He did not expect that the plum blossom was still blooming. Logically, under such warm conditions, the flower could not survive for so long.
Reaching his hand out, he touched the vase. The vase was as cold as ice, and he quickly withdrew his hand and touched his hand warmer instead.
A palace maid holding a broom and duster suddenly walked in. Upon seeing him, she immediately bowed and greeted him. Xian Sheng nodded lightly, lifted the plum blossom branch and looked at its root. He asked, “Does the Northern Country have any customs regarding plum flower arrangements?”
His voice was gentle. The palace maid answered softly, “I’m not too sure either. But I saw His Highness change the water himself. Furthermore, we did not use any Chinese herbs in the study room recently. I think it’s to let the plum blossom bloom longer.”
Xian Sheng was a bit shocked. He placed the plum blossom back and did not say anything.
The palace maid tidied the place up dutifully and did not care about why he came to the Crown Prince’s room. It was unexpected that Zhan Lue was willing to let him enter his study room. Wouldn’t he be scared of Xian Sheng reading any secret documents?
However, when he thought about it from another perspective, he found it funny too. Southern Liang had suffered a heavy blow and was in the midst of reorganizing itself. They needed to eliminate Qin Tao’s party, take care of the citizens’ survival and settle the prisoners of war. Zhan Lue must have known this too. Even if Zhan Lue exposed any documents to Southern Liang’s emperor directly, Southern Liang would still not pick a fight with him.
He could not help but wonder if Zhan Lue would let him live after discovering that he was a man. If possible, he would like to return to Southern Liang for a last look.
Maybe Xian Sheng’s tantrum yesterday was effective. Zhan Lue was much more subdued in these two days and did not do anything that would make Xian Sheng angry.
Since he was so obedient, Xian Sheng did not throw anymore tantrums either. However, the Empress did not know what went on between the both of them and Xian Sheng received the same pastries that afternoon.
At that moment, Zhan Lue had just returned from the army camp and was washing his hands for lunch. Xian Sheng received the box from Ru Yi and placed it on the table lightly. Zhan Lue’s hand, which was initially reaching for the chopsticks, shrank back.
Xian Sheng remained silent, but Zhan Lue was already hungry. He had no choice but to break the peace and say, “Don’t you like it? Just eat it like an ordinary pastry.”
Xian Sheng did not even need to look at Zhan Lue’s expression to know that he had not given up on trying to make him eat it. He said gloomily, “But I don’t want to eat it.”
Zhan Lue suggested, “Why don’t you hide it and eat it secretly?”
He still thought that Xian Sheng was angry that day because he was embarrassed. Now that Xian Sheng had gotten over it, he would want to eat it. After all, which woman would reject such an amazing pastry?
Especially Xian Sheng, who was completely flat.
Xian Sheng glared at him and withdrew his gaze angrily. His face immediately soured and he pursed his lips. “I…”
Zhan Lue consoled him, “I’ll pretend that I don’t know. Next time, I won’t mention this pastry again, okay?”
Xian Sheng was speechless. “…”
He really did not want to eat it!
Zhan Lue was giving him a tough question. For women in that generation, they were very likely to act like what Zhan Lue had described—they tended to refuse, even if their hearts secretly yearned for it. However, even if he followed what Zhan Lue said—to hide the pastries and eat them secretly, Zhan Lue would believe that he had eaten them. Then, if its effects still did not show after a while, how would Xian Sheng explain it to him?
For a long time, he did not move. Zhan Lue’s gaze was already getting weird. To stop him from suspecting, Xian Sheng could only push the pastries aside and say calmly, “Let’s eat the meal first.”
Zhan Lue smiled. Assuming that Xian Sheng wanted to hide the pastries, Zhan Lue gave him a piece of meat as a reward.
Xian Sheng was not focusing on his meal at all.
It was a bit shameful to talk about this. Actually, before he came to the Northern country, his mother had prepared some items for him, such as women’s undergarments. Although he did not wear them, he had women’s clothing as well. He even had chest pads, which was something similar to human masks and were comparable to real breasts. He was well prepared to deal with unexpected events.
But those items were really uncomfortable. He had been sleeping in the dark carriage and when he thought of how the Northern Jin people wore thick clothes, he realized that no one would notice even if he used them. So he simply stuffed everything at the bottom of his trunk.
If he knew that Zhan Lue would make such a huge fuss about it, he should have…. used them earlier.