Hibiscus as a Painting

Chapter 93

Everyone turned around, stunned.

A white-haired youth, dressed in a single layer of clothing, stood at the bedroom door, rubbing his head. After a while, he looked up at Prince Anle. The innocence in his eyes was gone; his brows now radiated composure and maturity. His every movement was elegant and refined, devoid of any childishness. His once clear, dark eyes had lost some of their clarity, gaining instead a wisdom that shone with a gentle, serene light. The white-haired youth seemed to have grown ten years overnight, his thoughtful gaze revealing an unparalleled and peerless elegance.

“Brother…” Prince Anle stood there blankly, staring at Sikou Xunxiang, his voice wavering.

"Great! The Emperor has woken up... The Emperor has woken up again! Heaven has blessed us! I told you... I told you that Miss Nan is a lucky star. In just over a month, the Emperor has woken up twice!" Eunuch De cried with joy, his words incoherent.

“Brother… is back.” Prince Anle stepped forward and buried himself in Sikou Xunxiang’s arms, trembling like a child.

“Last time I woke up, Le’er was out playing and missed it.” Si Kou Xunxiang’s gentle eyes were full of affection as he gently stroked Anle Wang’s back to soothe his emotions.

“Brother…” Prince Anle hugged Sikou Xunxiang tightly, as if he had become a different person, his face full of helplessness and bewilderment, “Brother has been asleep for so many years, I’m so afraid that he will never wake up.”

"Silly Le'er, now that Nan'er is back, I'm getting better and better, so don't be afraid." Si Kou Xunxiang smiled, stroking Anle Wang's long hair, and looked at Yu Luo.

Prince Anle trembled slightly, raising his eyes to look at Sikou Xunxiang, just in time to see him locked eyes with Yu Luo. He then lowered his gaze, a hint of disappointment flashing in his eyes: "Brother... Brother... Don't sleep anymore..."

"No, with you and Nan'er by my side, I can't bear to sleep." Si Kou Xunxiang's dark eyes gazed tenderly at Yu Luo, as if he had endless emotions to express.

"I...I have something to do...I'll...I'll go first." Yu Luo hurriedly lowered her eyes and walked towards the door as if fleeing.

Sikou Xunxiang released Prince Anle and quickly caught up with him, reaching out to grab Yu Luo's arm: "Nan'er..." he called out with a sigh.

Yu Luo turned her face away, and timidly lowered her head, not daring to meet Si Kou Xunxiang's gaze.

Si Kou Xunxiang slowly extended his slender, pale hand, as if to stroke Yu Luo's face, but was stopped in his tracks by Yu Luo's startled eyes. His hand paused in mid-air, then he raised it slightly to adjust the jade hairpin: "It's crooked. Nan'er, wait for me, I'll come find you in a bit."

Yu Luo nodded hastily, and as soon as Si Kou Xun Xiang let go, she fled in panic.

"Brother, you scared her." Prince Anle, now back to his usual nonchalant self, sat back down and casually said, playing with his teacup.

Si Kou Xunxiang stood by the door, silently gazing at Yu Luo's departing figure: "I was reckless... I forgot she doesn't remember."

“Brother, it took me four years to bring her back to you. Don’t scare her away.” Prince Anle raised an eyebrow and smiled.

Si Kou Xunxiang turned his head to the side, a faint smile on his lips, his eyes rippling with emotion: "Does Le'er know that when I returned from Yue Kingdom four years ago, I was briefly lucid? At that time, I already knew that she was in Chen Kingdom... I also knew that Le'er would recognize her and try her best to bring her back."

Prince Anle narrowed his eyes slightly, a cold smile playing on his lips: "Brother, aren't you afraid... I'll kill her?"

Sikou Xunxiang slowly walked to Prince Anle's side, stroked his long hair, closed his eyes, and sighed, "Le'er won't, Le'er can't bear to."

"Hmph! Me, feeling reluctant to part with her?!" Prince Anle suddenly stood up, an unfathomable light flickering in his eyes. "If it weren't for my brother, I would have killed her with my own hands!"

"Le'er won't, Le'er can't bear to." Sikou Xunxiang chuckled and patted Prince Anle's back affectionately.

Prince Anle turned his head angrily, glaring at Sikou Xunxiang, his ears flushed red with anger: "Brother, you're talking nonsense!" he said, like a child throwing a tantrum.

Seeing that the Prince of Anle was truly angry, Sikou Xunxiang did not argue. He lowered his head, chuckled softly, and sat down to the side, his expression clearly saying: I know, I know you can't bear to part with him.

"My brother only ever bullies me with her!" Anle Wang's beautiful face was full of anger. After saying this, she turned and left, her appearance clearly trying to cover up her true intentions.

After Prince Anle had gone some distance, Sikou Xunxiang turned to look at Eunuch De standing to the side and asked, "When did Le'er return?"

"Your Majesty, the Prince has been back at court for four days." Eunuch De picked up a cloak and draped it over Sikou Xunxiang.

"Hmm, is there anything happening in the court?" Sikou Xunxiang casually adjusted his cloak and asked with his eyes lowered.

“When the prince was away, Guard Jin impersonated him, and nothing major happened, but…” Eunuch De glanced uneasily at Sikou Xunxiang, then hesitated to speak.

"Just what?"

"A young master also returned with the Prince. I heard that he walked side by side with the Prince through the central gate and was immediately granted residence in Weiyang Palace upon returning to the palace. The Prince has spent quite a while in Weiyang Palace every day for four days in a row. This servant was thinking... if it were a woman, it would be understandable... but that person is, after all, a man. The Prince's favoritism to this extent is bound to attract criticism." Eunuch De looked at Sikou Xunxiang's expression and spoke slowly, not daring to hide anything.

Sikou Xunxiang frowned and pondered for a while, then slowly closed his eyes and leaned back wearily in his chair: "You must urge the Prince more on this matter. Homosexuality is not a good thing, especially since Le'er is still... I wonder how long she can stay awake this time..."

“Your Majesty, please don’t say that. Although she woke up less than half a day ago, waking up twice in a month is unprecedented. Now that Miss Nan has returned to Your Majesty’s side, Your Majesty should not only do so for yourself, but also for Miss Nan’s sake, so that she may recover… When you were not here, the Prince was not very kind to the young lady.” Eunuch De glanced at Sikou Xunxiang and finally spoke his mind.

“Le’er hasn’t made things difficult for her at all, which is already very kind of her.” Si Kou Xunxiang chuckled and shook his head helplessly. “When I’m not awake, you should take good care of the girl. Now that she’s all alone here, powerless and vulnerable, she’s bound to be bullied by Le’er.”

"Your Majesty, rest assured, this old servant will protect Miss Nan even at the cost of my life."

Si Kou Xunxiang glanced out the window: "What's with all this talk about death? The person who's most afraid of her dying is probably Le'er, but... why doesn't Le'er understand..."

A lifetime of love and hate, hard to understand, reincarnation begins again. The bamboo grower is heartless, searching for him among the crowd a thousand times. (Part Four)

Searching for him a thousand times (Part 4) The Weiyang Lake under the moonlight is like a silver mirror inlaid between heaven and earth, with a faint fragrance floating everywhere. In the distance, large swathes of lotus leaves sway, casting various shadows, scattered in the lake.

At Liuran Pavilion, Zi Jin drooled as she turned the slightly yellow fish on the grill.

Zi Jin rarely ate fish, and even less so did she want to catch them herself. Unless absolutely necessary, who would go to Weiyang Lake to catch fish on a dark and windy night?

Since Zi Jin woke up less than two days ago, west Le, for some unknown reason, has been coming to Weiyang Palace every day at the same time to have lunch with Zi Jin. If he's in a good mood or has more free time, he usually has dinner at Weiyang Palace as well. This wouldn't be a problem in itself, the key issue is that he's a complete vegetarian. If it were just lunch, it wouldn't be so bad, but he only occasionally eats dinner at Weiyang Palace, yet from that day on, every dinner has been a table full of vegetarian dishes. Xiao Pu smiled calmly: "I was afraid that Your Highness might suddenly decide to dine at Weiyang Palace, so I made preparations in advance."

After saying this, Zi Jin almost lost her temper. Was her prince a human being, but others weren't? From the moment she began her culinary life at Weiyang Palace in Xile, Zi Jin began her complete life as a rabbit. She had even swallowed her pride, unable to withstand hunger, and privately begged Xiao Pu. Xiao Pu dismissed her with a single, indifferent sentence: "His Highness can't eat anything with meat on it."

Is this a reason? What reason is this? When Zi Jin and west Le were on the road, although she never noticed that Xi Le was a vegetarian, there were always a few meat dishes when they ate together. They never just ate radishes, green vegetables, and tofu. From the moment Zi Jin arrived, she sensed Xiao Pu's extreme hostility towards her, and it was immediately clear that this was definitely a personal vendetta.

What made Zi Jin even more depressed was Xi Le's attitude during meals. Whenever Zi Jin picked up food, he would stare intently at her, as if she were his own flesh. With each bite, his face would darken further. By the end of the meal, Xi Le's once-stunning face was three times darker than a potsticker, and he would occasionally utter sarcastic remarks: "I heard you once made Dugu Xi Hui eat vegetables. Does Dugu Xi Hui treat you better than I do? Is Dugu Xi Hui's little pond any prettier than my Weiyang Lake?"

Upon hearing this, Zi Jin immediately dared not take another bite of food. She lowered her eyes and remained silent, shoveling rice into her mouth, afraid that Xi Le would settle scores later. Her honest demeanor made even Zi Jin herself want to despise herself.

Even Zi Jin herself didn't understand why, when Dugu Xihui was clearly an outsider, she wasn't afraid of him at all and even wanted to get close to him. She didn't know why she was so certain that he wouldn't hurt her. Although after the "Golden Jade Pavilion" incident, Zi Jin fully understood that this sixth sense was completely unreliable, she now thought that if she could do it all over again, she wouldn't be afraid of Dugu Xihui in the slightest.

On the contrary, from the very first day Xi Le approached her, Zi Jin felt wary of him and couldn't feel any closeness to him. Even his attempts to be affectionate, let alone get angry at her, would send shivers down her spine. The moment his alluring eyes fixed on her, she felt like she was being stared at by a venomous snake. Despite being together for so many years, she dared not get any closer. Yet, he would never harm her, demonstrating just how terribly intuition could be wrong.

What is it?