East Palace Melon Eating Handbook - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Why did I marry the Crown Prince instead of His Majesty? When you were born, I was not; when I was born, you had already taken a wife… What’s wrong with you?”

The grief on her face had yet to fade when she immediately looked at me warily, killing intent already flashing in her eyes.

It was my first time pretending to be deaf, and I had no experience. I knew my careless reaction had made her suspicious. If I couldn’t muddle through this, she would definitely kill me.

My heart pounded wildly as my mind spun, desperately searching for an explanation.

Just then, I happened to catch sight of a tiny bug crawling on the window lattice. The instant I got to my feet, I acted fast, pinched the bug between my fingers, and tossed it into the bowl.

Xu Ning took a step toward me. A beat too late, I raised my head to look at her, pointed at the bowl, and put on a terrified expression.

“Ah! Ah! Ah!”

Xu Ning glanced over casually. Seeing that it was only a bug, she first breathed a sigh of relief, then showed a look of contempt. “It’s just a bug. Look how frightened you are. You really are getting more and more timid.”

She stopped suspecting me, but since I had interrupted the mood, she no longer had any interest in continuing. After ordering the servants to bring me a fresh bowl of medicine, she left.

After she was gone, I held the new bowl of medicine, my heart still thudding like mad.

Xu Ning actually liked the emperor?

Xu Ning, you really are starving.

But thinking about it carefully, it was no wonder Xu Ning, despite her outstanding family background, had insisted on marrying the Crown Prince even after he already had a principal wife.

If it was all to get closer to His Majesty, then everything made sense.

His Highness the Crown Prince was twenty this year, and His Majesty was only thirty-six. It was said that ten years ago, Duke Xu’s youngest daughter had encountered bandits while traveling, and it was His Majesty, who had not yet ascended the throne at the time, who happened to pass by and saved her.

Being hit with such shocking gossip out of nowhere was so exciting that I barely slept the entire night.

For the first time in my life, socially anxious as I was, I actually felt the urge to communicate with someone and share it.

I hated that I was not actually deaf, and I hated that Xu Ning was not mute.

Was her mouth a sieve?

How could she just blurt out something this explosive? Did she think my entire clan came wholesale?

But there was no use overthinking it. All I could do was shut myself away and work hard on honing my acting skills.

By the time the Crown Prince came to see me, I had already reached the point where even if he dropped dead in front of me, my expression would not change.

The Crown Prince did not ask whether I had been doing well, because even if he did, I would not be able to hear him.

Hearing that I had recently been copying scriptures to calm my mind, he brought me several Buddhist texts.

After testing me and confirming that I truly could not hear, he sat down in the seat of honor, tilted his head back, and let out a deep sigh. “Tingxue, I am truly so tired!”

You’re the Crown Prince. What the hell are you tired for?

I lowered my head and focused on grinding ink.

“Father Emperor… how could he take a fancy to his own daughter-in-law!”

Holy mother of earth-shattering gossip!

I nearly snapped the ink stick in my hand.

Calm down, You Tingxue. Didn’t you hear about this from Xu Ning a few days ago? At most, it just means the two of them are in love with each other.

If I didn’t calm down, the Crown Prince would notice. There wasn’t a second bug around for me to be frightened by this time.

Wait. Daughter-in-law?

Not long ago, the emperor’s daughter-in-law had not been Xu Ning…

It had been me!

Oh no. The emperor was after me!

Waves crashed through my mind, but my hands remained steady as an old dog. While I frantically recalled the few times I had met the emperor, I continued calmly grinding ink.

Impossible. I had never noticed the emperor being interested in me at all. His sister, Princess Ningyuan, paid more attention to me than he did.

“Father Emperor truly is a man of deep schemes. Using your father’s conviction as an excuse, he stripped you of your position as Crown Princess, intending for you to change your identity and enter the palace to serve him. Thankfully, Tingxue, your illness became known throughout the realm, so Father Emperor finally abandoned the idea. Otherwise, I truly would have lost you!”

At this point, the Crown Prince actually started choking up.

Numbly, I opened a Buddhist scripture and began copying it while cursing wildly in my heart.

Useless. Absolutely useless! You couldn’t even protect your ex-wife. What good are you?

And Xu Ning doesn’t need to cry to me every day about how the emperor only sees her as a daughter-in-law. She can have this blessing directly!

The Crown Prince’s crying was making my head hurt. I was just thinking of an excuse to send him away when I heard him sob, “What a pity. Father Emperor can act without restraint, but I cannot speak of my admiration for Consort Xu!”

I was numb. Truly numb.

Your father fell for his daughter-in-law, and you’re lusting after your stepmother. Can the Li family please learn something decent for once?

Consort Xu-wasn’t that Xu Ning’s aunt? So you’re even doing the substitute thing. How rebellious of you.

I put down my brush and took a sip of water, already deciding where I wanted to be buried after I died.

After venting for a while, the Crown Prince finally looked as if he intended to leave.

Overjoyed, I respectfully saw the Crown Prince out. But when we reached the doorway, the Crown Prince suddenly turned around and looked at me with probing eyes.

“Tingxue, can you truly not hear anything at all?”