Crown Princess
The bedroom was so quiet that the only sound was the crunching of paper as the girl's fingers turned pages. Zhiyue and Boyue knelt under the couch, staring at each other.
The air was so quiet that it was a little eerie. Jing Yao's face was blocked by the script, so his expression could not be seen.
There was a rustling sound, and Jing Yao's speed of turning the pages suddenly increased. Bo Yue felt something was wrong. Not good -
"Hiss..." Jing Yao took a breath and slammed the book shut.
There are three articles in total.
The first article describes Jing Yao as a stunningly beautiful bride who seduce Crown Prince Si Pei and made him fall in love with her. From then on, the king stopped attending court early in the morning.
The story wasn't very good. It was obviously written just to write about that incident and attract attention. Apart from using her and Si Pei's names, it had nothing to do with them.
The second chapter describes how she was heartless and only loved Baili Wenfu. Si Pei was deeply in love with her but could not get her love, and finally died in depression.
The writing style of this article is quite good, and it is written in a sad and poignant manner. The description of Jing Yao's cold heart and Si Pei's bitter mood is especially detailed. She almost believed it to be true when she read it.
The third chapter is quite special, as it unexpectedly begins with her and Si Pei's childhood sweetheart days. The author describes their childhood love affair, how Si Pei was not a prince but the eldest son of a scholarly family, and how Jing Yao was merely the pampered daughter of a merchant family, and how they spent their lives in loving harmony.
After reading this article, Jing Yao just sighed.
She was lost in thought for a long time. When she came to her senses, she pretended to be calm and coughed twice: "Where did you buy this?"
It's quite interesting.
Bo Yue widened his eyes. His wife wasn't angry at all?
Seems to be interested in this...
"My lady, this is the small stone I asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to purchase from Chenglan Bookstore in the north of the city."
"Is this kind of book widely circulated in Shanghua City?"
Jing Yao asked frankly, and Bo Yuexin made up his mind: "My dear, there are quite a few..."
Not only Chenglan Bookstore, but all the bookstores in Xijing know that Jing Yaosipei's storybooks are the best-selling ones, and the authors have written even more... The people in Shanghua City also like to read them very much.
"The most popular book right now is about you, Lord Baili, General Zuo, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
But Bo Yue was afraid of offending her masters and did not dare to buy it.
Jing Yao almost choked when he heard this.
Wow, she is really greedy in the storybook.
Bo Yue finally realized what a shameful thing she had done and kowtowed repeatedly to admit her guilt: "I am guilty! I shouldn't have said anything! I bought this book by mistake these past two days... Please punish me, Madam."
Zhiyue blinked her eyes and didn't quite understand, but she also bowed her head.
"Everyone, get up and stop asking for forgiveness and bowing to me all the time."
Jing Yao was tired of others using etiquette to pressure her, so she didn't care much about these empty formalities.
"You can just read the book if you want. I didn't lose any meat. I won't be so petty as to blame you."
Bo Yue was so moved that she burst into tears. She had entered the palace at a young age and had spent some time with the concubines of various palaces. Jing Yao was truly the master with the best temper she had ever seen. He didn't even care about such an offensive act by a servant.
Thinking back to when they used to think Jing Yao was a difficult person to deal with, now they really want to slap themselves in the face.
Jing Yao helped Bo Yue up and whispered, "Well, tell your little stone... to bring back the book you just mentioned."
——
Near dinner time, someone close to Si Pei came and said that Jing Yao didn't need to leave, as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would come to her bedroom for dinner tonight.
Si Pei came over on his own initiative, which was exactly what Jing Yao wanted, as he didn't want to go through the trouble of going back and forth.
Tonight's dishes were divided into two distinct groups. Si Pei's was much lighter, and the dishes were the usual suspects. After all, his wound was severely torn, so he had to avoid many foods.
However, as usual, the palace maid placed the peeled shrimp next to Jing Yao.
Jing Yao felt quite regretful that he could not order Si Pei to take action tonight.
It was not until Si Pei appeared in front of her, looking slightly weak, that she finally remembered that the person in front of her was still a wounded man who needed to recuperate.
Well, then she won’t bother Si Pei anymore.
Jing Yao was grateful for his own understanding and tolerance, and picked up a piece of braised meat in a good mood.
She ate the delicious food without noticing Si Pei's disgusted expression across from her.
“Ahem…”
Si Pei turned his back and coughed a few times. Jing Yao frowned: "What's wrong with you?"
Seeing her concern, Si Pei put his fist to his lips and smiled slightly as he explained, "Maybe it's because I didn't get enough rest just now. Don't worry."
Jing Yao thought to herself that she wasn't really worried, she was just afraid that he would get sick and infect her.
"Be careful not to catch a cold."
Hearing her say this, Si Pei suddenly felt that the food in his mouth tasted much better.
"Um."
Eunuch Ming, who was watching nearby, reminded them, "Yes, although winter has passed, it's still hard to avoid catching a cold in the chilly spring. I'll have the kitchen prepare some warming and invigorating soup for Your Highness and Madam Jing as a precaution."
Si Pei nodded, but Eunuch Ming asked, "Your Highness, could I have the decoction for your tranquility and sleep also prepared?"
This was not the first time that Eunuch Ming had dealt with such a small matter, so there was no need to ask any more questions. However, Si Peizheng frowned in dissatisfaction, and suddenly realized who he was talking to.
"You can't sleep again?"
Jing Yao asked subconsciously.
"No……"
"Yes, Madam Jing." Eunuch Ming answered before Si Pei could, looking distressed and helpless. "Your Highness has had trouble sleeping in recent days. Even when he does fall asleep, he wakes up from nightmares repeatedly. It really hurts me to see this."
Jing Yao seemed to remember the scene that Eunuch Ming described vividly, not now, but three years ago.
It was the early spring of the twelfth year of Jianyuan. Less than half a month had passed away since Empress Yue passed away, and gossips were already spreading from the Eastern Palace.
Crown Prince Si Pei suffered from hysteria.
The cause was that the shadow of the palace maid who was on night watch was cast on the screen. Si Pei, who was already suffering from nightmares, mistook it for the ghost of Queen Yue who came to take his life. He rushed forward like a madman and held the person down, almost strangling the palace maid to death.
Fortunately, Eunuch Ming brought people to stop the prince in time, and quickly asked the guards to take away the palace maid who fainted and collapsed on the ground, and ordered that palace maids should not be arranged to guard the inner hall at night in the future.
The emperor naturally heard of the loud noise in the Eastern Palace in the middle of the night, and he specially sent a royal physician to check on Si Pei's condition. His heir must not be a madman.
During the day, Si Pei behaved the same as usual. The imperial physician did not notice anything unusual, so he diagnosed him with hysteria caused by excessive grief over the Queen's death and prescribed some tranquilizers.
Si Pei thanked the imperial physician calmly, but at night he was still unable to sleep because of the pain caused by the woman in his nightmare. Eunuch Ming was anxious and secretly found a lot of calming medicines, but they were of no use.
During the day, Si Pei pretended to be normal and safe, but at night he tossed and turned. Even with his eyes open, he could seem to see that resentful figure.
For this reason, the lights in the Crown Prince's bedroom in the Eastern Palace were always kept burning.
Si Pei originally thought that this hysterical dream would accompany him for the rest of his life, until a month later when the Duke of Jing's Mansion sent a carriage to the Eastern Palace.
People thought that Jing Yao was taken back to the Eastern Palace by Si Pei when he was sixteen years old, the year the Jing family fell. In fact, it was just the opposite.
Jing Yao still remembers that he was sent to the Eastern Palace by his father.
That year, she just turned fourteen.
She was wearing a pink and purple skirt and sitting in the carriage of the Duke's Mansion. She lifted the side curtain to look at the gilded plaque hanging high on the door.
Jing Yao did not have much attachment to this place. She had lived in her aunt's palace since she was nine years old, and she had almost forgotten her memories before that.
When she was ten years old, her mother died and she was fostered by Queen Yue. When she was thirteen, she was finally taken back to the Duke's Mansion. Her father had already remarried by then, and her stepmother was only six years older than her, but she gave birth to a pair of twins, a boy and a girl, who were eleven years younger than her.
Her stepmother, who was married at a young age, was lukewarm towards her, and her father was always busy and absent. Jing Yao felt that she had become an outsider in this "home".
After her fourteenth birthday, her father called her into the study. The usually taciturn man spoke to her a lot for the first time, saying how difficult it was for him to support the family, how much trouble her grandfather and aunt had caused him, and finally talked about her mother.
"Daddy has been dreaming about your mother a lot lately. She's always worried that you'll meet the wrong person and get bullied."
When she mentioned her mother Jing Yao, she couldn't stop crying. Her father also burst into tears when he said, "I told her not to worry. With Daddy here, our Ling Yi will never be hurt in the slightest."
Jing Yao leaned on her father's lap and cried. Before she finished crying, the man wiped her tears and said, "So Ling Yi, Daddy will give you the best marriage in the world."
What?
Jing Yao was suddenly struck by lightning. She had no idea that her father had laid out such a touching story for such a long time just to persuade her to send her to someone else's home.
"Daddy, Yaoyao is still young, and Yaoyao doesn't want to leave you..."
"Silly child, you are already old enough to get engaged." Father Jing didn't think much about it, just thinking that his daughter was afraid of leaving her family. "This is the path you must take in the future. Don't worry, Daddy won't harm you."
"No!" Jing Yao stood up, "I won't get married!"
Father Jing's loving expression cracked. He had never expected his daughter to dare to disobey him like this: "Ling Yi! How dare you talk to Daddy? Do you know who Daddy is going to marry you to?"
"I won't marry even if she's a god!"
Jing Yao turned his face away in grievance. At this time, his stepmother came in to serve tea and heard it. She chuckled and said, "Ling Yi is young and inexperienced. It's normal for her to be unable to accept it for a while."
"But women still have to get married eventually. It's also very happy to spend the days of taking care of husbands and raising children." The stepmother put down the teacup and tried to persuade her as an experienced person, but Jing Yao ignored her and avoided her.
"That's your happiness, it has nothing to do with me."
"Jing Yao, what kind of arrogant attitude are you taking? Is this what the Empress taught you?"
Jing's father was furious, but his stepmother Zhang stopped him and said, "Forget it, don't get angry with the child."
Jing Yao stood aside stubbornly, refusing to bow her head. Jing's father snorted coldly, "You still don't want to get married? You should be grateful that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has chosen you."
"What's the meaning?"
Jing Yao clenched her fists. Si Pei... fell in love with her?
"Ling Yi, don't be too angry. Your father still wants to marry you off. The Eastern Palace is preparing to select concubines. You and His Highness should have frequent interactions in the palace. We thought we could give it a try..."
Jing Yao finally understood that they were planning to put her into the Eastern Palace to curry favor with Si Pei.
When she was young, she had seen the emperor's selection of concubines in the palace, rows of young girls standing before the emperor for him to choose from. Now, the thought of herself becoming the same kind of pork to be tasted by everyone made her feel sick.
Jing Yao didn't want to go, but she didn't have the courage to kill herself. She wanted to go on a hunger strike out of spite, but she didn't expect that she was so hungry that she felt dizzy and was easily caught and put on the carriage.
Jing Yao lowered the side curtain and angrily gnawed at the fresh meat pie in his hand.
The carriage entered the Eastern Palace. Jing Yao wanted to play dead and refuse to get out, but Eunuch Ming had already come outside to greet her: "Miss Jing, please get out. His Highness is waiting for you."
Jing Yao jumped out of the carriage with her skirt lifted up angrily. It was just a talent show, but she made such a scene that the whole place was in chaos. She wanted to see if Si Pei would kick her out.
Eunuch Ming led the aggressive Miss Jing all the way into the Prince's Palace. Jing Yao looked left and right, wondering why she was alone?
"You're here."
A young man's clear and melodious voice came from behind the screen. Si Pei wore a black brocade robe with a silver crane pattern, which made him look calm and handsome. He had grown considerably taller in the past year, and his figure was somewhere between a boy and a man, tall and lean, with a strong build.
"Why aren't you talking?"
When Si Pei walked in front of Jing Yao, Jing Yao realized that there was some fatigue under his smile.
"Your Highness, I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Before Jing Yao knelt down, Si Pei took her arm and said, "In the East Palace, you don't have to perform these empty formalities to me, and you don't have to call me Your Highness. Just be casual."
"oh."
Jing Yao nodded, then suddenly remembered why he was here. He looked around and asked, "Why am I alone?"
The boy raised an eyebrow, "Who else do you wish was there?"
Jing Yao was even more confused: "Aren't you going to...select a concubine?"
Is Si Pei's reputation so bad that she is the only one who came to the selection of concubines?
"Hahahahahaha..." Si Pei laughed a few times at her amusing words, "If it's a talent show, there should be more people, but for the rest... one is enough."
What's the rest?
Jing Yao didn't quite understand, and Si Pei deliberately kept her in suspense: "Let's talk about it later."
Then she was arranged to live in the west bedroom.
As soon as Jing Yao left, the smile on Si Pei's face faded. He turned around and asked Eunuch Ming, "Is this Jing really crazy?"
The damned Si Tianjian in the court said that the only way to solve the prince's hysterical nightmares was to send a girl whose three palaces were all fire to accompany him. Unexpectedly, Duke Jing sent his own daughter.
Eunuch Ming wiped his sweat silently in his heart: "Duke Jing...maybe he is also worried about you, Your Highness..."
Although anyone could see that this was the Jing family's way of currying favor with the prince as they saw the situation was set.
Si Pei sneered and remained silent.
"Then Your Highness...are you going to send them back?"
The young man pondered for a moment and said, "Even if Duke Jing is capable of such a thing, even if I send her back, I'm afraid nothing good will come of it. What if she's randomly promised to some bad family again... I'd better let her stay for now."
"yes."
Eunuch Ming stepped back, and Si Pei turned around, the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously.
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