“Marquis, the Princess says that high-quality Mengding tea has been sent over from the palace, and she invites you to come and taste it.”
Xie Yun closed the document in his hand and raised his eyebrows slightly.
For the past few days, she had been guarding against him as if he were a thief. Why had she suddenly changed her attitude and invited him for tea? He suspected it was a feast designed to trap him.
“You’ve arrived?” Si Hua Huan looked up, her face bright with a gentle smile and an expression that showed she was in excellent spirits. “Please, have a seat. This Mengding tea was delivered early this morning from Mengshan. I thought you might like to try some.”
Xie Yun lifted his robe and sat down, his gaze sweeping over her unusually bright eyes and the corners of her mouth that were slightly upturned.
When things seem out of the ordinary, there is sure to be something suspicious behind them. He remained calm and unreadable as he spoke. “It is rare indeed for you to think of me.”
Si Hua Huan carefully pushed a cup of steaming tea toward him. The green leaves were unfurling in the water, and curling wisps of fragrant steam rose upward.
“Go on, taste it.”
Xie Yun did not move. Instead, his eyes rested on her face.
She was staring right back at him, unblinking. Her gaze was overly enthusiastic, and she could not suppress the upward curve of her lips. It was as if the words I am going to prank you were written clearly across her face.
“Why are you in such a hurry?”
Si Hua Huan’s heart skipped a beat under his scrutiny, but she forced herself to appear natural. “What do you mean? Do you really think I would harm you?”
As she spoke, as if to prove her innocence, she picked up the cup of tea before her, tilted her head back, and drank it all in one go. Her movements were quick and decisive, leaving no time for any proper tea tasting.
She held up the empty cup to show him. The inner surface was clean, marked only by the faint stain left by the greenish tea liquid. Then she refilled her cup from the pot.
“We are drinking tea from the same pot. If I dare to drink it, there can’t possibly be anything wrong with it. Hurry up and drink yours.”
Xie Yun looked into her shining eyes, which were brimming with pride and anticipation she could not hide, feelings that were practically spilling out of them.
He knew her too well.
From childhood to now, whenever she was plotting some mischief, she could never conceal her schemes. She looked just like a cat that had successfully stolen a bite of food, almost ready to wag its tail in triumph.
Right now, she radiated a sense of secret delight, confident that her plan was going perfectly.
He understood exactly what was going on, yet on the surface he remained calm and expressionless, revealing nothing of his thoughts.
His gaze drifted past her shoulder toward the doorway, and he spoke in a tone carrying just the right amount of surprise.
“Jiao Jiao?”
“Jiao Jiao?” Si Hua Huan fell for it immediately. Instinctively, she turned her head to look toward the entrance.
The moment she looked away, Xie Yun moved his hands with lightning speed, swapping the positions of the two nearly identical celadon teacups.
The doorway was empty. Si Hua Huan said, “There is no Jiao Jiao there. You must be seeing things.”
“Ah, yes,” Xie Yun replied. “I mistook what I saw for a moment.”
Si Hua Huan turned her attention back to the tea. When she saw Xie Yun finally lift his cup, the smile on her face could no longer be contained. Her eyes curved into crescent moons. She rested her cheeks in her hands, stared at him without blinking, and urged him on. “Go on, try it! Tell me what you think.”
Xie Yun slowly brought the cup to his lips. Under her intense, watching gaze, he took a small sip. The tea had a fresh, clean aroma — it truly lived up to its reputation as tribute tea.
“Well?” Si Hua Huan asked eagerly, leaning slightly forward, her eyes full of mischief and cunning.
“It’s fine,” Xie Yun said. He set down the cup, glanced at her, and asked with a hint of suspicion, “But why are you staring at me so intently?”
“I am not staring at you. Don’t be so full of yourself,” Si Hua Huan retorted immediately. She pulled her hands away from her face and sat up straight. “I was just asking if the tea tastes good. You really don’t know how to appreciate kindness! I went out of my way to think of you.”
“Oh? Kindness? For you to be so attentive and generous today… it almost overwhelms me with gratitude.”
“Hmph! Like it or not, I don’t care. If you don’t want to drink it, so be it. I don’t even feel like giving it to you anymore.” Si Hua Huan made a move to snatch the cup from his hand, but he gently blocked her away.
With her plan accomplished, she had no patience to keep up the act of polite conversation. She happily picked up her own cup, sipping the tea in small mouthfuls while waiting for the effects of the medicine to kick in.
Only after watching her finish drinking did Xie Yun speak slowly. He was completely at ease, even carrying a hint of lazy amusement, as if he were waiting to watch a good show.
“Now, can you tell me what nice little thing you added to the tea?”
Si Hua Huan widened her eyes and feigned innocence. “Will you ever stop this? I told you there was nothing added. You drank it yourself, and aren’t you perfectly fine now? You are being overly suspicious, judging a gentleman’s heart with the mind of a petty villain!”
“Nothing added?” Xie Yun leaned back, resting comfortably against the chair. He tapped his fingers leisurely against the tabletop, his eyes gleaming with amusement that showed he knew everything.
“It doesn’t matter. Soon enough, when the medicine takes effect, I will naturally find out exactly what you put in it.”
A sudden sense of unease rose in Si Hua Huan’s heart. “What do you mean by that?”
“What I mean is this,” Xie Yun replied calmly. “Just now, the cup you drank from was actually the one originally in front of me, the one with the extra ingredients added. While you were turning your head to look for Jiao Jiao, we had already swapped cups.”
“Swapped… swapped them?”
She repeated the words in a whisper, her eyes growing wide. Her mind buzzed with shock. She looked down at the empty cup before her, then glanced in disbelief at the cup in front of Xie Yun.
Si Hua Huan’s face turned completely green.
She was done for.
What she had added was… muscle-relaxing powder!
She wanted nothing more than to vomit up the tea she had drunk right then and there. But she simply could not do something so undignified in front of Xie Yun. She merely coughed a few times and forced herself to stop.
Her voice trembled as she called out, “Yao Huang! Go quickly to the Imperial Medical Bureau and bring Jiang Heshu here!”
The well-being of Her Royal Highness was always the top priority. Yao Huang accepted the order and hurried away.
“So then,” Xie Yun asked from the side, “what exactly did you put in it?”
Si Hua Huan crossed her arms tightly over her chest. She turned her head to the side in a huff, sulking and refusing to speak to him.
Xie Yun did not press her further.
When it came to being pranked and teased by her, no one had more experience than he did.
From what he knew of Si Hua Huan, although she appeared arrogant, willful, and self-indulgent on the surface, it was only because she had been doted on and pampered since childhood, and had always done exactly as she pleased.
But at heart, she was not a bad person. No matter how much mischief she caused, it never went too far or did any real harm.
At most, she would add things like muscle-relaxing powder or itching powder to trick him, just to make him lose face or embarrass himself somehow.
It seemed she had not yet completely let go of her anger.
But… he looked at the bright side of things. This time, she had tried to trick him but failed and suffered a loss herself. With her competitive nature, she would surely be determined to regain her dignity, thinking up new ways to prank him. She would definitely take the initiative to come find him again to settle the score.
And if her next plan failed too, there would be another, and another after that…
Xie Yun’s thoughts drifted far away.
Si Hua Huan glanced sideways at him. Seeing him wearing that expression of total confidence and ease again, her frustration and anger surged even higher.
Before even half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea had passed, Si Hua Huan began to feel that something was wrong.
It was as if the bones had been pulled right out of her body. She felt limp and soft, unable to summon even the slightest bit of strength. Her limbs simply refused to obey her commands. She could not even sit up straight, and had to lie face down on the table in misery, waiting for Jiang Heshu to come and rescue her.
“Muscle-relaxing powder?” Xie Yun recognized the symptoms. “Can you still move?”
She had tried to catch a chicken but ended up losing the rice — a classic case of trying to trick someone and getting tricked herself. Her cheeks burned with shame and embarrassment. She wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl inside. She bit her lower lip and shook her head slightly.
Xie Yun stood up. Before he could say a word, his tall figure loomed over her, casting her in his shadow.
He leaned down. One arm slipped behind her knees, while the other securely supported her back and shoulders. With effortless ease, he lifted her up into his arms.
Her head rested weakly against the hollow of his shoulder. Strands of loose hair brushed against the skin of his neck. He pulled his arms closer, holding her fully against his chest.
When she was gently placed onto the soft bed, Si Hua Huan felt as limp as a rag doll, ready to be handled and moved about however anyone pleased.
Why, of all times, did she have to be affected by this powder when they were alone together? What if Xie Yun took advantage of the situation to get his revenge?
She had been so careless!
Xie Yun took off her shoes for her, then pulled the silk quilt up to cover her. Meeting her resentful gaze, he could not help but laugh softly. “Why are you glaring at me? I wasn’t the one who put the medicine in the tea.”
Si Hua Huan spoke in a low, gloomy voice. “What if what I gave you today had been poison?”
His reply was casual and light. “If you died, then I would follow you down to the afterlife to keep you company.”
How cruel! Even if she died, he wouldn’t let her go in peace.
Fortunately, Jiang Heshu arrived quickly, carrying his medical chest.
“Your Highness, what is the matter? Where do you feel unwell?”
Si Hua Huan closed her eyes in sorrow and indignation. To have failed at pranking someone and be pranked instead… it was far too embarrassing to speak of.
“Actually, there is no need to trouble you for this. I could make the diagnosis myself,” Xie Yun said leisurely from the side. “Her pulse is as tense as a stone; her temper rises and her energy flares up; her liver yang is hyperactive.”
Si Hua Huan looked at him sideways. What nonsense was he talking about?
Even Jiang Heshu, a physician, was baffled and confused by his words, unable to make sense of them. “What?”
“Simply put… she is in a very bad mood and throwing a tantrum,” Xie Yun explained.
Jiang Heshu fell silent.
He looked at Si Hua Huan lying on the bed with her eyes closed, pretending to be dead. Then he looked at Xie Yun, who stood calmly beside her. He felt the familiar, tense undercurrent flowing between the two of them, and suddenly understood. It was clear they were just bickering and having a lover’s quarrel.
They argued more often than they ate their meals. Why on earth did they call him here in such a panic?
However, as he carefully observed the woman on the bed, he gradually sensed that something was not quite right. “Is Her Royal Highness truly feeling no discomfort at all? Why is she lying there completely motionless?”
Si Hua Huan was too embarrassed to say it herself, so Xie Yun answered for her. “She has been affected by muscle-relaxing powder.”
Jiang Heshu’s expression became subtle. He looked as if a sudden realization had dawned on him, yet also as if he understood something he really shouldn’t speak of.
He never imagined these two would play such wild games.
Seeing the increasingly strange look in Jiang Heshu’s eyes, Xie Yun knew he had misunderstood the situation and tried to explain. “She was…”
He began to speak, but then lowered his gaze and caught the fierce, warning look Si Hua Huan shot him. He changed his course mid-sentence, deciding in the end to spare her dignity. “…She accidentally ingested it.”
The corners of Jiang Heshu’s mouth twitched. “How does someone accidentally ingest that?”
“…Jiang Heshu,” Si Hua Huan finally spoke, her voice weak and filled with shame and anger. “Do you have any way to quickly counteract the effects of this powder?”
Jiang Heshu’s gaze moved meaningfully between the two of them. He replied simply, “You only need to wait for the effects of the medicine to wear off.”
“How long will that take?”
“With Jingchu’s constitution, it would take roughly six hours. But with Your Highness’s constitution, I am afraid it will take about twelve hours.”
“Twelve hours? That long?!” Si Hua Huan closed her eyes in despair.
Next time, next time she would definitely not fall for his tricks again. And she would absolutely never let her teacup leave her sight even for a second!
Having had his small, petty revenge, Jiang Heshu left feeling completely satisfied.
When Si Hua Huan opened her eyes again, she found Xie Yun was still standing right beside her bed. She said irritably, “Why are you still here?”
Xie Yun’s expression was peculiar. “According to your original plan, after I drank that cup of tea, what exactly did you intend to do to me?”
What could she have intended to do? Naturally, she wanted to watch him be completely powerless, unable to fight back, and see the look of shame and humiliation on his face.
For him to ask her now, he definitely had bad intentions. He probably wanted to pay her back in her own coin and use her own tricks against her.
Si Hua Huan let out a cold huff. “I’m not telling you.”
Xie Yun nodded, his expression one of total clarity, as if he had seen right through her. “You were secretly admiring my handsome features and wanted to take advantage of me to touch me all over.”
This scoundrel really was a master at being disgusting. Si Hua Huan’s face turned dark instantly.
“Don’t be so full of yourself! Even if you stood in front of me completely naked, I wouldn’t spare you a single glance!”
“Oh? Is that so?” Xie Yun raised an eyebrow. To her shock, she saw him lift his hands and place them on his waistband, acting as if he were about to undo it.
Si Hua Huan was stunned. What?!
“Ah!” She screamed as if she had seen something terrifying. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and turned her head sharply toward the inside of the bed. Her voice shook as she shouted, “Xie Yun! You, right now, immediately, this very instant… get out of here!”
“You really won’t look?” came his teasing voice close to her ear. “Don’t regret it when you miss your chance.”
Si Hua Huan felt as if even her ears had been sullied.
“If you don’t get out right now, just wait until tomorrow when the medicine wears off! I will definitely castrate you!”
“Very well then.” Xie Yun smiled silently, lowering the hand he had placed loosely on his belt. He knew when to stop while he was ahead. He added with a tone of regret, “Rest well. I will come see you again tomorrow.”
“Do… not,” Si Hua Huan forced the words out between gritted teeth.
A faint sense of regret suddenly arose in Xie Yun’s heart. If only he had known the tea contained muscle-relaxing powder, he would have drunk it himself. Then he would have had a perfect, legitimate excuse to stay in her room and not leave.
Next time then. He definitely would, next time.