Chapter 22 Good Intentions "Xue Rongyue, you are truly shameless..."
As the spring rain fell in countless strands, the green bells under the eaves trembled restlessly in the wind and rain. Each tinkling sound carried a damp aftertaste. The painted beams and flying eaves were completely submerged in the drizzle, and their magnificent outlines gradually became blurred in the misty rain.
The rain was heavy and the thin oil-paper umbrella was no match for the sudden downpour.
Raindrops slid down Xue Rongyue's cherry lips and delicate nose, a few strands of her dark hair clung wetly to her fair neck, and her red jade earring was enveloped by raindrops, condensing into a clear droplet, hanging on the red jade, about to fall.
A bluebird holding a pearl, a jade and gold ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) clung to her body, outlining her superior and graceful figure. Her embroidered shoes were already soaked, leaving winding water stains as she walked.
Xue Rongyue carried the rain-soaked food box to the front of the Buddhist hall, looking depressed.
The moment she entered the palace today, the system notification sound followed immediately—
She triggered a special mission once again, delivering a bowl of white jade vegetarian meatball soup to Qin Jin, who was in the Buddhist hall of the palace.
Although it was unknown why Qin Jin was in the palace's Buddhist hall, she finally found an excuse to sneak out of the Empress's palace with a bowl of vegetarian meatball soup. Before she even reached the Buddhist hall, she was soaked by a heavy rain.
The makeup I put on for the palace was ruined by this spring rain!
Frustrated, Xue Rongyue wiped the smudged rouge from her lips with a handkerchief, then pushed open the tightly closed door of the Buddhist hall, carrying a food box.
A light drizzle slanted in through the open hall door, the cool rain dispelling the gloom and oppression of the Buddhist hall. The dim light from the wind and rain poured in wildly, and Qin Jin squinted, quietly watching Xue Rongyue's figure gradually become clear in the hazy, bluish-gray light.
The two palace servants who remained instinctively wanted to step forward to stop them, but Qin Jin's deep voice rang out first: "You two can leave now."
The palace maid paused, but agreed without hesitation, and whispered, "Then the two of us will go outside to keep watch for the young master, in case Lady Liu goes and comes back."
As the palace maid appointed by the Empress Dowager, if Liu Gongren were to happen to witness this scene, she would certainly report it to the Empress Dowager, and new punishments would be inevitable.
"No need," Qin Jin said calmly. "It's raining today, she won't turn back."
The palace maids fell silent, bowed their heads, and prepared to leave.
As Xue Rongyue approached, she noticed two palace maids in the Buddhist hall. She naturally recognized them as servants from the Empress Dowager's palace and asked suspiciously, "Lady Li, Lady Wang, what are you doing here?"
Lady Li replied, "The Crown Prince of Qin has made a mistake, and the Empress Dowager has ordered us two to supervise his punishment."
Xue Rongyue almost showed her joy.
What could be more gratifying than your arch-rival making a mistake and being punished?
But before her lips could curl into a smile, she regained her composure, suppressed her excitement, and put on a surprised expression: "What mistake has Prince Qin made that has alarmed the Empress Dowager?"
Looking back at Qinjin, Lady Li hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.
With a slight raise of his eyelids, Qin Jin glanced indifferently at the food box Xue Rongyue was holding and asked curtly, "Is Madam Xue here to gloat?"
"How could that be?"
Xue Rongyue said against her will, "I came to show my concern for Prince Qin."
Unfortunately, perhaps because the two had been at odds for so many years, these words lacked any genuine concern or care; instead, their usual sarcastic tone was unmistakable.
Qin Jin scoffed.
Xue Rongyue also realized the inappropriateness of her words, and couldn't help but cough awkwardly. To show that her words were true and reliable, she raised the food box she was carrying and emphasized again: "I really came to care about Prince Qin."
The two palace maids, Li and Wang, wisely left, and the door to the Buddhist hall closed once again, keeping out the wind and rain.
After the footsteps of the palace servants faded away, Xue Rongyue stepped forward, placed the food box beside Qin Jin, raised her eyebrows and said, "This is the cooking of Su, a palace servant in the Empress's palace. Would you like to try it?"
Qin Jin was momentarily lost in thought.
The sky was greyish-white, with dark clouds rolling in, casting a shadow of darkness and silence over the Buddhist hall. Incense and candles burned continuously before the Buddha, and ashes from the burnt-out incense sticks fell from the small scarlet dot, wisps of smoke curling upwards. Maitreya Buddha sat high on the altar in front of the hall, his compassionate smile overlooking all living beings.
Xue Rongyue stood with her back to the Buddha statue, tilting her head to look at him.
Her bright and charming face is just as it was before, like the girl who ran around in the garden full of spring colors and flew a kite.
The shrill voice of the whipping nanny still echoes in my ears. Since his true identity was revealed, he and Xue Rongyue have become worlds apart.
In the dimly lit Buddhist hall, the boy lowered his head, no longer daring to listen to the girl's loud and clear laughter outside, while the words of the whipping matron, each one piercing his heart, echoed in his ears.
The sturdy back of the boy was crushed, and the boy, with his thin body hunched over, hid himself in the shadows.
But the whipping matron was unaware that after she left, the tightly closed hall door was pushed open once again after a long period of silence.
Xue Rongyue, who was worlds apart from him, stood in front of the Buddhist hall carrying a food box.
The blazing sun and warm sunlight embraced her upright figure. Behind her was a clear, bright sky and a spring full of blooming flowers, completely different from him.
The girl carefully walked in carrying the food box, and when she saw the bloody wound on his back, she was shocked: "You..."
After a brief pause, she stepped closer. Her fragrance dispelled the lingering stench of blood in his nostrils. Snapping out of his shock, he hastily avoided the girl's concerned gaze, unable to meet her eyes.
The girl opened the food box and brought out a fragrant soup: "I heard from the Ninth Prince that you were punished for making a mistake and have been kneeling in the Buddhist hall for several days without having a proper meal. I specially ordered the Imperial Kitchen to make your favorite ginger and duck flower soup with pancakes. Have some."
The rich aroma of meat, the tender shredded meat still lingering in his mouth, caused Qin Jin's expression to change drastically. The taste of that soup seemed to linger, making his stomach churn and convulse.
Clenching his teeth, Qin Jin took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the urge to vomit.
Darkness surged in his dark eyes, and his cold gaze swept over Xue Rongyue. He slowly tightened his grip on the jade thumb ring, his knuckles turning white from the force.
Unaware of what was happening, Xue Rongyue opened the food box, revealing a bowl of white jade vegetarian meatball soup: "Knowing that you don't like meat soup now, this is a vegetarian soup stewed by Su Gongren, it tastes quite good."
After saying that, he still wouldn't listen to Qin Jin's words.
Xue Rongyue raised her eyes and met Qin Jin's deep gaze. She was taken aback, but then realized what he meant: "This is not because I was prying into your privacy. That night at the palace banquet, I saw that you tasted the Mao Geng (a type of soup) served by the palace servants and then spat it out. After that, you only ate vegetarian soup."
Xue Rongyue explained, "This is something I discovered through observation."
With a sharp, chiseled jawline, Qin Jin raised a slight brow, crossed his arms, and asked with a cold laugh, "How is this any different from spying?"
Xue Rongyue retorted, "How can there be no difference? Spying is spying, and observation is observation. This is the result of my careful observation. How can you conflate the two?"
Qin Jin's prominent Adam's apple bobbed slightly. Too lazy to refute her sophistry, he lowered his head and glanced at the bowl of vegetarian meatball soup, his sharp, eagle-like eyes scrutinizing her.
Xue Rongyue frowned and took a step back uneasily: "What are you looking at?"
"Xue Rongyue." Approaching slowly, calling her name, Qin Jin bent down and asked, "Were you threatened?"
"What?"
Xue Rongyue was not expected to hear such a sentence. She was slightly stunned, and her imposing manner when she met his gaze relaxed.
"It would be fine if you took the initiative to form an alliance, but neither the hangover soup nor this bowl of soup in front of you is something you would be willing to do."
Qin Jin straightened up and concluded, "Do you have some kind of leverage over me that someone else is using against you, and you're being forced to come and curry favor with me?"
Xue Rongyue was shocked by his keen insight. If it weren't for triggering a special task from the system, she wouldn't have believed that one day she would actually take the initiative to bring soup to Qin Jin.
Her thick eyelashes trembled slightly, and Xue Rongyue quickly composed herself, lowering her eyes as she said, "No, who would dare to threaten me? I just..."
With a leisurely raised eyebrow, Qin Jin did not expose her.
Xue Rongyue spoke softly, with a hint of sadness in her voice: "I just don't want to fight with you anymore. When my brother was alive, he hoped that we would be at peace. But over the years, we have fought each other to the point of no return. I wonder how sad my brother would be if he were alive."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xue Rongyue couldn't help but sigh. Since her bottom line was broken, she had become more and more natural and skilled at lying to Qin Jin.
Qin Jin remained silent.
Xue Rongyue observed his expression and pressed on: "To be honest, you and I don't have any deep-seated hatred. It's just a childhood squabble, which should have been worn away with the passage of time."
She deliberately asked, "Do you still remember why we were enemies in the first place?"
The sound of knuckles tapping on the table paused for a moment. Qin Jin was silent for a moment, then lowered his eyes and said, "It's been so long, I can't remember clearly."
really.
"I can't remember" was the answer Xue Rongyue had expected, and she couldn't help but feel a little smug.
Recalling the quotes written in "Let Words No Longer Be Harsh", Xue Rongyue imitated them: "Look, the things that caused us to be enemies have long since disappeared in the years. It can be seen that they were just some insignificant little things. Why should we fuss over such trivial matters?"
She added her own agenda: "Besides, although I was spoiled back then, I wasn't unreasonable, and with my brother's patient guidance, I was determined to make peace with you. It must have been you who started the trouble and then resented me..."
"Six years ago, in early spring, mid-autumn, the day after you were invited to a banquet in the palace and kept there by the Empress for a short stay, you came in with a food box in this Buddhist hall at noon after you had flown kites in the Imperial Garden."
A heavy, cold snort escaped Qin Jin's lips as he angrily interrupted Xue Rongyue's unfinished words.
With his sharp eyebrows furrowed and eyes narrowed, he suppressed his surging emotions and gritted his teeth: "Xue Rongyue, you are truly shameless!"
Xue Rongyue was shocked by his detailed and knowledgeable account.
It's not that it's been so long that you don't remember...
This is called not remembering?
He remembers it perfectly clearly.
She was immediately even angrier; of course she remembered this!
Upon learning that Qin Jin had been punished by kneeling for several days, she had already resolved to live in harmony with him. Naturally, she could not ignore the matter. Under the arrangement of the Empress, she specially prepared soup and went to visit him.
With such thoughtfulness, what more could he possibly want?
Xue Rongyue glared at her angrily: "How am I shameless? I kindly brought you soup, did I do something wrong?!"
His lips were taut, the veins on the back of his hand were bulging, Qin Jin's dark eyes were filled with anger, his face was icy, and he said, word by word: "Good intentions?"
He laughed in anger: "You slaughter my pet cat, stew it in soup, and serve it to me? You call that kindness? I've truly learned my lesson!"
Xue Rongyue's scalp tingled: "What?!"
A note from the author:
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Next chapter preview:
Qin Jin: You didn't do this?!
Xiaoyue: You didn't do this?!
My arch-rival is checking the accounts and discovers he's been unfairly blamed for so many things [angry].
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