ADWMCES Chapter32

Chu Fengqing’s pupils shrank slightly. Ji Yujin looked at him, curled his lips, and opened his mouth to say something silently. However, because he was too far away, he couldn’t hear clearly.

Chu Fengqing turned his head aside, no longer looking at him. Yet being discovered like this left him with the uneasy sense of having been caught peeking. Something felt off, beneath his hair, his earlobes had quietly flushed with a faint shade of red.

He had only stood for a few breaths when he felt his feet go numb. He took a few steps, but unexpectedly, there was a stone under his feet, and he slipped and stumbled.

At first, he feared he would fall this time, but in the next instant, warmth pressed in from behind as a pair of hands steadied his shoulders, sparing him from the pain of impact.

He took a deep breath and looked back. Just as he was about to say thank you, he saw a pair of warm eyes. The man had curved eyebrows and slightly raised lips. Even his voice was like a stream in March, gurgling and gentle, “Be careful.”

The Second Prince, Zhao Yiyu, let him go after he saw that he had stood firm. His every move was just right, polite, and restrained.

Chu Fengqing was slightly stunned when he saw him and bowed to him, “Greeting Your Highness the Second Prince. Thank you for what you did just now.”

He didn’t have a good impression of Zhao Yiyu, mainly because of the engagement between him and his sister, Chu Yinyin. After his family’s incident, the engagement was cancelled the next day. Although he had explained the reason to his mother, who only said that it was the emperor’s order, Chu Fengqing didn’t believe that he didn’t do some tricks behind their backs.

Zhao Yiyu shook his head and said, “Yinyin and I have become estranged. You and I were not like this in the previous letters.”

Letter? His sister actually communicated with this person through letters?!

Chu Fengqing was a little uneasy. He frowned and looked at him as if he were a lecher, but the man didn’t feel anything.

Zhao Yiyu reached out as if to touch his head, but Chu Fengqing dodged him.

Zhao Yiyu was slightly stunned when he looked at his empty hand. His eyes darkened, but his expression did not change much. He just said, “Yinyin has really become estranged from me.”

Chu Fengqing: “Your Highness the Second Prince being too serious. Chenqie¹I, your servant (self-appellation of a lower-rank female). has already married, and Chenqie is not worthy of you either. There is no relationship between us. Please don’t say such ambiguous words.”

He paused and said in a cold voice, “Chenqie’s husband does not like it.”

Hearing this, Zhao Yiyu’s expression froze a little. “Is Yinyin angry? If it’s because of the engagement, I can explain.”

Chu Fengqing’s brows furrowed more and more. He felt that this person didn’t understand human language.

At this time, a Jinyiwei’s guard came over, saluted the two, and respectfully said to Chu Fengqing, “Madam, the Governor said that it is too cold here and asked this subordinate to take you to the front to avoid the wind.”

Chu Fengqing was eager to leave, so he followed the trend and said to Zhao Yiyu, “Then Chenqie will take her leave first.”

Zhao Yiyu was about to ask him to wait, but unexpectedly, he didn’t have the slightest intention of staying and just turned around and left without any reluctance. He slowly clenched his hand, which was stretched out in the air.

After walking out of Zhao Yiyu’s sight, Chu Fengqing sighed lightly. The princes he met were all more or less crazy.

He glanced at the Jinyiwei guard and asked, “Do you have anything to prove your identity?”

He had acted solely to get away from that place. The winter hunt was full of all sorts of people, too unpredictable. Having suffered a loss in the palace before, he had grown especially wary. Besides, he also didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble.

The Jinyiwei guard was stunned for a moment, took out a token from his pocket, and handed it over with both hands. “Lord Governor was afraid that you would not agree, so he specially asked me to take his token.”

Chu Fengqing took it, rubbed the token with his fingers, and a hint of surprise flashed across his eyes. Ji Yujin was sometimes quite attentive.

He returned the token to him, but the Jinyiwei guard shook his head and said, “Madam, the Governor asked you to keep the token in case of an emergency.”

Chu Fengqing thought about it and put the token away.

“Madam, please follow this subordinate.”

The two people walked into a tent that had been built in advance. The tent for the emperor had been built long ago, but the tents for some officials’ families had not yet been built. After all, they couldn’t really let the emperor wait outside the door.

Chu Fengqing took a look inside. There was no one there, but the bed, charcoal stove, and everything were already prepared. The tent was already warm, which was a world of difference from the ice and snow outside.

He looked at the Jinyiwei guard, who brought him here in confusion. This looked like someone’s bedroom, not a place to shelter from the wind.

The Jinyiwei guard bowed and said, “Madam, this is the bedroom you and the Governor will stay in. The Governor has already sent someone to prepare it. The Governor asked you to wait for him here. You don’t have to go out anymore. If His Majesty summons you, he will send someone to invite you.”

In fact, Ji Yujin’s original words were to ask him not to run around everywhere, but the Jinyiwei guard did not dare to convey the message in this way.

Chu Fengqing nodded. Ji Yujin was powerful in the court, so perhaps it was normal for him to have some privileges. However, he glanced at the officials’ families who were still waiting for arrangements in the cold wind outside, and a dark look flashed across his eyes. There’s an old saying that the road to becoming an official lies in moderation, yet Ji Yujin always conducted himself with conspicuous boldness.

The imperial power is indeed granted, but…

He glanced at the emperor’s carriage. The current emperor was already in his twilight years. After the empire changed hands, would the later lord tolerate him?

He withdrew his gaze and said to the Jinyiwei in a cold voice, “Thank you for your help.”

He moved slightly, and two strands of black hair slid down from behind his ears. The rabbit fur scarf made his facial features look beautiful—so exquisite that there was no fault to be found. The guard blushed and said, “Ma-madam, you are being too kind to this subordinate.”

He stuttered when he was nervous, and his face turned redder as he stuttered. A trace of annoyance flashed across his eyes, and then he bowed and said, “Madam, this subordinate will be waiting outside. If Madam needs anything, just call. This subordinate will take my leave now.”

Chu Fengqing: “Thank you.”

He rubbed his hands until they grew warm, then held them over the charcoal stove to heat them further. The temperature on the mountain was really unbearable. His breathing was a little faster than usual. Chu Fengqing coughed lightly a few times. When he reached the middle of the mountain, his breathing became a little difficult. He took out a small jade bottle from his arms, opened the cap, and found that the bottle was empty.

Then he remembered that he had given the last pill to Ji Yujin, and then he was so busy with various things that he forgot about it.

Asthma can be fatal in severe cases if there is no medicine.

Chu Fengqing pursed his lips and put the jade bottle back. He lowered his eyes and looked at the burning charcoal fire, hoping… that he could get through this safely.

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  I, your servant (self-appellation of a lower-rank female).