Shen Qingfeng, who was hurrying back in the setting sun, never expected that he would run into Xia Chuli on his way home.
By now, the sun had completely set, leaving only a rapidly fading glow on the horizon. Shen Qingfeng saw Xia Chuli waiting in the snow beside the wall of the Shen Mansion, holding a bundle of things in his arms. In an instant, a complex mix of emotions welled up in his heart. After hesitating for a while, he still walked over.
Xia Chuli, who was holding the things and looking around, was wrapped in a cloak to shield against the wind and snow. The black cloak was so wide and thick that it covered almost half of his face and completely concealed his figure. If it weren't for someone as familiar with him as Shen Qingfeng, no one would have recognized him.
Suddenly, Xia Chuli saw Shen Qingfeng walking towards him. His eyes immediately lit up. He trotted over and threw himself into Shen Qingfeng's arms. Hugging him, he happily rubbed his face against Shen Qingfeng's and said, "Qingfeng, where have you been? The people in the Shen Mansion said you weren't there. I've been waiting for you for a long time."
Shen Qingfeng looked down at the person in his arms, pursing his lips without saying a word. Xia Chuli hadn't fully grown yet. He only reached Shen Qingfeng's shoulder. Shen Qingfeng brushed the snow off Xia Chuli's cloak and gently lifted his head with his hand, examining him carefully.
The immature face that hadn't fully developed, along with those eyebrows, thin lips... Everything was so familiar yet distant. Back then, whenever he looked at this person's face, his heart was filled with warm affection. But now, all he felt was deep helplessness towards him and intense hatred for what he would do in the future.
"Qingfeng?" Xia Chuli noticed that Shen Qingfeng's expression was very strange. He called out and reached out to grab Shen Qingfeng's hand, asking anxiously, "What's wrong with you?"
Shen Qingfeng came back to his senses. He gave a bitter smile and said, "It's nothing. A Li, why did you come here?"
Xia Chuli hugged Shen Qingfeng's waist. He rested his head on Shen Qingfeng's chest, looking a bit dejected, and softly said, "I missed you."
Shen Qingfeng stiffened all over.
Xia Chuli still refused to let go of him. Instead, he hugged Shen Qingfeng's waist even tighter. He buried his head in Shen Qingfeng's arms, his voice a bit muffled: "I know you must still be angry with me, but I really have no intention of marrying Qi Mengmeng. She's just a maid. You can rest assured."
Shen Qingfeng pursed his lips and stiffly reached out to pat Xia Chuli's back.
"I haven't been sleeping well recently. Father has assigned me a lot of tasks. I'm so busy. And you don't come to see me either. The Eastern Palace is so cold. I'm all alone there. The stoves lit by those maids aren't as warm as the ones you light..." Xia Chuli hugged Shen Qingfeng and rummaged in his arms, taking out a big fur coat: "It's getting much colder recently. You're afraid of the cold, so you need to wear this fur coat every day. But you left in a hurry that day and forgot it in the Eastern Palace. So I brought it to you."
Looking at the fur coat taken out from Xia Chuli's arms, Shen Qingfeng felt his eyes heat up instantly.
How could he not recognize that fur coat? Shen Qingfeng had a cold constitution and was extremely afraid of the cold every winter. This fur coat was obtained by Xia Chuli from King Xia Jie many years ago. It was a rare fur coat made of black bear skin. Xia Chuli was out of favor. In order to get this fur coat, he had to please King Xia Jie. For this reason, he even went to the palace of Queen Qi to flatter her and say nice things before he could get this fur coat back.
Shen Qingfeng still clearly remembered the way Xia Chuli, dressed thinly, ran into the Eastern Palace with this fur coat in his arms and a smile on his face in the heavy snow that day.
"Qingfeng, with this, you won't be cold in winter anymore." At that time, Xia Chuli smiled, innocent and pure.
Back then, one was the out - of - favor crown prince, and the other was his companion reader. They leaned on each other and spent those lonely days in the Eastern Palace.
The past was like smoke. The image of the young Xia Chuli had faded from Shen Qingfeng's mind. In the following days, Shen Qingfeng endured the hardships alone in the Qifeng Palace. Hugging that black bear fur coat, he listened to the singing and dancing coming from the neighboring Shanhe Hall. At that time, he didn't even have charcoal for the brazier. He curled up on the cold bed, pulled the black bear fur coat off his back, picked up a broken knife, and cut the fur coat into pieces.
Shen Qingfeng stood there blankly. Xia Chuli lifted his head from Shen Qingfeng's arms, looked at him in confusion, then took Shen Qingfeng's hand. The coldness of Shen Qingfeng's palm made him exclaim. Immediately, he shook out the fur coat and wrapped it tightly around Shen Qingfeng.
"Why are you so cold?" Xia Chuli exclaimed and hugged Shen Qingfeng again, "Where have you been? You're so cold. You'll get sick."
Cold? Shen Qingfeng thought. It was right to be cold. After all, during those years in the Qifeng Palace, he had been cold from the inside out. After all, during those days, he had been looking forward to Xia Chuli turning back every day, but he never did, not even once.
The watchman struck the hour. The sky had completely darkened. The cold wind blew. Shen Qingfeng tightened the fur coat around him, withdrew from Xia Chuli's arms, and said, "A Li, go back quickly. The gates of the Bian Palace will be locked soon. What if you can't get back after running out of the palace like this?"
Unexpectedly, Xia Chuli grabbed his hand and said, "I can't go back already. The palace gates will be locked when the watchman strikes the hour."
Shen Qingfeng looked at him: "Then..."
Xia Chuli blinked his eyes and said, "Qingfeng, can I stay at your place tonight? Just like before. I want to sleep in the same bed with you."
Shen Qingfeng looked at the hand that Xia Chuli was holding his. He lowered his eyes and didn't say a word.
"Qingfeng." Seeing that Shen Qingfeng didn't say anything, Xia Chuli rubbed his palm coquettishly again and said, "I've been so overwhelmed by Father's tasks these days. I haven't slept for almost two days. Please, Qingfeng, don't drive me away. I don't want to sleep on the street."
Shen Qingfeng sighed and stroked Xia Chuli's head, saying, "Who said I'd let you sleep on the street?"
Xia Chuli's eyes lit up and he smiled, "Qingfeng is the best. You really do care about me."
Shen Qingfeng looked at him helplessly and asked, "The king has assigned you a task?"
"Yeah."
"What task?" Shen Qingfeng asked.
"Three days later, there's a sacrifice on the Golden Summit of the Three Saints Mountain. Father asked me to preside over it."
Shen Qingfeng was stunned and exclaimed, "What? Why?"
In the previous life, Xia Chuli clearly didn't preside over this sacrifice. The official in charge of the sacrifice was still Shen Yu, the senior official in charge of sacrifices. Why did King Xia Jie assign this task to Xia Chuli this time?
The sacrifice on the Golden Summit of the Three Saints Mountain, as the name suggests, was held in the Golden Summit Temple on the Three Saints Mountain. That temple enshrined the ancestor of Li Xia, namely Xing Tian. The sacrifice in the Golden Summit Temple was only held once a year, usually at the beginning of the year, in order to pray for Xing Tian to bless Li Xia with good weather in the new year. For such a large - scale sacrifice, if Xia Chuli was in charge, on the one hand, it could be seen as King Xia Jie attaching importance to Xia Chuli, the nominal crown prince. On the other hand, it was a task that should not have been assigned to a royal family member. No one knew what King Xia Jie was up to.
"Are you sure it was the king who asked you to preside over it?" Shen Qingfeng asked in a deep voice.
Xia Chuli nodded blankly.
It was impossible. King Xia Jie couldn't have asked Xia Chuli to preside over such an important event for no reason. There must be someone instigating it.
A name suddenly flashed through Shen Qingfeng's mind.
"Qingfeng, it's too cold outside. Let's go inside and talk." Xia Chuli pulled Shen Qingfeng's increasingly cold hand and said lovingly.
Shen Qingfeng was stunned for a moment and then nodded, "Okay."