Chapter 17: His Devoted Longing for Her

The woman moved with graceful steps, each one seeming to press against his very heart.

Xiao Xuanyin stood tall and elegant. Against the light, his handsome, refined face was indistinct, yet his deep, intense eyes—filled with passion and desire, joy and obsession—shone exceptionally clear.

He stood thus, waiting for her to approach step by step.

Fu Jinhe reached his side, slightly breathless, her cheeks flushed with a rosy glow.

She bowed politely to him. "Your Highness, the Crown Prince."

Xiao Xuanyin, tall and imposing, took in the delicate beauty of her face and figure.

His long, slender legs came slightly together, as if restraining something within.

His voice deepened unexpectedly with a huskiness: "Miss Fu."

She lifted her head, her smile gentle and sweet, her brows and lashes lively. "Today, Your Highness’s intervention spared me from the unjust confinement imposed by the Princess’s Mansion."

"I shall remember this kindness forever."

Xiao Xuanyin’s pupils reflected her smiling face as his throat moved subtly.

A faint, elusive fragrance wafted toward him, clinging and lingering.

He calmly inhaled and said, "Miss Fu, you flatter me. There is no need for thanks."

The Crown Prince was truly a radiant, ethereal being, noble and restrained, courteous and aloof.

Fu Jinhe thought this quietly to herself.

Her gaze firm, voice soft, she said, "Your Highness, today’s matter weighs heavily on my heart. I beg you to grant me the chance to repay your kindness."

In the original story, the Crown Prince would, months later, draw his sword and strike the Consort Shu in the throat, only to be imprisoned by imperial decree and then suffer a fatal bout of hysteria.

This chain of events was suspicious in every way. She suspected it was a contrivance by the original narrative, designed to highlight the male lead, Song Junyao, by extinguishing the Crown Prince’s fate.

She vowed to do everything possible to spare the Crown Prince from such a tragic end. A deity incarnate ought to remain forever amidst the solitary mountain snow, neither forced to land nor to fall.

Xiao Xuanyin listened intently as Fu Jinhe spoke, but he only caught the words about the great weight it held in her heart.

A swelling joy filled his chest, slowly spreading through his limbs and bones. This indescribable contentment radiated from his heart, scorching and stirring.

He smiled faintly, his voice carrying a barely perceptible tenderness: "Very well. As Miss Fu wishes."

Fu Jinhe was momentarily stunned, almost dazed.

She had long known the Crown Prince was exceptionally handsome, but she had never imagined his smile could be so breathtaking, like spring snow melting away.

She rubbed her fingertips, a tingling sensation rising, and returned his smile.

At this moment, this scene—the tall gentleman drawing near slowly, the lady in simple attire beneath the blossoms—was picturesque, stirring the heart uncontrollably.

Behind them, Song Junyao’s handsome face darkened as if ready to weep; he couldn’t hear their words but sensed their pleasant conversation.

They even looked inexplicably well matched.

His heart seemed soaked in sourness, burning with jealousy and fierce anger.

As expected, Fu Jinhe was already entangled with the Crown Prince behind his back.

Their engagement was still unbroken, yet she so quickly turned to another man; her disregard for propriety was unbearable.

Could she not live without a man?

Suddenly, Song Junyao’s brow twitched violently, and he crouched, clutching his head.

Before him, Fu Jinhe wore a simple white gown, her delicate face resolute.

With slender hands, she took up the marriage contract and tore it without hesitation, the fragments fluttering like falling snow.

"Song Junyao, the marriage contract is destroyed. We are no longer bound. From now on, we are strangers."

The pain was sharp as a blade, cutting through his very veins.

He struggled to lift his head, cold sweat dripping from his resolute jawline.

Why did the image of Fu Jinhe accusing him and severing ties suddenly flood his mind today?

Why did his heart ache so deeply when the one he cherished was clearly Axue?

...

Within half an hour, the "scandal" of the Princess’s Mansion spread throughout Chang’an.

In an upper chamber, a maid and a man were caught in a disgraceful act; she was battered and bruised, her fate uncertain.

He was stripped bare, wearing only two crimson bellybands embroidered with the characters for "Snow" and "Mist," muttering obscene words involving Princess Qingping and Miss Jiang.

Miss Jiang, unwilling to endure humiliation, stabbed her chest with a jade hairpin, proving her innocence with her life.

Princess Qingping angrily accused Fu Jinhe of framing her, but Fu Jinhe calmly and logically refuted the charges. Even under the Princess’s pressure, she remained neither arrogant nor fearful.

When the Princess sought to detain her, the Crown Prince’s wrath erupted, blocking the Princess’s way. Though the Princess was his imperial grandaunt, she could not resist the Crown Prince’s authority.

Helpless, the Princess relented and hurriedly ended the banquet. Afterwards, news from the Princess’s Mansion claimed the butler, accused of embezzlement by the Princess, bore a grudge and framed Princess Qingping and Miss Jiang.

Though the farce was exposed, their reputations remained tarnished.

The entire city of Chang’an was abuzz, shocked beyond belief.

First, they were stunned that Fu Jinhe, known for her clumsiness and poor tongue, could so deftly defend her innocence against the Princess and Princess Qingping.

Rumor had it that Princess Qingping had first set a trap for her, but Fu Jinhe’s counterattack was flawless, leaving no loopholes.

If the rumors were true, then Fu Jinhe had been hiding her true capabilities or had suddenly awakened overnight.

Second, the Crown Prince, known to shun women and keep them at arm’s length, had lost his temper at the banquet over a woman.

And that woman was Fu Jinhe—a fact hard to believe.

At the Imperial Tutor’s residence, in the Jade Collection Garden,

Bishu spat viciously in her heart and clapped her hands with glee: "Jiang Manxue, the instigator, stabbing herself in the chest with a hairpin, deserves her fate."

"If not for Miss foreseeing their schemes, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

Fu Jinhe raised her brows slightly, smiling without a word.

The day after she sent jade and letters to the Star Pavilion, the pavilion replied.

It turned out Shen Minglan’s maid had plotted to ruin her reputation at the Flower Viewing Banquet by using a page boy, and that maid was a pawn planted by Jiang Manxue in the Princess’s Mansion.

Jiang Manxue was a master of using others to do her dirty work.

The original female lead must have been quite capable to quietly bribe Shen Minglan’s closest maid.

Fu Jinhe’s lips curved, but her eyes were cold.

She could use the enemy’s tactics as well. With help from Star Pavilion, she planted two pawns in the Princess’s Mansion and today knocked the maid unconscious before the Clear Breeze Pavilion, threw her inside, then forced the man to take a secret drug, resulting in the disgraceful scene witnessed by many.

"Miss, today we owe much to the Crown Prince’s righteous words; you were spared a great deal of trouble," Bishu said with eyes curved in a smile.

Fu Jinhe’s fingers trembled slightly, and the image of the noble, elegant man appeared before her eyes.

She spoke lightly, "Indeed. The Crown Prince is honorable and upright. I owe him a debt and must repay it well."

Bishu sensed Fu Jinhe’s admiration for Xiao Xuanyin.

Her smile spread.

Having learned that Miss held no affection for Song Junyao, she had once imagined what kind of husband Miss might have.

He should be refined and noble, with a precious character, doting on her exclusively, cherishing her above all, shielding her from even the slightest grievance.

The Crown Prince perfectly fulfilled Miss’s ideal husband.

Wait—

Bishu suddenly remembered something grave.

After the Spring Banquet, rumors of Song Junyao and Jiang Manxue spread rapidly. Miss had sent people to investigate, and it was merely coincidence.

Yet doubts lingered.

Perhaps there was a gentleman in Chang’an silently infatuated with Miss, watching over her, protecting her, avenging her.

His heart brimmed with desire and luxury, obsessed day and night with her.

Longing to kiss her passionately, tear her clothes, press his firm chest against her soft body, entwining and caressing, stirring wave after wave of passion.

Yet he must endure silently, allowing the burning flame to consume his heart and limbs.

He was pure yet devoted, mad yet restrained.

Could this gentleman be the Crown Prince?

Bishu’s heart trembled uncontrollably.

Excited and unable to keep quiet, she said to Fu Jinhe, "Miss, I suspect the Crown Prince has long harbored a silent, infatuated love for you."