Chapter 154
Chapter 154
Shengsheng Zhou had expected Weiqing Song to devise some profound and inscrutable scheme to ruin that damned matchmaking banquet.
“Imperial Brother, are you serious?”
Glancing at the prayer beads turning ceaselessly in his hand, Shengsheng said with deep sorrow, “Imperial Brother, the spring wind never crosses Jade Gate Pass, and Buddha never saves a blockheaded fool. Please reconsider!”
Weiqing wondered what any of that had to do with anything. No wonder he had heard fewer thoughts lately. She had abandoned all pretense.
His idea was so plain and boring that Shengsheng began to suspect he had earned the position of Crown Prince solely through his face.
Family, he wanted me to pretend to faint midway through the banquet.
Even heroines in old-fashioned novels no longer did that. Those fashionable ladies stood bravely and declared they would rather become nuns than marry men they did not love.
And what did our Crown Prince want us to do?
Faint?
Could Shengsheng possibly do something so tasteless?
“Can you pay me extra, Imperial Brother?” Shengsheng asked solemnly.
Weiqing: “…Do you think you’re acting in a play?”
Shengsheng pouted. “That’s far too boring. Why don’t I pretend to be sick from the start and not attend?”
Weiqing studied her rosy lips and white teeth, then flicked her smooth forehead. “Look at you, built as sturdily as an ox. Everyone would see through it.”
Shengsheng touched her face. “I even prepared a talent to ‘astound’ everyone.”
Weiqing abruptly recalled the “heavenly lightning strike” this girl had orchestrated years ago. “…”
“Don’t, Sheng’er. As a princess of Zhen Kingdom, how could you lower yourself by displaying your celestial beauty before those minor states?”
You would only expose yourself more quickly…
What was the word again? Oh, right. Your disguise.
Weiqing suddenly reached out and touched the red mole on her left cheek. His eyes darkened, and his voice unconsciously lowered. “This must be covered when the time comes…”
*Here it comes, the Stand-In Romance.*
“Why, Imperial Brother?” Shengsheng asked with wide-eyed innocence.
Even A-Pang could no longer watch. *What is wrong with you? Do you want me to revoke your Oscar on behalf of the Academy?*
Shengsheng replied, *What did I do?*
Before A-Pang could answer, Weiqing chuckled. Ripples entered his eyes. “It attracts too much attention.”
*Bullshit. What you mean is, ‘Without the red mole, you don’t look like her!’*
…
“My lord, will you not attend Zhen Kingdom’s banquet?”
Xiangxiang replaced the incense that had burned down and asked.
The man in red never looked away from the letter in his hand. He coughed and pressed a hand to his tight chest. “Go decline His Majesty’s invitation later.”
Xiangxiang glanced at the man’s visibly sick face, swallowed her advice, and answered, “Yes.”
Her lord seemed to have changed. He had not lain on the wonderfully comfortable couch by the window in a very long time.
Ever since returning from the prison, he had frantically gathered information everywhere.
He stared at incoming letters day and night. His injuries had never healed, and his complexion was worsening.
Rubbing his aching brow, Fusheng Duan suddenly asked, “That princess of Zhen Kingdom–I remember she was born witless. When did she regain her senses?”
Xiangxiang thought about it. Palace attendants had discussed the question often lately, but she knew only the day, not the precise time.
Yet the instant the answer left her mouth, she froze.
That was also the day Shengsheng died…
She looked at Fusheng. Sure enough, the previously weary man’s eyes had narrowed.
“Investigate what changed after the princess regained her senses, everything she has done… and the Crown Prince’s attitude toward her.”
“Also report to His Majesty that I have nothing to do while recuperating and would like to visit Zhen Kingdom for a change of scenery.”
Xiangxiang immediately bowed and left.
Then she regretted speaking. In her lord’s condition, the journey would surely exhaust him again.
That damned dog emperor cared nothing for her lord’s health. No wonder her lord despised him.
…
Inside Zhen Kingdom’s palace, a parrot that had flown from Shuanglin Palace stood on a roof and looked down over the compound.
A small object suddenly fled from his shadow, struggling to escape. Just as it was about to break free, a claw pinned it down.
The parrot with two adorable rosy cheeks tilted his head. *Where do you think you’re going?*
The mass of shadow shrank and spoke weakly. *If you do this, you will be discovered sooner or later. My soul is bound to my system. If anything happens to me, it will immediately report to our superiors.*
The parrot ignored it and groomed a rebellious feather. *Being a bird really is troublesome. These feathers are always slipping out of control.*
*But that doesn’t matter. I have always preferred cutting through a tangled mess with one swift stroke.*
Under the shadow’s terrified gaze, the parrot seized the unruly feather in his beak and pulled it out.
Then, with lightning speed, he bent down, caught the shadow, and swallowed it.
He murmured, *Then I’ll eat both of you together.*
A pleasant, gentle female voice called his name from below.
The parrot glanced down and happened to see Shengsheng searching everywhere. She even tried to lift her skirt and climb a tree to find the bird, only to be forced back down by a mass of kneeling attendants.
*How interesting,* he thought.
Experiencing everything personally was far more entertaining than watching from the shadows.
So, who should hear Shengsheng’s thoughts next?