The Seventh Princess Insists on Making Me Live Off Her - Chapter 28

The two stopped at the entrance. Lian Liejin folded the blue paper umbrella and shook off all the snow before reaching for the curtain, only to be stopped by Gao Jingxi’s gentle voice.

“You remember to clear the snow from the umbrella, but what about the snow on you?” Gao Jingxi grasped Lian Liejin’s shoulders and rose onto her tiptoes, intending to brush the fine snow from her hair.

Lian Liejin deliberately leaned her head back and drew in her shoulders, refusing to let Gao Jingxi brush away the snow. “Your Highness, I’m more than half a head taller than you. Hahaha.”

Having lost her support, Gao Jingxi fell directly against Lian Liejin. After finally escaping from her arms, she angrily struck her several times.

Unexpectedly, Lian Liejin continued acting both arrogant and childish. Gao Jingxi seized her slender waist and pinched hard, her face filled with coquettish annoyance. “Bend down for me. You’re not allowed to misbehave.”

The ticklish spot on Lian Liejin’s waist had been attacked twice within a short time. She started jumping like a carp attempting to cross the Dragon Gate and immediately begged for mercy. “Your Highness, I was wrong! Stop pinching me. It tickles terribly.”

After all that commotion, the snow on Lian Liejin’s head had fallen away. Only then did Gao Jingxi relax. She pressed her lips together and asked seriously, “Is this where you play mahjong?”

“Mm. I’ll first explain the rules to Your Highness.” Lian Liejin lifted the curtain, and a wave of warm air carrying the fragrance of sandalwood blew toward them.

More than a dozen eternal lamps burned inside the room beyond the curtain. Five square tables made from huanghuali wood stood on the marble floor, with exactly four chairs arranged around each table.

Two of the tables were already full. The people seated there held square agate tiles in their hands. Some laughed and talked loudly, while others frowned in deep thought. Beside every chair stood a small bucket of… dried sweet potatoes, a plate of steaming free-range eggs, and a large bowl filled with strong liquor.

“Hahaha! A win from a kong! I won. Hurry and hand over the dried sweet potatoes. It has to be double, and finish your wine too!”

“Hurry and discard a tile I can pong! Save this poor child—there are only ten strips of dried sweet potato left!”

In any case, the atmosphere could only be described as exceptionally lively.

Little Radish happened to be descending from the second floor. When she saw Gao Jingxi and Lian Liejin holding hands, she immediately looked shocked. “Guan Xie, you’re impressive. To win dried sweet potatoes, you’ve already abandoned all family loyalty and resorted to any means necessary. Look, Junior Sister Zhao will be here soon. How many rounds are we playing this time?”

Lian Liejin turned and headed toward the second floor as well. She glanced back at Gao Jingxi and smiled brightly. “That depends on whether Your Highness can defeat me.”

There were five or six empty private rooms on the second floor. Lian Liejin brought Gao Jingxi into the largest one.

Fine silver-thread charcoal burned inside the private room. Little Radish had taken a brick of tea from downstairs and urged Lian Liejin to hurry and boil water for it.

“We have a newcomer today.” Little Radish smiled ingratiatingly at Gao Jingxi. “Your Highness, at the tile table, there are no distinctions of seniority, status, or family. Only skill matters.” She handed Gao Jingxi several bamboo slips containing the rules of mahjong while the princess was still looking confused.

After lighting the charcoal stove, Lian Liejin closed the window and walked over with a grin. “We’re using the Catch-the-Chicken rules this time. The base stake is three strips of dried sweet potato. A Pure Suit or All Pungs pays twenty times, while Seven Pairs pays ten times. If you have the chicken tile but haven’t declared ready, you must compensate everyone instead.”

Just then, Junior Sister Zhao pushed open the door while carrying yet another jar of medicinal soup. “Come, come. Senior Sister Guan Xie, drink your soup first.”

Lian Liejin hurriedly pretended not to hear her. Leaning against Gao Jingxi’s shoulder, she smiled until her eyes narrowed. “Your Highness, do you understand the rules? Do you need me to teach you?”

“Mm, they are somewhat difficult.” Gao Jingxi closed the bamboo slips and accepted the medicinal soup from Junior Sister Zhao. “Drink the soup, and then we can begin.”

With a bitter expression, Lian Liejin accepted the bowl of soup that was not technically medicine but tasted no different from it. As she drank, she complained inwardly: Was this revenge for making Gao Jingxi take her medicine? The princess was far too petty!

Little Radish tugged at Lian Liejin’s clothes and whispered, “Control yourself. Don’t get carried away and make Her Highness lose so badly she has nothing left.”

Lian Liejin winked knowingly. “I understand. Once we win that bucket of dried sweet potatoes, we’ll stop.”

Seeing Lian Liejin finish the medicinal meal, Junior Sister Zhao collected the pot and bowl in satisfaction. “All right, I’m leaving.”

“Hey!” Little Radish jumped from her seat and called anxiously, “Junior Sister, we’re one player short. You’re the last one we need, so you can’t leave.”

“But I still need to check the list for the medicine-refining competition…”

Lian Liejin shut the door to the private room. “Junior Sister Zhao, you’re already here.”

Little Radish immediately joined in. “Exactly. Her Highness rarely visits us. The three of us should accompany her for a couple of games.”

Junior Sister Zhao looked toward Gao Jingxi’s profile as she sat in the central seat, and her heart trembled. “F-Fine. Two games, then. But the loser’s wine has to be strong.”

Lian Liejin’s eyes curved into a smile. “Now you’re getting excited. Bring the strong liquor.”

Thus, all four sat around the carved mahjong table, each holding a jar of distilled liquor. Little Radish arranged the already-cleaned mahjong tiles into a square. Taking advantage of her young age and thick skin, she seized the dice and declared herself the dealer.

Who could have expected that once the game began, Lian Liejin would go from having marvelous empty hands to being completely empty-handed? By the end, she had even begun playing on credit. She nearly lost an entire year’s supply of dried sweet potatoes and free-range eggs from the Stellar Medicine Sect to Gao Jingxi.

“Your Highness, how can all of you use stellar power to alter the tiles? You turned the last Three Circles into a Chicken tile right in front of me! There’s no justice. Are you trying to drive me to my death?”

Little Radish expertly shuffled and drew tiles while humming an off-key tune. “Don’t make wild accusations. Since you lost, finish that bowl of wine first. According to our unwritten rules, using stellar power doesn’t count as cheating. If you keep slandering us, I have the right to cancel your membership at the Mahjong God Game Room. Oh, oh—Thirty Thousand. I win.”

Lian Liejin: “…I hate this. One more round!”

They shuffled the tiles again and began another game. Junior Sister Zhao studied Lian Liejin’s dejected expression for a long time before finally discarding the Seven Bamboo. “Senior Sister Guan Xie, Seven Bamboo.”

Lian Liejin’s eyes immediately lit up. “I finally won!”

Just as Lian Liejin’s slender hand was about to reach the tile, Gao Jingxi took the Seven Bamboo before her and said calmly, “Heavenly Hand. Thank you for letting me win.”

The night felt exceptionally long. Throughout it, Lian Liejin’s miserable howls repeatedly came from the private room: “One more game!”

Before dawn, the four finally decided to stop. After remaining awake throughout the night, one of Gao Jingxi and Lian Liejin looked radiant and refreshed, while the other wore a miserable expression and staggered as she walked, looking as though her soul had left her body.

Amid the night snow, the moment Lian Liejin crawled through the curtain bearing the character “Sparrow,” she began acting shamelessly. She practically draped her entire body over Gao Jingxi as they walked, babbling that she had suffered grievous harm and that Gao Jingxi was required to compensate her.

“But you were the one who said life and death are determined by fate, while mahjong depends on luck. Why must I compensate you?” Gao Jingxi held the blue paper umbrella and struggled to keep the woman, who was nearly an entire head taller than her, beneath it.

“I don’t care, Your Highness. I sent people into hot, mountainous regions to gather those sweet potatoes. I peeled and dried every one of them myself.” Lian Liejin continued rambling and clinging to Gao Jingxi all the way back to the bedroom in the blue-tiled courtyard. “Besides, yesterday you asked me to do that… that thing. You should pay me even more.”

“What thing? When did you and I ever make that sort of transaction?” After bearing Lian Liejin’s weight throughout the journey, Gao Jingxi finally stepped on her own foot and, as expected, toppled onto the bed with the sticky piece of candy still attached to her.

“Your Highness, you demanded so much. How can you deny everything when it’s time to pay?” Lian Liejin frowned, feeling increasingly wronged. Why had she agreed yesterday to give the Seventh Princess anything she wanted?

Looking at her, Gao Jingxi muttered softly, “You drank so much last time without becoming intoxicated. Why did one jar make you start talking nonsense tonight?”

Since the sky was still dark, neither of them could be bothered to wash. They were exhausted and weak. As they continued talking, they loosened each other’s outer robes and carelessly tossed them beneath the bed.

Within moments, they pulled up the bedding, rolled into each other, became wrapped together like a rice dumpling, and fell asleep. Unexpectedly, they had slept for only a little over one shichen when hurried footsteps suddenly sounded in the courtyard, followed by a knock on the bedroom door.

“Guan Xie, Little Radish told me you had returned.”

Lian Liejin was awakened in a daze. She attempted to lift her eyelids twice but failed, so she pulled the quilt over her head and grumbled, “So annoying.”

Gao Jingxi, however, immediately woke. She turned and saw Lian Liejin curled into a ball, with the quilt covering only her head while both legs remained exposed. After properly covering her again, Gao Jingxi straightened her own clothes and walked to the door.

The moment she opened it, the bitter wind scattered the warmth inside the room.

The visitor wore a thin white cotton robe. Her eyes resembled autumn waters, her brows distant mountain peaks, and her body a swaying willow, yet her overall bearing was as upright as cold pines and green bamboo. She was Wei Wan’er, the Stellar Medicine Sect’s eldest disciple—and the eldest senior sister of Lian Liejin and Little Radish.

The expression on her face changed from delight to confusion. “Guan Xie, after they informed me that you had returned, I traveled day and night to come back… Oh? And who might this young lady be?”

Before Gao Jingxi could answer, Wei Wan’er lost her composure slightly, passed directly by her, and walked toward the bedroom.

“Young lady, entering another person’s bedroom without permission is improper.”

At a glance, Wei Wan’er saw Lian Liejin still sleeping on the bed. The bedding was in complete disorder, while two black outer robes lay on the floor, tightly intertwined.

She quickly turned back and smiled gently. “I was discourteous. Guan Xie and I are as close as true sisters. We have not seen each other for some time, and I was genuinely worried about her.”

Gao Jingxi stood directly before the open door, her hair loosely tied with only a silk ribbon and fluttering in the wind.

Lian Liejin caught the familiar subtle fragrance with her nose. She reached to the side with her left hand and found it empty—no one was there. She immediately woke, opened her eyes blearily, and saw Gao Jingxi standing in the draft, turning at that moment to look at her.

Seeing Lian Liejin sitting up foolishly while the entire quilt fell to the floor, Gao Jingxi hurriedly shut the door and blocked out the cold air.

However, Lian Liejin moved quickly. She picked up the two outer robes, carelessly put on one, then draped the other over Gao Jingxi’s shoulders.

“Eldest Senior Sister, you returned so quickly.”

“Eldest Senior Sister, this is…” Lian Liejin had just begun introducing Gao Jingxi when her princess spoke first.

“I married Liejin last month under an imperial decree.”

Wei Wan’er straightened her back even further and sat down with practiced ease. “Then you must be Princess Sister. If Wan’er showed any disrespect, I hope Princess Sister will forgive me. Wan’er must also thank Princess Sister for taking care of Guan Xie.”

“You are too courteous.” Gao Jingxi wound a strand of Lian Liejin’s hair around her fingertip and answered with a soft smile. “She is my Princess Consort. Throughout the rest of our lives, it will be difficult to say who takes care of whom. We will simply live our days together.”

The atmosphere inside the room became rather strange, especially when Wei Wan’er immediately took hold of Lian Liejin’s arm and said with dissatisfaction, “Guan Xie, why are you still wearing so little, just as you did when you were young? Don’t fall ill from the cold and then demand to sleep with me again, refuse your bitter medicine, and ask for candy.”

Lian Liejin was about to say that those things had happened only when she was a child, but Gao Jingxi stepped around her and stood directly before her, then intertwined their fingers. “Senior Sister need not worry. Liejin is healthy now, and I will not allow her to catch a chill.”

“Then I must thank you, Princess Sister. With your promise, I can finally put my mind at ease.” Although Wei Wan’er appeared to be speaking to Gao Jingxi, her eyes remained fixed on Lian Liejin. “Guan Xie, during my journey, I discovered something concerning… Come with me alone.”

This was the first time Gao Jingxi and Lian Liejin had interlocked all ten fingers. Although Lian Liejin knew that certain things between them had already gone far beyond this, the gesture still made her so shy that she panicked. She lowered her head and stared at Gao Jingxi. Only after quite some time did she realize that Eldest Senior Sister was speaking to her.

“Your Highness, prepare to eat first. I’ll have them deliver some of the local dishes.”

Gao Jingxi gently tucked her hair behind her ear, but even that casual movement radiated a dazzling beauty capable of stealing one’s soul. She swiftly leaned toward Lian Liejin’s ear and whispered something, her lips seemingly brushing against Lian Liejin’s ear.

“Come back quickly. I’ll wait here for you. If you take too long, I… will go and find you.”

Lian Liejin turned to stone, her ears visibly reddening and burning. She once again smelled that subtle fragrance and felt that soft, refreshing sweetness. Her face flushed. “Y-Yes, Your Highness. If you need anything, simply call for Little Radish.”

“Mm, all right.” Gao Jingxi raised her hands and properly fastened Lian Liejin’s clothes, then smilingly urged her to catch up with Eldest Senior Sister, who had already gone outside.

The sky was overcast, and large grains of snow continued falling in every direction.

As they walked toward the medicine cottage, Lian Liejin’s expression gradually returned to normal. Finally remembering Wei Wan’er’s words, she asked, “Senior Sister, what exactly did you discover?”