When Mingzhe came out, she was startled to see Du Heng dozing in the chair. Her gaze swept over the two shadow guards, who avoided her eyes and said nothing.
They were the Eldest Princess’s shadow guards, but this young master was also the Marquis Zhenyuan heir apparent. Just now, Du Heng had even wanted them to lie down and rest too; they would not dare.
Both sides were people best not to offend, so the shadow guards could only pretend not to see.
Mingzhe pressed a hand to her forehead, helplessly, and had no choice but to wake Du Heng.
Du Heng looked at her in a daze.
Mingzhe said awkwardly, “Young Lord… Her Highness the Eldest Princess has already gone to rest.”
She went to rest, and you woke me? Sure enough, a master like that has maidservants just like her…
“Then I’ll… come back tomorrow?” Du Heng was full of question marks.
Mingzhe, guessing at the Eldest Princess’s usual temperament, said directly, “Young Lord had better wait here. When Her Highness wakes, you will be informed.”
Du Heng turned to look into the dimly lit hall.
Is this telling me to wait until daybreak tomorrow?
This Her Highness the Eldest Princess is far too willful. She calls for people when she wants to see them, sleeps when she wants to sleep, and doesn’t care at all whether it conflicts with anything.
Truly self-willed, and utterly terrible!
Du Heng silently cursed her as a bad woman, sat back down in his earlier spot, and let his body go limp as he lay down again.
“Then I’ll trouble Miss Mingzhe to summon me later. I’ll rest too.”
Mingzhe frowned, feeling that it was against propriety, but she still could not force Du Heng to get up.
Earlier, the shadow guards had been able to half-coerce him into the palace because that was the Eldest Princess’s request, but now they still had to treat Du Heng with respect.
Setting that aside, Du Heng’s status as Young Lord was already distinguished enough. And just today, Her Highness the Eldest Princess had called Du Heng Lord Consort, so Mingzhe naturally could not let the shadow guards lay hands on him again. For servants to set rules for their master was truly courting death. Mingzhe turned and had someone bring over a brazier to warm Du Heng by the fire.
…
The sky was barely beginning to brighten at dawn, and the light outside the hall passed through the lattice window and fell across Du Heng’s face.
“Young Lord, Her Highness is awake.” Mingzhe came out from the hall.
Du Heng rubbed his eyes, and after a few sluggish moments, his mind cleared.
“All right.”
Mingzhe led the way, and Du Heng followed her into the Eldest Princess’s bedchamber hall.
A faint minty fragrance met his nose, mixed with a trace of sweetness. Mingzhe led Du Heng to a pale yellow curtain embroidered with phoenix patterns and vermilion jade.
The last traces of sleepiness in Du Heng’s mind vanished at once.
Behind the curtain must be the Eldest Princess’s private chamber.
“Young Lord, please go in.”
Mingzhe stood outside the curtain and gestured for Du Heng to enter.
Du Heng lifted the curtain, bowed, and stepped inside, his eyes involuntarily beginning to search the room.
Before his gaze could wander far, he saw at the very center a bed made of warm jade and heavy wood, with flowing silk gauze hanging from it. Reclining against the bedframe was a young woman with soft black hair spread loose over her shoulders.
Du Heng had already seen the beauty’s lovely face yesterday, and seeing it again now still left him stunned.
The young woman’s hair was tousled and her eyes still drowsy. She lightly covered her vermilion lips with one hand as she yawned. She wore only a plain white ruqun underdress suited for sleeping.
Because of the way she was leaning against the bed, a glimpse of delicate, snow-white skin was exposed, dazzling to the eye.
The woman’s long black hair had all been swept to the left side of her chest, and she was gently smoothing it with slender jade-like fingers. Her two long legs were turned to the side and resting against the edge of the bed, while her smooth, snow-white little feet swung back and forth.
She had only just awakened, barefaced, her gentle and flawless features still carrying sleepiness.
Du Heng remembered Du Haoqing telling him that the Eldest Princess was about twenty-something years old, a few years older than Du Heng, who would turn twenty after his birthday this year.
Such a lovely face truly had less of the childishness of a girl in her teens and more maturity, but since she was still unmarried, a hint of youthful innocence could still be seen.
Her Highness the Eldest Princess lowered her eyelids and lazily lifted her eyes, only then noticing that there seemed to be one more person before her.
“Mm… who are you?”
Her languid voice brushed Du Heng’s heart like a cat’s paw, and his Adam’s apple moved unconsciously a few times.
The Eldest Princess gently rubbed her hazy eyes with her soft hand, then opened them slightly to look at Du Heng.
The awareness that had only just awakened became clear in that instant, and the next moment Du Heng heard a muffled, delicate cry.
“Mm…”
Rarely, the Eldest Princess showed a trace of panic. Her small mouth parted slightly, her lovely face flushed white and red, but in an instant she recovered her composure.
Forcing herself to stay calm, she said, “Turn around first.”
And Du Heng, already staring foolishly, actually felt a little guilty. He hurriedly answered, “Yes,” and turned his back.
“Mingzhe!”
“This servant is here.”
“Help this princess change clothes.”
Mingzhe hurried in. She first cradled the Eldest Princess’s black hair and combed it before helping her change into her clothes.
For some reason, Mingzhe kept feeling that Her Highness the Eldest Princess was looking at her and at Du Heng, who stood in the corner with his back turned, with a trace of anger.
While being attended to, the Eldest Princess quietly narrowed her beautiful eyes to glance at Du Heng.
Yesterday’s incident had allowed her to see, in a blur, that Du Heng’s appearance was no different from the portrait, though his figure had not been visible. Now that she looked at him, he truly had an upright posture and considerable bearing.
He was not like what Imperial Uncle had said, that he was lazy every day and disliked cultivation, so his figure might have gone out of shape.
“Lord Consort, you may turn around now.”
While Du Heng had been turned away, the heart in his chest had been pounding like thunder. He had spent who knew how long in a dream, playing chess and practicing swordsmanship, listening to immortals speak the Dao, but that time had been real enough.
He had thought that after going through that span of dreamlike years, nothing would be able to stir his heart again, but that fleeting glimpse just now had still disrupted his thoughts.
The white-clad figure in his mind grew clearer and clearer, and the pounding in his chest became even harder to suppress.
Du Heng shook his head and pressed his fingertips into his palm until it hurt a little, only then dispersing the figure.
Since he did not intend to become this Lord Consort, he should not covet someone else’s body.
The Eldest Princess’s plain white underdress had already been covered by a black ruqun embroidered with phoenix patterns, and her black hair had been simply gathered into a bun after being attended to.
Having made up his mind, Du Heng turned back to look, only to forget everything he had just been thinking. His eyes were once again drawn to her involuntarily.
And the Eldest Princess had also been looking at his back all along.
Their gazes collided. Both of them froze for a moment, then turned their heads away at the same time.
A moment later, the Eldest Princess parted her vermilion lips and spoke in a calm tone, as though the one who had looked flustered just now had been someone else.
“Lord Consort, are you here early in the morning for an explanation to this princess?”
Du Heng was puzzled. Wasn’t it she who had someone bring him into the palace?
“Last night, I heard that Your Highness had something to ask of me, so I came into the palace with Miss Mingzhe.”
The Eldest Princess glanced sideways at Mingzhe, who was standing outside the curtain after finishing her grooming. Her golden phoenix eyes were dark and unreadable, with a hint of coldness.
“I see. Then has the Lord Consort thought of your explanation?”
Since meeting the Eldest Princess, Du Heng had been shaken by her lovely face, but he still did not want to accept this marriage. Naturally, he would not flatter her with empty politeness, so he said bluntly without hesitation:
“Yesterday, I accidentally and rashly offended Your Highness. It was my fault. Please punish me, Your Highness.”
Her eyes still dewy with sleep, the Eldest Princess narrowed them slightly as she looked at Du Heng.
“Punishment is unavoidable, of course. This princess is asking why you took liberties with me.”
“Uh… I already said it was an accident. My cultivation is weak, and I have not engaged in magical combat with anyone for a long time. I was careless and was ambushed by a villain.”
When Du Heng crashed into her carriage yesterday, the Eldest Princess had many ways to avoid such close contact. After all, she was a cultivator. Yet she chose to pretend to be asleep.
But she simply did not want to meet Du Heng like that, and let him see her unprepared and flustered, showing weakness.
Besides, she also had a hidden intention of testing Du Heng.
She wanted to see whether his temperament was as pure as Imperial Uncle had claimed.
As expected, Du Heng had acted to protect her. Although he had wrapped an arm around her waist, he had not gone too far, and the Eldest Princess was satisfied with that.
But she did not understand why Du Heng had allowed himself to fall in like that. At the very least, he was a cultivator.
She had not expected Du Heng to answer this way. According to the information the Eldest Princess had on hand, his words were somewhat believable, because Du Heng had only just returned to Luodu, and the procession that escorted him had not used his own name. Du Heng had no reason to know that she was inside that carriage.
However, she was not going to let Du Heng off so easily.
“Oh? Because it was an accident, you… you did those things to this princess?”
“For such a disgraceful act, we are not yet married, so it is hardly gentlemanly. Does the Lord Consort intend to brush it off as an accident?”
Hearing this, Du Heng understood. What the Eldest Princess was asking for with her words was an explanation, but what she actually wanted was compensation.
“It is my fault. Why not ask Your Highness to refuse this marriage? The emperor’s marriage decree has not yet been issued, so it is not too late.”
“After Your Highness rejects the marriage, I can also help with a few difficult matters for Your Highness, doing everything I can at your side. Let that count as part of the compensation.”
“So that is what the Lord Consort means…”
Listening from the side, the Eldest Princess had not expected such an answer. She bit her tender lower lip, her tone stern and tinged with coldness.
Du Heng thought from her expression that he had angered her, but to his surprise, the Eldest Princess called for Mingzhe instead.
“Mingzhe, the Lord Consort says he wants to help this princess compose a poem. Go fetch paper and brush.”
“Yes!”