The Princess's Notebook

Shiqi Niang and her partner enjoyed singing and dancing in Qingfeng Tower, and went to Fengqiu Gate to watch the fireworks in the afternoon. Finally, they returned before the palace gate was locked. There was no need for dinner, and the two of them read quietly, one on each side.

Shiqi was holding "The Way to Control Water" and pretending to be serious. Zhao Feiran couldn't bear to disturb her and went to the closet to look for it himself. Shiqi Niang's storybooks and other books were usually placed here. Zhao Feiran had seen it several times and was familiar with it. He opened the first layer, which contained the dowry book, and the second layer contained "The Secret History of Emperor Taizong" and "Notes on Jiaodong Folk Houses"... Zhao Feiran felt that his eyesight was not good for a moment.

"The Secret History of Emperor Taizong" must be a folk story book, so why is it put together with such a serious book as "Notes on Jiaodong Folk Houses"?

In doubt, he turned his head to look at Shiqi Niang. But he saw that this person was reading a book at the desk, in a proper and dignified manner. He suspected that he was being suspicious, so he withdrew his gaze and turned another page as if to confirm. Before he could take a closer look, Zhao Feiran's eyes widened, his eyes like copper bells.

"The Second Marriage of a Princess", "Night Talk in Yuyang"... I read them over and over again, and they were all folk storybooks.

Having never seen so many before, Zhao Feiran’s eyes were not enough. He looked again and again, and made sure that it was not his eyes that were dazzled. He looked at Shiqi Niang, felt something was wrong, and turned back.

Just stare at "Yuyang Night Talk" carefully.

This storybook looks so familiar! I seem to have seen it somewhere before. But when I think about it carefully, it is very vague and I can't grasp the clues.

Zhao Feiran was distracted, so he picked up the Notes on Folk Houses in Jiaodong and sat opposite Shiqi Niang.

It was a bit mysterious. On the day of returning home, Zhao Feiran suddenly asked Shiqi Niang to leave, and then he saw the charming dancer in Qingfeng Tower. Until now, the two of them have never said a word to each other. Shiqi Niang was either sarcastic or sarcastic, or Zhao Feiran complained that he didn't understand romance.

We spoke nothing all the way until we slept on the same bed.

Shiqi Niang was upset because of the dancer in Qingfeng Tower, while Zhao Feiran had something on his mind because of "Yuyang Night Talk". So, each of them took a quilt and pretended to be asleep.

In the middle of the night, Zhao Feiran was in a daze and had a nightmare. He could not see clearly that Shiqi Niang was writing a storybook at Qiu Shuang's residence, on a tattered desk. She seemed to have thought of something interesting, her eyes were bright, and she wrote furiously. A candle flame crackled, illuminating her entire face, dim and leisurely. Before Zhao Feiran could understand what she was writing, a gust of wind suddenly blew and he was in another valley. The ghostly wind blew through the forest and hit the leaves. He saw Shiqi Niang sitting on a stone pier, as if she was tracing something. When he got closer, she disappeared again.

Suddenly he felt panic-stricken and short of breath, fearing that Shiqi Niang had been blown away by the wind, and he woke up suddenly.

He reached out and touched the other bedclothes beside him. The young lady was limp, curled up on her side. With the help of the bedside lamp, he saw that her forehead was sweaty and her brows were tightly knitted, as if she was also having a nightmare. Zhao Feiran's heart seemed to be caught between her tightly knitted brows, wrinkled beyond recognition. He reached out and wiped the sweat off the young lady.

After resting for a while, I went back to sleep.

In the second half of the night, the young lady's rapid breathing in her nightmare lingered in his ears, preventing Zhao Feiran from sleeping.

The next morning, seeing Shiqi Niang in high spirits, Zhao Feiran was so angry that his eyes went dark. This heartless little thing!

"Did you sleep well last night?" Zhao Feiran asked curiously.

Shiqi Niang said calmly, "I slept very well!" Seeing Zhao Feiran's eyes slightly dark, "Did Your Highness not sleep well?!"

The man dressed himself up and let Lady Zhen serve him, ignoring Shiqi Niang. "I slept well, of course."

For no apparent reason, Shiqi Niang, who was dressing herself, looked at Zhao Feiran's back in the bronze mirror, and then looked at Lady Zhen, who was kneeling on the ground helping someone dress.
"Humph, how can it be bad!"

As soon as these words came out, the hands of the two maids, Jin Gui and Yin Gui, who were helping Shiqi Niang with her makeup, trembled. The female official Zhen, who was dressing Zhao Feiran in the distance, almost dropped the jade pendant. Only the two masters snorted at each other. No more words were spoken.

While Zhao Feiran was in the morning court, Shiqi called the two little girls, Jin Gui and Yin Gui, and asked, "I feel a little depressed. Tell me, what's going on?"

Jingui and Yingui looked at each other, confused.

When the Crown Princess was ill, why didn't she go to the Imperial Medical Bureau or the Eastern Palace Pharmacy, but instead looked for these two worthless maids?

Yin Gui's mind was active, and she thought for a moment and asked, "But I only found it when I came back from Qingfeng Tower yesterday?"

"No, something seemed wrong when we were in Qingfeng Tower. You two have been following me the whole time, didn't you notice?"

Yingui smiled and winked at Jingui, and the two of them understood instantly. Jingui rushed to answer, "Madam, do you still remember the dancer who played the flute yesterday?"

Shiqi Niang blurted out, "I remember, of course I can remember. She was so beautiful."

Yingui: "Madam, I see that you seem to be concerned about His Highness, which is why you feel confused and uncomfortable."

Shiqi Niang flatly denied it, "What a joke, you two know how many stories I've written. It's just the same thing between men and women, how could I not know it?"

Jin Gui: "Those involved are confused, but those who are on the sidelines can see clearly."

"You two..." Shiqi Niang's eyes searched back and forth between Jin Gui and Yin Gui, "You two don't have a husband or a lover, how would I know."

"We haven't gotten married, but we have met!" Jingui and Yingui said in unison.

Shiqi Niang was moved, but she refused to admit it. "You have seen him before? Where have you seen him before?"

The two little girls looked at each other, smiling so hard that their teeth were showing. Jin Gui covered her smiling face, "We are getting married anyway, why do you care about these things, my lady?"

Yingui: "Yes, I still remember that Madam has not yet responded to what Your Highness said that night. Now that I have an idea, it is better to tell Your Highness in time."

Shiqi Niang suddenly thought of the words in Yingui's words, "There are many concubines, but you only have one." When Zhao Feiran spoke, he did not look at Shiqi Niang, as if he was speaking to the air, but he did not know what kind of wind was blowing in Cheng'en Hall. Those seemingly careless words fell heavily on Shiqi Niang's heart. Even so, she still remembered the bright candlelight and the bright moonlight that night.

Immediately, Shiqi Niang became a little embarrassed, "Tell him? Humph, I haven't figured it out yet, what's the point of telling him."

Yingui advised, "My lady, this cannot wait. If you miss the good times, even if it is the same words, you may not have the same feelings."

Shiqi Niang's eyes flushed and she glanced at her, "You are the one who knows more."

Yingui didn't dare to laugh anymore, "I don't know much, I just read this from my wife's storybook."

Shiqi Niang made small talk, "I wrote it, didn't I?"

Yingui took advantage of the situation and said, "Yes! I have read all of your stories, without missing a single one."

Jin Gui took the opportunity to say, "Today is not a big court meeting. His Highness may be back early, so my lady should get ready."

"What are you preparing for? It is what it was in the past, and it is what it is now. There is no point in giving him any benefits for nothing."

"Yes, yes, my lady, you are absolutely right. We cannot spoil him."

After that, the two little girls left with excuses. Although Shiqi Niang was stubborn and said that there was no need to prepare, they, the subordinates, could not not prepare anything. Therefore, Jin Gui and Yin Gui went to the Zuowei House to inquire when Zhao Feiran would come back, and the Crown Princess was waiting.

But I didn't expect that I would have to wait until late at night.

The Wei River dried up this spring, and the Jiannan area suffered another severe drought after the heavy snow last year. The spring ploughing was disrupted, and there was no harvest for the entire season. Zhao Feiran, several officials from the Ministry of Revenue, and the Grand Tutor discussed countermeasures and returned on the moon.

As soon as he stepped into the palace door and turned around the iris partition, he saw the young lady sleeping on the table with her clothes on. He hurriedly took two steps to pick her up and put her on the couch. When he got closer, he saw a book scattered beside the young lady, and Zhao Feiran immediately became alert.

On the Prince's Concubines

Zhao Feiran got anxious and thought he had seen it wrong. He looked again and saw that it was indeed these words.

Seeing the young lady sleeping soundly, countless thoughts flashed through his mind. Suddenly, he had a sudden inspiration and thought of many things. In the past, he and Shiqi Niang had a dream about the past.

At that time, he said that she was illiterate, did not know the law, and the notebooks she wrote were full of mistakes and omissions.

Later, they met at Huitong Bookstore... It turned out that the past he remembered was not the past.

Their fate started earlier.

It’s God’s will.

Thinking of this, Zhao Feiran ignored the book, reached out to help Shiqi Niang untie her hair, gently held her in his arms, and carried her to the bed. He was flustered and didn't know where to start. He lifted the quilt, straightened the pillow, and finally put the young lady down, and tucked in the corner of the quilt. After doing all this, he seemed to feel that something was not enough, so he sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the young lady in a daze.

He thought, when they first met in the dream, he was so ruthless in criticizing her, saying that her family background was not good and that she was illiterate. What did she think at that time? Was she disgusted? Was she nauseated? Or something else?

After thinking about it, he thought that it couldn't be love.

At one point, he saw the young lady turn over, and the tucked-in quilt revealed half of her back. After taking a closer look, Zhao Feiran slapped his head and called her an idiot.

Forgot to undress the young lady!
So he hurriedly went forward to undress. As a man who needed to be taken care of even when wearing a crown, how could he know the intricacies of women's clothing? Left and right, he felt something was wrong. After a few tries, seeing that Shiqi Niang was about to wake up in a daze, he just helped her take off her outer robe.

He paused, looked sly, and reached out to take off his sleeves. But as soon as his hands touched Shiqi Niang, she suddenly opened her eyes, and suddenly there was light like lightning.

The next moment, a loud slap landed on Zhao Feiran's face.

Silence, the most silent silence at night.

Shiqi Niang was really awake this time. The hand that had just slapped her was still in the air, shaking back and forth.

"Your Highness?"

The extremely oppressive air makes it hard to breathe.

She didn't dare to move, didn't dare to stand up, and looked at Zhao Feiran with her eyes fixed. He might not have expected such an outcome, and was stunned. Suddenly, his eyes rolled several times, like a sharp sword attacking, piercing through the chest and bones. Shiqi Niang broke out in cold sweat.

He moved his mouth, said nothing, and left, leaving Shiqi Niang alone lying on the couch.

Less than a quarter of an hour later, Song Dajian reported in a flattering tone in the corridor, "Crown Princess, I have been ordered to pack up your daily belongings."

Shiqi Niang: It’s over, it’s over, completely over.

Zhao Feiran was pacing aimlessly in Tianguang Palace: She is a heartless girl, I shouldn’t feel sorry for her!
My face hurts, my face really hurts!
(End of this chapter)