Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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Xu Jiao was about to say that this was actually for Ms. Cen, why would she give him a hamster or something like that, but Song Qingyuan’s gaze had already returned to Da Cang and Xiao Cang, and his voice contained a different meaning, “You have never given me something like this, it’s very special.”
Xu Jiao looked at him.
Song Qingyuan looked towards the cages, where both Da Cang and Xiao Cang played, like a proud elk, looking down from above, but with a hint of warmth in his eyes. Against the backdrop of the palace lantern on one side, his delicate face looked timeless and three-dimensional.
Xu Jiao swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue. Song Qingyuan owned the entire Nanshun, so what did he not have?
But he didn’t have a hamster…
Xu Jiao also leaned forward and spoke again, “When I was in Beiguan City, I happened to encounter the Lanzi Festival. These are the little hamsters I bought from a merchant in Beiguan City. They have names~”
The palace lantern was also reflected on her cheek. Her profile was hidden in the halo. Her long feathery eyelashes blinked gently, outlining a beautiful and moving profile.
Song Qingyuan lowered his eyes calmly and said slowly, “Xu Dacang? Xu Xiaocang?”
Xu Jiao suddenly stopped and looked at him in horror.
Song Qingyuan said calmly, “With your brain, what other names can you come up with that would be appropriate for the occasion?”
Xu Jiao wanted to refute, but Song Qingyuan glanced at her and said nonchalantly, “When there are two, the larger one is added with the Da word, and the smaller one is added with the Xiao word; if there are more than two, numbers are used, one, two, three, four…even A, B, C, and D are not used. If you like them, you will then add your own surname.”
Xu Jiao was suddenly speechless.
Putting them in one by one, it perfectly came to Xu Dacang and Xu Xiaocang…
Xu Jiao looked like she was ready to fight back, but it was obvious that after confronting her, Song Qingyuan’s mood suddenly improved, and he was even “very pleased” with Da Cang and Xiao Cang.
Anyway, he was gentler to her cactus, Xu Xiaocang, and Xu Dacang than he was to her. He also took advantage of his birthday to snatch her gift for Ms. Cen…
“Chief Eunuch.” Song Qingyuan called out while Xu Jiao was complaining in her heart.
The chief eunuch entered, “Your Majesty.”
“Serve the meal.” Song Qingyuan gave an order, and the eunuch hurried to do it.
Xu Jiao was stunned. It was already this late and they were just now eating dinner?
Song Qingyuan’s stomach also growled in response…
There was no one else in the hall, and the atmosphere suddenly became awkward. Xu Jiao originally wanted to hold back her laughter, but when she saw Song Qingyuan’s face turning green, Xu Jiao couldn’t help laughing out loud.
As soon as she finished laughing, she met Song Qingyuan’s annoyed face, “You are getting bolder!”
Xu Jiao immediately sat up straight and said respectfully, “Your Majesty is concerned about the country and the people, and you have been working hard until midnight, so you are hungry and your body is not feeling well. I think this is a blessing for the country, the court, and the people, so I am so happy that I can’t help laughing. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me for disturbing you.”
Song Qingyuan’s face, which was already green, immediately turned purple.
When Xu Jiao wanted to speak again, Song Qingyuan called out, “Chief Eunuch.”
The eunuch entered again, “Your Majesty.”
“Keep the keys to the palace locked and don’t let any noisy cicadas out.” Song Qingyuan glanced at Xu Jiao.
The eunuch smiled and bowed.
Xu Jiao was anxious and blurted out, “No, no, no, Your Majesty, I haven’t returned home since I returned to Beijing. Madam Cen must be worried.”
Song Qingyuan frowned slightly, “How many times have I said that?”
Xu Jiao changed her words, “My mother should be worried…”
Song Qingyuan glanced at the eunuch, who understood and bowed quickly, “I will send someone to tell Madam Cen about your safety. And that the Prime Minister has just returned to the capital from the border. He has something to discuss with Your Majesty and will return home tomorrow morning.”
“Chief Eunuch~” Xu Jiao called quietly.
The eunuch shrugged at her, with a guilty look on his face, as if to say, “There’s nothing I can do about it,” and walked out.
Xu Jiao looked at Song Qingyuan helplessly.
Song Qingyuan went to see Da Cang and Xiao Cang and deliberately didn’t look at her.
Xu Jiao said angrily, “These are a gift for Ms. Cen!”
Song Qingyuan paused, then said calmly, “Oh, now it’s time to send them to me.”
“…” The corners of Xu Jiao’s mouth twitched.
After an eunuch brought the dinner, the chief eunuch stepped forward to taste the food.
Xu Jiao was originally full of anger, but when she saw that Song Qingyuan was really hungry, she became well-mannered as she knew he never talked while eating or sleeping. Even if he was very hungry, he was calm and elegant when he picked up his chopsticks, emphasizing his hands, which had slender fingertips and distinct joints.
Xu Jiao recalled that when she was a companion in the Eastern Palace, she once overslept and didn’t have dinner. She was hungry at night, but it was not convenient for her to run around in the Eastern Palace. When she was so hungry that she was scratching her heart and liver, the eunuch suddenly said, “Your Highness wants you to discuss books.” She really thought that he was going to discuss books, thinking angrily that she was so hungry, but she still had to accompany the prince to study.
However, when she got there, she saw a few side dishes on the table, and Song Qingyuan was reading a book while eating. She didn’t know whether Song Qingyuan did it intentionally or not, but that day, she really accompanied him to read until very late.
Later, she missed dinner due to oversleeping again, and ran to find Song Qingyuan, but the eunuch stopped her and said, he was meeting with his counsellors.
Song Qingyuan was with his staff, but he caught a glimpse of her from the corner of his eye and said, “Come in.”
She went in and the staff all looked at her.
“Is there something?” Song Qingyuan also looked at her.
She couldn’t say it out loud, but since she had already come in, it would be weird for her to leave for no reason. So she took a deep breath and said angrily, “Your Highness, are we going to discuss books?”
The counsellors were stunned, and Song Qingyuan was also stunned, but suddenly, she saw a smile at the corners of Song Qingyuan’s eyes and eyebrows, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, but he held back from laughing out loud.
“Go wait inside.” Song Qingyuan said calmly.
She actually didn’t want to go in, she was hungry, and who knew how long he would talk with his counsellors.
But Song Qingyuan ordered the eunuch, “Bring some cakes.”
Her brows relaxed slightly.
….
All of these were things that happened in the past. Xu Jiao suddenly thought that Song Qingyuan and her still had a good time. Thinking about this, the anger in her heart just now seemed to have gone away. She suddenly remembered that she seemed to have entered the palace without eating anything. She fell asleep on the table just now. So Song Qingyuan must have been waiting for her on purpose.
Just didn’t say it.
Today was Song Qingyuan’s birthday.
Xu Jiao suddenly felt like something had stabbed her heart. She poked the bottom of the bowl with her chopsticks absentmindedly while wondering whether she should say something to ease the atmosphere.
Xu Jiao raised her eyes to look at him. Song Qingyuan was still eating quietly.
“I went to Beiguan City.” Xu Jiao suddenly spoke.
“Don’t talk while eating, don’t talk while sleeping.” Someone responded arrogantly, which meant he was still the same…
….
When they finally finished eating, the eunuch took away the plates and brought cups for the two to rinse their mouths.
The eunuch then asked someone to bring some wine.
“Go ahead.” Song Qingyuan finally spoke.
Xu Jiao looked at the wine glass, “…I don’t drink…”
The last time she drank, she made a fool of herself in front of Song Qingyuan. He still hadn’t told her what happened, but what she could remember later was that she jumped on him, saying it was called a dragon hug, and then she hugged him symbolically, saying it was also called a dragon[1] hug…
Thinking back, Song Qingyuan’s face must have been even greener than before. She wanted to die, and she and Song Qingyuan had a tacit understanding and had not spoken to each other or spent time alone together for a month or two after that.
Slowly, things seemed to have passed and were left unresolved.
After a long time, she forgot everything.
But at the moment, deep down in her heart, Xu Jiao still refused to drink with Song Qingyuan.
How can you fall into the same pit twice!
As a result, the “pit” took the initiative to speak, “Today is my birthday, drink two cups with me before leaving.”
….
After two quarters of an hour, Xu Jiao felt a little dizzy from drinking, but she clearly didn’t drink more than two cups.
She was really not good at drinking.
She started from how she set out from the capital to the border, how she got Peng Qinyun out of prison in Fancheng, how she crossed the desert to reach Beiguan City, and how she set a trap for Cao Fushui, that shaggy lion dog, step by step…
In short, she told the other person everything, no matter how big or small.
But when he heard about the shaggy lion dog, Song Qingyuan’s eyebrows still paused. “He is impulsive and prone to quarrels and fights with others. Zhen told you to stay away from him! Did you ignore Zhen’s words or are you too brave to be afraid?”
He was slightly annoyed and spoke sternly.
Xu Jiao hadn’t heard him scold her for a long time, and she felt very uncomfortable.
Normally she would never do that, but now, perhaps because she was drunk, she came close to him and spoke in a rare sweet voice, “Afraid, of course I’m not afraid, I’m really scared…”
While saying her last word “scared”, her gaze seemed to rest on his brows.
Song Qingyuan was stunned, his ears turned slightly red, and he said nothing more.
Xu Jiao continued in a daze, “I know he likes to draw his sword against others, and I also knew that I would be afraid, so I let Hulu draw his sword in front of me all the way. I kept practicing watching him draw his sword. I didn’t dare to go to the Beiguan garrison until I was numb to it. But when I came out of the tent, I was still so scared that my legs went weak…”
“No, that’s not right! I’m not weak in the knees!”
“Yes, I am Xu Da, it is Xu Er, this is Xu San, one, two, three~”
Song Qingyuan knew that she was really drunk.
When he picked her up, she was still dazed and said, “Song Qingyuan, happy birthday. May you celebrate this day every year.”
He frowned, “You are so disrespectful…”
She was already speaking incoherently, “I am Xu Dajiao, a naturally proud person!”
He was both angry and amused.
When he put her on the bed, she was already asleep with her eyes closed.
Because she was born beautiful, when she fell asleep, her eyebrows and eyes looked delicate and touching.
He also drank, and sat on the side of the bed looking at her, remembering what she said just now, that because she was afraid, she had let Hulu draw his sword in front of her before going to the Beiguan City garrison, and practiced until she could not blink before she dared to go to the army…
——I have made arrangements for Cao Fushui, why do you worry about it?
——When you are timid, you become more capable.
Also, you were the one who kissed me first last time.
But you forgot…
T/N: I’m discontinuing my translations as Lanry has reached out to me and wants to continue her translations (while I started the novel as I thought she had dropped it)…. Please check out her page for further translation.
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[1] It is because the emperor is also called a dragon in Chinese culture.