Forced to Marry the Enemy Prince

After knowing that Zhan Jin got injured, Xian Sheng ordered someone to bring the best scar-removal medicine in Southern Liang to her. He also made an appointment with her to go out together one day.

It snowed for two days. The Crown Prince Palace was extremely tranquil and Zhan Yin did not rush over to play with Xian Sheng either. He guessed that it was because Qin Yi’s incident had just passed and the little girl was still scared from it.

Ever since Zhan Lue married Xian Sheng, he stopped having meals at the military camp. Instead, he would rush back home on horseback every afternoon. While passing by the shops in the city, he would buy some food for Xian Sheng. That was why Xian Sheng’s room was always filled with snacks.

Although the snow had stopped, the air was churning with icy gusts of wind. Xian Sheng pushed the windows open and breathed in the smell of the snow. Yue Hua immediately walked over and closed the windows, saying, “Today’s sun is cold. Let’s not open the windows.”

Xian Sheng withdrew his gaze and mumbled his agreement.

He set up a chess game himself and was playing lazily when he heard the servant call out, “His Highness is back.”

Zhan Lue took off his hat and cloak outside, and brought the cold breeze in while he entered. He did not dare to approach Xian Sheng directly, instead sitting down in front of the stove far away. As he warmed his hands, he said, “I wanted to bring you out to play since the weather is good. But your body’s weak. It’s a bit cold today so I sent someone to order the two-in-one hotpot. Let’s have hotpot in the palace tonight.”

Xian Sheng asked, “Is it the two-in-one hotpot with both the clear and spicy soup?”

“It should be quite rare in the South.”

“I have read about it in the books before.” Xian Sheng was bragging about how well-read he was again. His eyes rolled and he asked, “Will A-Jin and A-Yin come?”

Zhan Lue only walked towards him after his body had warmed up. Xian Sheng shifted his position, but was still hugged by Zhan Lue. “If the princess wants to, I’ll send people to call them over.”

“Then call them over.” Xian Sheng was happy and ate two more pieces of pastries.

In a blink of an eye, night had already fallen.

Zhan Yin dashed in and stomped her feet to get the snow away. She asked, “Am I early? You have not started yet.”

Her eyes were plastered on Xian Sheng the moment she entered, her gaze sparkling. If Zhan Lue was the big tiger, then she was the little tiger—Xian Sheng felt like she was going to eat her up. No wonder they were siblings.

He was about to reply but Zhan Lue had already stepped forward and blocked his sister’s gaze directly. In a disdainful tone, he said, “Since you’re here, go prepare at the warm pavilion.”

Zhan Yin tilted her head left and right, but could not catch a glimpse of her sister-in-law. She jumped up angrily, “Don’t you have servants? Why should I go there?”

“A-Jin.” Zhan Lue looked behind her. Zhan Jin had just walked in and was momentarily stunned. She immediately said, “There are royal princes and princesses today. We also have a Liang Princess here. We should prepare the meal ourselves so that no one can poison the princess.”

Xian Sheng was speechless. “…”

What kind of absurd reason was this? If someone could poison the Crown Prince Palace so easily, then Zhan Lue would have already died multiple times.

Zhan Yin also widened her eyes. Zhan Jin had already turned around to leave the room and it was bad if Zhan Yin let her go alone. She had no choice but to run up to Zhan Jin, exclaiming, “Why do you always speak on his behalf? He’s purposely trying to bully me!”

Zhan Jin said helplessly, “The look in your eyes when you were looking at sister-in-law is too much. It’s normal that he doesn’t like it.”

Zhan Yin only realised it in hindsight. She touched her face subconsciously and her voice immediately fell. She said weakly, “It’s too much? I don’t even know what happened… I cannot even walk whenever I see sister-in-law. How can she be so beautiful?”

Her eyes lost focus for a moment before she suddenly reacted. “No, I’m the younger sister! He’s really too jealous!”

Zhan Jin chuckled and Zhan Yin stared at her again. “A-Jin, you are good-looking too! My younger sister is so good looking! I’m so blessed!… If only I did not have an annoying brother!”

“How inappropriate.” Zhan Lue left the room with Xian Sheng, commenting on his sister’s loud voice. However, Xian Sheng followed beside him thoughtfully and said, “Something seems to be weighing on A-Jin’s mind.”

“Why are you paying so much attention to her?”

“She gave me a very different feeling when she walked beside Zhan Yin.”

Zhan Lue glanced sideways and said, “What do you think the matter is?”

“I don’t know,” replied Xian Sheng. “But she seems to be extremely stressed.”

“Her background is a bit complicated. She was the child of Concubine Mei, whom Royal Father favored the most back then. Concubine Mei came from a poor family and was auctioned off cheaply. Luckily, Royal Father saved her and she was treasured by him ever since. She’s a very good woman.” Zhan Yue tried to recall the events and continued, “She had an unfortunate fate. She gave birth to three sons, but the eldest died barely a year later and she became crazy ever since. Later, an investigation revealed that she had an affair with her guard. Royal Father’s face was completely lost and she was immediately beaten to death. It was only because Royal Mother tried her best to convince Royal Father that A-Jin was his biological daughter that she managed to keep her life.”

Zhan Lue narrated a woman’s entire life with just a few sentences. Xian Sheng sighed helplessly, before saying, “Don’t you find it strange that all three sons were dead, and only the daughter survived?”

“The culprit had already confessed.”

Xian Sheng frowned and followed him into the back corridor. In the warm pavilion, Zhan Yin was complaining as she threw the charcoal into the table furnace. Upon seeing that, Xian Sheng called Ru Yi over and gave her a few instructions. The latter immediately brought up a plate of pastries and candied fruits. Zhan Yin and Zhan Jin’s gaze immediately fell onto a particular pastry and they both looked at Xian Sheng with a strange expression.

How could she… entertain her guests with this sort of secret pastry?

Zhan Lue’s expression also changed. Xian Sheng said casually, “These are my favourite snacks recently. Let’s eat them while waiting for the water to boil.”

Zhan Yin was extremely straightforward. “So Sister-in-law is flat…”

Zhan Lue picked up a snack and stuffed it into her mouth, saying solemnly, “This is your favourite plum cake. Eat up.”

Zhan Yin blinked. Xian Sheng glanced over and reminded him, “That’s the pea cake.”

Zhan Lue withdrew his hand and sat down. Xian Sheng looked at him and frowned slightly.

Zhan Lue’s expression was indifferent, yet his heart was a bit anxious.

If Xian Sheng misunderstood that she was being disliked by her husband, won’t she be more unwilling to let him touch her?

He glanced coldly at his sister.

Zhan Yin was confused, “…?”