Chapter 62 Presenting the Note

Jing Hu never got to see Ke Mingxu again. The following days were all rainy. She had gone to his quarters a few times, but only ever encountered Huifeng. Later, she heard that he seemed to have some urgent business and had returned to Yanjing first.

He had not even said goodbye to her.

Qi Yuanfang had finally woken up, and seemed to be recovering very quickly. On the second day after regaining consciousness, he went before the Emperor to state his case, which kept Ke Mingxu very busy these days.

She still did not know how he would treat her after what happened that day, and now that they had parted ways, she had no idea when they would meet again.

At this moment, as Jing Hu sat in the carriage returning to the manor, she felt quite dejected. The carriage only held the two maidservants who had accompanied her this time: Douluo and Liuhuang.

For a moment, Jing Hu could not think of anything to say to them, so she grabbed Douluo again and made her retell the scene of Ke Mingxu coming to her quarters on the day she fainted.

Douluo had already recounted it countless times. Fortunately, although she was somewhat simple-minded, she was a patient maid. Since Jing Hu asked her to tell it, she repeated it once more.

"After the Crown Prince's Consort left, Young Master Ke came into the quarters. First, he checked the little County Princess's forehead temperature, and then he took her pulse. After that, he just sat quietly for a while."

"Your maid asked him, 'When will the little County Princess wake up?' and he answered, 'She will probably wake up around the Hour of Xu. If she is hungry, do not give her anything difficult to digest.'"

"Then Young Master Ke said he was leaving and that he would come to see the little County Princess again, so your maid saw him out."

Douluo had truly just described it, very objectively, without a single trace of emotional coloring.

Had she known, she would have brought Ganqing instead. That girl was the most sentimental, growing melancholy for half a day at the sight of a falling flower, and she was also the best at reading expressions. If Jing Hu looked at her a few times too many on any given day, she would spend several days pondering over it.

The reason she brought Douluo was precisely because this girl was straightforward and honest, which sometimes yielded miraculous results—just like that day in the garden of the Prince of Yongning's Mansion.

She had not expected to lift a stone only to drop it on her own feet.

Still unwilling to give up, Jing Hu tentatively made her reminisce, "What expression did Young Master Ke have when he came in, and what expression did he have when he sat by my bed?"

Douluo thought about it. "No particular expression. Just the same as usual, neither cold nor warm."

She asked again, "Did he look especially anxious, with his brows knitted together, or did he let out any sighs?"

"Why would he sigh? The imperial physicians already said there was nothing wrong. The little County Princess usually suffers from the summer heat; when the weather is hot and she plays wildly outside, she often gets heatstroke when she comes back." Douluo felt it was completely inexplicable.

Jing Hu was so exasperated by her that she felt dizzy. "But this time it wasn't just heatstroke, alright? I even fainted. I am your mistress, can you please not make it sound so trivial?"

She hurriedly steered the topic back. "Then when he left, did he turn back to take another look at me or anything?"

Douluo carefully recalled and nodded earnestly, "This seemed to happen."

Jing Hu's eyes lit up. "Really? What expression did he have?"

Douluo looked somewhat troubled. "As for his expression, your maid didn't notice, but Young Master Ke did say something."

"What did he say?" Jing Hu leaned a little closer to Douluo.

"Oh, he said, 'Your little County Princess just turned over, and her quilt slipped down. The night is chilly, so you should go quickly and cover her up.'"

This was even worse than not telling her at all.

Jing Hu remained distressed all the way back to the Prince of Yongning's Mansion. She first returned to her own Fangshi Pavilion, intending to change her clothes before going to pay her respects to her birth mother, the Noble Consort Xu.

As soon as she stepped into Fangshi Pavilion, Ganqing and Baolan came out to greet her. Baolan was fine, but Ganqing once again put on the appearance of having had a long-separated reunion with her—full of profound emotion and tearful eyes.

Under normal circumstances, Jing Hu would still have the mood to tease her; a beauty with pear blossoms drenched in rain was always so endearing.

Today, she had no mood whatsoever. She told Douluo to distribute the pastries and other little trinkets brought back from the temporary imperial palace, and walked straight into the inner chamber.

On her dressing table, however, lay a stack of Xie Gong letter papers. "Baolan, Baolan, where did this stack of Xie Gong letter papers come from?"

The Xie Gong letter papers she usually used, bought from outside, were not like this.

Baolan thought something was the matter and hurried in. Seeing that she was only asking about the letter papers, she replied, "These were sent over yesterday by someone sent by Young Master Ke of the Grand Tutor Ke's mansion, who said they were for the little County Princess to play with and appreciate."

Yesterday. Wasn't that right after he returned to Yanjing, he immediately remembered to send her the promised Xie Gong letter papers? Then he should not mind what happened that day anymore.

It couldn't be that he wanted to draw a clear line between them, and therefore sent over what he had previously promised so that they would have no further dealings from now on, could it?

Before that day—even on the day of her third elder brother Jing Xun's wedding banquet, when she was reproached by the Princess Consort—speaking of which, nothing had ever made her feel as mortified as she did in Jianye.

She did not think her own behavior was all that improper, but Jing Xun clearly thought it was. Having seen such a scene witnessed by his friends, and moreover someone who was his friend's younger sister, would he also feel awkward?

Should she go and apologize to him?

Thinking this over and over, she still could not figure out what to do. She simply had Baolan fetch the Xie Gong letter papers she had bought previously for comparison.

The ones he made himself were naturally very different from what could be bought outside. The colors were pure and natural, and they felt very smooth to the touch.

Xie Gong letter papers came in ten colors: deep red, pink, apricot red, bright yellow, deep cyan, light cyan, deep green, light green, copper green, and light cloud. Yet the ones he gave her had only nine colors, missing the copper green.

He sent her Xie Gong letter papers, which was him taking a step forward. Could she write a letter to ask him why the copper green color was uniquely missing? Was it because he disliked it, or because he liked it too much and used it up early?

Just as Jing Hu was pondering, Baolan began to urge her, "Noble Consort Xu's side is still waiting for you to change your clothes and go over to pay your respects."

Ever since she heard those words from Jing Xun, she had both missed her birth mother very much and felt somewhat afraid to see her. Knowing vaguely about her intentions in the past was one thing, but having the principal person lay the words right before her was quite another.

Although she always went against Jing Xun and sometimes even tricked him out of his silver, she did not actually dislike him. Especially after he took a wife and behaved himself obediently and submissively in the manor every day.

The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became. The matter had already happened, and both sides were already at daggers drawn behind closed doors; caught in the middle, she could only pretend she knew nothing about it.

Jing Hu thought for a moment, took out the medicinal recipe Ke Mingxu had given her from her purse, and said, "Baolan, have someone brew a dose of this medicine; I want to drink it as soon as I return."

Without allowing her any further questions, she changed her clothes and hurried over to Noble Consort Xu's Qixue Pavilion.