The Prince Consort Is Also Pretending To Be Affectionate Today - Chapter 34
34
This matter ultimately ended with Ji Rongjin’s reputation in tatters and the young emperor delighted beyond measure.
Ji Rongjin wasn’t unaware of the need to clear her name, but upon further thought, she realized that if these rumors reached the princess’s ears, it might give her a valid reason to refuse any summons from the princess.
After weighing the pros and cons, Ji Rongjin concluded that the rumors, surprisingly, brought more benefits than harm. Thus, she let them spread unchecked.
The autumn rain fell relentlessly for several days, finally giving way to clear skies one morning.
The post-rain atmosphere in the princess’s residence carried a sense of desolation. Leaves, still damp with raindrops, swirled to the ground, only to be trampled underfoot by passing maids, their deep green hue marred with dirt.
It was at this moment that the fat pigeon arrived.
The moment Ji Rongjin saw it, she knew Jiang Nanyu must have been released from confinement again. Sure enough, when she retrieved the small note tied to the pigeon, it read: Good news! Meet me at Chunwang Tavern, come quick!!
Ji Rongjin often felt puzzled. Jiang Nanyu was either in confinement or on her way to being confined, so how was it that she always seemed to know things before Ji Rongjin did?
After a quick tidy-up, Ji Rongjin prepared to leave the residence.
Dongmei approached her. “Where is the Consort headed?”
Ji Rongjin replied, “To meet a friend.”
Dongmei, thoughtful, asked, “Miss Jiang?”
Ji Rongjin nodded, feeling a twinge of guilt.
In the past, Ji Rongjin always took Dongmei along wherever she went. However, because of her pact with Jiang Nanyu to meet without maids, Ji Rongjin occasionally left Dongmei behind. Over time, Dongmei had come to realize that whenever the Consort went out without her, it was to meet Miss Jiang.
Seeing her master’s guilty expression, Dongmei said quietly, “This servant understands that you and Miss Jiang share a childhood friendship, but the princess doesn’t know that. As a married man, it’s not entirely appropriate for the Consort to keep meeting Miss Jiang.”
Ji Rongjin reflected on herself. “Do we meet that often?”
Dongmei thought for a moment and realized that their last meeting had been over half a month ago.
Indeed, it wasn’t that frequent.
After a pause, Dongmei said, “Even so, there’s still a distinction between men and women.”
Ji Rongjin smiled. “No issue there—we’re both men.”
Dongmei: “?”
Learning from her previous mistake, this time Jiang Nanyu didn’t steal her father’s robes to wear.
“Old Ji, Old Ji, come quick!” Jiang Nanyu waved at her eagerly, pulling her inside the tavern and slamming the door shut with a loud thud.
“I’ve got something good to show you!” She dragged Ji Rongjin to a table, let go of her, and pulled out two colorful, unmistakably risqué books from her robes.
Ji Rongjin stared at the garish covers, barely making out the titles: Spring Affairs in the Boudoir and His Majesty Below, Me Above.
Just the titles were enough to make one blush furiously.
Ji Rongjin, ever upright, refused, “I don’t need those.”
“No, wait!” Jiang Nanyu tugged at her sleeve. “These are new illustrated books by the same author as the one I showed you last time!”
Ji Rongjin’s eyelid twitched. Had her fellow transmigrator fallen so low as to make a living drawing these third-rate picture books?
But then, she reflected, she wasn’t exactly doing much better herself.
“Still, I don’t want them.”
Ji Rongjin firmly declined, silently reciting to herself: Distributing obscene materials is illegal, punishable by two years in prison, or three to ten years for serious cases…
“Such a pity.” Jiang Nanyu said. “These are exquisite female-female illustrated books.”
Ji Rongjin’s ears perked up. “Female-female books are sold too?”
Although Daqian’s customs were relatively open, relationships between men and women were still the norm, with male-male and female-female relationships being exceedingly rare.
Jiang Nanyu, already flipping through His Majesty Below, Me Above, replied without looking up, “Of course they are. The Hundred Flavors Bookstore has plenty of these kinds of books.”
Ji Rongjin’s heart stirred, but she said sternly, “You should read less of this stuff.”
With that, she glanced at the book. The image depicted two women with flushed cheeks, entwined together—one above, one below—their clothes half-on, half-off, their expressions a mix of pain and pleasure.
Ji Rongjin’s face turned pale yellow after just one glance, and she quickly looked away.
The pure-hearted Little Ji, in all her years, had never been in love, let alone held hands with anyone. Growing up, she’d heard some risqué jokes from friends, but this was the first time in her two lifetimes that she’d seen such explicit material.
Little Lord Ji extended a hand to cover the book, saying quietly, “You can take this stuff home to read yourself, can’t you?”
Jiang Nanyu was about to scold her for interrupting her reading when her gaze landed on Ji Rongjin’s hand.
Ji Rongjin sensed trouble, but before she could pull her hand back, Jiang Nanyu grabbed it, holding it up like she was inspecting the fat-to-lean ratio of pork. She exclaimed, “The Chosen Top!”
Ji Rongjin’s eye twitched as she yanked her hand back. “Where did you learn that?”
“From books, obviously.” Jiang Nanyu said leisurely. “Books contain little yellow houses.”
Ji Rongjin: “…”
“By the way, take these books back with you.” Jiang Nanyu said, her face still flushed as she flipped through the pages. “If I bring them home and my dad finds them, you’ll never see me again.”
Ji Rongjin: “…And if I get caught, it’s fine?”
“You?” Jiang Nanyu looked up with a sleazy grin. “Wouldn’t it be better to read and practice at the same time?”
Little Lord Ji didn’t want to understand what she meant and was about to refuse when she suddenly realized something critical.
Hadn’t Jiang Nanyu just called her the “Chosen Top”?
Looking at the girl, who was reading with the seriousness of someone studying a literary classic, Ji Rongjin was somewhat shocked.
Wasn’t her father’s secret mission supposed to be confidential? How did Jiang Nanyu know? Could it be Doctor Jiang?
Wait, she was starting to piece it together.
Jiang Nanyu had once mentioned that, as a child, she’d been gravely ill and stayed at Doctor Jiang’s residence to recover. With Doctor Jiang’s medical expertise, how could anything be hidden from him? He must have known back then, which was why he handled all her medical matters, big and small, afterward.
In short, Doctor Jiang and Jiang Nanyu were accomplices.
Ji Rongjin let out a sigh of relief. No wonder Jiang Nanyu kept inviting her out despite knowing she was “male.” Initially, Ji Rongjin thought it was just Jiang Nanyu’s carelessness, but it turned out she’d known Ji Rongjin was a woman from the start.
Steadying herself, Ji Rongjin was about to speak when Jiang Nanyu frowned and said, “There’s a prize quiz: ‘Odd changes, even stays the same.’ What’s the next line? Answer correctly, and you can win the author’s signed copy…”
Jiang Nanyu’s tone grew excited. “Old Ji, Old Ji, do you know the next line?”
Ji Rongjin’s eye twitched slightly, thinking to herself that this code hadn’t changed in thousands of years.
“Never heard it,” Ji Rongjin said, her eyes darting. “Even if I did, where would we get the signed copy?”
Jiang Nanyu flipped through the book, shaking her head. “It doesn’t say. Maybe we’d have to go to the neighboring Empress Kingdom?”
Ji Rongjin felt a pang of regret. “Aren’t relations between the Empress Kingdom and Daqian just so-so?”
“That’s true,” Jiang Nanyu said, suddenly beckoning Ji Rongjin closer. Ji Rongjin leaned in as Jiang Nanyu whispered, “But recently, the Empress Kingdom’s State Preceptor vanished without a trace. The Empress turned the entire kingdom upside down searching for them and is reportedly planning to send people to Daqian and the neighboring Chu Kingdom to look.”
She began to fantasize. “If we could find that State Preceptor, wouldn’t the Empress Kingdom have to bow and invite us over?”
“Nice dream,” Ji Rongjin remarked dryly. “But you don’t know the next line of that phrase, nor the State Preceptor’s whereabouts. I suggest you figure out what to do with these two books first.”
Jiang Nanyu immediately put on a pitiful expression. “Old Ji—no, Little Ji—no, Brother Ji—ugh, Sister Ji~~”
Ji Rongjin: “…Why are you cycling through every possible title?”
Despite her words, Ji Rongjin now understood that Doctor Jiang was indeed in on the secret.
After some back-and-forth, Jiang Nanyu stuffed the two books into Little Ji’s arms, claiming it was for her to “study and appreciate.”
Little Ji scoffed, vowing never to open those books in her lifetime.
Back at the residence, Little Ji, with a nervous heart, tiptoed back to her study.
Once the door was closed and the windows shut, she was alone.
Taking a deep breath, Little Ji slowly opened the first page when a cry of “Your Highness, the Princess!” came from outside, courtesy of Dongmei.
Ji Rongjin jolted, scrambling to shove the two books under a pile of texts in the upper right corner of her desk. She then grabbed a random book from the other side, pretending to read.
Shen Zhuwan’s figure soon appeared. Ji Rongjin feigned surprise, setting the book down and greeting her, “Why has the Princess come?”
Though her movements were quick, the fleeting sense of being caught red-handed still made Little Ji’s cheeks burn red.
Shen Zhuwan studied her for a long while—so long that Ji Rongjin thought her guilty deed had been discovered—before saying slowly, “Is the Consort ill?”
Ji Rongjin gave an awkward laugh. “No, it’s just a bit stuffy in the study.”
Shen Zhuwan nodded, clearly preoccupied. “This Princess has something to discuss with you.”
“Oh?” Ji Rongjin, eager to move past the moment, quickly asked, “What is it?”
“In a few days, when we go to Guoan Temple, I will ride in the same carriage as His Majesty. The Consort may need to take another carriage.” Shen Zhuwan said, her gaze fixed on Ji Rongjin. “I’d like to hear your thoughts.”
“Oh?” Ji Rongjin thought for a moment, finding it reasonable given the young emperor’s clinginess. “I have no objections.”
“Think carefully.” Shen Zhuwan reminded, raising her eyes. “The carriage you’ll be in is His Majesty’s.”
Her words made Ji Rongjin realize something.
If someone with ill intentions targeted them on this trip, their primary target would surely be the emperor’s carriage. After all, if the young emperor died, no matter how capable Shen Zhuwan was, she couldn’t prevent the throne from changing hands.
Unless she bore an heir now.
“No problem,” Ji Rongjin said after a moment’s thought. “It’s a good chance for me to test my own strength.”
Shen Zhuwan had laid it all out clearly, and seeing Ji Rongjin had no objections, she relaxed slightly, her gaze softening. “I’ll arrange for someone to protect you.”
Ji Rongjin had no issue with that and smiled warmly. “Then I’ll thank the Princess in advance.”
Her smile was genuine, without a trace of dissatisfaction. Shen Zhuwan sighed inwardly and asked, “What has the Consort been up to lately? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you reviewing case files.”
Ji Rongjin’s eyes darted guiltily toward the hidden books before quickly looking away, subtly positioning herself to block that area. “I finished reviewing those at the Court of Judicial Review. The rest belong to Lord Zuo.”
“I see.”
Shen Zhuwan’s gaze drifted casually toward the desk.
Ji Rongjin’s internal alarm blared, and she hurriedly stepped in front of Shen Zhuwan. “Princess, is—is there anything else?”
Shen Zhuwan paused, then slowly raised her eyes, stepping closer as she said, “Can’t I come without a reason?”
Perhaps the princess’s presence was too overwhelming, but Ji Rongjin instinctively took a step back, her lower back pressing against the desk, supported only by her hands. “Of course you can, it’s just…”
“Just what?”
The woman took another step forward, her face close, her warm breath grazing Ji Rongjin’s chin.
Ji Rongjin didn’t dare meet her gaze, turning her head to the side.
But in doing so, her heart, already pounding from the sudden closeness, nearly stopped when she caught Shen Zhuwan’s hand reaching behind her in her peripheral vision.
Without thinking, Ji Rongjin grabbed the princess’s slender wrist with one hand while the other naturally rested on her waist. With a slight turn, she reversed their positions.
Now Shen Zhuwan was pressed against the desk, one hand held by the girl, the other gripping Ji Rongjin’s arm due to their sudden shift.
“P-Princess,” the girl stammered, her face more than half red. “Why don’t we move somewhere else?”
Pure-hearted Little Ji was burning up.