Chapter 38 The cat and fish he caught on that sweltering summer day were all so vibrant…
"Who goes there!" the maid shouted.
"Princess." The man walked from the stern to the bow of the boat, his tall and strong body blocking half of the sun, his long shadow completely enveloping the salt mountain.
"The Seventh Prince?" Yanshan had been worried for days after he jumped over the wall last time, but she hadn't seen him since and had nowhere to ask. Yanshan glanced at his legs; they looked perfectly normal. He didn't even fall from such a high wall; was he some kind of cat?
"How did the Seventh Prince get up here?" Yanshan asked in confusion.
“I thought it looked like you from afar, and when I got closer, it really was you. The stern of that boat was close to the shore, so I jumped on.” The Seventh Prince said as he walked towards the Salt Mountain. He was tall and had long legs, and he reached the Salt Mountain in two steps, grinning and staring at it with a smile.
The maidservant following Yanshan was the same one who had protected Yanshan when the Seventh Prince climbed over the wall last time. Seeing that it was this rude steppe barbarian again, she pouted unhappily.
No one told the Prince of Xiping about the Seventh Prince climbing over the wall last time, but that doesn't mean no one told the Emperor. The Emperor didn't react to it, so the maid didn't stop him; she just stood by.
Yanshan wasn't used to standing so close to other men; she could almost feel the Seventh Prince's warm breath, making her face flush. She quietly took a half step back, turning to the side to avoid the Seventh Prince's bright, piercing eyes.
The Seventh Prince was completely unaware of this. He stood on the boat and looked around at the scenery. He excitedly asked Yanshan, "Is the County Princess also out for fun? Me too." As he spoke, he tentatively stepped on the small boat. "This is my first time on a boat. This boat looks really unstable. I don't dare to step on it too hard."
Yanshan turned his head and looked at him curiously, looking left and right, and slightly curved the corners of his mouth: "This kind of small boat is easy to rock, but it's not afraid of stepping on it."
Upon encountering Yanshan, the Seventh Prince couldn't hide his joy, chattering excitedly around her: "Why is the County Princess here all by herself? I see a lot of people in the lake on the other side."
There are lotus flowers in the lake over there, and they are in full bloom; most people go to see them. This lake is empty, devoid of anything. Yanshan came here to avoid the crowds.
Thinking that the Seventh Prince might not be familiar with the capital, Yanshan explained to him, "There are no lotus flowers in this lake. Upstream is the Jingyue River, which flows from the royal villa. The lotus lake on the other side is more beautiful and connects to the Li River, so everyone prefers to visit the other side."
The Seventh Prince hadn't expected that a lake could differ in quality depending on the upstream river. He scratched his head and said, "I was wondering why it was so crowded over there, but there was no one here. Oh, that's why. Luckily, I didn't join the crowd, or I wouldn't have run into the County Princess."
A gentle breeze occasionally swept across the lake, weaving between the two. The Seventh Prince inhaled the delicate fragrance carried on the wind, subtle yet captivating, making one yearn to trace its source and savor its essence.
During this time, he learned a lot about etiquette. Although he did not agree with some of them, he also understood that if he acted improperly, it would cause trouble for Yanshan. Therefore, he had to suppress the urge to smell more. He stood there awkwardly, rubbing his hands on the hem of his clothes, and made conversation: "Is the county princess familiar with this place? Will you come here often?"
Yanshan gently shook her head and said softly, "I'm not familiar with it either. I've only been here a few times." She pointed in the direction the water was flowing, "This side is very close to the city wall. From here all the way to the outside of the city is the Jingyue River. Going upstream along the Jingyue River is Lingwei Mountain. I've only been there once. The fish in the river are delicious when grilled."
"Are there fish in this river?" The Seventh Prince peered into the water.
Seeing that he was almost standing on the edge of the boat, Yanshan was afraid that he would fall into the water, so he reminded him, "Seventh Prince, don't stand too far out. The boat is rocking, and you might fall off."
The seventh prince turned around and said to Yanshan with a grin, "It's okay, I can swim, and I can hold my breath underwater for a long time."
Yanshan knew that Kule was a nomadic herder, but she didn't know that the Seventh Prince could swim. She asked curiously, "Are there lakes on the grasslands? Are they the same as the lakes in the Central Plains?"
"The grasslands have lakes and rivers, but they look different from here. The rivers on the grasslands aren't as deep as they are here. The riverbanks here are all leveled and neatly constructed. No one repairs the rivers on the grasslands; the water just flows freely across the land. This year the river might flow here, but next year it might flow elsewhere, and the nomads follow the flow of the river."
Yanshan sat on the swaying boat deck, listening to the Seventh Prince describe the scenery of the grassland.
He was dressed very casually today. His clothes were probably bought from a ready-made clothing store, and they didn't fit him very well, covering up most of his figure.
When Yanshan recalled the time during the hunt when he stood shirtless in front of her, his well-defined muscles covered with a layer of glistening sweat, her face immediately felt so hot that it seemed to burn. She quickly covered her face and lowered her head.
Why isn't he wearing those messy chains anymore? I haven't seen him wear them this time or last time. Or is he wearing them inside his clothes? Yanshan couldn't pull her thoughts back. She pulled her to secretly peek at the Seventh Prince's collar.
“There are lakes in the desert, even more beautiful than the water on the grasslands,” the Seventh Prince said, but his eyes involuntarily drifted toward the salt mountain.
Yanshan was facing away from him, covering her face with her hand, her eyes lowered and hidden by her thick eyelashes, but the Seventh Prince still thought she was beautiful, even more beautiful than Yanshan he had seen before.
She and the princess were clearly sisters, yet they were so different. The princess stared straight at people, so arrogant. And the county princess? The Seventh Prince wondered. Her gaze seemed to be through water, through mist; before anyone could see her clearly, she had already turned away.
The Seventh Prince had recently learned a new phrase, "smoky gaze and alluring demeanor," and he sincerely admired how adept the people of the Central Plains were at describing things. The Princess of Yanshan's gaze was like smoke, drifting by hazily, impossible to grasp or escape.
The seventh prince was so engrossed in his ramblings that when he came to his senses he realized he didn't even know what he was saying.
However, Princess Yanshan seemed unaware of this. The Seventh Prince felt somewhat relieved and, not remembering where he was in the conversation, simply changed the subject.
“We don’t grill fish much. Fish are not common on the grasslands. If you just throw it into the fire to grill, it will burn quickly. So we boil it instead, but it doesn’t taste very good. There aren’t many seasonings on the grasslands. Salt is enough. I only learned that there are so many ways to cook food after I came to the Central Plains.”
"Actually, grilling fish outdoors is not as refined as cooking at home, but I just feel that the smoky, smoky flavor is more delicious than carefully prepared dishes." Yanshan recalled his only two picnics and couldn't help but smile from the bottom of his heart.
The seventh prince stared blankly at the salt mountain, then suddenly stood up and said, "I'm very good at catching fish. I can catch fish in the wild lakes that others can't. The county princess likes grilled fish, so I'll catch one for her." With that, he flipped over and jumped into the water.
Before Yanshan could react, he saw the Seventh Prince plunge into the water. Startled, Yanshan leaned over the side of the boat and peered into the water. The lake was deep; how could he see anything? Unable to find anyone, Yanshan anxiously called out, "Seventh Prince! Seventh Prince!"
The seventh prince was like a stone dropped into water, offering no response whatsoever. Yanshan searched from one end of the ship to the other, but could find no trace of him, and was so anxious that tears were about to fall.
Suddenly, with a "splash," the Seventh Prince emerged from about ten meters away from the boat. He spun halfway through the water to find the direction of the boat, the water flowing down his brow bone and nose, washing his wild features clean and sharp.
He saw Yanshan's figure on the boat, grinned, revealing two somewhat childish tiger teeth, and shouted, "There really are fish here, Princess, wait for me a moment."
Yanshan saw him emerge from the water and breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could speak, he saw him disappear into the water again. With his heart still pounding, Yanshan could only lean against the gunwale, watching the Seventh Prince appear and disappear in the water with worry.
"Thud!" A fish was thrown onto the boat. The fish thrashed its tail and was about to leap out when a hand reached out from the water and held it firmly down.
"Look, I'm pretty good at catching fish, aren't I?" The Seventh Prince, bobbing up and down with the boat, leaned over the side and spoke to Salt Mountain. "Is this the kind of delicious fish?"
Yanshan looked at the fish that the Seventh Prince was holding in his hand. The fish was panting heavily after leaving the water, its tail thrashing unwillingly.
"It's a mandarin fish. This kind of fish is tender and tastes great steamed. There aren't many mandarin fish in this water, and the Seventh Prince actually managed to catch one," Yanshan said with some surprise.
The seventh prince only heard "steamed" and thought he had caught the wrong fish: "This isn't the kind you like to eat? Then I'll catch another one." He let go and slipped back into the water.
"Seventh Prince!" Yanshan hurriedly called out to him, and when he saw him fall into the water, he instinctively reached out to pull him up but found nothing.
Fortunately, the seventh prince surfaced soon after and asked, "What does that kind of fish look like?"
This time, Yanshan refused to let the Seventh Prince go into the water again, saying that she was going to get angry, and coaxed the Seventh Prince to come up.
The seventh prince thought that Yanshan was really angry, so he clung to the edge of the boat and tried to apologize.
Yanshan wanted to help him up but was too embarrassed to reach out, so he could only promise not to be angry with him and watch as he climbed onto the boat, dripping wet.
The Seventh Prince was soaked to the bone. He stood on the boat and let a lot of water drain from his body, which not only pooled at his feet but also spread outwards. Yanshan was still leaning against the edge of the boat. Seeing that the water was going towards Yanshan, the Seventh Prince didn't think twice and tried to pull her up to avoid the water.
Yanshan was startled by the sudden appearance of the Seventh Prince. He was pulled up by him in a daze, and only understood what the Seventh Prince meant when he heard him say something like "There is water here, quickly get away". Helplessly, he called out "Seventh Prince".
The Seventh Prince was only thinking about preventing the water from getting on Yanshan, and was wondering why the water had followed them all the way. When he called out to Yanshan, he realized that the water was on him. Then he saw that there were many water droplets on Yanshan's skirt and a sailor's print on her sleeve, and his face immediately turned red.
"I didn't mean to, I forgot... Oh dear, it's all my fault, let me wipe it for you." The Seventh Prince said, frantically trying to wipe it, but his whole body was wet, and he couldn't find a dry spot to wipe Yanshan's skirt. He could only stand there awkwardly with his hands trembling.
A maid brought a handkerchief to wipe Yanshan dry. Yanshan only had a little water on him, nothing serious, except for his sleeves, which were quite wet. Fortunately, it was summer, and the surface water would dry quickly after wiping it away.
Seeing that the Seventh Prince's clothes were all wrinkled and stuck to his body, and that he was looking at her with wide eyes and self-reproach, with water dripping from his temples and chin, looking pitiful, Yanshan couldn't help but smile and handed him a handkerchief: "Seventh Prince, wipe the water off."
The seventh prince carefully took the handkerchief with both hands, glanced at Salt Mountain first, and then used the handkerchief to wipe his head and face. As for his soaked clothes, he wrung them out by the side of the boat and waited for them to air dry naturally.
There were naturally no clothes on the boat for the Seventh Prince to change into, so Yanshan instructed the boatman to bring the boat to shore.
He put the half-dead fish that had been drying on the boat into a basket, and then filled the basket with some water. A maidservant was about to take it from him, but the seventh prince weighed the basket in his hand and found it a bit heavy, so he carried it himself.
Yanshan was worried that he would catch a cold, so she urged him to go home and change his clothes. But she couldn't stop him from being so attentive, so she could only take him back the way they came.
"Princess, tell me what the fish looks like. I'll remember it well and I'll never make a mistake again." The Seventh Prince was still thinking about not being able to catch any fish for Yanshan.
Yanshan was terrified by him today, experiencing a mix of anxiety and worry, feeling all sorts of emotions throughout the day. But Yanshan, on the other hand, only cared about that fish.
Yanshan inwardly complained, "I was just saying it casually, and you went to all that trouble to catch it? If I said I wanted to eat tiger meat, would the Seventh Prince have to go and fight a tiger? Luckily it's summer, and the lake water isn't cold. What would we do if it were winter?"
The Seventh Prince obediently followed behind Yanshan. After listening to what Yanshan said, he thought about it carefully and replied, "Winter is a bit troublesome, but the river is frozen over, and the fish in the river won't run away. We can break the ice and catch them."
Yanshan found the Seventh Prince's words outrageous. Years ago, she had heard stories of people falling into frozen rivers and being found lifeless, trapped beneath the ice. "Frozen rivers can trap people to death. Seventh Prince, please don't say such things. What if something happens?" Yanshan was truly angry this time, her tone sharp.
The Seventh Prince had never been across the river in winter before and was unaware of how dangerous the frozen river was. Seeing Yanshan's cold expression, he became so anxious that he swore to the heavens that he would never go across the river in winter again, and that he would not go across the river if Yanshan forbade him to.
Yanshan turned his face away angrily, ignoring him: "What does it have to do with me whether the Seventh Prince goes down into the river or not?"
The Seventh Prince lowered his eyes to steal a glance at Yan Shan's expression. There was no smile on the other's face, but his anger had subsided somewhat.
He opened his mouth to speak, but Yanshan walked straight ahead and ignored him. He swallowed hard, his hand awkwardly rubbing the robe beside him. He looked dejected, like a wet, drowned dog, following behind Yanshan listlessly.
“Actually, I don’t like eating fish that much.” After walking in silence for a while, Yanshan suddenly spoke up. “I like eating cherries and bayberries, I like eating lotus root, and I like eating soft pastries.”
The Seventh Prince, who had been kicking pebbles with his head down, suddenly looked up upon hearing this, his iron-gray eyes shining with an astonishing light. He strode to Yanshan's side, not even looking at the road ahead, but tilting his body to look at Yanshan: "I'm buying fruit and snacks for the county princess, just like last time, for you."
Yanshan was truly afraid of the Seventh Prince climbing the wall, and quickly objected: "Seventh Prince, please don't climb the wall again. That wall is so high, and falling would be no small matter. Besides, people come and go, what kind of behavior would it be if they saw you?"
Unable to climb over the wall, the seventh prince of the county prince's mansion had no way to enter. He scratched his head and asked Yanshan, "When will the county princess come out to play next time?"
Yanshan couldn't answer this question. Even if she went on a trip, she couldn't invite the Seventh Prince along. But for some reason, Yanshan didn't want to refuse him. What if? What if they could bump into each other again like today? Yanshan kept trying to convince herself.
The seventh prince arrived at Yanshan's carriage before Yanshan could reply. He reluctantly handed the fish basket to Yanshan's maid and stood two steps away, watching Yanshan get into the carriage and leave.
The wind ruffled the hem of Yanshan's skirt; the soft gauze fluttering before his eyes seemed within reach. The Seventh Prince's fingers twitched restlessly. His grey eyes followed the carriage as it rolled along the stone path, refusing to look away even after the vehicle disappeared around the corner.
Yanshan sat absentmindedly in the car. The water on his sleeves had completely dried, but a ring of watermarks remained on the delicate gauze fabric, and the shape of his hand on it could still be vaguely discerned.
When will we meet again?
The Seventh Prince had large, broad hands and long, slender fingers. The water stains were piled up and wrapped around his entire body. Yan Shan tried to cover the water stains with his damp sleeves, but he couldn't hide them at all.
A splash interrupted Yanshan's thoughts; it was the sound of fish splashing and thrashing in the basket. Yanshan stared blankly at the basket, unsure whether it was from the swaying of the carriage or the impact of the fish, but he vaguely felt the basket shaking slightly.
His hand, which had been hovering over his sleeve, fell and touched the cool fabric that felt slightly damp. Yanshan suddenly laughed. The cats and fish he caught were so vibrant and energetic, just like him.
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