Pei Ji thought, this was best; he no longer had to live in fear and trepidation.
Li Guangi appeared, bringing his adorably pure little sister; both siblings wore red.
Pei Ji had been about to leave but suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Chu Yunge’s eyes stung a little. “Rise. It’s good that your little sister has been rescued.”
Glancing at Pei Ji’s gloating expression, Chu Yunge said warmly, “Li Guangi, I hate red.”
She and the Princess both hated the sight of blood, so they also hated the red color that resembled blood.
Li Guangi glanced at Pei Ji. After entering the residence, he had seen Pei Ji always wearing red, and since the Princess often sought him out, he had assumed…
‘He wears red to make me dislike him.’
Upon hearing this, Li Guangi realized his mistake. In his anxiety, he couldn’t help but gesture with his hands, and his little sister hurriedly translated beside him.
“Brother says he’ll go change right away.”
“Good boy.” Chu Yunge smiled. “Du Ruo, in a bit, make some new clothes for Young Master Li…”
She felt inspired to dress up Li Guangi; this lavish lifestyle of pampering a cute little puppy boy was right up her alley.
She didn’t notice when Pei Ji left.
For the first time being so thoroughly ignored by Chu Yunge, Pei Ji felt quite unaccustomed.
He even suspected Chu Yunge was doing it on purpose, but he turned back twice midway, and Chu Yunge never looked his way. She only gazed at Li Guangi, looking utterly delighted with him.
Pei Ji’s face immediately tightened.
Last night, Pei Ji had gone to detoxify by sneaking over with his lightness skill, but he couldn’t fool those paying attention.
Xie Wangze knew everything: when he had left, how he had struggled and hesitated outside the bedchamber, and finally, how he had gone in—unexpectedly neither getting chased out nor fleeing, but staying.
Xie Wangze was actually quite surprised by it all.
Pei Ji passed through Wild Goose Courtyard on his way back to Nine Heavens Courtyard. Seeing his expression, a flicker of understanding passed through Xie Wangze’s eyes. It seemed the Princess wasn’t as straightforward as she appeared.
Qingchen, who had been drinking tea with him, stood and approached Pei Ji with concern. “Was the detoxification not smooth?”
Pei Ji followed Qingchen into the courtyard. “…It went pretty smoothly.”
Xie Wangze raised a brow, and Qingchen looked puzzled. “If it was smooth, why that expression? Did Her Highness make some difficult demand of you? Or… did something happen?”
“No.” Pei Ji shook his head. Perhaps because he was dressed too warmly, he felt hot and irritable, and he didn’t want to go into details. He brushed it off. “It’s just that I didn’t sleep well the first time detoxifying.”
As he spoke, he glanced at Xie Wangze beside him and couldn’t help looking at his hands.
Xie Wangze’s hands were like fine white jade, translucent as water. He happened to be holding a turquoise teacup, the turquoise and white jade complementing each other beautifully.
Tonight, the Princess would probably hold his hands too, and Xie Wangze’s hands were far more attractive and delicate than his own. Because he practiced martial arts year-round, Pei Ji’s hands were rough, hard, and full of calluses.
At this thought, an inexplicable awkwardness stirred in his heart. Would she start disliking his hands afterward?
Moreover, she had held his hand last night, and today she was holding another man’s.
No—Pei Ji suddenly realized. Why was he even thinking about this?
Xie Wangze was the Princess’s Prince Consort; holding hands was normal. He must have lost his head today.
Qingchen watched Pei Ji’s ever-changing expression and glanced at Xie Wangze.
“Little Marquis, tonight Young Master Xie must also detoxify. If there’s anything unusual, please let him know so he can prepare.”
“There’s really nothing. Young Master Xie will know when he goes tonight.”
It was just detoxifying; what preparation was needed? At most, washing up clean…
On second thought, that didn’t seem right either.
Pei Ji pushed aside his jumbled thoughts and analyzed calmly. Xie Wangze might not accept hand-holding, so he didn’t need to overthink it.
Besides, they were husband and wife; it was none of his business.
Pei Ji stood gracefully and waved. “I’m off.”
Xie Wangze watched Pei Ji’s retreating back, his instincts telling him something was off. Something must have happened last night.
But Pei Ji wasn’t willing to say, merely looking dazed and showing unusual signs.
“Perhaps the Little Marquis was still bullied by the Princess?” Qingchen also sensed something amiss. Glancing at Pei Ji’s two waist sashes, memories flashed of what the Princess had done to him.
Xie Wangze: “…”
Qingchen’s gaze turned grave. “Young Master Xie, you should still make more preparations tonight.”
Chu Yunge was utterly unaware of their speculations. She enthusiastically dressed up Li Guangi and had even planned to go shopping, but someone from the palace arrived.
It was Li Chengzhe, the palace’s top eunuch supervisor, who had previously served the late Emperor and was now the Emperor’s most trusted aide.
“This old servant pays respects to Your Highness.”
“Li Gonggong, please rise.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.” Li Chengzhe had a plump, honest face, and smile lines crinkled at his eyes. Though he had risen, he remained bowed before Chu Yunge. He was skilled at flattery, exuding humility, yet his every bow and action flowed smoothly like clouds and water—pleasing to the eye.
Even his speech was clear and pleasant, an essential skill for palace servants. Only then would the master be pleased, and they wouldn’t lose face when brought out, earning favor.
Li Chengzhe was a master at it. On the surface, he had come on behalf of the Emperor to deliver gifts to the Princess, but in truth, besides the gifts, he was also passing on some court situations and the Emperor’s instructions.
“Your Highness, tomorrow is Mangzhong. His Majesty instructed this old servant to relay that these past couple of days in court…”
This was indispensable. Chu Yunge had to appear in the Emperor’s stead and couldn’t afford to be ignorant of people or events; otherwise, those shrewd ministers would have noticed anomalies long ago.
Thus, from early on, Chu Yunge and the Emperor had synchronized much information: court affairs, officials’ situations, and more, so she wouldn’t slip up.
Tomorrow at Mangzhong, she had to stand in for the Emperor in the seedling blessing ritual.
Agriculture had always been the foundation of the nation since ancient times, so there were frequent imperial plowing, officials’ spring plowing, and other activities to show emphasis on farming.
These public events had been handled by the Princess since childhood—from initial trepidation and caution to now being routine.
Chu Yunge was intimately familiar with plowing and rituals, but this was Chu Yunge’s first time ever. Fortunately, with the original owner’s memories and Li Chengzhe’s pointers, she remained fairly calm.
But after sending Li Chengzhe away, Chu Yunge dismissed the servants and, following her memories, entered the study secret room. She frantically reviewed and reinforced her knowledge to avoid any slip-ups.
And to prevent getting pitted by the Emperor again.
She had spent the morning leisurely dressing up her cute little puppy boy, but who would have thought the afternoon brought an unavoidable task—one performed in front of countless bigwigs.
“An immersive experience of imperial life isn’t bad. Think positively, Chu Yunge—ordinary people don’t get this chance.”
Having comforted herself, Chu Yunge continued reviewing and preparing.
By dinnertime, her eyes had already grown dull. For some reason, Pei Ji suddenly appeared. Seeing her barefoot, he asked with an awkward expression, “Can’t you put on some silk socks?”
Who wasn’t annoyed by work and study? Chu Yunge grinned darkly at his words. “What, offending your eyes again?”
He had mocked her feet as chubby before; now he barged in uninvited to ridicule her—what was his problem?
“No.” Pei Ji somewhat regretted his loose tongue last night. “Tonight Young Master Xie is coming to detoxify. He’s not like me, a child of the jianghu unconcerned with trifles. He might not be used to you like this.
He was hinting she should wear silk socks.
Chu Yunge had no idea this was the result of Pei Ji agonizing all day and finally mustering the courage to speak. She just frowned deeply.
“Outsiders might think you two are a couple, caring about him so much. Whether he’s used to it or not is his problem.” Because they were coming to detoxify, she already had to wear long pants, long sleeves, and sleepwear—adding socks would be even more uncomfortable.
Chu Yunge looked at him suspiciously. “Why are you so worried about him?”
There was only one Emperor; Pei Ji and Xie Wangze were destined rivals in love. Why care so much about a rival?
Pei Ji looked disgusted and denied vehemently, “When did I worry about him…”
Chu Yunge countered, “If you’re not concerned about him, why run over specially to remind me to wear silk socks in case he’s not used to it?”
Pei Ji was stumped. He wanted to deny it, but if he wasn’t concerned about Xie Wangze, why say all this?
He realized he had come precisely out of concern for Xie Wangze.
“Alright, just go.” She still needed to prepare for tomorrow.
Anyway, she had no intention of listening to him.
Her uncooperative, indifferent attitude annoyed Pei Ji, but at this point, he had nothing left to say.
Chu Yunge didn’t take the matter to heart. After dinner, though reluctant, she dutifully went back to her overtime work.
At this moment, someone to keep her charming company would have been ideal, but secrecy was required.
When Xie Wangze arrived right on time for detoxification, what he saw was Chu Yunge with dull eyes and a face full of work-weary exhaustion.