Alone, Beautifully – Chapter 128
by Little PandaBestowing Upon You the Realm (10)
“This subject knows that Your Highness harbors deep feelings for me.”
Seeing Xu Jiao’s expression change slightly, her hands hesitating to move, Yu Ye instinctively felt something was amiss, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was wrong. She could only ask:
“Was there something inappropriate in what this subject just said?”
Xu Jiao took a deep breath imperceptibly.
She was telling herself that it was still far from escaping these worlds, far from completing five worlds, and she hadn’t achieved three consecutive “he” successes. Now that she had finally encountered a Yu Huahua who wasn’t interested in her, there was no need to pursue an emotional route. She should cherish this opportunity while it lasted.
After adjusting her mindset, Xu Jiao smiled again and pushed the bowl in front of her towards Yu Ye, saying:
“There’s nothing inappropriate. I was just surprised that Lord Yu, with your many daily duties, would still remember such a trivial matter about me.”
“Speaking of which, the palace maid by my side is skilled at seasoning. Why don’t you try dipping the fresh duck blood you just blanched in this bowl of sauce? If you like it, I’ll have Lü Luo prepare a bowl for you as well.”
From a status perspective, Xu Jiao was the Crown Prince, while Yu Ye was a noble, inferior in rank. So even though the duck blood was initially placed in Xu Jiao’s bowl, her offering it to Yu Ye now could be considered a form of bestowment.
It was like those banquets with the emperor—
The slightly kinder ones would wait for the palace servants to test for poison, then take some food and put it in their own dishes before passing the rest to their ministers. For other bestowed meals, to show their closeness, the emperor would use their own chopsticks to place food in the ministers’ bowls, or casually pass over their leftovers, demonstrating their grace. In reality, no matter how grateful the minister appeared, it couldn’t hide the fact that they were eating the emperor’s leftovers.
With this consideration in mind, Xu Jiao offering food to Yu Ye wasn’t particularly out of place.
But such an action in Yu Ye’s eyes…
Her gaze focused on Xu Jiao’s bowl and chopsticks, seeing her use the pretext of asking Yu Ye to taste the food as an excuse to secretly offer the contents of her bowl, trying to get closer without leaving a trace. Yu Ye thought that this Crown Prince was indeed racking her brains to become intimate with her.
Sigh.
Such a clever young girl, why does she always focus on these matters of love?
Yu Ye wanted to harden her heart and refuse, but seeing Lü Luo, who resembled herself somewhat, by Xu Jiao’s side, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. In the end, she nodded slightly and pushed her plate forward, indicating that Xu Jiao could place the duck blood on her plate.
Xu Jiao breathed a sigh of relief internally, eager to return the uncooked duck blood to where it came from—
At the same time, she didn’t forget to watch Yu Ye’s expression, wanting to see what face this unpredictable “King of Hell” would make when eating cold, raw food.
Under Xu Jiao’s intense gaze, Yu Ye reflexively avoided it. Because there were still some servants around, she wasn’t used to revealing her emotions in front of so many eyes. So she just lowered her head, picked up the sauce-dipped duck blood, and pretended to calmly put it in her mouth.
Her cheeks moved slightly.
A moment later.
Yu Ye’s expression froze at an odd point.
This thing…
Why is it so fishy?
Beside her, Xu Jiao saw that she had completely swallowed it. Her gaze softened slightly, and even her voice became much gentler when she asked, “Lord Yu, how does it taste?”
Yu Ye couldn’t spit it out or swallow it. Fortunately, having survived through bloody battles, she wouldn’t falter in such a small situation. She managed to adjust her expression, reached for the water cup beside her, pretending to drink while actually spitting out the contents of her mouth. She closed the cup lid, waved for a servant to come and change the cup, and then very naturally responded to Xu Jiao’s question:
“The flavor is passable.”
Xu Jiao, seeing that her throat had barely moved since earlier, had already seen through the truth. She just smiled without exposing Yu Ye’s lie. By then, the beef and mutton slices in the pot were already cooked. Xu Jiao didn’t dwell on the earlier incident of giving Yu Ye raw duck blood and invited her to eat the cooked meat from the pot.
Yu Ye secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that this Crown Prince’s love was indeed extraordinarily heavy.
After the meal.
The palace servants cleared away the tableware and leftovers. Seeing that Yu Ye didn’t seem to want to leave, Xu Jiao temporarily abandoned her thoughts of going to the study to read and stayed to drink tea with Yu Ye.
Lü Luo, remembering the instructions she had given to the servants yesterday and wanting Xu Jiao to see her efforts, gave a look to the surrounding servants. Soon, someone was seen carrying a tall porcelain vase towards the window sill in the hall. The round-mouthed white porcelain vase had several red plum blossoms arranged inside. The unrestrained lines combined with the seductive color were quite eye-catching.
Xu Jiao’s eyes lit up, and she pointed at the flower vase, asking Lü Luo beside her:
“Who arranged this?”
Lü Luo answered softly: “A few days ago, I saw that Your Highness wanted to view plum blossoms but couldn’t. Since the best flowering period is short, I boldly thought of a way to bring this scenery to the Eastern Palace. I hope Your Highness won’t blame me for picking these red plum blossoms.”
Xu Jiao knew she was trying to please her, but she had to admit that when the people in the palace wanted to flatter someone, even if their intentions were obvious, they could still do things beautifully, making one’s heart bloom with joy.
She smiled as she watched the scenery being moved to the window, becoming a sight that could be noticed with just a lift of the head, even bringing the floating subtle fragrance into the hall. She responded to Lü Luo:
“‘Pluck the flower when it’s in bloom, don’t wait till it’s gone and the branch is bare.'” (This is a famous line from a poem by Wang Jian, meaning to seize the moment)
This meant she didn’t blame Lü Luo.
While the mistress and servant were talking, Yu Ye sat beside Xu Jiao drinking tea. Hearing their conversation as if no one else was present, she couldn’t focus on tasting the tea in her cup. She only glanced at Xu Jiao with her peripheral vision, her gaze carrying a hint of resentment that she herself wasn’t aware of.
Here I am, the real deal sitting right here, and this foolish Crown Prince is still putting effort into smiling at that imposter?
Yu Ye thought about how much time she could spend in the Eastern Palace. To prevent Xu Jiao from missing her too much afterwards, she deliberately cleared her throat, coughing once to remind Xu Jiao to cherish the time spent with her and to focus less on those servants.
Xu Jiao naturally heard her cough.
She turned to look at Yu Ye, not knowing what else she had to say and why she hadn’t left yet. Unable to directly urge her to leave, she could only approach from another angle:
“These days are cold and freezing. Lord Yu, while you’re busy with official duties, you must also take care of your health. Would you like me to summon the imperial physician to examine you?”
Yu Ye’s expression softened a bit, and she said gently: “That won’t be necessary.”
After thinking for a moment, she said: “Since Your Highness enjoys the scenery outside, when your health improves, this subject can take you for a walk outside.”
Yu Ye thought that with her watching, she would pay close attention to Xu Jiao’s attire, ensuring that she wouldn’t be frozen by the careless palace servants or have any accidents due to inadequate care.
Xu Jiao didn’t expect such good fortune to come her way. Her expression froze for a moment, and she carefully looked at Yu Ye again, noticing that she seemed to be in a good mood today.
After hesitating for a few seconds, she still decided to accept the offer first: “Then I thank Lord Yu in advance.”
Yu Ye hadn’t expected her to be so happy just at the prospect of going outside. Thinking about it this way, the Crown Prince’s gratitude and happiness seemed somewhat pitiful. She felt a twinge of sympathy, though her face remained calm:
“Your Highness is too polite. Previously, I didn’t let you go out because I was worried about your frail health, fearing that the ailments you had suffered earlier hadn’t fully healed and that something might go wrong. Now that Your Highness wants to go out, of course this subject should agree. We just need to have the people around you be more careful in their care.”
Xu Jiao heard the subtext in her words, which was that Yu Ye had no intention of controlling or confining her.
Since Yu Ye wanted to express it this way, she might as well believe it for now.
About a cup of tea’s time later.
The hall was quiet.
Xu Jiao noticed that Yu Ye’s tea cup had been refilled once, but today she seemed particularly leisurely, showing no signs of wanting to leave. While Yu Ye didn’t want to go, Xu Jiao didn’t want to continue entertaining this esteemed guest.
Thinking of the novels that Lü Luo had recently collected from outside the palace to help her pass the time, Xu Jiao was eager to take a look at the rich spiritual pursuits of the people in this era. So she took the initiative to ask:
“Lord Yu… do you have any other matters?”
Reminded by her question, Yu Ye realized that she had been sitting in the Eastern Palace for quite a while.
She turned the teacup in her hand, still unsure how to tactfully advise Xu Jiao that as a future emperor, she shouldn’t dwell on trivial matters of love, that there was no need to be fixated on her, and even less need to treat Lü Luo as her substitute.
But if she left like this today, who knows how long it would be before she came to the Eastern Palace again, and Xu Jiao would probably miss her for a long time.
Yu Ye knew the principle that a short pain is better than a long one.
A good while after Xu Jiao had spoken, there was still no reply from Yu Ye. She couldn’t help but turn her gaze towards her, only to meet Yu Ye’s dark eyes after her contemplation. Their eyes met, and Yu Ye belatedly responded to her words:
“…Yes, this subject does have a matter to discuss.”
This formal tone startled Xu Jiao. She wondered if Yu Ye had suddenly decided to test her again with those political affairs from the court?
Thinking of this, Xu Jiao instinctively sat up straight, considering the various tests Yu Ye might give, instantly listing dozens of crisis response methods in her mind.
The next moment.
She heard Yu Ye say to the surrounding servants: “All of you, leave.”
Xu Jiao became even more serious.
The more people are not allowed to hear something, the more dangerous it must be.
It seems Yu Ye has come with ill intentions today.
She thought gravely.
An incense stick’s time later.
Xu Jiao, her mind blank, met Yu Ye’s obsidian-like eyes: “Lord Yu, what did you just say?”
Seeing her look of disbelief, Yu Ye thought her words had caused too great a shock. She turned her head away, unable to bear seeing Xu Jiao’s rejected expression. At the same time, being unskilled in consolation, she tried to say something that could help Xu Jiao quickly move past the emotional shadow:
“This subject knows that Your Highness harbors deep feelings for me, even transferring those feelings to the palace maid by your side… However, if this were to spread, it would inevitably make people laugh at the Da Yan royal family for being improper. I implore Your Highness to exercise restraint.”
“Your Highness is to inherit the throne in the future. Having such a reputation with ministers and palace servants… would be inappropriate—”
Xu Jiao could no longer hear the words that followed. She didn’t even notice that Yu Ye wanted her to inherit the throne.
She could only involuntarily repeat the initial words:
“I… I harbor deep feelings for you?”
Who?
Who spread such a rumor?!
These two dorks🤣
HAHAHA! Too hilarious 😭