"Just invite her over tomorrow and ask her what she thinks," Zhang Yu said casually.
·
The next day, Zhang Xin was invited to Jingyun Nunnery. She seemed unaware of what was going on, but was in a good mood, looking around Ah Hao's courtyard. Zhang Xin felt that there weren't so many things when she last came, so she couldn't help but ask about everything new and interesting.
Since Zhang Yu stubbornly refused to leave, he has planted some other plants in the yard besides the jujube tree, although not many have survived. Later, he added a few pots of camellias, roses, and other flowers to the corner of the wall, their verdant leaves displaying their own unique charm, some with buds yet to bloom, others in full bloom.
Ah Hao brewed tea and served some snacks, inviting her to sit down. Zhang Xin, who was a little tired from playing, smiled and went to the hall. Perhaps because they were not in the palace, and Zhang Yu was not very serious, Zhang Xin did not seem reserved. She washed her hands and sat down to try the mung bean rolls that Ah Hao had made.
After slowly and elegantly tasting two green bean rolls, Zhang Xin smiled and praised Ah Hao's cooking skills, saying they were no less than those of the imperial chefs. Zhang Yu didn't like these dishes and didn't touch them at all. Zhang Xin then said that her emperor brother was wasting such good food, saying this without any fear.
Zhang Yu didn't argue with Zhang Xin, but simply told Ahao to stop working. He had Ahao sit down and poured her a cup of tea before asking Zhang Xin, "What's going on between you and Xia Mingzhe?"
Hearing this, Zhang Xin suppressed her laughter and gave a light snort, "I knew you had ulterior motives for having Lü Yuan bring me here." After complaining, Zhang Xin said, "Nothing happened between him and me. Now he's the one who keeps bothering me, and I'm not happy about it. It's good that you can tell him to stop bothering me."
"When you were little, you used to call him Brother Mingzhe. You loved it when he brought you candy. You still keep those little trinkets he gave you, right? Now you complain that he's annoying, and you've hurt him several times. I've never heard him say he's annoying."
“I was just ignorant when I was little, how could that be considered true?” Zhang Xin looked a little unhappy after Zhang Yu said a few words to her. “Even if he didn’t say it, he must have thought it in his heart. I don’t care, he’s becoming more and more shameless, and he’s bullying me. I don’t want to talk to him.”
"How did I bully you?"
Zhang Yu raised an eyebrow. Since Zhang Xin said that, she must have done something to make her think that way. Even if it wasn't really bullying, it was probably something that made Zhang Xin feel embarrassed.
Sure enough, Zhang Xin stammered and couldn't explain herself clearly. Before long, her face turned red, and Zhang Yu knew that his guess was correct. After hesitating for a long time, Zhang Xin finally managed to squeeze out, "Anyway, they just bullied me."
"Want to retaliate?" Zhang Yu asked.
Zhang Xin paused for a moment, then looked at her sixth brother. Seeing that he wasn't joking, Zhang Xin hesitated for a moment, then asked uncertainly, "Are you going to help me get revenge?"
"I just received news today that a powerful band of bandits has appeared in the south, and it is time to send someone to deal with them. Since they have bullied you, I will assign this task to them."
Ah Hao felt that Zhang Yu was quite dishonest, lying to people with such falsehoods, even shocking the little princess. She gently squeezed Zhang Yu's hand under the table and spoke solemnly.
"Are you referring to that group of bandits that even General Chang, who is stationed in the south, can't handle? Lord Xia is quite skilled, but I'm afraid he doesn't have much experience in troop deployment and is not familiar with the south."
"I heard that even General Chang was injured when he led his troops to sweep away those bandits. If I remember correctly, General Chang was extremely brave and skilled in battle. If Lord Xia goes, I'm afraid he will suffer a lot as well. I hope he doesn't lose an arm or a leg."
Seeing that Ahao spoke with utmost seriousness, and considering that Ahao wasn't one to lie easily, and that it was normal for her to have heard these things since Ahao was with her emperor brother, Zhang Xin couldn't help but swallow hard, thinking of Xia Mingzhe returning to Lin'an with his limbs incomplete.
“This is also a form of training. If he comes back missing an arm or a leg, then he'll have to blame himself for being incompetent. Besides, he's meant to learn a lesson and suffer, to pay the price for bullying A-Xin. There's no way to blame anyone else for it. What do you think?”
Startled, Zhang Xin quickly waved her hand, "That won't be necessary. Although he bullied me, wouldn't it be even worse if he became crippled and still clung to me?" After saying that, she was silent for a while, thinking about what Zhang Yu and A Hao had said, and then hesitantly asked, "You two aren't conspiring to trick me, are you?"
Thinking she had successfully fooled Zhang Xin, Ah Hao was surprised that Zhang Xin had noticed something amiss. She almost laughed but held it back. Feigning curiosity, she looked at Zhang Xin and asked, "Does Your Highness think I'm as unkind as His Majesty?"
Ah Hao's words made Zhang Xin laugh, and when she saw Zhang Yu's momentary displeasure, she clapped her hands and laughed even harder. Ah Hao was definitely the first person to dare speak to her emperor brother like that. After Zhang Xin finished laughing, Ah Hao laughed along with her, but Zhang Yu, who had been teased by Ah Hao, couldn't laugh.
After laughing enough, Zhang Xin said, "There's no need for that, Emperor Brother. Although I really want to bully him back, he has saved me so many times. If I just watch him go to such a dangerous place, wouldn't I be heartless? I don't have any expectations of him, I just don't have any particular thoughts."
Zhang Yu glanced at Ahao, who was still laughing, and said to Zhang Xin, "Actually, there are other ways to bully her back just as well, and I guarantee you'll be satisfied." Zhang Xin looked over, and he continued, "Now that you're here, you can ask Ahao for some advice."
Slightly taken aback, Zhang Xin finally understood the meaning behind Zhang Yu's words. Having just laughed, she couldn't help but laugh again, saying between laughs, "I regret it. I didn't want to come here to play. You guys are all so happy and harmonious, while I'm left standing here watching helplessly."
Ah Hao glanced at Zhang Yu with a smile, then stood up and pressed Zhang Xin's shoulder, "Your Highness, please sit a little longer and talk with His Majesty for a while longer. You can leave after lunch."
She went to the kitchen to prepare lunch, and also to give Zhang Yu and Zhang Xin a chance to talk alone. Whether or not to avoid suspicion was irrelevant, but there were certain things Xu Zhang Xin couldn't bring herself to say to her.
With Ah Hao gone, only Zhang Xin and Zhang Yu remained in the hall. Zhang Yu took a leisurely sip of tea, regained his composure, and said to Zhang Xin, "He came to me to ask for your hand in marriage."
"You agreed?" Zhang Xin's heart tightened, and she quickly asked. Seeing that Zhang Yu did not speak, her heart sank, her brows furrowed, and she said, "When I asked him before if he wanted to be my consort, he did not agree. Now he's doing this?"
Zhang Xin was still bothered by the matter, feeling that Xia Mingzhe was in the wrong. If he was willing, he should have agreed to her immediately; otherwise, why would so many things have happened? It took a lot of courage for her to take the initiative.
"You talked to him later? Did you find out what happened?"
"No, I don't want to talk to him." Zhang Xin thought for a moment. She decided not to tell her emperor brother about Xia Mingzhe biting her lip, otherwise she would be embarrassed again. "Emperor brother, I used to think he was better than others, but now I see he's nothing special. Please don't agree to what he said. Even a good horse doesn't turn back to eat the grass it already grazed."
“Okay.” Zhang Yu nodded without changing his expression.
Zhang Xin took Zhang Jin and Zhang Yu's questioning as mere concern and felt no burden whatsoever. She believed that since they were so good to her, they would surely respect her wishes and keep their promises.
Xia Mingzhe truly stopped bothering her, and Zhang Xin figured it must be because her brother, the Emperor, had spoken to him, telling him to give up any inappropriate thoughts. She breathed a sigh of relief and continued her cheerful antics. It was just that when she wanted to find Ling Xiao, she could never find him, and sometimes she felt a little bored.
Later, Zhang Xin overheard that Xia Mingzhe had gone out on business and was not in Lin'an City. She then remembered what she had heard Zhang Yu and Ahao say at Jingyun Nunnery. For a moment, she felt that it couldn't be that way, but then she thought, what if it really was?
After struggling with the thought for a while, Zhang Xin realized she was worried about Xia Mingzhe and quickly tried to shake it off. But the more she tried not to think about it, the more it lingered in her mind, torturing herself in the process. She considered asking Zhang Yu, but that would only make it seem like she wasn't concerned about Xia Mingzhe, so she held back.
After enduring this torment for a month without receiving any further news from Xia Mingzhe, Zhang Xin hardened her heart and decided that even if he really did come back missing an arm or a leg, she would not be soft-hearted.
The air was filled with the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms, and the Mid-Autumn Festival had arrived in August. Palace maids brought out fresh potted chrysanthemums for Zhang Xin to admire, but she showed little interest, finding them uninteresting after only a glance. For some reason, Zhang Xin remembered when she was thirteen, Xia Mingzhe had made her a swing in the academy because she wanted to play. That swing was probably gone now.
A moment later, Zhang Xin called two eunuchs to her side and instructed them to make her a swing in the small garden of Yongle Palace. The eunuchs obeyed and left, and Zhang Xin waited with her chin in her hand, watching the head palace maid smell the fragrance and take inventory of the things in her small storeroom.
"Your Highness, do you still want these?" Wenxiang brought several items to Zhang Xin. Since Zhang Xin had been saying every day that she never wanted to talk to Xia Mingzhe again, and these items were all gifts from Xia Mingzhe, she deliberately came to Zhang Xin to ask.
Zhang Xin glanced at the items and noticed the wooden carving of a little girl. She reached out and picked it up to examine it. It was a gift Xia Mingzhe had given her when she turned fifteen, a coming-of-age ceremony, and she'd heard he'd carved it himself. After looking at it for a moment, Zhang Xin put it back. She wanted to say she didn't want it anymore but couldn't bring herself to say it, and muttered, "Whatever."
Before Wenxiang could ask another question, Zhang Xin impatiently got up and walked outside, saying, "Why isn't the swing set up yet?" She remembered that Xia Mingzhe had finished it very quickly back then and hadn't made her wait any longer.
When Zhang Xin arrived at the small garden, the two eunuchs had just finished their business. Upon seeing her, they bowed respectfully. Zhang Xin glanced at them, reached out and tugged at the seat, finding it fairly sturdy, and then sat down. The eunuchs insisted that no one had tried it yet and asked her to wait. Zhang Xin, impatient, simply told them to help her.
She sat alone on the swing in the garden, not really wanting to swing, but having nothing else to do, her mind seemed to be full of thoughts, yet also empty. The swing swung higher and higher, and Zhang Xin felt a little exhilarated.
But the swing, which she thought was sturdy enough, wasn't. After being used too much, the problem became apparent. While still in mid-air, the swing suddenly loosened, and Zhang Xin felt as if she had been thrown out in an instant, as if she were flying forward. She was terrified.
She closed her eyes tightly, thinking she was going to fall to the ground, but instead, someone caught her and rolled her around on the ground. Someone was cushioning her fall, so she wasn't hurt. Zhang Xin was so frightened that her face turned pale. She opened her eyes to see who had saved her, but to her surprise, it was Xia Mingzhe, who had gone to the south.
Author's Note: Zhang Xin: Don't show off your love in front of me, I'm not eating this dog food QUQ