Li Xinyue let out a couple of chuckles. Laughing too hard, she began to cough violently and almost coughed out the medicine she had just swallowed.
Chu Junyi quickly helped her sit up and gently stroked her back.
Li Xinyue glanced at him. The thought of scaring him that had been in her mind faded at that moment.
She summoned her energy and gestured for a pen and paper. Her voice was hoarse, so she couldn't speak.
Chu Junyi's eyes tightened. He didn't expect her cold to be worse than yesterday. He wanted to say something, but under her urging gaze, he first went to get the pen and paper.
Li Xinyue leaned over the small table and wrote, "They're relatives we haven't had contact with for over a decade. Nominally, he's the adoptive brother of my mother - concubine, but in fact, there's no family affection at all." Even the origin of this adoptive - brother relationship was full of schemes.
So it didn't matter that he was beheaded!
Anyway, it was done according to the law, not a private act of punishment. There was no need to be so nervous.
Did they have to apologize to the families of death - row inmates in the future, saying they were sorry for accidentally beheading their sons?
Thinking of this, Li Xinyue let out a couple more chuckles. It was really interesting. But then she threw the pen away, lay back on the couch, and closed her eyes without saying a word.
Alas, the people and things related to the Fu family made her hate them. Just simply talking about one or two things made her so angry that her head hurt. She couldn't even imagine recalling what had happened back then. She might be so angry that she'd die.
Chu Junyi looked down at the pen that had rolled out of the paper and the ink that had splashed everywhere. Then he looked at Li Xinyue with her tightly - closed lips.
Suddenly, he understood something.
The princess had a hard life too.
No wonder on the night when they saved the Young Marquis Xia, she had angrily shouted at him, "Do you think a princess can live a life of luxury and wealth until old age?
Do you think only the poor from humble backgrounds have a hard life? The intrigue among the upper - class aristocrats is beyond your imagination!"
His heart tightened. He looked at her deeply with his eyes, as if this could give her some comfort.
Li Xinyue was lying on the couch, her chest rising and falling angrily.
She shouldn't have talked to him too much about her mother - concubine, but at this moment, she suddenly wanted to pour out her feelings.
Maybe it was because she trusted him too much, or maybe she had been suppressing her emotions for too long and really needed an outlet.
After much hesitation, she decided to take a gamble.
To gamble that Chu Junyi was a trustworthy person.
She sat up from the couch and leaned back over the small table. She wrote down what had happened to the Fu family back then bit by bit.
"I only found out later from gossips that my mother - concubine was a substitute for another imperial concubine back then.
That imperial concubine was the legitimate daughter of the Fu family. It was said that she died in childbirth. To preserve their wealth and honor, the Fu family recognized my mother - concubine as their adopted daughter, gave her the surname Fu, and sent her into the palace as a talent."
It was said that her mother - concubine had been very favored back then. She had conceived her the next year. If there had been no accident, she would have been promoted to imperial concubine soon. But in the end, something happened...
A huge accident.
Even she had been thrown aside and ignored. She had almost... almost been... by a eunuch...
Recalling this, Li Xinyue paused. Her hand holding the pen trembled violently, and her cough became even more severe.
Chu Junyi snatched the pen from her. He didn't want her to write anymore.
Since the past was too painful to look back on, there was no need to recall it. As long as he knew that she didn't blame him for beheading the people of the Fu family, that was enough. He could ignore the rest.
Li Xinyue felt her body lighten. Looking up, she saw that Chu Junyi had picked her up and was walking towards her bed.
Her heart skipped a beat. She looked up at him in surprise.
Maybe it was because she was sick with a cold and feeling vulnerable, but at this moment, Chu Junyi seemed especially tall, imposing, and full of a sense of security.
She blushed and awkwardly averted her eyes, but the words he had said last night involuntarily popped up in her mind, and her heart beat even faster.
The room was extremely quiet. The only sounds in her ears were their breathing and the sound of the wind as he walked. The rest was the chaotic thumping of her heart, thump, thump - thump...
The hand on his shoulder trembled slightly, then awkwardly let go and just hovered in the air.
Suddenly, her body fell onto the soft bedding. Chu Junyi leaned over her, pulled out the quilt from the bed, wrapped her tightly in it, then rummaged through the cabinets and took out two more quilts to wrap her up together.
"It's too hot," Li Xinyue said hoarsely, weakly struggling, but she was held tightly.
"Be obedient. You'll get better after sweating it out."
"It's easy for you to say. Why don't you try it!"
After she said that, she realized she had dug a hole for herself.
Sure enough, there came a muffled laugh from above her. With her head resting on his chest, she could feel the gentle tremors in his chest. "I won't. I have to set off for the South of the Yangtze River at dawn. If I sweat all over, I won't have time to take a bath and change clothes. I'll accompany you some other day."
Li Xinyue pretended to be calm and raised her eyebrows. "The South of the Yangtze River is dangerous. Be careful."
"What did you say?" Chu Junyi leaned down to listen carefully.
Li Xinyue opened her eyes and looked straight at his handsome side - face, which was almost touching her lips. She was stunned for a moment. She had originally wanted to say more about the case of the Fu family, but at this moment, she only said, "Come back safely."
Chu Junyi was shocked. He looked at Li Xinyue in disbelief.
Li Xinyue closed her eyes and pretended to be dead. She wanted to bury herself in the quilt, but unfortunately, she was held too tightly to hide.
She could only turn her head away.
Chu Junyi came to his senses and laughed happily. He felt a sense of relief as if he had finally seen the light after enduring the darkness. "So does this mean...?"
Li Xinyue's ears turned red. "I haven't agreed yet."
Chu Junyi let out a chuckle.
Li Xinyue sighed in her heart. She had to think about how to gently reject Murong Xiu.
After all, she was the one who had chased after him first, and then dumped him. It was really... not very nice.
Fortunately, she was a princess. Otherwise, the Murong family would have beaten her to death with clubs.
Alas!
She was going to be a heartbreaker again.
"Chu Junyi."
"Hmm."
Chu Junyi leaned close to her mouth to listen to what she had to say.
Li Xinyue said intermittently, "When you go to the South of the Yangtze River, if possible, please bring back my mother - concubine's relics for me. It's inconvenient for me to go there, so I can only entrust you and Jing Bai."
"Okay, no problem."
Li Xinyue was taken aback. She reached out and grabbed his sleeve. "Don't answer so quickly. The situation is dangerous. You may not be able to do it. Put your own safety first and come back safely."
Saying "Come back safely" again made ripples rise in her heart.
"I know."
"Chu Junyi, I don't seem to know much about you yet. You haven't told me about your family, your neighbors, or your village."
A scholar from a humble background who could achieve both literary and martial success in a world with scarce resources must have had some adventures in addition to his talent.
She didn't believe that Chu Junyi was just an ordinary scholar.
Chu Junyi let out a chuckle. His handsome face was filled with happiness. "Okay. When I come back, I'll take you to meet my parents."
Li Xinyue, "... " It's not what you think. I'm just purely curious!
"Don't talk. Your words are annoying!" Her weak little hand stubbornly covered his mouth.
Chu Junyi looked down at the fair and delicate hand. He really wanted to kiss it, but he was afraid she would get angry, so he had to hold back.
In the second half of the night, Li Xinyue was overcome with drowsiness and fell asleep.
But Chu Junyi stayed awake, openly admiring her features.
The rumored willful and spoiled princess was like a cute but fierce little wildcat when she was sick.
When she was drunk, she was as passionate as a gorgeous rose, as if longing to be picked.
But behind all this that no one knew was a bitter past.
Presumably, the Fu family later switched their allegiance to the politicians in the court because the woman they sent into the palace had given birth to a princess and couldn't bring them greater wealth and honor. They colluded with them. It was only until now, when the politicians in the court avoided them, that the Fu family remembered this princess.