It was past midnight when the night banquet ended. Zhao Pei dragged her tired body back home. Her head was in a mess and she fell asleep on the couch.
Ziye came in with hot water, and seeing her lying on the couch in an indecent manner, he shook his head slightly and called out, "Princess, wash up first before going to bed." Zhao Pei lay on her side, waving her hand weakly, "Go, I want to go to bed."
“Princess…” Ziye called again, but there was no response from Zhao Pei.
The beaded curtains in the inner room collided, and a man in black walked in. Zi Ye turned around and saluted, and Xiao Yi waved his hand and said in a low voice: "You go."
Ziye saw his eyes fall on Zhao Pei's silhouette, and it became blurred and complicated, and it was not difficult to find some anger in it. "But... the princess lay down before washing, and I..."
Xiao Yi didn't look at her, and said solemnly: "It's okay. Leave the things here, I'll take care of it." As soon as the words came out, Ziye was startled, and looked anxiously at the woman who was sleeping on the couch. Could it be that the Seventh Prince would rest here tonight
Seeing that Zi Ye was still hesitating and not leaving, he glanced at her coldly, which made her shiver all over. She didn't dare to say anything else and walked out of the inner room with her head down.
The beaded curtain rustled and swayed. He walked slowly to the bedside with his hands behind his back, leaning over to look at the woman who had not even taken off her clothes. She closed her eyes, only her thick eyelashes fluttered slightly like butterfly wings. Her waterfall-like hair spread on the pillow, like newly woven black satin. Her sleeping face was extremely peaceful, which made people feel warm.
Xiao Yi looked at her silently. After a long while, he bent down to help her take off her embroidered shoes.
It might be the first time for him to help someone take off their shoes, so his movements were clumsy. Zhao Pei felt a little uncomfortable, frowned, and kicked her legs, as if she had kicked someone. She felt the person's hand move up and gently pull her collar, untying the straps on her chest.
An unfamiliar smell came over her, like a refreshing breeze in the dead of night. Zhao Pei was startled in her daze and suddenly opened her eyes. What she saw was Xiao Yi's enlarged face, and his expression was not clear in the candlelight. She could only clearly see him leaning on the edge of the couch, and she was left with only a white lining.
There was a "boom" in her head, and the sleepiness and tiredness disappeared instantly. Zhao Pei shrank back, tightly grasping the quilt to block the two of them. "You, what are you doing?"
Xiao Yi looked at her expressionlessly: "How can you sleep without taking off your clothes?"
"It's okay, I, I don't care. You, you, what are you doing?" Zhao Pei said, and suddenly stuttered. Xiao Yi took off his outer robe and hung it on the hanger and was about to take off his blue inner garment.
"Of course I'm sleeping." He said calmly, blowing out the candle and walking towards the bed. Zhao Pei moved towards the bed in shock, looking at the approaching black shadow and pretending to be calm and asked, "You, don't you have any official business to deal with?"
"Yes." Xiao Yi responded immediately, but took off his boots and got on the couch, "But I'm tired today and don't want to watch it. Let's talk about it tomorrow."
"Is it okay?" Zhao Pei asked unwillingly, still holding the quilt tightly with both hands.
Xiao Yi did not answer. He was silent for a while and suddenly reached out to grab her quilt: "Aren't you ashamed of your small body taking up such a big quilt? After all, it's winter. Do you want to freeze your husband to death?"
Your husband... These three words came out of Xiao Yi's mouth as if it was an auditory hallucination.
Zhao Pei wanted to grab it back, but accidentally touched his body, which was indeed very cold. She gave up trying to grab it, but she had to stay close to him. Zhao Pei tried not to touch his body and lay there motionless.
Xiao Yi turned over and lay down facing her, and held her in his arms. Zhao Pei was frightened and almost cried out. But Xiao Yi said with a hint of sarcasm: "Don't worry, I'm not interested in dirty girls."
Who is dirty?! Zhao Pei glared at him, but unfortunately she couldn't see his face in the dark, she could only hear his slight breathing. Zhao Pei had no choice but to relax and fall asleep.
In a daze, she heard the man say in a cold voice: "Remember your identity. No matter who he is, you must behave properly. Don't let it happen again. If it happens again..." She didn't hear what he said afterwards. She didn't know if it was because of him or if her sweet dream was forgotten too early.
————————————————
The first day of the new year would not be idle. Before the fifth watch, Zhao Pei was forcibly lifted up from the bed by Xiao Yi to wash and dress in the fragrant bath. Zhao Pei, who was dazed, half-closed her eyes in front of the makeup mirror to catch up on her sleep while muttering about the many rules and the emperor's good mood.
Early in the morning, he took the entire royal family to Tongtai Temple to pray for blessings. There were at least a hundred people in the group, which was quite a big deal.
According to the rules, women were not allowed to participate in the sacrifice, so Xiao Yi said goodbye to Zhao Pei and her servant and went to accompany the emperor. Zhao Pei was quite at ease, but she did not have much affection for Tongtai Temple.
Zhao Pei originally wanted to walk around the temple, but it was too cold, so she was led by the little monk to the clean room for female relatives to rest. Zhao Pei and Ruhua arrived at the clean room, and there were groups of female relatives everywhere. Although Zhao Pei was not familiar with them or even knew them, they greeted them warmly. She couldn't stand such polite greetings. She didn't like such pretense, but she had to do it.
She kept looking around, wondering how to get out of this situation. She happened to hear someone calling her, and when she turned around, she saw Xiuchun standing on the threshold. Zhao Pei smiled and said goodbye to the ladies, and walked away with a smile.
Xiuchun didn't come in, and without waiting for Zhaopei to greet her, she asked, "Seventh sister, have you seen your third brother?"
"Didn't third brother and the others go to offer sacrifices?" Zhao Pei saw that she looked anxious.
"It's been a while since we've been apart. I saw my seventh brother, but I couldn't see him. I don't know where he went."
Zhao Pei smiled and joked, "Third sister-in-law is thinking about Third brother all the time. She misses him so much when she hasn't seen him for a while."
"Pah." Xiuchun blushed slightly and said angrily, "Who remembered that? Isn't it because I need to find him for something? There is something urgent in the mansion and I need his advice."
Hearing the word "urgent matter", she stopped joking and suggested, "Have you asked Sixth Brother?"
"No. He must have dragged our Liutong (Xiao Gang's nickname) somewhere." Xiuchun said angrily, "Nothing good ever happens when these two brothers are together."
Zhao Pei smiled lightly, thought for a moment and said, "Forget it. Don't worry, Third Sister-in-law, I'll go and try my luck for you." Then she called Ruhua to bring a plain cloak, lifted the curtain and went out side by side with her.
"Let's split up. If I find you, I'll bring my third brother here to look for you." It was very cold. Zhao Pei felt her face was cold. She couldn't help but pull her collar higher and bury her neck in a ball of fox fur.
"Yes." Xiuchun responded, took her hand and shook it vigorously, "Thank you, Seventh Sister." Then she turned around and walked east. Zhaopei thought for a while, turned back and told Ruhua: "Ruhua, you just walk around here, I'll go to the west to look for it."
Ruhua hurriedly shouted, "Miss, please be careful!" Before she finished her words, the plain figure disappeared in the white snow.
She walked towards the West Garden, wanting to go to the kitchen. There was a herb room there, and Zhao Pei suspected that her third brother would go there.
On the way, she caught a glimpse of a wide lake. Due to the cold weather, the lake was frozen, and the crystal clear water reflected the equally pale sky. All she saw was so white that she dared not open her eyes for fear of getting snow blindness.
There was a person standing quietly on the icy lake, his white clothes flowing elegantly, and he looked very modest. She could only vaguely see his tall figure and handsome demeanor, and wondered who else could it be but Third Brother? She took a breath, walked to the shore, and called out, "Third Brother! Third Brother!"
He seemed to be in deep thought, and did not fail to hear her shouting, remaining motionless.
Zhao Pei had no choice but to move forward. Stepping on the slippery ice, her steps became smaller. She walked on the ice carefully, or rather, moved. She used her feet to test the water before taking a step. The water was icy at the moment, and she didn't want to go in for a swim.
She moved very slowly to a few steps behind him and stopped, sweating all over. Only then did she realize what it meant to walk on thin ice. She secretly complained about her third brother's habit of coming here for no reason and letting everyone look for him.
"Third brother is in such a good mood, aren't you afraid of falling into the water by accident?" Zhao Pei joked with her arms folded.
He finally heard her voice and slowly turned around. Zhao Pei looked at his slightly pale face with a hint of ridicule and resentment, and the smile on her lips gradually disappeared. This is not the third brother, but Xiao Tong... (To be continued)