“Raise your head. Do you not dare to look at this prince because of a guilty conscience? Is ‘Yun’ a surname? Is it male or female?” Pei Qianhao tossed out several questions in a row, each of them landing heavily in Su Xi-er’s heart like rocks.
Su Xi-er repressed her emotions and raised her head after her expression returned to normal. “Prince Hao, this servant doesn’t understand what you are talking about. What Yun? What male or female?”
“When you were unconscious, you kept shouting ‘Yun’. If you weren’t referring to a person, are you telling me that it is the white clouds[1] floating in the sky?”
Su Xi-er suddenly smiled. “You got it right. The ‘Yun’ I was referring to is none other than the white clouds floating in the sky. Before this servant entered the palace, I had a younger brother[2] who liked to eat cotton candy in the neighbouring household. The ball of white cotton candy closely resembled clouds.”
“So the ‘Yun’ you mentioned is referring to your younger brother in the neighbouring household. You care about him enough to think about him when you fell asleep?”
Su Xi-er sensed that there was something amiss with Pei Qianhao’s expression and immediately added, “Prince Hao, you are thinking too much. What this servant was reminiscing about was the time before I entered the palace. ‘Yun’ refers to those carefree days.”
Pei Qianhao raised his eyebrows. “Really?”
“Every word is the truth. Why would this servant want to deceive you, Prince Hao?”
There was an unfathomable smile hanging at the corners of Pei Qianhao’s mouth. “Indeed, why would you dare to deceive this prince? After all, you even dared to admit that you played a prank on this prince.” Why would she have such a pained expression if she was really recalling carefree days? Would the physician say that she has too many things on her mind if she was speaking the truth? This woman is lying.
But I simply won’t expose her. I want her lie to collapse by itself.
“Prince Hao, this servant will be going to the side chamber to sleep.” Su Xi-er then used her hands to support herself on the bed board and began to get up.
Before she could get very far however, she was pressed down by a large hand. “Just sleep here. Do you think this prince will still use this bed after it has been polluted by your smell?”
Su Xi-er raised her head to look at him. After pondering for a moment, she softly replied, “This servant obeys the order.”
“Do you know what you said about this prince before you lost consciousness?”
Su Xi-er’s heart skipped a beat. Did I say something bad again?
“You said that you are scared of this prince. Scared that the aura surrounding this prince will freeze you to death. Su Xi-er, since you happen to be running a fever right now, why don’t you lean closer to this prince and reduce your temperature?”
Su Xi-er looked at him in confusion. I said something like that? Although his chilly aura does make people feel like they’ve fallen into an ice pit, I must have been muddle-headed to say something like that.
“Prince Hao, you shouldn’t take words that this servant say so seriously. You should worry about getting some proper rest instead. It’s already late, and we will be continuing our journey tomorrow.”
“We indeed have to hurry on with our journey, but how can this prince sleep? Are you going to serve this prince to sleep?”
Titillating words spilt out of his lips, but his expression remained callous, making Su Xi-er unable to fathom his true intentions.
Since he didn’t allow her to leave the bed, she simply laid back down. “Prince Hao, if you won’t be resting, this servant will.”
I am currently sick. He won’t randomly pull off my clothes.
Clothes…Su Xi-er had just shut her eyes when she abruptly opened them and lowered her head to check the clothes on her body.
They’re his! He helped me to change into them!
“You have finally discovered the clothes on you. Your reaction is slower than usual.”
“Prince Hao!” My body has been completely seen by him…
1. The ‘yun’ mentioned here means clouds, but it can also be a surname.
2. Just an affectionate term referring to a boy younger than her.