Chapter 26

The ginger soup was a bit hot, and Qin Zheng slowly sipped it in small mouthfuls, feeling her whole stomach warming up.

With the door wide open, the cold wind brushed against her face, and the rain pattered down.

Countless silver lines fell from the eaves, splashing into countless water flowers on the blue bricks in the courtyard.

The Crown Prince sat opposite Qin Zheng, his dark-colored robe wrapping around his tall and slender body.

Although it was just ordinary cotton and linen fabric, the clothes seemed to exude a sense of nobility when worn by him.

He poured himself a cup of hot tea and asked Qin Zheng, “You seem to have something to say to me?”

Qin Zheng wondered if she had been too obvious.

She stared at his flawless face for a moment, then shook her head firmly. “No.”

Do you have erectile dysfunction?

Asking such a question would surely hit him where it hurts.

Their bond might end here because of it.

Her answer seemed to be expected by the Crown Prince.

He took a sip of tea and said, “I have something to tell you.”

Qin Zheng heard the seriousness in his tone and placed the bowl of ginger soup back on the table.

Because her sleeves were too wide, they covered her entire hand, leaving only a few white fingertips exposed.

She looked into the Crown Prince’s clear and deep black eyes, looking more like a child wearing adult clothes.

The Crown Prince spoke slowly, “That day in the Eastern Palace, I asked if you wanted to stay and wait for Shen Yan Zhi.”

Hearing him mention Shen Yan Zhi’s name suddenly, Qin Zheng instinctively straightened up a bit.

The Crown Prince noticed her subtle change and continued in his calm tone, “You said you wanted to leave with me, but you’ve suffered a lot along the way…”

Qin Zheng felt that he suddenly talking about these things was very unusual.

It sounded like he was breaking up with her?

She not only knew about his connection with the Lu family but also knew the exact time and location of their meeting.

If they were breaking up, wouldn’t she be silenced?

For a moment,

Qin Zheng’s heart trembled, and she quickly interrupted him, “It’s not suffering, not suffering at all. It’s you, Your Highness, who has suffered! You’ve been taking care of me all this way. Even when you were seriously injured and unconscious last time, it was because you were taking me with you that it was difficult to break out…”

Qin Zheng’s voice became lower as she spoke, her eyelashes half-lowered.

Her thick and dark eyelashes were slightly curled, like little hooks that hooked into one’s heart, while her watery eyes beneath seemed particularly pitiful.

She felt her rhetoric was perfect.

She first expressed gratitude for the Crown Prince’s kindness, then mentioned his injury and unconsciousness, but instead of directly saying that she stayed by his side, she insinuated that she had burdened him.

With this pitiful appearance, Qin Zheng thought even if the Crown Prince had erectile dysfunction, he would soften a bit after hearing her words.

Looking at her seemingly obedient but actually guarded appearance, the Crown Prince sighed lightly and pressed his temples. “You don’t have to be afraid of me like this.”

In that segment of memory that didn’t belong to him, she had always been too proud to care about anything related to the Eastern Palace.

The original owner of this body, whenever he tried to get close to her, she would hold a sharp object against her neck, threatening suicide to drive him away.

Most of the time, her face remained indifferent.

It was only when her maids occasionally brought news of Shen Yanzhi that she would either feel melancholic or smile with joy.

During their escape, her behavior surprised the Crown Prince, no, it should be Emperor Wu Jiachi.

She was smart and decisive, seemingly fragile yet never a burden to anyone.

She was no longer the cold and arrogant figure from the original Crown Prince’s memories, as if she were just a painting of a maid.

Sometimes, she would play some clever tricks, such as deliberately saying that she was the one dragging him down, or worrying about not taking her with him when they fled the Eastern Palace, saying she wanted to protect him…

Wu Jiachi shook his head gently, unable to help but smile wryly.

This little trickster probably didn’t know that every time she lied, she either looked guilty and couldn’t look people in the eye, or she stared with a pair of clear black and white eyes, thinking her acting skills were good, but in fact, everything was written on her face.

Qin Zheng was directly stunned by Wu Jiachi’s words.

He figured it out?

Qin Zheng pursed her lips. For the sake of her own life, she simply followed his words and acted along.

Her long eyelashes trembled, like a black butterfly flapping its wings on someone’s heartstrings: “I’m afraid Your Highness won’t want me anymore.”

Wu Jiachi: “…”

The hand on his temple inadvertently tightened a bit.

He asked, “Do you want to return to the capital?”

With alarm bells ringing in Qin Zheng’s mind, she asked, “Why ask all of a sudden?”

Seeing her alertness, and to make her understand the intention behind his words, Wu Jiachi had to explain the current situation to her in detail: “Once the court begins to investigate the ships that left the capital that day, the states and cities we passed through will post wanted posters and start searching. We won’t be able to hide in Qingzhou for long.”

Inside the room, only his low, mellow voice could be heard, while the rain outside was clear, yet somewhat cold.

“Once the court sends people to Qingzhou, Shen Yanzhi will definitely follow. During the incident in the Eastern Palace, you chose to escape with me under the circumstances. Now, I’m giving you another chance to choose.”

Wu Jiachi looked at her eyes, which seemed to speak, paused, and then continued:

“The days ahead may be even more dangerous than fleeing from the capital.

I don’t even know where we’ll end up. If you want to leave, I’ll contact Shen Yanzhi to pick you up.

Just don’t use the identity of a Qin family girl anymore; it’s easy to attract trouble.

With Shen Yanzhi’s abilities, he can easily help you forge a new identity.

Your marriage with him was broken because of me, and he has conspired with rebels to destroy Chu.

I don’t owe him anything anymore, only you. After sending you back, it can be considered settling our debts.

When the time comes, if Shen Yanzhi and I face each other on the battlefield, I hope you won’t hold it against me.”

“If you want to stay… consider today’s conversation never happened.” His gaze softened yet remained ruthless. “I’m only giving you this one chance. Think it over.”

Qin Zheng never expected him to say such words, but considering his future plans, she could understand why he made such a decision.

After all, the Crown Princess had a deep bond with Shen Yanzhi since childhood and had a previous engagement with him.

He stood in opposition to the court, and Shen Yanzhi was his mortal enemy.

With her by his side, it was like having a time bomb.

If she still held onto her old feelings for Shen Yanzhi and leaked secrets, it would be a fatal blow to him.

Thinking through all this, Qin Zheng felt more convinced that he was testing her.

Just as he said, with the enmity between him and Shen Yanzhi, if she chose to go with Shen Yanzhi, wouldn’t she be dancing in his minefield?

She valued her life too much for that!

Qin Zheng lowered her eyelashes.

She couldn’t cry, but reddening her eyes was easy.

She pretended to be affectionate, saying, “Wherever you are, I’ll be there. Don’t say such things again in the future! Even if I have to go back to the capital, I’ll go back with you!”

Wu Jiachi furrowed his brows, looking at her in silence.

Qin Zheng had acted out half of her melodramatic performance, but seeing him unmoved, she couldn’t figure out what went wrong and felt increasingly uncertain.

Just then, a muffled thunderclap sounded outside, startling Qin Zheng.

It wasn’t that she was afraid of thunder, it was just the sudden loud noise that was unsettling.

Seeing Wu Jiachi’s gaze softened slightly after she flinched, Qin Zheng considered whether she should pretend to be scared of thunder again to divert the conversation.

After all, don’t idol dramas often have scenes where the female lead is afraid of thunder?

But before she could start her own performance, a cold drop of water “pattered” onto her forehead.

Qin Zheng reached up to wipe it away and looked up at the ceiling.

Another drop fell from a crack in the tiles, and water started seeping into the room from other cracks as well.

Qin Zheng blinked in confusion. “Is it leaking?”

Outside, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and the rain poured down heavily.

She rushed out to help repair the roofs of other houses in the village all morning, but she hadn’t expected her own roof to leak like a sieve even in a storm.

The tense atmosphere from before was momentarily interrupted.

Just then, Aunt Lu’s voice came from outside again, “Madam, is your house leaking? If it is, go to the kitchen and get some pots to catch the water. It’s easy to slip on the floor if there’s water pooling!”

Qin Zheng eagerly wanted to leave the room immediately, so she got up and walked out, saying, “Alright, I’ll go get them right away.”

An old, yellowed oil-paper umbrella leaned against the wall outside, still dripping water from the handle, obviously used by Aunt Lu just now.

What flowed down from the eaves was no longer clear water lines, but streams of water.

Raindrops hit the bluestone courtyard, sending up large sprays of mist. Even standing under the eaves, Qin Zheng could feel the dampness in the air.

As she opened the umbrella and was about to head to the kitchen, someone snatched it from behind.

Wu Jiachi, who knows when he had come out of the room, took the umbrella and stepped into the pouring rain, saying, “It’s raining heavily outside, go back inside.”

The courtyard was already ankle-deep in water, and with each step, the water covered the tops of his shoes, soaking them through.

Qin Zheng looked at his back in the pouring rain, feeling slightly stunned.

Had he suddenly softened his attitude towards her? Had she passed his test this time?

Qin Zheng silently told herself that she had to work harder and brush up on her favorability with him later.

When Wu Jiachi came from the kitchen with a few wooden basins and bowls, she immediately went up to him eagerly, saying, “Let me help you!”

Without waiting for Wu Jiachi to respond, she directly picked up the basins and went into the house.

Wu Jiachi frowned.

He had said those things entirely for her sake, so why was she so frightened?

He took the umbrella and stepped into the house. Qin Zheng had already placed the basins where the water was leaking.

He wanted to explain to her, “What I said earlier…”

“The corner of the house is leaking too. I’ll go to the kitchen and get another basin!” Qin Zheng couldn’t let him bring up that deadly topic again, so she was about to walk out.

Wu Jiachi said, “…It’s not leaking seriously. Don’t worry about it.”

Seeing her as nervous as a frightened bird, he suppressed a trace of impatience in his eyes that even he hadn’t noticed. “Forget what I said earlier.”

Why did she get so scared?

Perhaps it was because she had stayed up all night and got soaked in the rain, her head was starting to ache faintly.

Tonight, with the sound of thunder and rain covering everything, there was a higher possibility of the Western camp making a move.

There might be a tough battle later in the night, so he needed to rest well.

After saying that, Wu Jiachi went straight to the bed.

Seeing the extra blanket on the bed, he didn’t ask anything and just pushed it to the side and lay down.

After hearing his words, Qin Zheng, who had just put everything back, felt her heart tighten again when she saw this scene.

She had just solemnly vowed not to leave him, but now she found out he intended to use separate blankets.

What a slap in the face!

She tried to make a final salvage, “I heard it’s going to rain for a few days, and I’m afraid it’ll get cold. So I specifically asked Ah Zhao to bring back an extra blanket.”@@novelbin@@

Wu Jiachi just responded with a simple “Hmm,” in his usual indifferent tone, leaving Qin Zheng unsure whether he believed her or just couldn’t be bothered to deal with her anymore.

Seeing him with his eyes closed, looking tired, Qin Zheng didn’t want to disturb his rest.

She suppressed her thoughts of continuing to improve her favorability and moved a small stool to sit under the eaves, holding her face in her hands and staring blankly at the rain curtain.

When the rain stopped, she needed to repair the roof properly.

There was a shortage of blue tiles in the village, and many families built houses with half tiles and half thatched roofs, which looked mismatched and were prone to leaks.

She could make some blue tiles by then.

Scared by Wu Jiachi’s words, she suddenly realized that she couldn’t just hide her weaknesses anymore.

She had to show her own abilities, at least to have the ability to protect herself in case of any future changes.

Wu Jiachi lay on the bed in the inner room, feeling drowsy but unable to sleep.

The sound of rain outside was incessant, and the sound of rainwater dripping into the basin in the room was also constant, mirroring his turbulent thoughts.

His fingertips subconsciously wanted to twist the Bodhi beads on his hand, but when he touched the empty space, he suddenly realized that he needed to polish a new string.

With the Bodhi beads, he could probably calm down.