Feng Zhi Wei didn’t struggle and sat obediently in front of him, glancing back with a smile and said, “This is the first time I have seen you show off your riding skill. It’s actually quite good.”
“Just ‘quite good’?” Ning Yi chuckled softly by her ear, “You are always so stingy with your compliments when it comes to me.”
“Haven’t you heard enough flattery to fill your lifetime?” Feng Zhi Wei smiled faintly, “There ought to be one or two honest ministers willing to speak the hard-to-hear truth— like me.”
“Honest ministers…” Ning Yi let out a soft chuckle and then said suddenly, “Some people have called you a favored courtier instead.”
“Is that so?” Feng Zhi Wei said lazily, “Being a favored courtier is better than being an honest one— throughout history, favored courtiers tend to live longer.”
Ning Yi lowered his head, gently inhaled the faint fragrance on her hair by her temple, and chuckled softly, “As long as you are by my side, I guarantee you will only die after me.”
Feng Zhi Wei paused for a moment before saying, “What are you doing, saying such unlucky things, don’t you have any sense?”
Ning Yi smiled, and neither of them spoke again. The night wind blew their clothes and their long hair loose, spreading them out layer upon layer like ripples of water. Their breaths entwined tenderly and intimately together, mingling and blending until it was impossible to distinguish one from the other. Within that gorgeous yet cool, regal fragrance, there drifted a faint scent like orchids under the moon, intertwining in a way that brought to mind the lonely wind wandering through the depths of the palace at midnight.
Under the moonlight, Ning Yi lowered his head slightly. Feng Zhi Wei’s long hair brushed against his cheek. It was rare for her to be willing to change into women’s clothing and accompany him out. Her hair was loosely tied up with just a light makeup on her face. The skin behind her ear was as white as snow, as bright as the moon. Because she hadn’t worn earrings for a long time, her earring hole had disappeared. Her earlobes were exquisite, cute, and round like a pearl. When the moonlight shone on them, they looked crystal clear like the best lychee honey, making one want to take a bite and taste whether it was really sweet to one’s very heart.
Ning Yi then actually did just that.
He gently tilted his head and took Feng Zhi Wei’s earlobe into his mouth. Feng Zhi Wei let out an “Ah” but didn’t dare to pull away forcefully. She felt that although his hold was light, as the horse’s jolting motion, his teeth rose and fell against her earlobe, rubbing against it up and down, again and again, making even her heart seem to tremble along with it. She quickly raised a hand to cover her ear, laughing, “Can’t you be a little less troublesome? With all this bouncing up and down, are you trying to make me have a cleft ear?”
Only after she said it did she feel that no matter how she thought about it, the words sounded a bit suggestive. She hurriedly let out an awkward laugh, trying to change the subject. But Ning Yi had always been quick to catch such things and immediately let out a low chuckle, “Next time, let’s change the location to go up and down…um…I promise, I won’t hurt your ears…ouch!”
Feng Zhi Wei drove her elbow right to his lower back, cutting off a certain someone’s shameless teasing….
Of course, the hit was quite soft, and there is a hint of laughter in Ning Yi’s cry of pain. Reluctantly, he took one more lingering sniff of her scent before letting go, his hand slid down to wrap around her waist as he sighed: “At least you didn’t pad yourself with multiple layers of cotton today. I finally know your true size.”
“In the capital, rumor has it that Your Highness has seen countless beauties and has an exceptionally sharp eye when it comes to beauties.” Feng Zhi Wei said leisurely, “It is said that even through thick winter clothing, Your Highness can still tell a beauty’s figure and proportions. Could it be that all those rumors were false?”
Ning Yi suddenly slapped the horse’s bridle and said with great regret, “Oh dear, I didn’t bring a basket of good crabs along!”
Feng Zhi Wei turned to look at him in astonishment, wondering what that had to do with anything, and besides, where would you even find good crabs in spring?
Ning Yi smiled as he gazed into her eyes and said slowly, “The vinegar is already here, so only the crabs are missing…”
Feng Zhi Wei instantly understood—- this scoundrel was taking the long way around to imply she was jealous! (The Chinese word for jealousy is literally “eat vinegar” thus the word play)
Flustered and annoyed, she instinctively wanted to retaliate, but one look at the expression in Ning Yi’s eyes made it obvious to her that he had ulterior motives. If she really followed this line of conversation, she would probably end up on the losing end. Though she is proud of her quick wit, she couldn’t compete with a certain someone’s thick-skinned and shameless cunning. This was a natural disadvantage for women, there was no point in competing with him on those points.
Thus, Miss Feng, who always liked to think things through carefully, immediately stopped herself. Without a word, she whipped her head around and calmly looked ahead, her gaze composed, her depression perfectly natural.
Ning Yi tilted his head slightly, watching the back of her ear with great interest. There was a faint red blush spreading there, faithfully betraying the inner thoughts of a certain someone pretending to be calm. The sight put him in a great mood. His eyes shimmered with amusement, and his expression was one of pleasure.
At a certain point, the horse stopped on its own. Ning Yi looked up and sighed with a hint of regret: “This horse knows the way too well. I should have brought a donkey instead.”
Feng Zhi Wei: “………”
She sniffed and moved to dismount quickly, but Ning Yi stopped her forcefully. He jumped off first, then extended a hand and said, “Come, let me help Miss Feng down.”
Feng Zhi Wei remained seated high on the horse, giving him a sidelong glance, “Is there really a need to be this pretentious?”
“There is.” Ning Yi answered with a strong affirmative tone. Looking up at her, his expression was unexpectedly serious. “You once said you want to live the simplest and the most ordinary life. But with us being who we are, we are destined to be unable to do many things that ordinary people can do. An opportunity like tonight is rare. So just this once, let’s set aside our identities, forget ourselves, and do what ordinary men and women would do. For example, at a moment like this, a man should help a woman down from the horse.”
Feng Zhi Wei looked down at him, recalling the wish she had once said out loud in the South Sea. She also recalled his confession the night before she left for Xiliang. Back then, those words were said as a refusal, yet he had remembered them all this time and had been quietly trying to move closer to her wish.
To live as ordinary men and women in this world, able to laugh freely and to cry freely.
How wonderful that would be.
Her face was half-hidden in the shadows of the night. Behind her, pale moonlight and pear blossoms lay scattered, obscuring her expression.
Ning Yi’s hand remained extended, calm yet stubborn, as if he was going to wait until the heaven and earth passed away.
Feng Zhi Wei finally let out a soft smile and reached out to take hold of his hand. The moment their fingertips touched, the slightest tremor shot through both of them.
After that briefest tremor, Ning Yi gave a gentle force, and Feng Zhi Wei leapt lightly down from the horse. Her silver dress flashed in midair, like a streak of light pouring down from the sky.
Ning Yi took the opportunity to put his arm around her waist, and the two quietly looked at the building not far from them. The building was the imperial traveling palace built at the foot of Mount Li beside Li Lake. It was not large, vastly different from the grand and imposing palace in the capital, but exquisitely delicate in design. Looking at it from afar, amid the lush greenery and draping vines, one could catch a glimpse of the pale gold and jade eaves, like a bright pearl falling between the green mountains and waters.
The traveling palace was backed against the scenic Mount Li and faced the vast, misty expanse of Li Lake. A strategic location that is easy to both defend and retreat, with convenient access by both land and water. Feng Zhi Wei carefully observed it from both military and aesthetic views and found it flawless in every way. She couldn’t help but praise, “It is truly an amazing location.”
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I’ve never heard earlobes described so…enticingly before. Omg he is totally shameless, his innuendos are something else. Love all their teasing scenes together.
You can almost visualize Ning Yi letting the horse amble lazily toward the palace. It made me want to read the chapter as slowly as the meandering pace of the horse and savor the romance and sweetness.
To me, the romantic here reads rather one-sided tbh. Since the previous chapter, my guts tell me things will be getting worse between them, mainly from her side (I hope i‘m wrong on this). Sure, Zhiwei is troubled by her feelings but so far she seems too good at suppressing them for her (or her adoptive mother‘s) goals as to give in to them. And I don‘t remember any thoughts on her side so far as to develop a more balanced view on the situation.
Anyway, I‘m wondering whether the military view Zhiwei admires is some sort of foreshadowing.