Villainous Crown Prince (4)
Since Song Xuyi had spoken, General Wang changed his route midway and took the waterway instead.
As arranging for the boat took some time, Song Xuyi stayed in the local magistrate’s residence for a few days. The magistrate, who was a former student of Song Xuyi’s grandfather, Wang Mian, initially showed little enthusiasm upon learning that Song Xuyi was of royal lineage. However, upon hearing that she was Wang Mian’s granddaughter, the magistrate immediately sprang into action and visited her with great enthusiasm, even sending his own daughter to accompany Song Xuyi on outings.
Unfortunately, once the magistrate’s daughter arrived, her eyes were practically glued to Nie Qianyu. After that, she spent her days trailing after Nie Qianyu, calling him “Young Master Nie”, and paying little attention to Song Xuyi.
Song Xuyi had long known that Nie Qianyu’s looks gave him a charismatic presence, and she did not find it surprising. She even seemed to tacitly approve: if Nie Qianyu were to be charmed by the young girls and become the son-in-law of the Lishui Country, he would likely not grow up to be the unscrupulous figure depicted in the plot summary.
While the magistrate’s daughter was circling around Nie Qianyu, Song Xuyi took General Wang to the magistrate’s hunting ground.
General Wang felt distressed in his heart.
Song Xuyi’s body was frail and often ill, despite her spirited and assertive nature. The hunting ground was vast, and some aristocratic families deliberately raised ferocious beasts for excitement, and some even took pleasure in hunting and killing refugees. Even the most docile beasts and dying refugees would resist, adding more uncertainty to these activities. If Song Xuyi were to participate in these dangerous activities and have an accident, General Wang would be powerless to do anything.
However, Song Xuyi’s actions once again exceeded General Wang’s expectations: she did not participate in the usual bloody activities of the hunting ground and even stopped the hunting of refugees, gathering all the refugees and soldiers to help her search for something in the woods of the hunting ground.
It was a tuberous plant, and the young princess drew a map for everyone to search for it in the woods according to the map.
Song Xuyi had only recently discovered the presence of sweet potatoes in this world when she was providing relief to refugees. However, even the sweet potatoes outside the city had been eaten by the famine-stricken refugees. The only relatively intact vegetation was in the city’s hunting ground.
Song Xuyi wanted to try her luck.
General Wang didn’t understand why Song Xuyi was looking for this kind of plant, but the level of danger was much lower than those risky games. Furthermore, Song Xuyi led by example, searching for the plant in the soil with her maidservants. General Wang also felt obligated to participate and called on all his men to join in.
However, three days passed, and Song Xuyi still hadn’t found the sweet potato.
On the way back, she met Nie Qianyu waiting at the door.
The setting sun illuminated Nie Qianyu’s androgynous, stunning face. He had grown taller over the past few months and stood in the courtyard like a carved jade, refined and perfect.
Song Xuyi had never imagined that someone could embody intricacy and magnificence to such an extent! Nie Qianyu had wonderful skin, smooth as jade, with eyes like bright obsidian, and lips naturally red. His figure was slender, exuding both beauty and youthful charm, a perfect match for the aesthetic of this era.
“Do you need something?” Song Xuyi’s voice softened when she saw his extremely beautiful face.
Nie Qianyu lifted his exquisitely defined jaw and glanced at Song Xuyi, his gaze pausing for a moment on her disheveled hair and dirty skirt hem. His tone remained as aloof as ever. “Princess, where have you been these past couple of days?”
Song Xuyi blinked, not hiding anything from Nie Qianyu. “I’ve been searching for something in the hunting ground, but unfortunately, I haven’t found it after several days.”
“Is it something very important?” Nie Qianyu, standing outside the door, unprecedentedly inquired further.
Song Xuyi paused at Nie Qianyu’s words, turning to look at him with surprise. Nie Qianyu had always been aloof and not the type to dig deeper into things. What had happened?
Sensing Song Xuyi’s confusion, Nie Qianyu lowered his head and gently pursed his red lips. “I have overstepped.”
“Where have you been,” Song Xuyi chuckled, inviting Nie Qianyu inside and sighing as she poured him a cup of tea. “The sun is too harsh right now, and you look so… handsome, I can’t bear to let you be in the sun.”
“This thing is really important to me. I’ll show it to you once I find it.”
As Song Xuyi spoke, she remembered the past three days of fruitless searching and sighed. “But given the current situation, I may not be able to find what I’m looking for.”
As Song Xuyi’s attitude was so open, Nie Qianyu also became more forthcoming.
“Can I go with you to look for it tomorrow?” Nie Qianyu sat opposite Song Xuyi, taking a small sip of the tea she handed to him. “Maybe I can help you, Princess.”
Song Xuyi glanced at Nie Qianyu, who still had his head bowed, maintaining his usual cautious demeanor. However, based on his usual character, he wouldn’t normally make such a request.
Song Xuyi’s eyes twinkled as she poured herself a cup of tea. “As long as you don’t mind the effort, of course you can.”
“Thank you, Princess.”
Nie Qianyu didn’t stay long before leaving.
Shortly after, Song Xuyi summoned the eunuch who was watching over Nie Qianyu.
The young eunuch looked indignant, clearly sympathetic to Nie Qianyu’s situation. “Miss County Magistrate and a few other young ladies hid in Prince Nie’s bathhouse today, wanting to sneak a peek at him bathing. Luckily, a big rat got into the bathhouse at some point, which scared the young ladies into coming out voluntarily…”
Song Xuyi was stunned by what she heard.
In Song Xuyi’s eyes, Nie Qianyu, who was not yet thirteen, would only just be starting junior high in modern times, still a child.
She knew that the young ladies of this dynasty were spirited, married at a young age, and some of them led rather scandalous lives. But she hadn’t expected them to not even spare a child…
No wonder Nie Qianyu, usually aloof and solitary, had volunteered to go out with her today.
Song Xuyi pursed her lips.
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Being in the territory of the County Magistrate, she couldn’t just confront these young ladies. Song Xuyi could only secretly urge General Wang to expedite the preparations of the boat and, at the same time, bring Nie Qianyu along when she went to the hunting grounds the next day.
The young ladies, however, were not willing to give up and followed along.
It’s just that these young ladies heard that Song Xuyi had been searching for something these days, and they thought she was just overseeing her subordinates’ search. They didn’t expect Song Xuyi to be personally involved, venturing into the mountains and basking in the sun herself…
Seeing even the esteemed Song Xuyi choose to personally search in the mountains, the young ladies naturally couldn’t just stand idly by. But they didn’t last long and insisted on leaving, after all, in this era, fair skin was considered beautiful, and the young ladies didn’t want to sunburn their delicate skin. They all found excuses to leave the hunting grounds.
Seemingly wary of being followed by those young ladies, Nie Qianyu stayed close to Song Xuyi.
Once inside the forest, the place almost became Nie Qianyu’s personal show, with all sorts of small animals flocking around him.
The bright light softened the cold and distant look in Nie Qianyu’s eyes, and the sparse sunlight filtering through the branches made the elegant white-clad youth appear like a woodland elf.
With a beauty accompanying her, Song Xuyi suddenly felt more energized for the work.
However, just like previous days, Song Xuyi still hadn’t found any clues about sweet potatoes after searching for half a day.
Having already ventured deep into the forest, Song Xuyi was planning to change direction after exiting the woods to continue the search. But at that moment, a dove suddenly flew out from the nearby tree, swiftly snatching the hairpin from Nie Qianyu’s head and flying into the depths of the forest.
In this era, maintaining a proper hairstyle was of utmost importance, and it was extremely rude to have an unkempt hairdo. Song Xuyi quickly called her guards to give chase and then took a spare hairband from a maid and handed it to Nie Qianyu. “Do you want me to help you tie up your hair?”
At this sight, Song Xuyi was dumbfounded.
In usual times, Nie Qianyu always appeared neat and composed with a tidy bun, but with his hair down, his whole demeanor suddenly changed. His eyes shimmered with a hint of alluring softness amid his clean and youthful appearance, blurring the lines of gender, almost looking like an extraordinarily beautiful girl at first glance…
Not just Song Xuyi, even the system in her mind made a gasping sound in astonishment.
Song Xuyi herself didn’t know what had come over her. Even though she found Nie Qianyu strikingly attractive when he appeared disheveled, it had always been a pure appreciation. But now, alongside the sense of astonishment, there was a mix of excitement, making her heart beat faster…
Perhaps Nie Qianyu with his hair down better aligned with her aesthetic taste!
Song Xuyi scratched her head and couldn’t help but admire, “Prince Nie, you look really stunning like this, just like the rumored celestial maiden from the Ninth Heaven descending to the mortal realm!”
After Song Xuyi spoke, she was also stunned, not sure when she had developed the skill of sweet talking.
Upon hearing Song Xuyi’s words, Nie Qianyu’s movement of tying up his hair paused, and he gave Song Xuyi a glance, his red lips lightly parting as if he wanted to say something. Just then, a sudden commotion came from the nearby woods, and a few guards who had followed the dove into the forest excitedly ran out, “Princess, we found it! There’s a large area of woodland over there…”
Song Xuyi immediately widened her eyes and forgot all about teasing Nie Qianyu, quickly running into the woods.
It was an open woodland, with wild grass spread throughout, and a large area of sweet potato vines growing in the sunny part.
Song Xuyi was overjoyed and quickly called on her subordinates to carefully dig out all the sweet potatoes, clean off the dirt, and wrap them up in old cloth…
There were a lot of sweet potatoes in this woodland, and Song Xuyi dug up several baskets in one go. Although they weren’t very big individually, the yield was beyond her expectations.
Song Xuyi was extremely delighted, instructing General Wang to preserve the remaining sweet potatoes properly. She kept the two largest ones for herself and placed them happily on her carriage for the return journey to the post station.
It wasn’t until she got off the carriage at the post station and saw Nie Qianyu, whose hair was once again neatly arranged, that Song Xuyi remembered: she had completely forgotten about Nie Qianyu’s hairpin while she was focused on digging up sweet potatoes…
It was unlikely that she could find the hairpin if she went back to look for it now, and without Nie Qianyu’s hairpin, she might not be able to locate the whereabouts of the sweet potatoes…
Song Xuyi decided to compensate Nie Qianyu with a new hairpin.
She opened her dressing case. As a scion of the Wang family, a renowned lineage of hairpin artisans with boundless wealth, and being the only daughter of the Empress of the Wang family, Song Xuyi’s dressing case was filled with various rare and precious jewelry.
However, Song Xuyi couldn’t find anything satisfying after searching for a long time. Thinking of Nie Qianyu’s exquisitely beautiful countenance, it seemed that all the jewelry paled in comparison in his presence.
After much deliberation, Song Xuyi finally picked up a black jade hairpin.
The black jade hairpin was lustrous throughout, with a shimmering halo, rumored to be an heirloom from the founding of the country, and bearing the family crest of the Wang family in a concealed location.
Seeing Song Xuyi pick up this black jade hairpin, the maidservants serving Song Xuyi were shocked and exclaimed, “No, it’s not allowed!”
This hairpin was the most precious among all of Song Xuyi’s jewelry. It was not only invaluable, but also a symbol of the Wang family’s status. It had always been passed down to the legitimate daughters. Since Wang Mian only had one daughter, it was passed down to Empress Wang, then the hairpin had been given to Song Xuyi by Empress Wang when she was ten years old.
“It’s just an inanimate object!” Song Xuyi, however, did not give up on her idea. In her heart, only this hairpin could barely match Nie Qianyu’s appearance. Furthermore, compared to a hairpin, Song Xuyi cared more about the countless opportunities for survival that the discovery of the new food source, facilitated by Nie Qianyu’s lost hairpin, brought to the people.
The people around dared not advise further, but their perception of Nie Qianyu’s position in Song Xuyi’s heart changed.
When Nie Qianyu saw the hairpin that Song Xuyi sent over, his usually composed countenance lost its composure for the first time.
He gazed deeply at the hairpin, then looked up at Song Xuyi, seemingly unable to believe it as he softly spoke, “You… you, do you really want to give this hairpin to me?”
“You lost a hairpin, didn’t you? I just wanted to find a hairpin to make it up to you,” Song Xuyi smiled, her lips curving. “I went through my dressing case, and only this hairpin can match your appearance!”
Nie Qianyu’s lips moved, and as he gazed at Song Xuyi, his eyes became more complex. “That’s because you don’t know how precious this hairpin is…”
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“I know how precious this hairpin is,” Song Xuyi curved her lips, feeling that Nie Qianyu didn’t return the hairpin to her, indicating that he also likes this hairpin deep down. She smiled suddenly, determined to change the subject quickly. “But I think my sweet potatoes are even more precious…”
“Sweet potatoes?”
Song Xuyi knew that Nie Qianyu didn’t understand at the moment, so she blinked at Nie Qianyu and took Nie Qianyu’s hand to the small kitchen.
Nie Qianyu seemed to be impacted by Song Xuyi’s gesture of giving him the hairpin, as he kept staring at the black jade hairpin in his hand the whole way, even forgetting to retract the hand held by Song Xuyi…
As soon as Song Xuyi returned, she instructed her maidservant to throw the sweet potatoes into the hearth. By now, she figured the sweet potatoes were almost roasted, so she pulled them out of the stove.
Using leaves she had prepared in advance, Song Xuyi wrapped the sweet potatoes, and with a hint of impatience, she peeled off the skin of the sweet potatoes…
In an instant, the fragrant aroma of the roasted sweet potatoes filled the entire space, causing the absent-minded Nie Qianyu to regain his composure and look up at Song Xuyi.
“Be careful, it’s a bit hot,” Song Xuyi handed the peeled sweet potato to Nie Qianyu and then peeled another one for herself. She took a small bite of the golden yellow sweet potato, smiling with satisfaction as she sighed, “So sweet!”
Song Xuyi took another bite and, seeing that Nie Qianyu hadn’t made a move, thought he was still pondering over the black jade hairpin. Unable to resist, she explained to Nie Qianyu, “As you can see, sweet potatoes are edible, whether roasted or boiled. Moreover, sweet potatoes are extremely easy to grow, as many sweet potato vines can be grown from just one sweet potato.”
At this point, Song Xuyi thought of the role sweet potatoes could play in this world, and she smiled again. “Nowadays, the food production in our countries is low, and the variety of food is limited, which is why there are so many starving refugees. But if we promote the cultivation of sweet potatoes, we could save even more lives.”
“Perhaps you think this hairpin is very valuable, but in my heart, this hairpin is not as valuable as human lives…”
“What’s wrong?”
After speaking, Song Xuyi realized that Nie Qianyu seemed to have a changed look in his eyes, but she couldn’t express what kind of feeling it was, because in the next moment, Nie Qianyu lowered his head and took a gentle bite of the peeled sweet potato Song Xuyi handed to him. “So, all this time, you’ve been going out early and coming home late in search of this?”
“You don’t know how happy I was when I found the sweet potatoes!” Song Xuyi smiled, tacitly acknowledging Nie Qianyu’s words. “How do you find the taste? Is it very sweet and delicious?”
“Very sweet!” After a long silence, Nie Qianyu raised his head and looked at Song Xuyi, who showed a joyful smile because of his affirmation. His eyes darkened, and he quietly clenched the hand holding the black jade hairpin, biting his lip before softly speaking again, “Especially sweet.”
The next day, General Wang arranged for a boat.
Song Xuyi and her entourage bid farewell to the county magistrate and the reluctant Miss County Magistrate holding onto Nie Qianyu, and boarded the large boat by the riverside.
Song Xuyi originally thought she wouldn’t get seasick, but upon boarding the boat, she realized she had overestimated herself. The boats of this era were far from as stable as those in later years. In the first few days of sailing, Song Xuyi felt dizzy and lightheaded every day, as if living in purgatory. She could only retch up acidic water from her stomach, had no appetite, especially since the cooking at this era was not good. When encountering strong-smelling food, she found it hard to swallow, and Song Xuyi soon lost weight.
But even so, Song Xuyi still checked on the sweet potatoes every day, fearing that the damp environment on the river might cause the sweet potatoes to sprout prematurely.
“Is it worth it?”
Perhaps because of experiencing the kind of woman like the Miss County Magistrate, Nie Qianyu finally understood Song Xuyi’s goodness. When he dealt with Song Xuyi, he was no longer as indifferent and distant as before. When he saw Song Xuyi being assisted by the maid to go to the storeroom to check on the sweet potatoes, Nie Qianyu, standing on the bridge, couldn’t help but speak.
“Worth it,” Song Xuyi squeezed out a smile. Due to her thinness, her originally watery and shiny eyes looked particularly large.
Song Xuyi looked down at the surging river below. “Do you remember the last time the boat ran aground?”
“Hundreds of common people jumped into the dangerous shallows in the pouring rain to drag the boat, working for a long time. The money they earned with their lives could only support them for three days, and even so, they expressed their gratitude to us, bowing and showing their respect…”
“To be honest, every time I think of those faces, I feel upset,” Song Xuyi forced a smile. “We have the most simple and sincere common people. Their wishes are very simple, they just want to live well. But we cannot take advantage of their simplicity and abuse them, or turn a blind eye to their suffering…”
“I must do something for them.”
The young girl, petite and not fully grown, with a very pleasant face like a glutinous rice ball, still had that bright light in her eyes that made Nie Qianyu’s heart tremble when she said these words. The light was too pure, making Nie Qianyu feel ridiculous, yet inexplicably afraid, and still wanting to approach that beam of light like a moth to a flame.
Nie Qianyu pursed his lips and lowered his head. He felt that perhaps it was the strong river wind, or perhaps his mind had been affected by the wind, causing him to think that this inexperienced little princess was different from the rest of the corrupt people in the world…
Nie Qianyu stood in silence at the bow of the boat for a long time.
However, for some reason, Song Xuyi’s small face, as small as a palm, kept appearing in front of him.
The entire boat’s information entered Nie Qianyu’s ears through the animals:
For example, a few maids in the warehouse were chatting, saying that the princess’s temper had become extremely good in the past few months. They unanimously believed that this was a change made by Song Xuyi to win the favor of Nie Qianyu…
Nie Qianyu sneered at this rumor. If Song Xuyi wanted to please him, she wouldn’t have let him interact with the stupid daughter of the county magistrate a few days ago. Nie Qianyu was very clear that when Song Xuyi looked at him, her eyes did not show any desire, but were clear and treated him as a pure companion.
Although he should have felt fortunate about this, Nie Qianyu found that he wasn’t as happy as he thought.
Next, Nie Qianyu heard the news that Song Xuyi was sitting on the boat clutching her stomach and rolling around, as if she was experiencing her monthly cycle.
Nie Qianyu pursed his lips.
Then, news came from the kitchen area again. The cook sighed, saying that the food he had been making in the past few days had been vomited by the princess. Even though the princess didn’t blame him, General Wang threatened him every day, and the poor cook was almost on the verge of collapse…
……
Nie Qianyu pursed his lips, and after standing for a while, he heard the animals relay the message that “the young princess was biting her quilt in pain and was about to cry.” He hesitated for a moment and finally disembarked from the boat.
That night, Song Xuyi finally managed to eat a bowl of soup.
It was unknown what the cook had used, even though it was fish soup, there was no fishy smell, only the delicious fragrance of the fish meat. The fish bones had been cleaned very thoroughly, and after drinking half a bowl, Song Xuyi even felt warmth spreading through her whole body and her stomach felt much better.
“Has the cook been replaced today?” Song Xuyi looked up at the maid who was delivering the soup. Judging by the previous cook’s skill level, he could not have made such tasty soup.
The maid smiled and looked at Song Xuyi with envy. “Princess, today this soup was specially made for you by Prince Nie himself. Prince Nie is really kind to you.”
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Upon hearing the maid’s words, Song Xuyi almost choked on the soup in her throat.
Would Nie Qianyu actually make soup for her? Song Xuyi felt like she was hallucinating: it was like the sun rising from the west. Maybe the soup even had poison in it…
But Song Xuyi had already drunk half a bowl, plus the soup was really delicious. Despite her fear of Nie Qianyu’s motives, Song Xuyi finished the soup in its entirety.
That night, Song Xuyi felt warm and cozy, having eaten and drunk her fill, she had a rare good night’s sleep.
Meanwhile, Nie Qianyu, who was a few cabins away, heard the news that Song Xuyi had fallen asleep. A smile appeared at the corner of his lips, a smile that he didn’t even realize he had. However, Nie Qianyu quickly concealed the smile, took out the black jade hairpin that Song Xuyi had given him, and placed it near the candle.
Under the orange candlelight, a massive landscape painting shadow suddenly appeared on the wall.
Only a few people knew: the black jade hairpin was related to a huge treasure buried by the first emperor, and the location of the treasure was hidden inside the black jade hairpin.
“Consider it as your reward for giving me the black jade hairpin!” Nie Qianyu put away the black jade hairpin again and looked towards the cabin where Song Xuyi was, squinting his eyes slightly. He murmured softly to himself, as if reminding himself, “This is just a repayment.”
“I won’t feel sorry for a useless and dreamy princess…”
The author has something to say:
Little Nie: You continue to be stubborn.
Yay, finally finished updating.
Hey hey, my friend asked me to thank everyone for the liquid, it saved her life.
LP: Re-translated on April 04, 2024
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