Xia Fengxue curled his index finger and lightly tapped the tip of her nose. “You don’t look so good. What’s wrong? Who’s got the nerve to trouble our little princess?”
“It’s Father…” Fengguang sighed, knowing this imperial brother was on her side. She grumbled, “He said he wants to keep me here for a few more years, but really, he just doesn’t want me marrying Sijia.”
“Maybe… Father truly just wants to keep you around a little longer.”
“Oh, please. I’m not a kid — that excuse doesn’t work on me.”
Xia Fengxue chuckled. “You’re that eager to marry Sijia?”
“I am! I dream about it!” she said with conviction, but then hesitated. “I even promised Sijia I wouldn’t make him wait too long. Ugh… Don’t tell me eloping is my only option now…”
Seeing how desperate she was to get married, Xia Fengxue felt a strange mix of satisfaction and guilt. He hesitated, his conscience pricking at him. “Fengguang, actually…”
He trailed off, unable to finish.
Fengguang waited for a while, then asked curiously, “Brother, what were you going to say?”
“Come. I want to show you something.” Xia Fengxue took her hand and turned to leave.
She followed him despite her confusion, and after a few minutes, she realized they were headed to his private quarters. Her brows furrowed. “Brother, why are you bringing me here?”
“Fengguang, do you recognize this tree?” Xia Fengxue led her into the courtyard, where a tall tree stood.
She took one look and immediately recognized it. “It’s a loquat tree. But… I remember there wasn’t one here before.”
“I had it transplanted. Come summer, it should bear quite a few fruits.”
She wiped an imaginary bit of drool from her mouth and said hungrily, “Then I’m eating them all.”
“They’re all yours,” Xia Fengxue said with a gentle smile. His eyes were like a still, deep spring, brimming with emotion. “Fengguang once said that my future should be about buying a little courtyard, planting an evergreen loquat tree, marrying a wife, having children, and living a happy life.”
Fengguang froze for a long moment. “Those words… How do you know that?”
“You haven’t figured it out yet?” he said as he removed the phoenix-shaped hairpin from her hair and replaced it with a butterfly-shaped one. Holding up the phoenix hairpin he had just taken, he smiled and said, “You gave this to me a long time ago, didn’t you?”
Fengguang finally saw the butterfly hairpin clearly—it was the same as the one she had picked in her dream. She opened her mouth, and after a long pause, her voice trembled with disbelief. “No… That’s not possible…”
“What you think is impossible is, in fact, real.”
“No! I must still be dreaming!” She pinched herself. It hurt, but since the hypnosis wasn’t just an ordinary dream, it made sense. Still, the pain only heightened her panic as she took a step back and shouted, “How could you possibly be Sijia!?”
“I am Sijia,” Xia Fengxue said as he grabbed her arm and pulled her into his arms, preventing her from backing away. “Fengguang, just listen to me—let me explain.”
She wanted to shake her head and scream I’m not listening!, then run away crying—but then she remembered that was exactly how a typical romance heroine would react. So instead, she clenched her jaw, dropped all pretense of being ladylike, grabbed him by the collar, and growled, “You better f***ing explain yourself—right now!”
Lucien On ABRWF Chapter 34.1