CH 128

Even in her gesture of attention, Ming Zhu was very being perfunctory as she offered him the pastry, and when she saw that he had no intention of eating, she silently withdrew her hand and put the pastry back on the plate as it was, “Forget it if you don’t want to eat it.”

Zhao Zhi’s fingers unconsciously lightly tapped the edge of the table and he indifferently said, “These were originally brought for you.”

The sweet rice cakes were delivered over by order of his mother, they tasted sweet without being greasy, fragrant, soft, and lightly sweet.

Ming Zhu bowed her head and thanked him.

Zhao Zhi’s finger stopped in mid-air, his thin lips pursed up, “You are unexpectedly polite.”

Ming Zhu couldn’t figure out what he was upset about, it didn’t seem like she had stirred up any trouble tonight, right? She had thanked him very politely, but his face still remained cold, even the words that came out of his mouth were cold as well.

He was resentful, as if someone owed him a great deal.

In such moments, Ming Zhu very often made the choice to remain silent, so as not to risk saying anything wrong, that would add fuel to the fire. She was a little tired, her head leaned against the wooden window, as she yawned silently, feeling extremely sleepy.

The carriage drove smoothly all the way back to the crown prince’s residence.

When Ming Zhu returned to her room, she threw herself onto the bed, buried her face in the pillow, and closed her eyes to sleep.

Biying took off her hairpins for her and wiped her face with water, “Miss, you should sleep on the inside part of the bed, I am afraid you will fall out of bed in the middle of the night.”

Miss Ming Zhu was the kind of person who had a lot of dreams and those were often nightmares. If she got scared, rolled out of bed, and got hurt as a result, it would be really bad.

Ming Zhu was so sleepy that she couldn’t even open her eyes, she held the quilt and rolled further inside the bed, vaguely answering with the sound “mmh” and then there no more sound.

Biying shook her head and laughed, she placed two pillows on the side of the bed as a barrier, then standing on tiptoe, she blew out the candles, and walked out with silent steps, closing the door behind her.

In the night, a strong wind was blowing. Half of the delicate leaves on the branches of the flower trees in the courtyard were blown off by the strong wind.

Biying picked up all the branches on the ground and held them in her arms, intending to take them to the kitchen to burn them just like firewood.

When she raised her head up again, she saw the man standing in the night. Bowing her head, she saluted, “Your Highness.”

Zhao Zhi made a gesture to silence her and, with a cold look, gestured for her to leave.

When Zhao Zhi gently pushed open the door of the room, a weak beam of moonlight penetrated through the gap of the door and shone into the room.

The person was sleeping on the bed holding the quilt, it was unsure when, but she had rolled from the inside of the bed towards the edge of the bed. It was fortunate that there were two pillows in the way, so she didn’t fall off the bed.

Half of her face was pressed on the pillow, she was sleeping soundly. Her face looked like a peach blossom, white with tinges of red, like tinted with drunkenness. Her eyelashes were long and dense, while her cherry mouth was slightly open. Even the way she was breathing with vigor was very lovely.

A few disobedient strands of hair were on her cheeks, Zhao Zhi reached out to tidy up her hair, he sat for a long time on the edge of the bed, lowering his head and eyes to quietly watch her sleeping appearance.

It had been a long time since the last time he had quietly taken a good look at her. He was missing her in his heart, but he had to pretend as if he did not care.

He gently touched her cheek with his fingertips, they were tender, as if water could be pinched out of them.

It was unsure how long had passed. The sky outside the window gradually brightened, the early morning daylight appeared through the windowpane, as threads of light entered the room, one by one.

Zhao Zhi went back to the palace before the day fully brightened. He had not slept all night, and his head was a little swollen and aching. He drank two cups of tea to refresh himself. Except the fact that his face looked a little whiter, nothing else looked amiss.

Biying went to wake up Ming Zhu early in the morning. Not knowing at what moment His Highness had left last night, she did not say anything.

Ming Zhu was very sleepy these days, as if no matter how long she slept, she still could not get enough, even sleeping until the sky was dark would not be enough.

After she got up and got dressed, she kept squinting and yawning repeatedly.

Biying helped her brush her hair and smiled: “Old people say it’s easy to feel sleepy in spring and dull in autumn, how come you are so sleepy even in summer?”

“Maybe I was too tired last night.”

Because of the struggle in the water, her arms and calves were still feeling sore at this moment.