"What are you doing?" he asked with a laugh, seeing Wushuang wrapped up like a caterpillar. "Is there anything about you that I haven't seen before? Do you have to be so afraid?"
"What are you looking at? What have you seen?" Wushuang retorted angrily.
"You really don't remember?" Chu Yao said. "I helped you take a bath and put your clothes on."
If Wushuang had really been just a child back then, he could have believed she would forget. But inside her shell was a reborn young woman; how could she possibly not remember?
"No, that didn't happen!" Wushuang insisted. "I don't remember it, so it didn't happen."
Chu Yao didn't argue with her further, but only asked, "We've slept in the same bed many times, you must remember that, right?"
As he spoke, to tease her, he deliberately leaned back, almost lying down.
Wushuang quickly reached out her arm to push him away, preventing him from actually lying down.
The sleeves of her nightgown reached her elbows, revealing a section of her fair and delicate arm, which caught Chu Yao's eye.
He couldn't help but reach out and touch it. The gentle touch made Wushuang tremble slightly, and a chill immediately rose on his arm.
"What are you doing? Don't touch me like that," she scolded.
"Sooner or later you will be my queen, so why can't I touch you?" Chu Yao said earnestly.
"Sooner or later... sooner or later, but not now," Wushuang said.
She pouted and pulled her arms back under the covers, wrapping herself up like a caterpillar once more.
"I've come today to discuss something with you," Chu Yao asked. "Are you aware of the drought in Henan?"
Wushuang pondered for a moment before nodding.
Strictly speaking, she didn't know this in this life, but in her previous life, the Third Prince Chu Ye handled the disaster relief work in Henan so well that he stood out from several princes and not only became the most valued by Emperor Deqing, but also won the support of the ministers.
As a result, everyone in the capital city knew about the drought in Henan.
"Then do you think it would be good for me to volunteer to go with my imperial uncle?"
Wushuang subconsciously uttered "not good".
Chu Ye is a prince. His disaster relief efforts will give him experience, build his reputation, and earn him the emperor's favor. This will give him a chance to ascend to the throne. How could she miss such a good opportunity? Besides, Chu Ye is Wushuang's brother-in-law, so of course she will absolutely support him.
After all, only when Chu is well can her sister be well.
As for Chu Yao, he's not a prince anyway. Even if he makes a contribution in this matter, at most he'll just get a promotion. How could he possibly become the emperor?
Thinking this way, Wu Shuang no longer felt guilty; on the contrary, she became even more self-righteous. (qiushu.cc [Tianhuo Avenue Novels])
"Why not?" Chu Yao pressed him for an answer.
"Yes, it's dangerous, tiring, and thankless. Besides, there are precedents to learn from. Look at His Highness the Crown Prince. During the earthquake that year, he didn't actually do anything wrong, but he ended up like that."
Wushuang didn't want Chu Yao to think she favored Chu Ye, so she hastily made up a reason, but unexpectedly exposed her little secret again.
Chu Yao didn't expose her, but casually asked, "Didn't you say you didn't remember me helping you take a bath, or that I shared a bed with you? How come you remember the Crown Prince's matter? These things all happened around the same time."
Not to mention, she analyzed things very logically; if you didn't know better, you'd think she was an official from some government office.
Wushuang wanted to bite off her own tongue; how could she possibly explain this?
It can't be that years later, her parents were still idly discussing who was right and who was wrong between the emperor and the crown prince, and she accidentally overheard it.
To speak ill of a ruler is a capital offense, and Wushuang doesn't want to drag her parents into a pit.
She had nothing more to say, so she could only say defiantly, "If you really want to go, then go! I can't be of much help, but I can make you a pair of durable shoes."
Chu Yao asked with a smile, "How long does it take you to make a pair of shoes? If I go to the palace tomorrow and tell my uncle, I might have to set off immediately."
How could she possibly make it in less than a day? Isn't that making things difficult for her?
Wushuang rolled onto the bed and said in a muffled voice, "It's ready, I'll have someone deliver it to you."
Chu Yao laughed even harder, poking at Wushuang's blanket with his finger, and asked, "When you went to Fujian back then, why did you specifically tell me not to go to war?"
“That’s not true,” Wushuang denied again.
At that time, she worried that if she left for a long time and did not return, Chu Yao would not know what the future held, go to fight in the Western Regions, and die mysteriously when he returned, just like in her previous life.
She wasn't concerned about him; she just didn't want to be a widow.
Wushuang felt she had thought things through clearly, so she happily pulled the blanket over her head and said to Chu Yao, "You should go now! It's so late, I'm going to sleep."
"What do you have planned for tomorrow?" Chu Yao asked again. "Do you need to get up early?"
“I don’t have one,” Wushuang’s voice just came out from under the covers, “but you do! Aren’t you supposed to go to the palace to meet the emperor early this morning and volunteer to go to Henan for disaster relief? Don’t be late, that’s a hot job, if you’re late someone else will take it.”
"Alright, I'll listen to my princess." Chu Yao's voice even had a hint of a smile. "I'm leaving now. I might not be back before His Majesty's northern tour, and we might not see each other again until autumn. Don't forget to make some shoes and send them to me. I'm eagerly waiting."
Wushuang casually responded twice, and as Chu Yao's footsteps gradually faded into the distance, the window creaked open and then creaked shut, and the room returned to its initial quiet state.
She peeked out from under the covers and stared blankly at the tightly closed window.
Do we really have to wait until autumn to see each other again?
They've only met twice since they came back, and each time they meet, she always seems to get into a fight with Chu Yao for some reason, barely exchanging a few serious words.
Just as Chu Yao said, they would get married sooner or later and spend their lives together.
Wushuang realized that things couldn't continue like this; they had to get along better. Like her parents, her sister, and her brother-in-law, they should always be loving and harmonious.