Chapter 55 His expression changed.
Chapter 52
The carriage slowly drove away from the bustling city.
"Lin Xiao, you are now 'Lu Yunqi'. If I come looking for you, will it disturb your mission?"
"No, Your Highness would never bother me."
"Then, may I come to see you tomorrow?" Shen Panyan looked at him with her almond-shaped eyes sparkling.
Lin Xiao was slightly taken aback, then smiled, "Your Highness can come whenever you wish."
After saying that, Lin Xiao's eyes were filled with guilt. "I'm sorry, I am now 'Lu Yunqi' and cannot leave to find Your Highness at will."
"What's wrong with that? If you can't come to me, can't I come to you?" Shen Panyan's almond-shaped eyes curved into crescents as she reached out and gently poked his shirt. "Lin Xiao, you look really good in this outfit. I've never seen you wear anything other than black before."
As if she had just thought of something, she whispered, "Could you take off your disguise and let me see?"
"Your Highness, stop fooling around."
Her movements were very light, like a cat reaching out its paw to scratch his chest, making him feel ticklish. Lin Xiao reached out and grabbed her restless hand, not allowing her to move any further, his voice low and husky, "Your Highness, it's a bit troublesome to remove this disguise and put it back on."
"If Your Highness wishes to see it, perhaps another time?"
"Okay, fine..."
Her right hand was held in his palm, almost completely enveloped. His movements were gentle, as if afraid of hurting her. His hand was cool, the cool touch penetrating her skin, yet it felt like rising steam warming her cheeks. Shen Panyan wanted to pull her hand away from his, but looking into his gentle, clear dark eyes, she hesitated.
After thinking about it, she still couldn't bear to pull her hand away from his.
"Then, Lin Xiao, you said you wanted to investigate those students in the imperial examinations. Do you... can you compose poetry?"
She whispered, "If someone gives you a poem and you can't come up with a matching poem, wouldn't that be very embarrassing?"
Lin Xiao: "......"
"Your Highness, no!" Lin Xiao said helplessly. He hadn't actually held her hand in his palm the whole time; instead, he gently put it back.
Looking at her right hand that had been put back, Shen Panyan felt a sense of loss and subconsciously tightened her knuckles.
“Lu Yunqi is His Majesty’s favorite minister. Others will only flatter him and will not ask him to write poems.”
“Those of higher rank than him know that his subordinate is a fake, so they have no interest in doing something like this to slap Lu Yunqi in the face. After all, his subordinate is His Majesty’s man. Targeting his subordinate is tantamount to slapping His Majesty in the face. No one would do that.”
Shen Panyan: "The poems for today's Spring Festival banquet..."
Lin Xiao: "It was written by someone else; I just need to read it aloud."
"Oh—" Shen Panyan drawled, then suddenly changed the subject, "So, which noble lady ultimately received your wine cup?"
"With Lu Yunqi being so popular, surely there will be noble ladies composing poems for him?"
Even though she knew that Lin Xiao was not the real Lu Yunqi, Shen Panyan still felt a little uncomfortable when she thought of that scene.
"I don't know him. After I drank the wine, I followed the direction Your Highness left in."
"You, you came to find me?!" Shen Panyan was taken aback, then her almond-shaped eyes flashed with surprise.
"Um."
"During the banquet just now, I noticed that Your Highness seemed unhappy."
Lin Xiao asked, "Your Highness, what's wrong? What happened? During the Spring Festival banquet, I noticed that you were forcing a smile the whole time."
Speaking of the Spring Festival banquet, Shen Panyan couldn't help but feel relieved. "On the day I returned to the capital, my father said that he had already chosen a consort for me, Zhao Yun, whom you have met. However, I rejected him because he and Chengle were in love. Then, my father asked me to attend the Spring Festival banquet to see if there was anyone I liked and to choose a suitable young man from a noble family as my consort."
“But I don’t want to get married right now…” Shen Panyan said, sounding a little irritated.
She's a royal princess; it's impossible for her not to marry unless she willingly cuts her hair and becomes a nun in a Taoist temple. But even if she were willing, her father, the emperor, might not agree. A perfectly good royal princess, going to become a nun for no reason—wouldn't that just make her a laughingstock?
There is no solution to this problem.
Lin Xiao lowered his eyes, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly asked, "Why doesn't Your Highness want to get married?"
His question was blunt. Shen Panyan bit her lip and turned her face away. "I just don't want to get married. What other reason could there be?"
She made up a reason out of thin air: "You saw it at the Spring Festival banquet before, didn't you? That Xu Yongyan, on the surface he pretends to be a gentleman, but in reality he's a complete hypocrite."
"In this world, you can know a person's face but not their heart; who knows if I'll encounter one too..."
“Your Highness will not encounter him,” Lin Xiao interrupted her. His voice was calm, yet it seemed to carry a chilling coldness. “If your consort dares to betray you like this, I will make him pay the price.”
He will definitely kill him.
As long as he is alive, he will never allow anyone to humiliate His Highness in this way.
He spoke with conviction, and Shen Panyan opened her lips, wanting to say something, but dared not.
After a long while, she finally murmured, "Hmm..."
*
The story of Gu Jinyan, the young master of the Rongguo Duke's mansion, riding a horse in the street and nearly trampling Princess Mingyue soon reached the palace.
Emperor Gan Ning was furious. Even though the Duke of Rongguo brought Gu Jinyan to the palace to apologize in time, it was too late. He was to be severely punished with twenty strokes of the cane. The people of the Duke of Rongguo's mansion were extremely anxious. After twenty strokes, how could they survive? So they quickly sent someone to the Princess's mansion to find Shen Panyan to apologize and beg for forgiveness.
Shen Panyan did not pursue his crime, but he violated the prohibition. Even if he was the young master of the Rongguo Duke's Mansion, he could not act so recklessly. What if the horse's hooves had trampled not her, but some commoner? Would this matter have been left unresolved?
Out of consideration for the fact that the Rongguo Duke's family had been loyal ministers since the founding of Zhaoyan Kingdom, Gu Jinyan's caning was waived, but he was required to apologize to the frightened people and vendors that day. Emperor Gan Ning also suspended the Rongguo Duke from his post for a month, ordering him to return home and properly educate his children, and deducted half a year's salary as punishment.
Shen Panyan thought the matter was over and was planning to go find Lin Xiao the next day, but to her surprise, Gu Jinyan came to her door with gifts.
Gu Jinyan was the youngest child of the Duke of Rongguo. He was not very disciplined from a young age and was raised in luxury, so he was always easygoing and sincere. As soon as he entered the door, he obediently knelt down and kowtowed to Shen Panyan, startling Shen Panyan so much that she almost stood up from her chair. "What are you doing...?"
Gu Jinyan: "I'm sorry, Princess Mingyue. That day, Jinyan rode his horse through the streets and almost injured you..."
Shen Panyan hurriedly said, "Father has already punished you for this, and you have already apologized. Just don't do it again next time. You may get up now."
"Yes, I will follow the princess's teachings." Gu Jinyan then stood up and raised her head.
He was exceptionally handsome, with clear amber pupils. When he smiled, it was like a crescent moon warming wine in a cup—clear and sincere.
"It's good that Your Highness is no longer angry. Jin Yan truly knows she was wrong and will never dare to do it again."
He seemed to be a very outgoing person, and as soon as he stood up, he started rambling on and on, “Yesterday, my parents gave me a good scolding and made me kneel in the ancestral hall for a long time. Actually, I didn’t mean to ride the horse. The horse was fine before I went out, but for some reason, it started to go crazy as soon as I rode it into the street. Later, my father found out that someone had drugged my horse, which caused it to go mad. If it weren’t for Lord Lu saving the princess in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable.”
There are many secrets and scandals in grand mansions, especially in a prestigious family like the Rongguo Duke's Mansion. It's not honorable to talk about such things, so Gu Jinyan only mentioned it briefly before moving on to other matters.
He scratched his head, somewhat curiously: "Speaking of which, Your Highness, do you also know Lord Lu? I've heard people say that Lord Lu's health has always been poor, but I didn't expect the rumors to be false. His skills are so good; he managed to subdue a horse that I couldn't control at all..."
—That's because it was a fake Lord Lu.
Shen Panyan coughed lightly, interrupting Gu Jinyan, "Young Master Gu, is this all you came to see me about today? If that's all..."
"Of course not!" Seeing that Shen Panyan was about to ask her to leave, Gu Jinyan quickly spoke up, "Your Highness, you don't need to be so polite to Jinyan. You don't need to call me Young Master Gu. Just call me Jinyan."
Chen Panyan: "..."
They don't seem to be close enough to call each other by name yet.
Shen Panyan has never been good at refusing others, but Gu Jinyan is a warm and outgoing person, making her unsure how to say no.
"I have heard that Your Highness is not in good health, so today I have brought mostly some tonics. I hope Your Highness will not find them offensive."
"Oh, by the way, I also have a cook at my residence who is particularly skilled at making medicinal cuisine to regulate the body. I brought her along today as well, and she will come to see you in a little while..."
"And this, this is a jade bracelet from Pingzhou. I heard that many noble ladies in the capital like it, but I don't know much about it. My mother prepared it for me. Your Highness, do you like it? If not, I'll go back and have my mother send you something else..." Gu Jinyan scratched his head and looked up with a bright smile.
Shen Panyan smiled along, though the smile seemed somewhat forced.
Yesterday, when the Lady of the Rongguo Duke's Mansion came to apologize, she already brought quite a few gifts. Today, Gu Jinyan came to apologize again, bringing even more gifts. It's too much. Shen Panyan opened her lips, wanting to refuse, but as soon as she opened her mouth, Gu Jinyan pressed her for more information.
"Your Highness, do you not like this? What about this one? Do you not like this one either? Then I'll go back and have my mother choose another gift to send over. Or, Your Highness, could you come with me to the Rongguo Duke's mansion and see if there's anything you like in my storeroom..."
Having said that, what could Shen Panyan do? She could only swallow her refusal and steel herself to have Zhuzhi put everything away. "Thank you for your trouble, Young Master Gu. If you have no further needs..."
"Yes, yes, I have important business to attend to!" Seeing that the princess was about to send him away again, Gu Jinyan quickly interrupted. He had been ordered by his parents to make Princess Mingyue happy.
Although Princess Mingyue did not pursue his mistake, everyone in the capital knew Princess Mingyue's temperament. Who knew if she was keeping yesterday's incident to herself and might fall ill and never recover... It was his fault to begin with, so it was only right for him to apologize and cheer up the princess.
"Your Highness, Jin Yan has reserved the finest food and wine at Qu Sheng Lou today. It's right next to Cuiyun Lake, and after your meal, you can go for a ride on a painted boat on the lake. Why don't you come with me, Your Highness..."
No one knows how the Rongguo Duke's Mansion raised the young master Gu. He's so enthusiastic that once he's attached to you, you can't get rid of him. Shen Panyan originally planned to go find Lin Xiao, but now, because Gu Jinyan insisted on going with her, she had no choice but to go to Qushenglou for a meal and a boat trip on the lake with him.
*
Yesterday, His Highness said he would come to see him, so Lin Xiao specially selected a dress that was not blue from Lu Yunqi's wardrobe and prepared His Highness's favorite snacks while waiting. However, His Highness did not appear until sunset.
Due to his status, he could not leave, so he could only inquire about His Highness's affairs in the tone of Lu Yunqi.
Lin Xiao saved Shen Panyan yesterday. Apart from the page who knew his true identity, everyone else thought he was Lu Yunqi. To those below, it wouldn't be strange to ask him a question.
"Reporting to Young Master, I went to the Princess's residence to inquire. I heard that the young master of the Rongguo Duke's mansion came to apologize today and took Princess Mingyue out for a stroll. When Princess Mingyue returned home, she seemed very happy. It seems that Princess Mingyue's health should be... should be fine..."
The servant, observing his expression, stammered more and more. Why did the young master's face look so dark and frightening...? He had always been so gentle; he had never seen him with a dark expression before. How could he have changed so suddenly...?
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