"Not here? So you've just been waiting around in the mansion all day in vain?" Qi Ling frowned. He should have said so earlier; he had been following His Highness all day, standing the entire time without a chance to slack off, "Impossible. Did you meet Prince Duan?"
Qi Yu shook his head, somewhat displeased. It had been hard enough guarding the door, and yet His Highness insisted on sending Qi Ling to deliver the goods.
If the Empress found out the Commandery Princess frequented the Crown Prince's Mansion so often, they would be the ones to suffer the most.
"Prince Duan is very cautious, only letting a carriage led by a team of three horses leave the city to rendezvous outside." Qi Yu's mind wasn't fully present; to be exact, he was somewhat panic-stricken. It had always been the Commandery Princess forcing her way into the Crown Prince's Mansion, and His Highness didn't drive her away, not because he was too kind-hearted and gentle, treating everyone with warmth and courtesy, but when had he ever seen...
Qi Yu suddenly tensed up, his spirit instantly on high alert.
"Commandery Princess, Commandery Princess, you can't go in—" He just knew it was too good to be true to have a quiet day.
Before Qi Yu could step forward, several figures emerged, with the lead one wrapping an arm around Qi Yu's.
"Big brother Qi Yu, look at the Cloud Gauze Waistband I got today, is it soft or not?" Qi Yu's body immediately stiffened, his hands unsure where to place and not daring to touch.
"Oh, big brother Qi Zhu, haven't seen you in days, and you've grown even more handsome." Qi Zhu immediately tried to slip away; he was sorry to His Highness, but he couldn't block the way.
Steward Hu had just reminded the maid to deliver the supper, and as soon as he stepped out, he saw Qi Yu tugging and pulling, his beard and eyebrows almost curling up.
"This, what kind of decorum is this." His Highness was still in the study, and such noise and commotion were simply unseemly.
"Steward Hu, to be so energetic in the wee hours, truly 'the older, the wiser', eh." Nanny Yun approached gracefully, her feet as if treading on clouds, her waist sinuous as a snake; her smile made Steward Hu shudder.
"Ouch, my old bones ache." He had not forgotten the grudge of being thrown into the flower pond by this woman.
Outside, the scene was already in complete disarray, shadows flickering under the lamplight; yet as Zheng Nianru's foot crossed the threshold of the study, the surroundings suddenly fell silent, the familiar scent of sandalwood bearing the weight of her years of memories.
Zheng Congyuan had already changed his attire, dressed in a plain silver-gray regular garment. His profile, as boundless as the moon and the wind, captured Zheng Nianru's gaze. His hair was tied up, adorned with a crown studded with green jade beads. With just one look, the hatred in Zheng Nianru's mind seemed to dissipate and melt into the boundless figure before her.
In her memories, Zheng Congyuan had never seemed as calm and composed as he was at this moment, only a harassed mess due to her pestering, and after her grand wedding, he ceaselessly pursued Nanmen Yuyan to be the Crown Princess Consort.
"Zheng Congyuan."
Zheng Congyuan's gaze remained still, his attention not deviated by the sound of footsteps outside; he had not expected Zheng Nianru's appearance. This Red Jade String had been mentioned twice, unintentionally or otherwise, in his presence. It could be considered good luck on her part to have obtained such a string.
Zheng Congyuan's composure didn't last long before he sensed something amiss and began to turn around, suspicious of what was being plotted...
Before he could fully turn, a figure had already lunged at him, and the man instinctively raised his arm to block.
"Stop fooling around—" There had been too much going on today; since she had come and already got what she wanted, she could leave.
Zheng Nianru's lunge was resolute. The little tricks from their two years of interaction had long since become ineffective, and in the subsequent years, she was always able to bypass these obstacles and find her way into his arms, chest, thighs, and at the very least, his arms. But these were the only limits. Yet, these were enough for her to believe that bit by bit, she was conquering Zheng Congyuan's heart.
At this moment, she had no choice. Without Zheng Congyuan, she would die tomorrow in one of Empress Dowager Yan Ping's seemingly accidental but deadly traps.
"Zheng Congyuan." Zheng Nianru took a deep breath, bending down to skillfully climb over the arm and immediately towards that familiar embrace.
"Ridiculous—" All of a sudden... he was somewhat at a loss, thinking she would at most grab onto his sleeve, as usual.
"You..." As soon as Zheng Nianru opened her mouth, crying was a trick she had planned out earlier, and now, with her long-held grievances adding on, and especially after switching bodies, the tears were uncontrollable even to herself.
The next moment, when Zheng Congyuan came to his senses, he tried to push away the person clinging to him, who immediately wrapped around him like an octopus, tightly grasping his clothes with both hands and scrambling with her legs.
"Feeling upset inside?" Hearing the crying, Zheng Congyuan saw the suddenly tear-reddened eyes, the anguished expression that almost seemed...
It almost seemed... he was somewhat at a loss for words.
He had seen her cry before, but mostly it was pretend, and even when it was genuine, it was just an emotional outburst. But now, the crying was of a heart-wrenching sadness stored within the tears, showing not a hint of falsehood, which momentarily left him bewildered, his hand that had been pushing her away instantly weakening.
"Let go of me." She wanted to hold on, she needed to, she hadn't embraced this body in such a long time, and she needed to memorize this feeling, as long as she could remember that was enough.
"Just this once, and not again." What did he just say? Compromising? But what did such a compromise signify?
"Zheng Congyuan, you bastard." Zheng Nianru said indignantly, contentedly searching for the most familiar position, acutely feeling the stiffness of the other person. Yes, he wasn't used to such an embrace yet.
"Missing Prince Duan?" Did seeing him today evoke these feelings? Fine, now that she had her embrace, it obviously wasn't what she had made it out to be.
Besides, the person on top of him was pressing her head against his forehead, her soft hair brushing against each of his pores like silk threads, it was somewhat irritating, and also a bit...
Determined to act, Zheng Congyuan was about to forcefully remove her, but the woman in front of him suddenly got up very cooperatively, her watery, pitiful almond eyes softened anyone who saw them.
"I still have some documents to review, I'll be busy with a meeting tomorrow." Zheng Congyuan spoke up.
Zheng Nianru stood up, turned around, and left, her steps quickening as if to flee the place, Nanny Yun was caught off guard and immediately followed without hesitation, while Fu Dong and Nian Xia who had been calling for their brother affectionately a second before, turned and left without looking back.
Even more taken aback were Qi Yu and Qi Ling, glancing at each other, suddenly finding it hard to adjust to her abrupt departure after holding the fort until now.
In the past, it would have taken pleading and cajoling to send off this group of people, sweet words and numerous compensations.
Qi Ling even felt uneasy and thought of chasing after them to check, unlike Qi Yu and Qi Jin, he found Princess Chao Ren to be a child of true sincerity, just a kid who had lost her family's care from a young age.
Especially the first time he and His Highness met the Commandery Princess, with her pitiful look that seemed to carve into one's heart. Even though she appeared lively now, he still thought of it as a fleeting beauty.
Qi Yu nudged Qi Jin's arm, not going to check? Something seemed off just now. Was His Highness truly angered this time?
Qi Jin glanced back, why don't you check yourself. He still felt that the Commandery Princess had no ulterior motives, just an immense dependence on His Highness. It was, admittedly, not quite fitting for her position.
Although His Highness was of age to marry, The Emperor was gravely ill, the Empress was obsessed with spells, and the court affairs were busy, with several key ministers seeming to collectively forget this matter due to Mage Huo Yi's previous prophecy.
Qi Zhu came back, slapped both brothers' shoulders, made mocking faces, full of ridicule.
"Move aside, go check on His Highness, otherwise, forget about sleeping—" Qi Yu immediately pushed Qi Zhu inside.