Yao Huang hid under the covers. She had only moved softly a few times when His Highness Prince Hui grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around.
Like a constable apprehending a criminal, his left arm crossed under her neck to pin her shoulder, while his right hand held her leg down like a pair of tongs.
Just as Yao Huang thought this man was crazy with lust and about to mess around, the familiar earth-shattering sensation had already begun.
Yao Huang was stunned for a moment, then asked in confusion, "Where did Your Highness learn this method?"
The female doctor had never taught her this, nor had she ever seen it in storybooks.
Zhao Sui did not want to answer, but he also didn't want her to make wild guesses, so he said simply, "The night of our wedding."
Yao Huang tried hard to recall and finally remembered. At first, His Highness Prince Hui tried repeatedly but could not find the right way. In the confusion, he thought he had succeeded, and it was only thanks to her reminder that he avoided a lot of wasted effort.
Who would have thought that it could actually be done like this?
This was much easier than tiring out her hands. Yao Huang gladly praised him, "Your Highness is truly smart, I..."
The large hand gripping her shoulder suddenly covered her mouth.
Yao Huang blinked and smiled, knowing that the etiquette-abiding Prince Hui could not stand hearing her talk about such things so openly.
It happened so suddenly that there was no towel prepared nearby, so Prince Hui directly grabbed the princess's trousers next to him to use.
Yao Huang had been honestly keeping her back to him, silently straightening her silk garments. Hearing that Prince Hui had finished cleaning up, Yao Huang turned her head to look, only to find Prince Hui's inner garments perfectly neat, while what had been crumpled into a ball and thrown to the foot of the bed were her silk trousers.
Yao Huang pulled at the man who was about to move to his wheelchair and complained, "Why do you always take my clothes? Why don't you use your own?"
Zhao Sui kept his back to the princess, his voice as steady as ever, "I still have to return to the front courtyard."
Yao Huang said, "This is my favorite pair of trousers, and Second Master has ruined them. You have to compensate me with a new pair."
Zhao Sui said, "Alright, after we return to the capital, I'll have the embroidery room..."
Yao Huang interrupted, "The silk is rewarded by the palace, and the needles and threads are used by the embroidery maids. From beginning to end, Second Master hasn't put in a single bit of effort or thought. Do you have the nerve to say that is you compensating me?"
Zhao Sui said, "...Then what do you want?"
Yao Huang smiled, propped herself up to kneel behind him, and leaned on his shoulder, saying, "I've asked around clearly. Every sixth, sixteenth, and twenty-sixth of the month, there is a market in the town. Not only do the town's shops bring out more goods, but small vendors from the local area and nearby villages also come to set up stalls selling miscellaneous items, often including some mountain delicacies and wild game. Today happens to be the sixteenth, will Second Master accompany me for a stroll? I want you to personally pick something out for me."
Zhao Sui had read records about markets in books. A market meant that vendors big and small would gather there, and it also meant that commoners from near and far would flock to it.
Zhao Sui did not want to join in this bustle, but even without the matter of the trousers, he had previously promised the princess that he would accompany her out while they lived in Lingshan Town.
Looking at the two jade-like arms wrapped around his waist, Zhao Sui asked, "If I hadn't touched you this morning, how were you planning to bring this up?"
Yao Huang looked at his side profile, "Bring what up? Going to the market?"
Zhao Sui tacitly agreed.
Yao Huang laughed, "I would bring it up however I should. You touching me is one thing, and you promising to accompany me out is another... Ah, has Second Master forgotten? You wrote the pledge in black and white with your own hand. Don't even think about denying it, and definitely don't expect me to serve you once before every time we go out in the future. In your dreams!"
After speaking, she lowered her head and bit his shoulder. "Like a wolf. Six nights a month is already enough to tire me out."
Zhao Sui said, "...Lie down properly. I will call Feiquan in."
Yao Huang immediately lay down and covered herself with the quilt, watching Prince Hui prop himself up onto his wheelchair and then reach back to arrange the hanging bed curtains.
Once arranged, the man did not immediately ring his bell, but instead grabbed the large wheels of his rattan wheelchair with both hands.
Yao Huang asked, "Weren't you going to call Feiquan?"
Zhao Sui looked straight ahead, "There is only one layer of curtain here. I will call him when I am further away from the bed."
Truly a fastidious prince. Yao Huang's eyes darted around, and she said, "Let go."
As Zhao Sui let go and turned his head, he saw the princess stick a leg out from under the covers. Her snow-white right foot pressed against the back of the wheelchair, and the next moment, the wheelchair moved forward. The princess's mischievous smile flashed through his vision.
The princess had used quite a bit of force with this kick, but because she kicked at an angle, the wheelchair rolled out along a diagonal line, finally stopping a few steps away, leaving Prince Hui in the wheelchair facing the door of the east room sideways.
Zhao Sui closed his eyes, and only after a moment did he ring the bell.
There was no need to go to the market too early. It wasn't until mid-morning that Yao Huang came to the front courtyard to fetch Prince Hui.
After all, it was summer. Although the Lingshan area was cooler than the capital, it was still a bit scorching once the sun rose high.
His Highness Prince Hui had practiced martial arts since childhood and was a prince who had gone to the battlefield at the age of eighteen. He had experienced wind, sun, rain, and frost, and would not mind this little bit of sunshine. However, looking at the princess, who was wearing a light green long skirt and looking as fresh and dewy as a peony bud that had just bloomed a few petals in a flower bed, and seeing her fair, tender neck faintly reflecting the sunlight, he finally reminded her, "Hold up an umbrella."
Yao Huang said in surprise, "Second Master is covered up paler than a ghost... paler than me. Are you still afraid of getting tanned?"
Prince Hui, who was paler than a ghost, replied, "It's for you to use."
Yao Huang said, "Then I'm even less afraid. I used to play outside a lot when I was little. I'm just naturally this pale, there's nothing I can do about it."
Zhao Sui: "..."
Handing him a purse filled with broken silver and copper coins to hold, Yao Huang pushed the wheelchair out the door by herself.
This time they were heading west. Just as they passed the entrance of the west residence where Doctor Liao and the others lived, a mother and daughter walked out of the home of their neighbor, Scholar He. It was none other than Madam Zhu and her daughter, He Wenqi.
They had already introduced themselves previously, so seeing each other again saved a lot of pleasantries. Madam Zhu glanced at the handsome scholar in the wheelchair and asked Yao Huang with a smile, "Are you two heading to the market as well?"
Yao Huang replied, "Yes, I've never seen this kind of bustling scene before. Does Auntie know which part of the market has good things for sale?"
Madam Zhu closed her door properly, led her daughter over to Yao Huang's side, and chatted as they walked: "You folks are from the county town, so you probably won't fancy the things here. Perhaps only the freshest mountain goods and wild game will be worth buying to taste. Oh right, both the north and south ends of the main street sell mountain goods, grains, vegetables, livestock, wild game, farming tools, baskets, firewood, and other bulky items. Small stalls selling jewelry, spices, handkerchiefs, fabric scraps, and food are all set up along the main street itself, looking clean and tidy."
Yao Huang smiled and said, "Auntie, please don't say such things. Since we have moved to the town, we are in the same conditions as everyone else. Whatever you find precious, we also find precious."
Madam Zhu secretly sized up the young scholar's wife's plain cotton clothes and the simple jewelry on her head, feeling a burst of comfort in her heart. So what if she was beautiful? So what if her husband was also a scholar? Her own old scholar husband could at least work as a teacher in a private school, while a disabled scholar could only rely on his past family wealth and the charity of his uncle and aunt to get by.
At this moment, a woman in a blue skirt stopped in front of the stone bridge ahead and greeted them loudly, "Are you all going to the market? What are you planning to buy?"
Madam Zhu looked at Yao Huang.
Yao Huang spoke first, "We're just going to look around casually and buy whatever catches our fancy."
Only then did Mrs. Zhu say, "My Wenbin has arranged with a few classmates to climb the mountain and enjoy the view. It is his last outing before the spring examination, so I am buying him two bolts of fabric to make a new set of clothes, letting him go looking sharp and spirited."
These words were full of showing off, and the woman in the blue skirt cooperatively expressed her envy, "You really have a good life. You are a scholar's wife yourself, and your son is about to pass the imperial examination and become an official. When you suddenly turn into an official's lady, do not forget us old neighbors."
Mrs. Zhu waved her hands repeatedly. "Nothing of the sort! Wenbin is only considered somebody in our town. Come next year, when thousands of provincial graduates from all over the country go to the capital, he will not be anything special crowded among them. I would not dare boast like that."
Yao Huang slowed her pace. Mrs. Zhu guessed that the young couple felt bitter, and since she also found the wheelchair too slow, she took the opportunity to speed up, leading her daughter and the woman in the blue skirt ahead.
Once they were further away, Yao Huang looked down at Prince Hui. Seeing his handsome face was perfectly calm, Yao Huang smiled and said, "I almost forgot, you are not a real scholar, so why would you be jealous of someone passing the provincial exams?"
Zhao Sui looked at the flowing water under the bridge. There was an old weeping willow on the bank; the branches on the side facing the road had been pruned, while the branches on the side facing the water drooped straight into the river, gently swaying with the ripples.
Yao Huang looked at Mrs. Zhu's joyful back and whispered, "See? Even though the neighbors around here were all so welcoming the day we arrived, they actually all have their own little calculations in their hearts. Some are genuinely nice, but others are secretly comparing themselves to us. There might even be some who are jealous of my good luck in marrying a handsome husband and not having to work."
"It is not just here. In our Changshou Alley, including my grandfather's town, there are people like this. Truth be told, I am one of them too. But at most, I will secretly feel proud of what my family has or envy what others have in my heart; I would never show off or act sour to someone's face."
Zhao Sui asked, "Envy what?"
Yao Huang replied, "Oh, lots of things. I envied that my father's superior had a higher rank, which meant my mother had to say nice things and flatter the superior's wife even though she clearly disliked her. I envied that others had money and could wear jewelry that my mother could not bear to buy. Oh, I should not say this, it sounds like I am asking you to beg for an official post for my father. Second Master, please absolutely do not use your connections for my father. Neither my father nor I are that kind of people, and we do not want to be poked in the spine by others."
Zhao Sui: "...I would not use my public office for private gain anyway."
Yao Huang felt relieved.
Zhao Sui: "What have you yourself envied others for?"
Yao Huang thought for a moment and said, "Quite a lot, actually. For example, before getting married, walking on the street, I envied other girls who dressed better. I envied other girls who were thin and did not have to be mocked. I also envied others who had elegant or cute nicknames that sounded pleasant no matter how they were called!"
Zhao Sui: "...Yao Huang is the finest of peonies, it is also an elegant name."
Yao Huang: "Fine, Second Master only comforts me about my name, but completely avoids mentioning the being thin part. Do you also think I am really fat?"
Zhao Sui: "...After getting married, have you envied anyone else?"
Yao Huang still thought for a moment before saying, "In the beginning, I envied other couples who could eat and live together, while Second Master just tossed me aside. I stopped envying them later on, and you know the reason why yourself."
Prince Hui, who had just been explicitly spurned by his princess consort that very morning: "..."
They arrived at the main street. The street, which could barely accommodate two horse-drawn carriages side by side, now had two tightly packed rows of peddlers and stalls on both sides, taking up half the road. Now, even a single carriage would have a hard time passing through.
As soon as the couple appeared at the intersection, a few nearby peddlers looked over simultaneously. Regardless of wheelchairs or handsome appearances, the peddlers' eyes only held a thirst for business: "Little lady, come take a look! The most fashionable jewelry in the capital this year, you can buy it right here without traveling far!"
"Rouge, rouge! The most fashionable rouge in the capital, twenty cash a box, two boxes for thirty-five!"
Coming out for a stroll was all about enjoying the lively atmosphere. Yao Huang first pushed Prince Hui over to the jewelry stall.
The peddler had spread a large piece of coarse cloth on the ground, which was covered with all sorts of hairpins, earrings, and the like that looked pretty at first glance but, upon closer inspection, were made of cheap materials and lacked fine craftsmanship.
Yao Huang crouched down. With one hand holding the wheelchair and the other picking through the items, she found one that seemed decent, picked it up, and asked Prince Hui, "How about this one?"
Prince Hui shook his head three times in a row, feeling that such crude items were completely unworthy of his princess consort.
Seeing the beautiful lady lose her interest, the peddler grew anxious and jokingly chided the man in the wheelchair: "The little lady likes it so much, what do you mean by constantly shaking your head? Do you really think it is no good, or are you just too stingy to buy it for her?"
Zhao Sui: "..."
Playing along with the peddler, Yao Huang held up a palm-sized pink silk peony flower and said pitifully, "I like this one, can we buy it, please?"
A few people standing around were all curious to see if this handsome husband was truly that stingy.
Zhao Sui had no choice but to take out his purse to pay.
Yao Huang beamed with joy. Still crouching on one knee, she turned around and leaned close to his chest. "You are the best, husband. Put it on for me."
Prince Hui held the silk flower his princess consort had shoved into his hand. From the corner of his eye, he could see that everyone was looking at them and smiling.
