Chapter 11 Heartbeat Am I a homosexual? Xie Jing was shocked. ...
Yu Qing remembered that the princess wore red bead earrings when she got married. They were also beautiful, but not as pleasing to the eye as they were today.
She nodded and said affirmatively, "Yeah."
Then she realized she had spoken too quickly. What if the princess liked the previous one better? She should have said that both were beautiful and looked great on Her Highness.
"Really?" Xie Jing said, "...I like this one better too. It was given to me by my mother."
That’s good, Yu Qing breathed a sigh of relief.
The two came to the edge of the pond, and between the lotus leaves, they could see the light of scales flashing.
Xie Jing: "Are there any more fish?"
The koi swimming in the water are colorful and very lively.
"Yeah, the fish were newly moved in too."
Yu Qing asked the servant beside him to bring a box of fish food and handed it to Qing Jia: "Your Highness, do you want to feed it?"
Xie Jing lowered his eyes and looked at Yu Qing's hand, and suddenly an idea came to his mind.
He nodded, took the box, lifted his clothes and walked up the stone steps.
After throwing a handful of fish food, several fish swam over in an instant. Xie Jing smiled, pretending to be very happy, and leaned forward a little.
Then, he staggered as if he had lost his balance, his foot slipped, and he fell directly into the water.
The pond was surrounded by a fence, so people on the shore wouldn't accidentally fall into the water. However, this garden had long been abandoned, and only recently, at Yu Qing's behest, had it begun a renovation. They were digging through the two ponds, removing silt, planting lotus flowers, and stocking fish. People were busy working there all day.
The original two stone pillars were damaged, so the craftsmen removed them first, leaving an opening. This also made it easier for the servants to go directly into the water to repair it, saving time and effort. After the pool was completed, the stone railing would be repaired.
The gap in the missing guardrail wasn't actually that big, and normally it wouldn't be big enough for a person to fall in. However, Xie Jing was aiming in that direction, so naturally, he couldn't be stopped.
He closed his eyes and prepared to fall into the water, but——
"Your Highness, be careful!"
When Xie Jing was about to fall, Yu Qingfei stepped forward.
Before Xie Jing could react, he felt his arm being gripped tightly, and then the man firmly embraced him. For a moment, he even felt as if he was suspended in mid-air. His eyes widened, and before him was only Yu Qing's delicate face and dark eyes.
“…”
He forgot what to say for a moment and looked down again. Yu Qing's hand was still holding him. Although the palm did not look strong, it was like an iron clamp that hurt him.
Yu Qing saw the princess lose her balance and almost fall into the water, so he subconsciously pulled Qingjia over. People who practice martial arts are inevitably quicker with their hands than with their eyes.
She and the princess in her arms exchanged a look of bewilderment. The princess's long eyelashes fluttered several times before she realized that one of her hands was still clasping the princess, while the other was still on her waist. She immediately let go and stepped back. "...I apologize. Your Highness, are you alright?"
Xie Jing's chest was pounding.
After a long while, he said with difficulty: "It's okay... I was just careless just now."
"I'm sorry I frightened you through carelessness. Let's get away from the shore first." Yu Qing hurriedly took the princess back a few steps. Seeing that the princess was a little panicked and had been unable to recover for a long time, she must be still in shock. She was also a little scared. If Qingjia really fell into the water, if something happened to such a precious princess, she would be accused of failing to serve her well.
Qingjia was so frail, like she had no weight. She didn't know how she had slipped. Could it be the wind that had blown her away? She would have to be more careful next time.
"Let me hold this first. It's very heavy."
Yu Qing took the fish food box from Xie Jing and asked him if he had any sprains.
Xie Jing: “…”
It wasn't true that he couldn't even walk steadily or hold the fish food.
Everything that happened just now was intentional. Yu Qing's move was faster than the wind, leaving him no chance of an accident.
Since the two of them had never slept in the same bed, Xie Jing had to find a reasonable reason to postpone it, the longer the better.
So, when he saw the water in the pond, he thought he might as well just suffer the injustice and fall into the water first. He would be fished out soon anyway, so he wouldn't die.
Afterwards, he said that he was frightened and fell ill. He needed to be nursed back to health for a year or two before he could recover. He hoped that by the time he recovered from the illness, he would be cured once and for all.
Normally, this wouldn't be easy for him to do, as he would have to think carefully because he was accompanied by Qiu Lian and Dong Li, neither of whom were very good at swimming. Furthermore, if anything happened to the master, the two maids would definitely be punished. Now, with Yu Qing present, it was a perfect time.
The goal was not achieved and the opportunity was wasted, but Xie Jing didn't have time to get angry.
Because at this moment Yu Qing was circling around him with a look of concern and shame, he... he didn't know if he was really scared or what, his heart was beating very fast.
For the first time, Xie Jing had the distinct impression that Yu Qing was a martial artist. He looked like a pretty boy, barely taller than himself, but he hadn't expected such speed and strength. He certainly couldn't be careless. He'd just caught him in one swoop... Xie Jing's mind flashed back to the moment when he and Yu Qing's eyes met.
He suddenly felt uncomfortable all over.
All of a sudden, all kinds of scenes from the vernacular plays and operas I had read came to my mind one after another.
Am I... a homosexual?
Xie Jing was shocked. Just thinking about it made him feel like the sky was falling. How could it be possible? What did he want from a man?
Yu Qing didn't know what was going on in Xie Jing's mind, but she was really scared when she saw Princess Qingjia's face getting worse and worse.
Yu Qing didn't dare to continue taking such a delicate girl to feed the fish and play in the water. He asked softly, "Your Highness? Your Highness? Are you okay? I'll take you back first."
The princess took a deep breath and said slowly, "I'm fine, I'm just scared... If you hadn't been there, I'm afraid I would have been in great danger just now... Thank you very much."
"It was my fault that I didn't notice the hidden danger. I will have them repair it immediately."
"It was my own carelessness," Qing Jia said, "don't blame the servants."
She was truly kind-hearted and worried that the servants would be punished.
Yu Qing certainly didn't blame anyone else; she simply felt she had been careless. The princess had been in high spirits, but she'd messed it up. Qing Jia had just been teasing the koi, beaming with joy. The scene was like a painting.
She sent the princess back to Wenhua Garden. Qingjia's two personal maids were not around. One was making snacks in the kitchen, and the other had gone to the market and had not returned yet.
"Hmm?" Yu Qing said, "Your Highness, is there anything missing?"
Qing Jia said: "No, I asked Dong Li to buy some books for me."
Yu Qing suddenly realized.
"Your Highness, do you like reading? I have quite a collection of books in my study. You can visit anytime in the future," Yu Qing said. "It's also because I forgot and haven't furnished a study for Your Highness..."
Xie Jing said: "Don't bother, I'm just killing time."
Yu Qing said, "If it's too far, Your Highness, I'll have someone pick up a few boxes and have them delivered directly."
The main reason was that she had frightened the princess just now, and now she just wanted to make up for it as much as possible.
Xie Jing was already feeling flustered and wanted to calm down. When Qiu Lian came back, he saw the prince consort sitting attentively next to the prince, and the prince's expression clearly showed that he was enduring.
"I'm a little tired," Xie Jing started to chase Qiu Lian away when she came in. "Let Qiu Lian take a nap with me. I won't keep you here any longer."
Yu Qing hesitated to speak, but still left obediently. Seeing him leave, Xie Jing's expression did not ease, but became even more gloomy.
Qiu Lian whispered, "Your Highness, what's the matter? Did your husband make you angry?"
It would be better to make him angry, Xie Jing thought.
Recalling the scene just now, he was still very confused, not knowing what had suddenly happened to him.
"I must have stayed in the palace too long," Xie Jing thought. "I've become abnormal. Or maybe there's something wrong with the Yu family's feng shui."
Qiu Lian didn't understand what was going on. After carefully observing for a while, she saw Xie Jing holding his forehead, sometimes in a daze, sometimes gritting his teeth, and sometimes inscrutable: "..."
What on earth did Prince Yu do?
Not long after, Dong Li came back with a basket of storybooks. He happily talked about the popular plots in Beijing. Xie Jing didn't listen at all and had no interest.
Later that evening, the servants came to Wenhua Garden again, carrying two large boxes of books containing all kinds of books at the prince's request.
The empty shelves in Wenhuayuan's study were now filled. Xie Jing had no interest in Yu Qing's collection of books. He had told Yu Qing not to give them away, but he still gave them to him. How annoying! Didn't he know he liked reading storybooks?
He decided to do something to stop himself from thinking too much, so he casually opened the newly bought storybook and read a few chapters. It was about a young lady who met a young general and fell deeply in love with him. Every time they met, her heart was beating like a drum, as if in a dream. Only then did she realize that they had already fallen deeply in love... Xie Jing was so uneasy that he read on and it seemed more and more wrong, so he closed the book with a snap.
"What nonsense is this?" he thought. "What does a fast heartbeat have to do with heart palpitations? It's all nonsense."
Dong Li's taste is very uniform. Looking around, he sees all kinds of stories about court marquises, talented men and beautiful women, secret love, and marriage first and love later... Xie Jing was speechless.
I don't like any of them.
He picked and chose, and finally took a travel book from the bookshelf.
The travelogue shouldn't be much of a story, just mountains, rivers, and human landscapes. The author's writing was excellent, and the writing was so witty and interesting that Xie Jing actually read it. He noticed the occasional small annotation on the pages, not much, just a few random words at interesting points, and his reflections surprisingly resonated with his own. The handwriting was elegant and graceful, a testament to the writer's excellent handwriting.
Then he realized that this was taken from Yu Qing's study, so whose handwriting was it?
Xie Jing: “…”
He put the book back on the shelf with an expressionless face.
Although Yu Qingren was not there, he followed Xie Jing like a ghost.
He finally felt better by dinner time, but he still felt extremely awkward seeing Yu Qing in front of him.
During this time, Yu Qing said something to him, and he was distracted, so he subconsciously agreed. Then he asked, "Wait, where are you going?"
Yu Qing said, "Your Highness, would you like to go to the suburbs of Beijing?"
Xie Jing asked, "...Why do you suddenly want to go there?"
"In another fortnight, the rest granted me by Your Majesty will be over. I will have to attend court and new errands... I may never be able to find the time. While I still have some free time, I'd like to pick a nice day in the next few days to go for an outing outside the capital and then burn incense at the Tanyin Temple. What do you think, Your Highness?"
Not much.
Xie Jing paused.
He didn't want to show up in public unless necessary. This body, this identity, was a prison for him, and he had long since grown tired of it.
"Princess Qingjia" will one day be reduced to ashes. Before that, don't let "her" leave any more traces.
Seeing that he didn't answer, Yu Qing recommended, "Tanyin Temple is nestled against the mountains and beside the water. It has beautiful scenery and is peaceful. The ladies in the capital all like to go there to pray for blessings, and it can ward off evil spirits and eliminate disasters."
Yu Qing kept looking at him, full of anticipation, as if she was afraid that he would be unwilling, and she would not give up until she saw an expression of agreement on his face.
Xie Jing turned his face away, avoiding the gaze that was burning intensely for him, yet Yu Qing himself was completely unaware of it, and said, "...Well, then go ahead."
He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth and asked, "Who's going?"
Yu Qing seemed stumped by his question and said blankly, "Who are they? Just... you and me, and some followers. Your Highness, is there anyone else you want to go with?"
Doesn't that mean I'll be alone with Yu Qing again?
Forget it, we are already married, there is no way to avoid it.
Xie Jing: "...Okay. Then don't bring too many people, just go light."
Yu Qing then smiled, as if relieved: "Great, I'll ask the housekeeper to prepare the carriage."
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