Chapter 94: Talking about Dreams I love Sanlang in my dreams.
This small banquet was very light, with Jiangnan flavors, but the ingredients were precious. Among them was a plate of golden shredded fish, which was made by finely shredding golden orange and paired with paper-thin fish slices. Cong Ying had seen this before at Xie's house.
Seeing that she was staring at the dish in a trance, Prince Jin took the serving chopsticks and rolled up a piece for her, then dipped it in the sauce and placed it on her jade plate.
"This is ginger juice and vinegar, no mustard, you can eat it."
Cong Ying was puzzled: "Mustard?"
The King of Jin said, "Some people get rashes after eating mustard."
Cong Ying thought, everyone has eaten something that causes rashes, there are many different things, why did he mention it to her?
She had never eaten mustard before. At the last banquet at Xie's house, she only tasted a piece of fish without eating the second piece. She herself didn't even know whether dipping fish in mustard would cause her to get hives.
Seeing her lowered brow in confusion, the King of Jin explained, "I have an old friend who loves to eat fresh croaker fillets. However, he breaks out in rashes after eating them a few times. He endures this silently, never telling anyone, and continues to eat them privately, only limiting the amount he eats."
"Then how did Your Highness know this?"
Prince Jin smiled faintly and looked at Cong Ying. "Once, there was no fish fillet on the table, but there was a dish of mustard and cucumber. She ate a lot and came down with rubella that night."
The scene at that time is still fresh in my memory.
During the day, the couple had just had a quarrel over the book Du Rupan sent them. At night, Xie Xuanlan was lying with his back to her and facing outwards. When he was feeling upset and unable to sleep, he heard a rustling sound behind him, accompanied by a suppressed and uncomfortable hissing sound.
He stood up and lit the lamp, catching sight of Cong Ying biting her lip and scratching her arm. She raised her hand to block out the candlelight and said softly, "It's okay. You'll be fine in two days. Please go to the side room and sleep there for one night."
Xie Xuanlan grabbed her wrist and saw that both arms were covered with small red rashes, as well as her back and neck. There seemed to be signs of spreading. His voice was cold and gloomy: "You call this okay? Jiang Congying, you would rather endure the pain than tell me?"
Cong Ying said awkwardly: "No, I..."
Xie Xuanlan turned to call the maid who was on night watch and urgently sent for the doctor from the palace. After examining her, the doctor said, "This is rubella caused by eating something that is harmful to you. Does the young lady remember what she ate in the past two or three hours?"
Xie Xuanlan listed all the dishes she had eaten tonight.
The doctor said, "It may be because of the mustard. Madam, you must avoid it from now on."
Xie Xuanlan was puzzled: "Spicy? But she——"
Before he finished speaking, he saw Congying gently shaking her head at him, her eyes filled with an embarrassed plea. Xie Xuanlan paused, then turned to the doctor and asked, "How can I relieve this?"
The doctor said, "It's best to induce sweating and then apply some ephedra and cicada slough ointment. It will go away in two days."
Xie Xuanlan saw the doctor off and returned to see Congying brush past him, lying face down on the bed, seemingly asleep. He sneered softly, "Jiang Congying, how can you sleep?"
Cong Ying turned her back and ignored him. She felt the mattress behind her sink slightly, and a strong hand turned her shoulder over.
Xie Xuanlan clamped her down, his warm breath falling on her neck. He asked in a low voice, "I've seen you eat croaker fillets dipped in ginger, vinegar and mustard sauce several times. Why, didn't you feel uncomfortable at that time?"
Congying's cheeks were flushed and her eyes were a little vague. She thought for a long time but couldn't find an excuse.
I had no choice but to tell the truth evasively: "I thought the rashes were caused by the croaker fillets..."
"So you're doing it knowingly. No wonder you always eat when I'm about to leave town. It turns out you're greedy and afraid others will find out."
Xie Xuanlan curled his lips and looked at her, with a hint of teasing in his dark eyes, which made Cong Ying's face turn red. She was so embarrassed that she wanted to pull the quilt to cover herself.
But he just added fuel to the fire and said, "I'll go tell my mother tomorrow..."
Cong Ying exclaimed in surprise: "No!"
"Um?"
"Don't tell anyone!"
"But how are you going to explain this rash all over your body to others? It's got to go away quickly. The doctor just said you should sweat."
Xie Xuanlan slowly lowered his head, practically biting her earlobe while talking to her, his fingers hooked around her belt, lingering around her, unable to let go.
"If you want me to keep a secret, you have to give me some benefits, right?"
Cong Ying dared to be angry but not to speak.
She had indeed sweated profusely that night, the heat in her body overpowering the redness and itchiness of her skin. Zong Ying was exhausted, but she could hear him laughing in her ear: "I'll never call you cold-tempered again. You clearly have your moments when you're so foolish you're a pity... I'll take you to Songjiang later to try some freshly caught silver carp..."
Cong Ying covered his mouth.
…
Cong Ying and King Jin each picked up a piece of croaker and slowly savored the flavor. No one spoke for a while.
The King of Jin was thinking about the past while Cong Ying was pondering in his heart.
After a while, she considered her words carefully: "Is the old friend that Your Highness mentioned the girl who was buried in Xuandu Temple?"
Prince Jin slowly raised his eyes to look at her: "Not bad."
Fresh shad slices were as crisp as autumn pears, their cold jade-like texture invigorating their mouths, a rare, refreshing taste. As Cong Ying savored them, she enjoyed them more and more. She felt that if she were in his shoes, even if she knew shad slices would cause rashes, she would probably break the habit occasionally and endure the rash for a few days just for this delicious bite.
Two different people may have similar looks and personalities, but can they also have the same tastes and preferences?
Thinking of this, Cong Ying suddenly lost her appetite and put down her chopsticks: "Can I... ask Your Highness a question?"
The King of Jin smiled and said, "You have been asking me questions, and I have answered them all. What are you worried about?"
He was as pure as a willow and as bright as the moon, his deep eyes reflecting hers, and he smiled at her warmly, as if he was completely harmless and indulgent towards her. But Ying felt a little gloomy in her heart, thinking that he was deliberately being gentle this time, holding a delicious fillet of mullet to lure a curious raccoon cat slowly towards him.
Even so, some questions must be asked.
The first thing she asked was, "Does Your Highness also have strange dreams?"
The King of Jin asked, "What dream?"
"Ever since the Lady of the Crimson Cloud Crown gifted me the Half-Mirror of the World, I've often had dreams at night that seemed like predictions. They felt incredibly real and lingered long after I woke up. Furthermore, they often came true, like when my brother and I gambled with the Guanyin, and when Princess Chun'an fell off her horse in the paddock."
She slowly sorted out her thoughts and expressed her doubts, "But dreams and reality are not always consistent. At least when it comes to matters related to Your Highness, reality and dreams are different. So, I wonder if Your Highness also foresaw something in advance and changed some things?"
Prince Jin said softly, "Do you really think that was a dream?"
Cong Ying didn't understand what this question meant.
The King of Jin said, "Well, let's just treat it as a dream. Zhuangzi and the butterfly, a dream of life. If I really had a dream like this, and I knew more than you, and it was more real, would you be willing to follow my advice?"
From the firefly's black eyelashes fell, and she said lightly: "Your Highness said that you can let me ask, but you asked me instead."
The King of Jin smiled and said, "I'm not the prisoner you want to interrogate. It's only right to return the favor."
Cong Ying mentioned her recent nightmare, which had been troubling her. "I dreamed that Wang Chuping and Xu Dezheng were collaborating with the enemy, deliberately forcing Sanlang to raid the enemy's supply lines at night, and then setting an ambush to kill him. Since Your Highness knows about this and has already warned Sanlang, I believe Your Highness also hopes that Sanlang will be safe in Xizhou, correct?"
Prince Jin had promised, but she still couldn't help asking, wanting to confirm again and again that it was not just a momentary perfunctory response.
"I really don't want him to die." Prince Jin stared at her with a deep gaze: "Aying, you feel sorry for Xie Xuanlan in your dream, don't you?"
Cong Ying also nodded in agreement: "Yes, I don't want him to suffer so much."
After she said this, King Jin was silent for a long time.
In fact, she was a little nervous, worried that Prince Jin would be dissatisfied with Sanlang due to jealousy, so she tried her best to avoid emphasizing the importance of Sanlang to her in front of Prince Jin.
But there are some things that are tiring for her to keep in her heart, and it is even more difficult for her to deny them against her will.
She simply stated more clearly, "I often dream of Sanlang. The man in my dreams is a little different from the man he is now, but he has never treated me badly and has always been very kind to me. I love him both in my dreams and in my present self. Perhaps the world is full of hardships and unpredictable circumstances, but as long as his heart remains unchanged, I am willing to stay by his side forever. So, Your Highness..."
She raised her teacup, made a toast to the Prince of Jin, and said softly, "Perhaps in your Highness's dream, there are many pasts and regrets between you and me, but regardless of dream or reality, the only person I can choose is Sanlang."
After saying this, she quietly waited for King Jin's reaction. Whether he was sad or furious, she could understand and was willing to bear it.
But Prince Jin remained silent, just looking at her for a long and deep moment. Cong Ying quietly raised her head to glance at him, but she felt that the emotions in his eyes were too complicated, as if there was both pain and joy, so complicated that she couldn't guess. She only saw his eyes slowly turning red.
"Your Highness..." Ying's heart was beating wildly.
"Come," King Jin said hoarsely, "come to me."
Cong Ying hesitated for a moment, and he suddenly covered his hand with his sleeve and coughed. The painful gasps in his chest made Cong Ying's heart tight and painful. She was afraid that if she continued to disobey him after saying such heartless words, she would force him into trouble, so she immediately stood up and walked around to his side, offering him a cup of warm tea.
Prince Jin did not take the tea but held her wrist.
Then he suddenly pulled her into his arms, spilling the tea. Their two hearts collided with each other through their sternums and clothes, neither slower than the other, and both were equally violent.
He held her tightly, ignoring her stiffness, resting his forehead on her shoulder, his voice choked slightly: "Say it again."
Cong Ying was puzzled: "What?"
"Tell me what you just said again. How you dreamed of Xie San, how you loved him... Please..."
It's like a drowning person praying for a piece of driftwood, or a fish in a dry ditch hoping for a drop of rain.
Although Cong Ying couldn't understand, she was shocked by his emotions, so she carefully repeated her meaning:
She often dreamed of Sanlang and loved the way he looked in her dreams. All this gave her the belief that she should stay by his side and never let him down no matter how difficult life was.
Her shoulder felt a little wet, and water dripped onto the back of her hand, drop by drop.
He held her in his arms, trying not to make a sound, but his body was trembling slightly and uncontrollably. Ying felt a little sad and a little sorry for him, so she hesitantly hugged him back, gently patting his cheekbones like she would when he was little.
After thinking for a while, she decided to comfort him: "Your Highness, I am not completely heartless to you, but everyone has their own destiny, you——"
The rest of his words were cut short by the sudden kiss.
His lips were soft, wet, and cool, yet strong, twisting and turning over and over, cutting off her voice and swallowing her surprise and struggle. Then, he pushed her teeth apart, as if certain she wouldn't bite him, and recklessly thrust his tongue in, entwining it with hers, leaving her with nowhere to hide.
The kiss was so long and deep that it was frightening. In the end, Cong Ying had lost the strength to struggle and thought: That's it.
She slowly relaxed, and his kiss gradually cooled, biting her lips lightly or pecking them lightly, giving her a space to breathe. In these spaces, she tasted the bitterness of tears and a hint of blood.
Congying felt a little confused. If she couldn't give him love, what could she give him?
Comfort?
The soft and slender hand stroked her neck again and again. She didn't dare to think any more, especially didn't dare to look at his eyes that always reminded her of Sanlang, so she slowly lowered her eyelids.
The autumn wind shook the osmanthus trees, and light golden petals fell on the two people.
The wind also carried the fragrance of osmanthus across the eaves, and it hit Princess Xuande who was coming around the corner.
The eldest princess looked at this scene, and after being surprised, she suddenly became excited: "Oh, I'm going to have a grandson!"
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