Chapter 144: A taste of his genuine heart 1
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The next day, at the crown prince's mansion
Getting drunk at banquets often comes with long-lasting repercussions, some manageable while a few could be disastrous. Most disastrous repercussions are often life-changing, a fact of which coating discovered the next morning after the banquet. She had woken up with a splitting headache and a few other aches.
However, none of them was as painful as the heartache she had received when she turned to her side and saw a white inner cotton shirt draped over a fair slim male chest some steps away from the bed. She had just woken from what she could only describe as a terrible sleep. To her understanding sleeping was meant to relax both body and mind but that was not the case when she woke from sleep this morning.
She was far from feeling relaxed or even remotely replenished, her head hurt. As did her waist and she had the awfully strange urge to empty her bowels. Xia Ying blinked her eyes, as the sun rays seemed to be focused solely on her eyes and nowhere else. She opened her eyes slowly to let them get accustomed to the lightning before opening them wide.
She gasped as Zhongshan Ling turned over, hand spread at both sides as his attendance walked around him and carefully pined up his court uniform. She held her hands to her mouth to prevent herself from making any sound and alerting him that she was awake.
She glanced around the corners of the to within her eyesight, to confirm if the was indeed her room and not his. She had drank quite a lot of wine yesterday, she feared that she might have acted a little strange.
"why is he here' she thought, sneaking glances at him through the transparent bed curtains that were pulled down when they went to bed. Xia Yong tried to remember what happened last night but her memory was hazy. She could only remember will the moment, the Crown Prince supported her into the waiting carriage after they had taken their leave.
They had stayed a little longer because of the guests that approached the last night. They couldn't send the guests away and we're forced to attend to them since they were members of the Crown Prince's maternal family. They had been away from the capital for over a decade and a half so most of the night was spent making introductions.
Xia Ying didn't like this type of relatives that were of no help and only wanted to munch off you. The members of the family were so shameless that the women tried to act like elders. Which was irritating to her, these women were of a lower class than her. The Tong family was a fourth-ranked family who couldn't be considered fully noble since they had started as butchers.
Their family status was only improved after the last two generations write and passed the Imperial exams. Their light ranking results had won't be later generations a position in court, they were identified as a literary family after some time but soon went into decline.
To save their declining social status they send their only daughter into the palace, back then it had caused quite a stir in the capital because their daughter had a long-standing engagement to the concubine born son of the Emperor's uncle, Prince Xing. The family had shamelessly ended tbs engagement and pushed her into the palace.
The entire family munched off her position as an Imperial concubine for a while, they had made quite a mess of things for a while. Especially after the Crown Prince was born, however, their sandcastle stumbled when Imperial concubine Tong died. Xia Ying didn't like associating with incompetent fools like them but was forced to do so out of respect to the Crown Prince.
She was highly irritated when those low-class women dared to act like elders and advice her on her marriage and how to treat the Crown Prince. She felt like telling them off completely but could only ignore them and drink a few cups of wine to calm herself.
She cursed her luck on marrying into such a family, that she a direct defendant of the previous Emperor was forced to deal with people like them. The cups of wine were few and didn't make her drunk, it was seeing Su Liya and Lu Yaozhu acting so intimate with each other in public no less that pushed her over the edge.
She nearly spat blood watching them, it also didn't help that the principal wife of the leader of the second branch of the Tong family choose that moment to comment on the couple's "improper" actions in public. Her annoying monologue about a talented General like Lu Yaozhu being married to a hussy like Su Liya. Drove her heavily to her drink, she didn't bother hiding her distaste at them.
The Crown Prince noticed her actions and tried to hold her back but she was already too tipsy to reason with. He could only make an excuse for her and lead her away. Her splitting headache the next day was the price she paid for her bold actions, last night. She moved her head gently on the pillow, in a useless attempt to reduce the ache.
Zhongshan Ling smiled when he saw that, he was very observant thanks to years of martial arts training. Although he wasn't as good as the members of the Lu family, he knew the moment she woke up but pretended otherwise. She had been very bold last night, silently taking the initiative. She clung to him relentlessly last night, rubbing her body all over him and touching him all over his body.
He knew that she was drunk and had no control of her actions but she was relentless. She kept moving closer to him and refused to let go no matter how much he tried to avoid her. In the end, he was forced to give in. She was surprisingly responsive, it was a night to remember since he hadn't expected such a response from his always properly cold Princess consort. He always met ever since their marriage night.
He still remembered her fear-filled face when the servants withdrew from their nuptial chamber on the night they were married. It had taken the strength out of him, he lost interest in consulting the marriage and instructed her to sleep. He tried to avoid her as much as he could since his experience that night. No one in their right mind enjoyed sleeping with an unwilling woman except a scoundrel.
The reception he got last night, even if it was alcohol-induced was exciting. After getting dressed, Zhongshan Ling said to Eunuch Hu the eunuch that served under Xia Ying. "Last night was stressful, no one is to interrupt the Princess consort from her much needed rest."
Then to Daiyu, Xia Ying's dowry maid. He instructed, "get some nutritious medicine for your mistress".
The two servants replied together, " Yes, your highness".
He left after saying that, there was no need to stay since he was all dressed and he didn't want to keep his hiding wife stuck there for long. Xia Ying waited some minutes for him to leave before getting up from her bed. By then Eunuch Hu had left, leaving her only with Daiyu. Daiyu took a step back when she saw a shadow in the bed.
."M_ M-mistress" she muttered, eyes wide.
Xia Ying pulled the bed curtains up and got out of the bed, she stretched by the bed before walking to the table at the side. She flipped the covered up cup over, picked up the pitcher of water and poured herself a cup of warm water. Xia Yong had changed the water at daybreak so it was still warm.
After drinking to her fill, she let out a heavy breath and asked, "Did his highness spend the night here?"
Daiyu nodded repeatedly, "Yes mistress".
The cup in Xia Ying's hands shook, she rushed to the bed. Rose the bed curtain up, the blankets followed after until she got to the bedsheet below the bed. She fell on her knees when she saw the red bloodstains. Daiyu rushed forward when she heard a soft sob, "Mistress", she called out.
She didn't know what went on between her mistress and the Crown Prince but she had her suspicious especially after he gave her instructions to serve her mistress some nutritious medicine. However, the bloodstains on the sheet told her all that she needed to know. Her mistress and the Crown Prince were now rightly husband and wife.
She knew that her mistress held onto her virginity with the foolish thought that she could come how to change her situation and end up married to her love General Lu but judging from how intimate the General and the Princess was even if something should happen to the Princess the General might remain single and never get married.
Not like it would ever be possible for her mistress to get out of her marriage to the Crown Prince. The Grand Princess had a lot placed on this marriage, the only way her mistress would get out of this marriage was in a coffin. Even she a maid knew that for a fact, too badger mistress remained stubborn in her convictions.
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The next day, at the crown prince's mansion
Getting drunk at banquets often comes with long-lasting repercussions, some manageable while a few could be disastrous. Most disastrous repercussions are often life-changing, a fact of which coating discovered the next morning after the banquet. She had woken up with a splitting headache and a few other aches.
However, none of them was as painful as the heartache she had received when she turned to her side and saw a white inner cotton shirt draped over a fair slim male chest some steps away from the bed. She had just woken from what she could only describe as a terrible sleep. To her understanding sleeping was meant to relax both body and mind but that was not the case when she woke from sleep this morning.
She was far from feeling relaxed or even remotely replenished, her head hurt. As did her waist and she had the awfully strange urge to empty her bowels. Xia Ying blinked her eyes, as the sun rays seemed to be focused solely on her eyes and nowhere else. She opened her eyes slowly to let them get accustomed to the lightning before opening them wide.
She gasped as Zhongshan Ling turned over, hand spread at both sides as his attendance walked around him and carefully pined up his court uniform. She held her hands to her mouth to prevent herself from making any sound and alerting him that she was awake.
She glanced around the corners of the to within her eyesight, to confirm if the was indeed her room and not his. She had drank quite a lot of wine yesterday, she feared that she might have acted a little strange.
"why is he here' she thought, sneaking glances at him through the transparent bed curtains that were pulled down when they went to bed. Xia Yong tried to remember what happened last night but her memory was hazy. She could only remember will the moment, the Crown Prince supported her into the waiting carriage after they had taken their leave.
They had stayed a little longer because of the guests that approached the last night. They couldn't send the guests away and we're forced to attend to them since they were members of the Crown Prince's maternal family. They had been away from the capital for over a decade and a half so most of the night was spent making introductions.
Xia Ying didn't like this type of relatives that were of no help and only wanted to munch off you. The members of the family were so shameless that the women tried to act like elders. Which was irritating to her, these women were of a lower class than her. The Tong family was a fourth-ranked family who couldn't be considered fully noble since they had started as butchers.
Their family status was only improved after the last two generations write and passed the Imperial exams. Their light ranking results had won't be later generations a position in court, they were identified as a literary family after some time but soon went into decline.
To save their declining social status they send their only daughter into the palace, back then it had caused quite a stir in the capital because their daughter had a long-standing engagement to the concubine born son of the Emperor's uncle, Prince Xing. The family had shamelessly ended tbs engagement and pushed her into the palace.
The entire family munched off her position as an Imperial concubine for a while, they had made quite a mess of things for a while. Especially after the Crown Prince was born, however, their sandcastle stumbled when Imperial concubine Tong died. Xia Ying didn't like associating with incompetent fools like them but was forced to do so out of respect to the Crown Prince.
She was highly irritated when those low-class women dared to act like elders and advice her on her marriage and how to treat the Crown Prince. She felt like telling them off completely but could only ignore them and drink a few cups of wine to calm herself.
She cursed her luck on marrying into such a family, that she a direct defendant of the previous Emperor was forced to deal with people like them. The cups of wine were few and didn't make her drunk, it was seeing Su Liya and Lu Yaozhu acting so intimate with each other in public no less that pushed her over the edge.
She nearly spat blood watching them, it also didn't help that the principal wife of the leader of the second branch of the Tong family choose that moment to comment on the couple's "improper" actions in public. Her annoying monologue about a talented General like Lu Yaozhu being married to a hussy like Su Liya. Drove her heavily to her drink, she didn't bother hiding her distaste at them.
The Crown Prince noticed her actions and tried to hold her back but she was already too tipsy to reason with. He could only make an excuse for her and lead her away. Her splitting headache the next day was the price she paid for her bold actions, last night. She moved her head gently on the pillow, in a useless attempt to reduce the ache.
Zhongshan Ling smiled when he saw that, he was very observant thanks to years of martial arts training. Although he wasn't as good as the members of the Lu family, he knew the moment she woke up but pretended otherwise. She had been very bold last night, silently taking the initiative. She clung to him relentlessly last night, rubbing her body all over him and touching him all over his body.
He knew that she was drunk and had no control of her actions but she was relentless. She kept moving closer to him and refused to let go no matter how much he tried to avoid her. In the end, he was forced to give in. She was surprisingly responsive, it was a night to remember since he hadn't expected such a response from his always properly cold Princess consort. He always met ever since their marriage night.
He still remembered her fear-filled face when the servants withdrew from their nuptial chamber on the night they were married. It had taken the strength out of him, he lost interest in consulting the marriage and instructed her to sleep. He tried to avoid her as much as he could since his experience that night. No one in their right mind enjoyed sleeping with an unwilling woman except a scoundrel.
The reception he got last night, even if it was alcohol-induced was exciting. After getting dressed, Zhongshan Ling said to Eunuch Hu the eunuch that served under Xia Ying. "Last night was stressful, no one is to interrupt the Princess consort from her much needed rest."
Then to Daiyu, Xia Ying's dowry maid. He instructed, "get some nutritious medicine for your mistress".
The two servants replied together, " Yes, your highness".
He left after saying that, there was no need to stay since he was all dressed and he didn't want to keep his hiding wife stuck there for long. Xia Ying waited some minutes for him to leave before getting up from her bed. By then Eunuch Hu had left, leaving her only with Daiyu. Daiyu took a step back when she saw a shadow in the bed.
."M_ M-mistress" she muttered, eyes wide.
Xia Ying pulled the bed curtains up and got out of the bed, she stretched by the bed before walking to the table at the side. She flipped the covered up cup over, picked up the pitcher of water and poured herself a cup of warm water. Xia Yong had changed the water at daybreak so it was still warm.
After drinking to her fill, she let out a heavy breath and asked, "Did his highness spend the night here?"
Daiyu nodded repeatedly, "Yes mistress".
The cup in Xia Ying's hands shook, she rushed to the bed. Rose the bed curtain up, the blankets followed after until she got to the bedsheet below the bed. She fell on her knees when she saw the red bloodstains. Daiyu rushed forward when she heard a soft sob, "Mistress", she called out.
She didn't know what went on between her mistress and the Crown Prince but she had her suspicious especially after he gave her instructions to serve her mistress some nutritious medicine. However, the bloodstains on the sheet told her all that she needed to know. Her mistress and the Crown Prince were now rightly husband and wife.
She knew that her mistress held onto her virginity with the foolish thought that she could come how to change her situation and end up married to her love General Lu but judging from how intimate the General and the Princess was even if something should happen to the Princess the General might remain single and never get married.
Not like it would ever be possible for her mistress to get out of her marriage to the Crown Prince. The Grand Princess had a lot placed on this marriage, the only way her mistress would get out of this marriage was in a coffin. Even she a maid knew that for a fact, too badger mistress remained stubborn in her convictions.
The next day, at the crown prince's mansionGetting drunk at banquets often comes with long-lasting repercussions, some manageable while a few could be disastrous. Most disastrous repercussions are often life-changing, a fact of which coating discovered the next morning after the banquet. She had woken up with a splitting headache and a few other aches.However, none of them was as painful as the heartache she had received when she turned to her side and saw a white inner cotton shirt draped over a fair slim male chest some steps away from the bed. She had just woken from what she could only describe as a terrible sleep. To her understanding sleeping was meant to relax both body and mind but that was not the case when she woke from sleep this morning.She was far from feeling relaxed or even remotely replenished, her head hurt. As did her waist and she had the awfully strange urge to empty her bowels. Xia Ying blinked her eyes, as the sun rays seemed to be focused solely on her eyes and nowhere else. She opened her eyes slowly to let them get accustomed to the lightning before opening them wide.She gasped as Zhongshan Ling turned over, hand spread at both sides as his attendance walked around him and carefully pined up his court uniform. She held her hands to her mouth to prevent herself from making any sound and alerting him that she was awake.She glanced around the corners of the to within her eyesight, to confirm if the was indeed her room and not his. She had drank quite a lot of wine yesterday, she feared that she might have acted a little strange."why is he here' she thought, sneaking glances at him through the transparent bed curtains that were pulled down when they went to bed. Xia Yong tried to remember what happened last night but her memory was hazy. She could only remember will the moment, the Crown Prince supported her into the waiting carriage after they had taken their leave.They had stayed a little longer because of the guests that approached the last night. They couldn't send the guests away and we're forced to attend to them since they were members of the Crown Prince's maternal family. They had been away from the capital for over a decade and a half so most of the night was spent making introductions.Xia Ying didn't like this type of relatives that were of no help and only wanted to munch off you. The members of the family were so shameless that the women tried to act like elders. Which was irritating to her, these women were of a lower class than her. The Tong family was a fourth-ranked family who couldn't be considered fully noble since they had started as butchers.Their family status was only improved after the last two generations write and passed the Imperial exams. Their light ranking results had won't be later generations a position in court, they were identified as a literary family after some time but soon went into decline.To save their declining social status they send their only daughter into the palace, back then it had caused quite a stir in the capital because their daughter had a long-standing engagement to the concubine born son of the Emperor's uncle, Prince Xing. The family had shamelessly ended tbs engagement and pushed her into the palace.The entire family munched off her position as an Imperial concubine for a while, they had made quite a mess of things for a while. Especially after the Crown Prince was born, however, their sandcastle stumbled when Imperial concubine Tong died. Xia Ying didn't like associating with incompetent fools like them but was forced to do so out of respect to the Crown Prince.She was highly irritated when those low-class women dared to act like elders and advice her on her marriage and how to treat the Crown Prince. She felt like telling them off completely but could only ignore them and drink a few cups of wine to calm herself.She cursed her luck on marrying into such a family, that she a direct defendant of the previous Emperor was forced to deal with people like them. The cups of wine were few and didn't make her drunk, it was seeing Su Liya and Lu Yaozhu acting so intimate with each other in public no less that pushed her over the edge.She nearly spat blood watching them, it also didn't help that the principal wife of the leader of the second branch of the Tong family choose that moment to comment on the couple's "improper" actions in public. Her annoying monologue about a talented General like Lu Yaozhu being married to a hussy like Su Liya. Drove her heavily to her drink, she didn't bother hiding her distaste at them.The Crown Prince noticed her actions and tried to hold her back but she was already too tipsy to reason with. He could only make an excuse for her and lead her away. Her splitting headache the next day was the price she paid for her bold actions, last night. She moved her head gently on the pillow, in a useless attempt to reduce the ache.Zhongshan Ling smiled when he saw that, he was very observant thanks to years of martial arts training. Although he wasn't as good as the members of the Lu family, he knew the moment she woke up but pretended otherwise. She had been very bold last night, silently taking the initiative. She clung to him relentlessly last night, rubbing her body all over him and touching him all over his body.He knew that she was drunk and had no control of her actions but she was relentless. She kept moving closer to him and refused to let go no matter how much he tried to avoid her. In the end, he was forced to give in. She was surprisingly responsive, it was a night to remember since he hadn't expected such a response from his always properly cold Princess consort. He always met ever since their marriage night.He still remembered her fear-filled face when the servants withdrew from their nuptial chamber on the night they were married.It had taken the strength out of him, he lost interest in consulting the marriage and instructed her to sleep. He tried to avoid her as much as he could since his experience that night. No one in their right mind enjoyed sleeping with an unwilling woman except a scoundrel.The reception he got last night, even if it was alcohol-induced was exciting. After getting dressed, Zhongshan Ling said to Eunuch Hu the eunuch that served under Xia Ying. "Last night was stressful, no one is to interrupt the Princess consort from her much needed rest."Then to Daiyu, Xia Ying's dowry maid. He instructed, "get some nutritious medicine for your mistress".The two servants replied together, " Yes, your highness".He left after saying that, there was no need to stay since he was all dressed and he didn't want to keep his hiding wife stuck there for long. Xia Ying waited some minutes for him to leave before getting up from her bed. By then Eunuch Hu had left, leaving her only with Daiyu. Daiyu took a step back when she saw a shadow in the bed.."M_ M-mistress" she muttered, eyes wide.Xia Ying pulled the bed curtains up and got out of the bed, she stretched by the bed before walking to the table at the side. She flipped the covered up cup over, picked up the pitcher of water and poured herself a cup of warm water. Xia Yong had changed the water at daybreak so it was still warm.After drinking to her fill, she let out a heavy breath and asked, "Did his highness spend the night here?"Daiyu nodded repeatedly, "Yes mistress".The cup in Xia Ying's hands shook, she rushed to the bed. Rose the bed curtain up, the blankets followed after until she got to the bedsheet below the bed. She fell on her knees when she saw the red bloodstains. Daiyu rushed forward when she heard a soft sob, "Mistress", she called out.She didn't know what went on between her mistress and the Crown Prince but she had her suspicious especially after he gave her instructions to serve her mistress some nutritious medicine. However, the bloodstains on the sheet told her all that she needed to know. Her mistress and the Crown Prince were now rightly husband and wife.She knew that her mistress held onto her virginity with the foolish thought that she could come how to change her situation and end up married to her love General Lu but judging from how intimate the General and the Princess was even if something should happen to the Princess the General might remain single and never get married.Not like it would ever be possible for her mistress to get out of her marriage to the Crown Prince. The Grand Princess had a lot placed on this marriage, the only way her mistress would get out of this marriage was in a coffin. Even she a maid knew that for a fact, too badger mistress remained stubborn in her convictions.
