Chapter Thirteen, Accompany You

“Xiao Zuo.” Xiao Zuo abruptly came to. He saw He Xuan lean his body in, with his right hand propped on the cheek, revealing a string of Buddhist beads on his wrist, “If you’d like, Ig can send you some, they will all have clean backgrounds.”

Xiao Zuo froze up. He went in a daze for a while, then realized what He Xuan was talking about.

“I-I-I-…… I don’t need it.” Xiao Zuo felt his pathetic face must be burning red like it had drunk a jin of the strongest wine right now. His skin was originally fair and tender, and at this time, even the earlobes and neck were stained with a thin red, just like he really was drunk.

While Xiao Zuo rejected again and again, the hands also continuously waved around, in He Xuan’s eyes, it truly was very pitiful and lovable, like a little cat that did something bad was caught by humans, running away in a fluster.

He Xuan could not help but smile. His eyes suitably turned much gentler from this smile, and as for when those deep eyes of his looked at Xiao Zuo, it actually made [Xiao Zuo] have a misconception like He Xuan’s eyes were filled with him alone.

“Just teasing you.” He Xuan’s voice was low and deep, bringing a tender numbing and itch, “Eating too much of this chili will bring up too much internal heat. The northern lands’ winters are dry and harsh, if you eat like this, your mouth will spread with fire sores.”

No wonder when Xiao Zuo was eating these days, he always felt that the mouth was hurting, Nan Liang was just the opposite of this place- the winters were humid and cold, so one must eat a lot of chilies to dispel the dampness and frost. It was a habit of many years, so he did not know how to change over for the time being.

Thinking to here, Xiao Zuo’s eyes darkened, and slightly dejectedly lowered his head, revealing a snow-white back neck.

“In a few days, Ig will have someone send a prescription to clear the heat for you. Follow it, and you will be a bit better.” He Xuan’s fingers lightly knocked onto the table, and said, “Afterwards, I will have dinner together with you, be careful not to eat these chilies anymore.”

“Alright.” Xiao Zuo obediently answered in a rare agreement with his thoughts. He Xuan lifted up the jar of wine, filled his cup, then pushed it over, “Wormwood is cool and can dispel the heat, drink some more.”

He Xuan poured wine for him in a seldom act of stepping down, so Xiao Zuo took it with slight surprise and finished it in one gulp. That wormwood wine was very plentiful, the bitter taste was genuinely present, and immediately, Xiao Zuo felt a wave of bitterness go straight to the head, and could not help but wrinkle up his entire face, and frowned in grievance.

He Xuan saw this pitiful look of his, slightly curved his eyes, and the corners of his mouth could not conceal the bit of smile leaking out. The corner of his eyes saw that Xiao Zuo drank quite hurriedly just now, and the corners of his mouth were stained in a few drops of wine. That cool-green alcohol underlined Xiao Zuo’s lower lips just after eating chili, making it even more red and moist, practically bringing with it a desire of seduction. He Xuan’s pupils went dark, and subconsciously reached out to wipe those drops of wine away, and very logically obtained Xiao Zuo’s surprised gaze again.

“The nights are cold, when you go back to the room, dress more thickly, do not covet the comfortable and only wear a single robe.”

Xiao Zuo opened his mouth about to refute it, “How did you know I……” As he spoke halfway through, he forcefully swallowed it back. Then again, since the crown prince himself had taken on this matter, each and every single action in this Nan Hun ducal residence of his could not escape from He Xuan’s eyes, troubling him to even be concerned about him wearing an outer robe or not.

In the past at Nan Liang, he was like this too. From a young time, he liked playing around, and always disliked how the thick and heavy winter clothes were inconvenient. Thus, he would always only wear a single robe and sneak out to the flower gardens to play, and then would get so cold he would have snot dripping down while coughing. Normally when he wanted to play, Mother would let him be, but only when he got so cold that he’d be sick, each time, Mother would get very angry. He even remembered there was one time, he was very sick……

Xiao Zuo’s thoughts came to an abrupt stop. He slightly helplessly and dejectedly closed his eyes- what use was it always wallowing in these old dreams, in the end, they were all last night’s stars, last night’s winds. He could no longer go back anymore.

At least there was still someone in front of him who would concerned if he should dress more.

“Alright.” Xiao Zuo’s eyes slightly moved. Like the moon had been dampened, his eyes shed with some bits and fragments of moonlight. At this time, the inside of the residence was lit with lanterns in each place, and the candlelight swayed and created a floor of red in the nightly winds.

Half of Xiao Zuo’s face was hidden right in this gentle candlelit scene. He Xuan’s gaze seemed slightly reluctant to part with this gentleness, and hovered over Xiao Zuo’s body for a long time. After a while, he heard Xiao Zuo softly say something, “You too, do not get cold.” The end of the tone carried the dialect of Nan Liang, tenderly connecting, faintly containing a slight unclear attachment to it.

He Xuan smiled once again tonight.

Thanks to He Xuan, these days, the charcoal sent were all good silver-threaded charcoal. Just by burning a bit of it, the entire room would be all warm, so Xiao Zuo did not even go anywhere the entire day.

Since the inside of the room was warm, he then stayed on the warm couch in the room day and night, while the body was covered with a thin fine blanket. By the hands, Zi Wan had prepared many preserved fruits as well as a pot of hot tea. Xiao Zuo would occasionally wake up from his nap, and then flip through various places’ geographic records or trending little storybooks. Though the days were said to be idle, it was also truthfully very uninteresting.

“The Records of Fei Tian Dispelling Demons?” He Xuan knitted his eyebrows and took up the loosely placed storybook in Xiao Zuo’s hands. Xiao Zuo’s lips were slightly opened, while the warmth in the room made his cheeks slightly red. He Xuan brought in half a body of cold air from the outside, making Xiao Zuo unhappily mutter once. He did not get up to welcome him, but simply flipped his body and laid his head on the pillow, and half-shut his eyes while nodding off.

He Xuan used two fingers to pinch at that crudely-binded book, tossed it to one side like he was very disgusted with it, and shook the big outside clothes he draped on and placed it on the couch, then slowly walked over to Xiao Zuo’s side, and bent his waist and spoke by his ears maliciously.

“What? Now when you see megu, you aren’t even willing to get up? Not afraid that Ig would get angry?”

Xiao Zuo turned his head and glanced at him once. The eyes with a hint of sleepiness were all damp, obscured with a layer of steam, then mixed with the indolence and drowsiness unique to the winter days, and looked to be like a little animal that just woke up from hibernation.

“Has your Highness been very busy lately?” Just as the words just fell, Xiao Zuo then regretted it. These words of his just now, in He Xuan’s ears, must have made him misunderstand again.

As expected, He Xuan lightly laughed, and sat down by his side. He took up half of that couch, making Xiao Zuo unwillingly sit up, then lean on the wall to the side softly from head to toe, vacantly watching him.

“What? Miss me?” He Xuan’s eyelashes slightly shook, while a faint dark figure reflected in his deep eyes. He extended his hand out and intimately twirled a lock of black hair hung in front of Xiao Zuo. Xiao Zuo unnaturally swallowed his saliva while He Xuan only lifted his eyelids and dubiously looked at him to the side. Xiao Zuo instead felt like the action of slightly rubbing his lock of hair in his hands all carried a hard-to-say embarrassment.

Xiao Zuo’s entire body turned very hot from his gaze, but he had to admit inside- normally when eating dinner, He Xuan would always be beside him. Even if the two did not say anything, there would also be some indescribable tacit understanding, so these two days when He Xuan did not come, he actually really have something that could be called yearning.

Up to here, Xiao Zuo could not help but slightly awkwardly turn his head. The voice turned soft as cotton from being soaked in this room’s warmth day after day, carrying a slight nasal tone from being awake just now, and passed by with an unclear grievance, “En……”

Seeing the smile in the bottom of He Xuan’s eyes slightly burst forth, Xiao Zuo continued speaking like he was making up for something, “There isn’t much for me all day in the residence, if you do not come, I can only sleep here in the daytime.”

“It seems that it is certainly mygu fault from what Ig hear.” He Xuan lifted his hand and lightly knocked on the temples, thought for a while, then lifted his eyes, “These days, the city has newly opened with a restaurant. They say it is opened by a chef from the south, with many dishes that the north does not have.”

He Xuan paused, and satisfactorily took the hope and excitement from Xiao Zuo’s eyes into the bottom of his eyes, and curled his lips, “It just so happens that Ig have nothing today, and can accompany you there.”

“Yes!” Xiao Zuo’s drowsiness was swept away, and the tip of his nose slightly seeped with a sliver of thin sweat because of the excitement, while the two eyes were all sparkly. He Xuan knew him for a few months, and this time, he finally saw a slight immaturity of youth from him.

He Xuan slightly sighed inside, now that it was mentioned, had Xiao Zuo been born in Jin, he would merely be at an age where he would get into a fight for a prostitute of a brothel.

This burden of a country, in the end, was too heavy, pressing the boundless romanticism of youth all into winds and snow, whitening all the hair, and burying the tens of thousands of zhang of mortal desire along with it as well.

Xiao Zuo put on his overcoat on quickly. At this time, he was wrapped thickly, letting out gasps of air while standing at the main entrance. He turned to see He Xuan still dawdling and did not come out, and slightly knitted his eyebrows, with a look of being very hurried like fires being set alight.

He Xuan found it funny inside, reached out to drape on a cloak, then took big steps and walked towards the entrance.

Just as he walked to the courtyard in front of the door, Yin Xing flipped over from the eaves like a sparrow hawk, nimbly fell to the ground, then said something by his ears. Xiao Zuo distantly saw He Xuan lift his head up to look at him, got nervous, and thought, going outside this time was definitely going to be cancelled again.

“There is something in the residence that needs to be taken care of. [I’m] afraid there will be no way to accompany you today.” He Xuan softened his tone, carrying a slight seldom apologetic tone. He reached out and fixed the hat for Xiao Zuo, and very earnestly said, “Next time you want to go anywhere, Ig will definitely accompany you, alright?”

Xiao Zuo froze, and he slightly raised his head. The He Xuan in front of him stared at him, while this serious look of his actually made Xiao Zuo have a kind of misconception that He Xuan was making a vow to him.

“En.” Xiao Zuo lowered his head and stared at the tips of his feet, with the sound very light.

Xiao Zuo did not know what kind of expression He Xuan had right now, he felt that He Xuan’s searing hot palm was lightly stroking his head. That kind of searing warmth scorched everything that bore a frosty coldness gone, only remaining with the remnant warmth of his palm, drawing in a sliver of sentimental attachment in people.

“Is the duke going out?” Zi Wan came out from the room, and held up a pan of water. She saw Xiao Zuo dressed all neatly standing at the entrance, and walked over to ask.

Xiao Zuo then took back his gaze like he got startled from a dream, then he rubbed his palm, and nodded his head, “I hear there is a newly-opened restaurant, should we go try it? I’m about to go crazy too from being smothered in the residence all day.”

Zi Wan tossed that pan of water into the courtyard, and smiled with an expression like she was expecting it, “This servant knew that the duke wouldn’t to be able to take it, this servant will change and then we can go.”