Changle laughed helplessly, “We’ve been married for ten years, how can you still say he’s in my heart?”
After all this time, how could he still be so childish?
The maid’s eyes showed envy, “It’s a good thing, Your Highness.”
Although others said the Prince Consort’s mind was full of romance, she felt that such a man would be most caring. Indeed, over the past decade, the Prince Consort had been extremely attentive to the Princess. Though they occasionally quarreled, their relationship only grew stronger afterward.
He cared for Her Highness so much that he could sense when she was indifferent towards him. He would get angry and shut himself in his study for a day or two.
After so long, Her Highness had grown accustomed to this. Sometimes she would even sit on the steps outside the study, waiting for him to come out when he had calmed down. Then they would reconcile as if nothing had happened.
But today, He Jianghe wasn’t so easily appeased.
His Majesty had just informed him about Li Sixun’s dismissal. The mere thought of that man irritated him. Then, hearing Changle speak so casually about it, he couldn’t help but wonder if he still hadn’t replaced Li Sixun in her heart after ten years.
He would miss her desperately if they were apart for just a day. How could she act as if his presence or absence made no difference?
He was unhappy, displeased, and refused to leave his study!
Waving his brush in frustration, his face was darker than the ink.
After a while, the window suddenly opened a crack.
He Jianghe was startled. He turned to look and saw Changle squeezing through, furtively glancing around before approaching him and whispering, “I snuck in without the Princess knowing. Prince Consort, please don’t make a sound.”
He Jianghe: “…”
What was this act about?
With a thief-like demeanor, she pulled him to the couch beneath the window and said softly, “The Princess may have plump cheeks, but she’s thin-skinned. How could she openly say she misses the Prince Consort dearly? She had to send this servant to convey the message.”
A ray of light suddenly pierced through the gloom above his head. He Jianghe looked at her with a half-smile, “Oh? So the Princess isn’t indifferent towards me, and I misunderstood?”
“Misunderstood, a huge misunderstanding. How could she be indifferent to you?” She mimicked a servant’s tone, blinking her eyes, “But you two love to banter daily. If she easily said things like ‘I miss you’ or ‘I love you,’ and you teased her in return, how could she save face?”
Nonsense. He would never tease her about these hard-earned sweet words unless he had lost his mind.
He Jianghe glared at her.
Changle smiled and patted his back, “Don’t be angry. The Princess said she could ask the Empress Mother for permission to accompany you on the campaign.”
At this, He Jianghe frowned, “No.”
“Why?” She pouted, “You don’t want me to go?”
“We don’t know the situation beyond the border. If you go rashly and fall into an ambush, I couldn’t rest in peace even in death,” he said seriously. “Unless everything is under control, I won’t let you join the army.”
Changle’s face fell, “Who are you treating like a child? My Yuan Power isn’t weak either.”
“It’s not about the strength of Yuan Power,” he pressed his lips together. “It’s that I can’t bear to part with you.”
Her heart raced uncontrollably, and Changle blushed, stuttering, “We’ve been married for so long, why… why do you still say such things?”
“Because I want to hear such words from Your Highness too,” he lowered his eyes. “We’ve been married for so long, but I’ve never heard them.”
Her face reddened even more, and Changle didn’t know where to put her hands, “What’s so good about hearing that?”
She turned her head to avoid his gaze, but her eyes fell on a confidential letter on the low table, faintly showing the character “Li Sixun.”
Changle was startled, and so was He Jianghe. He quickly put away the letter and said, pressing his lips, “It’s from your royal brother. It’s nothing important. I won’t let him demote this person.”
Changle looked up at him, puzzled, “Why not?”
“What do you mean, why not?”
“If even my brother thinks he should be demoted, why are you stopping it?”
He Jianghe glanced at her, “If he’s demoted, he’s bound to come to you to complain. I don’t want you to see him.”
Changle found this bewildering, “I haven’t had any private contact with him for ten years. What complaints would he bring to me? When we were young and didn’t know better, I insisted on compensating him with this official position. Now that he’s unworthy of his post, he should be demoted. It’s his fault, what does it have to do with me?”
He Jianghe hadn’t expected Changle to say this. He was a bit confused, “No private contact? Didn’t he especially send you an invitation to his wedding last year?”
“I didn’t receive it. I had them throw it out.”
“Then why did you shut yourself in your room for a whole day?”
Changle laughed helplessly, “Wasn’t I making clothes for you? I gave them to you later, didn’t I? If I wasn’t in my room making them, did the clothes fall from the sky?”
He Jianghe: “…”
He turned his back awkwardly.
Changle suddenly realized and followed him, “So you thought I was grieving over his marriage, and you got jealous?”
He Jianghe turned his head to the other side.
Changle smiled and leaned over, “Did you also think those clothes were my guilty conscience compensating you?”
Unable to save face, He Jianghe said irritably, “Who told you not to explain clearly?”
“You get upset whenever I mention him in front of you. What was there for me to explain?” Changle shrugged, “I had no feelings for him long before our wedding.”
She had asked the Emperor and Empress Mother for the marriage at her birthday banquet. After six months of preparation, they were married.
During this time, Li Shaoling never came to see her. It wasn’t until shortly after her marriage that he came, drunk, asking if she would choose him.
Changle found it absurd.
Li Shaoling seemed to only consider himself. When he didn’t want her, he rejected her. When he wanted her, he expected her to disregard everything for him, even though she had just gotten married.
Why should she?
If she had any regrets before, after Li Shaoling’s visit, Changle realized what a good man He Jianghe was. He was willing to sacrifice himself to save her from trouble, truly admirable.
So after their marriage, Changle wholeheartedly devoted herself to life with He Jianghe.
However, her husband seemed unaware of this, still thinking she harbored feelings for someone else, occasionally retreating to his small study for days.
Even now, with her words so clear, He Jianghe still wore an expression of “you’re deceiving me,” then seemed to console himself, waving his hand, “Since you don’t care, I won’t stop it then. He might be demoted to a village near New Grass City.”
“Alright, that’s fine,” Changle agreed.
On the day He Jianghe set out for the campaign, Changle, following the Empress Mother’s instructions, planted all the seeds in the flower beds on both sides of the entrance.
The seeds grew quickly. Three months later, one day when Changle entered, she saw lush mandarin duck flowers taller than herself beside the door.
Delighted, she wrote to He Jianghe: “The flowers planted at our doorstep have bloomed. You’ll see them when you return.”