That prickling sensation on my back returned, and I felt uncomfortable. Looking around, only Mo Qu stood expressionlessly nearby.
It was truly bizarre.
Yan Huo, seeing me unresponsive, raised an eyebrow: “Princess?”
I came to my senses, cleared my throat, and asked, “Your Majesty’s informants reach quite far. Even I didn’t know about this, yet you’ve already ‘heard’ about it. May I ask from where?”
Yan Huo was finally stunned and downed the wine in his cup. I had gained a slight advantage, which made me inwardly jubilant.
Chapter Sixty: My Choice
I never imagined that Xia Zhichun was actually hiding in Yan Huo’s inner palace. This inevitably led me to have some less-than-noble speculations about their relationship.
A hostage sent to an enemy country, an ambitious monarch—their love seemed complicated, a painful and deep entanglement, emerging from a collaboration into endless complications…
Strictly speaking, the place where Xia Zhichun lived was an extremely remote and cold side hall in the inner palace, similar to a cold palace, where absolutely no one would think of visiting, and it was indeed very safe.
Moqu led me into the side hall, and a palace maid came out to report that the young master was harvesting vegetables.
I thought I had misheard, but Moqu nodded calmly and led me directly to the backyard garden.
There were no flowers or trees in the garden, only a plot of fertile, tilled land with vibrant green onions, tomatoes, and other plants growing. Two figures, one tall and one short, could be seen in the distance.
After several years, seeing Xia Zhichun again, I never expected him to be not writing poetry or enjoying tea, but wearing a gray cloth garment, rolling up his sleeves and squatting in the field harvesting small white cabbage. Even more unexpected was the simple, unadorned woman standing beside him, gently wiping his sweat with a smile – and she was actually someone I knew – Su Hui.
I closed my eyes, steadied myself, and then opened them again.
Moqu was looking at me, seemingly puzzled by my reaction.
The Eastern Palace ethereal and otherworldly, Yan Huo’s words with double meaning, Xia Zhichun farming, Su Hui virtuous and plain. What kind of place was Xiliang that could make everyone seem so strange…
