Chapter 84: Secret rendezvous, the soul is captivated by sex, and the mind is distracted.
Later that day, Duan Zhirui went to Guanlan Palace to meet with Prince Rui.
Prince Rui hesitated to speak, but Duan Zhirui understood. He said, "It's reconciled, it's reconciled. I saw the Crown Prince come out of his room with my own eyes today, there's no doubt about it."
"..." Prince Rui said angrily, "I didn't ask you that!"
Duan Zhirui touched his head.
A vein throbbed in Prince Rui's forehead. He waved his hand and inquired about the recent reports from his secret guards on the movements of the noble families. As Duan Zhirui finished his report and was about to leave, Prince Rui called him back.
"What time did you see Yu Qing come out today?" Prince Rui asked calmly.
Duan Zhirui hesitated for a moment and thought, if I really tell you, you won't be happy.
But Prince Rui narrowed his eyes at him, so Duan Zhirui had to tell the truth: "Well, it's almost noon..."
Xie Tingzhao's face turned pale.
How long had they been hanging out like this?
·
Ministry of Revenue Office.
Wen Xu said: "Your Highness?"
Xie Jing looked at the document without reacting.
Wen Xu called out again, and Xie Jing, startled, looked up and gave the Minister a brilliant smile. Wen Xu was practically dodged by him.
"Have you finished writing the draft we mentioned last time?"
Xie Jing smiled and said, "Not yet. I'll show it to you once I finish writing it."
The sun rose from the west. This prince rarely smiled when he was in the Ministry of Revenue.
Normally, he sat there quietly, his brow drooping as he read official documents or wrote policy papers, and occasionally, in his spare time, he seemed to be melancholy about the passing of time. Today, his entire appearance was completely transformed, which was truly amazing.
Wen Xu thought, could it be that he finally got the hang of it, started to draw inferences from one instance to another, and started writing memorials with great eloquence?
After a while, Xie Jing stood up and left. He glanced over and was speechless for a moment.
King Jing's paper was still empty.
But there were several short poems on the scrap paper next to it, such as "If I could become a pair of mandarin ducks, I would not refuse to die. I only envy the mandarin ducks, not the immortals." Judging from the handwriting, he was in a very happy mood when he wrote it.
“…”
Minister Wen thought to himself, he is really young.
·
Xie Jing spent a night with Yu Qing last night, which completely swept away the gloom of the past, just like a long-drought rain, and the flowers that had been wilted for a long time began to bloom again.
Even though he had spent half the night alone in the empty room, and even got cut by the sword, and Yu Qing had left early today, none of that mattered. Yu Qing still had him in her heart.
Can I kiss her next time? he wondered.
Yu Qing said she would not come tonight, and Xie Jing already knew it, so he was not very anxious that day.
He began waiting for news from Yu Qing the next day, but by that evening, he hadn't received a single word. The same thing happened on the third day.
On the fourth day, Xie Jing became anxious, wondering if Yu Qing didn't know how to find him?
·
Yu Qing spent two or three days reflecting on himself.
During the day, she thought it would be best to sever ties with Xie Jing. But when she thought of Xie Jing holding her lifeblood in his hand, she felt a deep fear.
As a result, every time before going to bed, she would start to... miss the princess.
There will be someone waiting for her in the palace. Whenever she wants to go, she can go. Whenever she wants to see someone, she can see him. This is undoubtedly a huge temptation.
It's like a bottomless pit, so deep, but once you know it's full of treasures, you'd want to explore it even at the risk of something.
It was a very private little world, just the two of them, where nothing they did would be known to others. She could be his consort... and he had said she could do anything to him.
Anything...anything?
Xie Jing's sweet words filled Yu Qing's mind, and she thought to herself, "Calm down."
The fact is, I can't stay calm at all.
She never met Xie Jing again, but when she was on duty at Beichensi, her thoughts often drifted to the palace.
One night, she followed the guards who were changing shifts to Xuanwu Street. Looking at the magnificent mansion, she had an urge to go in.
Xie Jing giving her the right to choose was clearly a torture for her.
If you don’t speak up, you won’t be able to meet. If you want to meet, you have to take the initiative to speak up.
How should she bring it up? Should she send someone to the palace to tell him? Or should she go to him in person and tell him she wanted to see the princess?
No matter what, she seemed... quite proactive. Furthermore, if she really told him, would Xie Jing definitely be able to prepare for her? If he refused due to some other matter, wouldn't that be even more embarrassing?
Yu Qing felt that it would be better to agree on a password or code word.
No, in fact, we shouldn't meet casually. We should set a schedule and meet every few days like a court meeting. Wouldn't that save a lot of trouble?
Yu Qing inexplicably felt like she was being controlled by Xie Jing. She couldn't move him at all, and was always being led around by him. Xie Jing must have noticed that.
Even if Yu Qing slept next to him, he was not worried at all.
Yu Qing felt that the more she couldn't restrain herself, the more it would encourage Xie Jing's arrogance, so she endured it for a few days.
After enduring this, she wondered why she had to be so cautious. She had always been so casual with Xie Jing, but now she was afraid of him. Couldn't she just go to him and tell him to wait for her tonight?
Just as he was thinking about it, someone outside announced: "His Royal Highness Prince Jing is coming."
Yu Qing paused with her pen in her hand, and she raised her head calmly, only to see Xie Jing walking in.
Xie Jing had left behind so many calligraphy and painting utensils at Beichensi, which were really useful. Every time he came, he would only take one item away, and it might take several months to empty the place.
Last time, Yu Qing wanted him to take everything away at once, cleanly and neatly, but now he didn't want to rush him.
Xie Jing randomly pointed at an instrument and asked the guard to get it, but he kept glancing in Yu Qing's direction.
His guard quickly loaded up his things, turned around and left without a moment's delay, closing the door behind him.
Yu Qing: “…” Really well-trained.
Xie Jing came over immediately. Yu Qing coughed lightly and said, "Your Highness, is there anything else?"
Xie Jing said: "Well... I brought you some snacks."
Yu Qing said, "Put it there."
"You didn't get to taste it last time," Xie Jing said, "This one is not bad either. You should try it."
In fact, Yu Qing ate a piece, but she did not deny it, just nodded lightly: "Okay."
Xie Jing didn't mean to leave. He still stood opposite her, staring at her.
Yu Qing couldn't stand that gaze that seemed to be real, and was about to speak, but Xie Jing whispered first: "Why haven't you come to see me?"
Yu Qing breathed a sigh of relief.
She said, "There's been a lot going on these days."
Xie Jing asked, "Then, when will the commander be free?"
Yu Qing said: "... tomorrow."
Xie Jing thought about it and suggested, "But if you come tomorrow night, you'll have to attend court the next day, which is very inconvenient. How about... tonight?"
Yu Qing pretended to think and said, "That's fine."
Xie Jing smiled brightly: "Okay."
Yu Qing's ears felt a little hot from his laughter. If others heard the two of them talking back and forth, they would probably be confused... Who would have thought that a commander and a prince were actually discussing a secret meeting?
·
She returned to the palace much earlier than last time and was more familiar with the route.
Standing at the door, she thought she had made sufficient preparations, because she had thought about Xie Jing's appearance that night a lot in the past few days, so she should have gotten used to it. At least she had basic composure and would not be as distracted as she was last time when she saw him.
But when she opened the door and saw Xie Jing, she realized she was wrong.
How could Xie Jing dress similarly twice in a row? He must have been changing his style.
Last time he was bright and charming, this time he was wearing plain clothes, with his long hair tied up and a jade hairpin inserted diagonally. He was elegant and graceful, like a small white lotus emerging from the water.
Yu Qing: “…”
By the time she reacted, she was already very close to the princess.
The princess smiled at her tenderly and said, "Do you miss me?"
Yu Qing said: "I want to."
After she finished speaking, she felt regretful and was once again controlled by Xie Jing.
Secondly, if she said "I don't want to", would the princess look at her with resentment? That would also be...good.
The princess said, "I want a prince consort too."
Although his appearance has not changed, Xie Jing is able to create a completely different style and temperament.
He actually didn't wear much makeup this time. Just looking at his face, he looked very similar to usual. Yu Qing looked at him, sometimes thinking he was Xie Jing, sometimes thinking he was the gentle Qing Jia, completely blurring the lines.
In the past, in the Marquis' Mansion, Qingjia often dressed similarly. Yu Qing missed her so much.
"You have come earlier tonight than last time," said the Princess. "We can spend a long time together. Do you want to hear the piano? I will play it for you."
The princess also prepared a zither this time, so Yu Qing couldn't refuse.
Xie Jing was an exceptional qin player, having been trained by court musicians since childhood. He was as good as any of the masters. Just a few gentle plucks of the strings revealed his music to be anything but ordinary.
The music was pleasant and the face was serene and beautiful. Yu Qing was not only mesmerized by what he heard, but also by what he saw.
She thought it would be a shame to play such a fine technique in this dim room. Even if he played it in the throne room, it wouldn't be too much. But then she thought, this is something that belongs to her alone, and she doesn't want to share it with anyone.
At the end, the princess stopped looking at Qin and instead raised her head and looked at her.
When the song was finished, the princess said quietly, "Prince Consort, are you listening?"
Yu Qing was stunned for a moment and said, "I'm listening."
"Really?" said the princess. "But you seem to be looking at me the whole time. You must not be listening carefully."
Yu Qing was speechless. She certainly hadn't been paying full attention to the music.
"How do I play?" the princess asked again.
Yu Qing said: "No one can match it."
She thought the princess would laugh at her words, but she wasn't very pleased. She said, "But last time I heard you praising someone else. You said you had never heard such a beautiful piece of music."
Yu Qing was confused and had no idea what he was saying. He wondered if he was just improvising.
The princess reminded: "Nan Yue."
"..." Yu Qing thought, isn't she playing the sheng? It's not the same thing as his, how can she be blamed for saying the wrong thing?
"You are my consort anyway," the princess said. "Don't praise other princesses. It will make me sad. Promise me."
This is different from Qingjia. Qingjia has never been so unreasonable before.
Yu Qing could only say: "...Okay, I won't praise others anymore."
The princess smiled gently and waved her hand. Yu Qing walked over and the princess raised her hand and touched her face.
"I was joking with you, how could you believe it?" the princess said softly, "I know you love me the most. You once said that you would only have me as your wife in this life and that you would never have other thoughts. I remember everything."
Yu Qing: “…”
Her heart beat faster and she didn't know how to answer for a moment. In the end, she could only hold his hand and then let it go from her cheek.
The princess gently hooked her belt again, and Yu Qing's breathing stopped, but the princess reached for the sachet around her waist.
"Why don't you wear the one I gave you?"
Yu Qing didn't tell the truth. The princess's belongings were too precious, and she was reluctant to wear them. She said, "The old one is old."
Princess: "Okay, then I'll give you a new one, okay?"
Whenever he asked this, Yu Qing's answer was nothing but good.
He really conjured up a small sachet, took off the original one, and then carefully tied a new one on Yu Qing.
Yu Qing looked at his slender white hands and drooping eyelashes, and suddenly felt guilty.
...It's indeed different.
In the past, she admired and loved the princess with a frank heart, and was not afraid to let her hear all her thoughts.
But now, facing Xie Jing, who also had the same face, a subtle emotion slowly rose in his heart.
She had actually been staring at his lips without realizing it for so long. All she could think about was the last kiss, and she wanted to taste that intoxicating taste again.
She did have desire for Xie Jing. Yu Qing sensed it very clearly.
What did Xie Jing say last time? He said he could do whatever he wanted to him? Was that true...
Xie Jing tied the sachet and was stunned when he looked up, his throat moving.
Yu Qing was looking straight at him. Of course, Yu Qing always looked at him in the past. He was used to and enjoyed the gazes around him at that time. But originally, those gazes were clear and bright, but now they were... a little deep.
Xie Jing realized something and widened his eyes slightly. The next moment, Yu Qing reached out and touched his face.
Then, she touched his earlobe.
Xie Jing's head buzzed and he could hardly feel anything except the touch of Yu Qing's fingertips.
"Your Highness, aren't you wearing earrings today?" Yu Qing asked.
Xie Jing said: "...No. It's in the box under the table..."
Fortunately, she is no longer a princess and doesn't have as many jewels as before. Otherwise, it would be hard for Yu Qing to choose. She was always dazzled by the princess's things.
She found a pair of earrings and when she came back, Xie Jing wanted to take them, but Yu Qing didn't give them to him.
"Let me help your Highness put it on," she said, "Your Highness can't see it."
Xie Jing: “…”
Yu Qing had never put her earrings on anyone before, so she was extra cautious, afraid the sharp object might accidentally prick him. She couldn't see the hole in his ear very clearly, perhaps because the lighting wasn't bright enough, or perhaps because she was a little dizzy. It took her a long time to finally get it in.
It was a sensitive area to begin with, and after being kneaded for a long time, Xie Jing even trembled a little. Not only was his face frozen, but his breathing was also audibly rapid.
When Yu Qing turned to touch his other earlobe, Xie Jing couldn't help it and suddenly grabbed her wrist.
"...Wait," Xie Jing's voice also changed, and then he said with difficulty, "...No, hurry up."
It seemed as if he was holding back something, and this look made Yu Qing's throat dry, as if it was on fire.
Now that I'm here, she thought.
She had been struggling for so long before coming here, and the journey wasn't short, so she couldn't let it go to waste. She had been completely captivated by him several times here, and Qiying had even found out about it the last time. She had no face left to lose anyway.
Just do whatever you want to do.
She turned Xie Jing's face with one hand and kissed him directly. The small earring that she had not put on in time fell on the soft carpet.
She had always wanted to kiss Qingjia's forehead, but now, she didn't kiss that place.
She had tasted the feeling of being captivated by beauty and having a restless mind.
My heartbeats were so chaotic that I couldn't tell whose was whose.
No matter how good the wine is, it can’t be so refreshing. Yu Qing was almost drunk at this moment.
Her hands on Xie Jing's shoulders became tighter and tighter. Xie Jing felt the pain and could not make a sound. This time the kiss was deep, so he could only hold the other's wrist tightly.
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