Chapter 90

 

Pei Xiaoyuan met her gaze for a moment, then immediately lowered his eyes. Placing one hand on the edge of the pool, he leapt out of the hot spring.

Dripping wet from head to toe, he turned his back to her as soon as he was out, wringing water from his soaked clothing.

Xuyu called in Yang Zai’en, who had accompanied her, and ordered him to bring her a men’s robe. She then went out and waited in the corridor of the hot spring palace. After a while, there was a sound of footsteps behind her. Pei Xiaoyuan had already changed into the robe that had been taken off from a guard outside the palace, covering the dampness beneath, and walked out.

She then walked towards the Yiyue Tower where she lived.

He followed behind, not too far nor too close, always keeping a distance of seven or eight steps between them. When they were almost near the Yeyue Tower, they unexpectedly ran into Liu Bo, who was on night duty tonight.

Liu Bo also won a sum of money today. When he saw her, his eyes lit up. He immediately smiled and led people to pay their respects. Suddenly, he found that Pei Xiaoyuan was following her. Although he was surprised that his clothes looked a little messy, his smile became even more intense. He hurriedly paid his respects to his superior and then said happily: “This subordinate actually wanted to come and congratulate Princess and Chief Pei today, but knew that the princess and Chief were busy and did not dare to disturb rashly. Unexpectedly meeting you here, this subordinate wishes Princess and Chief Pei a happy marriage! The brothers all said that Princess and Chief are a perfect match made in heaven. May you two be together forever and grow old together!”

Several other people also spoke up, and the atmosphere was filled with joy and congratulations.

Xuyu just stopped walking with a smile on her face, but didn’t say anything. From the corner of her eye, she saw Pei Xiaoyuan come to her side, nodded to Liu Bo and the others calmly, and smiled as he said, “Thank you all, and the brothers in the guard. I…”

He paused and looked at her.

“Princess and I both appreciate it, but we cannot thank you all individually. Please convey our wishes to the rest.”

Liu Bo and the others were even more delighted upon hearing this, responding in unison with eager agreement. One of the bolder ones, taking advantage of the moment, started teasing: “On the day when Princess and Prince Consort get married, could it be possible for this subordinate to be granted a cup of celebratory wine?”

With someone taking the lead, Liu Bo and the others joined in with laughter, chiming in to make similar requests.

In early Ninth Month, Cangshan was already chilly at night. However, Pei Xiaoyuan only felt that he was sweating from the heat. His damp inner garments clung coldly to his skin, and the contrast of heat and cold intertwined and pressed upon him. When the night wind swept by, he shivered involuntarily, his pores seeming to close tightly all at once, and every hair on his body stood on end.

He subconsciously glanced at the woman beside him, and seeing that she was still smiling silently, he could only vaguely agree.

When everyone heard this, they were naturally very happy and thanked him in unison.

Pei Xiaoyuan seemed calm on the surface, but in fact he felt like a thorn in his side, suffering secretly. Suddenly, he finally heard her speak while smiling at Liu Bo, “Deputy Commander Liu, before we set out on this summer retreat, didn’t I promise to paint you in the imperial entourage painting? After I came here, there’s a lot of things to do, so I only finished the painting a few days ago and sent it to be framed. When it’s finished, I will ask someone to show it to you first.”

When Liu Bo and his friends made this request, the princess was not yet a princess, but little court painter Ye. Although she agreed at that time, no one dared to hold too much hope, thinking that it was just a casual remark. When the court painter Ye became a princess, they completely gave up the idea. No one expected that the princess would take such a trivial request to heart.

When they came to their senses, they were surprised and grateful, and thanked her again.

Xuyu smiled and told them to stand up, and then said, “Your Chief Pei and I have something else to do, you guys go ahead.”

Liu Bo and his companions glanced at each other secretly, then tactfully left.

Pei Xiaoyuan had lost count of how many times he had noticed this building called Yeyue Tower. Sometimes, during his night patrols, when there was nothing to occupy his mind, he would find himself standing in a shadowy, secluded spot beneath the trees, gazing at it for half the night. He would watch until the light in the windows of the cloud-like pavilion extinguished, leaving it shrouded in darkness. Knowing that inside she had likely fallen into a sweet slumber under his watchful protection, a faint sense of satisfaction would inexplicably arise in his heart. Even the wearisome task of patrolling the night no longer felt so tedious. Sometimes, when he passed by during the day, he would suddenly remember and subconsciously look into the distance, taking a glance without any purpose, and then continue with what he was doing.

In his mind, this place was already very familiar, but it was the first time for him to actually step inside.

He followed her, silently climbed up the tall building, and entered a hall with bright lights.

She whispered a few words to Yang Zai’en, then continued walking forward, her figure disappearing in the light behind the hall door.

“Please follow me to change clothes first, Chief Pei.”

Yang Zai’en came to Pei Xiaoyuan, and spoke with a smile, before leading him into a side room next to the hall. Pei Xiaoyuan dismissed the others and took off the borrowed outer robe that was gradually getting damp, the wet and cold middle coat that stuck to his shoulder muscles, and the tight pants, boots, and socks, from inside to outside, all of them were changed.

He faced a standing dressing mirror as tall as a person, slowly closed the buckle of his belt, finished tidying himself up, and finally looked at his own appearance reflected in the mirror. He then turned around, and walked out.

Yang Zai’en was waiting outside the door where he was changing. When he saw him appear, he took a quick look at the green embroidered silk robe and the gold belt he had just changed into, and secretly praised him in his heart. Although he still had scars on his face, it did not affect the young man’s outstanding appearance at all.

Pei Xiaoyuan followed Yang Zai’en, walking on a long corridor with painted lintels, listening to the clear sound of his boots stepping on the ground, and was led to a carved door with several servants standing outside. The door was half-closed.

“Please come inside, Chief Pei.” Yang Zai’en said in a low voice, bowed to him, and then quietly retreated with his men.

In the long night corridor, suddenly, he was the only one left.

Pei Xiaoyuan stood at the door for a moment. Behind him, from the far end of the night corridor, came the soft, tinkling chime of the bronze wind bells hanging beneath the palace eaves, stirred by the evening breeze. Startled out of his hesitation, he exhaled deeply, steadied himself, and reached out to push open the door, stepping inside.

A faint, serene scent of aged wood wafted into his nostrils with his breath, slowly sinking into his chest and calming his nerves. Guided by this comfortable and relaxing fragrance, he walked through a spacious room with elegant decorations and a painting table. A floor-to-ceiling screen appeared in front of him. Through the clear and translucent cloud screen, he could vaguely tell that behind the screen should be the bedroom. This realization made his originally determined determination waver again in an instant. His steps became hesitant again, and he slowly slowed down. When he was about to stop in front of the cloud screen, her clear and composed voice, carrying an air of natural grace, invited him inside.

“Come in.”

Pei Xiaoyuan continued to move forward, turned around the cloud screen, and looked up to see a double-moth-gilded incense ball hanging on a golden hook of a curtain behind the cloud screen, slowly emitting light smoke.

The tranquil fragrance that had guided him here was emanating from this.

She had her back to him, sitting on a couch beneath the incense ball.

It turned out that when he was changing clothes in the side room just now, she too had changed out of her ornate dress with its many embellishments. Now, she wore a loose, casual outfit paired with a plain gauze skirt. Facing a bronze mirror etched with peonies and lotus blossoms, she was gently removing the golden hairpins from her hair. The wide sleeves of her robe slid down with her raised arm as she reached for the pins, pooling messily around her elbows and revealing an entire stretch of pale, snow-like skin on her forearm.

This scene was something Pei Xiaoyuan had never expected. In a trance, he felt as if he had seen this scene somewhere before, but he couldn’t remember it for a moment. He couldn’t help but stop and hurriedly looked away from her back, feeling a little embarrassed as he didn’t know where to look.

“You come and help me.”

Suddenly, he heard her speak.

“The hairpin got caught in my hair. I couldn’t see it and it hurt a bit.” Her tone seemed to contain a hint of complaint.

It turned out that the golden hairpin was so complicated that it got tangled in her hair. She couldn’t take it off by herself and it hurt her scalp.

Pei Xiaoyuan was hesitant.

She put down her hand, turned her head to look back, and stopped talking, just staring at him quietly.

The moment he met her eyes, Pei Xiaoyuan knew that he could no longer think about anything else.

Thinking was useless.

She was already waiting for him, just wanting him to take off the hairpin tangled in her hair. He had done much more intimate things to her in the past. How could he refuse such a small request of hers at this moment?

Without a word, he walked over and stopped behind her. Leaning down toward her head, he bent slightly at the waist, lowering himself to carefully untangle the strands of hair wrapped around the pin.

His fingertips, rough and calloused, brushed against her soft, silk-like hair. Yet his movements were steady and gentle, not pulling or causing her the slightest discomfort. With precision and care, he successfully helped her remove the hairpin.

“Thank you, Master Pei.” Xuyu smiled, “It doesn’t hurt at all.”

“Princess, is what Ashina said true?”

He did not respond to her praise, but slowly placed the gold hairpin in front of her, raised his eyes, looked into her eyes reflected in the mirror opposite, and asked in a deep voice.

Xuyu and the man behind her looked at each other for a moment through the mirror, and the smile on her lips slowly disappeared.

“Yes.” She nodded.

“I took a bet. Betting that if Hedu would become the winner in the end, you will not remain indifferent. You will stand up to stop it and save my face.

“I won the bet.”

She stared into his eyes and spoke.

The figure leaning over her head froze for a moment, then straightened his back, slowly stood up, and took a few steps back.

“How could I, Pei Xiaoyuan, deserve such great care from Princess!”

His expression no longer had the gentleness and patience he had when he was untying her hair just now. Although his tone still sounded restrained, his eyes were already a little more sullen.

Xuyu turned around on her seat and faced him.

“Master Pei, you are worth my effort.”

“Let me put it this way. As long as I can win you over and the price is something I can afford, I’m willing to try.”

Pei Xiaoyuan paused.

“Princess, what do you actually want?”

It seemed as if countless words were rushing down his throat at this moment, but in the end, he only asked this question, with a hint of helplessness in his tone.

“I know how you feel. No one likes to be forced to accept something they don’t want to accept, not to mention that you became my prince consort like this. I invited you here to explain to you.

“Since you’re here, why not listen to what I have to say.”

She gestured for him to take a seat and spoke in a steady voice.

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Translator’s note:

Happy New Year 🥳

May 2025 treats you extremely well.