Chapter 29: I’m Not Born Wise

“Hostage Prince Xue, the princess ordered me to bring these.” Shuangxi said amicably.

He was a rare person in the palace who gave him a friendly look. This Eunuch Shuangxi was worthy of being the emperor’s favorite. He was so meticulous.

“Many thanks for the princess’s gift, and for Eunuch Shuangxi’s trouble.” Xue Chen thought for a moment, then hesitantly asked, “But… the ice cellar in the pear courtyard is small. I’m afraid it can’t hold a full ten boxes. I wonder what the princess’s arrangements are for these ice blocks?”

“That’s up to Hostage Prince Xue to decide. The princess only instructed this servant to move all ten boxes here.”

Shuangxi was still smiling, without a trace of impatience.

“I understand,” Xue Chen said with a bow.

After seeing Shuangxi off, he stood in the middle of a pile of boxes, a slight headache coming on. The ice cellar could hold eight boxes at most. As for the rest…

Xue Chen stared at the two boxes of ice, not knowing what to do.

“Meow~”

Snowball leaped up, shook its fur comfortably, and pressed its chin against the box, closing its eyes in contentment.

“You certainly know how to enjoy yourself.”

The weather was too hot, and its fur was thick and dense. It had finally found a cool place, and Xue Chen couldn’t get it to come down, no matter how hard he tried.

He thought for a moment. The little one had been through a lot lately. He said helplessly, “These two boxes of ice are for you then.”

“Oww~” It rolled over, exposing its round belly and acting coquettishly. Its four paws were still wrapped in gauze.

Xue Chen’s eyes darkened. He squatted down and asked, “Snowball, how does Princess Ning An know your name?”

Princess Ning An?

Snowball’s eyes blinked.

He added, “The one who is always dressed in colorful clothes, with big, bright eyes.”

“She was the one who saved you from the iron cage yesterday.”

Oh, her!

Snowball covered its head with both paws and shook its head repeatedly, indicating it didn’t know either.

“You don’t know either…”

The young man’s long, slender palm stroked the cat’s back, and a faint, knowing smile touched his lips.

“The Great Ning imperial palace… is really interesting…”

***

“Zaoni, I want some iced lychees!”

“Yes, I know, Princess!”

Ning Shengsheng held a scroll in her left hand, her right hand resting on the Huan Li egg to cool off. Duofu had delivered the Huan Li egg this morning. She hadn’t expected the little one’s will to live to be so strong. After soaking in the Frigid Spirit Pool for two days, the Corpse Marrow poison had been completely removed.

Ning Shengsheng proudly thought to herself, As expected of my egg. It’s as resilient as I am.

“Princess, look!”

“It’s been in the ice cellar for a while now. Every lychee is cool and refreshing, and they look so sweet and delicious!” Zaoni came over with a smile, holding a plate of fresh, plump lychees. She carefully peeled one, revealing the translucent, sparkling flesh inside.

“Let me try~”

Ning Shengsheng closed her eyes in enjoyment. Only now did she feel like she was truly living the life of a princess.

After finishing the whole plate of lychees, Shuangxi came again with five more boxes of ice.

She casually asked, “Shuangxi, when you delivered the ice to Hostage Prince Xue, did he say anything?”

“Hostage Prince Xue was grateful for Your Highness’s gift. He said the ice cellar couldn’t hold so much and asked this servant how to dispose of it.”

“This servant told Hostage Prince Xue that he could arrange it as he pleased.”

“Mm, thank you for your trouble, Eunuch Shuangxi.” Ning Shengsheng turned and instructed Songgao, “Bring me that pouch of golden beans.”

She handed the reward to Shuangxi. He accepted it with a smile and asked again, “Princess, His Majesty is going to Qionglin Garden tomorrow to escape the summer heat. Will Your Highness be going?”

Qionglin Garden?

When Ning Shengsheng had read the novel, she remembered that the emperor went to escape the summer heat in the middle of the eighth month every year. Why was it a month earlier this year?

Thinking this, she asked directly.

“Doesn’t Older Brother usually go to escape the summer heat next month?”

“Cough…” Shuangxi paused for a moment before explaining, “The court officials have submitted a memorial, requesting His Majesty to select concubines to fill the harem. Normally, His Majesty would never listen to the court officials. Anyone who said more than one word would be dragged out and beaten with a paddle, and those officials would not dare to speak again. But this year, Qi Momo is also urging him.”

“So Older Brother is going to Qionglin Garden to seek refuge?”

She couldn’t help but cover her mouth, her smile mischievous.

Shuangxi nodded repeatedly. “That’s the idea!”

“Alright then. Tell Older Brother I’m going too. It’s so boring being in the palace all day.”

“Yes, then this servant will take his leave.”

After Shuangxi left, Zaoni’s face was filled with joy.

“Your Highness, I hear that Qionglin Garden is surrounded by mountains and rivers, lush and green. There’s even a palace paved with cold jade. When you walk in, you can see wisps of cool air rising from it!”

“You, you, how can you be so playful?” Songgao reached out and poked Zaoni’s forehead.

“Zaoni is still young and hasn’t been in the palace for long. It’s normal for her to be curious about these things. This princess will take you all with me tomorrow.”

“Alright! Thank you, Princess!”

Zaoni happily hugged Songgao, and Songgao couldn’t help but smile. Although she was a steady person, she was still in her teens. It was inevitable that she would be a little lively when she was happy.

At night, Songgao and Zaoni were packing the clothes they would be taking on the trip. Ning Shengsheng set up a spirit-gathering formation for the Huan Li egg, hoping it would absorb spiritual energy and hatch soon. She herself went out and sat under a tree, drinking wine and admiring the moon.

She was happy today and had drunk a few more cups. Her tipsy eyes looked at the bright moon in the sky, and she began to review the events that had happened since she had transmigrated.

System: 【Host, don’t think about these things when you’re drunk. Just enjoy the cool breeze and the bright moon.】

“Mm…”

She shook her head and chuckled softly. “You don’t understand. I’m not the brightest person. What you see is the result of me calculating over and over in my head.”

A firefly flew by in the darkness. The girl slowly opened her palm, and the firefly slowly landed on her soft, white hand.

“When I was five, my parents divorced. They both formed new families and had their own children. No one cared about me. They wouldn’t even call to ask how their daughter was doing on holidays. My grandmother raised me until I was in high school, but then she passed away after a long illness. The day my grandmother passed away, it was snowing heavily. I went to find my father…”

“I kept knocking on the door, knocking and knocking.”

“After a long time… a woman opened the door. She was holding a little girl in her arms. The little girl’s hair was tied up with a sparkling pink butterfly bow, and she was wearing a beautiful cotton-padded jacket. And I… I was wearing a faded school uniform and torn sneakers. But… that didn’t matter. It really didn’t matter…”

“I just wanted him to take my grandmother to the hospital.”

“Guess what happened?”

“That woman slammed the door shut. I didn’t believe it. I was stubborn. I really didn’t believe that my father could ignore his own mother and daughter.”

“And then…”

“The door opened…”

“He pushed me and told me to get lost.”

“It was so cold that day, and the snow was so heavy. I fell to the ground, and my hand was scraped and bleeding.”

“It was so red, so red…”

“The bright red blood dripped down, and the white snowflakes fell on the wound.”

“But I didn’t feel any pain.”

“At that moment, I knew that from then on, in this world, I, Ning Shengsheng, could only rely on myself.”

She licked the lingering taste of wine from her lips and laughed a few times. A tear fell from the corner of her eye, and her dark, watery eyes were filled with a story she told in a very, very soft voice.

The system was not supposed to have human emotions, but it clearly felt a little sad.

It asked carefully, 【What about your mother?】

The girl released the firefly in her palm and gazed at the single point of starlight.

“Her? She was long gone…”