In the dormitory, the heat subsided, Xiao Yu leaned on the couch, watching Chu Ning wrap up his messy and thin clothes and call someone to bring hot water in.
Sitting on the edge of the couch, she faced him with her slender back, her black hair scattered behind her, and she kept swaying soft waves as her hands reached into the copper basin and stirred the towel.
Night has come, and the maids lit a few red candles in the room. The golden candlelight projected on her body, just to outline a segment of exquisite curves, glowing with a halo, hazy and ambiguous, seeing Xiao Yu's mind calmed down Was stirred up again.
He couldn't help sitting up from the couch, grabbed a lock of her hair and tangled it between his fingers, and then pulled it gently, forcing her to turn her face to face him.
"I'll wipe for His Highness—"
Her wet eyes looked over, and before she could finish speaking, Xiao Yu reached out and touched her red lips, leaned over to kiss her, moved from her eyes to her earlobes, and finally rubbed her chin on her neck. When he bit her skin, he said hoarsely, "A Ning, let's have a baby, okay?"
Chu Ning's heart trembled violently, the word "No" was almost on her lips, and she swallowed it.
"Why did Your Highness suddenly mention this? But what happened?"
She quietly pinched the tip of her left finger, forcing herself to calm down, turned her head away, and tried her best to look straight at him without any strangeness.
Xiao Yu looked at her for a moment, put the tip of his nose close to her black hair, sniffed the fragrance in it, shook his head and said, "It's nothing, I just suddenly feel that more than two years is not too short, and it's time to have a child."
For some reason, since he missed the throne, he had to be wary of one more person, Xiao Ke, and from time to time, a lot of uneasiness surged in his heart, as if something he didn't know was getting out of control step by step.
And his crown princess was the one who made him worry about gains and losses.
He knew she was a different person from him.
To him, his father was just a person who had given him useless love for a few years when he was young. When he was young, he felt that his father was the best person in the world. He was honest and kind, and he was gentle and considerate to his wife and children. But when he was sensible, he gradually realized that his father was the weakest person in the world.
It is this weakness that enables the Qi clan to overtake the government and control the government, so that he, the prince, has to be held hostage all the time. When that man hid among the sensual dogs and pampered his concubine and young son, he never considered what kind of situation the eldest son of his wife was facing.
Years ago, he knew that he despised, even hated his own father.
But Chu Ning is different.
Her father, Chu Qianyu, was an upright person, and he never concealed his love and care for his daughter. Likewise, she has a deep affection for her father, even to the point of sacrificing herself.
And he happened to be the one who killed her father. Because he lied to her, he got everything later.
He never forgot for a moment what he did in the first place, let alone imagined more than once, if one day, she knew the truth, whether she would still treat him like before.
He has been a prince for many years, and he has experienced countless dirty things in his hands. Only this one has made him unable to let go.
It's just that in the past two years, he has deliberately avoided these thoughts, but recently he has been inexplicably unable to control himself, and from time to time he feels uneasy.
Chu Ning rested his head lightly on his chest, tried his best to soften his voice, and said with a hint of grief, "Yeah, it's been two years... It's not that Aning didn't want to, it's just that His Highness promised, my father - Xiao Xiao It's not over yet…”
Xiao Yu heard the words, moved for a while, and immediately remembered what he said at the beginning.
He did promise her that he would not let her have children until she had passed the period of filial piety. Seeing that there were only a few months left in the nearly three-year period of filial piety, he shouldn't be so anxious.
"Okay, I'm in a hurry, just wait." He closed his eyes, let go and rubbed her hand, leaned back on the couch, and asked her to sit on his knees and wipe his body. dirty.
The people who knew what happened to Chu Qianyu in those days, except for him and his confidants, are no longer there, and no one will tell her the truth at all.
Besides, what if she knew? She has nothing left, and who else can she rely on besides relying on him, the husband who once pityed her and saved her
Thinking like this, Xiao Yu temporarily calmed down and just looked at her sideways.
Chu Ning, who was standing on the side, supported his weak body and put the handkerchief back into the copper basin, while carefully observing his expression, which happened to meet his eyes.
She didn't dare to continue the topic just now. Seeing him looking over, she hurriedly said, "Is the date for your Royal Highness going to Huazhou fixed? It is set, so I can pack your clothes and luggage for His Royal Highness."
"Well." He thought about what he had just said to Xu Rong, and said absently, "I have passed the Queen Mother's birthday banquet, no accident, and I will leave the next day."
He is not in harmony with the Queen Mother Qi, after all, it is also between the elders and the younger generation, and the ceremony cannot be abandoned. If he leaves without waiting for the Queen Mother's birthday banquet, it will always be unfilial.
Chu Ning counted the days, and found that it was only seven or eight days: "Then I will pack up all the winter clothes for His Highness in the past few days. Huazhou is not as prosperous and prosperous as Chang'an, and His Highness often goes to the riverside. , you have to be well-prepared."
When it comes to official business, Xiao Yu's eyes are a little more dazed, his eyes are staring straight at the top of his head, as if he is thinking about something.
Seeing this, Chu Ning tidied himself up hastily, then picked up the jacket on the side and put it on, and walked out of the hall with very light steps.
Cui He, who had been guarding not far away, hurried over to lead her into his bedroom and served the prepared Bizi soup.
Chu Ning didn't care about anything else, he directly took the porcelain bowl and drank it in one breath, until the bitter and sour taste spread from the whole mouth to the abdomen, and temporarily felt relieved.
"Lady, slow down, hurry up and take a sip of tea soup." Cui He was startled by her irritable actions, "What happened just now?"
Chu Ning took the tea cup, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, until he smelled the faint scent of tea, and then shook his head gently: "It's nothing, it's just that I suddenly felt a little uneasy in my heart."
She didn't know why Xiao Yu suddenly wanted her to have children, she only knew that she was not willing to give birth to children for this hypocritical murderer!
It's just that the words he just said made her a little nervous, and she wished she could tear up her face with him immediately and leave the East Palace from now on.
But her home has been completely destroyed by him. If she leaves here, she will lose everything completely.
Just keep on enduring.
She held the corner of the table with one hand, tightening her grip until her palm was sore from the hard and cold wood that she slowly let go.
"Go get two pieces of underwear that are close to me." She suddenly got up from the couch in the kennel, walked quickly into the inner room, pulled out the small bamboo basket that usually contains needles and thread, and put it on the long table.
Cui He was very surprised when she heard the words. She didn't know what she was going to do. She was stunned for a moment before walking quickly to the cabinet. From among dozens of clothes, she found two sets of obscene clothes that Chu Ning wore most often, and held them on the long table.
"What is the lady going to do? Do you want the slaves to come?"
Chu Ning shook his head and took one of the pieces and spread it out in front of him: "I want to change the style."
She said, thinking carefully for a moment, then took out the copper ruler and pen from the bamboo basket, first made a mark on the collar, and then drew two traces on the back.
Subsequently, the ruler and pen were replaced with copper scissors.
Under the bright candlelight, she held the scissors in one hand and the fabric in the other, carefully cutting along the marks she made just now.
Most of the women in Great Liang know how to cut and embroider. She was born in a high class, so she had learned it before. Although she didn't like it, this skill was not too unfamiliar.
In a short while, an ordinary underwear was changed to a new look: the originally conservative neckline was lowered, and a slit was opened in the middle of the back, which was not close enough until the waist and hips, even the clothes on both sides. The sleeves were also cut mercilessly, leaving only two thin shoulder straps that could just hang over the shoulders.
"Ma'am, this-"
Cui He was stunned, and even blushed on his face.
However, Chu Ning was very calm, without the slightest shame or embarrassment, and only seriously looked at the "unrecognizable" underwear in his hand.
She stood up, held the clothes in front of her for comparison, and made a mark on the waist. Then she continued to take out the needle and thread, and sewed two stitches in those two places.
With just a few stitches, the waist side is tightened to form two narrow arcs, which can better set off the curve of the slender waist.
But after half an hour, this ordinary underwear has not been put on, and it can make people blush and heartbeat, and can't stop thinking about it.
Cui He vaguely understood what she was going to do with this shamcloth, and it became even more red for a while, but she never said a word of exhortation.
"What else do you have to do, let the slaves come."
This time it was no longer an inquiry, but a direct request.
Chu Ning put down the things in his hand, looked up at her, and for a moment, his eyes were a little wet.
What she is doing, put on an ordinary woman, is to be reviled and hated by others. Although she kept telling herself that she didn't have to care about other people's opinions, and she didn't have to let herself fall into the worst situation for the sake of the so-called etiquette and morality, but in the dead of night, she still felt guilty and uneasy.
Fortunately, there are still people on their side.
She blinked, pressed down the layer of fog, drew a beautiful lotus with a brush, and said, "Embroider this for me."
Cui He reached out to take it, and nodded without hesitation: "Don't worry, madam, the slaves will be able to embroider in a few days."
…
In the next few days, probably because the day of leaving Chang'an was getting closer, Xiao Yu also became busy.
He hardly told Chu Ning what happened outside. Chu Ning could only know from Zhao Yanzhou that he was busy feasting with various former supporters recently, probably because he was afraid that he would be taken away by Xiao Kezhi soon after he left for at least a month. Or Empress Dowager Qi exploits the loophole.
He has always been incapable of drinking. He drank a few times outside, and almost every time he came back, he was half-drunk. After letting a few servants help him wash up, he went straight to bed and went to sleep, which saved Chu Ning a lot of energy.
She stayed in the East Palace for the past few days and never went out. During the day, she brought a few maids to take out Xiao Yu's winter clothes one by one in the Guangtian Palace, dried them, smoked them, folded them and put them in a box and waited. When the time comes, bring him to Huazhou with him.
At night, she sat under the lamp with Cui He and embroidered the lotus pattern on the robe.
She had already decided that she would confess her purpose to Xiao Kezhi on the day of Queen Mother Qi's birthday banquet.
At that time, although there were many eyes and mixed eyes, everyone's eyes should be focused on the Qi family, and they would not care too much about her, the princess. As for Xiao Kezhi, the entire Tai Chi Palace is under his control, so there is no need to worry.
What's more, as the Crown Princess, apart from staying in the East Palace on weekdays, she doesn't have many opportunities to go out, let alone meet Xiao Kezhi by chance, and even have the opportunity to be alone with him.
Although the Taiji Palace and the East Palace were only separated by one door, it was like a moat to her, and it was really difficult to cross. She had to seize the few opportunities to see him.
But she was also a little worried.
First of all, I knew when I was in the Baifu Palace last time that Qi Chenxiang was going to perform a dance at the birthday banquet. This is obviously the reason why Empress Dowager Qi insisted on holding this birthday banquet. .
Second, it was Xiao Yu. On the eve of his departure, he will not let her go easily, and he still needs to think carefully about how to deal with it.