Scent Of Time

Chapter 13

In a flash, it’s Zhong Yelan’s birthday. In the novel, because his birthday is the anniversary of his mother’s death, he never celebrates it. And to curry favor with him, Hua Qian low-profilely hosted a birthday dinner at the King Jin Mansion.

This banquet would be the first encounter between Mu Yao and Zhong Xiwu. Zhong Xiwu falls in love with her at first sight. Initially, I had thought of blocking Zhong Xiwu from meeting the female lead to decrease obstacles in the road of the male and female leads’ happiness, but now that I think about it, I’d better stay honest.

Zhong Xiwu is so unpredictable that I don’t dare to make any more rash moves. Zhong Yelan is exceptionally difficult to deal with, so I’ll follow the development in the novel and give Zhong Yelan a love rival so that he will have some sense of crisis.

If Zhong Yelan keeps his mind on me, he will be even more angry on the day I reveal myself.

Qian Zhi has long found a famous qin, wanting me to shine when the time comes. I smiled and said nothing when I heard it.

In the novel, Hua Qian mastered music and chess, yet I couldn’t do anything. Oh, well — I have other plans.

On Zhong Yelan’s birthday night, I follow the novel and let someone arrange a table of good food, waiting for him to return in the evening.

When he came with Zhong Xiwu behind him, I made a surprised expression and saluted.

Zhong Xiwu did not have the slightest attitude to let me get up: “Today is my royal brother’s birthday. I’m just here to join in the fun.”

He did look amiable, but after the encounter in the palace, I no longer dared to relax.

The three of us seated, and just after eating a few bites, I heard Qian Zhi call me in a low voice: “Your Highness, the things are ready.”

The two brothers looked at me suspiciously, and I spoke while smiling, “Today is His Highness’s birthday, and I have especially searched for a famous zither and would like to entertain His Highness.”

Behind her, Qian Zhi reveals a satisfied expression. However, the next second, she becomes incomparably stiff as she hears me say, “I’ve heard that Mu Yao’s zither skill is out of this world. I’m curious. I wonder if Mu Yao could play a piece for His Highness?”

In the novel, it was Hua Qian who first played a piece and then started provoking Mu Yao, who grew up in Border City, only to end up being miserably punched in the face. Therefore, I’ll go along with it and help her become famous, as long as she’s not using me as a stepping stone.

As soon as the words left her mouth, Mu Yao looked at me skeptically, with the look of someone who suspected I had poisoned the zither. Otherwise, how could I have paved the way for her? Zhong Yelan also looked at me suspiciously.

Behind me, Qian Zhi looked like she wanted to rush up and shake my shoulder.

It’s just that everyone was aware of Zhong Xiwu’s presence and didn’t attack me. Mu Yao took over the zither and started playing after making a bow.

According to the novel, the sound of her zither is different from the soft and beautiful sound played by ordinary women. It carried a strong iron bone, causing people to birth spirit and courage. Because of her family’s unfair matters, the sound also harbors sadness.

Seeing Zhong Yelan’s trance demeanor and Zhong Xiwu’s gradually glowing eyes, I knew it should be good.

Very good, all went according to the novel. Zhong Yelan, wake up and look at the love rival, who was about to take shape beside you!

When the song ended, Zhong Xiwu was the first to clap his hands, “Royal brother’s mansion is a place full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons. Even a maid can play the zither breathtakingly.”

Hmmmmm, I’m about to watch the male lead and the second male lead start fighting over the female lead hand to hand. I’m getting a little excited just thinking about it.

After all, all novels are happy ending. I do not worry about them fighting. The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

When I was engrossed happily, Zhong Xiwu turned his head to look at me and said, “I’ve heard that Princess Consort Jin’s zither skill is also the best in the capital. I wonder how she compares to Mu Yao?”

…… It’s true that after the female lead appeared, the second male lead started to make things difficult for me.

“Compared to Mu Yao — I feel inferior.” I covered the corners of my mouth and made a shameful appearance.

“Then what birthday gift has Princess Consort Jin prepared for Royal Brother?” Zhong Xiwu looked at me again. His eyes filled with sincere curiosity.

Are you not done yet?

How could I know they would still think of me after listening to Mu Yao play the zither? Where am I going to get a gift now?

Zhong Yelan also raised his eyes towards me, causing me to swallow back my ‘I didn’t prepare it’ sentence.

In a panic, I looked around, trying to find something. My eyes swept over the dining table and suddenly brightened up. I had an idea in my heart, “Your Majesty and Your Highness, wait for a moment. I’ll be fast.”

Ancient people have the custom of eating longevity noodles. As a tone-deaf person who couldn’t do anything, the only thing I could show off was my culinary skills, something I had mastered while living alone in modern society.

I was busy for half an hour before I hurriedly rushed over with a bowl of noodles. I smiled awkwardly and said, “I know I’m not very talented, so I can only give this longevity noodles to His Highness. I hope His Highness won’t mind. The gift is light, yet the feeling is heavy.”

Zhong Yelan seemed to be extremely surprised. He couldn’t even maintain his usual iceberg face. Perhaps he didn’t expect me to come up with a congratulatory gift that was so out of place.

Finally, he took a bite and said while looking at me, “Princess Consort has the heart.”

Good, as long as it passes. I let out a long sigh of relief from the bottom of my heart.

“When did Princess Consort Jin learn this cooking skill? How come I’ve heard that Minister Hua’s daughter is one whose ten fingers don’t touch water?” Zhong Xiwu spoke again.

Is he seriously targeting me?

“This is something I’ve been secretly learning, wanting to give His Highness a surprise.”

Perhaps because I was sincere in what I said, my maid Qian Zhi felt that I had secretly prepared the congratulatory gift behind her back, thus looking at me with satisfaction.

The hell knows I was driven to the brink by Zhong Xiwu.

Well, at least I muddle through with a bowl of noodles. No longer entangled in the matter of the gift, Zhong Yelan facetiously ate a bowl of noodles, looking at me with more gentle eyes.

My heart was thumping. In the novel, after the marriage, Hua Qian pestered Zhong Yelan, playing all sorts of tricks that would make him farther away. I am now very different from the novel. Do I need to learn a bit of Hua Qian’s previous route?

The dinner party ended in my wild thoughts. Mu Yao’s zither did not cause a sensation like in the novel. Could it be because, without my shortcomings, it could not highlight her excellence?

Zhong Xiwu did not immediately return to the palace. The two brothers rarely drank with each other under the moon, so I had to accompany them on the side.

But the ancient moon is bright, ah. There’s no fog. So it is really like the poem said, ‘a round of white jade disk hanging in the sky.’

While fuming, I suddenly heard Zhong Xiwu’s voice: “What is Princess Consort Jin thinking about so intently?”

I turned my head but realized that Zhong Yelan was no longer there, and subconsciously opened my mouth, “Where is His Highness?”

Zhong Xiwu froze and said, “I was talking to my royal brother about the city defense arrangement. He went to the study to get the city defense map. He will be back later.”

How long have I been in a daze? How come I don’t know anything? This Zhong Yelan is a bit absurd, isn’t he, leaving without saying anything to me?

“It seems that what my royal brother and I said was meaningless, made you lost in thought.” Zhong Xiwu laughed.

I covered up my embarrassment with a fake smile, “It’s because I was too ignorant to understand the state affairs that Your Majesty and His Highness were talking about. That’s why I was daydreaming. I hope His Majesty will forgive me.”

Zhong Xiwu had a smile on his face, but his eyes were sharp: “I thought that Princess Consort Jin, as the daughter of Minister Hua, should be very interested in the affairs of this dynasty.”

This little emperor is still not over it! Why does he keep holding on to the Hua Family? Perhaps being in the King Jin Mansion, my turf, gives me a few shreds of confidence, “Well, the emperor thought wrong.”

Zhong Xiwu couldn’t help but be stunned. It seemed like he didn’t expect me to answer so dryly. He immediately reacted. “Princess Consort Jin thinks this was the King Jin Mansion, so you have a backbone?”

“I don’t understand what Your Majesty means.” I continued to feign confusion with a fake smile.

However, I saw Zhong Xiwu’s face suddenly turn cold, the emperor’s aura emerging, “Are you Hua Qian or not?”

“Of course I am.” I realized the more guilty I was, the louder my voice became.

Zhong Xiwu was not frightened by my sudden increase in volume. He laughed coldly and said, “Before my brother married, I once saw Hua Qian a few times. She could not see any other woman besides my brother, not to mention inviting favor in front of my brother on behalf of another woman.”

My palms started to sweat. He began to scare me with his sovereignty again. I forced myself to be calm, “This is something I seem to have said to His Highness before. Being a woman and being a wife is different.”

Zhong Xiwu raised an eyebrow and continued to ask, “Tell me about it.”

I took a deep breath and spoke, “When I was a child, my parents were my half of the sky, so I could be reckless enough to like His Highness, and it was because of seeing him as the only existence in my life that I wanted to occupy all of his sight.”

I paused. Seeing that Zhong Xiwu did not interrupt, I settled down and continued, “After I became a wife, I realized that I had to learn to hold up the whole sky and could no longer think of only one place. I love His Highness, but not like before when I only wanted to take him for myself. Because of loving him too much, I realized that as long as he’s happy, I can do anything.”

I said a confession that made people’s faces sour out loud. Zhong Xiwu’s face did not get better and was still very cold. I tried not to show a weak-hearted expression and stared at him.

Suddenly, he smiled brightly. His face was like the blazing sun, nearly stunned my eyes. He tilted his head, rushing behind me while saying, “This confession is an eye-opener. Is royal brother pleased?”