Sleeping in and slacking off was one of Du Heng’s life principles.
But this time, he did not sleep soundly and woke up after only half an hour.
After being exposed by Mingzhu, he realized that the frequency of his absent-minded moments was truly too high.
He had not merely fallen into a trap; he had been bewitched body and soul.
Du Heng sighed and found an excuse for himself.
Look at this. This is what happens when you slack off every day after transmigrating.
You meet a beautiful woman with deep schemes, and you fall for it immediately, don’t you?
He blamed it on his lack of worldly experience, while deliberately avoiding the fact that he had already spent a very long time in his dream.
People grow numb easily. The longer he stayed in the dream realm of Mount Lan Ke, the steadier and more restrained his mind became, and the harder it was for him to fall for someone.
Except for the elders and fellow disciples he had lived with day and night at Ruo Xian Pavilion, and the people who were somewhat close to him, such as his parents.
It was hard for anyone else to stir up ripples in his heart.
Yet Du Heng subconsciously avoided the fact that Yun Shuyu was indeed very special to him.
In any case, so that he would not have to suffer her torment even when he was not by Yun Shuyu’s side,
Eldest Senior Brother Du gave up his usual slack-off routine for the first time and decided to find something proper to do.
They were not even married yet, so there was no point talking about his wishes.
Even if they really did tie the knot someday, he already felt this uneasy now. How could he possibly endure living together with her day after day?
Just as Du Heng stepped out of the residence, he was blocked at his own gate.
“Senior Brother, I’m back.”
“So fast?”
There were still vegetable leaves and crushed egg flower on Mingzhu’s face.
“Tch… what is this? Did you go fight the cats and dogs in the back kitchen for food?”
Mingzhu was rarely this annoyed.
“It’s all because of you, Senior Brother! The news about you bumping into the Eldest Princess’s carriage yesterday suddenly got out this morning.”
“As soon as I went out, some people recognized that I had been with you yesterday. They not only refused to sell me anything, they also threw rotten eggs and rotten vegetable leaves at me.”
Mingzhu was truly wronged.
Du Heng could not help laughing. “What are the rumors saying out there?”
“They say you’re a spoiled wastrel, unlearned and incompetent, always lingering around pleasure boats and brothels, living a luxurious and decadent life, blinded by lust, and utterly reckless.”
“They say you don’t know your own place, and you still dare to covet Her Highness the Eldest Princess.”
Mingzhu pinched his throat and imitated a market woman perfectly.
Du Heng was not only unangered, he was actually amused.
He had not expected that the words he had thought he would hear from his junior brothers and sisters would instead come out of ordinary commoners’ mouths.
And it seemed Yun Shuyu’s reputation was very high, deeply loved by the people.
“Senior Brother, what do we do now?”
“Did they not say anything about the Eldest Princess?”
“Mm… no.”
Du Heng nodded and said nothing more.
Mingzhu was still curious.
“Senior Brother, why does no one dare to speak about Her Highness the Eldest Princess? No matter how high her status, she is still an unmarried young lady. You entered the carriage, and there was a curtain blocking the outside view.”
“They should not know what happened. Why are they so certain the Eldest Princess’s innocence is intact?”
Du Heng shook his head and smiled.
“Leaving aside how high the Eldest Princess’s cultivation is, the idea that I entered her carriage and insulted Her Highness the Eldest Princess is already absurd to them.”
“How would the commoners spreading the rumor dare to discuss Your Highness’s innocence?”
“Besides, the people who spread the rumor probably did not even tell the commoners that I entered the carriage.”
Mingzhu did not understand. From the commoners, he had only heard that Du Heng had intended to disrespect Her Highness the Eldest Princess, with no details about what had actually happened.
“Then what did they say?”
“Obviously, they would say I was blinded by lust, saw that the Eldest Princess was beautiful, blocked the princess’s carriage, and wanted to do something improper.”
The person behind it definitely would not dare anger the Eldest Princess, but they coveted the position of Lord Consort, so they wanted to get rid of Du Heng, who had a powerful father, and ruin his reputation.
Mingzhu’s face turned red, and the vegetable leaves on his head trembled. He looked furious, though it was hard to tell whether he was standing up for Du Heng or angry that those villains had dragged him into this mess.
“Senior Brother, what do we do now? Hurry up and think of a way to teach those scoundrels a lesson.”
“Don’t rush. Wait!”
“Wait? Wait for what?”
“Wait for my father to be impeached.”
“Huh?” Mingzhu looked completely baffled.
What kind of logic was that?
“Alright, let’s go tell my parents about the rumor first. Tell the servants in the residence to avoid going out shopping for now and let outsiders handle it instead.”
“Then you and I will take two hooded cloaks. I still have things to do.”
Du Heng thought to himself that, as expected, he had not been wrong.
Yun Shuyu really was not afraid of those rumors. No one reckless enough would dare speak ill of Her Highness, the acting regent.
Only a fool like him, who had just returned to court, could be fooled by her so easily.
But those villains were really efficient. The moment Yun Shuyu withdrew the people suppressing the rumor, they started spreading it nonstop.
It was only because the marquis residence had considerable prestige and Du Haoqing’s soldiers were patrolling nearby that the commoners had not stirred up trouble here. Otherwise, Du Heng would probably have had to leave through the back door.
“Senior Brother, where are we going?”
“Qingping Mountain.”
“Huh? Are you going to pray for blessings too? Is that why Senior Brother said to wait?”
“Waiting for the Bodhisattva to save Senior Brother?”
Du Heng glared at Mingzhu. This kid was too infuriating when he was being this dense.
“Qingping Mountain is not only for praying for blessings. That is also where Yingtian Prefecture Academy is located. What’s wrong with me going for a stroll when I have nothing to do?”
“Oh…”
…
Meanwhile, inside Phoenix Cry Hall of the Great Luo Dynasty palace, after Du Heng left, Yun Shuyu dismissed all the maidservants.
She walked gracefully into her inner chamber. The moment she touched the soft couch, it was as if all the strength had been drained from her body. She leaned sideways on it, her gaze unfocused, as though she were thinking about something in a daze.
After a while, Yun Shuyu’s cheeks gradually turned from pale to pink, and the tips of her ears also reddened.
She let out a sigh that seemed both helpless and full of shame and annoyance.
“At that time… how did I end up hugging him?”
Yun Shuyu felt the places where she had touched Du Heng’s body begin to heat up slightly.
“It’s all his fault for not being obedient…”
Unlike the soft, shy coquettishness of a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl, Yun Shuyu paid attention to her own behavior even when she was embarrassed. That was a habit she had developed over the years.
But Yun Shuyu had never felt this at a loss before. She kept her dignified and noble bearing, yet at the same time she was bashful and timid.
If Du Heng were here, he would probably think that the Eldest Princess Yun Shuyu had multiple personalities.
How could a girl so proper and elegant, yet faintly shy and tender, be the same overbearing, luxurious, and awe-inspiring Eldest Princess?
Yun Shuyu’s reaction was a little slow. Du Heng had already left before she finally felt shy about having stepped on his instep with her little foot and hugged him when she first woke up that morning.
But more accurately, she had been deliberately holding back, suppressing her true feelings toward Du Heng. In front of Du Heng, she had to keep up the appearance of calm indifference.
Even so, during their conversations and interactions, she still revealed a little unnatural shyness. It was just that her expression never changed, and Du Heng was too embarrassed to look at a girl’s ears and neck, so he naturally did not notice it.
Yun Shuyu had originally been angry that he had hugged her like that yesterday. She had been carrying an unclear, itchy feeling in her heart.
She had wanted to hear Du Heng say some nice words to explain himself. Yet not only did he fail to say anything sweet to appease her, he did not even place the blame on the villains. Instead, he claimed it was an accident and wanted to break off the engagement.
Of course, she could not let him break off the engagement. She had already felt she had suffered a loss yesterday, so her willful nature refused to accept it. She had to tease Du Heng until he was at a loss before she would be satisfied.
But only after doing it did she regret it. Although the result satisfied her, her stunned junior brother had been frozen for quite a while before returning to normal.
Yet Yun Shuyu was not having an easy time either. Her heartbeat was exceptionally clear to her.
She was swift and decisive in court, handled state affairs in an orderly manner, and was gifted in cultivation. She was also gentle, magnanimous, and fair in reward and punishment when dealing with people. Some old foxes privately judged her to be highly scheming.
But only a small number of close people knew that Yun Shuyu’s true nature was willful, unruly, and unpleasant, and even somewhat volatile. Whenever she was unhappy, she always liked to use all kinds of excuses to torment people.
At the same time, she had never experienced romantic feelings between men and women, nor had she been this intimate with any other man. She was only interested in Du Heng for certain reasons.
Yun Shuyu did not yet harbor romantic feelings for Du Heng. It was only her usual mischievous streak acting up.
In a moment of impulse, she had actually lost her composure with Du Heng, which was unusual for her.
Now she had tormented him, but she herself was even more embarrassed.
That man was truly a scoundrel, a born bad seed!
If he was going to write a poem, then write one. But he even called her by her private name.
At that thought, Yun Shuyu’s cheeks flushed slightly. Her white teeth bit into her tender, full lower lip, leaving a tiny tooth mark.
At first, hearing her private name made her feel ashamed and annoyed. Later, after she learned it had been a misunderstanding, aside from surprise, she also felt a little joy.
A coincidence?
He clearly did not care about her, so why would he deliberately write a poem to coax her?
Since Du Heng left Ruo Xian Pavilion, he had remained within the sight of the spies she had planted. Yun Shuyu knew very well whether he had any intention of scheming after her or coveting her.
So it could only be a coincidence.
The first three characters of the poem he wrote were her name, even though they were homophones.
But that still gave Yun Shuyu a secret delight, along with an indescribably sweet feeling.