The plum wine prepared for the female guests was sweet and refreshing. Before I knew it, I had drunk the whole small bottle. After all, others were busy socializing, and I had nothing to do. The crown prince was invited to drink, and I sat there alone, wondering if I should drink the crown prince’s share as well.
“Does the crown princess seem to be living a rather shabby life in the prince’s mansion? Huh.”
The person who came was someone I had just met, Qianqian’s younger sister. When she saw that I had eaten and drunk all my share, she came over specifically to mock me.
“Yes, my main purpose of this trip is to freeload, look at beautiful women and handsome men.”
“You have no shame.”
“You’re not as good – looking as your sister.”
She was stunned for a moment. Her delicate little face wrinkled in an instant, and she was burning with anger. With such a sister, she was probably often compared and suppressed. My words really hit her sore spot.
“I warn you not to get carried away. You won’t be able to sit in this position for a few days. The crown prince loves my sister in his heart. If you use those despicable tricks to snatch this position, be careful that you won’t end well in the future. If anything happens to my sister, I’ll take your life.”
“Then you can sit in this position. Do you think I’m eager for it? The crown prince is also yours. You’ll be the crown princess tomorrow.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. I will never steal my sister’s love.”
She stomped her foot gently, seeming a bit shy. After saying that, when she saw someone coming, she turned around and left. I didn’t expect that this younger sister also had feelings for the crown prince.
Finally, it was time for the event to end. The guests left one after another. I waited for a while, but the crown prince was nowhere to be seen. So I called Xiaoxia to go back to the mansion.
“Miss, don’t we wait for the crown prince?”
“There’s no need to wait,” I guessed that he must have gone to comfort Miss Liu. It’s normal for them to be reluctant to part since they finally had a chance to meet openly today.
Although the wine was sweet, it had a strong after – effect. After drinking a whole cup, I was already a bit unsteady on my feet and my consciousness was a bit hazy. Xiaoxia quickly supported me and left from the back of the hall to avoid me making a fool of myself while drunk and embarrassing myself again.
Going out from an inconspicuous side door, there was a winding pavilion standing on the lake. The summer breeze was gentle, and the evening glow was a soft pink. The lotus flowers in front of me were fragrant for miles.
Xiaoxia helped me walk along the winding lake for a long time, but we didn’t know where we had turned. Xiaoxia was so worried that she was almost fainting when she happened to meet an imperial doctor carrying a medicine box coming towards us.
“Sir, my maid and I, my young lady, are new here and have lost our way in this deep palace. Can you show us a way out?”
It’s fate playing tricks. What an unlucky encounter.
“Doctor Song!! It’s you! Great.”
This Doctor Song was the nameless former fiancé who had a secret crush on me and whom I had also accepted his affection.
I had to pretend to be even more drunk and fell to the ground with a thud. Even if the sky fell today, I wouldn’t open my eyes.
Xiaoxia didn’t react for a moment and suddenly lost her grip. I hit the stone slab heavily. For a moment, I thought I had ascended to heaven.
People’s hearts are not what they used to be, and the world is unpredictable. Even this stone slab is really damn hard and cold.
I heard the panicked footsteps of two people, Xiaoxia’s scream, the sound of the medicine box falling to the ground, and the sound of Song Qingqiu’s heart breaking when he saw me again. Although the current situation is not what I wanted or could control, I have ultimately let down a sincere heart.
He was the opposite type of the crown prince. He had a delicate and fair face, a straight nose, and a smile at the corners of his eyes and eyebrows. He was as gentle as jade. His fingers were slender and well – proportioned. It was a pleasure to watch him prepare medicine and write prescriptions.
He was a young man who blushed easily. He had come to my mansion many times but still didn’t dare to look at me directly. When I gave him some pastries that I had made badly on a whim to taste, I just wanted to amuse him. This fool actually wrapped them carefully with a handkerchief and said that since they were made by me, he couldn’t waste them and had to keep them properly. I was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. I coaxed him and said that next time I would embroider a bookmark for him to collect, and then he ate that piece of cake preciously.
He was actually not stupid at all. When seeing patients, he was always serious and gentle, and he wrote beautiful characters. Knowing that I hated the bitterness of medicine, every time he wrote a prescription, he would find less bitter medicinal materials to replace the more bitter ones. The Imperial Hospital was idle, and he would personally watch the pot and boil the medicine for me carefully. Every time he came, he would also bring me a pack of preserved plums to relieve the bitterness.
Qingqiu didn’t care much about his official career. He was happy to be idle in the Imperial Hospital, and his monthly salary was not much. He had no father, no mother, no car, and no house. So he had always been afraid to express his feelings to me, thinking that he was not worthy of me and was afraid that my father would not agree to this marriage.
One day, he came to see a patient through the gauze curtain.
“Miss An is so gentle and beautiful. There must be a constant stream of people coming to propose marriage. I wonder if your mother has a favorite candidate.”
I saw that he lowered his head, his face was blushing brightly, and his fingers for taking the pulse through the gauze handkerchief were trembling slightly due to nervousness. I thought it was cute in my heart and wanted to tease him more.
“Yes, then does Sir think I’m beautiful?”
“Naturally. You, Miss, are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
“Oh? Then why don’t you propose marriage?”
“I’m not worthy.”
“How are you not worthy?”
“Not worthy in every way.”
……
“Whoever marries you, Miss, is really lucky.”
“I don’t want to get married.”
He raised his head and looked at me fixedly, with confusion all over his face.
I only saw his lips. Why were they so rosy? Every time he came, they were very rosy, more beautiful than if he had applied rouge.
“Because I want to be with one person for a lifetime, live a carefree life in the mountains and fields, raise a dog, have two children, and plant a flower field.”
“Miss, do you want to go with me? But Xiaoxia doesn’t know how to take care of flowers and plants.”
Xiaoxia asked with a pure face when she heard this. She had grown up with me since childhood, and indeed, we had always been together. Except for being a bit slow – witted, this girl had no other shortcomings.
“Xiaoxia, do you think you can have children with me?”
“Miss, are you confused? Naturally not.”
“So I’m talking about my future husband.”
“Then Miss, you should say three people for a lifetime. I will never leave Miss.”
“Okay, shut up.”
“Oh.”
Song Qingqiu listened and grinned a big smile. The sunlight shone on his face, and his long eyelashes cast a small shadow on his fair face.
“Such a husband is really hard to find. If my wife had such a wish, it’s not impossible to achieve.”
I saw his eyes were burning, his eyes were like a river of spring water, and two blushes rose on his cheeks.
“One person for a lifetime?”
“One person for a lifetime.”
We looked at each other and smiled sweetly.
“If you’re willing to marry, I can resign from my position in the Imperial Hospital at any time. I can be a doctor, gather medicinal materials to provide for your food, clothing, and daily expenses. You just live as you like. I was born in the mountains and fields. Since I can grow medicinal materials, I can naturally take care of flowers and plants. My cooking skills are okay, and I will definitely not let you go hungry.”
“What about Xiaoxia? Sir won’t let Xiaoxia go hungry, will you?”
He suddenly laughed, “I won’t let Miss Xiaoxia go hungry either.”
“Then I agree, Miss.”
Xiaoxia was beaming with joy, as if not going hungry in this life was the greatest joy.
“???? Did I ask for your consent??”
“Miss, you’ve changed. Don’t you care about me anymore?”
“????????”
The memory stopped on that day when he was full of joy. We never saw each other again.
Xiaoxia and Qingqiu were in a hurry to lift me up. I heard Qingqiu ask worriedly, “What’s wrong with Lingxi? Why did she suddenly faint?”
My name is An Lingxi. My parents loved each other deeply back then and named me this, taking the meaning of “a tacit understanding”.
“Miss was repeatedly mocked at the banquet just now and drank a lot of wine. Maybe she was so angry that she fainted.”
“Ah?!”
I heard Qingqiu was extremely shocked. He probably wanted to beat Xiaoxia to death. What did she mean by “fainted as if dead”?
“Since Miss married into the crown prince’s mansion, she hasn’t been happy for a single day. A few days ago, she was even hit on the forehead by the crown prince with a teacup. It’s all my fault. I didn’t keep a close eye on Miss on the Lantern Festival, and the crown prince actually took advantage of her! But after taking advantage of her, he didn’t treat her well. I might as well have helped you elope with Miss.”
“Ah? Is that really the case? There are so many rumors outside, and they are very unpleasant. I didn’t believe them. Lingxi is not a person who covets wealth and honor. Otherwise, how could she be with me… It’s fate playing tricks. It’s really fate playing tricks.”
“Miss not only bears the blame, but the crown prince also has someone he loves. He has been thinking about Miss Liu from the prime minister’s family all the time, making things difficult for Miss. I’ve never seen such an ungrateful man!”
“Alas, such a good girl as Lingxi, how could this happen.”
Listening to this, I couldn’t stop feeling sad in my heart. I even hoped that Xiaoxia wouldn’t say these things to him. It would be better to confirm that I was a woman who coveted wealth and honor and let Qingqiu forget me. Otherwise, if he knew about my hardships, how could he bear to leave me.
The two of them stumbled and dragged me out of the palace gate all the way. After all, Qingqiu was a man and I was married, so he didn’t dare to be too intimate with me in appearance. Most of my body was leaning on Xiaoxia, and Qingqiu only slightly helped so that I wouldn’t hit my head on the ground and die.
This journey was extremely tortuous and long. We had to take small roads to avoid people and also drag my big body. Finally, we managed to dawdle to the palace gate.
The dusk was gathering, and the lanterns were lit.
Fortunately, the carriage from the mansion was still there. Qingqiu was inconvenient to follow further.
I only heard his lowered voice. He stuffed something into my hand, “Lingxi, I know you’re not drunk. The promise I made to you can still be fulfilled. No matter what happens in this world, I only want you to be well.”
I couldn’t help opening my eyes to look at him. The lights were dim. His cheeks were sunken, and his figure was thin. His face, which always used to have a smile, was full of sadness. I was really sad and couldn’t help shedding tears.
Because there was still a little distance from the carriage and it was dark. Qingqiu was stunned for a moment. His hand raised and then dropped and then raised again. Finally, he secretly wiped my tears with his sleeve.
“Don’t cry, be good.”
When we reached the palace gate, Qingqiu didn’t go any further. Xiaoxia finally managed to drag me to the carriage and called the coachman to give a hand. Before she could finish speaking, a person got out of the carriage. It was the crown prince.
“Why did you come out so late?”
He reached out and directly picked me up horizontally. He was a martial artist, and naturally, Xiaoxia’s small arms couldn’t compare. He immediately saw Qingqiu under the palace gate. His eyes froze and turned cold.
“Who came out with you?”
My heart tightened suddenly. If the crown prince was cuckolded, it might implicate the whole family!
“Miss drank a whole cup of wine. I wanted to help her back to the mansion, but she insisted on waiting for you. So I had to help her to the side hall to wait. After waiting for a long time and seeing that you still didn’t come, we had to leave first. Miss caught a cold wind when she went out and fainted immediately. She usually can’t hold her liquor and is also weak and sickly. Coincidentally, an imperial doctor passed by. I was so panicked that I asked the doctor to help see if Miss was okay and also asked him to escort us here. Miss is too heavy for me to drag.”
Xiaoxia! I’ve never seen you so clever on usual days! Well done!
“Oh, then get in the carriage and go back to the mansion. I’ll invite a doctor to see if the crown princess is okay,” he said, nodding distantly to Qingqiu, then picked me up and got on the carriage to go back to the mansion.
– End –
