Vol 9 Chapter 282 – Secret box

XH 282 - Secret box

With her husband not returning to sleep last night, Xiao Hua was not as upset as everyone had assumed.

The misunderstanding was contributed to the sight of her seated under the nice weather without a shade above her head. It was unusual, for Xiao Hua's usual hangout was under a small pavilion when the weather was sunny. 

Adding to that oddity, she was staring at nothing in particular, with glazed eyes that showed her mind had long gone far away. 

Without knowing the truth, the servant's overactive minds supplement the so-called truth by themselves. 

Xiao Hua understood that Long Zhu was helping out Heise, and would naturally be tired. That was not what she was worried about.

What concerned her was how she could see that there was something weighing in his mind, heavy enough that she could notice it when he usually had a good control of his expression. 

She wanted to just let the matter pass, thinking that it might be solved after a day or two, only to see it remained the same. It was then decided that Xiao Hua would speak to him about his worries but only ended up hearing he would not come home tonight.

It was worry and not anger she was feeling currently.

"Xiao Hua~ The princess is here to pay a visit~," Duan XiYing announced. 

"Really?" Xiao Hua brightens up and stopped her act of pulling out her whip from her bracelet. She intended to channel her energy on training along with a moment of venting so that she can stop worrying. 

Gossiping with Long Lian would help to distract, a method that was even better than training could achieve. 

But the obviously uncomfortable looking Long Lian dashed Xiao Hua's anticipation of the usual gossiping session. Looks like today will be them talking about Long Lian's troubles.

In contrast to her expectation, Long Lian asked, "Xiao Hua, have you opened the birthday present I've gifted you?"

Something about Long Lian's expression made Xiao Hua think twice before answering.

With a wooden expression, Xiao Hua throws a question instead. "Why?"

Long Lian's face quickly turned red and she stammered heavily. "I-I… it's the wrong box! I have given you the wrong box! I have a similar box, just like the one I gave you. It's because of how similar they are that I accidentally gave you the wrong box!"

"Is it?" Xiao Hua put on a casual expression. "I have yet got the chance to open the box. I have placed it in my room, so let me retrieve it for you. It's rather busy lately and I completely forgot about it."

Xiao Hua's answer was a great relief to Long Lian, but in return, it gave Xiao Hua a great pressure.

Duan XiYing served the princess honey water and osmanthus jelly cake while waiting for Xiao Hua to return with Da Bei, dutifully following her.

With the boxes finally returned to their rightful owners, Long Lian does not stay long, claiming that Tian Liang, the King of Munzhu, was waiting for her back at the palace. 

Xiao Hua did not hold her back and sent her to the gate.

Inside the carriage that was heading back to the palace, Long Lian took the handkerchief from Tang Mei and wiped her cold sweat on her forehead.

It was when she heard Tian Liang would be arriving soon did she remember the secret box given by him. It was the nagging feeling that had her check inside the box and finally noticed the greatest mistake she had ever made!

She had given Xiao Hua her secret box!

It was because Long Lian really liked the pattern and handiwork that she asked Tian Liang to give her a second one with different color for Xiao Hua.

"It is truly fortunate that the Third Princess Consort had yet to open the box," Tang Mei voiced out what Long Lian was thinking. 

"Truly fortunate-" Long Lian stopped. Now that she was no longer in a rush, she naturally realized something was not right.

"Princess?" Tang Mei stared at Long Lian worriedly.

"Wrong!" Long Lian exclaimed in horror and the handkerchief slipped from her hand, acting out what her heart was currently feeling.

If Xiao Hua had really not seen the content inside the box, then she would have pulled the box out from her bracelet instead of from her room. Long Lian had seen her putting the box inside her bracelet!

Long Lian had also belatedly realized that Xiao Hua's face was calm. It was not unusual, but rather, it was too calm and a bit too eager to return the box back to her!

Oh no! What would Xiao Hua think of her now?!

...What was Xiao Hua thinking? Oh, there were a lot of things in her mind.

Long Lian was no longer a virgin.

Long Lian was eaten clean by that hooligan named Tian Liang.

That hooligan dared to cook Long Lian's rice before they got married! Their engagement talk had not even finalized yet!

Xiao Hua's mind was a mess, which led to her mental breakdown. 

With a wooden face and numb heart, Xiao Hua opened the box of her real birthday present from Long Lian. Inside laid a high-quality handkerchief with a meaningful embroidery done by Long Lian's hand.

The embroidery was a large dragon, the shade of the sky, and a small cute phoenix in the dragon's embrace as they flew among the clouds. 

This must be the wedding present.

"It's a very thoughtful present~" Duan XiYing commented with a smile. "A white cloth with beautiful and exquisite handiwork. A blue dragon that is the shade of sky, and a cute red phoenix~ Just like master and Xiao Hua~"

"Yes, lovely. It is." Xiao Hua placed the handkerchief back into the box and closed the lid. She would only be able to use it after today's incident would stop surfacing in her mind every time she looked at the handkerchief.

Since the embarrassing incident had passed, in the future, both young ladies pretended to know nothing, despite how wild their minds would go whenever they saw each other. 

It took a long time for them to finally drop the matter in their hearts. 

Xiao Hua's wooden face remained until Long Zhu surprised her by returning in the evening with a forced smile on his face. 

Not even Xiao Hua's happy, welcoming smile turned his smile into a genuine one, but it looked sad in her eyes. 

That alone told her he was still burdened with a heavy problem. 

Their dinner was delicious and Xiao Hua tried to lighten the mood by telling him some funny stories during her stay at the Bai land. Long Zhu listened to her attentively but was not in the mood to help the conversation last longer. 

After dinner, Long Zhu excused himself to bathe, only for Xiao Hua to follow him and offer her services. It took him aback, but she does not accept any refusal and helped him strip.

Xiao Hua's services included helping him to scrub his back and washing his long hair but Long Zhu refused to let her touch any further without feeling embarassed.

Having him seated on a chair and combing his hair was included in her service. Long Zhu could feel some of the tension on him eased as he feel the gentle tug of the comb running down his hair. 

Suddenly, Xiao Hua hugged him from behind, her warm temperature wrapping him like a warm blanket.  She pressed the side of her head on his temple, her mouth above his ear. "You can tell me anything. Treat me as your garbage bag and voice out your frustration. I won't tell anyone."

Long Zhu rubbed her head and the other side of her cheek that he could reach. "You are not a garbage bag."

"Then a tree hole?"

"Not a tree hole either." He turned his head until he could look at her face above his, pulling her down and kissed her lips slowly without rushing. When their lips parted, he whispered softly, "You are my wife."

Pleased by his admission, Xiao Hua dropped a brief kiss on his lips. "Please share your worries with your wife so that she can stop worrying about her husband?"

When Long Zhu fell into silence, Xiao Hua did not urge him and choose to wait patiently. She continued hugging him from behind, silently offering him support. 

Her actions were clearly appreciated as he lifted one of her tender hands and pressed light, sticky kisses onto her palm, which gave a ticklish feeling in her heart.

"I regret why I did not outright kill Liu Chu Chu at that time when I had the opportunity to do so."

"...Why would you think that?" Xiao Hua frowned. 

She had not thought Long Zhu would think this way because never once had she caught a hint of remorse from him for his revenge plans. 

Long Zhu rubbed her arms, as if to soothe her ruffled fur that had stood up in his defense. 

"Just something I reflect on when I saw what those demon had done."

Xiao Hua pursed her lips, half understanding what he was feeling and sympathized. Another half of her was standing on his side, not blaming anything on him at all.

"Murder is a sin, no matter how one justifies it. We should never blame a person for being nice and kind," Xiao Hua spoke carefully. 

Le Xiao Ting herself had loathed the Mary Sue heroines in the novels she had read, helping and forgiving everyone, but in doing so had left tons of unnecessary problems to pop out in the future. 

But Long Zhu was not that blind heroine. 

"Don't ever blame yourself for being a good person," Xiao Hua scolded and hugged him even tighter.

Long Zhu does not know whether to cry or laugh at her consolation. But he revealed the truth. "I plan to kill her after torturing her for a few days. Am I still a good person?"

What he has remorse for was letting Liu Chu Chu cause more trouble that leads to many death, not his choice to torture Liu Chu Chu. 

Xiao Hua was conflicted after hearing that. But she was a flexible person! 

"Of course! We can't just label you as a bad person based on one or two people's opinions!"

Long Zhu finally laughed and pulled her around until she sat on his lap. "Do you even understand what you are saying?"

Xiao Hua: Do I need to understand as long as it makes you feel better?