novelLight Sleep
| ← Ch.034 | Ch.036 → |
Xie Xun looked at Xie Zhen, and then at Li Yu, said."Who's this?"
Since she was young, her words had no power.
But she wasn't stupid. She knew the man was scaring her sister because she saw displeasure in Xie Zhen's face.
"It's Li Yu, " he had to release Xie Zhen, and explained to her.
Xie Xun remembered him a little. When she was young, she liked to pester Xie Zhen, and Xie Zhen liked to pester him. As time went by, Xie Xun got to remember him.
She was young and remembered two people in her childhood, one was Gao Xun and the other was him, both of whom had an inextricable relationship with Xie Zhen.
She had bad impression of Li Yu. Probably because he had been bad to Xie Zhen, and he had strived for Xie Zhen's favour with her, who had then mysteriously disappeared, making her sister feel bad for a while.
When she heard he was Li Yu, she looked him up and down, recklessly snatching Xie Zhen away from him and protecting her behind her back."Why did you come back?"
"What do you want to do with my sister?"
Li Yu had to stop and look at Xie Zhen behind her."I'm just saying a few words to her."
"What are you talking about?"
"Must you be so close?"
Xie Xun gave him a suspicious glance, then pulled Xie Zhen back."sis, let's go, brother's coming back, let's not talk to him."
As Xie Zhen followed her, she couldn't help but glance back.
Li Yu stood on the spot, slightly pursing his lips as he stared at her without moving.
He saw that she was smiling lightly. Her eyes were delicate, and her face was pretty pink, like a blooming red lotus flower. Her beauty was extreme, making people's hearts palpitate with eagerness.
Her smile was sly and triumphant, her lips parted, and she spat out a few words in silence.
"I hate you too."
Li Yu's pupils constricted, and he almost couldn't hold it in any longer and he really wanted to bring her back.
....
The little bastard.
On the other side of the woods, Xie Rong happened to find the happy and contented Princess He Yi by the stream.
Yan Yao'an was currently stepping on a rock as she crossed the river. She held onto her skirt, jumping from one rock to the other rock. Her skirt seemed oblivious to being splashed by the water, so she played around with herself with great gusto.
She had been trapped in the palace for years, forced to learn the rules of etiquette, and had long been bored out of her mind.
Deep in her bones, she had a sort of wildness. She didn't like being restrained, so there would always be plenty of trouble at the palace, giving His Majesty quite a headache.
However, the emperor had pampered her. Even if imperial concubine Hui was gone, no one would dare criticize her for teaching her a lesson. This was the reason why today, she'd developed a willful and unruly temperament.
For example, today in the woods, she had left whenever she wanted, regardless of her own safety, regardless of whether or not she would cause trouble for others, and only caring about her own happiness.
The maids on the shore wanted to cry but had no tears."Princess, shouldn't you go back ..."
She raised her head and smiled."Why should I?"
"I haven't played enough yet!"
As she said that, she jumped up another two stones. With a shift of his gaze, she saw Xie Rong not too far away.
She stepped on air, only having the time to open her mouth and say the word "help" before plopping into the water.
As the waves splashed everywhere, she noticed Xie Rong frowning in the mist.
At this moment, her first thought wasn't that she was in pain, but that she was finished. This time, she had lost a great deal of face ...
Seeing this, the maids were frightened and hurriedly jumped into the water to rescue her.
Qing Feng and Bai Lu, one of whom wrung the water from her skirt and the other wiped the droplets off her face, grumbled with fear, "Princess, please don't do this again next time ..."
She looked off into the distance and let out a whimper without warning."Why are you standing there and scaring me?"
The two maidservants were alarmed. They looked up and saw a youth standing under the tree. He had an expressionless face and was extremely calm.
Xie Rong glanced at her, then turned around and walked back the same way he came."Princess, if you are ok, you can come with me."
Yan Yao'an felt a bit embarrassed. The colder he was, the angrier she became.
If he hadn't suddenly appeared, she wouldn't have fallen into the water. Why didn't he apologize to her?
Thinking about it, she felt more confident. She couldn't wait for Qing Feng and Bai Lu to continue drying her clothes, so she continued to chase after him."Since you know that I'm a princess, why don't you pay your respects to me?"
"You scared me and made me drop into the water. You have to apologize to me."
After a few steps, she finally caught up with him.
Yan Yao'an stood in front of him, her eyes wide open as she threatened him with her haughtiness as a princess.
Unexpectedly, his expression didn't change in the slightest. He nodded slightly and said, "Greetings, Princess."
After that, he continued walking forward.
If it was anyone else that was so rude to her, she would have definitely been angered to the core. Yet, she was actually not angry at him at all.
Yan Yao'an continued to follow, her skirt stained with water. It was very difficult for her to walk through the woods. Her wet embroidered shoes left footprints behind, "Who told you to come find me?"
"Can't you walk slower?"
There was no response.
She gritted her teeth and stared at the back of his head."If you don't speak now, I will let my father punish you for your crimes."
Xie Rong was finally willing to talk with her."May I ask, Princess, what crime have I committed?"
Yan Yao'an smiled complacently."You scared me, but you ignored me. What crime do you think you've committed?"
The path in the woods was not easy to walk on. Branches were everywhere, and gravels blocked the way. It was unknown how she had come here just now.
Xie Rong chose a smooth path and brushed aside the branches, ignoring her words.
Yan Yao'an called out to him, "Did you hear me?"
He acknowledged, "Yes."
His reaction...
It didn't make Yan Yao'an feel any sense of achievement. She just said it, but she wouldn't really punish him, because he was Xie Zhen's brother.
But could he just pretend to be afraid?
She called out to him, "What's your relationship with my sixth brother?"
Xie Rong asked, "What do you mean by that?"
She maintained a distance of two or three steps from him, following him at a moderate pace, "My Sixth Brother has come today as well. He is here to find you."
Xie Rong didn't think much of it."Princess, you must have made a mistake. The sixth prince and I have never met before in our lives."
He had just returned to the capital, and most of the people he knew were childhood playmates. He didn't have any relationship with the sixth prince, so why would he come looking for him?
Yan Yao'an didn't believe it. How could sixth brother make a mistake?
She was about to argue when she walked out of the woods, not far from where Xie Zhen and Xie Xun were.
She called out to them, and when she looked back, Xie Rong was gone.
This day was really thrilling. First, they lost Princess He Yi, then Xie Zhen met Brother Xiao Yu. On the carriage back, Xie Zhen was still a bit dizzy as she fell into the big pillow.
She thought about it again and again, but still couldn't figure out why Li Yu had suddenly disappeared at that time, and now he had suddenly reappeared.
Where did he live now?
What did his family live on?
Is Auntie Song all right?
Xie Zhen sat up abruptly and made a sound of frustration.
Xie Xun didn't understand."Ah'sis, what's wrong?"
She patted her forehead and said slowly, "I forgot to ask where he lives and how I managed to find him."
"Oh, Brother Li Yu?"
She nodded.
"sis is a girl now, why should you go look for him?"
"If you go there, it will cause people to gossip."
In this respect, Xie Xun knew more than she did.
When it was related to Li Yu, Xie Zhen's mind was never clear.
He came back when she was least prepared. She had almost forgotten him, but he suddenly appeared and asked if she wanted to fly a kite with him.
Now that Xie Zhen thought about it, she's still a little angry. He left without a word, and now he won't say anything. She doesn't want to be like him as if nothing had happened.
Therefore, the words "I hate you too" was tinged with anger.
She had been persistent when she was young, and had waited for many years for the day when she would finally be able to lift her eyebrows in pride.
She and Xie Xun were the only ones who knew it, and when Xie Zhen got home, she didn't tell anyone, not even Madam Leng.
She wasn't trying to hide it, but she didn't know where to start ...
She wanted to wait until everything was clear before telling Madam Leng.
Unconsciously, two months passed. In these two months, Xie Zhen stayed in the Duke Dingguo's Mansion, never seeing Li Yu again.
Recently, Xie Liqing's career had not been smooth sailing.
In the years he had been the governor of Qing Zhou, the citizens of Qing Zhou had a peaceful time and lived a rich life. They watched Qing Zhou was flourishing day by day, even if he couldn't become an official in the capital, it was still good to return to Qing Zhou.
However, Emperor Yuan Hui had appointed someone else to be the prefect of Qing Zhou. He had no way out, and coincidentally, the capital had no vacancy in the official position, so he could only stay at home and wait.
In the past few days, Xie Liqing's mood had been rather heavy. Only when he returned home and saw his wife and children did his expression relax a bit.
Madam Leng sent her two daughters away, changing Xie Liqing's clothes while comforting him, "It will definitely get better, you don't have to worry too much."
Xie Liqing let out a long sigh."I'm afraid that you will have to wait another three to five years. And during the period, your lives would be miserable."
Since he had no official position, he did not have a salary. Now, they were spending a lot of money in the capital, and he was worried that his three children would suffer.
In addition, his two daughters had been pampered. One of them had just bloomed, while the other was a flower bud. What would they do if they are suffering?
Madam Leng reassured him, "We still have a lot of savings in Qing Zhou. It won't be a problem for us to hold on for one to two years."
As her daughters grew, she considered things more than Xie Liqing.
Since they were back in the capital, they had to think about their marriages. Her husbands were born out of a concubine, so that too noble families were out of their reach, so they had to take the next best thing ...
But a daughter who was too pretty was also a painful thing.
If a noble man or a prince took a fancy to her, with his status, she could only be a concubine ...
Instead of that, she might as well be the principal wife of an ordinary family, and live a peaceful life.
At the moment, Xie Zhen was too busy looking for a handkerchief to notice her parents' distress.
It had taken her so long to realize that one of the handkerchiefs had been lost.
Originally, she couldn't remember, but the handkerchief was embroidered with an unfinished jasminum flower. Today, she was free, and wanted to finish embroidering the jasminum flower, but she couldn't find it.
She did not know that the handkerchief was in the hands of the Crown Prince.
Yan Tao had slept very soundly during this period, all thanks to this handkerchief.
He was born with a light sleep, and coupled with the recent turmoil, his sleep got even worse.
Incidentally, Xie Zhen was also a light sleeper, so the handkerchiefs with the incense smelled good for sleep.
The incense was created by Xie Zhen. It smelled with a special fragrance of lotus flowers, a sweet fragrance that would cause others to fall into a dream with it.
That day, returning from the Old Lady's birthday banquet, Yan Tao went to the palace. Before he could deal with the handkerchief, he smelled the fragrance on the carriage back to his palace. He closed his eyes and slept more soundly than ever before.
Later, as long as there were nothing else, he would take the handkerchief with him to bed.
Unfortunately, the fragrance of the handkerchief was fumigated, and there would be a day when it would dissipate.
As the fragrance became fainter, the Crown Prince could no longer sleep well.
| ← Ch. 034 | Ch. 036 → |