Pampered Consort of the Fragrant Orchard Chapter 101.1: Love Wounds (1)

Meng Jiangzhuo’s wedding was on the 19th day of the 11th month[^1], and two days after her wedding, Han Mingxiang was leaving as well.
Du Xiaoli returned to her courtyard, feeling inexplicably choked up in her heart. When Xia Yuan and the others saw her like this, they didn’t dare to say much.
“Mistress, Ying Ge boiled some congee for you. You haven’t eaten since noon, so at least drink some now.” Xia Yuan brought up a bowl of congee, trying to persuade her.
“You can put it there for now, I’ll drink it when I feel hungry.” Du Xiaoli sat on the rocking chair on her balcony, gazing at the lonely moon in the sky. “You all can be dismissed and rest, I don’t need your services here.”
Xia Yuan sighed, set the congee on the table, and gently closed the door as she left.
“Did Mistress drink it?” Ying Ge and Qiao Zhu had been waiting outside, so when they saw Xia Yuan come out, they hurriedly asked her.
Xia Yuan shook her head, saying: “This is still the first time I’ve seen Mistress’ spirits so low.”
“That’s right, no matter what has happened before, Mistress has always approached it positively, but this time…” With these words, Ying Ge sighed as well.
“Mistress said we don’t need to serve her now, you two can leave and rest. I’ll keep watch here, just in case Mistress has anything she needs.” Xia Yuan said.
“We can do it together.” Qiao Zhu suggested.
“You guys can go rest, in the case that anything happens tomorrow, you’ll be well-rested and spirited enough to deal with it.” Xia Yuan said.
“Mm, that also works, then we’ll just thank you for your hard work tonight.” Ying Ge said.
Xia Yuan nodded, and Ying Ge and Qiao Zhu returned to their own rooms to rest.
This particular night, Du Xiaoli sat on the balcony the entire night, and Xia Yuan kept watch outside the entire night.
The next day, when the sky had dawned, Ji Liuxia came running over. Before the Du Manor had even opened the doors, she rode in from the back of the manor on her horse, directly flying over the river to Du Xiaoli’s balcony. When she saw Du Xiaoli sitting on the balcony, she hurriedly said: “Xiaoli, there’s been a disaster! Why are you sitting here?”
After an entire night of contemplation, Du Xiaoli’s emotions had stabilized, and so when she saw Ji Liuxia, she asked: “It’s the matter with the Princess, right?”
“You knew about this already?” Ji Liuxia asked.
“Last night I heard my father talk about it.” Du Xiaoli replied.
Ji Liuxia walked over to her and felt the chill from Du Xiaoli’s body, and said: “You haven’t been sitting here all night, have you?!”
“Mm. I was just planning to go to the Princess’ Manor, do you want to go with me?” Du Xiaoli rose and said.
“Yes, I just came with the intention of asking you to go with me.”
“Wait for me a little bit.”
Du Xiaoli changed out of her nightwear and had Xia Yuan and the others bring in water. Only after washing up did she leave with Ji Liuxia.
Because Xia Yuan hadn’t slept all night, Du Xiaoli let her stay at home to rest, and had Ying Ge accompany her out.
When they arrived at the Princess’ Manor, the gatekeeper of the Princess’ Manor had just come out to stand guard. Upon seeing Du Xiaoli and the others, he directly allowed them in.
“You guys came.” Han Mingxiang had already washed up, and was currently playing her flute in the courtyard. Seeing Du Xiaoli and the others, she put the flute down and greeted them.
No happiness or sadness could be seen from her calm exterior.
“Now that the weather has cooled down, it’s quite chilly in the morning, why did you come out so early to play the flute?”
Du Xiaoli and Ji Liuxia walked into the pavilion, and took the outerwear from the maid behind Han Mingxiang to put it on her. Sensing the chill from her body, she had most likely been sitting here for quite some time now.
Han Mingxiang reached out to grasp the outerwear and her fingertips brushed across Du Xiaoli’s icy cold hand. She smiled and said: “I couldn’t fall asleep so I came out to sit, it’s been so long since I saw a sunrise like this. I got caught up in it for some time, so I played two songs.”
“Princess, we’ve all heard about that matter.” Saying this sadly, Ji Liuxia gazed at Han Mingxiang.
“Mm, I guessed likewise, otherwise you guys wouldn’t have visited me so early in the morning.” Han Mingxiang said lightly, “You guys probably haven’t had breakfast, right? I had the kitchen boil some congee, let’s drink it together later.”
Seeing Han Mingxiang’s unconcerned appearance, Ji Liuxia said: “Princess, if you feel uncomfortable inside then just express it, acting this way will only cause us to worry.”
Han Mingxiang faintly smiled, saying: “What discomfort is there, hadn’t I anticipated this long ago? After all these years, Imperial Brother hasn’t set a marriage for me, wasn’t it all so I could be with the one I love? Now, this is just a result that’s come out of it. I guessed this would happen long ago. There’s nothing to feel discomfort over.”
Du Xiaoli’s heart suddenly ached for her, and she held Han Mingxiang’s hand, trying to use her own hand to infuse warmth into Han Mingxiang’s icy cold heart.
Although Han Mingxiang spoke very calmly, she could still hear the disappointment in her words, the disappointment towards Ji Liufeng, the disappointment towards life.
If Ji Liufeng had gone and asked for marriage a few years earlier, perhaps the two of them would not have fallen into the situation they were in today.
She was the princess of a country, yet was willing to wait for so many years because of his ambitions. She kept waiting until at last, the two became strangers.
He had achieved fame and fortune, yet had lost the opportunity to be together with her.
But if it were not for his current fame and fortune, what qualifications did he have to ask for her hand in marriage?
At the end of the day, it could be summed up as: Fortune toys with people, heaven’s will toys with people, and destiny toys with people.
In one of the Blizzard Pavilion’s private rooms, Ji Liufeng crushed the cup in his hand.
On the table, there was already a huge pile of shards, and it appeared that this was not the first cup he had crushed.
The shards pierced his fingers, causing blood to flow down his wrist. There was already congealed blood on the table.
It was as if Ji Liufeng could not see the wounds on his hand. He picked up another glass, filled it with fine, and drank it in one gulp.
[1] again, the Chinese lunar calendar would most likely apply to this dateMoonWhisperer, skyrise's Thoughts

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