Yao Huang was taken aback by Prince Hui's action of pulling the candied hawthorn off the stick with his bare hand.
It was indeed difficult to eat the round candied hawthorns elegantly and without dropping crumbs, but the sugar-coated hawthorn berries were sticky!
She watched Prince Hui's small movements as he chewed carefully with his eyelashes lowered, and then looked at his wrist resting on the armrest of his wheelchair. His slender hand hung naturally over the edge, the thumb and index finger spread apart as if nothing was wrong.
Yao Huang smiled. Keeping her eyes on Prince Hui's right hand, which he was pretending was perfectly fine, she bit off the second-to-last hawthorn berry, waiting to see how long he could keep up the act.
Zhao Sui noticed his princess's gaze and lowered his right arm, ensuring she could not see his palm.
Only the last and smallest hawthorn berry remained on the bamboo stick. Yao Huang stared at it for a moment, then said to Prince Hui, "This one is definitely very sour. Would Your Highness like to try it?"
Zhao Sui shook his head.
Yao Huang smiled. She gently bit the hawthorn berry with the tips of her teeth, sliding it all the way to the top of the bamboo stick. Then, she offered the berry, which had barely any sugar coating, to Prince Hui. Blushing slightly, she said, "Your Highness said it yourself, you don't find me distasteful."
Prince Hui had no choice but to take this hawthorn berry, which was half the size of the large one at the very top, into his mouth.
Such a reserved Prince Hui reminded Yao Huang of the thin-skinned beauties from the storybooks who could never withstand a man's teasing.
In the past, Yao Huang never understood why those beauties blushed so easily. But now, looking at Prince Hui, who was too embarrassed to even open his mouth and bite a candied hawthorn in front of her, she finally understood why men loved to tease beauties. It truly tickled one's heart. This was especially true since Prince Hui was exceedingly handsome; even his lips were beautifully thin, rather than the sort of thin lips that merely hung there and looked mean-spirited.
Prince Hui, who was currently holding a perfectly round hawthorn berry in his mouth: "..."
He didn't even know if he should bite the hawthorn anymore, yet he could not control the physical changes elsewhere provoked by his princess's gaze.
Not wanting the princess to notice, Zhao Sui said, "Water."
Yao Huang naturally had to take good care of Prince Hui. As she stood up, she casually placed the brownish-yellow oil paper, which had caught some sugar crumbs, onto the low cabinet.
Zhao Sui picked up the oil paper and, taking advantage of the princess's inattention, spat the slightly green, inferior hawthorn berry from his mouth onto it. He wrapped it up and reached his hand out the carriage window.
Feiquan, who was following the carriage, saw this and immediately stepped forward to take it.
Yao Huang noticed such a large movement but did not tease him. When Prince Hui used his left hand to hold the teacup and drink, Yao Huang lifted the teapot to pour water and wet a handkerchief. After he finished drinking, she took the initiative to hand it over so he could wipe the sugar off his right hand.
Once she finished fussing, Yao Huang wanted to sit on Prince Hui's lap again.
Zhao Sui lowered his eyes and gripped the princess's waist, saying in a low voice, "It is windy today; the curtains could blow up at any moment."
Yao Huang looked down at Prince Hui's handsome face and chuckled softly. "What a terrible excuse. If Your Highness thinks I'm too heavy and making you uncomfortable, or if there's any other reason, you can just say so directly."
Zhao Sui: "..."
Suddenly, as Yao Huang twisted her waist to move to the side seat, Prince Hui held her waist and pulled the princess directly onto his lap, embracing her.
The princess did not struggle. She merely lowered her head, looking as though she had suffered a great grievance.
Zhao Sui: "I have never thought you were fat."
Yao Huang kept her head lowered. "If it's not a matter of my weight, then it must be something else. Because someone else was staring at me, Your Highness has grown suspicious of me, haven't you? You suspect that there is something improper between him and me, suspecting that I have eaten a candied hawthorn that he had bitten half of."
Since Prince Hui hadn't asked about the half-eaten candied hawthorn, Yao Huang hadn't been sure if he had noticed Li Tingwang's strange behavior. But once he asked, Yao Huang knew everything.
Zhao Sui fell silent.
Although he had merely spoken without thinking in the heat of the moment, he truly had felt a flash of suspicion.
Seeing the princess was still upset, Zhao Sui chose his words carefully, "I have never questioned your character."
Childhood sweethearts growing up among the common folk, who did not strictly adhere to rigid rules, naturally played and went on outings together at the ages of seven or eight, twelve or thirteen, or even fifteen or sixteen. It was human nature and permitted by custom. Not to mention that the princess had just personally stated she had never shared a hawthorn berry with Li Tingwang; even if she had, Zhao Sui would not mind. That would merely be the first awakening of love between a young boy and girl, having nothing to do with character or propriety.
The princess indeed did not care for trivial formalities and would sometimes say bold things, but Zhao Sui knew she only acted this way in private with her own husband, not with all men.
Yao Huang tilted her head, looking at him as she said, "You don't question my character, but you suspect I had a secret affair with him?"
Zhao Sui avoided her gaze and replied, "Childhood sweethearts, I can understand that. It cannot be called a secret affair."
Having been married for so long, Zhao Sui could feel on their wedding night that the princess was genuinely willing to consummate their marriage, without the slightest bit of reluctance or bitterness. Therefore, her feelings for Li Tingwang could have been, at most, a young girl's first crush. Even if there were regrets, she had thought them through and severed those ties before their grand wedding, deciding from then on to wholeheartedly be his princess, with no lingering attachments to people of the past.
Yao Huang thought about it and nodded. "If boys and girls who grew up together are called childhood sweethearts, then he and I are indeed childhood sweethearts. Furthermore, I have many such childhood friends. It's just that the others stopped flocking around me after they grew up. Only he, because he was my brother's schoolmate and often came to Changshou Alley to find my brother, did indeed see me frequently."
The princess did not look at him while speaking, so Zhao Sui continued to watch her as she spoke softly.
However, before Prince Hui could conjure up intimate images of the princess and her childhood sweetheart in his mind, the princess suddenly snorted, "I know that many men and women called childhood sweethearts end up getting married, making their shared past the icing on the cake. But that's not how it is with Li Tingwang and me. He does have many strengths: he's more handsome than my brother, his martial arts are better than my brother's, he's great at polo, and he would help my brother in fights at the martial arts academy. But he is incredibly annoying. He likes to call me Huanghuang, deliberately angering me even though he knows I hate that nickname. He likes to mock me for being fat, always pointing at other slender girls and telling me to eat less and learn from them. During snowball fights, he would target me exclusively, hurting me several times. His mother is even worse, always loving to come to my house to show off. Tell me, Your Highness, how stupid would I have to be to like a childhood friend like him?"
The princess looked over with puffed cheeks; her disgust for all of Li Tingwang's aforementioned actions was entirely unfeigned.
Yet, as Zhao Sui looked at the princess's eyes, which sparkled even brighter with anger, he suddenly understood why Li Tingwang deliberately wanted to make her mad. It was just like at night, when the princess would genuinely beg for mercy, but he insisted on making her cry, thoroughly enjoying even her scratching and cursing.
However, if the princess truly liked Li Tingwang, or if she had greeted him with a smiling face out of fear of Father Li's official position—just as she had treated him when she first married over—Li Tingwang would never have had the heart to use such mischievous methods to anger her. From this, it was evident that precisely because the princess had no romantic feelings for Li Tingwang and did not care much about Father Li's status, Li Tingwang had deliberately tried to capture her attention.
The childhood friendship was real, but so was the fact that the falling blossoms yearned for love, while the flowing water remained heartless.
Zhao Sui held the princess consort's hand and said, "A person like that is indeed not worth your affection."
If it were him, even if the princess consort ignored him, Zhao Sui would never use humiliation to get any response from her, let alone hurt her.
Yao Huang snorted, "Whether Your Highness believes it or not, I must make it clear. Even if there was no imperial selection, even if I wasn't blessed enough to be Your Highness's wife, and even if Li Tingwang passed the military examination and became the top martial scholar, I wouldn't accept his proposal if he came to my family. If I am to marry, I will marry someone gentle and considerate to me, someone willing to let me use the cool bamboo mat, who personally wipes my feet on rainy days for fear I might catch a cold, and who hurriedly warms my hands on snowy days. Ideally, he would also be excellent at painting and could build a beautiful snowman that looks like it was stolen from a fairy palace..."
Before the princess consort could finish her list, a faint blush had already surfaced on Prince Hui's handsome face.
Seeing this, Yao Huang lowered her head and said shyly, "He also has to be exceptionally handsome, so handsome that I would be willing to taste his saliva, and he wouldn't mind me either."
The other words might just be sweet talk, but it was true that she had eaten the half of the hawthorn berry Prince Hui left behind. If it were anyone else, even her dearest mother, or the beautiful Eldest Princess, or Chen Ying, Yao Huang wouldn't eat their leftover candied haws unless absolutely necessary. Just like those intimate embraces at night, she could only do them with Prince Hui.
Zhao Sui lowered his eyes, taking in the princess consort's rosy, peony-like face and her plump lips that were even redder than her cheeks.
How much saliva could a hawthorn berry really have? Did she truly not mind, or was she just saying that on purpose to dispel his concerns about what happened today?
Suddenly, the carriage stopped.
The carriage body vibrated slightly. Hearing the sound of Zhang Yue dismounting to pull out the wooden ramp from under the carriage, Yao Huang hurriedly moved to the side seat.
Before unfastening the wheelchair's restraints, Yao Huang lifted a window curtain, letting the cold wind blow in to scatter the heat on her face.
She stole a glance at Prince Hui, who had his eyes lowered, looking completely composed.
Upon entering the prince's estate, Prince Hui stayed in the front courtyard, while Yao Huang went to the back courtyard to relieve herself.
After freshening up, there was still some time before lunch. Yao Huang sat in front of the dressing table, looking at her lips and reaching out to press them.
But no matter how Yao Huang pressed, her lips felt nothing unusual; it wasn't even as ticklish as sliding her finger across her neck.
The storybooks described kissing in such an extravagant, heavenly way, but she didn't know if it was true or false.
During lunch, Yao Huang remained quiet, feeling shy about what she had said in the carriage, and Prince Hui, who was already a man of few words, was even less likely to initiate a conversation.
After eating, Yao Huang peeked at Prince Hui and asked softly, "Is Your Highness going to rest at my place this afternoon?"
Zhao Sui: "...Alright."
Catching a glimpse of the princess consort's lips curling upward from the corner of his lowered eyes, Prince Hui finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Yao Huang brushed her teeth meticulously, which dumbfounded Aji: "Why is the princess consort brushing her teeth at noon?"
In the past, simply rinsing her mouth was enough.
Yao Huang didn't explain. She asked Aji to fetch a plate of crystal-clear osmanthus candies that the palace had bestowed a while ago. Guessing that Prince Hui would be arriving soon, Yao Huang picked up a cherry-sized candy and popped it into her mouth.
By the time the osmanthus candy had completely melted, leaving only a faint sweet fragrance on her lips and tongue, Prince Hui indeed arrived.
In the main room, Yao Huang took over the wheelchair from Qingai and pushed it into the inner chamber. Just as she was about to head straight for the canopy bed, she noticed Prince Hui glancing at the plate of osmanthus candies on the table. Yao Huang's heart stirred, and she said, "These osmanthus candies bestowed by the Empress are sweet but not cloying. Would Your Highness like to have one?"
Prince Hui paused for a moment, then nodded.
Yao Huang then picked up an osmanthus candy and fed it into his mouth.
With candy in his mouth, Prince Hui, after transferring to the bed, leaned against the headboard first. Seeing a storybook on the low cabinet beside the platform, he asked the princess consort to hand it to him.
Yao Huang handed it to him and let down the bed curtains while she was at it.
Zhao Sui glanced at the sheer fabric hanging to the side and flipped open the first page of the storybook.
It was a proper storybook, so Yao Huang wasn't afraid of him reading it. She lay down beside him first, tilting her head up to study Prince Hui's lips, chin, and Adam's apple.
Prince Hui's gaze fell on the black words on the white paper, but in his heart, he wondered whether the princess consort was hoping he would finish the candy a little faster, or a little slower.
