But Yanran asked with great joy, "Did Father come back and eat dumplings?"
Tang Zhuyun: That's absolutely impossible.
Your father is clearly a good-for-nothing too!
If the Prince of Jin were to return to eat, how could he possibly only eat one?
She couldn't help but recall the first time Prince of Jin came to her house for a meal, when she deliberately teased him and made him not eat enough... Now that she thought about it, if she had known that he wasn't a bad person, and if she had known that he would die young, she would have given him an extra bowl of rice.
Thinking this way, Tang Zhuyun wasn't so scared anymore. She guessed that perhaps some unruly servant had sneaked in and tasted one, or maybe some animal had snatched it away.
Yanran assumed that it was Prince of Jin who ate it, so it must be Prince of Jin.
Song Jingyang was lying on the roof with Prince of Jin when he suddenly saw his lord cover his mouth and jump away. He hurriedly followed after him.
"Your Highness, are you poisoned? Was there poison in those dumplings?"
Then the Prince of Jin sneezed violently twice.
Song Jingyang breathed a sigh of relief, "You must have caught a cold. I'll go steal some medicine for you! Her Highness the Princess's medicine is really effective..."
The Prince of Jin looked down at him coldly.
Song Jingyang: "Did I say something wrong?"
"In the Prince's mansion, everything is taken from me, not stolen."
Song Jingyang: "... Why are you suddenly nitpicking over words?"
If you're so capable, go and take it honestly and openly!
Tell me, what kind of act was this, pretending to be dead? Now he's afraid to face Tang Zhuyun, always worried that he'll give himself away.
If that's the case, it's better to keep it from him forever!
The Prince of Jin ignored him and said, "Where are the river lanterns? Go and see if they've been brought back!"
"Yes."
The Prince of Jin looked at the dim yellow light in the courtyard.
The fact that he sneezed means Tang Zhuzi must have been making up stories about him again!
When he saw the river lanterns that Song Jingyang brought back and Tang Zhuyun's little comics, he was furious again.
But Song Jingyang muttered to himself, "What does this mean? It looks like a row of people standing and urinating..."
Prince of Jin: "You may leave. Do not follow me again."
Song Jingyang: "Huh?"
"She may seem confused, but she's actually very clever; if you give yourself away, you'll be severely punished."
"Yes," Song Jingyang replied, but in his heart he thought that Tang Zhuyun would definitely not find out.
Who would have thought someone would pretend to be dead for fun?
Especially during the Chinese New Year... how utterly despicable!
That evening, Xiu'er told him that the chili water trick was too vicious.
When she couldn't cry, she changed her approach. Now, just thinking about how everyone else is feasting on meat and fish during the Lunar New Year while they can only eat vegetarian food brings tears to her eyes.
The Prince of Jin gritted his teeth and tore off the paper strip from the river lantern, then carefully put it away.
These are all "evidence," to be thrown in front of her when he "comes back to life," to see how she tries to deny them.
After thinking for a moment, Prince of Jin went to Nanny Rong's courtyard again.
Nanny Rong hurriedly got up to greet him, saying, "Your Highness, are you hungry? This old servant has saved some food for you."
The Prince of Jin sat down to eat and asked her, "Granny, why did Father suddenly bestow upon her the title of Princess?"
Nanny Rong said kindly, "Isn't it because the Prince likes it?"
Prince of Jin: "... I think the old nanny still likes her more."
"This old servant truly admires Her Highness the Princess. She reminds me of the days when I served the young lady... In truth, the young lady was quite lively back then."
But then she met the man who became her calamity, and she went from Mingzhu to a fish eye.
The Prince of Jin lowered his head and ate, saying nothing more.
Nanny Rong probed, "The Prince is pleased as well, isn't he?"
"There is no joy," said the Prince of Jin.
"At least there's no resistance, right?" Nanny Rong looked at him expectantly.
The Prince of Jin gripped his chopsticks tightly.
Nanny Rong didn't expect him to answer. Having watched the child grow up, she knew what kind of person Prince of Jin was.
"Your Highness, revenge is important, but the young lady in heaven would surely prefer to see you happy."
After a while, the Prince of Jin said, "The New Year is approaching. I'm going to the Great Xiangguo Temple to visit my mother tomorrow. Do you want to come?"
"This old servant will not go tomorrow. This old servant will wait until New Year's Eve to spend the New Year with the young lady. The Princess Consort wants this old servant to go to her place early tomorrow morning."
"Do what?"
"This old servant doesn't know either, but we'll find out tomorrow. Your Highness, please eat more; this was sent to this old servant by the Princess. As you can see, no one else pays any attention to this old servant now, except for the Princess, who treats this old servant even more warmly than when you were here."
Prince of Jin: Then I should die?
However, the food did seem to be her cooking, but without any meat, it wasn't as delicious as before.
Even so, the Prince of Jin devoured all the food.
He tasted the dumplings she made today. Don't think he didn't know; she secretly added lard and minced meat to them.
But it was really delicious. If he hadn't wanted to follow her to see what she was up to this time, he probably would have finished it all.
After having a meal at Nanny Rong's place, Prince of Jin went to rest at Song Jingyang's place.
--If it weren't for the need for someone to look after him, he definitely wouldn't have told that idiot.
However, since Tang Zhuyun has something to do tomorrow, he will postpone his trip to Great Xiangguo Temple until the day after tomorrow.
Prince of Jin had already lain down, but Song Jingyang was still muttering beside him, "Your Highness, have you won now? Are you planning to leave after the New Year?"
The Prince of Jin closed his eyes slightly and murmured, "Hmm."
He has to leave Beijing.
Song Jingyang then said, "Then, why don't you tell Her Highness the Princess the truth? Otherwise, wouldn't that be a bit unfair?"
The Prince of Jin sneered, "She doesn't want to know the truth."
If we find out later, she can keep jumping around for a few more days, indulging in her pipe dream of becoming a widow.
Now that I know, she probably won't even be able to have a good New Year.
What did Tang Zhuyun actually like about him? What she liked was the protection that the title of princess consort could offer her; she didn't want to deal with him, and Prince of Jin saw all of this clearly.
For some reason, he, who should have been furious, couldn't get angry; instead, he felt a mischievous urge to play.
The Prince of Jin felt as if he were ill.
He inexplicably gained a princess, and despite how much he hated being manipulated into marriage, just as Nanny Rong had said, when he thought that the person was Tang Zhuzi, he didn't seem to have any rebellious thoughts. Instead, he felt a lot of anticipation.
Later, when he saw her scheme against the Seventh Prince, Prince of Jin felt extremely relieved; even though he knew she was the one who didn't suffer any loss, he couldn't help but think that she was at least helping him vent his anger.
He couldn't think about it anymore; if he did, the Prince of Jin felt he was terminally ill.
"Song Jingyang, Song Jingyang!" Xiu'er's loud voice rang out, especially clear in the darkness.
Song Jingyang panicked. "Your Highness, Xiu'er is here!"
"She's here, what's wrong?" Prince of Jin glanced at him.
So flustered and pathetic!
Because he is averse to women, the few people close to him are all bachelors, to the point that he now treats even a maidservant like a treasure.
"Your Highness, you're disturbing your subordinates here! Why don't you hide for a while?" Song Jingyang tidied his hair and clothes.