Chapter 90
Chapter 90
Shengsheng bowed.
“This servant greets Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
*Proposal proposal proposal proposal proposal proposal proposal proposal!*
Weiqing Song was rapidly forgetting what the word even meant.
What proposal?
“We have not met for some time. Xiaohong, your circumstances seem even humbler than before.” A teasing smile curved his lips.
Shengsheng looked down at her drab maid’s clothes and said nothing.
*I’ll endure it. You’re acting as if you never took advantage of me, and you still haven’t paid my wages, but I need a favor from you. I’ll endure it.*
Weiqing raised an eyebrow.
He had thought Shengsheng rather slow about such matters. Apparently, he had been mistaken.
“Your Highness has traveled thousands of miles to the Zhu Kingdom. May this servant ask why?” Shengsheng looked up at him.
*Stop pretending. You came to deliver the proposal, didn’t you?*
Weiqing’s hand paused around his wine cup, then set it down.
The muted knock of porcelain against wood drew Shengsheng’s gaze.
His lucid eyes were fixed upon her, laden with emotions too complicated for her to decipher.
Shengsheng stared back in confusion.
Realizing how openly he was looking, Weiqing lowered his eyes. Long lashes concealed whatever lay within them.
“I came to attend to certain matters,” he said.
He had only kissed her once. Had she truly latched on to him because of that?
His thumb stroked the rim of the cup as he pondered.
Shengsheng could make no sense of him. Why had he fallen silent again?
The atmosphere in the room grew heavy. Jian decided it was time to smooth things over.
“Your Highness, Miss Shengsheng even brought you a gift.”
Weiqing raised an eyebrow. “Xiaohong brought me a gift?”
Shengsheng gaped.
What?
What had she brought?
A gift?
Her?
Since when?
When she failed to respond, Jian pointed to the corner of black cloth protruding from her sleeve.
“Miss Shengsheng?”
Understanding dawned.
Jian thought her visit to the bookstore had been to buy Weiqing a storybook.
*It isn’t! Please! He hasn’t even paid me, and you think I’d buy him storybooks? Do I look like an idiot?*
So it was not for him.
That only made Weiqing more interested.
“How thoughtful of you, Xiaohong.”
Before Shengsheng could react, Weiqing had crossed the room and plucked the black-wrapped bundle from her sleeve.
Shengsheng nearly jumped out of her skin.
“Y-Your Highness! You mustn’t!”
The last time she had been this frightened, she had been sitting naked in Fusheng’s lap.
At those words, Weiqing’s expression abruptly changed, his gaze darkening.
Even the bird sleeping inside her sleeve silently opened his eyes.
Without giving Shengsheng a chance to fight back, Weiqing began unwrapping the cloth.
Out of options, Shengsheng lunged forward and clung desperately to his leg.
“Your Highness, you truly cannot look!”
The soft pressure against his leg halted his hands.
“If it is not a gift for me, why is Xiaohong so determined to hide it?” He lowered his gaze to the pitiful face peering up at him from the floor.
Shengsheng could hardly tell the truth.
“What’s inside is unsuitable for someone of Your Highness’s age. Looking at it might sully your eyes.”
Weiqing pulled her upright. “What is unsuitable for someone my age?”
“At what age would it become suitable?” he asked with sincere curiosity, the smile still playing at his lips.
Shengsheng released his robe and ventured uncertainly, “For example… a beautiful woman in her thirties, shut away in a secluded courtyard?”
Weiqing stared.
The instant the words left her mouth, Shengsheng regretted them.
What scandalous nonsense was that?
“No… Your Highness, let me explain.”
She tugged on Weiqing’s sleeve, pressing closer without realizing it. Jian took one look and tactfully withdrew to guard the door.
The instant Shengsheng leaned against him, Weiqing’s hands stilled.
Seeing her chance, she stepped forward and reached for the bundle. Weiqing caught her around the waist with one arm and bent over her.
By the time Shengsheng reacted, the pleasant scent of cedar surrounded her. She raised her eyes and met his clear gaze.
At last, she understood why heroines in dramas and novels could only watch as the male lead leaned in to kiss them.
She truly could not move.
His gaze seemed to have locked her in place.
Only a finger’s breadth remained between their lips when something struck Weiqing heavily under the chin. His handsome, jade-like face snapped to one side.
Something soft brushed Shengsheng’s cheek, tickling her.
She finally regained control of her limbs. Glancing sideways, she saw the bird hovering in midair almost against her face.
The Crown Prince of Zhen had just been smacked away by a bird.
The sight immediately reminded Shengsheng of the time Pecky had knocked Siran unconscious.
As expected, her Pecky was no ordinary bird.
Spotting the distinct red mark on Weiqing’s jaw, Shengsheng swiftly caught Pecky and stuffed him back into her sleeve.
“Your Highness, are you all right?” She hurried forward to support him.
The Crown Prince of Zhen could not be allowed to come to harm in the Zhu Kingdom.
Weiqing touched his face, feeling the burning sting there, and pressed his lips together.
He had let down his guard. Fusheng Duan’s little feathered menace was here.
“Jian Zhang!” Weiqing called, his voice betraying neither anger nor pleasure.
Shengsheng’s heart sank.
Surely he was not about to drag her out and have her killed?
Jian entered. Dressed entirely in black, he stood with his stern face and restrained sharpness, like a sword sheathed.
Shengsheng swallowed.
Weiqing stared at the floor and instructed him, “Have the attendant bring up a bronze mirror.”
Jian acknowledged the order.
Shengsheng fell silent.
She had not seen that coming.
Jian had barely stepped out when, under Shengsheng’s horrified gaze, Weiqing bent down and rose with a thin book pinched between two fingers.
It had escaped completely from the black cloth that once sealed it away.
Shengsheng wanted to slit her own throat on the spot.
Who would save her?
As Weiqing opened the book, his expression slowly became indescribably complicated. Shengsheng nearly whimpered.
*Damn it. If I’d known this would happen, I might as well have let him kiss me. This is so annoying.*
A sharp pain pricked her palm. Shengsheng reflexively patted the bird.
*What are you fussing about? I didn’t even mention Fusheng this time.*
Weiqing raised his head.
“Come here,” he said.
Shengsheng shuffled toward him.
“Your Highness… someone else asked this servant to buy that. It isn’t for me. I don’t enjoy such things.”
She tried to explain.
Weiqing waved the thin book in his hand and drew out a meaningful, “Oh?”
Shengsheng fell silent.
If she had known, she would have stayed rotting in heaven instead of descending to the mortal realm.