CH 12

What happened next proved that Song Jinning's wish was not granted.

After Song Jinning said this, Li Chengxuan, who was sitting like a sculpture, turned his head without even moving his neck, and gave her a look.

Then he said in an arrogant and graceful tone: "Since the Empress pleads Zhen, Zhen will stay here for dinner.”

Song Jinning: ...

Song Jinning felt stuffy in her throat.

She really wants to kill this man.

All of Song Jinning’s meals are made by her own kitchen in Weiyang Palace. Because it is dinner, the dishes are mainly light.

Li Chengxuan, who was accustomed to eating rich food, saw the green vegetables on the table, and suspected that Song Jinning was treating him like a rabbit.

She must be deliberate, right?

Song Jinning took the hot towel that Gu Yu handed over, wiped her hands, and looked at Li Chengxuan with a smile.

"Chenqie didn't know that your majesty would come over for dinner today, so chenqie didn’t tell the kitchen to make more food. Chenqie hopes your majesty will not take this to heart.”

Get out of here after eating, and don't come over again in the future.

Li Chengxuan looked at the insincere smile on her face and this confirmed what he was thinking. This must be intentional.

Deliberately treating him as a rabbit, trying to fool him with these dishes.

But how can he easily admit defeat?

He said without a smile: "Zhen has eaten too much meat recently, and zhen wants to eat something light. Zhen thanks the Empress for thinking about zhen.”

Song Jinning squeezed her chopsticks tightly.

This person must be deliberate, right?

She will not be angry! As the saying goes, don’t be angry because being angry will make you sick.

She repeated the phrase ‘don’t be angry in her head', and her mood calmed down successfully. She’ll just eat and ignore this man.

Zhou Jing, who was standing behind Li Chengxuan, looked at the two fighting, and held his forehead in confusion.

Your Majesty, when you were in court, you were very calm, but why are you so naive now?

This is not your usual style!

But the thing that made Zhou Jing confused the most is the fact that Li Chengxuan ate more than one bowl of rice.

Isn't his majesty someone who dislikes rice?

Zhou Jing was shocked for a while, and couldn't help but glance at Song Jinning from the corner of his eyes.

Song Jinning was already done eating, and was drinking the tea that Gu Yu gave her to rinse her mouth.

Zhou Jing has been serving Li Chengxuan for a long time, and he had personally seen Song Jinning’s attitude when she was a child.

But now Song Jinning's attitude is completely different from when she was a child. It's not an exaggeration to say that he and Li Chengxuan were wrong about Song Jinning.

Looking at her like this, Song Jinning is still worthy of the four characters ‘Muyi Tianxia’ [1].

The maidservant removed the bowls and plates from the table, and Li Chengxuan walked and sat down on a wooden couch.

Originally, Song Jinning would walk back and forth in the courtyard to digest after eating dinner, but now Li Chengxuan was here so she couldn’t.

She continued to sit down on the chair. Gu Yu served tea, Song Jinning took the teacup, and she slowly drank the tea with her eyes down.

It’s embarrassing that no one’s talking. Nevermind, as long as she doesn't feel embarrassed herself, it’s not her fault.

After taking two sips of tea, Song Jinning put down the teacup and turned to look outside the door.

In the twilight, the light was shining brightly under the corridor. Occasionally, when the wind blew, the leaves of the pear tree in the courtyard shook.

The spring breeze is good. Even though it was already nighttime, it was not cold, but there was still a light floral fragrance in the air.

Spring is a really good time to fly paper kites.

However, Song Jinning didn’t have a paper kite. But it doesn't matter. She’ll just order a maidservant to go to the ministry of internal affairs tomorrow.

Maybe Empress Dowager Song and Princess Jingle would also like to fly a paper kite?

It's just that there are many towering structures in the forbidden city, and the imperial garden is full of lush trees. Where can she find an open place suitable for flying paper kites?

Song Jinning was so absorbed in thought that she didn't have time to pay attention to Li Chengxuan.

As the Emperor, how was Li Chengxuan being ignored like this? He was about to get up and walk away, but then he thought about the Empress Dowager, so he continued sitting with a calm face.

It’s not impossible to sit like this forever.

From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Song Jinning who was obviously distracted. When he saw this, his initiative to talk faded.

If he says something, Song Jinning might not hear it at all. If that will be the case, how embarrassing would that be?

So Li Chengxuan called Zhou Jing instead and said: "Bring me a book."

Song Jinning was distracted and was ignoring him. He doesn't need to communicate with her if he reads a book. Even if Empress Dowager Song knows, she still wouldn’t be able to complain.

After hearing this instruction, Zhou Jing thought in his heart, Your Majesty! Why didn't you say so earlier?

If you said it earlier, this slave will definitely let someone bring a few books to Weiyang Palace. But you only ordered this now, do you really expect this slave to go to the imperial study just to fetch you a book?

The Imperial Study is quite far from Weiyang Palace. Even if you run towards the study, it would take a stick of incense before you arrive there.

By the time this slave arrives back, you and the empress will already be resting! What’s the point?

Zhou Jing was quite hesitant.

He was about to open his mouth to ask if there is a book in Weiyang Palace but thinking about Song Jinning's reputation for being dumb...

Nevermind. Zhou Jing wouldn’t want Song Jinning to think that he was making fun of her.

Although Song Jinning was deep in thought, she still heard what Li Chengxuan said.

Li Chengxuan's voice is actually quite nice when he’s not so mean.

As for the book, she actually had some, but she didn't want to let Li Chengxuan borrow them.

Because she cherishes every book she has, and except for her close relatives, she doesn't want to lend it to anyone else.

So she pretended not to hear him and continued to look at the door.

Bai Lu and Gu Yu stood behind Song Jinning. 

Bai Lu was okay with this, but Gu Yu was different.

Gu Yu knew that Song Jinning doesn't like to lend her books to outsiders, but Li Chengxuan and her are already married, should he still be regarded as an outsider?

And for the past few days, Gu Yu looked at the way Song Jinning and Li Chengxuan get along, and is really worried about their relationship.

So with gritted teeth, Gu Yu stepped forward and bowed to Li Chengxuan.

Then she asked: "Her Highness has a collection of books. What book does your majesty want to read? This slave will get it for you.”

Emperor, our empress is actually very good. Don’t listen to the rumors outside and ignore my mistress.

When she said this, Song Jinning glanced at her, and Li Chengxuan looked at Song Jinning.

Song Jinning looked at Gu Yu because, how dare she lend her books to someone else?

As for the reason why Li Chengxuan looked at Song Jinning, it was because he was surprised.

She even has a collection of books? Could it be that she has really changed during the past seven years?

It's a pity that Song Jinning left him a bad impression a few years ago, so Li Chengxuan quickly sneered.

Even if she has some books, maybe they were the one with many pictures.

It's easy to change your attitude, but it’s hard to change your nature.

Sitting here is really boring, so Li Chengxuan said lightly: "Then give zhen a book called 《Zizhi Tongjian》[2].”

Gu Yu responded with a yes, then turned and walked back.

After a short while, she held several books in her hands, all of which were titled《Zizhi Tongjian》. Just let him pick whatever he wants.

Li Chengxuan turned his head and glanced at Zhou Jing slightly. Zhou Jing understood, and went to take the book from Gu Yu, then turned around to give it to Li Chengxuan.

《Zizhi Tongjian》is an emperor's book, and Li Chengxuan did not expect that Song Jinning would have it.

Li Chengxuan thought that even if Song Jinning had books, it would be those books with many pictures, but he didn’t expect that she actually had real books.

It seems that Prince Nanyang is really rich. He can even buy his daughter such an expensive book.

Li Chengxuan snorted softly, and took the last book from Zhou Jing's hand.

The cover looks pretty new.

Presumably this book has not been opened since Song Jinning received it. She hasn't read it at all, right?

However, what shocked him was that when he opened the book, there were notes in some places.

The writing was beautiful and it was obviously written by a woman.

He then found a golden leaf inside.

It was clipped on the book and was used as a bookmark.

So Song Jinning even read the last volume of 《Zizhi Tongjian》?

Li Chengxuan was surprised and involuntarily raised his eyes to look at Song Jinning.

When Song Jinning saw Gu Yu give Li Chengxuan the 《Zizhi Tongjian》, she called her and took a copy of the 《Zizhi Tongjian》as well and started to read it. Obviously she had the same idea as him.

If she reads a book, she naturally doesn't have to talk to him.

Li Chengxuan originally didn't want to pay attention to Song Jinning, but in the end he couldn’t hold back, and asked a question with the 《Zizhi Tongjian》in his hand.

"Have you read this book?"

Footnotes:

1) 母仪天下 (Mǔ yí tiānxià)- Mother of the World. In ancient Chinese belief the emperor is the son of heaven, while his *main wife is the mother of the world.

2) 資治通鑑 ( Zīzhì Tōngjiàn)- In english: Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years.The main text is arranged into 294 scrolls (equivalent to a chapter) totaling about 3 million Chinese characters.