PRINCESS AGENTS (SEASON 2)-COMPLETED

Chapter 37: Memories with him

The two characters on the stage disappeared, leaving two shadows on the table. The child said with a glancing smile, “After that, they got married and lived happily ever after. They had many children together. The boys were as handsome as the big Emperor, and the girls were as pretty as the Emperor too. They lived in bliss to a ripe old age, till their teeth all dropped off. Finally, when the deity in the sky learned about this, he made them deities, promising to let them spend the rest of eternity together, never to be apart.”

She started to feel another bout of sadness surging up her heart. Her eyes started to ache slightly; the pitch of her voice changed a little as she asked, “I didn’t hear you say this story the last time round.”

“That play was bought by a young master who was a wastrel. He came here often to eat noodles. He let them perform this play here daily, till everyone got sick of it. The boss of the play, Granny Qin, was very sad. You’re a foreigner. Did you enjoy hearing that story for the first time? Do you like this story? Do you want to go to Granny Qin’s house to hear it again? She’ll be very happy.”

As the wind blew, Chu Qiao used her sleeve to cover her face and turned around. The child asked in a warm tone, “Did something get in your eye?”

As Chu Qiao remained silent, the child thought that she had really got something in her eye. The child said hurriedly, “Wait here. I’ll get some vegetable oil for you.”

As the child finished her words, she jumped off the table to retrieve the item. When she came back, the seat was empty. A full bag of silver was left on the table.

The streets were cold; there were no pedestrians, acrobats, merchants, nor dancers. The surface of the lake was tranquil; no boats could be seen. She was the only person on the street, like a wandering spirit floating around in solitude. As she passed by a candy shop, she stopped in her tracks for a while before heading in to buy some snacks. Those were what Xiao Ce had bought for her last time. There were candied fruit, dates, osmanthus cakes, and chestnuts, all packaged in one bag. As she walked, she ate slowly. She chewed the snacks in a robotic motion. As she thought of the child’s story earlier on, her eyes started to tear again as the tears flowed into her mouth. The salty smell of the tears, along with the scent of the candy, made the taste in her mouth very bitter. Her memories were like fragments, floating around in her head.

“You should thank me properly then. Saving your life is no ordinary favor. Why not you stay here in Liang and marry me to repay the favor?” Back then, he stood in front of her as he mentioned these words to her jovially.

As she was surrounded by Yuan Yang, he intervened at the critical moment. With a certain type of swagger and ruggedness, he embraced her as he said repeatedly: It’s alright. It’s alright.

As she wandered in the depths of the abyss, he appeared in front of her and consoled her by saying: Qiaoqiao, why don’t you let yourself off?

In that cold night at the palace, he appeared in a drunken state and hugged her unknowingly. After that, he said with a smile: Fu’er’s figure is much better than yours.

…

She had not known all along. The bottom of her heart was like a forbidden zone—she had never explored it. She did not know whether she really felt indifferent, or if she had just been deceiving herself. She did not want to know anymore.

The clear, pale moonlight shone on the ground, illustrating the beauty of the crabapple flowers by the roadside. They glowed a bright red, like the color of high-grade cosmetics. As the wind blew across them, the flower petals fluttered in mid-air before landing on Chu Qiao’s hair and clothes.

“Foxy Xiao, did you like anyone else before?” In the radiant courtyard of Mihe Residences, they sat shoulder to shoulder under the crabapple tree that they had shifted from the street back to the palace. As she frowned, she questioned and looked at Xiao Ce suspiciously, who was diligently trying to pick the portrait of the most beautiful woman.