TL: Hua
Sweeping away the misty drizzle, Ningzhou revealed a vibrant and refreshing beauty.
In the following days, Pei Xiting went out every day, sketching scenery and strolling around. He occasionally dined with Bai Yunduan, drank wine with Zhao Fan, and “accidentally” encountered Shangguan Jie—but whenever this happened, Zhao Fan would also “coincidentally” pass by, turning a meeting of two into three, or simply having everyone return to their own homes, which saved him a lot of trouble.
At one time, Bai Yunduan brought Bai Yunzhi along. The third miss of the Bai family had been resting at home for a few days and had recovered well. With a thin layer of rouge, she was truly as beautiful as peach blossoms and plums, radiating vitality.
With no one to disturb him at night, Pei Xiting studied the zither with the Crown Prince, night after night.
Orange fragrance incense, which Pei Xiting had found, burned on the incense stand, its scent sweet and natural, successfully coaxing the Crown Prince to light and try it. Outside, the night deepened. He plucked a string and said, “Prefect He and the Bai family have called off the engagement, only saying that the young people’s personalities didn’t match and they weren’t suitable for marriage. That’s still considered quite kind.” The Crown Prince sat beside him, holding the zither score and turning a page, casually humming in agreement.
“Master Bai and Madam Bai are unwilling to give up, and they still want to form an alliance with the Zhao family. When Third Miss Bai came out today, the rouge on her face was very thick, but it still didn’t cover up the palm print.” Pei Xiting glanced at his own zither score, playing the zither somewhat clumsily. “Everyone says the third miss of the Bai family is pampered at home, but I don’t think so.”
“The Bai family is wealthy and prosperous. It’s easy for them to dote on their daughter, but that doesn’t stop them from wanting to throw her out in exchange for benefits without the slightest hesitation.” The Crown Prince turned his head to look at Pei Xiting’s calm profile. “Do you sympathize with her?”
“There are no parents who don’t love their children—that’s a lie. There are parents in the world who are a thousand or even ten thousand times worse than the Bai couple. If I sympathized with every single one of them, how could I possibly go on living?” Pei Xiting said calmly. “I see that Third Miss Bai is still quite clear-headed, and with Bai Yunluo’s help, she probably won’t go and provoke Prince Zhao.”
Speaking of Prince Zhao, Pei Xiting suddenly thought of Shangguan Jie. His hands paused on the zither strings, and he turned his head to meet the Crown Prince’s gaze, saying seriously, “Young Marquis Shangguan left the capital without permission and neglected his duties. Are you going to do anything about it?”
The Crown Prince said, “Before he left the capital, he left a sign in his office and exchanged positions with someone else. There’s no problem.”
Hearing this, Pei Xiting was somewhat disappointed, openly disappointed.
Seeing his expression, the Crown Prince said, “Do you know what you look like you’re doing right now?”
Pei Xiting raised an eyebrow. “Hmm?”
“Slandering and flattering,” the Crown Prince said.
“Injustice!” Pei Xiting exclaimed. “At most, I’m just holding a grudge.”
The Crown Prince looked at him and said, “Continue playing.”
Pei Xiting pursed his lips and said, “I’m not very good at it.”
“Everything goes from unfamiliar to familiar. Calm your mind,” the Crown Prince said.
Pei Xiting couldn’t calm his mind. “I’m hot.”
The Crown Prince glanced at the carved icework in the room and said, “A calm heart naturally cools down.”
“You won’t let me wear short clothes,” Pei Xiting voiced his grievance.
“If you’re not properly dressed, what does that look like?” the Crown Prince said.
“There’s no one else in this courtyard. Why so much fuss? Some officials in the court are usually the most concerned with etiquette, but when they return to their own courtyards in the summer, they wear whatever is the coolest, just enough to cover themselves,” Pei Xiting muttered. “You’re even more old-fashioned than they are.”
“How do you know what other people wear in their own homes?” the Crown Prince asked.
Pei Xiting had read it in a book before; he forgot the name, but it mentioned the cool “artifacts” of ancient people, like small suspenders and strapless garments. This was a fictional place, so it was hard to say if they existed here, but he still stuck his neck out and said confidently, “I saw it through a dog hole.”
“Oh,” the Crown Prince said calmly, “peeping into the residences of court officials, recording their private affairs, harboring ill intentions.”
As soon as the words fell, Pei Xiting placed his hands on the zither and swept forward simultaneously, causing the ancient instrument to emit an overwhelming sound.
The Crown Prince was attacked. His brow furrowed slightly, and just as he was about to speak, he saw Pei Xiting pick up the zither, change direction, face him directly, and strike again with another wave of sound.
“…”
Pei Xiting’s expression was serious, his hands nimbly and randomly plucking the strings, the momentum as if he possessed centuries of skill, capable of killing with the sound of the zither.
The Crown Prince suddenly didn’t know what to say. If he said Pei Xiting was presumptuous, this person was presumptuous every day, and if he really wanted to look into it, there would be countless instances. If he said Pei Xiting was childish, his childishness had a unique charm. However, the attack power was quite strong. He reached out and placed his hand between Pei Xiting’s hands, pressing down on the zither surface, and said, “Is this revenge?”
Pei Xiting stopped his attack and said, “If you’re determined to find fault, you’ll always find a reason.”
“Didn’t you say it yourself?” The Crown Prince said,” “You go and peep through other people’s dog holes for no good reason, and I’m not allowed to suspect you have ulterior motives?”
“Does doing something always have to have a reason?” Pei Xiting asked. “What if I’m just purely out of my mind?”
The Crown Prince thought for a moment and said, “Indeed, no one has stipulated that a person cannot be out of their mind.”
“Then that’s the point,” Pei Xiting said. “When this illness recurred, not only did I like to crawl through dog holes, but I also liked to act like a mad dog, running around the streets and biting anyone I saw.”
He boldly said, “You better avoid me then, in case I bite you.”
“Then you must avoid me, otherwise,” the Crown Prince’s gaze slid down, landing on Pei Xiting’s rosy lips, and he said calmly, “I’ll tie your tongue with a rope and chain you up in the courtyard, which can also be considered as eliminating harm to the people.”
Such a calm expression and tone, such a perverted thing to say.
Pei Xiting was stunned, momentarily unable to refute but unwilling to show weakness. So, he transformed into the ten-fingered zither demon again, launching a sonic attack on the Crown Prince.
“…” The Crown Prince clicked his tongue softly, then suddenly reached out and snatched the innocent zither from Pei Xiting’s hands, placing it back in its original position. Afterwards, he reached out and grasped the back of Pei Xiting’s neck. “Get up.”
His movements were too fast. Pei Xiting didn’t even have time to react before being “disarmed.” The hand on the back of his neck was warm and strong, burning his skin. He instinctively shrank back. “No—”
Before he could finish speaking, the fingertip pressed down slightly, as if warning him. Pei Xiting stood up obediently and was dragged by the neck by the Crown Prince to the door and pushed out.
He turned around. The Crown Prince stood behind the threshold, his dazzling face as calm as ever, the temperature of his hand seemingly the opposite of his expression.
Pei Xiting stared at those indifferent phoenix eyes, tilting his head slightly, as if standing at the mouth of a well, carefully studying and exploring its depth, wondering if there was any chance of survival if he jumped down, his expression confused and hesitant.
The Crown Prince felt somewhat displeased by this “probing,” mixed with some inexplicable emotions. In short, he didn’t want Pei Xiting to keep staring at him, so he turned around and went inside.
Pei Xiting snapped out of his thoughts and said before the Crown Prince could take another step, “Your Highness, tomorrow is the Lotus Picking Festival. Don’t forget.”
The Crown Prince said without turning around, “I haven’t forgotten, but I never promised you anything.”
Pei Xiting was stunned. That’s right. The Crown Prince had agreed to return to the capital with him after the Lotus Picking Festival, but hadn’t said he would go out with him on that day.
“Then I’m inviting you now,” Pei Xiting said. “Tomorrow, I’ll wait for you at Lotus Isle.” Without waiting for the Crown Prince’s reply, he turned and went back into his room, his steps much faster than usual, revealing a hint of haste, as if a moment’s delay would cause the Crown Prince to refuse, and as if the Crown Prince’s silence tonight meant he would definitely keep the appointment tomorrow.
The door to the next room closed, three times heavier than usual, as if the person closing it was momentarily anxious and forgot to control their strength.
The Crown Prince stood in place for a while before moving back to the inner room.
***
The next morning, a luxurious carriage arrived at Willow Bank.
Gao Liu entered the inn and quickly came out, saying to the window, “My lord, Third Young Master Pei has already gone out.”
“Alone?” Zhao Fan asked.
“With his servant,” Gao Liu said.
As long as it wasn’t Shangguan Jie. Zhao Fan waved his fan and said, “Let’s go.”
Speak of the devil. Gao Liu looked ahead and said, “The young marquis is here.”
Zhao Fan raised an eyebrow slightly, turned his head to look at Shangguan Jie walking to the window, and said with a smile, “Is Jinhe here to find Xiting?”
“Precisely,” Shangguan Jie said without reservation, also smiling. “Is Xingjian too?”
“Indeed, but what a coincidence, we’re both late,” Zhao Fan sighed leisurely. “Xiting has already gone out with his servant.”
Seeing that Shangguan Jie was not very happy, he said, “Since we’ve run into each other, why don’t we keep each other company? It’ll be livelier that way; what do you say?”
Shangguan Jie had no interest in the Lotus Picking Festival, but he knew that Zhao Fan would definitely not miss the opportunity to use this festival to invite Pei Xiting out. When they spent the festival together under the beautiful moon, Pei Xiting might accidentally fall for Zhao Fan’s charms and be completely infatuated.
Although Pei Xiting had left, if he went with Zhao Fan now, Zhao Fan wouldn’t be able to find another chance to be alone with Pei Xiting. Having made up his mind, Shangguan Jie nodded and said, “Alright, then I’ll take a ride with you.”
He got into the carriage, Gao Liu closed the door, and the carriage drove away.
Shang Xifeng came out from the doorway, glanced at the carriage, cracked a melon seed, and said, “Pei-wenshu has good social connections.”
You Zong was brewing tea behind the door and said, “Not necessarily a good thing.”
Shang Xifeng seemed to understand and turned back, using a large palm-leaf fan to fan You Zong. “It’s rare to have free time. Why don’t you go out?”
“There’s nothing good to go out for,” You Zong said. “His Highness has Commander Yu accompanying and protecting him, so he doesn’t need me either.”
“Speaking of which, it’s strange. They both went out, but why did His Highness and Pei-wenshu go separately today?” Shang Xifeng wondered.
You Zong looked at the flames under the tea stove and said, “They’re both going to Lotus Isle. They might run into each other.”
“Lotus Isle isn’t small, and today there will be a sea of people. I’m afraid it will be difficult,” Shang Xifeng said.
You Zong remained noncommittal and said, “If fate wills it, they’ll see each other with a turn of the head. If there’s intention, then fate is everywhere.”
If you like what I’m doing, consider supporting me on ko-fi for bonus chapters!!
