65 Chapter 65
◎She was calling him...brother just now?◎
Nanzhi brought a bowl of Tremella and lotus seed soup from the kitchen.
These few days are probably the princess's peaceful days. She is accustomed to abdominal pain, so it would be most appropriate for her to drink some Tremella and Lotus Seed Soup in advance to clear away heat and detoxify.
She passed by the studio and looked up inadvertently, and saw the girl in the window put her right hand to the hand of the man beside her. She just tilted her head to look out the window, her face flushed with a little shyness.
The man behind him had a raised eyebrow and a slight smile on his lips.
She couldn't help but be stunned. She felt that she had seen Prince Wei's expression somewhere before. Even his eyebrows and eyes seemed familiar to her.
When his eyes fell on the princess again, he saw that the usual coldness was no longer between her eyebrows. Perhaps it was because the warm evening sun was shining on her, she looked a little more lively than before.
Although there was no smile on his face, he looked much gentler than usual.
Nanzhi suddenly thought that if this Prince Wei really treated the princess sincerely, General Xie in the afterlife would surely be willing to hand the princess over to him.
Now that the marriage ceremony has been completed, Nanzhi only hopes that Prince Wei will not hurt the princess's feelings, and can really help the princess find out the truth about what happened between the prince and princess back then, and protect the princess for the rest of her life.
Having already agreed to Xu Qinghe's two conditions, Wei Che walked into the inner room with confidence tonight. However, he did not expect to be met with Xu Qinghe's face that looked a bit resentful when he looked up.
Wei Che's heart skipped a beat: "...Are they going to kick me out again?"
Xu Qinghe just glanced at him, said nothing, and went straight to the bed.
Wei Che approached tentatively, and seeing that she didn't stop him, he lay down as well. Only then did he smell an unusual scent from the person next to him.
Like the smell of blood.
"…Are you having your period?"
"Either shut up and go to sleep, or get out." Xu Qinghe's breathing was heavy and his face looked bad. Although he spoke angrily, his voice was weak and soft, like a wounded kitten.
Wei Che suddenly stood up. Although Xu Qinghe noticed it, she didn't even raise her eyelids. She just thought he was going to sleep in the next room.
The pain in her lower abdomen made it difficult for her to sleep. When she finally fell asleep, she suddenly felt the quilt on her body become lighter and then heavier again.
As soon as she opened her eyes, Wei Che had already completed all the actions and was tucking the corner of the quilt for her.
"you……"
"This hot water bottle is just filled. It's very small and shouldn't hurt you." He said this and moved to the end of the bed.
Xu Qinghe's feet felt cold, then warm. Two hot water bottles were placed on her feet, and her feet, which were cold just now, immediately became warm. She immediately felt that the pain in her lower abdomen was reduced a little.
She always has lower abdominal pain during her menstrual period and her hands and feet are cold, regardless of winter or summer.
Wei Che stretched out his long fingers and rubbed her brows, saying gently, "Are you feeling uncomfortable? If you are, then talk less... and frown less, it's unsightly."
Xu Qinghe was initially touched by the small details he did for her, but after hearing what she heard, she felt only disgust. She just glared at him coldly, but she didn't have the energy to get angry, so she could only close her eyes quietly.
It’s strange to say, my sleepiness had clearly been disrupted a long time ago, but in just a moment, it came back again.
Xu Qinghe thought, this was probably all thanks to Wei Che running out in the middle of the night to fill the hot water bottle...
**
The next day, Xu Qinghe slept until the hour of Si.
Nanzhi had been waiting outside the door for a long time. As soon as the bell rang in the room, she went in to help the princess clean up and wash.
"The prince has gone to the palace to take up his duties. Before leaving, he told the princess that she need not go to the main house to talk to the Duke's wife in the next few days. After all, there are many people in the palace, and the princess is not missing."
In order to avoid being criticized, and to ensure smooth exit from the mansion in the future, Xu Qinghe had previously determined to establish the image of a good daughter-in-law in front of the Duke's wife. Although she did not pay her respects every day, she would go there every three or two days.
After Wei Che learned about it, he repeatedly advised her not to do so, but Xu Qinghe remained unmoved.
She knew very well that the Duke's wife's courtesy was only because of Wei Che. It was acceptable at first, but as time went on, she would inevitably be picky about such a daughter-in-law who did not know etiquette, just like the Queen Mother Wei.
If that happens, let alone leaving home, she would find it difficult to even paint in her spare time.
Rather than letting things get to that point, it’s better to be obedient and docile first, just to plan for the future.
Today's breakfast table no longer had the usual warm porridge, but instead had a bowl of brown sugar, egg and fermented rice wine with a light aroma of wine.
When she was thirteen years old and had her first period, she was living in Xie's house. Xie's aunt personally cooked a bowl of brown sugar, egg and fermented rice wine for her. She looked at her lovingly as she drank it mouthful by mouthful, which made Xu Qinghe's eyes shed tears.
At that time, her father and mother were no longer around, so she could only steal a little bit of maternal love from her aunt Xie.
Now when she took a sip of the fermented rice wine, it tasted exactly as she remembered, but it made her eyes warm.
Now not only her father and mother are gone, but also the relatives and friends of the Xie family are gone, leaving only her and Nanzhi.
But no matter how sad she was, things were not as good as before. If she had married Xie Qi, it would not matter how unruly she was after marriage. But now she was living in the Prince of Fuguo's Mansion. For future convenience, she still planned to go to the main house.
Zhao Wan naturally noticed her daughter-in-law's discomfort. Since they were both women, she would not make things too difficult for her. She just said a few words and asked her to go back and rest early.
Normally, without Jing'an's invitation or Mr. Jiang's assignment, Xu Qinghe would always stay in the studio for the whole day, just to create a few more paintings so that he could exchange them for some money.
But today she really couldn't muster up the energy and had little strength in her body. She just lazily lay on the couch and looked out the window.
The weather in early June was already very hot. Even the wind blowing in from the window was wrapped in heat waves. The sun had made the wisteria flowers on the shelf wilt a little, and they were about to wither.
Nanzhi sat beside the couch, rubbing the princess' wrist. Following the princess's gaze, she glanced out the window and said, "This flower will only bloom for two more days at most. It's about to wither. Princess, you can't be so reluctant to let it go, right?"
Xu Qinghe smiled faintly: "If you're greedy, just say it directly. Why are you hiding it from me? If you keep doing this, you can't eat the wisteria cakes I made. They are all mine."
"That won't do. How can the princess finish all those cakes by herself? I'm such a considerate person, so naturally I'll share more of the burden with the princess." Nanzhi also smiled, looking relaxed and comfortable for a rare time.
Xu Qinghe almost blurted out: "Who said I'm the only one? When Wei Che comes back at night——"
When Wei Che comes back at night, leave everything to him.
The words rolled around on the tip of his tongue but never came out.
Nanzhi understood the princess's unspoken intention, but pretended not to hear it. She continued with a smile, "When the princess hides the cakes at night, I will steal them and will definitely not leave a single bite for the princess."
Xu Qinghe just raised the corners of his mouth, but there was no smile in his eyes, and he no longer had the joy he had just now.
Nanzhi spent the whole afternoon making the wisteria cake, but in the end she didn't leave even half a piece for Prince Wei who returned at night. She gave it to the servants in the yard to share.
When Wei Che came back with the hot Begonia pastry, he caught a glimpse of a few maids secretly burping, and another one who hadn't even wiped the pastry crumbs from the corner of her mouth.
"What's being cooked in the kitchen today?" Wei Che asked suspiciously.
Except for Nanzhi, all the maids guarding the door were worried.
Although the cakes were a reward from the princess, she didn't leave any for the prince. What if the prince gets angry?
While worrying, he pricked up his ears to listen to the movements in the room, hoping that the princess could tell some lies to cover up the matter.
Unexpectedly, Xu Qinghe replied directly: "Nanzhi made wisteria cakes this afternoon and shared them with everyone."
"Wisteria cake?" Wei Che just remembered that he seemed to have noticed that most of the wisteria flowers in the yard had already disappeared.
Wisteria is in full bloom in the southern border, and wisteria cake is a pastry that every household in the local area makes. It is also the specialty of Princess Nan'an. Nanzhi's craftsmanship was taught by the princess herself.
As the princess's future son-in-law, Xie Qi naturally had to eat a lot when he was young.
"Is there any for me?" He tried to get a bite from the princess's beloved daughter.
Xu Qinghe was leaning on the couch reading a book. His expression remained unchanged upon hearing this, but his fingers clenched the pages of the book tightly: "...I didn't leave any for you."
The maids at the door almost held their breath.
However, Wei Che just sighed deeply and threw the cake in his hand onto the small table on the couch: "I am so lucky that I remembered to bring you this hot cake, but you didn't even leave me a bite of the food."
Xu Qinghe set his eyes on the pastry tightly wrapped in oil paper, and could still smell the sweet aroma.
She looked at it for a long time, opened her mouth, and seemed to say something.
Wei Che didn't hear clearly, so he leaned over and asked, "What did you say?"
Xu Qinghe put the book away. In order to cover up the words she was about to say, she deliberately made a loud noise, but Wei Che heard it clearly this time.
She said, “I’ll save it for you next time.”
Unconsciously, a deep smile spread across his lips, and he felt a warm warmth in his heart. All the fatigue of the whole day disappeared in an instant because of her simple words, which were almost inaudible due to the wind.
He picked up the cakes on the small table and threw them to the little maid guarding the door: "Take them and divide them."
Then he left slowly in the shocked gaze of the little maid.
The little maidservant really couldn't understand why the prince was so happy. Why was he so happy even though he was treated coldly by the princess?
Of course, they didn't understand Wei Che's happiness, but Xu Qinghe might understand it a little, so when she saw the corners of his mouth that couldn't be suppressed at night, she felt a little calm and not surprised.
"Wei Che, do you want to sleep?"
"Are you still in pain?" Wei Che came back to his senses and spoke subconsciously, then met Xu Qinghe's strange eyes.
He raised his arms to shield his eyes, his chest shaking as he laughed muffledly.
Before Xu Qinghe could get angry, he finally returned to normal: "Sleep, sleep now, are you still in pain? I'll go give you some more hot water bottles."
He had already stuffed a few of them into her quilt before going to bed. They were still warm. Xu Qinghe shook her head and just told him to shut up and go to sleep.
So Wei Che slept with a raised smile all night, and when he woke up the next day, he felt refreshed and had a smile on his face.
He was fastening his belt in front of the bed. Coincidentally, Xu Qinghe had just opened her eyes, half asleep. He asked her, "What do you want to eat today? I'll buy it for you tonight."
She was actually still half asleep at this time, and only opened her eyes when she heard the noise beside the bed. In her hazy state, she only heard someone using a familiar voice to ask her what she wanted to eat. She thought for a moment and replied, "I want to eat Tengluo Pancake..."
This sound was not as cold as usual, but soft instead, which reminded people of the glutinous rice cakes just out of the pot.
Wei Che immediately crouched down beside the bed. While she was still unconscious, he took her hand and asked softly, "Didn't you just eat yesterday? Aren't you tired of it?"
Xu Qinghe just thought that the person beside the bed was the old friend, and she was still the little princess. So she grabbed his hand and rubbed it against the side of her face, and said to him coquettishly: "I never get tired of eating it... I just like eating Tengluo cakes..."
The familiar touch happened at his fingertips, and Wei Che's whole body trembled. His throat tightened, and he said softly: "But you are menstruating, you can't eat too much sweets."
Xu Qinghe was getting more sleepy and could no longer hear clearly what he said. She only understood the general idea and then said in a daze, "Oh, then let's eat donkey meat hot pot, brother..."
Wei Che trembled all over, and pulled his hand out of Xu Qinghe's palm, almost falling backwards and sitting on the ground.
She was calling him...brother just now?
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