Chapter 53: Yao-yao, You’re So Sweet

Xiao Ji’s kisses were densely imprinted along Xie Yao’s neck, moving from top to bottom, leaving behind a string of red marks that stirred endless thoughts.

“Your Highness,” Xie Yao called out softly, her voice weak, and she stretched out a hand to push him, though she hardly had any strength.

Xiao Ji supported her with one arm while his other hand clasped hers, their fingers interlaced. “Yao-yao, you’re so sweet.”

It truly wasn’t his fault.

Whenever he encountered Xie Yao, the self-control he had once taken pride in instantly crumbled, leaving him with nothing but the urge to draw closer to her.

Xie Yao’s cheeks were tinted with a faint blush. The afternoon sunlight spilled in golden brilliance, falling across her body. She seemed to glow entirely, dazzling like a goddess.

Even his kisses carried a hint of reverence.

Yao-yao must have been the goddess bestowed upon him by heaven, weaving a dreamlike illusion just for him.

Even if it cost him his life, he would never regret it.

Yet, Yao-yao…

The passion in Xiao Ji’s kisses gradually faded. At last, he only held Xie Yao in his arms, cherishing her carefully.

“Yao-yao… forgive me.”

“What is Your Highness saying?” Xie Yao’s watery eyes gradually cleared. She leaned against him weakly, with no support, and could only cling tightly to Xiao Ji’s sleeve.

Xiao Ji helped her sit upright. “I was thinking about what Yao-yao ought to study.”

“Ah?”

This time Xie Yao truly didn’t understand. Her gaze was dazed as she looked at him.

Xiao Ji walked over to the bookshelf and casually pulled down a few volumes. “Has Yao-yao read these books before?”

She lifted her eyes. “I’ve read some.”

Her mother had died early, and after the Zhao family left the capital, she had lived under Madam Zhang’s hand.

Though she was the legitimate daughter of the principal wife, in Madam Zhang’s eyes she was nothing but an eyesore, a stain upon the so-called perfect union between Madam Zhang and Master Xie.

Madam Zhang loathed her, Master Xie ignored her. The only reason she had learned her letters was because Xie Yujiao had been lazy in her studies and often got scolded. It was then they had thought of her, dragging her along to serve as a companion in lessons.

The one time she had surpassed Xie Yujiao in her studies, she had been harshly punished. From then on, she learned to hide her abilities.

In her spare moments, she secretly read.

But as a cloistered young lady, what she could access was always limited.

Xie Yao was still lost in thought when she suddenly felt weight in her hands.

Xiao Ji had placed the books in them. “Since you haven’t finished them, then start with these.”

“Your Highness?” Xie Yao tilted her head slightly, her glassy eyes full of confusion.

What did he mean by this?

“When you’ve finished, I’ll test you. If you can’t answer…” Xiao Ji chuckled, “there will be punishments.”

Xie Yao’s face inexplicably grew hot. Somehow, she felt those words “punishments” carried another implication.

“Yes.” She had no choice but to agree, deciding to think of this as… a kind of private amusement between husband and wife.

—

In the imperial palace.

Weiyang Palace.

When Xiao Ning and Xiao Hong entered the hall, all the attendants had already been dismissed.

“Mother Consort.”

Xiao Ning stepped forward to help the Noble Consort rise. Supposedly gravely ill, she now only appeared somewhat pale.

“What happened? How could something so well-prepared go awry?” The Noble Consort’s tone carried displeasure.

They had plotted this for a long time. It hadn’t been easy to bribe someone from Princess Yongle’s household. It should have been foolproof, yet things had gone wrong.

Xiao Hong let out a cold snort. “Perhaps Mother should ask Elder Sister. Even at such a time, she was still thinking of…”

“If not for that, Aunt wouldn’t have caught her red-handed. Otherwise, there would have been room to maneuver.”

“Now not only did the plan fail, I’ve even lost my place in the Ministry of Revenue!” The more he thought about it, the angrier Xiao Hong became, his heart brimming with dissatisfaction toward Xiao Ning.

“How is that my fault?” Xiao Ning retorted. “It was clearly Hu Lianyuan who…”

“Enough.” The Noble Consort’s head throbbed from their bickering. She cut them off. “What’s done is done. Quarreling won’t change it.”

“This palace heard that at the time, Pei Chen was with the Crown Prince?”

Xiao Ning and Xiao Hong both immediately caught on. “Mother Consort, do you suspect this has something to do with the Crown Prince?”

“That’s impossible. He doesn’t even have two years left to live…” Xiao Hong’s tone dripped with disdain.

Though Xiao Ji bore the title of Crown Prince, Xiao Hong had never regarded him as a rival.

A man doomed to die.

“Hmph.” Xiao Ning said, “I already said my falling into the water had something to do with that wretched Xie Yao. Maybe this was the scheme of that pair of husband and wife!”

“What would he gain from it?” Xiao Hong asked, baffled.

The Noble Consort’s gaze flickered, thoughtful.

“You didn’t see the way he looks at Xie Yao. If I were him, I wouldn’t sit idly by either.” Xiao Ning’s face was full of disdain.

Xiao Hong grew angry. “He can’t even have children. To waste such a beauty is a crime!”

“And besides, maybe she knows about you and that poor scholar Song Wenbo, and is trying to stand up for her younger sister!”

“Impossible!” Xiao Ning immediately denied it.

As the siblings bickered and shifted blame, the Noble Consort gathered her thoughts once more. “Enough. What’s the point in squabbling?”

“Marrying into the Hu Lian clan is not necessarily a bad thing. Behind him lies the Northern Frontier Kingdom.”

“As for Xiao Ji, whether or not he had a hand in this, guard against him nonetheless.”

“This matter, I will handle personally.”

—-

The moment the Second Prince and Princess He Yi left the palace, word was swiftly delivered to the Crown Prince’s study.

“Has the Noble Consort’s health improved?” Xiao Ji asked.

Si-nan shook his head. “The imperial physicians are helpless. The Second Prince has already summoned many folk doctors into the palace.”

Xiao Ji pondered deeply.

Surely there was another meaning behind the Noble Consort’s actions… they were ill-intentioned.

Yet in the days that followed, the situation remained calm. No further news spread. The Second Prince, together with the Ministry of Rites, busied themselves with arranging Princess He Yi’s wedding.

Princess He Yi stayed obediently in her own manor, entering the palace every other day to visit the Noble Consort.

The Noble Consort continued to “be ill.” Every doctor in the capital had been summoned, yet her condition showed no improvement.

Xie Yao frowned. “Could it be that the Noble Consort truly is ill?”

The sickness had come strangely, and all too suddenly.

Xiao Ji glanced at her, recalling what Si-nan had privately reported. “No.”

If the Noble Consort were truly sick, how could Xiao Hong have the leisure just yesterday to take in two concubines?

It wouldn’t have mattered much, except that Si-nan had noted: the two women resembled Xie Yao in body.

Remembering Xiao Hong’s gaze that day, Xiao Ji’s eyes flashed with a sharp, icy light.

Before matters with the Noble Consort were clarified, news came from the Xie family.

Xie Yao was asked to return to discuss the matter of adopting an heir.

As the Crown Prince’s carriage reached the Xie residence and Xie Yao was helped down, a shrill voice rang out, “No! I don’t agree!”

“Adopting one heir is enough. Why must another be adopted under Xie Yao’s mother’s name?”

It was Xie Yujiao.

Adopting an heir under Madam Zhang’s name was something Madam Zhang had already agreed. But adopting another under Xie Yao’s late mother’s name, Xie Yujiao and Madam Zhang naturally opposed it, and now they exploded in anger.

Xie Yao, however, remained calm, leaning on Zhuqing’s support as she slowly entered.

When Master Xie saw the Crown Princess, graceful and poised, he immediately declared his stance, glaring at Xie Yujiao. “My decision is not for you to question!”

Xie Yujiao froze, her eyes quickly filling with tears as if wronged beyond measure. “Father, if you do this, where does it leave Mother?”

“In the capital, everyone believes Mother is Father’s original wife. Wouldn’t Father’s decision be a slap to her face?”

“Father, could it be that Xie Yao has…”

“Absurd!” Master Xie barked, cutting her off.

As he spoke, his eyes flicked toward Xie Yao.

Xie Yujiao looked at her father in disbelief. Though she had only been scolded, her eyes brimmed with tears.

After all, she was the daughter he had doted on for years. A fleeting trace of reluctance flashed in Master Xie’s eyes. “Jiao-jiao…”

Xie Yujiao stomped her foot, sulking as she sat down.

No sooner had she seated herself than her gaze fell on Xie Yao, who was now stepping through the doorway. Her eyes turned vicious, sweeping over Xie Yao with scorn.

Xie Yao… just a ruined woman, and yet she dared to flaunt herself before her as the Crown Princess?