The Crown Princess Is Jealous Again - Chapter 14

As the final note faded, Xiao Lin clapped her hands in enthusiastic praise. Only then did Xiao Beitang slowly open her eyes.

Xiao Lin gave a thumbs-up. “Linglong’s pipa skills are truly peerless under heaven.”

“Miss Lin overpraises me,” Linglong replied, rising to offer a graceful curtsy.

Xiao Beitang glanced at Xiao Lin and sat up. “What took you so long? I’ve been waiting.”

“I came the moment I finished dinner. I didn’t delay for a second.”

Xiao Wanqi was the last to arrive. She pushed the door open and saw the two of them staring directly at her. She let out a small laugh. “I’m late. I’ll penalize myself with a drink.” She sat down, poured a cup, and downed it in one go.

Xiao Lin teased, “If you wanted to drink, just say so. No one said anything about penalizing you.”

Xiao Beitang loved the feeling of being with them; it was comfortable. They were among her very few true friends. Watching the two of them bicker back and forth, the corners of her mouth drifted upward. She hadn’t actually been listening to the pipa; she had been brooding over the Emperor’s order to enroll in the Imperial Academy.

“A-Tang, I heard you turned your house upside down last night?” Xiao Wanqi raised a suggestive eyebrow. “Where did you hide?”

“A-Tang, only you would do such a thing! To make your family search for you all night on your wedding night.” Xiao Lin laughed until tears came, dabbing at her eyes with her pinky finger.

Linglong watched silently from the side. Does she dislike her wife that much? To run away on the night of the nuptials? Linglong felt a secret spark of joy.

“Does Miss Jiang dislike the new Madam Jiang that much?” Ke’er asked with a giggle. She was Xiao Lin’s favorite girl at the pavilion and was close friends with Linglong.

“Indeed,” Qian’er, the girl beside Xiao Wanqi, chimed in with a smirk. “To leave a bride alone in the chambers, is she perhaps quite ugly?”

“Ah, Qian’er, you couldn’t be more wrong,” Xiao Wanqi said, pinching the girl’s cheek. “Far from being ugly, she is said to be a beauty that could topple cities.”

Ke’er poked fun at Xiao Beitang. “Then is it because Miss Jiang can’t let go of our Linglong? Leaving the bride behind only to come find Linglong first thing the next morning.”

Linglong blushed and chided softly, “Ke’er.”

“Whether Miss Jiang missed Linglong, I don’t know,” Qian’er continued teasingly, “but I do know Linglong has been pining for Miss Jiang day and night.”

Linglong’s face turned even redder. Xiao Beitang simply smiled at their banter but didn’t join in. She was uncharacteristically distracted today.

“There is something I need to tell you both,” Xiao Beitang said.

The two friends turned to look at her. “Go on.”

She waved her hand at the girls. “You three, go out for a moment.”

Ke’er and Qian’er rose gracefully and exited, closing the door behind them. Linglong lingered for a heartbeat.

“Linglong, you too,” Xiao Beitang said tonelessly. Linglong blinked, then bowed and left.

Once the door was firmly shut, Xiao Beitang spoke. “Imperial Mother told me this morning that when the Imperial Academy reopens, all three of us have to enroll.”

“I already heard!” Xiao Lin sighed.

“You don’t want to go?” Xiao Wanqi asked.

“Do you?” Xiao Lin shot back.

Xiao Wanqi pondered. “I just feel it’s not entirely unacceptable.”

“It’s my fault you’re being dragged into this,” Xiao Beitang said, lowering her gaze.

Xiao Lin patted her shoulder. “Don’t say such silly things. Even without you, my father was planning to send me. He says I’m a layabout. My eldest brother is the Heir and will inherit the title, but I have nothing. If I don’t earn some merit through the exams, he worries about my future.”

Xiao Wanqi laughed. “I’m the one with a title to inherit, yet my father says that if I’m to lead the Prince of Duan’s estate, I can’t be an unlettered fool. He asked if I wanted to see our house go to ruin. I think they all colluded on this.”

“It’s likely the Emperor’s idea,” Xiao Lin sighed.

“That’s why I said I’ve implicated you both.”

“Enrolling in the Academy might not be so bad,” Xiao Lin said, always the optimist. “We can still come to the pavilion during breaks. It’s not like we’ll have zero freedom.”

Xiao Beitang added flatly, “Song Qingqian will be a teacher there.”

“Then won’t you be under her thumb even at school?” Xiao Lin asked, stunned.

“Actually,” Xiao Wanqi stammered, “I heard from my father later that the Emperor’s primary intent was to let her restrain and educate you.” The Prince of Duan had warned her that the Emperor was dead-set on fixing Xiao Beitang this time and told Wanqi not to join in any more reckless nonsense.

Xiao Beitang let out a cold snort of derision. “Interesting. Let’s see if she actually has the ability.”

Xiao Wanqi looked worried. “You aren’t planning something, are you? She’s a Kunze. The tricks you used on the old Grand Preceptors, they won’t be appropriate to use on her.”

Xiao Beitang’s lips curled into a smirk. “I’m not planning anything. I just suddenly find this entertaining.”

The two friends exchanged a look. “A-Tang,” Xiao Lin said, “I think you should stop spitefully opposing the Emperor. If she wants us at the Academy, we should just go.”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t go,” Xiao Beitang said lazily. “I just won’t go so willingly.”

“What good does it do you to pick these fights every single time?” Xiao Wanqi sighed.

The Princess smiled. “It makes my heart feel light.”

As evening fell, a splash of crimson light from the setting sun hung in the sky, looking as though the heavens were on fire.

“Strange,” Xiao Lin remarked. “A-Tang, usually you’d be heading home by now. Why are you still here?”

“Home is no longer my home,” Xiao Beitang drawled. “I have nowhere to go back to.”

“So, you plan to stay at the pavilion? What about tomorrow? Or the day after?” Xiao Wanqi asked with a laugh.

“I don’t know. Haven’t decided.”

Linglong was overjoyed to hear this; the Princess had never stayed the night before. As the last sliver of sun dipped below the mountains and a crescent moon rose, Xiao Beitang lay with her head in Linglong’s lap, lost in thought.

In Zichen Palace, Song Qingqian had assumed the Princess would at least return by nightfall. When there was still no sign of her, she put down her book and changed her clothes.

“Is the Consort going out of the palace?” Bai Xue asked, seeing her mistress in more practical attire.

The carriage pulled up at the entrance of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion. Wu Sanqi assisted Song Qingqian out, and she looked up at the gilded plaque. A servant, seeing her noble bearing and her tall, imposing guards, hurried inside to report.

Mother Hua, thinking it was just another jealous wife looking for her husband, hurried out to check. However, even from a distance, her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Song Qingqian. She had never seen a woman so breathtakingly beautiful; she could barely look away. What kind of woman looks like this and still has to come to a brothel to find her husband? Truly, Qianyuan are all trash, she thought.

“May I ask who the young lady is looking for?” Mother Hua asked with a smile.

Song Qingqian nodded and asked with a slight smile of her own, “How did you know I was looking for someone?”

“You don’t look like the type to come here for pleasure, Miss.” Mother Hua glanced at the guards.

Song Qingqian smirked. “I am here for Miss Jiang Tang. Please, lead the way.”

Mother Hua let out a forced chuckle. “To be honest, our guests are all people of high status. To disturb them abruptly would be a great offense. May I ask what your relation is to Miss Jiang? I can send someone in to announce you.”

Song Qingqian took two steps forward, her smile widening. “Jiang Tang is my husband. Just take me to her. If she gets angry, I will take full responsibility for the consequences.”

“This.” Mother Hua hesitated. The “Jiang Tang” group were her best customers, spending vast amounts of silver every month. She didn’t want to offend them.

Wu Sanqi stepped forward, his hand resting on his sheathed blade. “Did you not hear her?” he asked with a dark scowl. “Take my mistress inside. Now.”