GTB Chapter 161

Chapter 163: When Did You Start Liking This Prince?

Chapter 163: When Did You Start Liking This Prince?

Shí Yan’s pupils shook upon hearing her words, and the playful, carefree expression on his face instantly froze. He stared blankly at Jiang Jiuchu.

Jiang Jiuchu, having blurted everything out in one breath, felt embarrassed when he looked at her. She shyly brushed a wisp of hair from her temple, her gaze darting left and right, avoiding Shí Yan’s eyes.

A momentary silence fell over the study, so profound that Shí Yan could only hear the thumping of his own heart, which jolted him back to his senses.

His handsome eyes flickered slightly, and he smiled wryly to himself. He was truly captivated by this woman; a single sentence from her was enough to make his heart race uncontrollably.

But the more he felt this way, the more he dared not trust her.

After all, on the eve of his departure from Kyoto, this woman had cried out another man’s name in her drunken state. How could she have changed so drastically upon his return?

Could it be that Chu Yifeng’s tactic had really worked? But he hadn’t even pushed that tactic to its limit; had it really been enough to make her react this way?

Was she genuinely jealous, or was this a compromise born of weighing the pros and cons? Was she deceiving him?

Watching Jiang Jiuchu’s helpless and awkward demeanor, he suppressed the urge to believe her and asked in a low voice, “When?”

He was willing to gradually win her heart, and he could even accept that this woman didn’t love him, but he absolutely could not tolerate her deceiving him.

He didn’t want to fall into a gentle trap laced with even a hint of falsehood, only to be left with nothing but his bones.

“Huh?” Jiang Jiuchu was taken aback by his question, and she looked at Shí Yan with a bewildered expression, not quite understanding what he was asking.

Seeing her confusion, Shí Yan continued, “When did you start liking this Prince?”

“I…”

Jiang Jiuchu paused for a moment, her mind racing. When did she start liking him? What should she say?

Her eyes flickered, and suddenly, she thought of a suitable opportunity. “Oh, it was after I was poisoned, when you rushed into the palace, willing to sacrifice yourself to save me.”

Shí Yan took in every expression on Jiang Jiuchu’s face, and a faint, almost imperceptible, hint of mockery appeared on his lips.

“Is that so? But back then… this Prince didn’t sense your affection. Could it have been a bit too early?”

“Too… too early?” Jiang Jiuchu felt a little guilty. She had merely chosen an opportunity that she thought was fitting, but Shí Yan’s words made her feel like it was indeed a bit premature.

Then, as if she had thought of something, her eyes lit up, and she immediately said, “Then it was at the Royal Garden.”

As she said this, the scene of Shí Yan sucking out the poison for her appeared in her mind, and she nodded with absolute certainty, “Yes, that’s when it was.”

“Heh!” Shí Yan chuckled softly and asked, “Want to change your answer?”

“No… no, I won’t change it.” Jiang Jiuchu shook her head, feeling that Shí Yan’s expression was not good, as if he clearly didn’t believe her.

“You… don’t you believe me?”

Shí Yan’s eyes were fixed directly on Jiang Jiuchu, “Should I believe you?”

Jiang Jiuchu looked into Shí Yan’s gaze and realized that it was normal for him not to believe her.

After all, if she were in his position, she definitely wouldn’t believe him, at least not simply because of a few words.

“I’ll make you believe me.”

She wasn’t in a hurry. She had only just explained herself and hadn’t even started coaxing him yet! Her mother had told her that it took effort to coax someone.

She got up and went to the bookshelf, rummaging through it. When she found a tattered medical book at the very back, her small hand paused for a moment, then she took it down and sat by the tea table, flipping through it.

Shí Yan turned his head to glance at Jiang Jiuchu by the window, his deep eyes filled with intense scrutiny.

As soon as Jiang Jiuchu opened the book, she looked up and saw Shí Yan looking at her. She immediately flashed him a bright smile.

Her brother had once said that seeing her smile made him feel better. Anyway, one shouldn’t hit a smiling face; it couldn’t hurt to smile.

Shí Yan pursed his lips, looked away, and picked up a piece of stationery, preparing to grind ink.

Seeing this, Jiang Jiuchu immediately got up and walked over. Without a word, she snatched the inkstick from Shí Yan’s hand, “I’ll help you.”

Shí Yan paused but didn’t refuse. He wanted to see how far this woman could keep up the act.

Jiang Jiuchu ground the ink, then tactfully returned to the tea table by the bookshelf, flipping through the medical book in her hand.

She thought to herself that she didn’t know how to take a pulse, but she could memorize some obscure and rare symptoms and herbs.

Half an hour passed, and Jiang Jiuchu put down the book, raising her hand to rub her sore neck, watching the man writing diligently by candlelight.

She thought that although she had always found him good-looking, she had never found him this attractive before!

Could it be that a man focused on doing serious work was especially appealing?

Jiang Jiuchu turned her head to look at the sky outside the window. Was Shí Yan planning to work all night?

She pursed her lips, determined that if he didn’t leave, she wouldn’t leave either. She absolutely couldn’t let him sleep in the study.

She yawned sleepily, feeling that this wasn’t a good approach. She couldn’t just sit here; she could endure it, but Shí Yan probably couldn’t.

After all, he had been traveling for several days and must be very tired.

And the fact that he was so busy probably meant that he didn’t want to sleep in the same room as her.

Thinking of this, she felt a pang of disappointment and got up to walk over, “Your Highness, it’s getting late. Why don’t you continue tomorrow?”

The wolf-hair brush in Shí Yan’s hand paused slightly, “You go to sleep.”

Jiang Jiuchu pouted, thinking that this man really wasn’t planning to go back to the room to sleep. She turned her head to look at the daybed to the side, wondering if she should ask someone to move it away tomorrow.

“I’m not sleepy. I slept during the day, so I can’t fall asleep anyway. I’ll wait for you.”

As she spoke, she sat directly opposite Shí Yan, resting her chin on her hands as she watched him.

Hmph! She’d like to see if he could keep writing with her watching him like this.

Shí Yan really couldn’t keep writing. He put down his brush and looked up at Jiang Jiuchu, “Is it that you can’t face the Empress Dowager if this Prince doesn’t return to the room?”

Jiang Jiuchu was startled by Shí Yan’s sudden question and immediately sat up straight. “It’s not entirely that. I’m…”

Before Jiang Jiuchu could finish speaking, Shí Yan suddenly stood up, interrupting her.

Seeing him walk out from behind the desk and stride towards the door, she immediately got up. “Hey, hey… I am…”

Watching his figure disappear at the study door, she sighed and muttered softly, “Wasn’t I worried that you were too tired? It’s not just the Empress Dowager… you have such a temper.”

Inside the room, Jiang Jiuchu entered and saw Shí Yan sitting on the edge of the bed, taking off his shoes. She then remembered that he had already taken a bath in the mid-afternoon.

“Oh well, I’ll wait until tomorrow to take the initiative to help him bathe!”

She went to the closet and took out a set of thin inner garments before going to the bathing room.

It was the height of summer, and even with ice placed in the room, it was still a bit stuffy.

Shí Yan leaned lazily against the head of the bed, fanning himself with a folding fan as he flipped through the book “Seventy-Two Strategies for Subjugating a Husband” with great interest.

When the sound of a door opening rang out, he quickly closed the book, stuffed it back under Jiang Jiuchu’s pillow, and picked up his own book to open.

Jiang Jiuchu, watching Shí Yan reading a book in the bed, felt inexplicably nervous.

She walked to the foot of the bed, planning to climb onto the bed when an idea popped into her head.

After stealing a glance at Shí Yan, she moved two steps towards the head of the bed, then began to take off her shoes.