Liu Chengyin
Ping An was not surprised at all that Lu Fengping held an official position. After all, Cui Shenzhi was the Crown Prince and Cui Lingxian was the Princess. Anyone who could play with them and have an equal conversation with them was obviously rich and powerful. So when Ping An saw Lu Fengping appear in his official robes, he was not moved at all.
"Young Master Lu, what brings you here? Shouldn't you be looking for the fairy maiden?"
Ping An gave Lu Fengping a half-smile from an angle that Cui Shenzhi couldn't see, but his tone of voice remained unchanged.
"He came to see Ling Xian." Cui Shenzhi, who knew nothing about it, said with a smile, "If it weren't for Ling Xian, I probably would never have seen him in his official robes in my life."
Ping An misunderstood Cui Shenzhi's meaning.
"Ah! Shenzhi, are you saying the fairy is coming? Then I need to hurry back and change into a pretty dress!"
Choi Shin-ji grabbed Ping An by the back of her collar.
“Ling Xian won’t come. What I mean is that Feng Ping entered the palace for Ling Xian, but he came to the East Palace this time for you.”
"For me? So, Mr. Lu, do you like me?" Ping An skipped over to Lu Fengping, taking advantage of the fact that Cui Shenzhi couldn't see anything behind her, and stared at Lu Fengping's eyes with a hint of provocation, asking, "Mr. Lu, do you like me?"
Lu Fengping was startled and subconsciously tried to push Ping An away, but his hand reached out and he pushed empty air—Cui Shenzhi had pulled Ping An away.
"Ping An, didn't I tell you that men and women are different and shouldn't get too close?"
“I remember, but Shenzhi said it’s wrong for men to touch women, but you still touched me inappropriately.”
Where did I touch you inappropriately?
"You're touching me inappropriately right now; aren't you grabbing my wrist?"
Lu Fengping frowned deeply as he watched the two people in front of him having very natural physical contact and conversation, and as well as Siwei and Qikang's habitual attitude.
It seems he arrived a bit late; we need to think of a solution quickly.
He pursed his lips, suppressed his worry, and stepped forward: "Didn't you ask me to check on Ping An's hand? How can I check it while you're all playing around like this? Hands are very fragile, and if something goes wrong... it could be ruined."
"Is it that scary?" Ping An hurriedly stretched out her hand in front of Lu Fengping, her voice full of worry: "Then please take a look at me, Young Master Lu. My little fairy still has to teach me to read and write. If my hand is ruined, she will be very sad when she finds out."
Upon hearing Ping An threaten Cui Lingxian, Lu Fengping's forehead veins throbbed, and his words carried a hint of gritted teeth.
"Don't worry, although I'm just an ordinary doctor, this little injury is no problem for me. I won't let anything go wrong with your hand."
"That's great! Young Master Lu, you need to get my hand healed quickly. There are less than ten days until Fairy Ping's birthday. If it's too late, I won't be able to make a gift for Fairy Ping."
These words immediately triggered alarm bells in Cui Shenzhi's mind.
"Still doing it? Ping An, your hand isn't even healed yet and you're already thinking about getting hurt again?"
"No, no, I definitely won't get hurt this time! I just wanted to make a knot for the little fairy. Sister Ju'an said there's a knot called the Peace Knot, which is the same as my name. I can make one for the little fairy. Most importantly, you don't need anything sharp to make this, so I definitely won't hurt my hand."
That's possible.
Cui Shenzhi breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Fengping, I'll leave Ping'an's hand in your care. She's a young lady after all, and it wouldn't look good if she had a scar on her hand, so you'll have to put in a lot of effort in this regard. Just get whatever medicine you need from the Imperial Hospital. Even though I'm just an unfavored crown prince, I still have this kind of authority."
"yes."
*****
Lu Fengping's medical skills were indeed excellent. Thanks to his efforts, Ping An's hand recovered completely in just ten days, leaving only a few shallow scars that would disappear in a few days.
Because her hands healed quickly, Ping An naturally had enough time to braid a peace knot for Cui Lingxian as a birthday gift. In addition to this, Cui Lingxian also received a birthday gift from another person.
A travelogue written by Lu Fengping himself.
*****
When Cui Lingxian, the birthday celebrant, saw Cui Shenzhi arrive, her eyes did not fall on him. Instead, she kept scanning the palace servants behind him. When she did not find Ping An, she showed obvious disappointment.
Choi Shin-ji couldn't help but find Choi Ling-hsien's appearance somewhat amusing.
He walked up to Cui Lingxian and whispered, "Lingxian, it's just that we can't see Ping'an. If Father and the Imperial Concubine saw the expression on your face, they might think I'm bullying you."
“You’re just bullying me,” Cui Lingxian rolled her eyes at Cui Shenzhi with a hint of disdain. “Knowing how much I like Ping An, you still didn’t bring her to my birthday banquet.”
"You know it's your birthday banquet. It's such a big occasion with so many princes and nobles. With Ping An's simple nature, she might cause some trouble. You might not mind then, but Father and the Imperial Concubine might."
“I know… but it just feels a bit meaningless not to see Ping An. Look at those princes and ministers, the gifts they send me are better and better, but which one of them is really here to celebrate my birthday? They are just using my name to please my father and mother. Ping An would never do that.”
“I know, so I brought you something,” Cui Shenzhi said, taking out a peace knot made by Ping An from his pocket. “Here, Ping An made it for you by hand.”
Cui Lingxian practically snatched the peace knot from her, holding it carefully in her hands and examining it closely, as if touching it would break it.
Cui Shenzhi added with a smile, "Don't look down on how simple this tassel is. Ping An put a lot of effort into it. She initially wanted to sew a sachet for you, but she hurt her hand and had to rest for half a month. Then she wanted to make a palace lantern for you, but she hurt her hand again. This time, thanks to Feng Ping, she only had to rest for ten days. I forbade her from touching scissors or anything like that, so she only made this."
"How could I possibly dislike it!" Upon hearing Cui Shenzhi's words, Cui Lingxian carefully put the Ping An knot into her bosom. "I'm overjoyed! This is Ping An's token of her affection for me. I wish I could go back to the palace right now and treasure it properly. I would never dislike it!"
"Wait, you said Ping An injured her hand? Twice? And it took her ten days to recover even with Feng Ping's care? It's that serious? Shen Zhi, what's wrong with you? Ping An is a child, not you. Why didn't you keep an eye on her?! Even if you were too busy, you could have sent someone to stay with her!"
“Ling Xian, calm down. Ping An was injured, but it wasn’t serious. He’s fine now thanks to Feng Ping’s care. However, it was indeed my oversight that caused this, so I’ve already told Ju An that he absolutely cannot leave Ping An alone in the future.”
"That's more like it... No, I need to check her hands tomorrow before I can feel at ease."
"Alright, come to the East Palace tomorrow, I won't stop you. As for today, you should just enjoy your birthday." Cui Shenzhi said with a hint of mockery, "Ling Xian, besides this gift of peace, someone else asked me to bring another gift. Do you want to guess who it is?"
With such an obvious problem, Cui Lingxian knew who it was without even thinking.
“Who else could it be?” Cui Lingxian said shyly in a low voice, “That idiot, he’s already a royal physician, wouldn’t he bring it himself? Don’t tell me he’s afraid of offending me again.”
“Fengping isn’t afraid of offending you this time, it’s just that he can’t get up.”
"Can't get up?"
“Yes,” Cui Shenzhi placed a rather heavy travelogue in Cui Lingxian’s hands: “Fengping knew you liked the little stories that happened during his travels, so he wrote this travelogue for more than ten days straight, almost without sleep. It includes the beautiful scenery, delicious food, local customs, and some of his experiences and observations in all the places he visited. He’s so tired that he’s now fast asleep at home. I just don’t know if Your Highness will like this gift.”
"...Let's see." That's what she said, but Cui Lingxian's ears turned red, and she held the travelogue tightly in her hands.
From a distance, Shen Meiwu watched Cui Shenzhi and Cui Lingxian, one with a hint of shyness and the other with a beaming smile, looking like a perfect match made in heaven. She felt extremely pleased.
Her daughter deserves the best of everything in the world.
Whether it's her social status or her husband.
*****
Ping An stood on tiptoe in the small garden of the East Palace, trying to feel the distant liveliness through the high palace walls.
Chengqian Palace is quite far from the East Palace; you can still faintly hear noises from here, so you can only imagine how lively Chengqian Palace must be.
Cui Lingxian is the only daughter of Shen Meiwu and the emperor, and also his beloved daughter. Presumably, the people who come here are either princes and nobles or important officials of the court.
It must be quite amusing to see so many high-ranking and powerful people going to such lengths to please a young girl like Cui Lingxian.
But no matter how interesting it was, it had nothing to do with her. After all, she was not qualified. Not only was she not qualified to participate, but she was not even qualified to see the scene.
It doesn't matter, she's not qualified now, but she'll be qualified to participate sooner or later.
No, it should be said that sooner or later, those princes and nobles will also be vying for the right to celebrate for her.
However, that's all for later. Right now, the most important thing is to find another way to get rid of Cui Lingxian. After all, she is now being watched by Ju An, who is acting on Cui Shenzhi's orders, and Lu Fengping is eyeing her from behind. The previous methods are definitely no longer viable.
But she couldn't come up with a good solution no matter how hard she tried, and seeing that it was already late, she decided to wait until she woke up the next day to think about it.
As a result, when Ping An woke up the next day, she was called to the study before she even had time to eat breakfast, and then she was caught off guard by Cui Lingxian's obvious concern.
“Ping An, I heard from Shen Zhi that you injured your hand while making a birthday gift for me and it took you a long time to recover. Does it still hurt? Are there any scars? Did Feng Ping use the best medicine for you? I still have some Yu Lu ointment for removing scars. I sent someone to call Feng Ping. If he says you can use it, I will send it to you later.”
Feng Ping?
Ping An was somewhat surprised by Cui Lingxian's attitude... Could it be that after she stopped Cui Shenzhi from going last time, Cui Lingxian and Lu Fengping really became closer?
Then she had a solution.
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