Chapter 52 Window Paper
The morning sun shone brightly on the main courtyard, and the air was filled with the faint aroma of rice.
Jiang Mianmian sat at the table, holding a spoon in her hand, stirring the thin, watery porridge in her bowl with a resentful expression.
[Porridge. Porridge again.]
【Shen Jin, are you trying to pickle me like a salted vegetable? I've been awake for an hour already, and all the little bit of oil in my stomach has long been digested! I want to eat meat buns! I want to eat fried dough sticks! I want to eat those sizzling, oily fried dumplings!】
[I can't take this anymore! All the sweet bliss from that "first kiss" has been washed away by this bowl of plain porridge!]
Sitting opposite her, Shen Jin held a scroll of official documents in his hand. He seemed to be reading it, but in reality, his eyes were glued to Jiang Mianmian out of the corner of his eye.
Listening to her inner monologue, he smiled slightly. Far from being angry, he found the sound even more pleasant than the birdsong outside the window.
In the past, when he heard such complaints, he might have found them annoying or simply told her, "Don't talk while eating."
But now...
Shen Jin put down the official documents, reached for a piece of pickled cucumber from the plate next to him, and personally put it into Jiang Mianmian's bowl.
"Too bland?"
His voice was so gentle it was as if he were a different person. "Then let's have some side dishes. The imperial physician said that you have been unconscious for two days and your stomach is empty. If you suddenly eat greasy and fatty foods, it will harm your body."
Jiang Mianmian looked at the bright green cucumber in the bowl, then at Shen Jin's handsome face, which seemed to say, "I'm doing this for your own good."
[Pshaw, an excuse.]
[But...why is this jerk being so patient today? He even put food on my plate! He usually just throws the bowl at me and tells me to eat by myself, doesn't he?]
"Your Highness," Jiang Mianmian took a bite of cucumber and asked tentatively, "Aren't you... going to the military camp today?"
"I'm not going."
Shen Jin answered crisply, "These past few days, I've been staying at the manor with you."
"Keep me company?" Jiang Mianmian was taken aback. "Why would I keep you company? I'm not a three-year-old child who doesn't need someone to watch over me."
Shen Jin looked at her, his gaze becoming somewhat profound.
"I'll stay with you while you recover."
He reached out and naturally tidied the stray hairs behind her ear, his actions so intimate that it was as if they had been a married couple for decades. "And also... to keep an eye on you, so you don't start thinking about how to write a letter of divorce or how to go to Jiangnan to keep male lovers."
"Cough cough cough!"
Jiang Mianmian choked on a mouthful of porridge.
Why bring up something that shouldn't be brought up! Can't this matter just be left alone?
"Your Highness is too kind!" Jiang Mianmian said righteously. "My loyalty to Your Highness is as clear as day! What Jiangnan, what male concubines, those were just things I talked about when I was drunk! I belong to Your Highness in life and in death!"
Shen Jin chuckled softly, took out a handkerchief, and gently wiped the rice soup from the corner of her mouth.
"Yeah?"
He leaned closer to her, his phoenix eyes reflecting her slightly flustered reflection. "In that case, shouldn't the princess's secret stash be... divided in half with me? After all, supporting a family is quite expensive."
Jiang Mianmian instantly covered her chest:
Dream on! The person is yours, the money is mine! This is a matter of principle!
Looking at her possessive expression, Shen Jin finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.
That smile was like ice and snow melting away, like spring flowers blooming.
The maids and servants in the room were all stunned. They had served the prince for so many years, and they had never seen him laugh so heartily? So…doting?
"I'm just kidding."
Shen Jin withdrew his hand and said seriously, "Eat quickly. After you finish eating, I'll take you somewhere."
Where to?
"You'll know when you get there."
...
Half an hour later.
Jiang Mianmian was taken by Shen Jin to the important storeroom of the Prince's mansion.
Jiang Mianmian's eyes lit up when she saw the two heavy iron doors.
[Is it a bonus for me? Or has some other treasure been presented as tribute?]
Shen Jin took out the key and opened the door.
With a heavy creaking sound, the scene inside the warehouse came into view.
There wasn't the mountain of gold and silver I'd imagined, but in the most prominent spot, there was a complete set of... extremely exquisite, and clearly newly made furniture.
That is...
A "lazy sofa" made according to a sketch Jiang Mianmian had casually drawn before, filled with the softest goose down and covered with silkworm silk.
There is also a huge rocking chair with a massage function.
There was even a wooden machine that looked a lot like a modern treadmill.
Jiang Mianmian was dumbfounded.
"This...this is..."
"Didn't you previously complain to yourself that the chairs in the Prince's Mansion were too hard and that they hurt your back when you sat on them?"
Shen Jin walked up to the beanbag chair and pressed it. "I had a skilled craftsman from the Ministry of Works make one. Try it, how soft is it?"
Jiang Mianmian walked over tremblingly and sat down with a thud.
I was instantly enveloped by the clouds; the feeling of being surrounded by clouds was so comfortable it felt like my soul was leaving my body.
[Waaaaah... It's so soft! So comfortable! This is the ultimate "Ge You slouch" device I've always dreamed of!]
[Chen Jin... You actually remembered even a casual remark I made? And you even had someone make it up?]
This is just too... too unfair!
Her heart felt like it had been hit hard by something, a sour, swollen feeling.
"And this too."
Shen Jin pointed to the treadmill and said, "You said you wanted to eat but were afraid of gaining weight, so I had this made. From now on, you can eat as much as you want, and after you finish eating, just walk around on it, and you won't get indigestion."
Jiang Mianmian looked at the simple but thoughtfully designed "treadmill" and her eyes suddenly reddened.
In this patriarchal society, a powerful regent went to such lengths for her little whims and cravings.
If this doesn't count as love, then what does?
The thin veil separating the two, the barrier of "identity" and "exploitation," was completely torn away at this moment.
There was no earth-shattering confession.
Only these trivial, warm, and down-to-earth details remain.
"Calm and cautious..."
Jiang Mianmian stood up from the sofa, walked to him, and looked up at him.
"Um?"
"You're so good to me..." she sniffed, "Are you trying to spoil me so much that no one will want me anymore?"
Shen Jin looked down at her wet eyes, reached out and pulled her into his arms.
"yes."
He admitted it frankly, "I've spoiled you rotten, and no one else in this world can stand you except me. So... you can only stay by my side and can't go anywhere else."
"This is my... conspiracy."
Jiang Mianmian buried her face in his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.
[A conspiracy?]
Even if it's a conspiracy, I'll accept it.
After all... besides you, no one else in this world would make me a beanbag chair, no one would warm my stomach, and no one would pull out someone else's tongue for my sake.
"Then Your Highness must keep your word."
Jiang Mianmian hugged his waist, her voice muffled, "What if one day you don't want to take care of me anymore, or you find me annoying..."
"That day will never come."
Shen Jin interrupted her, lowered his head and placed a kiss on the top of her head, "Unless I die."
"Pah! Pah! Pah! Don't you dare say 'death'!"
Jiang Mianmian immediately covered his mouth, "You have to live a very, very long time! You have to keep buying me delicious food! You have to keep paying me a salary!"
Shen Jin pulled her hand down and kissed it.
"Very well. I agree."
Inside the warehouse, the two stood embracing. They were surrounded by cold gold and silver jewelry, but the warmth flowing between them was more precious than gold itself.
From this moment on...
Shen Jin is no longer just the high and mighty regent; he is Jiang Mianmian's "long-term meal ticket," her "human hand warmer," and her only support in this strange world.
Jiang Mianmian is no longer just the lazy princess who wanted to run away; she is the treasure in Shen Jin's heart, the soft spot he is willing to cherish and protect for a lifetime.
The window paper is torn.
The room was filled with the warmth of spring.
...
"Your Highness! Your Highness!"
The jarring sound rang out again at the doorway.
The steward rushed in with a beaming smile: "Someone from the palace has arrived! They say the Empress Dowager... is ill! They request that the Princess Consort come to the palace... uh, to attend to her?"
Jiang Mianmian peeked out from Shen Jin's arms and rolled her eyes.
[To care for someone who is ill?]
What kind of mischief is that old hag up to now? Wasn't she taught a lesson from being struck by lightning last time?
His calm and composed gaze instantly turned cold, his usual domineering aura vanishing.
"To care for someone who is ill?"
He sneered, "Tell the messenger that the princess is unwell, has only recently woken up, and can barely walk. How can she possibly care for her?"
"If the Empress Dowager is truly seriously ill..."
Shen Jin glanced at Jiang Mianmian, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes, "Then let the Princess write a prescription for her and send it over. Just that... 'Isatis root,' with a lot of Coptis chinensis."
"Pfft—" Jiang Mianmian burst out laughing.
[Bitter melon? It'll kill her with bitterness! Shen Jin, you've gone astray!]
"Yes!" The butler accepted the order and left.
Jiang Mianmian hugged Shen Jin's arm, smiling like a little fox:
"Your Highness, aren't we being a bit too arrogant?"
"Arrogant?"
Shen Jin raised an eyebrow, took her hand, and walked out. "My queen should be this arrogant. Anyone who disagrees, let him come find me."
In the sunlight, their shadows stretched long as they nestled together, inseparable.
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