Chapter 37.1: Late Night Conversation

“From today onwards, we will be best friends.”

Li Rong was semi-consciously asleep when she accidentally brought her hand up to rub her face. While in her half-awake and half-asleep, she suddenly remembered something that made her wake up with a start and sit up.

Not good. She had not taken her makeup off yet, and if she went to sleep like this, she would definitely get pimples on her face because of her clogged pores. This very thought frightened her awake in an instant. She regained her strength after just taking a short nap and was about to get out of bed when she noticed that there was someone sleeping beside her.

Li Rong was taken aback. She never thought that Pei Wenxuan would actually get on her bed. This was just how tired he was. Otherwise, with his upright temperament, he could be beaten to death but never do something so discourteous.

Pei Wenxuan was quite comfortable and sound asleep. The sound of each of his steady breaths made Li Rong slightly want to go back to sleep again, so she quickly smacked him and called out: “Pei Wenxuan!”

Pei Wenxuan suddenly sat up, startled as he shouted: “What is it?!”

Li Rong brought both hands up to cup his face and turned his face towards her, staring closely at him as she said: “We still haven’t washed up yet. There’s still clean water in the washroom, so hurry up and take a bath.”

Pei Wenxuan was stunned. A moment later, he sighed, a little helpless as he lamented: “Your Highness, it’s already this late. Can you not make a fuss?”

Li Rong had been eating well and sleeping soundly as of late, so a short nap was enough for her to recover her strength to do battle, but Pei Wenxuan had almost never managed to sleep well ever since he parted ways with Li Rong at the waterside pavilion a few days ago. He could finally take some worries off his mind today and get a good night’s rest. He only managed to sleep soundly for a bit before he was woken up, which was worse than not being able to sleep at all.

But how could Li Rong take that into consideration for him?

She just thought about how they had worn ceremonial attire for a whole day, and Pei Wenxuan himself even had makeup on today, so if it was not washed off, they would not only be sweaty all over but also get pimples on their faces. How could her countenance of a flower and face like the moon be ruined by such a thing?[1] Furthermore, Pei Wenxuan was also the person she wanted to look at every day. It would truly be a pity if that Immortal-like face was ruined by a few pimples.

[1] Countenance of a flower, face like the moon (common translation) — a woman’s stunning beauty is said to be as tender as a flower in bloom, her face clear and bright as the moon at night.

So she squeezed Pei Wenxuan’s face and stared fixated at him: “Pei Wenxuan, are you still a man?”

When Pei Wenxuan heard this, he knew that she was going to make a fuss about it. He covered his face with his hands in agony and let out an anguished wail as he turned to the side: “I am not, Your Highness, you can send me to the Palace tomorrow to be an eunuch, I just want to sleep…”

Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly received a kick from Li Rong and rolled straight off the bed.

Pei Wenxuan was lying on the ground and clutching his blanket as Li Rong towered over him and looked down as she got off the bed. She lowered her head to give him a look and said: “Hurry up and go to the bathing room to wash up. If you haven’t washed up before I come back, don’t blame me for having dealt with you.”

Pei Wenxuan curled up on the ground after hearing this, huddling under the blanket in a rather aggrieved manner.

“Your Highness, the water is cold though.”

“You are hot-tempered enough.” Li Rong draped her outer robe over her shoulders and gave him a look in all seriousness as if he was a fool: “Wouldn’t you keep the water warm yourself?”

Having said that, Li Rong lightly nudged him with her foot: “Hurry up.”

Li Rong flipped her hair over her shoulder and opened the doors to leave the room.

The maids standing and keeping watch outside the doors hurried over with lanterns and respectfully greeted her: “Your Highness.”

“Have people make some preparations, I’m going to bathe in the hot spring pool.”

Upon hearing this, the maids looked at one another and seemed to have reached some kind of understanding, pursing their lips as they smiled: “Yes.”

As for the matter of Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan getting up in the middle of the night to bathe, the Princess’s mansion already seemed to be prepared. The Princess’s mansion had a natural hot spring and a bathing room that was built around it. After the preparations had been made and a change of clothes was ready for Li Rong, the maids attended to Li Rong’s needs in the hot springs.

Li Rong reclined back in the hot springs thermal pool with her eyes closed and rested. The maid beside her helped her remove her makeup while the other maid helped her wash her hair with honey locust soap pods, carefully massaging her scalp.

Li Rong leaned back in the thermal pool, enjoying herself when she heard Jing Mei, who was removing her makeup, laugh and ask: “How do you feel today, Your Highness?”

“About what?”

Li Rong didn’t have a reaction to it for a while. The maids around her hid their laughs behind their sleeves, and Li Rong suddenly realized something and felt a little helpless. Although each and every one of these maids serving by her side were not married yet, they had quite the understanding of it.

But she couldn’t tell them the truth, so she had no choice but to perfunctorily say: “Very good.”

“The Prince Consort must have been very gentle, right?”

The question suddenly came from Jing Lan as she was massaging Li Rong’s scalp. Li Rong found it all a little strange: “Why do you all care about this?”

The moment she asked, everyone burst into laughter again.

“Your Highness,” Jing Mei smiled and said, “We were waiting outside just now and thought that the person who would be coming out to the hot springs would be the Prince Consort, but you unexpectedly came over and left the Prince Consort in the bathing room.”

Li Rong: “…”

Li Rong was a little embarrassed for a moment. She didn’t know if this was a question of whether Pei Wenxuan’s stamina wasn’t good enough or that she had too much stamina.

Fortunately, the girls here were all unmarried girls, so she gave a slight cough and casually replied: “It’s also not as exaggerated as you think it is. The water is nice and warm here, so stop asking so many things and give me the soap pods.”

Li Rong’s insistence on covering it up made it even more conspicuous and made everyone laugh, but they said nothing more of it. They attended to Li Rong’s needs until she had finished bathing, then they helped her up and dried her hair before accompanying Li Rong back to the room.

When Li Rong returned to the room, Pei Wenxuan had already washed up properly. He had someone change out the cold water in the bathing room, but he took less time to bathe, so by the time Li Rong came back, he was sitting cross-legged on the bed and wiping his hair dry.

When Li Rong walked in, he raised his head and looked over without saying anything, then he lowered his head and continued to dry his hair.

The maid closed the door behind her. Li Rong walked over to the bed, and Pei Wenxuan’s movements became a little stiff. Li Rong gracefully took a seat at the edge of the bed, and Pei Wenxuan got up in a hurry to leave. Li Rong brought her hand up and planted her hand down on the bed railing, directly cutting off Pei Wenxuan’s way out as she calmly said: “Sit down, I have some things to discuss with you.”

“It’s late into the night now…” Pei Wenxuan saw that Li Rong’s expressions didn’t look too good and reluctantly smiled: “Why don’t we go to bed first?”

“Your hair hasn’t dried yet.” Li Rong moved both her legs onto the bed, her entire person resting on the edge of the bed now as she leaned against the bed railing and blocked Pei Wenxuan’s escape. Pei Wenxuan knelt back down and took a deep breath: “I can talk after getting off the bed.”

“I want to talk to you in bed.”

“No…” Pei Wenxuan stammered, “That won’t do, right?”

“You’re already sitting here though, what else is there that won’t do? What are you so nervous about?” Li Rong looked him up and down at him and leaned forward, “Do you have a guilty conscience about something that you’ve done?”

When Li Rong leaned forward, a sweet fragrance rushed forth and gave Pei Wenxuan a fright. He proceeded to hastily retreat, his entire body and breaths became a little tense and nervous.

Li Rong was too close to him. Li Rong stared intently at him, and he tried to keep his calm and looked back at her. After a moment, Li Rong let out a soft laugh, and the smile that appeared under the dim candlelight illuminated its surroundings with its bright red color in a garish and beautiful reveal. She lifted her hand and gently brushed the fallen strands of hair stuck on his face behind his ear: “You don’t have to be afraid,” She drawled out in her usual soft and delicate voice with a bit of chilliness in it that reached out to Pei Wenxuan’s ears like a hook. Then her hand stopped on his face. Before Pei Wenxuan’s thoughts fell in disarray, she suddenly patted him on the face and said, “Honesty will be met with leniency. Bengong is quite generous.”

This pat left him somewhat more clear-headed. He hurriedly recollected his thoughts and sat upright and still as he calmly asked: “What does Your Highness want this humble official to be honest about?”

“Su Rongqing. What was that about?” Li Rong’s eyes were fixed on him, “On my big wedding day, you decided to have him be the one to escort me. Are you mocking me?”

“Your Highness,” Pei Wenxuan was still looking straight ahead, “Can you stay a bit further away from me as we talk?”

“If I stay further away, will you answer me?”

Pei Wenxuan was silent, and Li Rong took it as his tacit agreement. She straightened up, shifting into a more graceful posture as she sat down on her knees opposite of Pei Wenxuan.

Husband and wife sat on their knees across from each other on the bed. Li Rong was looking at Pei Wenxuan while Pei Wenxuan had his eyes downcast. After hesitating for a while, he organized what he wanted to say and said, “I just hoped that you can find happiness too.”

“On my big wedding day,” Li Rong smacked her fan against the bed and furiously asked, “You had Su Rongqing come to escort me, just who are you trying to humiliate?! Do you still think that would make me happy?!”

“It’s only because there’s no fate to bring you and him together,” Pei Wenxuan lifted his head and looked at Li Rong in all seriousness, “There was no suitable opportunity in the previous life, but in this life, you can have it, can’t you?”

In the end, Li Rong was a little alarmed after hearing what Pei Wenxuan said. She paused for what seemed to be half a day and felt that she clearly heard every word Pei Wenxuan just said, but she still didn’t understand what he meant.

“Can’t you just…” Li Rong wrinkled her eyebrows, “Tell me what you’re trying to say in words that I can understand?”

“What I mean is that you can start over with Su Rongqing in this life.”

“Why should I start over with him?” Li Rong subconsciously retorted.

“Because you love him.” Pei Wenxuan answered in earnest.

“I… I love him?” Pei Wenxuan gave Li Rong such a fright that it made her stammer. She clutched her fan and blankly said, “I… How could I not know?”

“You have been with him for twenty five years,” Pei Wenxuan lowered his gaze, “I can clearly see it. He is very good to you and protects you with utmost care. When you are with him, you are very happy, and even in this life, when you see him, it is no different.”

Li Rong suddenly fell into a bit of a daze after hearing Pei Wenxuan’s words.

Pei Wenxuan looked up at her and gently said: “Li Rong. In fact, being the person that you are, you are best at deceiving yourself because every time, you will not only deceive others, but you will also try to deceive yourself. When you were young, you deceived yourself and declared that you didn’t like me. Now, you are also deceiving yourself by saying you don’t have feelings for Su Rongqing when in fact, it’s not about whether you have feelings or not. You’re just afraid.”