"Ahem," he coughed lightly and turned his head away. "Mu Jieyu, do you know what riddles the other concubines ask me to guess?"
I blinked and subconsciously replied, "What riddle?"
He said slowly, "For example, 'I've been thinking about you for twenty years'."
???
Are you sure this isn't a love poem but a riddle? Is there a solution?
He turned around and saw my puzzled expression, then suddenly smiled and said, "Then you can guess this riddle."
...Which concubine said that?! Come out and get beaten!
It was a very hot day and I wiped the sweat from my forehead with my hand. The maid beside me saw me and kindly came forward to wipe it with a silk handkerchief.
"Hmm..." I hesitated for a moment: "'Old'..."
He looked at me in a state of confusion: "What?"
I simply started to talk nonsense in a serious tone: "Look, women usually get married at the age of sixteen or seventeen. After the wedding, it takes another five or six years to cultivate feelings and have children. Since she 'misses you', then the two of them should have separated."
"Thank you," I took a sip of the tea the maid handed me and continued, "If we're separated, normally we wouldn't miss each other right away, so let's add another two or three years. And if we've been communicating in between, we probably won't miss each other too much, so I can barely add a few more years. That way, she'll be around 30, I guess."
He raised an eyebrow and nodded at me, signaling me to continue. I felt more confident: "Then I'll start thinking about it for another twenty years. Thirty plus 20, that's over 50! It's just the process of 'aging'!"
Eunuch Ahfu laughed even louder this time, with no intention of hiding his laughter. Even the maidservant beside him lowered her head and giggled softly.
Oh, after all, I don’t have as much face as Song Heng!
Song Heng tapped my head with his finger, his voice tinged with laughter: "I really can't let you read storybooks all day long. What's in your head? I'm afraid the censor would be unable to stand if he heard it!"
Humiliate me, humiliate me, why do you despise the storybook? Despise the storybook, that's fine, but why do you have to use my father to humiliate me?
I stuck out my tongue at him to express my disdain: "Is there really an answer to this riddle?" I just didn't believe it.
"Yes," he tapped my head again and smiled softly, "The number 'twenty'."
"Which 'twenty'?"
"'Nian' (reading) and 'er' (nian) have the same pronunciation, corresponding to 'si jun' (thinking of you); and 'er' (nian) means twenty, which is the same as 'er' (twenty years)."
I wanted to yell "Stop knocking!", but after listening to his explanation, I suddenly felt that this riddle was really amazing. I looked up and blurted out, "Great!"
This time he didn't really hit me on the head, but just lowered his head slightly and looked at me, his eyes seemed to scan every inch of my face.
The weather was so hot that I could only feel my face burning. I subconsciously turned around to admire the flowers. The only sound was the cicadas' chirping like violent waves, hitting my ears.
Suddenly, a flying insect swooped down from the flowers. The memory of being stung by a bee that year suddenly came flooding back. I stepped back in terror: "Ahhhhhh, there really is a bee!"
I turned around and was embraced by him. My face was buried in his chest, and everything was dark. He seemed to move a little, and then I heard the panicked voice of Eunuch Ah Fu: "Quick, quick, call the imperial physician, call the imperial physician! Your Majesty, please forgive me, Your Majesty, please forgive me..."
I quickly looked up at Song Heng. He looked normal, "No need. It's just a small flying insect. I'll just go back and apply some medicine later."
I stepped back and looked up at his face. "What bug? Where did it sting?"
He didn't reply, I just smiled and said, "You really are that afraid of bees."
Suddenly I caught a glimpse of a small red dot on the side of his neck. I went forward to take a closer look and found that it was indeed just a small insect. I breathed a sigh of relief.
I immediately saw his Adam's apple move. I quickly stepped back and turned my burning face away. "Your Majesty's health is paramount. Let's go back and apply the medicine first!"
"Alright," he replied, "Ahfu, prepare the sedan chair and go to Chenshuang Pavilion."
When I asked him why he came to Chenshuang Pavilion to apply medicine, he seemed helpless: "I have moved all the good medicines from Chengqing Palace to your place."
How could that be? Why didn't I have that impression?
Seeing that the small red spot on his neck seemed to be a little swollen, I stopped arguing with him and quickly placed the medicine basket that Princess Rushuang had sent me last time on the table. "Doctor Li, what do you think of these medicines? Are there any that can be used by His Majesty?"
Doctor Li, who had just arrived, opened the corks and caps of the bottles one by one, his expression growing more and more delighted. "The ointments here from Concubine Mu are truly top-grade."
Doctor Li picked out a few and prepared to apply the ointment to Song Heng, who was sitting beside him. Song Heng took the ointment and said, "The Imperial Hospital is busy. You should go down first."
Doctor Li hesitated for a moment, then suddenly glanced at me and said, "Yes."
I was so confused by the stare, Song Heng held out the ointment to me: "Here."
It seems that Doctor Li has too much to do, and I am just a idler...
I took the dish, opened the round lid, dipped a dollop in it, and walked forward. He raised his chin slightly, revealing a large, cold, pale neck. Hadn't he been to the battlefield? How could a man have such good skin?
The ointment felt exceptionally cool on his hands. When he applied it, he took a barely perceptible breath, and I subconsciously stopped.
His low voice came: "Go on, I'm fine."
"Oh." I agreed and continued to apply the liquid. His voice trembled: "Was it painful when you were stung by the bee?"
"It didn't just hurt, it hurt like hell!" I got excited when I thought about the time I was stung by a bee. "After the pain subsided, my face was swollen like a pig's head..."
"What?" He turned to look at me.
After applying the ointment, I put the lid on the table, completely unaware of his reaction and continued to complain: "Half of your face is swollen... Half of your face looks like Zhu Bajie..."
I turned around and heard him chuckle. He was looking at me with a smile in his eyes. I immediately became unhappy: "How can you still laugh?"
I clenched my fists and had the urge to hit him!
He withdrew his hand and coughed lightly, hiding his smile: "It's just that the thought of half of your face turning into... um... a pig's head must be very-"
I looked at him with a frown on my face, and his eyes met mine—
"Very cute." He said this very calmly, and blinked slightly at the end.
The midsummer sun was exceptionally scorching, and golden spots of light fell on his clean white robe, shining brightly and somewhat dazzlingly.
I quickly turned around and lowered my head to tidy up the bottles and jars on the table, continuing to mutter as if I hadn't heard anything: "I'm just confused... I didn't provoke them... Why do the bugs keep flying towards me..."
At this time, Ah Fu walked in and said, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager is waiting for Your Majesty in the Cining Palace."
Hearing Song Heng stand up, I stepped aside to make way for him. Before I could utter the words "Farewell, Your Majesty," his voice drifted down from above my head: "Maybe... he thinks of you as a flower, too."
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