Chapter 1054: "In a cocoon"
Before she could react, the warm touch silenced her laughter.
When the noise of farm boys flying kites in the distance gradually came closer, Xiao Zhan let go of her hand and smoothed down her slightly messy hair.
Jiang Xue's ears turned red as she joked, "In broad daylight..."
"Has Madam forgotten last year's autumn hunt?"
Xiao Zhan raised his eyebrows and pulled the person closer to him.
Although he usually didn't like to be intimate with others outside, at this moment he felt that the mountain breeze carrying the fragrance of grass and trees was the most appropriate witness.
When the moonlight passed through the window lattice, Jiang Xue's cheeks instantly turned red.
The person was clearly alluding to their intimate contact in the woods before they sneaked into Xixia, when she tore off half of his clothes in a panic.
"Don't mention those things again!" She turned around and was about to leave, but a pair of warm hands wrapped around her waist.
The man placed the jade fan on her shoulder and laughed softly, "Who said that day that he wanted to practice grappling techniques with me?"
Before he could finish his words, his cloud-patterned brocade boots were stepped on. He had no choice but to accept his fate and help the person through the Nine-Curved Corridor.
The sound of a gong at midnight broke the silence. Fu Dong had just taken off his silver silk soft armor when he heard quick footsteps coming from the courtyard.
The medicine boy held up a sheep-horn lantern and reported urgently: "The Prime Minister has a high fever that won't go away. We need to quickly summon Doctor Jiang!"
She grabbed her black cloak and jumped on her horse. When the guards at the city gate saw the words "Zhaoyang" on the gilded token, they immediately removed the barricades.
In the bedroom of the Jiang Mansion, Jiang Xiaoan tossed and turned on the brocade quilt.
The Drunken Immortal Wine that he had stolen from the Imperial Hospital the day before was still hidden behind the antique display cabinet, but he could not find a reason to invite Fu Dong to drink with him.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of carved window frames, and the moonlight outlined a familiar figure. He hurriedly wrapped the Sichuan embroidery quilt into a cocoon.
"General, is there an emergency?" After hearing the purpose of the visit, he jumped off the bed barefoot, and the golden needles in the medicine box clinked.
Fu Dong stood in front of the moon cave door and frowned: "Doctor Jiang's underwear... is worn inside out."
He looked down and saw the pattern of mandarin ducks playing in the water facing outwards. The tips of his ears suddenly turned red as blood.
The two Zhaoyebai horses trampled the bright light on the ground, and Fudong suddenly tightened the reins: "I'm sorry."
Before Jiang Xiaoan could react, he was grabbed by the waist and pulled onto the horse's back.
He secretly despised his own inappropriate emotional fluctuations, but the warm breath emanating from the person in his arms made his heart beat like a drum.
In the night, the clear sound of jade pendants and silver armor colliding was heard all over the place.
The gust of wind blew past his ears, and Fu Dong whipping his horse startled Jiang Xiaoan so much that he hurriedly gripped the saddle.
Feeling the person behind her lose balance, the girl in red suddenly pulled the reins: "Wrap your arms around my waist."
"What?" Jiang Xiaoan's ears felt hot and his fingertips unconsciously stroked the leather saddle.
"Tighten the ring so that you won't fall off even if I speed up."
Before Fu Dong finished speaking, a black cloak carrying the scent of cedar flew into his arms.
Jiang Xiaoan rested his chin lightly on her shoulder during the bumpy ride, secretly sighing that this cold came at the right time.
When the chestnut horse neighed and stopped at the manor, Jiang Xiaoan staggered off the horse, held onto a tree trunk and retched, and it took him a long time to straighten up.
The room was filled with the incense of mugwort. Jiang Xue was twisting a handkerchief in a copper basin, and a suppressed cough came from the bed.
"The pulse is steady, and the muscles and bones are strong."
Jiang Xiaoan raised his eyebrow while holding Xiao Zhan's wrist, and glanced at Jiang Xue's calm face: "Please trouble Miss Fudong to go to the herb garden to find two oil gourds, with both whiskers and tails intact."
When the sound of horse hooves faded away, the young doctor suddenly opened the quilt and said, "My cousin is really good at pretending to be sick."
"Xiaoxue said you didn't even dare to pass the wedding wine."
Xiao Zhan opened his eyelids and pulled off the cloth from his forehead: "The West Courtyard stable just added ten fine horses from the Western Regions."
Jiang Xiaoan stood up suddenly, the tassels of her jade crown swept across the sandalwood screen: "I'll go stop her right now!"
"Did you let Fudong catch the bugs on purpose?"
Jiang Xue looked at the startled birds flying outside the window and shook her head.
Xiao Zhan played with the celadon medicine bottle and chuckled, "Last month she chased me for three miles for a katydid, so let's just call it even."
Outside the carved window, Jiang Xiaoan was holding Fudong's hand and wiping the grass clippings, while two jade crickets were clinking in the glass jar.
"She was strict with you before, but it was all to protect me."
"I see."
Xiao Zhan gently stroked her face: "It is your blessing that Fu Dong is so loyal."
"But why do you still want to plot against her?"
“These are two different things.”
He pressed his wife's smooth forehead against hers: "I just want to give Jiang Xiaoan a chance to succeed, didn't you acquiesce?"
Jiang Xue buried her face in her husband's chest: "Fudong has been with me since she was a child, and I hope she can have a good man to accompany her for the rest of her life.
Now that we are so happy, we naturally hope that everyone around us can get what they want."
"Everything will be fine." Xiao Zhan kissed the top of her head gently.
In the moonlit garden, Fudong was holding his breath, listening to the rustling of grass leaves.
Jiang Xiaoan looked at her focused profile and changed his mind temporarily - perhaps he could take the opportunity of catching crickets to get closer to her.
"Is the prince consort feeling better?" Fu Dong noticed the person coming and stood up and asked.
"It's fine now, but we still need live crickets to consolidate the medicine."
Jiang Xiaoan shook the bamboo tube in his hand and said, "I am more familiar with the characteristics of medicinal materials. I will help you pick out some high-quality ones."
Before he finished speaking, a guard suddenly ran over holding a pottery jar and said, "Commander, we caught five in the East Garden!"
Jiang Xiaoan gritted his teeth secretly. This rare time alone was ruined. Fu Dong came closer with the cricket in his hand: "Are these usable?"
Facing those clear eyes, he finally gave in: "Not bad."
"Then go and prepare the medicine quickly. The princess must be waiting anxiously."
Jiang Xiaoan held the bamboo tube which still had body temperature, and felt a bitter feeling in his heart.
When will I be able to compare to Jiang Xue in her heart?
The night was as dark as ink, and the copper bells on the eaves were disturbed by the evening breeze and made crisp sounds.
Fu Dong's knuckles turned white as he gripped the green bamboo cage. The sound of the crickets flapping their wings in the cage was particularly clear in the silence.
She stared at the absent-minded man in front of her and said in a more serious tone: "Jiang Xiaoan! Why are you in a daze right now? The right thing to do is to send the medicine to the princess's mansion as soon as possible!"
Jiang Xiaoan was so startled by the shout that his shoulders trembled slightly. The moonlight outlined the wrinkles between his brows. Finally, he closed his eyes and nodded as if accepting his fate.
The absurd bet from the day before was like a thorn in my throat. At this moment, it really fits the saying "you're tying yourself up in a cocoon".
The lights in the west wing of the princess's mansion were still on. Xiao Zhan, wearing a frosty nightgown, leaned against a table, watching the two people who came and went and shook his head helplessly.
When the courtyard returned to silence, Jiang Xue walked barefoot on the cold floor tiles, and the brocade curtains dragged across the blue bricks.
Xiao Zhan put his arms around his wife's thin neck from behind, and his warm breath brushed past her ears: "Are you worried about Fu Dong?"
Noticing the person in his arms' back stiffened slightly, he tapped on the window frame with his fingers: "The cricket was fake, and the deception was all my fault. What does Xiaoxue have to do with it?"
"But that medicine..."
When Jiang Xue turned around, the golden hairpins on her temples got tangled in his clothes, and the tangled hairpins were just like her mood at the moment:
"Fudong has been with me since he was young, and has always been loyal to me. Today's scene seems to have ruined half of my life."
Outside the carved wooden window, dead leaves swirled across the stone steps.
Xiao Zhan untied the ornaments wrapped around his hair, and the gilded candlestick made his eyes flicker:
"Since you are willing to act out this drama with me, it shows that Fudong is not indifferent to Xiaoan. It's just that..."
He traced his wife's frowning brows with his fingertips: "Why do you have to resort to such means?"
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