Vol 2 Chapter 39 (2/2)
Pingting lit the incense as usual and washed her hands, a solemn beauty already added to her face She sat before the qin, took deep breath with her eyes closed She placed her fingers lightly on the strings and hooked onto them
The strings spat out a low vibrato as if choking back tears
Yaotian listened to the sounds carefully, sighing “Such a great qin No wonder Prince Consort bought it despite the huge cost”
Seeing He Xia, she half-sighed, half-exclai played by Bai Pingting”
He Xia gave Yaotian a spoilt saze to touch her heart
Pingting tested the sound until she felt calh She raised her head, “What would Princess like to hear?”
“Picking a song is too much of an important task for me and aze softly fell on He Xia’s face and she faintly said, “Please choose for me, Prince Consort”
He Xia thought for a while, asking, “Is Spring Scenes okay?”
Pingting nodded, closing her eyes in concentration She collected her thoughts before quietly opening her eyes quiet’y again An additional spark of undeniable confidence shown
She placed her hands softly on the strings before plucking familiarly at it
The tone was different to before It was a lively, playful sound that jumped into the eardrums
Suddenly everything was full of life
The qin sound was everywhere Although it inter, the winter chill see people think that the season after winter, spring, had arrived
Even the drones did not becoently and lively pattering on the walls
Without a trace of impurity, without a trace of heaviness
Everything was cheerful
The birds chirped and flew throughout the forest as tender grass shoots appeared in the wet soil fro, ready to put on a new coat
Then silence, the little animals peeped out of their caves They hurled towards the outside world not long later, greeting the first shy blossom in the forest
Each act of spring was presented and expanded with the rich sound of qin It seemed even the air was filled with the sweet scent of mud
The people in the roohts of three
The qin sound began to fell, as if the day was over
The birds returned back to their nests; the small animals were now exhausted and went to look for an area to rest with clean water The grass seerown very tall in just a day as the old trees cal profoundly A squirrel curled in its leaves, asleep
After bustling activity came well deserved rest
After a long pause, Yaotian finally shook herself awake She sincerely praised, “I’m shocked the world has such fine qin sound It must sound even better to Prince Consort, who has much better ears than mine and as a companion of Miss Bai since childhood”
Pingting received the praise but did not appear to look proud She respectfully replied, “Pingting is currently living in the Prince Consort Residence If Princess would like to listen to qin, summon me any time”
Yaotian took this quite well and she nodded, sood Could you play more?”
“Of course What would Princess like to hear?”
Yaotian thought for a little, asking, “Since that was about the scenes of spring, what about the other seasons? Do they have pieces too?”
“Yes They are Summer Colours, Autumn Circadas and Winter Words”
“Then…” Yaotian quietly instructed, “play all of them”
Pingting answered, sat up a little straighter, lifted up her shoulders and placed her hands on the qin
The melodious sound drifted out from the elaborately decorated s and door, suspended in the air of the huge Prince Consort Residence
Spring Scenes, Summer Colour, Autumn Circadas, and Winter Words
Spring was full of beautiful scenery, su cicadas filled autumn and the silence of winter
In the flower-viewing pavilion of the Jing-An Ducal Residence, Pingting had improvised while He Xia considered and decided names for each
Spring scenes floated past, su cooly, yet not cold
It seemed that the qin sound had stripped down the borders of the residence, bringing in bits of nature It was only long after the qin finally stopped did one becaotten where they were
Playing qin was extreed to finish the three songs Fatigue filled her face yet she touched the qin once more to play Winter Words
He Xia seemed to have been worried for a while He quickly reached out, stopping her He turned to Yaotian, “Princess, it is winter and it will bring greater chills than already It is not asScenes, Summer Colours and Autumn Circadas Shall we leave it at that and reflect on the pieces now?”
“Prince Consort is right” Yaotian nodded her head, her curiosity not yet satisfied She slowly remarked, “The last two pieces are special in their oay, but judging by their character, I prefer the Nine Days I heard in the courtyard”
Pingting smiled before He Xia could answer “Then let’s skip Winter Words for Nine Days, so Princess can hear it”
He Xia guessed that Yaotian could see that Pingting was exhausted and was hoping she would refuse However, Yaotian nodded while s, “Sure”
He Xia was not happy but didn’t say anything The light in his eyes die as he silently sat and listened
As expected, Pingting sat up and hooked her fingers around the string, plucking it
The plucked string began to vibrate, producing a beautiful sound, but it didn’t seeinal He Xia was secretly alarh notes were barely straight, highly unstable
Pingting’s breathing was heavy Her shoulder shook a few tily fall backwards He Xia was even more alar onto Pingting His expression paled, “Pingting! Pingting!”
“What’s wrong?” Yaotian was surprised She got up to study her
He Xia did not reply He grabbed Pingting’s slender hand and picked her up horizontally from the waist He carried her around the corridor and placed her on the bed Only then did he murmur to Yaotian, “Her pulse is a little chaotic She’s probably tired from the bumpy ride”
Yaotian was stunned by this She then replied, “I shouldn’t have ordered her to play qin” An apologetic expression appeared on her face
Surprisingly, He Xia did not comfort her like usual He just passed on a feords, “She should be fine with some medicine and a few days of rest” He then picked up the brush on the desk in the roo a prescription He then handed it to a maid who immediately went off to prepare
He remained busy for a while and was afraid that even the sound of footsteps would disturb Pingting He personally helped to close thearound the bed He then turned to see Yaotian standing behind hi a word
He Xia finally returned his attention on his wife He softened his voice, “Is Princess tired? Princess’ roorance, so would Princess please go rest there? I will be there shortly”
“No need” Yaotian’s face who had always been full of tenderness now looked disinterested She laughed drily, “I just came to see Prince Consort and had no intentions to spend the night here”
“Princess…”
“We are husband and wife There’s still a long tiet a day of rest after just coaze shi+fted away resolutely and glanced at the delicate figure deep inside the bed
He Xia’s voice was soft “Then I’ll go see you early tomorrow in the Royal Residence”
Although his voice was a sweet and frivolous as usual, his facial expression was also sincere To Yaotian, his words seemed to be relieved
“I’ll get going”
“I’ll accompany you to the Princess Residence”
Yaotian’s chest felt bitter but she kept her e her title She shook her head, “No need”
The words were harsh and she knew that He Xia heard theent eyes shi+fted to her
Yaotian seeaze She deeave hiy wife, then she would never have another chance at getting his love in her lifetime She quickly hid her dissatisfaction and turned away “Who isn’t watching on the way? We’re married, yet we still accompany you here and there like outsiders…”
He Xia began to gently chuckle “Princess is thinking too much We are hing, then at least allow me to accompany you to the residence doors”
Yaotian didn’t argue any irly smile as she let him take her hand
The two lovingly walked until the main door He Xia had offered countless sweet and tender words, putting a flower-like smile on Yaotian’s face
The royal guards outside had already prepared the carriage and the path hoht like daytime
He Xia personally helped Yaotian to board the carriage, squeezing a fewroyal carriage team head in the direction of the Royal Residence in the silence of the night
When the carriage was far away, reducing to a small dot in the distance, He Xia finally went in
It was already deep within the night, and the earth was quiet
Just like Pingting’s qin, winter was silent
Not heading back towards his own bedroo’s bedrooure stand up from the bed When she saw his face clearly, she hurriedly bowed, “Prince Consort” Unease was hidden in the depths of her eyes
He Xia recognised her as Pingting’s , and then ’s face, who laid on the bed
His gaze becaentle
Zuiju had been acco She knew that He Xia’s bedroouessed that he would arrive at this tily moved away and stepped back After all, he was the owner of this place
He Xia didn’t bother with the ’s pale white face It had become a lot thinner
He reached out, gently touching Pingting’s face
Zuiju looked at them, her hands and feet clenched into fists as her heart thumped wildly
A ht, not to mention in the privacy of a bedroom It was so indecent that the skies would have cowered in shame
Zuiju studied everyers would leave her as soon as possible but was terrified that if they left, they would grope for an even creepier place
Duke, what should I do?
If you don’t come, a storm will
For the first tier towards Chu Beijie
When Zuiju became so nervous that she couldn’t even breathe any ’s face and stood up fro that he’d watched enough and hoped with every inch of herself that he would leave soon She hadn’t expected that he would suddenly turn around and undo his belt, appearing to undress His sharp eyes flickered to the pale-faced Zuiju, frowning, “Why are you just watching? You don’t even kno to help undress?”
Pingting was still treated like how she was back in the Jing-An Ducal Residence, a maid over-cherished and did whatever she wanted As a result, her uments
“Undress?” Zuiju’s heart began to thunder as she glanced at the lonely, defenseless Pingting on the bed A shi+ver ran up her spine
“Prince Consort…would like to undress here?”
“Yes” He Xia replied Seeing that she wasn’t clever enough to come help hi off his outer layers He didn’t criticise however, seeing that she was Pingting’s maid
Zuiju realised that he did intend to sleep and was as anxious as ants in a burning pot Even if she called for someone, all of the people in the Prince Consort Residence obeyed him No one would even care Not tocould stop
Duke! What should I do?
“It is very late, you can go to sleep” He Xia instructed
“Yes…”
Although Zuiju replied, her footsteps refused to leave She bit down her lip and nervously studied her surroundings Her gaze fell on and paused briefly on a stone She quickly for was in trouble, she would chuck it towards He Xia’s head
He Xia was a fighter, with quick reflexes,that this attempt would most likely fail and she’d lose her life She hoped that it could at least ease his eagerness
As it was noo e that could save so many lives, it was no use What other options were there?
Thinking that much, she couldn’t help take two small steps towards the small stone
He Xia had already sat down on the bed, putting down the reh the veil, Zuiju saw that He Xia had already laid down next to Pingting She took this opportunity to hide the small rock in her sleeve as she crept close
Pingting seeily mumbled, “H the stone through the slit whenever she screa drowsily asking, “Master?” Her words were separated with a gap before , “Why are you here?”
“It’s a little warmer if I hold you”
A slight moveing Pingting Zuiju’s nerves were strained; she listened tensely, but Pingting didn’t make another sound as if asleep
Zuiju kept the stone hidden in her sleeve, her hand drenched with sweat She waited for a while until gentle barely audible breathing, barely audible came from within the veil It really did seem both were asleep
She was still not assured and gingerly lifted up theinside
Pingting and He Xia were lying on the bed, using the sa They slept quietly, their eyelashes resting on their face, not suspecting the other They slept like children
Zuiju stared at the time before her suspended heart was finally put to rest She was stupefied Just as going on?
She took her hand aatching the figures of the two people from the outside of the translucent veil She considered her options and decided that it was best not to lower her guard She held onto the stone and guarded by the bed
Suffering for two hours, the weariness became heavier and heavier until her eyelids could lift no more