Has The Princess Consort Come Out Today? - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

After buying the final gift, Ji Tian finally felt the exhaustion set in. She dragged her body back onto the carriage, looking every bit like a “useless” person who had completely run out of energy.

Xie Jun, however, sat perfectly upright, making Ji Tian sigh at what a master of self-discipline he truly was.

“Did the Princess Consort have a pleasant time playing today?”

“Especially pleasant. Thank you, Prince.” Ji Tian had a rather favorable impression of Xie Jun now. His conduct was genuinely good, and he treated her well. If it were a different, more chauvinistic man, he would have likely been abusive within the marriage or cast her into the cold palace long ago. Yet, he indulged her various behaviors. For this alone, Ji Tian was very grateful.

“You are a truly good person, Prince,” Ji Tian said.

Xie Jun curled the corners of his lips and said nothing more.

The carriage driver’s skills were expert, and they soon arrived at the Prince’s manor. Xie Jun stepped out first and then lifted the curtain to let Ji Tian descend.

“Have the servants bring the items back for you.”

“Mm,” Ji Tian replied obediently.

Xie Jun watched her get out and turned to head toward the entrance, but was stopped by Ji Tian.

“Prince.” She reached out, a rough little box appearing from beneath her wide sleeves. “A gift for you.”

Xie Jun reached out to take it and opened it. Inside was a sugar figurine of Sun Wukong. Ji Tian didn’t know when she had made it; Xie Jun hadn’t noticed at all. It was a very crude sugar figurine, likely worth only a few coppers, but Xie Jun looked at it very intently.

“Why give me this?” Xie Jun asked, putting the box away.

“…Um… I just felt it—a gut feeling—that you, Prince, are very much like Sun Wukong.” Ji Tian fiddled with her fingers. Apart from appearances, she also looked at a person’s aura, often associating them with strange things. The first time she saw Sun Wukong holding his golden cudgel, for some reason, Ji Tian felt it was a perfect fit for Xie Jun.

Although… she had spent so much of his money and only gave him a gift worth a few coppers…

Feeling guilty…

“I will give you a better gift next time, Prince,” Ji Xiaotian said, acting extra well-behaved.

“This is already very good.” Xie Jun smiled like a spring breeze and held the box.

Ji Tian was momentarily “electrified” (in a good way).

This kind of beauty that transcends gender was truly unfair; no one could resist it.

Fortunately, I’m not straight, so I’ll just keep acting as Xie Jun’s roommate.

Ji Tian was followed by servants carrying a pile of gifts back to Qixia Pavilion. After resting for a bit, she sent Qing Yu and the other maids out to deliver the presents she had bought.

Qing Yu was admiring the hairpin her mistress had bought for her. Upon hearing the instructions, she happily pinned it into her hair and went out with the gifts and the other maids—although she wasn’t as experienced as the other maids in the Prince’s manor, she was the most pampered by the Princess. And the Princess was truly so kind; she remembered to buy her a gift while out. Qing Yu had never received such a gift specifically meant for her before.

Ji Tian was very thoughtful with those she was close to. Perhaps it was just a random remark they made, but Ji Tian would remember it, and the gift she gave would be exactly what the other person liked. As for others, she gave gifts that were both ornamental and practical. She gave to everyone she was familiar with; sometimes it wasn’t about the gift itself, but even if the item was ordinary and cheap, if you forgot to give something to one person, that person would definitely be very sad.

Although… the person who received the gift might be even sadder.

“Bang!” Liu Linlang swept everything off the table, along with the peony hairpin contained in its exquisite box.

“This bitch, trying to show off to me again. Heh, who do you think you are?”

Liu Linlang recalled the words Ji Tian said when she left: Linlang, you will definitely regret this. She felt both hate and anger. Had she known she was going out with the Prince, she would never have refused. This bitch, deliberately not saying she was going out with the Prince, using a lowly concubine to fool me. Heh, what a poisonous heart.

Ji Tian, just you wait.

Liu Linlang glared fiercely at the hairpin on the floor.

“Go find out where the Prince is resting tonight.”

“Yes,” the maid with zero presence beside her lowered her head and obeyed.

Xie Jun was currently in his study.

“Prince, are you still sleeping in Mianzhai tonight?” the guard asked in a low voice.

Mianzhai was where Xie Jun personally rested.

Xie Jun’s gaze rested in front of the pen holder, where a crudely made Sun Wukong sugar figurine was currently placed. One could actually see a few traces of a defiant spirit in its expression.

Xie Jun reached out and touched the protrusion in his throat.

“Go to Qixia Pavilion.”

“…Yes.”

Ji Tian had walked quite a bit today. At night, she had Qing Yu prepare water for her, and she meticulously completed a foot massage. She was currently lying comfortably on the bed reading a storybook, her two little feet wiggling restlessly in the air along with the mood of her reading.

It was at this moment that Xie Jun entered.

Qing Yu was outside, straining her ears in nervousness and anticipation to hear the movement inside. She didn’t know what the Princess was doing, but she had just been stopped by the Prince when she wanted to announce him. She hoped they would have a joyful night tonight.

Oh dear… what a way to put it, Qing Yu thought, covering her face.

Ji Tian was completely unaware of the change in environment, deeply immersed in the storybook.

Hurry, expose him, expose him!

“What is the Princess Consort reading?”

The voice that suddenly sounded in her ear made Ji Tian feel the same awkwardness she felt in high school when she was hiding under her blanket reading yuri novels and was suddenly caught by her mother. Her body moved faster than her brain, and she stuffed the book under her pillow.

“P-Prince, why are you here?”

“I have come to rest.”

Ji Tian scurried three feet deep into the bed. “P-Prince?”

Didn’t we have an agreement? Why are you suddenly going back on your word? Could it be that you were mesmerized by my charm? But people who lie get long noses!

Xie Jun didn’t notice her movements; he leaned over and took the storybook she had just tucked away from under the pillow.

Ji Tian: !!

“‘The fox spirit cried out in a delicate voice: You thought he was a jade-faced gentleman and a romantic talent, not knowing how many others he had recommended his pillow to…'” Xie Jun read the content of the book sentence by sentence. His slow, deliberate voice reading these words had an unexpectedly seductive flavor.

Ji Tian’s face turned beet red: “Prince!”

Xie Jun flipped to the cover unhurriedly: “The Jade-Faced Scholar Battles the Three Monsters.” This “battle” was clearly not just of a superficial meaning.

Ji Tian, publicly executed, decided to “play dead” on the spot.

“The Princess Consort’s reading taste is truly… quite unique.” Xie Jun said while flipping through the book.

“I—I was just curious, I only read a little bit.” Ji Tian used her fingers to indicate a tiny distance, showing how innocent she was.

Xie Jun’s smile remained as usual.

Ji Tian: QAQ

“Prince, since it’s so late and you’ve come to me, is it insomnia? Otherwise, let me keep you company and chat.” Ji Tian tried to divert the topic.

“Since the Princess Consort has started reading this kind of book, why don’t we?”

“I didn’t, I haven’t!” Ji Tian said nervously. “No, I mean, Prince, please don’t do something that will be bad for you just out of pity for me. You see, my willpower is so weak; I really fear I will lose my mind out of jealousy.”

“Why don’t I tell you a story? I’ve heard several really interesting stories lately.”

“A story like this?” Xie Jun raised the book in his hand.

“…No, of course not. It’s like this: they say there was a village with a married couple—” Ji Tian searched her memory, starting to mix things together.

Xie Jun suddenly took off his boots and got on the bed. Ji Tian shrank her neck: “P-Prince?”

Xie Jun propped up his well-shaped chin with one hand, lying on his side next to her. “Continue.”

Please don’t lean your handsome face so close to me, I’m going to suffocate. Even if I look at myself in the mirror every day, I can’t get used to this.

Ji Tian complained inwardly, but looked as obedient as a lamb on the surface: “Alright, Prince.”

“They say the woman was pregnant for three years and gave birth to a meat tumor the size of a washbasin.”

“That defies logic. A woman’s birth canal is narrow; a washbasin-sized tumor is different from a normal infant and should have been impossible to birth.”

“…Then, maybe I remembered wrong. It was a tumor the size of a ball.”

“That also shouldn’t be an infant. Pregnancy for three years—perhaps the body had some kind of disease.”

You certainly have a very advanced understanding of modern medicine.

“…Prince, don’t mind these details; it’s a mythological story.”

“Fine.”

“This ‘magic ball’ was actually a congenital demonic body, rebellious and hard to tame, causing the villagers to hate and fear him, but only the Lee family still protected him.”

“That is illogical. As the head of a territory, the Lee family should have prioritized the common people; descendants should be secondary.”

“…Prince, it’s just a story.”

Stop nitpicking! Stop nitpicking! I won’t tell it anymore.

“Don’t want to tell it anymore?”

“…No, not at all…”

“He stood under boundless pressure and used all his strength. The White Dragon said, ‘Don’t struggle, there will be no result; this is fate.’ Nezha gritted his teeth and roared, ‘My fate is up to me, not Heaven!’ I don’t believe in you, you thieving Heaven!”

“Of course, a miracle didn’t appear on him; you can’t just win instantly just because you can’t beat someone. The White Dragon and Nezha both sacrificed themselves. At the most critical moment, the Ancestor saved their souls and reshaped their bodies with lotus flowers, returning them to the world. Nezha finally repaid his karma, and the phrase ‘My fate is up to me, not Heaven’ became a celebrated tale.” Ji Tian couldn’t really remember clearly, and in order to increase the plot’s twists, she mixed the legend with the Nezha blockbuster movie. As she spoke, she became sleepy herself.

“My fate is up to me, not Heaven…” Xie Jun repeated these words on the tip of his tongue.

“Mm, my fate is up to me, not Heaven.” Ji Tian nodded like a chick pecking at rice, overcome with sleepiness.

“Sleep.” Xie Jun supported her chin as it sank downward.

“Mm…” Ji Tian saw he didn’t have any other ideas, so she slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep.

In the past, there was One Thousand and One Nights; today, there is Ji Xiaotian telling Nezha stories at night.

Whatever… so sleepy…

If I don’t sleep now, I’ll have dark circles tomorrow…

Xie Jun watched her close her eyes, and she soon fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, her sleeping face pure and flawless.

He rubbed his fingers and whispered “My fate is up to me, not Heaven” to himself. His gaze was deep, not knowing where it was looking, and it was a long time before he fell asleep.

From that day on, Ji Tian found that she seemed to have become Xie Jun’s bedtime television channel, complete with manual on-demand selections and interactive features.

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