MYUFPC CHAPTER 26
Your face is so red
The moon had quietly climbed up and perched itself on the treetops at some point. The night sky was hazy, the Milky Way brilliant. Zhan Yue, dressed in a black robe, stood in the darkness, as if about to merge into the enchanting moonlight.
His eyebrows were dark, his eyes bright, his gaze steady and calm. After saying these words, his thin lips were tightly pressed into a line.
However, Jiashan clearly heard a hint of forceful tenderness in his tone.
She looked at Zhan Yue, her eyes seeming to hold stars as well. Jiashan smiled and said, "If I don't say there isn't, does that mean there is?"
The light in Zhan Yue's eyes flickered and fragmented. He was silent for a moment: "I thought that when the Princess was at Changchun Temple, she had already made up her mind."
"I did make up my mind." Thinking of Yuan Kang's words, Jiashan pursed her lips, "Do you want to hear it?"
Zhan Yue raised his eyes, his long, curled eyelashes like black crow feathers: "Your Highness asked me that day if I could tell you who the girl in my heart is."
"Before the Princess tells me, why don't I tell you first?" Zhan Yue took a step closer, his eyes half-closed.
Jiashan looked up. It felt like a gust of night wind had suddenly filled her chest, and a patch of weeds that should have been barren seemed to have been revived by the spring breeze.
She opened her mouth, Zhan Yue's expression was calm and steady, and the corners of his lips curved slightly: "Perhaps the Princess already knows."
"That's why you're so confident," Zhan Yue paused, his tone indifferent, "Your Highness is relying on nothing more than the fact that I like you."
Beneath these light words was a surging undercurrent of deep affection.
Jiashan didn't expect Zhan Yue to be so direct with her, and her cheeks involuntarily began to burn. She stared at Zhan Yue, seeing the undercurrent in his dark eyes. Under the dim moonlight, his fair face had a slightly cold and forbidden quality.
The two of them looked at each other for a moment, Zhan Yue's gaze unchanged, as if he was stubbornly demanding an answer.
Jiashan couldn't help but feel her lips dry. Zhan Yue's slightly aggressive aura was still in front of her, her eyelashes trembled, and her voice was low and hoarse: "I—"
"I have no romantic feelings for the Daren." Unlike Jiashan's rejection, her entire face, up to her ears, was almost burnt a faint pink. Even when rejecting Zhan Yue, her breath was slightly disordered. She said, "If there is anything that has led the Daren to misunderstand, it is my fault."
Zhan Yue laughed instead of getting angry. With his crescent-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes, he looked incredibly handsome. He smiled and said, "The Princess means that I'm being presumptuous."
He raised his heel slightly, and unconsciously took a few more steps closer to Jiashan. Those smiling eyes were almost under Jiashan's eyebrows.
"But I don't think so," he said, his voice low as he stared into her eyes.
Jiashan's pupils constricted slightly. She looked up and slowed her voice, "What you mean is, Daren know me better than I do myself."
"Perhaps," Zhan Yue's voice lowered as well, as gentle as the clear moonlight. His smile was like the purest moonlight. "Your Highness has been trying to please me lately."
"Do you think I can't see that?" Zhan Yue said slowly.
Jiashan was almost speechless by his words. It was true that she had been trying to please him, but... but it had nothing to do with romantic feelings.
If she had known that Zhan Yue liked her, she wouldn't have done so, causing him needless trouble.
Jiashan paused, her gaze fixed on him. "You will have other wife in the future. It won't be me."
Zhan Yue smiled faintly, "There won't be."
"I only want you," Zhan Yue's pupils were as black as ink. He leaned forward and suddenly extended his right thumb, lightly brushing Jiashan's lips with it.
Jiashan had just applied red lipstick when she left Changle Palace. Soon, Zhan Yue's fingertips were stained a bright red. His right hand had been holding a sword for many years, and his fingertips were covered with a thin layer of calluses.
Those calluses made Jiashan feel both itchy and numb. She shivered slightly and looked down, just in time to see the slightly protruding knuckles of Zhan Yue's right hand, long and distinct.
Jiashan only then realized what Zhan Yue had said and done.
Her face was burning hot, and then she turned to him with a furious expression. She raised her voice and said, "You're being presumptuous."
"Zhan Yanqing," Jiashan glared at Zhan Yue, her voice lowered as if she was afraid of being overheard, "I said no, and that's the end of it. Me trying to please you has nothing to do with it."
Her hands clenched tightly around her sleeves. "I'm leaving."
Jiashan felt a little parched. She met Zhan Yue's eyes, deep as a pool, and said coldly, "If you dare to be so presumptuous again, I won't let it go."
"Princess," Zhan Yue reached out a hand and firmly grasped Jiashan's sleeve.
Jiashan's clothes were always perfumed, and the one she was wearing today had a scent of bergamot mixed with jasmine. It was both sweet and pleasant, yet subtly alluring.
Zhan Yue's expression was calm, he looked at her quietly and leaned down to whisper, "Your face is so red."
Jia Shan's breath hitched. For a moment, it felt like someone had grabbed her by the tail. Her heart skipped a beat, and she turned her head, saying, "It's because you're too close to me."
Zhan Yue slowly released her hand, but he was still very close to her. "Today, it was I who overstepped my bounds."
Seeing that he might be about to soften, Jiashan hummed, "Good to know you understand."
"Since I've had the intention of marrying you, I've been allowing myself to be presumptuous," Zhan Yue didn't lower his head, instead, he pressed on with his words, his gaze fixed on her lips.
Seeing that the lipstick on the center of her two lips had been smudged by him, he simply used his fingertip to outline her entire lips.
Jiashan had typical cherry lips, curved and small. Zhan Yue's gaze deepened involuntarily, and he softly called, "Jiashan."
The call was too intimate. Jiashan quickly avoided his hand and said, "I am the ruler, and you are the subject. It's not appropriate for you to address me like that."
A smile played on Zhan Yue's lips, "Then I'll wait for the day when I can call you that."
Jia Shan looked up at him.
After tonight, how could she not understand? This man, who looked so cold and noble on the outside, had an undeniable strength and domineering nature deep down.
Had she gotten herself into trouble?
Jiashan's body stiffened slightly.
Zhan Yue took a step forward, and his imposing aura was almost at Jiashan's nose.
Jiashan's face, under the moonlight, was as beautiful as a painting.
"I don't love actors or concubines, and I will never take a concubine," Zhan Yue's voice was low, and his smile was bright and refined. "And I write better characters than the princess."
His lips were almost against her ear when he said, "I will wait until the princess willingly says she will marry me."
The pink color on half of Jiashan's face quickly spread.
Zhan Yue smiled and said, "Good night, Your Highness."
After saying this, he really left without hesitation. But because the two of them had been so close just now, the scent of red sandalwood on Zhan Yue was still intertwined with Jiashan's.
Jiashan raised her hand and gently rubbed her burning face. The slightly upward inflection at the end of his "good night" lingered in her heart for a long time.
Her throat tightened, and when she turned her head again, she found that Su Yu and Dancui had quietly stood together at some point.
They stood far away from her, both looking down at their toes, not daring to look up at all.
Jiashan took a deep breath and said to them, "Return to the palace."
Dancui and Su Yu both replied, "Yes," but they were still too embarrassed to look at Jiashan.
Jiashan didn't have the energy to deal with them. Right now, her mind was full of Zhan Yue's face and voice. She felt a severe pain in her temples, and at the same time, the strong heartbeat in her chest was undeniable.
It was a pounding like a drum, something she hadn't experienced even when she was with Zhan Shao'ying in bed in her previous life.
Was her face really that red?
Why was her heart beating so fast?
Jiashan pursed her lips and pressed her hand to her chest, trying to calm herself.
"Royal Sister." A slightly triumphant voice suddenly came from behind Jiashan.
Jiashan frowned and turned her head slightly. Sure enough, she saw Shu Xian walking towards her, swaying her hips with two palace maids in tow.
There was a rockery near the koi pond, with complex bonsai and no lights shining on it at night. If someone was hiding there, it would be difficult to detect.
Jiashan narrowed her eyes and noticed that Shu Xian had come out from behind the rockery.
"What a coincidence, Royal Sister," Shu Xian chuckled. "I seem to have seen a certain Daren walking past just now."
Jiashan looked at her with an unfriendly expression, not even bothering to lift her eyelids.
But Shu Xian continued to speak happily. She looked up at the vast starry sky and said with a smile, "So late at night, the Royal Sister is meeting privately with a man. I wonder what Father would think if he knew."
Jiashan said, "What do you think?"
"That Daren, I think his surname is Zhan, but I was too far away to hear clearly," Shu Xian said to herself. She opened her mouth and said with a smile, "Or maybe I should ask Father, so I can find out his full name."
Jiashan turned her head and carefully examined Shu Xian.
Shu Xian looked very much like the Zhuang Fei, with raised eyebrows and phoenix eyes, and a sharp look in her eyes. Unfortunately, her methods were far inferior to those of Zhuang Fei.
Jiashan managed to extract some extra haughtiness from her mind, which had been muddled by Zhan Yue's earlier actions.
She slowly approached Shu Xian, her eyes dark and deep. "Since you want to ask, then go ahead."
"Let's see if Father will believe you or me." Jiashan's hair brushed past Shu Xian's face, and a hint of mockery flashed in her eyes.
"Stupid," Jiashan commented without mercy.
Shu Xian's face turned ashen with anger. She gritted her teeth, "You!"
"Don't get too cocky!" Shu Xian said, "I'll get you back one day!"
"I hope to see that in my lifetime," Jiashan said indifferently, her tone soft.
Shu Xian was almost so angry that she wanted to scratch Jiashan directly, but she was held back by the palace maid beside her. Jiashan didn't look at her again but led Su Yu and Dancui straight back to Fengyang Pavilion.
That night, Jiashan tossed and turned.
After returning to Changle Palace, Shu Xian couldn't help but smash a table full of teacups. She had heard that koi could bring good fortune, and she had originally wanted to go to the koi pond and secretly catch a few koi to raise.
Unexpectedly, she had stumbled upon Jiashan meeting someone in private!
She had originally thought she could catch her in a big mistake, but instead, she was mercilessly mocked by her.
It was a pity that she didn't know who the man was, nor did she hear what they were saying!
Shu Xian became more and more resentful. The little palace maid who followed Shu Xian said, "Your Highness, let's tell the niangniang about this. Niangniang will definitely have a way to teach the Eldest Princess a lesson."
"No," Shu Xian refused, "I have my own way, I don't need Mother to interfere."
The little palace maid bit her lip, seeming to disagree with her opinion.
Shu Xian said sternly, "Whoever dares to tell Mother, I'll teach her a lesson first!"
The two little palace maids quickly replied, "Yes."