Chapter 30: How to wash a fox is no good, it's the fox that's going to be cooked...
The fox was extremely close to Tinglan, almost sitting directly on the Ninth Prince's lap.
A charcoal fire burned inside the sedan chair, giving the Ninth Prince's plain face a slightly warmer glow.
The powerful and influential Prince Jiuqian, who could turn the tide of the court with a flick of his wrist, was surprisingly easy to appease.
He only needed to be certain of one thing: the young prince loved him; nothing else mattered.
Although this was an undeniable fact in the mind of the Ninth Prince... he still needed to confirm it again and again.
It seemed like he was secretly delighted, or perhaps incredulous, that he had gotten such a great treasure for free.
Doubt is a gift from heaven, yet fear is just a pipe dream.
He gently pulled the young prince's hand and placed it on his knee, rubbing it softly and slowly.
He asked, "Did Your Highness meet with anyone else today?"
His posture was his usual one, with his eyes downcast and eyebrows lowered, hiding all his emotions in the shadows. He often used this posture to scheme against people.
Now, all he's scheming about is the little prince's heart, to see how much he truly loves him.
The fox tilted its head and thought for a moment, then began to recall very seriously, counting on its fingers, "When I went out, I saw Qiu Yuan, Chen Yu, the Crown Prince, the sedan chair bearers, and the person sweeping the door..."
Tinglan pressed down the young prince's hand as he counted, "Was the Crown Prince the only one who spoke to His Highness?"
"No, there's also Chen Yu. He asked me if I wanted to eat roujiamo (Chinese hamburger), the kind with lean meat and lots of broth."
The fox answered all my questions, which made me feel very at ease, even though he took unnecessary time to describe how delicious the roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) Chen Yu had given me was.
The Ninth Prince lowered his eyes, seemingly quite satisfied with the answer. "These are all fine, but there is one thing I must remind Your Highness of: the Crown Prince has ill intentions and must be wary of him. Your Highness must not associate with him."
The fox blinked, somewhat puzzled, but nodded firmly nonetheless.
I don't know what it means, but my good friend must have a point, so I'll agree first.
The Crown Prince isn't that bad, is he? His younger brother, Prince Ning, even gave me a really cool sword.
The sedan chair stopped in front of an unfamiliar palace.
The fox jumped down, looking around blankly, wondering, "Where am I?"
"It is the hot spring palace of the late emperor."
The fox was still puzzled; judging from the name, it seemed like this might be a place to eat hot pot.
Not bad, not bad. The fox likes hot pot. Adding some tripe and gluten to the pot makes it even better.
I just don't know if this is a hot pot for spicy food or a non-spicy food.
The fox grinned and happily pulled Tinglan's hand, leading her inside.
Once inside, I realized something was wrong.
Oh no! The fox itself is going to be cooked!
"Go ahead and wash, I'll wait for you outside. I just washed, I'm very clean and smell nice." The fox stood there hugging the pillar, starting to act spoiled.
You promised to take me out to play, why are we taking a shower?
Since everyone here is male, he's not afraid of being seen.
But what if you get too comfortable while bathing and accidentally expose your tail? Or what if you're so used to bathing that you start to imagine turning into a fox whenever you touch water?
We're doomed, we're doomed.
The fox clung to the pillar and wouldn't let go.
"Does Your Highness dislike this?"
“I don’t dislike it. You can take a bath by yourself. If you’re bored taking a bath alone, I can call Fox over for you. He can swim and do a dog paddle for you.”
The Ninth Prince chuckled helplessly, "The pond is covered with flower petals, so this servant can't see anything. Your Highness, please don't be shy."
Hearing that he couldn't see anything, the fox felt somewhat relieved about its tail, curiously pushed open the door, and went inside.
"This hot spring palace was built by the late emperor. The pool is made of jade and draws water from the high mountain spring. However, it has not been used for many years. It was only recently repaired due to the cold weather. Your Highness is the first person to use it in recent years."
The fox squatted by the pond and, quite ignorantly, stirred the water with its paw. Wow, what a huge pond of water!
People can swim in it.
Seeing this, Tinglan shook her head and smiled, "Your Highness, please prepare to take a bath. This servant will attend to Your Highness."
The fox's face turned bright red, and he stammered, "Then turn your head away, and turn back after I go inside, okay?"
He couldn't quite explain what it felt like, but he felt his face was hot and his heart was beating very fast, which was a bit strange.
There might be something wrong with the food I ate for lunch today.
The fox blushed, lowered her head, and began to undress hastily, glancing back as she did so. "Tinglan, you're not allowed to peek!"
The Ninth Prince found it amusing and said, "Fine, I won't turn back."
A moment later, the sound of water came from behind.
The fox jumped into the water with a splash, and it felt so good!
This water smells so good! It also feels so smooth, I love it!
"Tinglan, come down quickly too, I don't want to see you." The fox patted the water and waved happily.
Tinglan paused for a moment, then slowly turned around. "Today I am only here to serve Your Highness."
The fox let out a cry and then quickly sank itself into the water, only a few bubbles rising to the surface.
The Ninth Prince stood to one side, bent down and poured the young prince a glass of his favorite grape syrup, along with some pastries, and placed them on a small tray.
"Isn't Your Highness coming out? There's grape syrup."
A tray filled with cups and pastries floated gently on the pool.
The fox-dog cautiously popped its head out of the water, took a sip from the rim of the cup, and said, "I can take a bath by myself. Tinglan, come down and join me."
Tinglan lowered her head and arranged the various soap pastes, seemingly ignoring the Little Prince's invitation.
In reality, my heart was pounding like a drum.
"Your Highness, come closer, let me rub your hair."
The fox obediently swam over and leaned against the pool wall, holding a tray in his arms, with only his head showing, looking rather uneasy.
Tinglan lowered her eyes, her tone somewhat bitter, and her speech was somewhat disjointed.
"Your Highness, there's no need to be shy. This servant is... a eunuch, not really..." He hesitated for a long time, but he didn't say the last words.
The fox pushed the tray aside and looked up at him.
Fox had heard the term "eunuch" many times, though he never knew what it meant, but Tinglan was unhappy about it now.
The fox turned around, raised its wet hand, and gently cupped Tinglan's cheek.
They slowly approached, until their breaths touched.
Tinglan was completely unprepared, at a loss, and extremely stiff.
Should I close my eyes...?
The kiss he had imagined never came. In the midst of the anxious and long wait, Tinglan heard the voice of the young prince.
"Regardless of others, you're my favorite."
After saying this, the fox blushed and dived back into the water, not forgetting to take another sip of grape juice before going back.
As the surrounding mist rose, Tinglan suddenly felt dizzy, as if she were falling into the clouds.
He looked at the little prince in the pool. His long, wet hair hung down to his chest, his eyelashes were dark and deep, and he was so beautiful that he seemed otherworldly. Through the mist, he was like a beauty in the clouds.
It inexplicably reminds me of the mermaids in supernatural tales, who sing songs to lure people into the water.
But you need to ignore the fact that the beautiful woman is currently playing with soap and blowing bubbles...
The fox mumbled something, humming some not-so-pleasant little fox song, rubbed soap on its head, and blew bubbles with its hands.
"Your Highness, come here quickly."
The fox responded softly, then slowly moved over, "Really, I can wash myself." His voice sounded a little timid.
As the water droplets slid down the young prince's collarbone, a fleeting, unfamiliar emotion crossed Tinglan's eyes.
He dragged his sleeve, scooped up a spoonful of water with a wooden ladle, and slowly poured it over the little prince's shoulder.
Startled by the water, the fox shrank its shoulders and simply lay down by the pool, playing with Tinglan's loose hair with its wet hands.
With his keen hearing, he could clearly hear Tinglan's breathing growing heavier with each breath.
Sigh, now it's confirmed. It seems the problem was with lunch. We ate the same food, and my best friend and I both developed the same symptoms.
The fox sighed inwardly, wishing it had eaten less.
Tinglan could no longer control his gaze; he kept staring at the little prince's lower back.
Two pools of water clung to her lower back, and occasionally a string of water droplets would slide down her fair and delicate skin and into the pool.
The fox was completely unaware of this. His good friend's hair-washing skills were just too good. He squinted and began to doze off until a hand was gently placed on him, which suddenly woke him up.
"Your Highness, please turn around."
The fox obediently turned around.
But Tinglan behind him didn't make any move.
The young prince had broad shoulders and a slender waist, with well-proportioned muscles and not an ounce of fat on his fair, jade-like back.
Tinglan turned his head away, closed his eyes, and chuckled inwardly, feeling that he had brought trouble upon himself today.
The fox was already working hard, humming a song as it started making its own foam.
After lathering the foam, he didn't rinse it off, but just held it and started blowing bubbles.
"Tinglan, look, this bubble is big, do you want it?"
The fox carefully held the bubble in its hand and handed it to its good friend.
The Ninth Prince felt helpless.
"Tinglan, this place you brought me to is really nice. Why don't you come down and shower with me?"
“It is against propriety for this servant to bathe with Your Highness…”
The fox was completely bewildered. Who was this Yu Li? Why did he have to interfere with someone's bath?
Hmph, minding your own business.
How annoying.
"When is Tinglan going to take a bath?"
"...Wait until Your Highness is finished washing, I'll go next door."
Before he could finish speaking, the fox propped himself up, grabbed Tinglan, and dragged him into the water.
Some idiot with a long tail actually dragged someone into the water, but not through temptation, he went straight for the hard way.
Water splashed everywhere, and after a dizzying moment, Tinglan's white collar was completely soaked, becoming translucent and clinging to her body.
The wicked fox took a breath and plunged into the water, too afraid to surface.
Tinglan looked down at herself and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
He casually ripped off his soaked clothes, using the reflection of flower petals in the pond to conceal his scars.
After a while, the wicked fox finally couldn't hold it in any longer and came out to get some air.
He only stuck out his nose and eyes, floating on the water, sneaking a peek to see if his best friend was angry.
He seemed to smile, so everything's alright.
The fox confidently stuck its head out.
Tinglan leaned against the edge of the pool and beckoned to the young prince, "Your Highness, come here."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Dear readers, I'm very sorry, the update time has been changed. It will now be midnight. I simply can't write at 9 PM. I'm always late with updates [crying emoji].
I initially thought updating at midnight was a bit unhealthy and wanted to update earlier, but I failed [crying emoji].
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com