This Waste Wood Burns For You - Chapter 12

The smile of the most beautiful woman in the Nine Provinces was captivating, and the atmosphere in the carriage became thick and silent. Li Nu, who had no presence, lowered her head, only daring to look at the two pairs of different-shaped boots with her peripheral vision.

It was so strange.

The princess and Chai Qing, they were so strange.

At first glance, it didn’t seem like anything, but upon closer inspection, everything felt wrong. When had their mistress ever been so soft and yielding?

If she had, she would have died long ago in the treacherous Kingdom of Jiang’s palace.

The princess had a kind of indulgence for Chai Qing that Li Nu couldn’t understand.

Who was Chai Qing?

She was a thief.

At most, she had a pretty face, a sweet mouth, and good martial arts skills. What kind of ability did she have to make the princess look at her differently?

Moreover, she was a thief, and what she wanted to steal wasn’t gold or silver jewelry, but the princess herself.

The princess had always been cold to her suitors. At the age of eighteen, she lived like a nun in a temple. Most of the time, she was like a piece of wood without warmth.

It was no wonder that she guessed that the princess was playing with her. The four words “love and romance” were too incongruous when applied to the princess.

No one spoke. Affected by the surrounding environment, Li Nu quietly swallowed her saliva, trying to be a transparent person.

The breathtaking beauty suddenly shifted. Chai Qing keenly saw a hint of almost melancholic sadness in the beauty’s smile. That inexplicable feeling of being a substitute came back again.

“Are you really afraid of death?”

“Of course.”

Jiang Rao struggled for a moment, Chai Qing released her hold on her, then withdrew her hand that had been gently rubbing the princess’s abdomen.

The two of them were huddled together, close and intimate. They had only known each other for a few days, but because of Jiang Rao’s rare vulnerability and Chai Qing’s extremely rare kindness, their relationship had, for the first time, a sense of intimacy and familiarity.

Since she came of age, Jiang Rao had only nestled in her mother’s arms.

Her mother always had a lingering bitter smell of medicine on her, Chai Qing was different. Chai Qing’s embrace was warm and soft, without any extra scent, clean and pure, the opposite of her scheming mind.

Jiang Rao leaned against her silently, slowly closing her eyes.

The beauty’s fragrance lingered in her nose. Chai Qing lowered her head and took a light sniff, as if she smelled frost and plum blossoms.

She looked at her long, thick eyelashes, watched the cold sweat on her forehead slowly evaporate, their body temperatures intertwined. For Chai Qing, it was a different kind of closeness than the one she shared with her aunt.

From the moment she first saw Jiang Rao, she knew that this person was lonely.

Lonely people are the most lively when they go crazy.

She hugged her tighter, completely ignoring Li Nu’s wide eyes, and began to think about how to coax Jiang Rao into doing something good with her.

Although she was bad, she was still a daughter at heart. She didn’t want to force anything like that.

Chai Qing hugged the princess, and before long, she was thinking about her Jiang Jiang again.

Her heart and eyes weren’t on Jiang Rao.

Jiang Rao noticed it immediately. Her eyelashes fluttered, and she couldn’t help but smile in her heart.

How interesting.

Despite her title of “the most beautiful woman in the Nine Provinces,” she couldn’t capture this person’s heart.

But it wasn’t bad either.

Something that’s too easy to get will get boring too soon.

The two of them hugged each other, oblivious to the world. Li Nu swallowed the words she had been about to say, worried that she would disturb the princess’s rest.

In this world of great strife, life and death are not in one’s own hands. Few people value chastity. The current queen of Yue was snatched from another country by the King of Yue.

The year she was snatched, the queen gave birth to a child. The child was the offspring of her childhood sweetheart. The King of Yue was ruthless, he kept the child but killed the father. So the wild man’s son became his son, and the wild man’s childhood sweetheart became his woman.

Within two years, the Queen of Yue had firmly grasped the king’s heart.

The ‘wild child’ she had with another man became the king’s most beloved child.

Strange things happen every year.

Green hats are passed around.

Before coming here, Li Nu had thought that, with the princess’s cold and aloof nature, she would easily win the king’s favor for a while, but it would be difficult to win his respect for a lifetime. She wouldn’t be surprised if she was eventually seduced by a man with power.

She had even anticipated the possibility of the princess ‘cheating’ in the future, but she never guessed that the princess would ‘fall for’ a woman on the way to marry into another country.

And it was Chai Qing, a commoner who she had only met a few times.

The carriage suddenly stopped.

Jiang Rao leaned against Chai Qing, unwilling to get up. She was weak and lazily opened her eyes, “What’s wrong?”

Li Nu said, “Princess, someone has fainted on the road.”

The person was Yan Nu, who had arrived early and was lying in the snow.

Chai Qing used her masterful skills to make a human skin mask for Yan Nu, a mask of an average person’s appearance. It was stuck to her face and couldn’t be torn off. It could only be removed with a special solution.

The security level was very high.

The sky was filled with heavy snow, the wind and snow were intertwined. Ronghua, who was already worried about the difficult journey, saw the strange woman blocking the carriage. He frowned and pointed, “Take her away, throw her as far as you can!”

“Yes!”

“Wait.”

Li Nu lifted the curtain and jumped out of the carriage. She quickly walked to Yan Nu’s side, squatted down, and used her finger to check her breath.

After doing this, she raised her voice, “The princess said, saving a life is a good deed. The journey to the King of Yan’s city is long. From today onwards, the princess is willing to do a good deed every day. May the Kingdom of Jiang’s dynasty last forever.”

She even brought up the dynasty. Ronghua couldn’t stop her anymore. He got off his horse and checked the person blocking the road. He confirmed that she had fainted from the cold, then ordered someone to bring chains to bind her hands and feet. Then he turned a blind eye.

A stranger of unknown origin, naturally, couldn’t be in the same carriage as the princess. Yan Nu was carried into the carriage where the luggage was stored by Li Nu.

As soon as she entered the carriage, Yan Nu opened her eyes.

Li Nu smiled at her, indicating that everything was going smoothly.

The carriage curtain was lowered.

General Ronghua wiped his face, frowned at the gloomy sky above, “Continue!”

Li Nu went to the back carriage to take care of her sister. Chai Qing, disguised as Yan Nu, chatted with Jiang Rao casually.

“I’m thirsty.”

Chai Qing clicked her tongue, thinking to herself that the princess was delicate. She had been the one talking all this time, she hadn’t even said she was thirsty. Her gaze was fixed on Jiang Rao’s captivating eyes. She hummed softly and took out the water bag she had prepared.

The water bag’s insulation was barely adequate. The water poured out in the cold weather was only cold. Jiang Rao wasn’t a delicate person, but she wanted to be a little fussy. She took a small sip and refused to drink anymore.

She had just recovered from the torment of her period, her lips were no longer moist.

Chai Qing couldn’t stand her quirks. She raised her hand, and the tea water poured into the cup went straight into her own stomach. She enjoyed herself, “It’s really good.”

Jiang Rao’s eyes flashed with annoyance; she wanted to wriggle free from her embrace.

But her waist was held down.

Chai Qing lost her temper, “Don’t go.”

The princess was soft and fragrant, it was very comfortable to hold her. She hesitated for a moment, then used her internal strength in her palm.

Within half a quarter of an hour, the water bag was warmed by her abundant internal strength. She unscrewed the stopper, and the water poured into the cup had a hint of warmth.

Her skill was exquisite. Jiang Rao looked at her with admiration.

Pretending not to see the princess’s surprised gaze, she straightened her back, her smile rippling, “You can drink now, right?”

Jiang Rao smiled, “Change the cup.”

“…”

What’s wrong with you?

You think I’m dirty?

Chai Qing was annoyed, but she reluctantly took a new cup.

Jiang Rao drank half a cup without rushing, her posture was elegant, her demeanor was outstanding. Seeing her lips regain their former moisture, Chai Qing suddenly stopped being angry.

Why was I angry?

She was a princess after all.

Chai Qing went through a perfunctory process of showing concern, and the calico cat sleeping in a corner of the carriage slowly opened its closed cat eyes.

Now Jiang Rao had a better playmate and forgot about Chai Qing.

Unable to reach that beautiful waist, Chai Qing sat opposite her listlessly, looking at the cat for a while, then at the smile on Jiang Rao’s lips.

She fell into thought.

Maybe I shouldn’t have given her a cat?

Was the cat as warm as me?

She shouldn’t have written the storybook either. After petting the cat, Jiang Rao was reading the unfinished ‘Willow’s Slender Waist’ again.

Chai Qing propped her chin with one hand, she suspected that in Jiang Rao’s heart, she wasn’t even as good as a small fingernail of Yang Liu in the book.

It was a pain in the neck.

She exhaled a puff of white air.

Like a horse that was gradually becoming agitated.

Jiang Rao was engrossed in her book, seemingly focused, but she also paid attention to her every move with a part of her mind. She asked with a smile, “Are you bored?”

Chai Qing thought to herself: If I wasn’t bored, why would I come to play with you?

“Just a little.”

She leaned forward, her head tilted towards her. Now she wasn’t like a horse anymore, she was like a silly dragon.

Jiang Rao ignored her, she was reading with relish.

“Ugh, you’re so shameless!”

Chai Qing pointed at her.

Princess Jiang rarely had anyone say “shameless” to her. Most of the time, she dared to listen, but no one dared to say it. Now that someone had said it, she wasn’t embarrassed or angry, her eyes were bewildered, “Hmm?”

Her confident attitude choked Chai Qing, she paused, her momentum diminished by half, “How can you watch Yang Liu and the dog man vying for power in front of me!”

She emphasized the word “power”.

Jiang Rao lowered her eyes and glanced at the white paper and black characters in the book. She thought that the word “power” was used very appropriately.

Bad Mister’s writing was gorgeous, her descriptions of love and desire were superb. She practically shoved the vivid scene in front of people’s faces. You couldn’t not look, and you couldn’t not blush and feel your legs go weak.

She asked knowingly, “Why can’t I watch it in front of you? Who are you?”

Chai Qing crouched down and moved to her side. As soon as she sat down, her lips were against the beauty’s ear, “You forgot, I want to sleep with you.”

Normally, such words would earn a beating, or worse—given a slow, agonizing death. How could she be so bold?

Jiang Rao looked at her deeply, she played along with her good-naturedly, “Then what?”

Facing those familiar eyes again, Chai Qing’s words got stuck in her throat. She changed the subject, “I want to read with you.”

Read a romance novel together?

Jiang Rao was amused by her sudden whim, “Alright.”

Chai Qing leaned closer to her, her eyes were on the book, but her mind wasn’t on it.

She thought, the princess is really a crazy woman. If she had met a bad person like me, ordinary people would have run away. How could she calmly let me invade her territory step by step?

Unless the princess also wanted to put a hat on the King of Yan, whom she had never met.

“Why aren’t you reading?”

“I am.”

She pulled back her wandering thoughts.

Halfway through, Jiang Rao felt a pain in her abdomen. She glanced lightly at Chai Qing, who was engrossed in her book, and silently leaned against her.

Chai Qing supported the weight she had been given. She knew that this person was suffering again. She pretended not to know, until the breathing beside her ear became erratic. She raised her eyebrows, and unexpectedly, she was startled by the beauty’s fragile and delicate aura.