The Male Lead's Harem Belongs to Me (GL) - Chapter 12
Seeing Jiang Han’s bright eyes looking at him, Jiang Cheng was both angry and embarrassed, and finally, he could only angrily say, “Eat! Even food can’t shut your mouths!”
After finishing speaking, he lowered his head and started eating, while his four children, who appeared respectful on the surface, were actually stifling their laughter and secretly exchanging glances with each other. Jiang Cheng pretended not to see but took Qi Ze and his three older brothers to the training ground after the meal.
Seeing her brothers’ despondent expressions, Jiang Han couldn’t help but laugh.
Seeing that the men had all left, Qin’s mother started chatting with Jiang Han about everyday matters.
“Han’er, how are you doing in the mansion?”
Qin mother’s gaze was a bit overly sympathetic. Jiang Han suppressed her smile, feeling inexplicably strange, but still replied, “Mother, I’m doing well in the Prince Mansion. Don’t worry about me.”
“Is it really okay?” Qin’s mother frowned slightly, her expression somewhat troubled.
Jiang Han was puzzled as to why Qin Shi was so determined to believe that she was not doing well, when she heard Qin Shi say, “Han’er, don’t lie to your mother.”
Saying this, Qin Shi suddenly leaned closer to Jiang Han and whispered, “You haven’t consummated with the Prince yet, have you?”
Jiang Han was startled, but quickly composed herself, about to lie. Qin Shi looked at her with deep sympathy and said, “Han’er, you’ve suffered. If you are not doing well in the Prince Mansion again, your father and I will risk our lives to bring you home.”
A single word, “home,” made all of Jiang Han’s lies vanish into thin air. Although she was an outsider, the original owner parents truly cared for her.
The relationships within the court are inherently complex, with various factions vying for power. However, the Jiang family is different; they have always only obeyed the emperor. This ensures that regardless of how the court’s situation changes, as long as the Jiang family does not form factions with others in the court, they will remain unshakable.
The Jiang family has always refrained from marrying off their members to officials involved in court factional struggles. Therefore, in theory, Jiang Han should never have been allowed to marry the prince. However, because she was so headstrong, the Jiang family ultimately indulged her. Even when they realized she was not doing well, they went all out to bring her back home.
This kind of pampering is indeed enviable. Jiang Han’s eyes moved slightly and said, “Mother, don’t worry, I can take good care of myself.”
Seeing that Madam Qin still looked unhappy, Jiang Han quickly changed the subject: “Mother, how did you know that the prince and I didn’t sleep together?”
Looking at her daughter’s curious gaze, Qin Shi felt a hint of pride and her previously troubled expression changed to a slight smile as she said, “The way a young girl walks is quite different from how a married woman walks…”
••••
Jiang Han and Qi Ze spent the afternoon at the Jiang Mansion. Once the weather outside wasn’t so hot, they got into the carriage and headed to the Prince mansion. Before leaving, Jiang Han warmly bid farewell to his old father, but his father, with a haughty turn of his head, impatiently said, “Hurry up and go, seeing you is annoying.”
Jiang Han reluctantly said goodbye to the others, and seeing this, Mother Qin shot a glance at Jiang Cheng. Only after confirming that he wasn’t being disrespectful did she reluctantly say goodbye to Jiang Han. Seeing the harmonious interaction between the mother and daughter, Jiang Cheng quietly opened his squinting eyes, feeling a surge of jealousy.
Hmph, you only know how to sweet-talk her mother, don’t you know how to sweet-talk your own father?
After saying goodbye, Jiang Han ultimately had to return to the Prince mansion. In the carriage, Jiang Han sat as far away from Qi Ze as possible, as if sharing the same carriage was a grievance. Qi Ze watched Jiang Han’s little actions of constantly distancing himself, his head filled with black lines.
He really can’t understand his princess more and more now. Clearly, everything was fine before, but now she acts as if she can’t stand him. Men are generally like this; they disdain what comes to them voluntarily but flock to what they try to avoid.
Qi Ze squinted his eyes, suddenly stood up, and sat next to Jiang Han. He turned his head to look at her and said, “You seem to not want to see me?”
Jiang Han rolled her eyes internally but still maintained a respectful demeanor on the surface: “Your Highness is joking. I am feeling a bit unwell today and am afraid I might pass on my illness to you.”
Qi Ze looked at her rosy complexion, her cheeks which had clearly gained some weight in recent days, and then at her lively eyes. With a head full of black lines, he gave a “carriage bump” and said, “Oh? Is that so? This prince is strong and healthy, so I don’t mind.”
Saying this, he leaned in to kiss Jiang Han, but Jiang Han turned her head to avoid it, staring at him intently. Qi Ze was momentarily distracted by the gaze, and just as he was about to continue, he heard Jiang Han softly say, “If Your Highness can promise not to associate with Miss Liu in the future, then I will comply Your Highness.”
Qi Ze discovered for the first time that the difference between being interested and being annoyed was just a single sentence. He instantly distanced himself from Jiang Han, but with a strange smile on his face, he said, “So the princess is acting this way because there are other women around me?” He was saying that the reason this woman had such a strange attitude towards him was because of her strategy of feigning indifference to attract him.
Jiang Han’s eye twitched slightly, and without saying a word, she tacitly accepted it. Qi Ze glanced at her with a hint of amusement before turning his gaze away, leaning against the carriage to rest. Today at the Jiang mansion, he had been thoroughly exhausted; his father-in-law had really gone all out in hitting him.
Jiang Han temporarily set aside the warning in her mind. Fortunately, she reacted quickly; otherwise, she would have been taken advantage of by this man today. Jiang Han glanced at Qi Ze’s stubble and couldn’t help but think of Liu Shuwei’s smooth and tender chin.
Sigh, it’s still better with a pretty sister—fragrant, soft, and doesn’t poke you.
••••
The next day, when the sky was still dim, Jiang Han got up. Today, Liu Shuwei was going home, and she had to go see her off.
The morning dew was heavy, and the flowers, grass, and trees in the mansion were lush and verdant, as if they had been soaked in water. Waking up so early felt a bit chilly. Jiang Han brought a cloak and, half-awake and half-dazed, arrived at the entrance of the mansion, only to see Liu Shuwei alone.
She thought she had misread it, so she looked again and asked in confusion, “Where is the prince? Didn’t he come to see you off?”
Seeing her dazed expression, Liu Shuwei couldn’t help but smile slightly: “His Highness went to get something and will be back soon.”
After saying this, she started coughing. Jiang Han looked at Liu Shuwei’s thin clothes and, without thinking, took off her own cloak. She walked a few steps to Liu Shuwei, draped the cloak over her, and said, “It’s a bit chilly in the morning, sister. You should wear more clothes to avoid catching a cold.”
The sudden warmth enveloped her, and Liu Shuwei’s delicate eyelashes trembled slightly. She raised her gaze to the woman standing barely a foot away from her. Perhaps due to still being half-asleep, the woman’s eyes held a hint of drowsiness.
It was as if taking off her cloak and wrapping it around her was an instinctive action she did without thinking. There was no ulterior motive, just a simple thought of her well-being, fearing she might catch a cold.
Liu Shuwei lowered her gaze and said softly, “Thank you, Sister.”
When Qi Ze returned with the cloak, this was the scene he saw. The corner of his eye twitched slightly, and he quickly walked up, saying, “Princess is here too? Weiwei, look, I just went to get this for you…”
Before he could finish speaking, he saw the cloak behind Liu Shuwei. Liu Shuwei smiled gently and said, “Thank you, Your Highness, but the Princess has already brought me a cloak.”.
Qi Ze secretly gritted his teeth and said, “The Princess is truly thoughtful.”
Jiang Han half-closed her eyelids and said, “Your Highness flatters me.”
Qi Ze: “……”
Liu Shuwei looked at Jiang Han’s half-awake, half-asleep state and found it both amusing and helpless. She then said, “I’m leaving now, Princess. You should go back to sleep for a while.”
“Okay,” Jiang Han replied promptly, not forgetting to remind, “Be careful on the way. If they dare to bully you, come back and find me. I’ll teach them a lesson.”
Liu Shuwei slightly curled her red lips and said, “Okay.”
Left out in the cold, Qi Ze: “……” The one who should be saying those words to Liu Shuwei is him, right?
After sending Liu Shuwei off, Jiang Han politely took her leave from Qi Ze and turned to leave. She wasn’t fully awake yet and could still sleep for a while longer.
Qi Ze gritted his teeth, thinking about all the things he still had to do today. He didn’t have time to be angry with her, so he resentfully tossed the cloak to his subordinate and turned to leave.
••••
When she woke up again, it was already bright outside, and Chun Zhu had brought her Gu Hanyun’s message: “Concubine Gu has invited you to go flower viewing together today.”
Jiang Han twitched her lips, thinking to herself that she wasn’t interested in admiring flowers at all; she just wanted to play with stones. Jiang Han had walked a lot yesterday, and her feet still hurt a bit, so she naturally didn’t want to move around anymore. She said to Chun Zhu, “You go tell her that we won’t be admiring flowers today; we’re going to do something even more fun. Oh, and by the way, invite Concubine Chang, and then go to the East Market.”
As evening approached, the weather finally cooled down, and Jiang Han arrived at the Lotus Pavilion as promised to meet the two.
Gu Hanyun couldn’t wait to ask, “Sister Jiang, what exactly is this fun game you mentioned?”
Chang Qianjiao was also present. She and the princess had only just started to get to know each other yesterday, but to her surprise, the princess invited her out to play today. She was very curious about the fun things the princess had mentioned.
Jiang Han gave a mysterious smile, suddenly pulling out a deck of cards from her sleeve, and said, “Have you ever played this?”
Gu Hanyun looked over and saw a pile of cards with colorful patterns. She sighed, “Sister Jiang, what is this? I’ve never seen how to play it before!”
Chang Qianjiao also slightly frowned: “I have never seen it either.”
Jiang Han smiled mysteriously, “Of course, I’ll teach you. This is really fun and super easy to learn. I got this game from a storybook.” In this dynasty, gambling was very simple, just rolling dice to guess high or low. No one had ever heard of cards in the market; this deck of cards was something she had spent a lot of money to have made.
“Actually,” Jiang Han thought for a moment and said, “This game is more fun with four people, but right now we only have three.”
She felt a bit regretful and was about to explain the game rules to the two of them when Gu Hanyun suddenly said, “Who said there are only three people?”
Jiang Han was taken aback for a moment, then her eyes lit up. Oh right, there was another concubine in the Prince mansion. She eagerly prepared to call someone, but Chang Qianjiao suddenly said, “Sister Yu probably won’t play with us.”
Concubine Yu, of course, was the male lead’s third concubine, Yu Weiwan. Whenever Qianjiao mentioned her, Jiang Han would remember that Concubine Yu seemed to have a very melancholic disposition, frowning and sulking all day, spending each day in her own courtyard lamenting the spring and autumn, going nowhere.
Others were unaware, but Jiang Han knew in her heart why Yu Weiwan was gloomy every day. Yu Weiwan’s father was also an official, but his position was very low. In order to get close to the prince, he voluntarily offered his daughter to him. The male lead, seeing that Yu Weiwan’s demeanor was somewhat similar to Liu Shuwei’s, accepted her.
It seemed like a scene where everyone was happy, but what they didn’t know was that Yu Weiwan already had someone she loved, and that person had some connection with Jiang Han.
Jiang Han pondered for a moment and said, “How about we give it a try?”
Gu Hanyun nodded to indicate she had no objections, and after a moment of hesitation, Chang Qianjiao also nodded.
When a few people arrived at Yu Weiwan’s courtyard, they found that the plants here were not as lush as in the other courtyards. They wondered if it was because of the owner, but it was very quiet here.
From the moment Jiang Han and the others entered the courtyard, they didn’t see a single maid. They walked smoothly all the way to the courtyard of Yu Weiwan, and there they saw a woman in a blue dress under a tree thick enough for several people to embrace.
She furrowed her delicate brows slightly, lost in thought, as she stroked the tree trunk with her hand. Her expression was a mix of sorrow and sadness, revealing only half of her face, yet it evoked a wave of sadness in those who looked at her. It was as if she had endured immense suffering throughout her life.
Chang Qianjiao frowned and glanced over, not understanding why someone would “moan and groan” all day long, so she simply went to see the reactions of the other two.
Gu Hanyun’s reaction was within her expectations, but when she was about to look at Jiang Han, she suddenly felt a gust of wind pass by. When she looked up again, the princess, who had been standing beside her, was now sitting opposite Yu Weiwan, smiling like a big red flower: “Sister Yu, want to play cards? We’re one short.”