Chapter 499: Afraid You Wouldn't Be Able to Find Me
This anger, however, was different from before. In the past, when she was angry, she would eliminate whoever had displeased her. But today, the one who had upset her was Xiao Huayong. Though she was furious and annoyed with him, she never once thought of harming him in the slightest.
What vexed her was why Xiao Huayong refused to grant her even a shred of trust. No matter what Xiao Huayong did, no matter how perilous it was, even if she worried, she had never stopped him, simply because she trusted him.
Yet Xiao Huayong was unwilling to trust her. Since she dared to act this way, daring to provoke a minor punishment from Your Majesty as a warning, she naturally had the ability to handle any unexpected situations. But Xiao Huayong completely forbade her from even trying.
Did Xiao Huayong see her as a woman who needed to be sheltered behind a man, living in dependence on him?
The more she thought about it, the more suffocated Shen Xihe felt by her anger.
With their two masters quarreling, the Eastern Palace seemed shrouded in a dark cloud. Everyone in the Eastern Palace was as silent as cicadas in winter, making the palace—which had been vibrant and full of vitality since Shen Xihe married into it—exceptionally oppressive, as if a storm could pour down at any moment.
Since their marriage, no matter the circumstances, Xiao Huayong had always returned for the evening meal to dine with her, preparing various delicacies for her every day. But today, as evening approached, Jiuzhang tremblingly requested an audience, saying he didn’t know where the Crown Prince had gone and asking her to decide on the evening meal.
Shen Xihe’s expression darkened further upon hearing this, but she was not one to take her anger out on others. She casually gave Jiuzhang some instructions.
Though spoken casually, half of the dishes were Xiao Huayong’s favorites. By the time the evening meal was ready, the sky had already darkened, and there was still no report of the Crown Prince’s return to the palace. Her face grew increasingly somber.
Biyu mustered her courage and said, “Crown Princess, perhaps this servant should go and ask where the Crown Prince is…”
“No need!” Before Biyu could finish, Shen Xihe interrupted sharply. “Have the kitchen serve the meal.”
Biyu and Hongyu shrank back, having no choice but to retreat and instruct the kitchen to serve the meal.
A table full of aromatic and visually appealing dishes was laid before Shen Xihe. She picked up her chopsticks and took a few casual bites but had no appetite to continue, so she ordered the food to be cleared away.
Night fell, stars twinkling like dreams; the bright moon hung high, and countless lanterns glowed.
Xiao Huayong’s whereabouts remained unknown. Shen Xihe forbade anyone from searching for him, as she did not want to yield. Unbeknownst to her, Xiao Huayong was sitting on the stone steps at the entrance of the Eastern Palace. Had she stepped out, she would have seen him. Xiao Huayong, in turn, forbade anyone at the entrance from reporting his presence, as if he knew whether Shen Xihe would send someone to look for him.
Tianyuan stood to the side, deeply troubled. He knew the Crown Prince did not want the Crown Princess to back down or concede; he only wanted her to coax him a little, to make him feel slightly better.
As the sky grew darker, Tianyuan himself was starving, but Xiao Huayong sat on the stone steps at the Eastern Palace entrance, staring blankly at the two maple trees ahead, expressionless and dazed.
Tianyuan was so anxious he wished he could rush in and drag Shen Xihe out, but he didn’t dare. If he acted on his own, the consequences would likely be dire. Had it been possible to reconcile the two masters, he would have gladly sacrificed himself for the Crown Prince. What he feared was making things worse by acting rashly, causing the rift between them to deepen—a sin for which he could never atone even with a hundred deaths.
Separated by just a few hundred steps, one unwilling to seek out the other, the other waiting to be coaxed, they stubbornly persisted until the moon leaned against the western tower. Neither had seen the other, one growing increasingly angry, the other increasingly aggrieved.
“Crown Princess…”"I wish to bathe." Shen Xihe prevented Zhenzhu and the others from speaking.
Zhenzhu opened her mouth but ultimately went to prepare. After accompanying the absent-minded Shen Xihe through her ablutions, Shen Xihe directly shooed them away. Lying on the bed and covering herself with the quilt, she thought she would fall asleep as soon as she closed her eyes, but unexpectedly, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
Meanwhile, the Crown Prince sat at the entrance of the Eastern Palace until Shen Xihe's usual bedtime. Unable to bear it any longer, he stood up and walked to the inner courtyard, then sat on the stone steps at its entrance.
After sitting for a while, he felt it might still be too far away. With a stern expression, he stepped into the inner courtyard and sat at the main entrance of their bedchamber.
Zhenzhu and the others were overjoyed and wanted to announce his arrival, but when they met Xiao Huayong's sharp and cold gaze, they had to swallow their words.
This was the Eastern Palace. They were no longer solely Shen Xihe's people; they had to respect the Crown Prince as much as they respected Shen Xihe.
Xiao Huayong sat at the bedchamber entrance for a long time, so long that his heart grew cold with the late spring night breeze. Then, the door was pulled open from inside, and the warm candlelight instantly enveloped him, dispelling the thin layer of frost that had settled in his heart.
Shen Xihe had not expected to see the man who had kept her awake at night the moment she opened the door.
Still somewhat annoyed, Shen Xihe spoke with clear displeasure, "Why are you here?"
All of Xiao Huayong's grievances and hurt vanished the moment Shen Xihe opened the door. He was certain she cared for him—why else would she still be awake at this hour and come out to look for him? She had even put on a cloak.
Suppressing a smile and holding back the corners of his lips from curling upward, he said, "I was afraid you wouldn't be able to find me."
Shen Xihe, who had been so angry she wanted to hit someone, inexplicably grew even more annoyed at these words—not with anger but with embarrassment. Uncharacteristically, she spoke against her true feelings, "Who wants to look for you? Where you go is none of my concern."
With that, she turned and went back into the bedroom. Xiao Huayong's eyes and brows once again tinged with a faint smile as he willingly followed her inside.
Seeing this, Tianyuan clasped his hands together and silently bowed in all directions, murmuring "Amitabha" under his breath.
Finally, the clouds had parted, and the rain had given way to clear skies.
The moment Xiao Huayong stepped into the room, his stomach betrayed him with a loud rumble.
Shen Xihe couldn't help but turn to look at him. Xiao Huayong showed no embarrassment, instead pitifully saying, "I haven't had my evening meal."
"Zhenzhu..."
"I want to eat wontons." Before Shen Xihe could give the order, Xiao Huayong made his request first.
Shen Xihe glanced at him and strode toward the dining room. Xiao Huayong, pleased with himself, followed closely, walking side by side with her. First, he brushed the back of his hand against hers. When Shen Xihe didn't pull away, he grew bolder and grabbed her hand, holding it tightly.
Shen Xihe shook it off, but he quickly grabbed it again, this time holding on even tighter.
After struggling for a while without freeing herself from his grasp, Shen Xihe simply let him have his way.
The triumphant Xiao Huayong grinned even wider, "Youyou, let's not argue anymore, alright?"
He had been utterly miserable, never having felt such torment before—it was truly more agonizing than illness or poison.
"I never intended to argue with you." Shen Xihe refused to acknowledge that they had quarreled. If there was any arguing, it was entirely Xiao Huayong's one-sided behavior.
"It was my fault. If you insist..."
Shen Xihe suddenly stopped and turned to face him, "I won't go through the underground palace, but I can switch places with your people halfway. Then, I'll follow behind those sent by Your Majesty."This was the compromise Shen Xihe had devised—the first time in her life she had ever made concessions in her own carefully laid plans for the sake of another person.
This marks my first attempt at writing a quarrel between the male and female leads. Life requires adjustment and adaptation. In my previous works, the protagonists always fell irrevocably in love with each other before marriage, but here, for the first time, one loves deeply while the other's affection remains shallower. It’s quite intriguing and brings a fresh perspective.
(End of Chapter)
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