Chapter 182: The Bland Taste
Chapter 182: The Bland Taste
Under the pavilion located in the front garden of Xiang Ling’s courtyard, three men were sitting around the stone table while enjoying the herbal tea that An Xi just served them.
"Despite the sweet fragrance, the tea is barely carrying any taste today." Zhe Yuan mumbled in distaste as he gave a very unimpressed look to the tea cup he was holding in his hand.
"It’s not the tea that is bland. It’s your heart." Li Xian said from where he was sitting at the opposite end of the table with Wei Guang. Neither of the latter two had touched their tea yet.
Zhe Yuan let out a deep sigh as he placed his tea cup on the table and pulled out his folding hand fan. It had a beautiful scenery of mountains and bamboos painted on it with a poem written on its top right corner. With his gaze fixed on the scenery ahead, he started fanning himself.
"I didn’t use to feel this useless even when Xiang Ling used to be... her previous self. Ever since this Zhang Xuan had arrived, I feel like I have become non-existent in this manor." The bitterness was clear in the Mer Crown Prince’s tone as he recalled just how harsh the past ten days had been on him.
The entire manor had only one topic... or person... to talk about - Zhang Xuan. The servants liked him, so did the students. That man had also won the hearts of Hao Ran, Zuan Hu, and Xiao Yujin. And even though Xiang Ling had been doing her best to not show any favoritism toward her new husband, that man was making it hard for the other five to not feel jealous.
"I wish I could throw him out of this place." He spoke again and immeditely received unimpressed looks from the other two men. "I knew you two are the wrong ones to discuss this plan. I should have gone to Brother Cheng and Brother Ming." He added soon after.
"Sending him away isn’t the solution, Yuan, and you know it too." Wei Guang spoke as he finally poured himself a cup of tea and took a small sip.
"At this point, I can’t really see a solution. He’s always there with her. It has been weeks since I last spent any alone time with her, and this increasing distance is making me insane." Zhe Yuan confessed as he recalled just how long had it been since he last talked to Xiang Ling properly, or touched her, or basked in her positive energy. At this point, his entire being was craving her nearness, and he was at a complete loss for why he was feeling that way. Even though he was interested in her, it shouldn’t be making him yearn so much for her. Right?
"Then what’s stopping you?"
The familiar sweet voice had him turning his full attention toward the woman who walked into the pavilion. The moment his gaze fell on her, he felt his heartbeat picking up their speed. These days, she had been looking even prettier for some reason. Maybe it was because of the bright colors she was wearing, or maybe because she had been filled with more energy these days, or maybe because there was some other reason. But whatever it was, she had been leaving him breathless every time she appeared in front of him.
"You are back early." Wei Guang said as he poured her a cup of tea while she settled down on the empty seat between him and Zhe Yuan.
"En! I need to get some work done here in the manor." Xiang Ling replied as she accepted the tea and took a small sip of it.
"Oh!"
The disappointment was more than evident in Li Xian’s tone and everyone noticed it, including Xiang Ling. Zhe Yuan watched as she studied everyone around her closely before her gaze came to rest on him. He wondered what she was thinking as she gazed at him in silence without breaking the eye contact.
She set down the cup on the table and took a deep breath before speaking, "I have called a master to take your measurements. Mid-Autumn Festival is coming and you all need new clothes. He will be here tomorrow morning, so be ready."
"We don’t need new clothes-"
"I have selected the fabric and the embroidery designs personally for each one of you." She said when Zhe Yuan tried to dismiss the idea of getting new clothes. Their gazes once again collided and he found her waiting for him to refuse again, but he did no such thing. If she was the one getting him that new set of robes, he was more than happy to comply with anything.
A knowing smile made its way to her lips before she continued, "The work that I just mentioned, it’s something we have talked about before." This time, her gaze shifted to a confused looking Li Xian. "Remember your promise of making wine and teaching some of my students? How about we make the first batch of wine today for the Mid-Autum Festival?"
"But there’s barely a week left before the festival. That’s not enough time for the wine to ferment enough to taste good." Li Xian pointed out the issue even though he was excited to finally have a chance to spend some time with her.
"Don’t worry about it. I have a method to accomplish it. I just need you to help me with the process of making it." Xiang Ling looked confident enough that Li Xian didn’t ponder much on the issue and quickly nodded his head in agreement.
"Perefct. Let’s start with it now. We have couple of hours before dinner." She looked full of excitement as she stood up from her seat and was ready to drag Li Xian out of the pavilion.
"Can we join too?" Zhe Yuan asked quickly, not wanting to give on the rare chance to spend some time with her.
Turning her attention to him and Wei Guang, she replied, "Of course, you can."