In the blink of an eye, the rain had intensified, with raindrops falling in streams, drowning out all other sounds except for the constant rushing. The raindrops pounded on the roof tiles, forming streams that trickled down the eaves, creating small brooks. Visibility was also obscured by a white mist; even if someone was approaching, it was impossible to make out their features until they were very close.
Ling Xiao glanced at the door twice before pushing it open and entering the house. Although she wasn't soaked to the bone, she had been feeling unwell for the past two days, so she found some clean clothes, boiled water, and made ginger soup to ward off the chill. As she was holding a small bowl, leaning against a pillar, enjoying the rain and drinking her freshly made ginger soup, she saw someone carrying an umbrella hurrying towards her in the heavy rain.
As the man approached, Ling Xiao could see that he was a young eunuch. The rain was so heavy that by the time the eunuch arrived, his lower body was almost completely soaked, the hem of his clothes filthy with rainwater mixed with yellow mud. He looked anxious and found Ling Xiao, who had just finished drinking ginger soup and put the bowl down, saying, "Aunt Ling, please come with me quickly!"
Ling Xiao recognized him; he was a young eunuch serving Prince Ning. Ling Xiao often joked and laughed with him when Prince Ning came to visit, so they weren't exactly close. Knowing his ulterior motives, Ling Xiao didn't respond, but smiled and said, "Young eunuch, there are many good imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital. We can certainly arrange for a royal physician to treat His Highness Prince Ning. You should try to find someone else. I have matters to attend to today and don't have time to go elsewhere, especially not to His Highness Prince Ning."
She wouldn't fall for that self-inflicted injury ploy. Whether Prince Ning was sick or not, there were plenty of people who could help him. It wasn't like he would die without her. Besides, she was boiling water and hadn't changed her wet clothes yet; she didn't want to go anywhere. Ling Xiao was about to ask the little eunuch to go somewhere else when, to her surprise, the little eunuch suddenly knelt down on the ground.
“Aunt Ling, I beg you, please go and see His Highness Prince Ning! Although I am just a servant and should not overstep my bounds, I simply cannot bear to see His Highness like that. No matter what kind of awkwardness or conflict exists between you and His Highness, you cannot just stand by and watch him lose his soul all day long… You don’t know, His Highness… he…” As he spoke, the little eunuch began to cry in front of Ling Xiao, tears streaming down his face with every gesture, a truly heartbreaking sight.
Hearing the eunuch's words, Ling Xiao said nothing, but simply lifted her foot to check if her water was boiled. Unexpectedly, the eunuch grabbed her leg. Ling Xiao couldn't help but roll her eyes and asked, "Can't keep up the story?" The eunuch immediately let out a whimper, his voice trembling with tears, and said, "Aunt Ling, could you please come with me to the Prince Ning's residence?"
"I'm not going. Go yourself if you want to." Ling Xiao tried to pull her leg out, but the little eunuch held on tightly. She was a little annoyed, but still smiled and said, "You don't have to let go. I'll definitely find a chance to give you something good later. I guarantee you'll be in heaven, in hell, and unable to stop!"
The little eunuch looked up at Ling Xiao, wanting to let go but reluctant to, and asked cautiously, "How much silver would it take for you to go?" Ling Xiao chuckled, patted the little eunuch's head and replied, "I'm not short of money right now, so no matter how much silver it costs, I still won't go. You can give up on that idea."
The young eunuch, who was prepared to painfully offer up his entire fortune, was utterly devastated upon hearing Ling Xiao's words. He had no choice but to release Ling Xiao's leg and stand up. He wanted to say something more, but seeing Ling Xiao's dismissive expression, he swallowed his words, sighed, and finally left. Perhaps because he had come with hope only to leave disappointed, even the young eunuch's departing figure exuded loneliness.
Ling Xiao followed him out of the room, not paying much attention to the little eunuch. She checked that the hot water was almost ready, then took some water to wash herself, changed her clothes, and washed her hair as well.
When Ling Xiao came out again, drying his wet hair, the rain had subsided, the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, and a rainbow arched across the sky—a truly delightful sight. Feeling completely refreshed, Ling Xiao whistled happily at the sight.
The air after the rain was fresh, carrying the scent of earth and grass. The plants and trees, washed clean by the rain, were all shiny and bright. There was wind and sunshine outside, so after drying his hair until it was half dry, Ling Xiao sat under the eaves, preparing to let it air dry a little longer so it could be completely dry sooner.
She accidentally fell asleep. When she woke up from her nap, Ling Xiao had just stood up and stretched when she saw that Lu Yuan, the chief eunuch beside Zhang Yu, was also coming towards her.
She now feels fear whenever she sees Zhang Yu, and almost the same goes for the people around him. Anyone who's suddenly approached her can't be up to anything good. Is it too late to hide now...?
As Lü Yuan approached her, Ling Xiao didn't waste any words and said directly, "Aunt Ling, His Majesty sent me to tell you that you need to go to the Ning Prince's residence to examine His Highness Ning's pulse. The sedan chair and carriage are ready, and you can leave now without delay."
"Can't we not go...?" Ling Xiao asked weakly.
"What do you think?" Lu Yuan smiled at her, just as she had smiled at the little eunuch beside Prince Ning earlier. "Furthermore, His Majesty instructed that Aunt Ling should take a good look at Prince Ning and make sure to find out the cause of his illness once and for all, so that he won't have to suffer every day anymore."
Ling Xiao: "..."
She wasn't worried about what the Prince of Ning would do to her, but because the Emperor held a handle over her, Ling Xiao ultimately had no choice but to go to the Prince of Ning's residence with her medicine chest. How nonchalant her words had been before, now she felt the sting of her pride.
According to the Emperor's wishes, she not only had to go to Prince Ning's residence, but she also had to treat Prince Ning well, otherwise... hehe. In the end, her life was more important. Ling Xiao sat in the carriage, sighing and groaning. Several times she wanted to jump off, but she held back in the end.
She tried to tell herself she had to be patient, and that it wasn't a big deal. After doing this mental preparation for a long time, she finally got off the carriage with her medicine box after it had been parked outside the Prince Ning's residence for a full quarter of an hour.
Although she had only been to the Ning Prince's Mansion once, Ling Xiao felt that everyone she met on the way knew her after she stepped into the mansion. However, compared to the previous time, many people looked at her with more complicated expressions this time.
When she was led to the room where Prince Ning was, Ling Xiao heard a low cough coming from inside. As the door was pushed open, she was ushered inside. Ling Xiao steeled her resolve, clutching her medicine box tightly, and barged in expressionlessly.
Turning past a moon gate and then around a screen depicting mountains and water with clouds parting and the moon emerging, inlaid with gold and jade, Prince Ning lay on his bed with his eyes closed. Hearing someone enter, Prince Ning didn't even open his eyes, and said, "Get out."
Ling Xiao thought to himself, "Hmm, he's the one who sent me out. His Majesty the Emperor certainly won't blame me!" He silently turned around. Just after Ling Xiao turned around, he heard the person on the bed behind him say with a hint of surprise, "Why are you here?"
Deep down, she knew that deceiving herself was useless. If she didn't make things easier for Prince Ning today, the Emperor would definitely not let her off easily. After being discovered, Ling Xiao, who hadn't even taken a step out yet, had no choice but to face Prince Ning once again.
She smiled at Prince Ning, first waving to him, and then said, "I came to see you... Why do you look so pale? You look like you haven't eaten for days... And your throat is uncomfortable too?"
As Ling Xiao spoke, he walked to the bedside, put down the medicine box, moved an embroidered stool to sit on the bed, reached out to test the temperature of his forehead, and said, "Caught a cold? The weather has been quite unpredictable lately, and it's easy to catch a chill if you're not careful."
Prince Ning remained silent, staring at Ling Xiao. When Ling Xiao raised her hand to touch his forehead, his expression became even more peculiar. Ling Xiao, after stammering for a while, felt foolish and a little embarrassed, so she chuckled dryly. Just as she was about to withdraw her hand, Prince Ning reached out and grasped her wrist, staring intently at her.
"Who sent you?" Prince Ning asked in a hoarse voice.
"Your brother!" Ling Xiao thought to himself, but still kept a smile on his face and said, "No one else, I came to see you on my own. I was worried about your condition, so I wanted to come and see you. You should be in good health, how did you become like this? But it's true that people who don't catch a cold for a long time can have a more serious cold when they do.
Prince Ning looked at her quietly for a while and said, "You can go now. I will talk to Sixth Brother myself and won't make things difficult for you. The imperial physician came to see you at noon and there was nothing wrong. You don't need to worry about it anymore."
Ling Xiao smiled again, nodded, and said, "That's good. Remember to eat and take your medicine. You'll recover faster if you rest well." He then looked down at the Prince of Ning's hand, which was gripping him tightly and showed no sign of letting go, and said, "Well... since that's the case, could you please let go of me?"
But Prince Ning made no move, simply holding Ling Xiao and showing no intention of letting her leave. Knowing it would turn out this way, Ling Xiao, who hadn't wanted to come in the first place, could no longer force a smile. Her face darkened, and she sat quietly with her eyes downcast, no longer saying those pretentious words. Prince Ning remained silent as well, and the two of them sat there in silence, ultimately achieving nothing.
Finally, someone brought over some medicine and porridge, which broke the awkward silence. Prince Ning didn't let go of Ling Xiao's hand and let the person in. The person placed the things on the small table beside the bed and immediately withdrew, without saying a word or even glancing at Prince Ning and Ling Xiao.
"You should take your medicine." Ling Xiao said, reaching out to pry Ning Wang's hand open, but couldn't. Somewhat frustrated, he asked, "What do you want? To play the sadomasochistic card?"
Upon hearing this, Prince Ning immediately released her. Ling Xiao rubbed her slightly aching wrist, glanced at the medicine and porridge, then looked at Prince Ning and said, "You should take good care of yourself. What I said that day wasn't a joke, but it doesn't mean I dislike you. You are indeed a very good person."
"So, you're not responsible after ruining someone's reputation?" Prince Ning retorted to Ling Xiao, followed by another low cough.
If she had known earlier that Prince Ning was still a virgin, she definitely wouldn't have made a move! But who could have imagined that a prince, a twenty-year-old prince, had never touched a woman before? Ling Xiao regretted her actions, yet felt that she was the one who had created this mess. Now that the other party was in the trap, she wasn't entirely without guilt.
"...I thought you had already experienced romantic relationships..."
"You want to find someone who will be devoted to you, but you're trying to seduce me because you think I've already had my share of romantic experiences. What does that mean?" She hadn't actually considered marriage, but this was hard to explain. Ling Xiao just gave a dry laugh, unable to speak.
Prince Ning then said, "Even if I told you, you probably wouldn't believe me. Although I've liked someone before, it was just that—liking. There was nothing between us, and I don't think about her anymore. Just because I've liked someone before doesn't mean I deserve to be unloved for the rest of my life."
After listening to Prince Ning's explanation, Ling Xiao felt a bit overwhelmed and said, "That's not what I meant." Of course, there's no reason why someone who has liked another should be destined to never receive true love in return.
Pretending to be stupid was no use now. She clenched her fist and asked Prince Ning, "Then what do you want me to do to feel that I have been compensated? Apart from marrying you, I can carefully consider the rest." She really hadn't expected to have put Prince Ning in this situation.
"Now you're feeling guilty and ashamed?"
"...If you don't care, then forget it."
Ling Xiao turned her face away, feeling that she was being manipulated, and didn't like it, so she stood up. Just as she was about to find something to make up for herself, Prince Ning grabbed her hand and held it tightly, saying, "Nothing else is needed, just one thing," Ling Xiao looked at him waiting for his next words, then heard Prince Ning cough twice and say, "Sleep with me."
"..." Have you no shame!
·