the warehouse. I don't know where it came from."
This handkerchief was made of very ordinary cotton cloth, standing out starkly among the fine silks and satins. The embroidery was simple and rough, resembling both flowers and grass, making it impossible to discern its true nature. Given the prince's status, he shouldn't be using such a thing; she herself found it quite strange when she saw it in the warehouse.
When the princess asked, the maid couldn't give a proper answer and could only turn to look at her companions, but they all looked at each other in bewilderment.
Finally, the head maid spoke again: "The prince has only been living in the palace for a few years. Many of the things in this warehouse are old items brought from the palace. Apart from being taken out to air them out every year, they are not used otherwise. We servants have not served in the prince's residence for long, and we really do not know where these old items came from or what their purpose is. If the princess wants to know, she will probably have to ask the elders in the residence."
Shen Yan stared blankly at the handkerchief for a long while before nodding and saying, "Wash it clean and keep it safe. I..."
She hesitated for a while but couldn't come up with a clear answer. In the end, she simply put the handkerchief back on the tray and nodded slightly to the group: "You can go about your business."
The others responded and left, but Shen Yan's thoughts seemed to still be on the handkerchief from before. It took her a long time to come back to her senses and walk towards the second gate.
…………
When Qi Jingxuan woke up groggily, his first thought was to look at Shen Yan on the bed.
He rubbed his eyes and glanced towards the bed. He saw that the bed curtains had been lifted, the bedding was neatly folded, and the person who should have been sleeping there was nowhere to be seen.
Qi Jingxuan was instantly wide awake, sat up with a start, slipped on his shoes, and walked out, calling out as he went, "Aci, Aci."
After calling several times, a maid hurriedly came in to report that Shen Yan had gone out after waking up and having breakfast that morning.
Qi Jingxuan's heart sank, and he hurriedly asked, "Where did she go?"
The maid shook her head: "The princess didn't say."
Qi Jingxuan panicked and immediately started to walk out. The maidservant rushed after him, saying, "Your Highness, where are you going? You're still in your nightgown! Please change your clothes!"
Qi Jingxuan hastily threw on some clothes and went out. Although the maids in the manor did not know where Shen Yan had gone, the prince's carriage had an insignia, and they could find her by following the carriage's tracks.
He rode his horse along, asking questions as he went, and the answer he finally received chilled his heart.
Aci's home was in Yangliu Hutong, but she was heading towards the palace. Was she going to the palace to ask her father and mother for a divorce decree again?
Thinking of this, Qi Jingxuan wished he could rush to Shen Yan's side immediately, but the streets were crowded with people, and he couldn't ride his horse at full speed, so he could only hurry forward anxiously.
Finally, he spotted Shen Yan not far from Ya Feng Garden.
Shen Yan learned from Gao Zheng yesterday that her parents had moved, and she was a little worried, so she came to visit them today.
Seeing that her parents were all well and the new house was in good order, she felt relieved.
Mr. and Mrs. Shen invited her to stay for a meal, but she thought that her parents had moved in a hurry yesterday and probably hadn't rested well, so she said that she had other things to do at the Prince's Mansion and couldn't stay any longer.
After leaving home, she intended to visit Xu's Noodle Shop nearby, but as soon as she got off the carriage, a figure suddenly darted in front of her.
Before she could react, the man picked her up and carried her away at breakneck speed.
Shen Yan thought she had been kidnapped in broad daylight and was about to cry for help when she saw the familiar clothes on the man's body. She realized who it was and asked in surprise, "Your Highness."
Qi Jingxuan, however, was only concerned with carrying her and running at breakneck speed, as if someone was chasing them.
Shen Yan felt a little dizzy from the jolting and patted his back: "Your Highness, put me down."
Qi Jingxuan was unwilling to let go and kept walking forward with his head down.
People on the roadside stopped and turned around when they saw this scene; some were puzzled, while others chuckled.
Shen Yan's face flushed red, and she slapped Qi Jingxuan even harder: "Qi Jingxuan, put me down, do you hear me!"
Qi Jingxuan did eventually let go of the person, but not on his own initiative; he was stopped by A Qing.
Aqing had been following Shen Yan closely. When she first saw Qi Jingxuan suddenly carry her away, she thought there was some danger around and that Qi Jingxuan was in a hurry to take Shen Yan away.
After looking around and finding nothing amiss, they realized that Qi Jingxuan had inexplicably gone mad, so they stopped him.
Shen Yan was finally put down. She tidied her disheveled hair, glanced at the passersby who were snickering on the street, glared at Qi Jingxuan, and got into the carriage in a huff.
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