“This hairpin may be beautiful, but it doesn’t match my clothes at all. Brother, you didn’t put much thought into choosing it for me!” In early spring, within the Qionghua Courtyard of the Northern King’s mansion, the young princess furrowed her brow, her delicate voice filled with discontent.

A nearby maid quickly responded, “How could the young master not care about you, Princess? Everyone in the mansion knows he dotes on you the most. If this outfit doesn’t match, we can simply change it. Or… shall I ask Aunt Lü’e to help you choose? She has the keenest eye for these things.”

“Isn’t Aunt Lü’e accompanying Mother to Wuyin Mountain?” the princess asked.

The maid shook her head, “Neither the King nor the Queen took anyone with them this time. Even Aunt Suxin is still in the mansion.”

Upon hearing this, the young princess grew even more upset. “Father and Mother always do this, sneaking off to have fun without me. Hmph!”

The maid was at a loss for how to console her. Fortunately, a gentle knock came from outside, followed by a calm male voice: “Koucou.”

“Brother?” The young princess perked up immediately. She quickly walked to the front room and opened the door. Looking up at her brother’s handsome face, she puffed out her cheeks and complained, “Hmph, so you do remember you have a sister!”

Jiang Ding ruffled her hair, his voice tinged with subtle exasperation: “Who’s upset my little princess now?”

“Who else but you!” The princess hurriedly explained, with some embellishment, how the clothes and hairpin he had given her didn’t match.

Realizing the situation, Jiang Ding felt slightly relieved. He maintained his composure and reassured her, “It’s all because your brother didn’t consider things thoroughly enough. In a few days, the annual tribute from Jiangnan will arrive. I’ll get you all the novel fabrics from there. How’s that?”

“That’s more like it!” The princess’s expression softened slightly. However, thinking of her parents out enjoying themselves, she puffed up her cheeks again. Tugging at her brother’s robe, she walked out while complaining, “Why do Father and Mother always sneak out to play without us? It’s fine if they don’t take you, but why not me? Am I not cute anymore?”

“Who says that? Koucou is naturally the most adorable little girl in the world. By the way, the Crown Prince is having his horseback archery assessment in the southern suburbs today. Would you like to go watch with me? The Emperor and Empress will be there too.”

“Oh, I promised the Crown Prince I’d watch his archery!” The princess smacked her forehead, suddenly remembering her promise. “And the Empress sent me a pot of mimosa yesterday. It’s so cute! I should thank her in person. Let’s go quickly, brother… Oh wait, I need to change my clothes first.” With that, she hurried back to her room.

Soon after, the young princess emerged in a brightly colored riding outfit, her hair tied up high. She stood straight, looking much more spirited than in her previous pink silk dress.

“Brother, does Koucou look good?” The princess twirled, showing off her outfit.

Jiang Ding nodded, “Koucou looks good in anything.”

His precious little sister, though young, had perfectly mimicked their mother’s style. Whether it was horseback riding or cuju ball, her skill level was secondary to her impeccable dress.

Satisfied, the princess’s eyes curved into crescents, revealing a row of neat little teeth as she smiled. Her steps were light and quick.

After a few steps, the princess looked up at her brother curiously, “Brother, if Koucou is the most adorable little girl, why don’t Father and Mother take me along when they go out?”

Jiang Ding hadn’t expected the seven or eight-year-old girl to have such a good memory, circling back to the topic after such a long detour. He paused for a moment before explaining gently, “Father and Mother went to Wuyin Mountain to soak in hot springs. Koucou is too young for that.”

“Can only adults soak in hot springs?”

“Yes.”

“But the Crown Prince isn’t an adult yet, so why can he soak in them?”

“The Crown Prince, he—” Jiang Ding was about to continue along this line of thought when he suddenly realized something was amiss. “How does Koucou know the Crown Prince has soaked in hot springs?”

“I’ve seen it! In the Eastern Palace. The Crown Prince’s skin is even fairer than mine. He must be keeping the imperial doctor’s beauty secrets from me!” The princess pouted, clearly dissatisfied.

“… You peeked?” Jiang Ding asked with difficulty.

“I didn’t peek, I just happened to see it! The Crown Prince even said I could go to the Eastern Palace anytime if I wanted to soak in hot springs~”

Jiang Ding’s expression darkened, but the young princess didn’t notice. She continued to insist on knowing why the Crown Prince, who wasn’t an adult, could soak in hot springs. After a long pause, Jiang Ding coldly uttered three words: “He’s ill.”

The princess let out an “Ah,” her eyelashes fluttering rapidly. “So… the Crown Prince soaks in hot springs to treat his illness?”

Jiang Ding nodded, adding emotionlessly, “He’s weak. Koucou isn’t sick, so Koucou can’t soak.”

The young princess, not doubting him, added a note of pity and sympathy to her voice: “Poor Crown Prince, having to undergo horseback archery assessment while ill…”

Thinking of something, she suggested sensibly, “Brother, let’s bring some tonics for the Crown Prince.” Without waiting for Jiang Ding’s response, the young princess hurried off to prepare the tonics.

Soon after, at the outskirts of the southern training grounds, the young princess went forward to encourage the Crown Prince before his performance. Meanwhile, Jiang Ding called over Ming Ren, the commander of the northern camp of the Jinyun Guard, who was in charge of testing the Crown Prince’s horseback archery skills.

Ming Ren was the beggar boy Stone that Jiang Xu had taken in from Tonggang and trained in the Jinyun Guard. Gifted and intelligent, in just over ten years, he had become the youngest commander of a camp in the Jinyun Guard. Initially nameless and unaware of Jiang Xu’s identity, he insisted on taking his benefactor’s surname. However, “Jiang” was the imperial surname and couldn’t be used casually, so Jiang Xu had Ming Tan bestow him a name – Ming Ren.

Jiang Ding had grown up under Ming Ren’s watch, and Ming Ren knew well that the young man before him was not one to be trifled with. After hearing what the young man had to say, he hesitated slightly: “Young Master, is this… appropriate?”

“What’s inappropriate about it? The Crown Prince is the heir to the nation. If we always go easy on him, he’ll never know his true skill level in horseback archery and will live in a world of false praise. How then will he be able to listen to the advice of a hundred schools of thought and ten thousand voices in the future?”

Ming Ren: “…”

It seemed to make sense.

But something still felt off.

After agreeing, he belatedly realized that not going easy and deliberately making things difficult were two different matters. Their young master, though young, had inherited the calmness of the King, and was even more eloquent. When he explained things, it always sounded so reasonable that it took people a while to come to their senses.

The outcome of this assessment was predictable. Ming Ren was one of the top experts in the Jinyun Guard. With just a bit more accuracy, he could make the young Crown Prince watch helplessly as his arrows, which had just hit the bullseye, were knocked to the ground.

After the assessment, the Crown Prince was very frustrated. Had he offended Commander Ming somehow? Why was he being so hard on him today?

At this moment, the young princess came forward to console him: “Crown Prince Brother, you’ve already done very well! After all, you’re physically weak, how could you possibly compare to Brother Ren!”

The Crown Prince looked at the delicate little girl talking nonsense so seriously in front of him. It took him a while to grasp the key point of her words: “Koucou, when did I become physically weak?”

“Brother said so. He said Crown Prince Brother is ill, that’s why you need to soak in hot springs. Oh right, Crown Prince Brother, my brother and I brought you lots of tonics.” The young princess proudly had someone present the tonics.

The Crown Prince scanned through them – ginseng, deer antler, deer tendon… He looked up at Jiang Ding standing behind the young princess.

Jiang Ding’s face remained calm, meeting the Crown Prince’s gaze without flinching.

The Crown Prince carefully recalled what Koucou had just said. Hot springs… He seemed to understand something. But he was the one who had been seen bathing, and he hadn’t said anything about it. Why did Jiang Beigui look like he wanted to settle accounts with him?

Seeing that he hadn’t accepted the tonics, Koucou asked again, “Crown Prince Brother, are you ill?”

“…”

Forget it, Jiang Beigui was ruthless to the core. If he were to destroy his image as the perfect older brother in Koucou’s heart, who knows how he might retaliate later? Besides, what if Jiang Beigui became his brother-in-law in the future?

After pondering this, the young boy who often acted mature beyond his years swallowed his pride and admitted, “Yes, I am ill.”

Meanwhile, on Wuyin Mountain, amidst the misty white jade hot springs, Ming Tan leaned on Jiang Xu’s shoulder, also worrying about her little daughter—

“…So when should we let Koucou go? How about this: we’ll arrange her betrothal at thirteen and marry her off when she comes of age. After all, the Empress, the Princess Consort of Yu… and many others have their eyes on our Koucou.”

“Very well,” Jiang Xu kissed her slightly damp forehead and agreed softly.

“At this rate, we’ll be able to travel and sightsee in just a few years!” Ming Tan’s eyes lit up at the thought.

Jiang Xu gently stroked her black hair: “If Koucou knew her mother was planning this, she’d cry for three days and nights.”

Ming Tan looked up and unreasonably bit his chin, threatening, “Don’t you dare tell Koucou.”

Jiang Xu’s lips curled into a smile as he skillfully covered her body with his own. His Adam’s apple bobbed noticeably, and his voice grew husky and deep again: “Call me Brother Qizhi.”

Ming Tan: “…!”

The mist that had just settled began to swirl again. Deep in the hot spring, the water rippled with soft murmurs, spreading waves across the pool.

It wasn’t until the moon reached its zenith that the ripples gradually subsided.

Exhausted, Ming Tan embraced his neck, sleeping soundly under the moonlight.

Over the years, their feelings remained as passionate as ever. Although they often snuck out without notice, they had two children now, so they never stayed away for more than three days at a time.

In the past, Ming Tan had enjoyed a comfortable and leisurely life in the capital, but after staying there for so long, she gradually developed a desire to see more of the world.

There were many places she wanted to visit. For instance, Tonggang, which was now the largest port in Daxian, was no longer as desolate as before. In the last imperial examination, a brilliantly talented young man from there had become the top scholar. She had wanted to go there even before Koucou was born, but years had passed, and she still hadn’t managed to make the trip. She also wanted to see the northwestern frontier, to see the Yangxi Road where her father had been stationed for many years, to see the battlefields where her husband had once fought valiantly…

She had a wonderful dream that night, where she and Jiang Xu were riding horses together, touring the four seasons’ landscapes. But she woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, the beautiful dream abruptly ending, leaving her feeling somewhat lost.

However, this feeling of loss vanished in an instant, because she knew that reality was even more wonderful than dreams. The world was vast, and there were still so many possibilities in their remaining years. As long as they were together, the scenery would never fade, and time would never grow old.

She reached out, gently tracing the contours of the man beside her, and tentatively called out softly: “Brother Qizhi?”

Jiang Xu’s eyelids flickered slightly.

“I knew you were awake. Pretending to sleep again! Are you hoping I’ll secretly kiss you? Dream on!”

The corners of Jiang Xu’s lips turned up.

After years of marriage, they knew each other best.

He pulled Ming Tan back into his arms, eyes still closed, his voice filled with undisguised amusement: “So, does A’Tan want to steal a kiss or go for another round?”

[End of the story]