"Are you helping me?"
Nanmen’s expression panicked for a second, but he denied it directly.
"I’m not helping you; there are some valuable items on that dead body, and I need money."
Zheng Nianru didn’t believe him, but she didn’t call him out either. She had saved the young man’s life, and certainly deserved this help. However, Zheng Nianru found this feeling somewhat amusing, as if all her flirtations and seductions in her past life had been superfluous.
Yes, they were superfluous and in the end, also very troublesome for her.
"If that’s the case, then you don’t have to follow me or get involved in my affairs anymore. With your frail body, a few eunuchs could take you down." Zheng Nianru turned and walked away.
Nanmen Yu impulsively grabbed the sleeve of the young girl’s dress, and the gentle gauze and her slender, weak wrist turned from fantasy to reality in his mind. The young man blushed, his mind filled only with the words ’frail body’ that Zheng Nianru had just uttered.
"I’m already fourteen, and in Nanzheng State it’s an age suitable for marriage," Nanmen Yu said.
Zheng Nianru raised her eyebrows, hmm, and then what? She had died without Nanmen Yu ever taking a wife.
"Then you should eat more; at least you should look bigger than the Fourth Prince to seem marriageable..."
Before Zheng Nianru could finish her sentence, the young man suddenly moved closer, impulsively wanting to silence Zheng Nianru’s mouth, and he did. The moment his lips touched that unbelievable softness, his mind immediately switched, and the sensation overwhelmed his reason. He desperately wanted to devour it whole.
Fu Dong’s legs trembled, almost screaming out, and his face turned pale. This, this...
Zheng Nianru was stunned, and when she snapped back to reality, she faintly remembered the taste of the young man, a crisp flavor like licorice, with the salty sea breeze hitting her face. However, this memory was disordered and somewhat irritating.
Regaining her senses, Zheng Nianru’s hand climbed onto the young man’s neck, taking the offensive, expertly searching for that familiar taste, like a deeply buried wine waiting to be uncorked at the right moment for its mellow fragrance.
Fu Dong’s foot that had stepped out was retracted, and then he slowly took a step back and lowered his head.
The wind picked up slowly, a swirling breeze shook a few tender leaves off the trees, and as they spiraled down to the ground, it seemed as though everything had returned to tranquility.
Zheng Nianru let go and glanced at the dazed young man, then turned around and walked back; Fu Dong promptly followed.
The young man stood there dazedly in the night, the cold wind seemingly sobering him up. What had just happened was not a dream, but reality...
...
The breath of early spring, carrying warm winds, awakened the entire Crown Prince’s Mansion, rippling the waters of Siyan Lake, and after a morning of sweeping and cleaning, the bustling Crown Prince’s Mansion gradually returned to calm.
The area of the Crown Prince’s Mansion was not small; it’s just that the Crown Prince had not taken a wife, so all the courtyards in the back were empty, inhabited only by the sweeping servants and nannies, no one else.
And the place where the Crown Prince spent most of his time was the study in the front courtyard. The study faced the back court across the lake, much to the disappointment of the flock of female servants who had eagerly wanted to enter the Crown Prince’s Mansion; once inside, they never saw the Crown Prince again.
Compared to the cold and quiet back courtyard, the front courtyard was much livelier. The cooks in the kitchen of the East Courtyard were extremely skilled, not only in the main courses but also in making a variety of cakes and snacks, all of which were unrivaled. There was even a tailoring and embroidery workshop, where every Embroidery Girl had remarkable skills.
However, these past few days, both the Embroidery Girls and the cooks had sensed that something was different, as if they had been idle for a while.
The incense before the "Needle God" had never ceased burning, yet the Embroidery Girls could vaguely sense a crisis looming. They usually feared the unreasonable Commandery Princess, who completely disregarded their hard work, destroying and demanding redos on the slightest dissatisfaction. But now, they realized that it had been quite some days since the Commandery Princess had "troubled" them.
As night fell and it came time for lighting lamps, the Crown Prince returned to the mansion with his escort, and the Crown Prince’s Mansion bustled with activity. The cooks, ready with their ingredients, were eager to showcase their skills, only to be informed that the Crown Prince had already dined in the palace before returning.
Qi Zhu placed a red cedar official leather case on the desk.
Zheng Congyuan changed out of his outer garments, dressed now only in his indigo brocade robe casual wear. He had already replaced his formal hair crown with a more casual jade crown, his gaze sweeping over the neatly arranged brush and ink on the desk in a moment of abstraction.
Everything was too neat, orderly to the point of causing irritation. The untouched brush and ink, the drooping branches of the gentleman orchid on the desk, every item in the study meticulously cared for, all tidy and brimming with life yet lacking that spirited essence.
Qi Zhu immediately dared not speak. These past few days, the Crown Prince had been spending longer and longer periods in silent contemplation in the study, and he didn’t need to guess why.
It was because the Commandery Princess hadn’t visited. As soon as Qi Zhu returned to the Crown Prince’s Mansion, he had covertly signaled to Steward Hu. Seeing the steward’s crestfallen face told him that the Commandery Princess hadn’t come again today.
Qi Zhu didn’t know what had happened between the Commandery Princess and His Highness, but it seemed as if she had suddenly vanished from the Crown Prince’s Mansion.
Qi Ling came in after tidying up the discarded clothing, immediately sensing the tense atmosphere upon entering.
"Your Highness, the pineapples that were just tribute from the South Bank arrived today. Subordinate thought that since the Commandery Princess loves them, they were sent over before noon," Qi Ling said as he took out memorials from the official leather case, placing them in order on the desk.
Zheng Congyuan didn’t respond. These past days’ events had replayed in his mind countless times. The news about Qi Jin and Qi Yu’s punishment had been sent over—it had been several days. Why hadn’t she come?
The only remaining possibility was that Prince Duan had said something.
Yet Zheng Congyuan believed that Prince Duan couldn’t have discovered anything. He had tested him several times, and besides expressing gratitude for his care for Nian Ru, Prince Duan let nothing slip.
Zheng Congyuan recalled the last time in Qishun Building; everything had appeared normal, and he had even—
Zheng Congyuan set down the memorials, startling Qi Ling, who didn’t know how to begin consoling him.
Steward Hu, carefully carrying a bowl of soup, hesitated at the door, wanting to come in, but the room’s tense atmosphere halted him, and he was about to slip away when Zheng Congyuan’s sudden gaze caught and rooted him to the spot.
"Your Highness, please have some supper. Oh, and the Embroidery Girls have made a new robe. The pattern is such that in all my years I’ve never seen anything like it—it looks fresh and beautiful," Steward Hu said, setting down the soup and hurriedly taking the robe from the attendants outside.
Zheng Congyuan’s gaze swept over the robe, his expression softening slightly. Whatever novel patterns these were, so much effort had been put into them, and he wondered how many days it had taken and how much effort the Embroidery Girls had invested.
"Put it down," Zheng Congyuan said as he took his seat again. Perhaps he had been too focused, he thought. There were times in the past when she didn’t come. Perhaps as she grew older, there were some matters a girl needed to attend to.
Qi Ling breathed a sigh of relief, carefully putting away the robe. One glance was enough to tell it was the Commandery Princess’s handiwork—who else would embroider such peculiar patterns? One couldn’t find another piece like it even if they searched. The Commandery Princess had indeed put her heart into this.