"The princess seems severely ill, even delirious," Liang Xiao couldn't help but feel concerned.
"When was I delirious!" Xiao Qing retorted, pouting.
"The Southern Land is hot and humid, it has never even seen snow. How can there be ice cones in volcanic lava? The Tianshan peak is eternally cold, how could peach blossoms survive there and remain unfading for a hundred years? Who can touch the colorful clouds high in the sky? A mayfly's life is but a single day, how could it fly for a month."
Hearing Liang Xiao's earnest refutation, Xiao Qing chuckled.
"The foremost scholar of Da Qian, who could answer 'Reason is paramount', and the second son of Liang, who could humiliate the Left Virtuous King of the Desolate Tribes, can also be so rigid? She is lovesick!"
Liang Xiao's heart skipped a beat, and he instantly understood.
"Since these ingredients from the prescription cannot be gathered, how can lovesickness be cured?"
After confessing her feelings, Xiao Qing, with a blush, pressed herself close to Liang Xiao.
Feeling the collision of the young girl's chest against his arm, Liang Xiao almost felt his blood surge!
"Princess, we've only met a few times. Please be more reserved..."
"Can't I fall in love with you at first sight! Besides, my imperial brother always speaks highly of you."
Taking a sharp breath, Liang Xiao pleaded, "Princess, please let go."
"If I let go, you'll run away!" Xiao Qing's voice began to tremble with tears. "Now even the Qin Immortal has been sent by the Medical Saint. If I don't seize this chance, perhaps I'll never have another!"
"Are you afraid that if I make you a驸马 (emperor's son-in-law), you won't be allowed to marry Sister Qingxue? We can sign a contract. I don't mind how many concubines you take, but you... you must have a bunch of children with me!"
As she spoke, Xiao Qing couldn't help but sob, overwhelmed by her emotions, her delicate body trembling with shame.
She had finally mustered the courage, as a princess, to let go and reveal her true feelings to him!
Liang Xiao was helpless. He patted Xiao Qing's back, trying to comfort her. "Don't cry... You look so much like your imperial brother, I..."
"What do you mean..." Xiao Qing cried again.
She, the ruler of a nation, had compromised this much for him, and this blockhead still had reservations?
Liang Xiao's hand, patting his forehead, began to tremble. "If, when I'm intimate with you, I see your face and think of your imperial brother... it's too terrifying, truly too terrifying!"
Hearing this, Xiao Qing's face flushed crimson. She cried and laughed, and couldn't help but pinch Liang Xiao's calf. "So, you might have fallen in love with my imperial brother?"
"No, no, no. Precisely because I am upright, I am even more afraid..." Liang Xiao hastily defended himself.
Xiao Qing interrupted him without hesitation. "What is there to be afraid of? You can think of anyone you want, but you will be my驸马 eventually! If you don't want me, I will remain alone for my entire life and never have anyone else!"
Saying this, Xiao Qing's cries grew more sorrowful. She hugged Liang Xiao tightly and refused to let go.
Her father was gone, her mother was gone, and her imperial brother was gone.
In this life, she had finally met this rascal brother. His health had finally been treated, and he no longer had to fear dying young. How could she let him go!
Only he was qualified to share the throne with me!
But he...
The more Xiao Qing thought about it, the more wronged she felt. The more wronged she felt, the more she cried. In a vicious cycle, she began to sob.
In this life and the last, Liang Xiao felt his mind in turmoil for the first time. He sighed, "Don't cry... Let me go back and ask Qingxue first, alright?"
Xiao Qing felt a little better and asked with a choked voice, "What if I say it was Sister Qingxue who wanted me to take you as my驸马?"
Liang Xiao was stunned and sighed, "Of course, I believe you. Actually, she mentioned your grievances to me and did indeed make that suggestion. I also told your imperial brother that I would not let him feel lonely in this life. Thinking back, when I first saw you, I was struck by your beauty, but I didn't dare to think too much at the time..."
Xiao Qing's heart was filled with joy. She stopped crying and smiled. "Then I'll take that as a yes."
She didn't want to tell her rascal brother yet: it wasn't the first time they met back then!
Because she was also afraid, after her brother finally accepted Princess Ning Shuang, if he discovered that Xiao Shuangzi was actually...
What would he think? Would he be disappointed? Would he be angry? Would he run away from the marriage?
"I can't go back and forth to the palace every day now," Liang Xiao said helplessly.
Xiao Qing said weakly, "You can just visit me occasionally. When the court affairs stabilize, we can get married. You can marry Sister Qingxue first, but when we get married later, according to Da Qian's law, she will have to give up the position of main wife. But don't worry, I will respect her as the main wife..."
What a joke! If he looked at me every day, how could I, the ruler of a nation, continue to play my part!
Liang Xiao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Your Highness Princess, the imperial physician has arrived..."
Just then, Ding Wuyi entered through the door that Liang Xiao had opened and saw the two intimately close on the bed. 138 Reading Network
Xiao Qing was so embarrassed she wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into. Liang Xiao also blushed.
After a moment of shock, Ding Wuyi slapped his forehead.
"Oh dear! This old servant's eyesight is failing!"
Saying this, Ding Wuyi rubbed his eyes with his left hand, felt the doorframe with his right, and then deliberately faked a fall onto the ground.
"Oh my, as one gets older, their eyesight deteriorates. Where are the Princess and Second Son Liang..."
On the bed, the two squinted at Ding Wuyi, who was pretending to grope around on the ground convincingly. They felt a genuine admiration.
Such a tenacious will to survive.
"Oh dear, I can't find the Princess and Second Son Liang. I'll go out and rest my eyes first. Imperial Physician, you've arrived at a good time, please go and look for them." Ding Wuyi said, getting up from the ground and darting out the door.
The female imperial physician, Yuan Jin, entered and saw the blushing pair on the bed. She merely smiled, "Your subject is ordered to examine the Princess's illness."
Saying this, Yuan Jin put down her medicine box, went to the bedside, and casually took Xiao Qing's hand to feel her pulse.
"Hmm, Your Highness the Princess is only feeling a slight indisposition, and is lacking sleep. She will be fine after a good rest!" Yuan Jin smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.
"She's completely fine?" Liang Xiao was surprised.
Xiao Qing blushed, not daring to look at Liang Xiao.
Yuan Jin looked around and muttered to herself, "Hmm? Did someone speak just now? Did I hallucinate?"
Liang Xiao fell silent, and Xiao Qing was dumbfounded.
"Ah, Your Highness the Princess, please rest well. Since there's nothing wrong, your subject will wait outside for further orders."
With that, Yuan Jin picked up her medicine box as if nothing had happened, walked rigidly to the door, and then darted out of their sight.
Liang Xiao clicked his tongue in amazement.
Good heavens, this imperial physician's will to survive was even stronger than Ding Wuyi's, and her skill was higher.
Xiao Qing's face was so red it looked like it could bleed. She lowered her head, her hands wrapped around Liang Xiao's waist, her slender fingers tracing circles on his lower back aimlessly.
"Princess?"
"When there's no one around, just call me Shuang'er..."
"Shuang'er? Isn't this a trap you've set for me?" Liang Xiao's expression froze.
"I, I..." Xiao Qing looked around, flustered and at a loss.
Seeing Xiao Qing's flustered and shy demeanor, Liang Xiao's heart fluttered. He snapped back to his senses and burst into laughter.
Xiao Qing became even more panicked and whispered, "I know I was wrong, okay?!"
She suddenly realized she had been pulled into Liang Xiao's embrace, and he was kissing her red lips wantonly.
A kiss to seal their love!
Xiao Qing's mind instantly went blank, and her entire body softened into Liang Xiao's arms.