Unintentional
Ever since he met Ping An, Lu Fengping had been waiting for this day to come. He had already prepared a trap, just waiting for Ping An to fall into it and reveal his flaws. At that time, Cui Shenzhi and Cui Lingxian would naturally see the true colors of Ping An.
But there was neither Ping An nor Cui Shenzhi in the carriage, only Cui Lingxian.
Lu Fengping was unsure whether he should be happy or not.
He was unhappy because Ping An didn't come and he couldn't let Ping An reveal any flaws.
But Cui Shenzhi didn't come either; only Cui Lingxian came, and she was happy.
Two conflicting emotions caused a somewhat awkward expression to appear on Lu Fengping's face.
This made Cui Lingxian quite unhappy.
“Since Young Master Lu sees that I am so unhappy, there is no need to force myself. I will go to distribute porridge, and I will leave the clothing donation to Young Master Lu.”
Before Lu Fengping could answer, Cui Lingxian walked past him and went straight to the side. Lu Fengping quickly ran up to Cui Lingxian and bowed.
"Your Highness misunderstands. I'm not unhappy. I'm just... just a little confused when I saw that Shenzhi wasn't there. After all, I've known him for so many years and I've never seen him break a promise."
This was true, so Cui Lingxian's dissatisfaction subsided somewhat.
She stood still and glanced at Lu Fengping, saying, "Shenzhi didn't intend to break his promise. It was just that his father had given him some things to do, and he was too busy to come."
Lu Fengping felt there was a problem.
Choi Suk-gong's targeting of Choi Shin-ji is not a recent thing; it started many years ago. As a result, Choi Shin-ji has been overworked since the first day he entered the court. But back then, Choi Shin-ji never broke his promise. So why is he now too busy to keep up with the court politics and has to break his promise?
"Your Highness, don't you find this a bit strange? With Shen Zhi's abilities, what kind of important task would His Majesty have to assign him that would keep him so busy?"
Upon hearing this, Cui Ling frowned and replied, "So you're saying I'm lying?"
"That's not what I meant. I meant that Shenzhi is lying, perhaps because..."
Why? Because of Ping An? Based on the last situation, both Cui Shenzhi and Cui Lingxian trusted Ping An. Right now, he still has no evidence whatsoever. How can he convince Cui Lingxian?
Lu Fengping paused, then whispered, "...Perhaps it's because of me."
"Because of you?" Cui Lingxian looked puzzled. "You mean, Shen Zhi might have lied and not come because of you?"
"yes."
Cui Lingxian was confused. She could understand that Cui Shenzhi would lie, and she could also understand that Cui Shenzhi would not come, but she could not understand why the reason why Cui Shenzhi lied and did not come was actually because of Lu Fengping.
Lu Fengping blushed, cupped his hands in greeting, and continued, "Your Highness's birthday is approaching, and I, being a man of high esteem, have naturally prepared a gift long ago. However, as a commoner, I am not qualified to enter the palace to celebrate Your Highness's birthday, so in previous years I had Shenzhi deliver the gift on my behalf. Perhaps this year... Shenzhi wants me to deliver it to Your Highness personally, which is why he made an excuse not to come."
"You? You like me?" Cui Lingxian's eyes widened: "Didn't you hate me? Ever since the first time you saw me."
Lu Fengping was even more embarrassed, and he lowered his head so much that it was almost buried in his chest.
"I dare not deceive Your Highness. At first, I was indeed a bit arrogant because of the flattery of others, so much so that I made a rash judgment before even meeting Your Highness, which is why I disliked Your Highness. But after getting to know you one by one, I realized that I was wrong and that I had misunderstood Your Highness."
“I wanted to find a time to apologize to Your Highness in private and beg for your forgiveness, but I haven’t found the right opportunity yet. Not only that, but because I have seen Your Highness’s kindness over the years, I can’t help but develop feelings of admiration for you.”
"However, this is somewhat offensive to Your Highness. If Your Highness is unhappy, I will keep this matter to myself and will not let anyone know about it, so as not to cause Your Highness any trouble."
Cui Lingxian didn't answer after hearing this, because she was too shocked to speak.
*****
Cui Lingxian truly had no idea that Lu Fengping liked her.
She wasn't, as Cui Shenzhi guessed, aware of the situation but unmoved, nor was she, as Ping An guessed, putting on an act. She genuinely hadn't considered that Lu Fengping would like her. This wasn't just because Lu Fengping hadn't hidden his dislike for her from the beginning, but also because of his subsequent attitude.
His address to her changed from the carefree "little princess" at first to the respectful "Your Highness" later; he treated everyone equally regardless of their status, but he was strict with her; when chatting with others, he talked about all sorts of strange and interesting stories from the common people, but when talking to her, he talked about the same dry and boring things over and over again; knowing that she liked peach pink, this dignified seven-foot-tall man would deliberately wear a peach pink outfit every time he saw her to disgust her.
All these signs were clearly evidence that Lu Fengping still didn't like her, but he was trying his best to cover it up for Cui Shenzhi. So whenever Cui Shenzhi asked, she never said much, only that Lu Fengping was a good person.
After all, Lu Fengping just didn't like her, but he was impeccable in other aspects. He often came to the slums to provide free medical care and would tell those with milder symptoms where they could find the herbs they needed. If they couldn't find them, he would "sell" them to them at a price that was almost free, helping them without making them feel like it was charity.
But what is Lu Fengping saying now? Lu Fengping says he likes her?
Cui Lingxian whispered, "Who you like is your business. I... won't feel unhappy or bothered. I'm just a little confused. Are you really not trying to make a fool of me?"
“Your Highness, I have been in love with you for two years. You have seen everything I have done and said during these two years. If I wanted to see you make a fool of yourself, why would I go to all this trouble?”
Cui Lingxian remained silent for a long time before speaking: "You mean, you call everyone by their first names, but you keep a clear distinction between us because you like me?"
“Your Highness, you misunderstand,” Lu Fengping explained, his face flushed. “I’m not trying to be clear about who’s who; I’m just afraid that calling you by your name directly would be disrespectful.”
"You have endless interesting stories to tell other people, but when you talk to me, it's always about your ambitions or your family, and it's because of...?"
"You are the moon in the sky, and I thought you wouldn't like trivial family matters. However, although I am quite accomplished in medicine, I am completely ignorant of poetry and literature. I can only talk about my aspirations with my family..."
"So, you, a burly man, always hang around me dressed in peach pink because I like peach pink?"
Lu Fengping nodded.
“Shen Zhi said that His Highness’s favorite color is peach pink, but the clothing store does not have peach pink men’s clothing, so I specially went to the fabric store to buy the most expensive peach pink fabric and then found someone to make it for me.”
Cui Lingxian glanced at Lu Fengping's garish pink outfit, then turned away and let out a long sigh.
"First of all, I didn't mind when you called me 'little princess' with sarcasm at the beginning, so why would I think it's abrupt for you to call me by my name directly? You can rest assured."
"Secondly, I really enjoy listening to those interesting folk tales. Although they are all trivial matters of daily life, the warmth and everyday life they bring are what truly comfort people's hearts, aren't they?"
"Then, yes, I like peach pink, but I don't think it looks good on a seven-foot-tall, muscular man in a peach pink outfit—neither you nor Shen Zhi would look good in it."
"Finally," Cui Lingxian smiled, her eyes crinkling, "Fengping, we need to hurry. It's just the two of us today, and if we're any slower, we won't have enough time to distribute what we brought to those who need it."
The phrase "Fengping" successfully turned Lu Fengping into a statue of a woman longing for her husband, standing there dumbfounded for a long time before he came to his senses.
Cui Lingxian found it somewhat amusing and couldn't help but wave her hand in front of his eyes.
"Fengping? Fengping? I hope I'm not being 'abrupt' by calling you that? I won't call you that anymore."
"No!" Lu Fengping quickly came to his senses and said, "Ling...Ling Xian, it's not abrupt of you to call me that. I was just...just a little too happy, so I couldn't come to my senses."
"What an idiot..."
"Yes, I am an idiot. If you like, you can call me a fool, or anything else. As long as you still want to call me, you can call me whatever you want."
Cui Lingxian blushed and turned her head away: "Dr. Lu, please stop with your glib talk. We have important business to attend to."
Lu Fengping immediately followed with a silly grin. As for Ping An? He had no recollection of her at all.
*****
A few days after Cui Lingxian's solo trip to the slums, Cui Shenzhi met Lu Fengping, who was dressed in official robes, in the palace.
"Feng Ping?"
Since they were in the palace, Lu Fengping straightened his clothes and gave Cui Shenzhi a proper bow: "Your humble servant Lu Fengping greets Your Highness the Crown Prince."
Choi Shin-ji's eyes were filled with surprise and disbelief.
"Didn't you say that being an official would only restrict your actions, and that you would never become an official? What's this?"
Lu Fengping smiled slightly: "Being an official may indeed restrict my steps, but in order to get closer to the moon in the sky, I am willing to do it."
Cui Shenzhi understood. It seemed Ping An was right; he really was a stumbling block. While he was away, Cui Lingxian and Lu Fengping had indeed made progress.
However, Lu Fengping did not enter the palace solely to get close to Cui Lingxian, as he claimed; rather, he did so to protect himself from Ping An.
Ping An has only been with Cui Shenzhi for less than two months, yet he has already taken away the dragon-patterned jade pendant that Cui Sugong had given to Cui Shenzhi, and he has also caused Cui Shenzhi to change his habits that he had maintained for several years, even lying and breaking his promise to the slums. If he doesn't find a way to intervene, Cui Shenzhi might just become the second Cui Sugong because of Ping An!
Most importantly, he wasn't sure what Ping An's purpose was. If it was like Shen Meiwu, who was greedy for wealth and status, that would be one thing, but what if Ping An intended to harm Cui Shenzhi or Cui Lingxian? He was outside the palace, and by the time he learned of the news, it would probably be too late. No matter how skilled he was in medicine, it would be in vain. That's why he chose to enter the Imperial Hospital.
However, Lu Fengping did not say any of these things, so Cui Shenzhi naturally did not know. Because of Ping An's injured hand, he pulled Lu Fengping to the East Palace and summoned Ping An.
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