A Stolen Romance - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Secret

A loud gong sounded, and the race began.

Despite the unpleasant little incident that had just happened, when the annual Dragon Boat Festival began, everyone’s attention was completely captivated by the dragon boat teams on the lake. Young noblemen in colorful clothes sat two per row at the very front of the boats, leading their teams as they vigorously rowed the paddles. Their posture was valiant as the dragon boats sped away.

As the boats raced back and forth, some fast and some slow, the crowd’s emotions grew more and more intense. The earlier tension was swept away by the wind. Tu Chunhua even forgot that her daughter had almost been harassed by Prince Yu just moments ago. She craned her neck to get a better look at the lake.

The sound of drums and shouts echoed across Siyu Lake. Everyone was influenced by the increasingly frantic drumbeats, straightening their necks and staring at the lake, hoping their son would win.

Only Shi Yuning, for the first time, wasn’t in the mood for a spectacle.

“Ningning, look! Isn’t that young gentleman in the very front the Third Young Master of your Uncle Zhao’s family?” Tu Chunhua excitedly pulled Shi Yuning, wanting to squeeze closer to get a better view.

Shi Yuning was pulled into the crowd. She saw Xie Zhaoran slowly walk down from the high platform and head straight for the nearby viewing pavilion. It was built specifically for the Crown Prince and Crown Princess. It was covered by a canopy and shielded on all sides from the sun. Inside, there were two large ice basins, making it cool and refreshing.

Shi Yuning saw Xie Zhaoran sitting side-by-side with the Crown Prince, seemingly discussing something, with gentle smiles on both their faces.

The Crown Prince said something that made Xie Zhaoran smile even wider. Shi Yuning watched as she leaned in and whispered something in his ear, their posture very intimate.

For some reason, Shi Yuning only felt that the sun was more dazzling than before, so dazzling it was as if she couldn’t open her eyes.

The pavilion was indeed cool. Xie Zhaoran’s face was smiling as she leaned close to the Crown Prince. To outsiders, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess looked like a very loving couple.

Only the Crown Prince knew that behind her smile, she was reprimanding him for being so reckless. After her scolding, Xie Zhaoran looked him up and down carefully. “Can you still hold on?”

The Crown Prince sighed slightly. Though it was very hard, it shouldn’t be difficult to last through the race. “I’ll manage.”

Xie Zhaoran scoffed. “Just causing trouble!”

She then glanced around. Everyone’s attention was drawn to the dragon boats on the lake, and no one was looking at them. Xie Zhaoran continued, “You didn’t need to come. Do you not trust me to handle this?”

The Crown Prince smiled and denied it. “Of course not. I know you can handle these things, Zhaoran. It’s just that I don’t want you to have to bear these burdens alone every time.” As he spoke, his smile grew more gentle, and he looked up at the day’s weather.

Everyone said it was hot, but the Crown Prince felt that only such a scorching sun could warm his chilly body, which had lacked blood and vitality for years. He narrowed his eyes, sounding a little emotional. “It’s not right to always let you face things alone just because you can handle it.”

The Crown Prince felt that he had wronged very few people in his life, and Xie Zhaoran was one of them. If he could hold on until Xie Zhaoran’s plan succeeded, it would be fine. But if he couldn’t, and Prince Yu took the throne, Xie Zhaoran’s position would be unimaginable.

Seeing that Xie Zhaoran was about to retort, the Crown Prince waved his hand and pointed into the distance. “It looks like there’s no shade over there. Why not invite the Shi family’s mother and daughter over here? They can see clearly and won’t be in the sun.”

The little eunuch Lin, who was standing nearby, smiled and went to do as he was told.

Xiao Liju had just walked outside the Crown Prince’s pavilion and heard his words. She was a little displeased. “Why didn’t you think that your Imperial Sister’s spot has no ice and is very hot, too?”

The Crown Prince chuckled. “You must have heard there was drama to watch, Imperial Sister. You love a spectacle so much; how could you be afraid of the heat?”

Hearing the Crown Prince tease her, Xiao Liju retorted, “The Crown Prince has a bad memory. On my way back, how many letters did I receive from you? Wasn’t it you who invited me to come watch the drama?”

When Xie Zhaoran heard their conversation, she frowned slightly. “What letters? Princess, did you return early because of a letter from the Crown Prince?”

The Crown Prince heard Xiao Liju reveal his secret and said with a scolding tone, “Imperial Sister, you betrayed me so easily. I won’t be able to share any drama with you anymore.”

Xiao Liju wasn’t worried by his light threat at all. “Oh? Then you won’t get any more romance novels from the border.”

The Crown Prince begged for mercy without a second’s delay. “I was wrong.” The days of recovering in the capital were boring, and he was completely relying on those novels to pass the time. The ones in the capital were all the same, with the same stories of scholars and beauties, and they were all very discreet. But the novels from the border prefectures were different. The writing style, just like the local customs, was quite fierce.

Thinking of this, the Crown Prince and Xiao Liju looked at each other and smiled. They were two of a kind; how could they not know the advantages of such things?

Xie Zhaoran took a deep breath, fighting the urge to throw both of them out. “Can you two please learn to be better people?”

The Crown Prince raised his eyebrows and smiled meaningfully. “Don’t you like to read them, Zhaoran? I heard that someone recently couldn’t put a book down.”

Just as the Crown Prince finished speaking, the little eunuch Lin returned with the guests he had gone to invite. Shi Yuning heard the Crown Prince’s words. After a curtsy, she smiled and said, “The Crown Princess does love to read. During my nap, I saw her with a book. I wonder what kind of book is so good?”

The Crown Prince and the Princess looked at each other again and couldn’t help but laugh. They looked teasingly at Xie Zhaoran.

Xie Zhaoran’s face darkened, and she shot a warning glare at the two people who were laughing happily. When she looked at Shi Yuning, she immediately put on a gentle, serious expression and replied, without blushing or her heart skipping a beat, “Sun Tzu’s Art of War.”

…

As soon as the race was over, Xie Zhaoran and the Crown Prince left together.

Shi Yuning’s mother pulled her to wander through the garden. The evening banquet was still a long way off, but Shi Yuning wasn’t in the mood to look at the flowers and plants. During the race, she had watched Xie Zhaoran and saw her frequently asking about the Crown Prince, sighing inwardly at how good their relationship was. She thought of the few times she had met the Crown Prince and could feel that he was a good person. If it weren’t for his poor health, he and Xie Zhaoran would be a good match.

Is that the kind of man Xie Zhaoran likes?

Shi Yuning’s thoughts wandered. She was so lost in them that she could barely respond when her mother spoke to her. Not long after, Xiao Liju sent someone to find Shi Yuning. Tu Chunhua was very happy that the princess thought so highly of her daughter. She told Shi Yuning to have a good time with the princess and that she would continue to wander around the garden.

Shi Yuning followed the maid through the garden, a winding corridor with many twists and turns, and then down a small path to an elegant little cottage nestled in a bamboo grove. It was the same place where she had rested at noon.

Seeing Qiang Di guarding the door, she wondered if the princess was also resting in Xie Zhaoran’s room. Qiang Di saw her, smiled, lifted the curtain for her, and after she entered, she not only put the curtain down but also closed the door.

Shi Yuning, still with questions in her mind, walked slowly inside. She walked around a pomelo wood curio shelf and into the bedroom, where she saw Xie Zhaoran sitting upright in the chair by the window. Seeing her, Xie Zhaoran quickly closed the book in her hand and placed it on the desk.

Shi Yuning only saw Xie Zhaoran and was a little surprised. After a curtsy, she asked, “Where is the Crown Prince?” She remembered that Xie Zhaoran had left with him, but now only Xie Zhaoran was here.

Xie Zhaoran said, “The Crown Prince has returned to the Eastern Palace.” She invited Shi Yuning to sit on the other chair at the desk, then took the book and walked to the pear blossom wood bed, where she tucked the book under a pillow. Shi Yuning assumed she was just being careful with the book, a very useful military treatise that Xie Zhaoran cared about so much.

She asked softly, “Why did the Crown Princess call me here?”

Xie Zhaoran personally picked up a tray from a round table, poured two cups of tea, and brought them to the desk by the window. She sat down in the other chair and asked with a smile, “I said I had a secret to tell you earlier. Do you still want to hear it?”

“Yes!”

Shi Yuning still didn’t hesitate for a moment. In the garden, she had already realized that she wasn’t just curious about gossip and drama. She genuinely cared about Xie Zhaoran and wanted to be able to help her in some way, to repay her kindness.

Xie Zhaoran wasn’t surprised by her answer. She smiled, took a sip of tea, and then put the cup down. When she spoke, her words were like a clap of thunder from a clear sky.

“The Crown Prince and I are not truly husband and wife. So in the future, when we are alone, Miss Shi, please call me by my name.”

Shi Yuning had also just picked up her tea cup, but she immediately put it down. She was so startled that she spilled a lot of tea, but she didn’t even notice.

“What?”

Shi Yuning had never expected this secret. She was a little confused by what she had just heard.

Xie Zhaoran smiled and handed her a piece of cloth that she had pulled out from under the pillow when she went to put the book away. Shi Yuning took it, confused, and quickly looked it over.

“A letter of divorce?”

Shi Yuning was utterly shocked. This was actually a letter of divorce written by the Crown Prince, with both his and Xie Zhaoran’s signatures. She was so stunned that she opened her mouth but couldn’t say a word for a long time. After a long silence, she asked, “Is this… useful?”

Xie Zhaoran’s eyebrows raised slightly. She hadn’t expected Shi Yuning to know about such things.

“It is indeed useless. There has never been a wife who married into the royal family who could get a divorce. The Crown Prince’s action can only be described as his own naive goodwill.”

For some reason, Shi Yuning felt a little disappointed.

“However, the marriage was rushed, and many of the rituals were incomplete. As long as the Crown Prince says it doesn’t count in the future, it truly can be undone.” Of course, that would only happen once the Crown Prince ascended to the throne and held the power to decide. An emperor’s word could turn a deer into a horse, and it could also find fault with a marriage to dissolve it. As for the letter of divorce, the Crown Prince had insisted on signing it with Xie Zhaoran out of guilt on their wedding night. It was how the two of them drew a line in their relationship.

Shi Yuning was a little confused. She asked a crucial question: “You don’t like the Crown Prince?”

Xie Zhaoran chuckled softly. “I only see him as family, a cousin I grew up with.”

Shi Yuning felt that this news was too shocking. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess, whom the world believed to be a loving couple, were actually not truly married. People had said that the Crown Princess’s feelings for the Crown Prince were so deep that she was willing to marry into the Eastern Palace even though she knew she might become a widow. But it turned out to all be an act.

Although Shi Yuning wasn’t a genius, she knew that there must be a big plan behind this.

“Why are you telling me this?” Shi Yuning blinked. If this were to be discovered by the wrong person, it would be a huge handle against Xie Zhaoran.

Xie Zhaoran’s long fingers pointed at the spilled tea on the table and smiled. “It’s actually quite tiring to keep a secret all by yourself.”

Shi Yuning nodded in agreement. “I understand!” It was the same for her plan to travel the world. Keeping that secret to herself was exhausting. But when she told her best friend she had grown up with, he didn’t agree and poured cold water on her idea, so she had to continue keeping the secret hidden.

Shi Yuning smiled happily, happy for Xie Zhaoran. She had always felt that if Xie Zhaoran was trapped within the square walls of the palace for her whole life, it would be a suffocating and miserable existence.

Xie Zhaoran saw her smiling so happily, didn’t ask why, and just felt happy with her.

All the way to the evening banquet, Shi Yuning still had a foolishly happy expression on her face.

Xiao Liju, puzzled, asked Xie Zhaoran, “What’s wrong with Miss Shi? She’s smiling like she found money.”

Xie Zhaoran was about to answer when a palace maid came to report.

She said that the Empress had arrived at the garden from the palace and had brought an imperial decree with her.

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