Chapter 95

Chapter 95: Huo Zheng, Come Eat

“Elder brother,” Chun Zhi said in a low voice: “I’m really not that good.”

Huo Zheng also said she was good, but Chun Zhi did not know where she was good. She felt she was the most ordinary person in the world.

If others treated her three parts well, she wanted to return ten.

[If that counts as being excellent, she did not dare accept it.]

Song An Lan wanted to speak but suddenly fell into a fit of coughing. It took a while to pass.

Chun Zhi said at once: “Look at me. You’ve only just recovered a little, and I bring up these things to trouble you. I shouldn’t have.”

But Song An Lan said: “Chun Zhi, I am happy you are willing to tell me your troubles.”

“It means,” he added gently: “You truly see me as your elder brother, not just call me that.”

In Chun Zhi’s heart, she did treat Song An Lan as her own elder brother. Otherwise she would not have spoken her thoughts to him.

Meeting Huo Zheng, he told her, was both a blessing and a risk. She could not only avoid him, and she could not only cling to him. Right now Huo Zheng would not let go, and she also had him in her heart. Since that was so, she should take a step forward and try.

“No matter whether you and he succeed or not, you still have your elder brother,” Song An Lan said: “If you succeed, be a good Princess Consort of Chang’an. If not, I will bring you home.”

Chun Zhi’s nose stung. “Elder brother,” she whispered.

“I am here,” Song An Lan said warmly.

Hearing those three words, Chun Zhi felt deeply at ease.

After talking for a long time, Song An Lan was tired and needed to rest. Chun Zhi helped him lie down, tucked in the quilt, and left the room.

His close attendant was waiting outside. Chun Zhi told him to go in and keep watch by the bed so any problem would be known at once.

“Yes, Miss,” the attendant said and went inside.

Chun Zhi went to Song Wan’er’s courtyard. A maid said the second Miss had been exhausted these days, and after supper she had already fallen asleep.

Standing by the window, Chun Zhi looked in.

Song Wan’er had kept vigil by Song An Lan day and night, fearing the worst. She was truly worn out. Sleeping was good.

Chun Zhi did not go in to disturb her. She took Qing Ye and returned to her own courtyard.

The kitchen had already sent food and set it on the table.

The dishes and soup looked as if they had been sitting for a while; there was no longer much steam.

Huo Zheng kept his eyes open but did not get up, still lying on the bed.

“Why aren’t you getting up to eat?” Chun Zhi asked as she walked in.

Seeing her return, Huo Zheng sat up slowly and said in a low voice: “I can’t eat.”

“What is it?” Chun Zhi asked: “Is the food at Song Manor not to your taste?”

“You know why,” Huo Zheng said quietly.

He was clearly jealous of Song An Lan, yet she had gone to see him anyway.

“If you won’t eat, I will,” Chun Zhi said.

She sat at the table, filled herself a bowl, and ate unhurriedly.

After talking with her elder brother, she had thought many things through. Since she and Huo Zheng were fated to be tangled together, it was better to face it than to run. Her elder brother had even said he would give half the Song Clan’s wealth as her dowry, giving her the confidence she had lacked. She should not give up this love because of the gap in rank.

Huo Zheng noticed that after she went out and came back, something in her had changed.

She did not seem afraid of him anymore.

It felt like the days back at the tofu workshop.

When Chun Zhi did not know he was Prince Chang’an and treated him like a common man, she was completely natural with him.

[Those were the good days Huo Zheng dreamed of returning to.]

Seeing him still distracted, Chun Zhi called to him: “Huo Zheng, come eat.”

It was the very line he had always wanted to hear from her again.

“Coming,” he answered, like waking from a dream.

He got out of bed at once, put on his shoes, went outside to wash his hands, and quickly came back in to sit beside her and eat with her.

The food had sat for a while and was only warm.

“Should I have them take it back to the kitchen to heat it up?” Chun Zhi asked.

“No need,” he said: “It’s just right.”

He did not want anyone to come in and disturb them. As he ate, his eyes did not leave Chun Zhi.

Chun Zhi put a piece of chestnut chicken in his bowl and said: “Why are you staring at me? Eat.”

He wanted to ask what she and Song An Lan had talked about, but he did not want to break the gentle mood, so he only said: “Mm,” and ate quietly.

He could not really taste how skillful the Song Manor cook was, but eating calmly with Chun Zhi made him so happy that he ate an extra bowl.

Chun Zhi needed to eat small meals often, so she did not eat much. Huo Zheng finished all the rest.

As before, Chun Zhi cherished food, and Huo Zheng never wasted it.

After supper, the maids came in to clear the dishes.

Only Chun Zhi and Huo Zheng were left in the room.

They sat facing each other, and Chun Zhi began to boil water for tea.

Seeing how inconvenient it was for her with her big belly, Huo Zheng offered: “Let me.”

Chun Zhi paused and let him take over.

Though born a prince, Huo Zheng was not clumsy in such things. Every move was elegant.

He brewed plum blossom tea, its fragrance light and clear.

He poured the first cup for Chun Zhi, then poured one for himself.

Outside, the snow was quietly melting.

Inside, a gentle scent soothed the room, and steam curled upward.

Chun Zhi lifted her cup and took a small sip.

Seeing the water brighten her already rosy lips, Huo Zheng thought she looked even lovelier. He took a sip too. The scent went straight to his chest.

The hot flow met the cold in his body; it was not really comfortable.

But simply sitting there quietly with Chun Zhi made him feel time was kind, and he did not want to miss a single moment.

Looking at him, Chun Zhi said: “That day on the Lishui River, I didn’t jump in to die.”

Huo Zheng did not know why she suddenly brought that day up.

[He did not tell her that when he saw her jump, he coughed blood on the spot and leaped in after her.]

Since she was willing to speak, he listened in silence.

“I swim very well,” Chun Zhi said: “I jumped only to get away from you.”

She had not expected the storm to rage on and the waves to be so high. Before she could reach the shore, she ran out of strength and was saved by the passing Song An Lan.

Chun Zhi felt that if she and Huo Zheng were going to give this a try, then they should speak clearly.

Huo Zheng was about to ask why she had gone so far just to avoid him, but before he could, Chun Zhi went on: “Because I had just learned I was pregnant. I was afraid you wouldn’t want this child and would force me to get rid of it; I was even more afraid you would want this child and fight me for it.”