Chapter 266 - Out in the Shade

"I was starting to think you weren't coming..." Prince Yi said as he straightened up from the tree he was leaning on.

Princess Nalan rode up next to him and said, "Sorry...I couldn't leave the manor immediately, I had to make things believable or Molin would get suspicious..." They had planned to meet up in a spot outside the city for a trip. Since Molin and the guards would be in the way, they came up with this brilliant strategy to get rid of them.

She left the palace early this morning and went over to the Zou representatives manor. She told Molin that she missed him and wanted to have some fun with him and sparred for a bit and then ended up drinking wine and having fun playing drinking games.

Princess Nalan, of course, was not really drinking and after they were "both" crazy drunk to the point of almost passing out. Princess Nalan "drunkenly" excused herself to her room to sleep in peace and ordered that no one was to disturb her sleep. 

This way no one would come bothering her. Prince Yi had also arranged for the maid who had been passing her letters in the manor to leave a maid's outfit and a fake identity table in Princess Nalan's room so she could change into it and easily slip out of the manor, unseen. And then she raced over to the rendevous point where Prince Yi had a servant waiting with a horse for her.

Prince Yi was also wearing a simple servant's outfit. His own plan had been much simpler than Princess Nalan's. He simply asked Zhao Chang to meet him at one of their usual drinking spots and then he changed outfits with their server and left while the server remained there to be Zhao Chang's drinking buddy for the day. 

Prince Yi naturally did not tell Zhao Chang his plans, but they had done thins a few times in the past so Zhao Chang did not bother asking questions. 

"You're here now so it's fine..." Prince Yi said with a smile as he vaulted onto his horse.

Princess Nalan nodded and then went, "Let's go."

"How about a race?" Prince Yi proposed with a smirk.

Princess Nalan knit her brows and went, "I don't know the way..."

"Then I win by default then..." Prince Yi smugly responded.

Princess Nalan scoffed, "We'll see..." as she whipped her horse into action and sped off, with Prince Yi promptly following, quickly overtaking her with a smug smile. 

Princess Nalan scoffed again and leaned forward, pushing her horse faster. She had been anxiously waiting for this over the last two days. 

The last time they met it was at the theatre where they were watching a show about the adventures of an idiot. The idiot was jumping around the stage "riding" and Princess Nalan mentioned missing riding. She rode about the city but she could never go at a full gallop so it was no fun. 

Prince Yi then suggested that they go out for a day of riding. Princess Nalan was quite surprised with the suggestion as they never met out in public, but she was happy and even proposed going over to that flower field spot from the last time and Prince Yi agreed with a smile.

Over the last few weeks, they had continued secretly exchanging letters even in the palace. They met up a bunch of times at restaurants and theatres but they always arrived separately and left separately. Although they never discussed keeping this secret, Princess Nalan never told anyone, not even when Lei Xing asked in conversation.

Princess Nalan was honestly not sure what they were doing, but she was enjoying the process of it all.

They raced through the flower field, finally stopping at the end of it with Princess Nalan in the lead. She smugly turned to him and went, "I win." with a victorious smile.

Prince Yi smiled back and went, "I guess it just wasn't my day..."

Princess Nalan responded, "Better luck next time..." with a laugh and Prince Yi laughed as well. They got down and Prince Yi kindly took Princess Nalan's reins and went to tie up the horses. Princess Nalan walked forward, scanned the field, and took a deep breath. It was really nice and this was definitely more her style. 

"Horsemilk wine?" Prince Yi asked as he held out a goatskin wine bag to her. 

Princess Nalan's face immediately lit up, "Ah, Kumis! I haven't had this in so long..." She promptly took the bag, removed the c.o.c.k, took a deep sniff, and let out a sigh as she took a swig from it, "This is amazing..."

"I knew you would enjoy it..." Prince Yi said with a smile as plopped down on the grass under the shade of the tree. He let out a sigh of his own as he scanned the flowery landscape. Princess Nalan went to sit down next to him and passed him the wine bag. He took a gulp and passed it back to her.

Princess Nalan took another gulp and then asked, "Is it always empty here?" It was nice and quiet here, a world removed from the busy capital. She liked it this way but she was just curious, last time they were the only ones here too.

"It's removed the main routes to the city...I only stumbled on it when I was out wandering years back.."

Prince Yi then spotted two little snakes slithering up to him and added, "Ah, perhaps people are afraid of these little ones here...I've heard they have bitten a few people so the commoners avoid it, I find them harmless though." Prince Yi said as a pat the head of one of the snakes, smiling as the memory of a certain someone scrambling because of a little snake came to mind.

"I think they're harmless too..." Princess Nalan smiled as she reached over him and picked up the second snake while snickering as she also recalled a certain memory. She then stopped laughing, glanced at Prince Yi, and then tentatively asked, "What do you think about Lei Xing?"

This question had been on her mind for a very long time but she had always been too unsure to ask. But now that they are on much closer terms, she felt that she could finally voice this out. She was truly curious.

Prince Yi instantly froze and knit his brows but quickly corrected his expression to an unaffected one as he continued to play with the snake, "She's none of my concern..."

Princess Nalan quietly took a sip and then handed over the bag to him.

"But I heard you two were together before she marri-"

"That was just a stupid rumor -!" Prince Yi irritatedly interjected with a frown and then changed his tone to a softer one and said, "The rumors said you were a frail and delicate beauty but yet here you are strong and brave - Although still a beauty, so at least the rumors got one thing right~" Prince Yi said with a smile.

Princess Nalan nervously chuckled as she took a sip of wine as light blush spread on her face. The snakes slithered off and the two quietly drank as they stared at the flowery landscape. 

"So you really don't like Lei Xing?" Princess Nalan quietly asked, glancing at Prince Yi. Although the last few weeks had been different, in the past, she had been getting the sense that he liked Lei Xing. 

Even if the rumors were false, he always seemed to be focused on Lei Xing whenever they were together in the past. She even caught him staring at her a few times...but perhaps those might have just been her imagination fueled by the rumors.

"Of course not." Prince Yi swiftly denied sending her an incredulous frown, "Watch what you say." He warned.

Princess Nalan frowned and defended, "It's just you always se-"

"I did nothing! She's the Emperor's wife, it is impossible for me to have any designs on her. Y-" Prince Yi cut in with irritation but quickly stopped himself, those words came out harsher than he intended. It was just that the subject of Lei Xing and the Emperor greatly irked him.

Thankfully he swallowed back the rest of his words before he ruined everything for himself, he promptly softened his tone and went, "Moreover, she's too delicate for my tastes...I prefer a more valiant kind of woman...one just like you~" He finished with a sly smile. 

Princess Nalan froze and blinked at him as her heart skipped. Although she had been getting the sense that he liked her, this was the first time he ever mentioned it and she was not sure how to react.

Prince Yi put on a serious expression and turned to fully face her and took her hand and went, "I prefer a woman who I can ride at my side ride towards the horizon without me having to worry about her passing out or falling off her horse." He then chuckled as he remembered Lei Xing struggling to get on her horse and then panicking when Princess Nalan had slapped the horse that one time. 

Prince Yi quickly refocused his mind and continued, "A woman who is adventurous, who can hold her own in a fight, someone to spar with to pass the time...You know, I'll be honest. I've actually liked you for quite a long time. Actually, it was since the first time we were here, your beautiful form as you raced towards the horizon that day is seared into my memory. You looked like a goddess, beautiful, valiant, and free. It reminded of a long lost dream of mine but -... I thought it was impossible, believed it to be. You came here to marry my brother, the Emperor...And I knew I would never be enough so I tried my hardest to forget it, to forget you but..."

Prince Yi lowered his head and knit his brows, hesitating and Princess Nalan watched him completely transfixed.

Prince Yi took a deep breath and then looked back up at her and smiled and said, "But when you sent me that letter...asking about my welfare. I could not help myself and when you kept replying it was the most wonderful thing in the world. I truly became helpless...and even though I knew this was going nowhere, I could not help wanting to see you..."

Prince Yi brought up a hand to the frozen Princess's face and stroked her cheek and then said, "I...I love you."

Princess Nalan blinked rapidly, opened her mouth, closed it...No one had ever confessed their feelings to her. She wanted to tell him how she felt, how she had felt since their first meeting but she was struggling to find her words, "I - I..."

She too had been holding back. She never would have thought she would have any interest in the dignified scholarly type but he was different. He seemed to radiate a certain glow that always drew her eyes. Moreover, he clearly could fight as well, she had even tested his skills. He was definitely not a weak scholar, that she definitely had no interest in.

But she thought he never saw her and so had always tried to shift her mind elsewhere. But now, here he was telling her he loved her. Her heart was in a frenzy and her mind, a jumbled mess.

With Princess Nalan apparently speechless, Prince Yi leaned forward and kissed her, a quick light kiss. He sat back and stared at the wide-eyed Princess and quietly said, "This is enough." with a weary smile. 

A rejected smile.

Princess Nalan blinked at him and then knit her brows, took a deep breath, and then leaned forward herself and gave him a quick kiss of her own and then sat back and smilingly blinked at the happily surprised Prince Yi.

She was never one for words, actions suited her a lot more. 

A slow smile spread on Prince Yi's beautiful face, he caressed her face again and leaned in for another kiss, this time for a longer, deeper sensual kiss.

And Princess Nalan haphazardly kissed him back. This was her first, so she was clumsy and a bit aggressive with it at the start, but she was a quick study when engaged and she gradually got softer as they progressed until it felt seamless.

Princess Nalan was not sure whether it was the amazing weather, the cool breeze, the wine, or the man before but...

This was amazing.