Jing Yan secretly hid the object in his hand deep into his sleeve. After he was in place, he denied it, saying, "It's nothing."
Yue Jiang didn't believe it. Her gaze lingered on Jing Yan's sleeve as she followed him, before she tried to ask, "Is there really nothing in Your Highness's sleeve?"
Jing Yan hummed in agreement, flicked his sleeves, and insisted, "It's really nothing. I've already done what Jiang'er asked me to do. How did Jiang'er's trip to the Longevity Palace go?" He changed the subject.
"Really? Father and Mother have agreed to cooperate with me at the tasting event?" Yue Jiang hurriedly confirmed.
Jingyan: "The Empress Dowager is hesitant, not wanting to strain her relationship with Grandmother Zheng too much, but Father Emperor knows that Grandmother Zheng has gone too far this time."
"My father ascended the throne at a young age and was cared for by the two empress dowagers for many years. He has never been able to truly disobey or advise the two empress dowagers. He knows that his grandmother, Empress Zheng, is biased towards me and Jingyi and Jingning and Jinglu."
"Since it's for Jingyi's good, let me and you do it together."
"Father is very wise and understanding," Yue Jiang praised, thinking about how smoothly things had gone.
But Jingyan readily helped her get things done, which made Yuejiang even happier. At least it made her realize that Jingyan was not only of good character but also very reliable.
She smiled and said, "Your Highness, you are also very capable."
To Jing Yan, Yue Jiang was exaggerating: "What's so great about this? It's nothing serious."
Yue Jiang: How can it not be a big deal? What if Jing Huaixu is blindly filial and can't bear to see Empress Dowager Zheng suffer a loss?
It was very inappropriate for her to show up and talk to Jing Huaixu about this, and Jing Yanding did so entirely in his own name.
From Jing Huaixu's perspective, it was all Jing Yan's idea, and she was just assisting him.
"No matter what, Your Highness is amazing," Yue Jiang flattered again with delight.
Jing Yan felt deeply embarrassed by being praised to an excessive degree of perfection.
Yue Jiang saw Jing Yan staring blankly, so she took the opportunity to step to his side and tilted her head to look at Jing Yan's right arm behind his back.
She pressed on playfully, "Your Highness, what exactly is it?"
Jing Yan snapped back to reality, tightened his sleeves, and stubbornly replied, "It's really nothing. It's getting late, let's order dinner!"
He concealed his last trace of guilt and turned to walk into the hall.
Yue Jiang stood there, puzzled.
What exactly did Shang Yu give Jing Yan that made her so secretive about him?
Yue Jiang and Jing Yan didn't have big appetites. In the evening, the kitchen served some crystal shrimp, stir-fried vegetarian mushrooms, Dongpo tofu, honey-roasted lamb chops, and crystal lily soup...
During the meal, Yue Jiang had little appetite and deliberately gave herself away by stealing glances at Jing Yan's sleeve.
Jing Yan noticed the gaze, glanced at his sleeve, and directly exposed Yue Jiang: "Jiang'er, are you so interested in the things Shang Yu gave you that you've lost your appetite?"
Yue Jiang: If Shang Yu weren't a doctor, that would be one thing, but he happens to be a doctor with good medical skills, and even a medical fanatic.
How could I not be afraid that he'd come up with some weird idea to cure my brain?
If they find out she doesn't have amnesia, then everything will be fine.
Yue Jiang withdrew her gaze, lowered her eyes, and kept stirring the soup in her bowl, filled with worry.
"I have no interest in Shang Yu whatsoever. The only person I care about is Your Highness. But he is a doctor, and a doctor's concern is always frightening."
Yue Jiang asked earnestly with concern, "Your Highness, have you been feeling unwell lately?"
"I'm fine on my own," Jing Yan denied, while bringing a spoonful of soup to his mouth to hide his unease.
Just as Jingyan was about to continue drinking the soup, he caught a glimpse of Yuejiang placing a piece of lamb chop into his empty bowl.
Yue Jiang said tactfully, "Since Your Highness says you are alright, then I will assume that Your Highness is alright."
Jing Yan looked at the lamb chops on the plate, then glanced at Yue Jiang obediently drinking her soup. When she stopped asking questions, he felt inexplicably irritated.
Yue Jiang was so kind to him, always gentle and considerate, never showing the slightest bit of excessive anger, making Jing Yan feel that she was too perfect for him to be real.
But he had no idea what Yue Jiang was really thinking.
Jingyan tried to connect his mother's attitude towards his father with that of Yue Jiang, which seemed similar yet quite different.
The mother was dignified and generous. She never asked for anything in return from the emperor. She treated all of the emperor's children and concubines well and did her best to fulfill the responsibilities of an empress.
The Emperor also showed due respect and protection to the Empress Dowager, and after all the trials and tribulations, he still regarded her as his only wife.
Their marital affection was less than the duties of an emperor and empress; in the eyes of the world and Jing Yan, they were simply loving and respectful to each other.
In public, Yue Jiang is almost identical to her mother, but when she is alone with him, she is bold and unrestrained, constantly saying that she loves him and cannot live without him.
However, Jingyan discovered that as long as he was cold and hard towards Yuejiang, Yuejiang would timidly shrink into a ball and be infinitely tolerant of him.
It wasn't that she was afraid; it was more like she was waiting for me to surrender.
Jing Yan couldn't immediately tell which side of Yue Jiang was the most genuine—her generous and considerate demeanor, or her unrestrained clinginess towards him.
"How have you been feeling these past few days, Jiang'er?"
Yue Jiang had been silent, wondering what Jing Yan would say first, when she suddenly heard these words, and her hand gripping the spoon handle tightened secretly.
Is he trying to find an excuse to send her to Shang Yu's place to have her brain checked?
"No, I feel perfectly fine, Your Highness, there's no need to worry!" Yue Jiang shook her head.
"Really not even a little bit? Is there any pain or discomfort anywhere?" A hint of doubt rose in Jing Yan's eyes.
What nonsense are Rong Ying and Shang Yu talking about?
Yue Jiang replied anxiously, "No, if it hurts anywhere, I would have cried by now."
Was Jingyan referring to the brain?
Could it be that after losing her memory, she'll experience intermittent headaches as a lingering symptom? Should she try experiencing the pain?
No, if she cries out in pain now, Jingyan will take her to Shangyu soon, and once they find out there's nothing wrong, that's it.
Anyway, the amnesia was just a pretense to save her life when she was first arrested. She's been married to Jing Yan for several days now, and everything has settled down.
Otherwise, when she's in the same room with Jingyan later, she might suddenly "regain her memory" just when Jingyan is most unable to resist, and then Jingyan won't be able to stop.
Yue Jiang puts on a show for Jing Yan, pretending to be married off to the wrong man during a political marriage, only to realize that the man she was having sex with wasn't the one she was supposed to marry.
Given the situation and circumstances, Jing Yan would be even more caught off guard and panicked than I am.
If Yue Jiang "reluctantly" endures a few more days of sadness and accepts it, it's not impossible that she might eventually move on from this experience.
"Your Highness, I'm full. I'd like to take a bath and rest. Please eat slowly. I'll go back to my room and wait for you," Yue Jiang put down her spoon and hinted to Jing Yan before calling Qingke and Qingfei to serve her as she took a bath.
Jing Yan watched Yue Jiang Pingting's departing figure, and pursed his wounded lips, thinking about what would happen in a little while.
Perhaps he's overthinking it.
After Yue Jiang left, Jing Yan couldn't eat anymore. Thinking about what he had to do later, he pinched the thing hidden in his sleeve.
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