The Seventh Princess Insists on Making Me Live Off Her - Chapter 6

A-You accepted the prescription and looked it over. The handwriting was elegant and neat, carrying a graceful, unrestrained air.

But why was the Princess Consort charging the princess money?

“A-You, pay her.”

Seeing that the princess and her consort did not appear likely to start fighting, A-You had no choice but to withdraw and prepare the gold.

The door closed behind her.

When Lian Liejin turned around again, Gao Jingxi was glaring at her indignantly, her face still pale.

She snorted several times.

“The Princess Consort certainly has impressive methods. Even my maid now listens only to your commands.”

“Not at all, not at all. This humble subject believes A-You merely lost her composure because she cares too much.”

“Lian Liejin, who exactly are you?”

Gao Jingxi narrowed her eyes and stared at her.

“I have always heard that the third daughter of the Lian family is frail and sickly, ignorant and uneducated, utterly unsuccessful, and completely useless. You cannot even accomplish the most basic act of observing the stars and entering the Dao…”

Lian Liejin burst into loud laughter. It took her quite some time to stop.

“Your Highness, greatness gives rise to jealousy, and jealousy gives rise to lies. Although this humble subject cannot be called great, I may still be described as extraordinarily talented and breathtakingly brilliant.”

The Lian family had always concealed its strength and bided its time. None of them had ever displayed their abilities too openly. They understood perfectly well that what was too rigid would easily break and that excess was as harmful as deficiency.

Lian Liejin, however, was clearly not that sort of person.

Gao Jingxi was already exhausted, and her anger had drained even more of her strength. Although sleepiness had begun to overtake her, she still forced herself to ask,

“Does the Princess Consort know that a tree standing above the forest will be destroyed by the wind?”

The underfloor heating gradually grew stronger, and a deep warmth enveloped them both.

Somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, Gao Jingxi thought she heard Lian Liejin reply,

“Your Highness, the jianghu is dangerous. If things go wrong, retreat.”

In the middle of the night, lamps were lit once again inside the Princess Consort’s Residence.

Little Radish sat beside the desk grinding ink while yawning. From time to time, she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Lielie, why aren’t you sleeping with the princess in the middle of the night? Why did you come back here to disturb me?”

“Shh! Keep your voice down. Aside from you and me, everyone here belongs to the imperial family.”

Lian Liejin hurriedly put down her brush and covered Little Radish’s mouth.

“And what nonsense are you talking about? I did not sleep with that princess.”

Lian Liejin once again remembered the provocative scenes from their wedding night. She hurriedly shook her head with all her strength, attempting to fling those images out of her mind.

She had always followed the principle of concealing her achievements and fame. Why, then, was she so unwilling to be looked down upon by the Seventh Princess?

This was not good.

Not good at all.

Little Radish raised her head and looked at Lian Liejin with confusion.

“Isn’t the Seventh Princess the greatest beauty under heaven? How could you spend every day with her without being moved?”

Lian Liejin put down her brush once again and frowned deeply.

“First of all, I do not spend every day with her. Besides, her temperament changes without warning. Whoever falls for her will be terribly unlucky.”

“Really? I think your temperament is the strange one. And every time you go to see the princess, your mood becomes unbelievably good.”

Little Radish muttered softly. Seeing that Lian Liejin had not heard her, she secretly grinned.

“Are you writing a letter to Senior Sister? Let me see what you wrote.”

Little Radish leaned over and looked at it twice.

“You truly have no sense of romance. All you ever write is: ‘Respectfully presented to Senior Sister. Are you well? Remember to wear more clothes.’”

“Why are you making so much noise?”

Lian Liejin glanced at Little Radish unhappily. Her gaze darkened, and she sighed before taking a pill from her sleeve.

“Her Highness the Princess nearly consumed a pill made from Immortal Powder. Master has gone traveling throughout the world, so I must write to inform Senior Sister.”

Looking at the black pill, Little Radish widened her eyes in astonishment.

“How could Immortal Powder have appeared again? I remember Grandmaster destroyed every Immortal Powder tree long ago. There should not be any left. If this substance has resurfaced, another bloody storm is about to sweep across the land.”

“That is exactly what I cannot understand. Yet Her Highness refuses to tell me how she was injured or where she obtained the pills.”

“Just coax her. With your methods and your face, all you need to do is act a little submissive toward the princess, sleep with her once, and what problem could possibly remain unsolved?”

“Hey! Where did a child like you learn such things? You are far too young to have such unhealthy thoughts.”

Lian Liejin packed away the pill and letter, then helplessly handed them to Little Radish.

“Send these back to Qingyue Mountain.”

She extinguished the candle and secretly slipped back into the Princess’s Residence.

Inside the bedchamber, Gao Jingxi was sleeping deeply while hugging the quilt.

Lian Liejin removed her outer robe and stood beside the brazier for a while to warm herself and drive away the cold. She then placed both hands against the headboard and executed a sweeping turn worthy of a divine dragon, vaulting over Gao Jingxi and landing on the inner side of the bed.

The following morning, Gao Jingxi felt that she had slept extraordinarily well.

When she awoke, the blankets were still warm. Usually, she would curl herself into a ball and wake with her entire body cold.

After a while, she finally understood why.

She had wrapped herself around Lian Liejin like an octopus, clinging to the other woman with her entire body. All of Lian Liejin’s warmth had therefore transferred to her.

In an instant, Gao Jingxi’s fair face flushed completely red, and her body stiffened. She entirely forgot to hold Lian Liejin accountable for climbing into her bed.

She gently removed her hand from Lian Liejin’s body, praying that the woman would not wake up.

At the same time, she could not help remembering what had happened on their wedding night.

In her haze, she vaguely recalled that they had eventually fallen asleep like this as well.

Warm air had surrounded them, and the steady breathing of the person beside her had been even more effective than a sleeping draught…

While Gao Jingxi was lost in thought, Lian Liejin secretly opened her eyes a narrow slit.

She clearly remembered falling asleep flat on her back last night.

How had she ended up lying on her side with an arm wrapped around Gao Jingxi?

No.

She needed to quietly lie flat again and pretend nothing had happened.

Thus, Lian Liejin also began slowly withdrawing her right arm.

The two women each pulled back their own hands while moving in opposite directions.

Their hands finally met awkwardly in midair.

Both of them widened their eyes at the same time and stared at each other.

Lian Liejin: “Pretending nothing happened.jpg”

“Haha. Your Highness woke rather early.”

“I have always risen early. I am accustomed to it.”

Gao Jingxi struggled to control her expression. Only after quickly withdrawing her hand and lying flat did she respond.

The air suddenly became silent.

The two women lay stiffly on their backs, looking exactly like a pair of thousand-year-old corpses.

At that moment, A-You entered carrying a food box.

Seeing that they were both awake, she smiled and said,

“Your Highness, Princess Consort, A-You thought the two of you would sleep until lunchtime. Her Majesty the Empress bestowed some excellent suru cheese. Please get up and eat some.”

It was already nearly noon.

Remembering how she had just greeted Gao Jingxi for supposedly waking early, Lian Liejin felt even more embarrassed.

But as long as she did not feel embarrassed, the embarrassed one would be someone else!

Thus, after the two of them washed and sat at the table eating the suru cheese, they both remained flushed and refused to speak to each other.

After lunch, Gao Jingxi went alone to the study and removed a scroll from a drawer concealed within a hidden compartment.

The person in the painting wore black clothes and a mask covering half her face. Her eyes and nose were hidden, leaving only an elegantly shaped chin exposed.

A-You entered carrying a bowl of soup. Seeing her princess staring infatuatedly at the painting once again, she could not help shaking her head.

“Your Highness, the prescription written by the Princess Consort has already been shown to Imperial Physician Wang. The imperial physician said it is an excellent prescription and advised Your Highness to follow the instructions and take the medicine.”

Gao Jingxi rolled up the painting. A faint, ambiguous smile appeared on her bright and beautiful face.

“Is that so? It appears my Princess Consort truly is no ordinary person.”

She concealed her emotions and said seriously,

“A-You, find the memorial from Qingzhou. I wish to examine it again.”

“Your Highness, you barely ate earlier. At least drink this bowl of soup.”

A-You placed the soup on the desk. Seeing Gao Jingxi’s grave expression, she had no choice but to search through a stack of documents, locate the corresponding memorial, and hand it to the princess.

“Your Highness, this memorial is from autumn. Why do you wish to read it again today?”

“Half a year ago, Qingzhou suffered severe flooding. Imperial Mother sent me there to control the waters. In the end, I decided upon a major canal-construction project. Even the planning of the waterways was placed entirely under my direction.”

“Your Highness, constructing waterworks will benefit generations to come. His Majesty entrusted the matter to you because she values your abilities.”

“Benefit generations to come?”

Gao Jingxi rose from behind the desk. Her long black hair cascaded like a waterfall, sliding over her shoulders.

“If something goes wrong, I will become a sinner condemned for all eternity.”

“Are you saying His Highness the First Imperial Prince may sabotage the project?”

“Eldest Imperial Brother is not capable enough. Fifth Imperial Sister, however, may wish to contend with me.”

Gao Jingxi stood with her hands behind her back and quietly examined the scrolls inside the bookcase.

“What? Your Highness, the Fifth Imperial Princess is merely a dog serving under the First Imperial Prince. What kind of trouble could she possibly cause?”

“See? Even you think so.”

A cold smile curved Gao Jingxi’s lips as she picked up a sheet of letter paper and tore it open.

“My Fifth Imperial Sister is the truly capable one.”

“Enough, Your Highness. You must drink this soup today. More medicine will be delivered shortly, and you must drink all of that as well.”

A-You lifted the bowl, genuinely distressed for her princess.

“The Princess Consort said she will also prepare another medicinal pill. That way, taking the medicine will not taste so bitter.”

The moment Gao Jingxi remembered Lian Liejin’s cold and elegant face, she immediately drank the soup. She set the bowl down heavily, returned to the desk, and resumed reading.

Elsewhere, Lian Liejin wandered alone around the Princess’s Residence.

Although it was the depths of winter, flowers and plants were still blooming throughout the estate. They could not be described as a dazzling sea of color, but the touches of red and green still added life and fragrance.

After passing through several covered corridors, she assumed she had reached the end.

Instead, she found herself facing lush trees and glittering exotic flowers. A clear stream wound its way down from deep within the vegetation. Fragments of floating ice drifted across the water, and the brook resembled snow flowing through the landscape, creating a breathtaking sight.

A pavilion stood on a bridge not far away, shaped like a bird spreading its wings, magnificent and imposing.

A gray pigeon flew down from the sky and landed steadily on Lian Liejin’s shoulder. A secret letter was tied to its leg.

She had sent a message back to Qingyue Mountain only last night. It was impossible for a reply to arrive by this afternoon unless Senior Sister already had something urgent to tell her.

At that thought, Lian Liejin quickly unfolded the paper and focused on the writing.

“Junior Sister Guan Xie, may this letter find you well. Everyone is safe. Do not worry.”

This was unusual.

She had left Qingyue Mountain only three months ago. Senior Sister knew perfectly well what she had gone to do, so why would she send such a strange message?

Combined with the fact that Gao Jingxi had nearly consumed an addictive forbidden drug, Lian Liejin could not help suspecting that something had happened to the Stellar Medicine Sect.

However, she currently had no reason to leave the capital.

Gao Jingxi might appear indifferent toward her, but that did not mean the foxlike princess would tolerate her departing whenever she pleased.

Several days later, the annual Poetry and Literature Gathering was held with strong support from the imperial family.

Children of official households, scholars and poets, and elegant nobles all came in admiration of Gao Jingxi’s reputation.

Unlike previous years, the First Imperial Prince Gao Hu and the Fifth Imperial Princess Gao Qing had unexpectedly come to join the excitement as well.