Chapter 15

Chapter 15 Illusion (4)

Si Ran smiled as he helped Feng Yin stand up. “There’s no need to be courteous. Come, you’re all dirty. Let Imperial brother take you to the washroom.” Turning around, he lifted his brows and stared straight at me, “What are you doing?Come on.”

In a rush, I followed Si Ran to the East Palace’s mansion. Si Ran assigned a maid to look after Feng Yin, and when he emerged, I was taken aback. His meekness was given a touch of grace by his white clothing. His phoenix eyes were half-dropping from nervousness, his peach lips were pursed slightly, and a set of petite hands were clumsily squeezing together. I can’t help but laugh out loud when I see this. This was certainly the behavior of someone who had just left his house for the first time to interact with strangers. Like a timid lady.  Where is he a prince?  At the very least, he doesn’t have that domineering personality that a royal should have.

No, I can’t stand it anymore…

I grabbed a cup of tea and drank it hastily, choked up, and was kindly offered a square towel by Si Ran. I grabbed the square towel to wipe the tea smears from the corner of my lips away, but in my haste, I knocked over the teacup.

“What are you doing?” Si Ran asked, his face sinking.

“Uh… drinking tea,” I coughed gently, masking my discomfort. “Hey, don’t worry. I’ll clean it up now.”

I knelt down, but the broken cup sliced my finger. Si Ran’s face sunk even lower, frowning and telling the maid to fetch some wound medicine and he personally applied it to me carefully. It touched my heart to see Si Ran’s focused expression.

A ridiculous notion occurred to me- if Si Ran could always look after me like this, it would be worth it even if I perish!

“Has this turned you into a fool, Imperial Uncle?” Si Ran raised his lips slightly, a little amused, “This is not right. If the Uncle became truly stupid, who would be willing to marry into the prince’s residence? If that’s the case, wouldn’t the incense be cut off?”

(t/n incense be cut off- have no descendents)

“It’s fine…er…then you can just marry me.” Without thinking, I uttered such a sentence from my head.

“Okay.” He smiled and responded without hesitation.

I was taken aback and couldn’t reply quickly enough— had Si Ran just agreed?  Did he also like me in his heart?

I couldn’t stop myself from hugging Si Ran. I was overjoyed, yet I had the impression that I was neglecting someone. Then I recalled  and grew agitated. “Where is Feng Yin?” I inquired, my countenance solemn.

It would be inappropriate for others to find out he was here. First of all, because his royal face was a bit sad.

“Feng Yin was picked up by a guard while you were still dazed, and I’m afraid he had already returned to his place at this moment,” he said, his peach blossom eyes narrowing slightly.  “Why? Do you miss him already if you don’t see him for a moment?”

Is Si Ran…jealous? Yes, he must be.

I straightened up and responded in an instant. “That’s correct, but you shouldn’t bother.”

“You…”With a cold snort, Si Ran turned his back on me and issued an order for me to depart, “It’s getting late, Imperial Uncle, go back to the mansion; I still have urgent  matters to do inside the palace, so I won’t be seeing you off.”

“What’s the rush?” I sat on the mahogany chair, poured myself a cup of tea, and poked the floating leaves in the cup casually. “Hadn’t the emperor read the memorial already? I’m not sure what else is urgent for Si Ran.”

After a brief period of thought, he returned his gaze to me. He sat next to me, seemingly unconvinced. He poured himself a cup of tea and held it in his hand. Perhaps he wasn’t thirsty after all. He was simply holding it, did not drink it, did not taste it, and did not say anything.

I drank tea without a tea cup. It’s a complete waste of time. I sipped straight from the pot, it was a delicious cup of tea, so I got another towards the end. The sun in the beautiful sky outside seemed bored, and had just fallen into the west.

“Imperial Uncle, it’s getting late. You should return to the mansion,” Si Ran said, opening his lips while looking at the sunset.

“Why do you still call me Imperial Uncle? Call me Ziqing, Ziqing is much sweeter than Imperial Uncle, you know, Imperial Uncle sounds more distant.” I sat upright with a serious expression on my face. 

“Ziqing…” Si Ran stumbled. Fortunately, he still calls me like that when there are no outsiders around. 

“Si Ran,” I said bitterly, looking at the lowering sun and gray sky outside, “see, it’s getting late, and if I walk back now, I’m afraid it’ll be dark before I’m halfway there. When it’s already dark, what if I run into a robber, thief, demon, ghost, or something, I’m afraid I’ll lose my life.”

“Rogues and robbers? You’re still terrified despite your martial arts?” Si Ran lifted his eyebrows with a cold snort and said, “Monsters and ghosts? I’m afraid it’s because Ziqing has heard many folk tales. How can there be monsters in this world? .”

Demons, ghosts, and the like… I don’t believe that either. Wasn’t I just looking for excuses to stay? How can you, Si Ran…

I coughed gently and continued to hunt for a justification to stay. “Actually, Si Ran, I was terrified of the night when I was younger, and now that it’s getting late, I don’t dare to walk back right now.”

“Why haven’t I heard that Ziqing is afraid of the dark as a child? I don’t know, but when he was still a child, he took this Palace everywhere to hunt for crickets.” Si Ran glanced at me, who looked very lost of being exposed, and sighed, “Forget it. Servant, go to Prince Xi’s mansion and report that because it’s already too late, Imperial Uncle will rest here for the night.”

(t/n this Palace-The self-proclaimed title of the Lord of the House in ancient times)

“Yes.” The servant replied respectfully, turned and trotted out of the East Palace.

“Someone, prepare a room for Uncle.”

A maidservant said yes and was about to step down when I hurriedly intervened, “There is no need to prepare a room. Si Ran, can’t I just squeeze in with you?”

It took a little while before Si Ran nodded and my extremely nervous mind was finally stabled.

“Prepare water, this Palace needs to bathe,” he paused, “as well as Uncle Huang.”

After the two of us took a bath, I walked to the bedroom quite comfortably, and threw myself at the tall **** embroidered with golden dragons, fully satisfied.

Si Ran’s unique fragrance was everywhere…

There was a corner of a page of a book peeking under the pillow that reflected in my eyes. Si Ran worked so hard that he even read books at bedtime, I thought to myself.

Full of curiosity, I pulled out the book under the pillow, the pages were opened, and I froze. The hands and shoulders holding the book trembled uncontrollably.

“What’s wrong? What are you doing..” What is this….

Si Ran stretched out his hand behind me and patted my shoulder. I finally put down the book “The Legend of Hong Ye Sword ” wrapped in the cover of the Four Books and Five Classics. Although I covered my lips, I couldn’t stop the laughter that had come out. Si Ran’s countenance darkened as a result of my laughter, and he snatched the martial arts book from my grasp, snorted harshly, and laid down on the bed with his backside to me, ignoring me.

(t/n Four Books and Five Classics- The Four Books and the Five Classics occupy a very important position in many literary works of Chinese traditional culture, and they are the core classics studied by Confucian scholars in all dynasties. The Four Books and Five Classics record in detail the historical facts of politics, military affairs, diplomacy, culture and other aspects in the history of early ideological and cultural development in my country, as well as the important thoughts of thinkers such as Confucius and Mencius.)

“Si Ran, you can do it. As a prince, I actually read these folk martial arts legends. I don’t know how angry the emperor will be once he finds out.” I joked, but Si Ran didn’t seem to have heard what I said. He was still lying on his side, not moving at all.

I sat up, patted his back, yet he only waved his hand back, as if impatiently chasing flies away.