Chapter 72 - What were you thinking, or who were you thinking about

When they heard his words, Emperor Chunjia in a regular uniform had bypassed the screen and entered the inner room, teasing, looking at Yun Fenghuang and Xi Jing with a smile.

Xi Jing quickly put down the tower and paid respects to him.

Emperor Chunjia did not care, “You can just leave.”

Yun Fenghuang reluctantly got up and greeted him, “It’s so late, Your Majesty. Why do you come over?”

“It seems that you do not welcome me.” Emperor Chunjia asked drowsily.

Yun Fenghuang denied hypocritically, “How could it be? I am so glad that you can come to my place. But I am untidy at this moment, I am afraid that you will not like me after seeing me!”

Seeing Emperor Chunjia glanced at her with a smile, she knew that he didn’t mean to blame. She continued to complain, “Your Majesty, you send away my maid as soon as you enter the hall. But you do not know that I still have something to do with her!”

“What do you want her to do?” Emperor Chunjia glanced at her and said, “Well, give me the tower. I will dry your hair.”

Yun Fenghuang did not know what he wanted to do because he was suddenly so thoughtful. But she was very happy for that he would help her so that she did not need to dry her hair by herself. She immediately passed the tower to him and flattered him, “Your Majesty, you are the best. I like you the most!”

Emperor Chunjia chuckled. Apparently, he did not believe what she said at all.

Because she didn’t expect the Emperor to come so late, Yun Fenghuang was only wearing thin underclothes after her bath.

She was just 15 years old. Her skin was as white as snow, shining brightly under the candlelight. Her dark hair was falling down, and it is as soft and orderly, making her as beautiful as a jade. She sat on her knees in front of the mirror, and the soft clothes clearly outlined her slender waist which was like a willow branch swaying in the wind on the shore of lake in the spring. What a slim waist she had.

The Emperor originally had something in mind, and drying her hair was only his kind offer. At the moment, when he looked at Yun Fenghuang, he had his passions aroused. He looked at her, pretending that nothing had happened, then looked away and found that Yun Fenghuang was peeking from the bronze mirror.

He smiled gently, dried her hair, and asked, “How that thing is?”

“What thing?” Yun Fenghuang was distracted, remembering that Qi Jiulu had dried her hair before. At that time, they were still young. In a winter afternoon, her mother Ms. Jiang took her to Qi’s Mansion to see an elder. Adults talked and sent her to see Qi Jiulu to make the unmarried couple to cultivate feelings from an early age.

Therefore, she took her maid and followed Qi’s servants to Qi Jiulu’s yard.

She went very reluctantly, because for children, especially girls, it was really the most boring place. In the empty courtyard, only a few corners were planted with a cluster of verdant bamboos. In addition, there were full of black bricks, with some stone locks and wooden men. Under the verandas on both sides, there were weapon racks with different swords, spears, two-edged swords, halberds and other weapons on them.

When Yun Fenghuang walked in, it just started to snow. The maid who kept the door saw her, hurriedly helped to open the curtain, and raised her voice to report.

However, Qi Jiulu was indifferent. Yun Fenghuang walked in and found out that an ancient book was opened in front of him and he was frowning to write and paint.

“What is this?” The little girl looked up curiously.

“An isolated book.” Qi Jiulu was absent-minded, and said briefly. He ordered the maid to take her outside to serve her a cup of tea, coaxing her, “You go and sit for a while. I will come over to accompany you immediately.”

Then Yun Fenghuang sat in the outside room for about half an hour, and she was annoyed when she didn’t see him. She looked at the heavy snow outside the window and dragged the maid to go out for a snowball fight.

At the young age, she just wanted to find something fun. She forgot Qi Jiulu because she paid her attention to play. The maid who had been serving her noticed that her sleeves and skirts got wet. She was worried about being punished, so she coaxed and persuaded Yun Fenghuang into going to the back hall to clean up.

They took off the outer dress of Yun Fenghuang and took it to dry. Because they were afraid that she would catch a cold, they took the quilt of Qi Jiulu and asked her to cover it on the soft couch, and asked the people in the kitchen to send some pastries and tea to serve.

Yun Fenghuang happily ate pastries at first, but unconsciously squeezed half a piece of dim sum and fell asleep later.

She did not know how long it had been since she slept. In a daze, she heard Qi Jiulu rebuked someone with a low voice, “…You know that the clothes of Huang are so wet. But you did not notice that the snow fell on her head while playing. It melted, and her hair was mostly wet! In such a cold day, why do not you dry her hair after entering the room? What should she do if she has a headache in the future?”

In his childhood, Qi Jiulu was actually a bit indifferent and was offish to everyone. This was because he became the future master of his family when he was born as the eldest legitimate son, and he was taught to hide his true feelings as long as he could remember. He was asked to behave with decorum to avoid being despised. What’s more, his course was heavy. It was difficult for him to be carefree and naive like ordinary children.

Even to his fiancée, Yun Fenghuang, he treated her more politely following his elders’ order rather than treating her with special regard.

When the girl came to him, he would accompany her as long as he was not busy.

When she was leaving, he would politely accompany her to the door and greeted the elders who brought her to his home.

As for special care and consideration…

Before this day, Yun Fenghuang had never felt his special care and consideration.

She heard these words when she was just waking up. She didn’t know that he was talking about her for a while. She only rubbed her eyes subconsciously and lifted her head. Then she felt her hair pulled and couldn’t help crying out in a low voice.

“Did I hurt you?” Qi Jiulu stopped rebuking and checked her head in a hurry. Then she found that her two buns had been untied, and Qi Jiulu was drying her hair with a tower. She was still at a loss, watching him for a while, and then asked with a soft voice, “What are you doing?”

Qi Jiulu listened and was still gloomy, but a tender smile lit his eyes. He touched her head again and said gently, “I’m doing nothing. Are you sleepy? If you are sleepy, then continue to sleep.”

She was still sleepy, so she continued to sleep after being puzzled for a while… But it was not long before she fell asleep that she felt that a pillow was tucked beneath her neck, and the quilt covering her body was pulled up to her chin. Someone tucked her up.

She was very familiar with such considerate care. Ms. Jiang and her nursing mother as well as servant girls often did it. Yun Fenghuang slept with great peace of mind.

When she woke up again, she was already on the carriage going back to Xie’s Mansion. Ms. Jiang was talking to her nursing mother in a whisper, mentioning Qi Jiulu and her from time to time. Occasionally, she heard the words like “a union made by heaven” and “great fate.” It seemed that they were very glad from their tones.

“I always thought that you are my fiancée, and I should respect you.” Later, as their relationship became closer and closer, Qi Jiulu remained calm and stable in front of others, but in front of her, he became gentler, and even was obedient to her.

One-time Yun Fenghuang remembered this matter, and asked him that why he noticed that her hair would be wet after playing snow while her maid who was at the same age with her didn’t notice it at all.

Qi Jiulu did not change his expression at the time, but his ears burned. “That day when I came out of the study to look for you, I saw you curled up in my quilt. You looked soft and small… We seem to be estranged from each other if I keep ‘respecting’ you.”

At that time, he looked at the little girl whom he was not familiar with and he had never cared before covered by his familiar quilt. She slept very soundly, and her thick eyelashes, like butterfly wings, fluttered with her breath like rose petals on her cheeks, slender and exquisite.

She looked nice and fragile.

She looked very different from when she was awake.

As the legitimate daughter with the highest expectations in Xie’s Family, Yun Fenghuang had always been lively and almost unruly. She could make the noise of a crowd. Ms. Chen often told her son privately that such a girl was not solemn and quiet enough. After getting married, she must be carefully trained. Ms. Chen appreciates Chao Jingyou more. She was also a young girl, but she was so quiet that everyone wanted to care about her. She spoke and did things gently. She was full of gentleness and softness that Ms. Chen liked.

However, Qi Jiulu’s father was very much in favor of his future daughter-in-law, because such a lively little girl always reminded him that soon after the two children grow up, there would be a group of legitimate grandchildren like Yun Fenghuang in Qi’s Mansion. They would come and go noisily every day, asking for one thing and another, staying around him from time to time and perhaps pulling his carefully maintained beard…

The Qi’s Family, with less offspring, needed such excitement very much. By contrast, Chao Jingyou, who was so kind and gentle, was really boring… Was it not silent enough for the Qi’s Family now?

If Yun Fenghuang was not in Qi’s Family, and the whole house was silent, making people wonder if there were any living people in it.

After all, the father of Qi Jiulu managed affairs in Qi’s Family. Therefore, when Yun Fenghuang was in Qi’s Mansion, she was even more unconstrained than in her own home.

Following his father’s instruction, young Qi Jiulu treated her seriously with the attitude of “respecting his wife,” like completing schoolwork. He did not like or hate her. He was just used to fulfilling the obligations of the future master of his clan according to the requirements of his elders.

Treating Yun Fenghuang politely was also one of his obligations at that time.

However, in that winter afternoon, looking at the girl covered with his quilt, he suddenly had a feeling that “the girl is his.”

Qi Jiulu stood and watched for a long time. The saluting servant girl was suspicious because she kept giving a salute for a long time. She tried to peep at his facial expression. Then he came to his senses.

He felt chagrined and angry at his rare gaffe, but he was unwilling to just walk away.

So, he decided to wake up Yun Fenghuang to hide his gaffe.

However, when he reached the soft couch, he hesitated because he did not know how to wake her up. Just call her name? Would it frighten her? Push her gently? But push where?

When he treated Yun Fenghuang as a task before, he would not be in this kind of dilemma. Even he would not personally come and wake her up. He would ask a maid to wake her up and then wait outside.

But at this moment, Qi Jiulu wanted to wake her up by himself.

He hesitated for a moment, stretched out his hand carefully, stopped at Yun Fenghuang’s cheek carefully, and finally touched her buns gently, “Huang?”

Yun Fenghuang didn’t wake up, but he was startled to find that his palm was wet.

Then… Yun Fenghuang woke up.

“… It’s time to wake up.” She stared at the bronze mirror. There were six palace lanterns covered with bluish gauze in this room. The room brightened up. Emperor Chunjia, who helped to dry her long hair, was clearly reflected in the mirror. He had an imposing appearance and was charming. He looked gentle and nice, while actually he was cold and indifferent.

Yun Fenghuang sighed silently. This man was as handsome as Qi Jiulu, but he was totally different from Qi Jiulu.

Or perhaps he was Yuan Lianniang’s childhood sweetheart, not hers.

Maybe the way that Emperor Chunjia looked at Yuan Lianniang was the way that Qi Jiulu looked at Yun Fenghuang. No matter how distant, perfunctory, and indifferent they were to outsiders, they were always warm and close to their childhood sweethearts.

But at this moment, he seemed to be kind to her but actually indifferent.

After a pause, she smiled and said, “Why stop talking?”

“You remain silent for a long time. I thought you were thinking about how to answer me. But actually, you didn’t hear the question I just asked, right?” Emperor Chunjia paused, raised his eyebrows, and asked, “You keep saying that you like me most. What are you thinking about when I am in front of you?”

He touched the hair of Yun Fenghuang and felt it was almost dry. He threw the tower onto a shelf nearby, sat down, picked up the tea, and asked gently, “Or, who are you thinking about?”