Chapter 56: Too Soft-Hearted

Chapter 56: Too Soft-Hearted

"Cousin, I know I was wrong. Please forgive me and allow me to return home!"

During her three months at Yuzhen Temple, Wen Yuzhu finally realized how good her life had been at home.

And even with her mother's secret care, life in Yuzhen Temple was far worse than at home.

Especially knowing that the Crown Prince cousin had already married Liu Yunniang, her heart was torn to pieces, and she couldn't sleep a wink at night.

Thinking of the three more months she still had to endure, Wen Yuzhu felt like the world went dark.

She had to go back!

Knowing that today was the Double Ninth Festival and the Crown Prince cousin might come to Fucui Mountain, she snuck out to plead her case.

But the moment she stepped out, she heard the Crown Prince cousin's voice. Wen Yuzhu threw all caution to the wind, not even noticing that beside him stood Liu Yun, the person she currently hated most.

Wen Yuzhu clung tightly to the Crown Prince cousin's robe and wept, pouring out her grievances, only to find after a long while that there was no response. She cautiously looked up and saw Liu Yun standing beside the Crown Prince cousin.

She was dressed head to toe in the most precious gossamer brocade, her cloud-toe shoes embroidered in gold thread with phoenixes and auspicious clouds, her wrist adorned with a gleaming jade bangle, her hair pinned with a flying-phoenix gold hairpin, and her ears decorated with a pair of priceless pearls from the East.

The gold hairpin was actually the least impressive of all.

But what made Wen Yuzhu most jealous was the hand tightly held by the Crown Prince cousin—their fingers intertwined, inseparable.

Wen Yuzhu's expression changed, a mix of resentment and jealousy, but given the circumstances, she could only force a smile, softly calling "Cousin" with a pitiful look.

At that moment, Liu Yun was extremely awkward.

The moment she saw Wen Yuzhu, she remembered that Wen Yuzhu was here at the temple for reflection and penance.

Especially running into her crying and pleading, Liu Yun felt even more embarrassed.

Liu Yun said nothing, only stealing a glance at the Crown Prince's expression to gauge what would happen next.

But one look showed Xiao Hang still had a calm expression, revealing neither joy nor anger, and he caught Liu Yun sneaking a glance.

"You were wrong."

Finally, Wen Yuzhu got a response, but it left her confused.

"What does cousin mean by that?"

At least her cousin was willing to respond, which gave her a glimmer of hope.

As if granting a favor, Xiao Hang cast a light glance at Wen Yuzhu, frowned, and yanked his robe from her grasp, saying coldly: "The one you offended is the Crown Princess, not me. Why are you telling me this?"

His words left not only Wen Yuzhu stunned, but Liu Yun was also surprised.

This had something to do with her too?

At that thought, Liu Yun grew inexplicably nervous and began to fidget.

Clearly, Xiao Hang wanted Wen Yuzhu to plead with Liu Yun.

To be honest, Liu Yun was a bit embarrassed, but the most embarrassed at this moment was still Wen Yuzhu.

She turned her gaze over, a flash of resentment flashing through her eyes, but after three months of hardship, she had grown much more composed and was no longer so impulsive.

Understanding the Crown Prince cousin's intention, Wen Yuzhu bit her lip, turned her knees toward Liu Yun, and said with restraint: "It was all my fault before, offending the Crown Princess. I now know my mistake and beg Your Highness to show mercy, forgive your servant, and let me go home."

Wen Yuzhu kept her head lowered, not wanting Liu Yun to see her humiliated face, her fingers gripping her dress turning white at the knuckles.

Liu Yun had rarely faced such a scene and was a bit inexperienced.

She first looked at Wen Yuzhu, then checked the Crown Prince's expression.

Still calm and unreadable, she had no idea what he was thinking.

Noticing Liu Yun's gaze, Xiao Hang turned and chuckled lightly: "Why are you looking at me? You decide."

Liu Yun was uncertain, thinking for a few breaths before tentatively saying: "Then... then let it go. You can go home."

When Wen Yuzhu had come to bully her before, Liu Yun had indeed been displeased, but she hadn't suffered any loss then. Now that the woman had spent three months in reflection and knelt to apologize—even if unwilling—Liu Yun couldn't bring herself to say harsh words.

More importantly, she couldn't figure out the Crown Prince's intentions.

After all, she was his maternal cousin's daughter; surely he wanted to preserve some dignity for her.

Weighing all considerations, Liu Yun decided to let Wen Yuzhu go.

As her words fell, Wen Yuzhu's face lit up with joy, about to offer a token of thanks.

But before she could open her mouth, she heard an objection.

"No."

What Wen Yuzhu couldn't believe was that these words came from the Crown Prince cousin's mouth.

As if doused with cold water, Wen Yuzhu's smile instantly disappeared.

Her lips trembling, she looked at the Crown Prince cousin with sorrowful eyes, wanting to speak but not knowing what to say.

Liu Yun also looked over in surprise, about to ask why, when the Crown Prince spoke before her.

"You are indeed as soft-hearted as I thought. A few words and you've already relented. Tsk~"

That look carried a hint of disappointment in her, which only deepened Liu Yun's confusion.

What was he talking about?

What did he mean she was soft-hearted? She was weighing the pros and cons, alright?

After teasing her, the Crown Prince turned his gaze to Wen Yuzhu and said coldly: "Knowing full well that the imperial decree had already been issued, that Yunniang was the future Crown Princess, a member of the royal family, you still brazenly came to her door to cause trouble. This is not only an insult to the Liu family, but also an offense against the royal house, and a disrespect to me, the Crown Prince."

Under Xiao Hang's indifferent words, Wen Yuzhu's face grew paler and paler, her spine bending further, losing its former straightness.

Xiao Hang continued: "Since the punishment has been set, pardoning it halfway would make people say it's all a joke."

"I said six months, so it's six months. Stay put and behave, and don't think of useless schemes."

"Go back."

As he spoke, by coincidence, the abbess of Yuzhen Temple came out with several Taoist nuns, searching for the runaway Miss Wen.

Seeing Liu Yun and the others, she immediately chanted "Blessings be upon you, Lord of the Way" before leading the pale-faced Wen Yuzhu back inside.

"Let's go."

Her hand was squeezed, and only then did Liu Yun snap back to reality, dazedly following him.

It wasn't until she saw the jujube tree laden with fruit that Liu Yun remembered why they had come here in the first place.

"Wow! So many jujubes!"

They'd arrived at just the right time—most of the jujubes were still on the tree, each one a good size, with red mottled across their skins.

They were clearly perfectly ripe.

In an instant, Liu Yun forgot all the earlier confusion, her mind completely on the jujube tree.

It wasn't that she loved eating them; it was just the novelty that had her excited.

Picking up the long wooden stick left by earlier pickers, Liu Yun struck the branches with all her strength, hoping to knock down those big red jujubes.

But they were too high up, and Liu Yun struggled, her face turning red from the effort.

"If it's this much trouble, why not have the guards do it?"

Hearing that, Xiao Hang was about to call someone over.

In his view, such a trivial matter didn't require personal effort—Yunniang was just making work for herself.

But Liu Yun hastily cut him off.

"No way! The fun is in doing it myself—how can I let someone else do it for me? I want to play!"

"If you've got nothing to do, just pick up the jujubes down here!"

Lost in the joy of knocking down jujubes, Liu Yun felt completely at ease, forgetting all about the Crown Prince and Crown Princess. She shot back at Xiao Hang without hesitation, even bossing him around like he was her little brother, her tone light and carefree.

Xiao Hang was taken aback at first, but then his gaze fell on the girl's radiant smile, and he naturally went along with it. "...Understood."

As he bent down to pick up the jujubes, Xiao Hang found it somewhat amusing—who would have thought that one day he'd be busy picking up a few jujubes?

Since the jujubes fell all over the place, the two under the tree couldn't help but get hit on the head a few times by the falling fruit.

Seeing Xiao Hang's face darken after being struck several times, Liu Yun couldn't help but burst into laughter for quite a while, nearly causing Xiao Hang to dump the pile of jujubes he was holding to chase after her.

But he couldn't bring himself to.

These were the jujubes they had worked hard to knock down together—he couldn't risk ruining them.

It wasn't until Xiao Hang couldn't hold any more that Liu Yun stopped picking, her cheeks flushed as she ran over.

Selecting one of the biggest and reddest jujubes, Liu Yun wiped it clean with her handkerchief and bit into it with a crunch.

It tasted just as sweet as ever.

Liu Yun munched away, and when she looked up, she remembered Xiao Hang was there.

She gave a coaxing smile to Xiao Hang, who was watching her with a deep look, and picked another big red jujube, wiping it thoroughly with her handkerchief before holding it up to the Crown Prince's lips.

"Husband, you have one too."

She had gotten so caught up in the fun that she'd forgotten the Crown Prince was there; now she had to say something sweet to smooth things over.

Perhaps won over by Liu Yun's act, Xiao Hang raised an eyebrow and took the jujube into his mouth.

Whether intentional or not, he even licked Liu Yun's finger as he did so—wet and hot—causing her cheeks to flush red unexpectedly.

She couldn't help but glare at him, which left Xiao Hang's throat dry, but with his arms full of jujubes, he couldn't do much about it.

"We've got plenty of jujubes now, husband. Let's head back."

Xiao Hang was more than willing, and after a quick "Alright," he called over a guard, solemnly dumping the armful of jujubes into the man's robes—a scene so funny that Liu Yun couldn't help but laugh.

The two returned to the camp as if nothing had happened, where they saw many familiar faces.

When Liu Yun noticed Zhen Zhen chatting and laughing with a young man, her eyes lit up. She was about to send someone over to ask about it when the Crown Prince stopped her to explain.

"That's the Fourth Young Master Zhang I told you about finding for you last time. A few days ago, I spoke with Minister Zhang, and the two families have started talking. Let's first see if your good friend and Fourth Young Master Zhang can get along."

"That's the right approach—this is wonderful."

"Thank you so much, husband!"

Liu Yun had thought the Crown Prince would just look into it, but who knew he had arranged everything without her knowing? Her heart was filled with gratitude.

Xiao Hang smiled warmly, staring at Liu Yun's sweet face, then lowered his voice to a low, intimate tone. "Just thank me properly tonight."

At that, Liu Yun's heart raced, and her legs instinctively began to weaken.

Liu Yun didn't know if other men were like this, but the Crown Prince was like a hungry wolf every night. Even though he had restrained himself considerably now, Liu Yun still found it exhausting to keep up, and over time, she felt weary.

But faced with the Crown Prince's veiled request, Liu Yun nodded vaguely, putting on a demure demeanor.

As she was about to enter the tent, Liu Yun unexpectedly spotted another familiar face.

The man who had almost become her husband—Third Young Master Yang.

At that moment, he was speaking with Sixth Miss Pei, the daughter of the Minister of Rites, his smile gentle and warm, his demeanor intimate.

Liu Yun watched curiously, wondering what their relationship was.

This earnest observation didn't escape Xiao Hang's notice. His phoenix eyes narrowed, and a chill emanated from his entire being.

Author's note:

Update

This story isn't very long—it probably won't exceed 70 chapters. It might be finished before July 10th. You all are almost at the end, and I'm almost able to rest too.