The Adventures of the Peace Princess in Marriage Alliance - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Thanks to my godmother, Song Zhunzhi could only lie on his couch and nurse his leg. Once he lay down, he stayed down for ten days.

According to the palace servants of the Northern Dynasty, this new emperor of theirs had been a master in the army back in the day. Even after ascending the throne, no matter how busy he was, he would still squeeze out time for riding and archery.

Now that he could not even get off his couch, one could imagine how unbearable it was for him.

Dongzhu urged me to go see Song Zhunzhi.

“He is your future husband, after all.”

The moment she brought that up, I got angry.

I could have had so many husbands.

My princess’s residence was enormous, with countless side chambers.

I could have spent today in the room of some strapping young man, then gone tomorrow to visit a delicate scholar.

It was all Song Zhunzhi’s fault. Now I could only have one husband.

“If only the Northern Dynasty Emperor were a woman.”

Then the one sent here for the marriage alliance would have been my imperial brother.

Dongzhu hurriedly clapped a hand over my mouth.

“Princess, be careful what you say. Walls have ears!”

Speak of ears, and ears appeared.

Song Zhunzhi pushed the door open and came in.

He was limping, but he refused to let anyone support him. His gaze was imperious, as if even as a cripple, he had to be the most majestic cripple under heaven.

I truly felt sorry for him.

“We are a man. Has that disappointed Changming Princess?”

I leisurely gave him a bow, then turned back and sat down on my own, saying frankly, “Not terribly. After all, Your Majesty is a handsome man.”

Even if I were picking male favorites, looks like his would be hard to find.

Song Zhunzhi froze, then laughed despite his anger.

“Shallow. After more than ten years, you have not changed at all.”

“More than ten years?”

“When We were young, We went south as a hostage prince. We met the princess several times.”

My heart gave a little tremble.

When I was young, I had been atrociously unruly, even more domineering than I was now.

If anyone displeased me, I would march over and slap them. Even mosquitoes did not dare buzz beside my ear.

Surely I hadn’t… slapped him before, had I?

But I had slapped several hostage princes. Which one was he?

“You really don’t remember me,” Song Zhunzhi said with a cold laugh.

“You Northern Dynasty people changed hostage princes every year or two, sending them back and forth. How was I supposed to remember?” I muttered.

Besides, I had been very busy as a child. I had several people to slap every day.

Nannies who bullied others, eunuchs who looked down on people, favored consorts who flaunted Father’s exclusive affection in front of me…

Anyone who wanted to be slapped by me had to get in line.

“Might I ask Your Majesty, when did you go to the Southern Dynasty?”

“Tiance Year Eight.”

Thirteen years ago?

I had only been eleven.

Wow. Wow, wow. That was exactly the age when I loved slapping people most.

I let out a dry laugh, my knees going weak.

Song Zhunzhi took a sip of tea, then slowly pulled a small stone out of his robe.

The stone was threaded with red cord and made into a pendant.

“Does the princess still remember this?”

His long, slender fingers pushed the stone in front of me.

Crooked little characters had been carved into its surface: In ten years, bestowed the first side chamber of the princess’s residence.

Wasn’t this one of my tokens?

“Of course I remember!”

Ever since I was little, I had liked good-looking people, so I carried around a pile of little inscribed stones.

I was imitating Father selecting consorts and bestowing jade tablets.

At minimum, I had given out thirty or forty of them. I had even given them to handsome young eunuchs.

I picked up the stone before me. It still held some warmth; someone must have worn it on his person for a long time.

The red cord threaded through the stone was of excellent quality, showing that Song Zhunzhi treasured it greatly.

Secretly delighted, I stole a glance at Song Zhunzhi.

It seemed he still did not know these stones had been mass-produced.

“So it turns out that as early as my hairpin years, fate had already bound you and me together.”

I heaved a long sigh and pretended to be deeply moved.

“Princess, don’t be so quick to draw conclusions.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he tugged a brocade pouch from his waist. After opening it, he poured everything inside onto the table.

Clatter, clatter. A whole table full of stones.

“The Northern Dynasty sent a total of seven hostage princes south. There are seven stones here. Third Brother’s, Fourth Brother’s, Fifth Brother’s, Seventh Brother’s, Eighth Brother’s, and Ninth Brother’s stones are all here.”

“You gave tokens to many people, didn’t you?”