The Gilded Cage Chapter 99

Snowy Night – The Crown Prince is her husband and His Majesty is the Sixth Imperial uncle. Naturally, they were different. (1)

Chu Ning paused with chopsticks in hand, said nothing, nodded to the other side of the table, and said to Cui He, “Don’t be so restrained outside, sit down and have dinner with me.”

She didn’t know why he appeared at the foot of the mountain at this time, but after listening to Cui He’s words, she knew that he must not have revealed his identity.

Since he didn’t want to be noticed, she didn’t have to rush there.

Everything in the Seven Saints Temple was extremely simple, and the daily meals were all vegetables and grains grown by the Daoist priests in Guanzhong. Therefore, the vegetarian meals sent were just two dishes of pickles and two bowls of light soup without salt.

However, for the two who had just returned from the cold wind and snow, it was enough to warm up their bodies.

After a frugal meal, the snow-white complexions of the two of them were rosy.

Cui He put away the cups, dishes, bowls and chopsticks, and was about to bring them out when there was a knock on the door, followed by Zhao Yanzhou’s voice, “Your Highness, is everything okay?”

He was worried that she would not eat well or dress warmly.

Chu Ning got up with a smile and opened the door in person, “Brother, I’m all right. It’s not that I haven’t lived in a place that is much simpler than this, but you, have you eaten?”

Probably because she knew that she didn’t have to see the prince today, she had fewer scruples than usual, and her smiling eyes were more crystal clear against the harsh wind and snow.

There was still a lot of wind and snow outside the door. Zhao Yanzhou looked at her delicate complexion with a calm expression but insisted on standing outside the door and refused to take any further steps.

“I have already eaten, but I am worried that Your Highness will not be used to living here and just came to check up on you.”

Chu Ning’s eyes fell on his thin figure and the frozen red fingers exposed outside the cuffs. She couldn’t help handing the still-warm soup bowl to him and said softly, “You always worry about me, you have to remember to protect yourself.”

Possessing the warmth of the bowl, he touched his numb fingers and basked in the limited warmth. His knuckles moved stiffly as he pulled away from her.

He wanted to reach over and touch her white, slender fingers, but he still held back in the end.

He concealed the gloom in his eyes and cupped his hands with a smile, “It’s snowing outside. Hurry up, Your Highness, go in quickly. I know that His Highness is safe, so I will go back. Tomorrow, if the snow stops, I will send His Highness up the mountain back to the palace.”

He had never seen Xiao Kezhi himself, and even if he did, he would not recognize his identity. As a eunuch of the East Palace, he never had the opportunity to enter the Taiji Palace to meet the emperor.

“Alright.”

She nodded in response and didn’t turn back into the room until she watched him leave.

The sky was getting dark. Cui He brought the bowls and dishes back with hot water for Chu Ning. “It has been snowing for so long. It hasn’t stopped, and I don’t know if it will be possible to go back tomorrow.”

“Yeah, the Chinese New Year is already over, but there is still such heavy snow.” Chu Ning put on a thick cloak and a hood, took the hand warmer into her arms, sighed softly, and said, “Let’s go out and see.”

Cui He was stunned for a moment, and then she realized that her mistress was going to the emperor’s place. She hurriedly tightened her clothes, put on her hood, and stepped into the snow with her.

Due to the bad weather, the Daoist priests in the temple had already gone back to rest, and even the servants brought by Chu Ning were hiding in the house and did not come out.

Chu Ning wore a pair of delicate moccasin boots on her feet. Although they were thick and resistant to the cold, walking in the snow was very inconvenient because they were a bit bulky. Every step she took felt like a million.

Unconsciously, a familiar black figure suddenly appeared in front of her, tall and big, standing in the wind and snow, but it didn’t seem to be affected in the slightest. Motionless, his stern face was a little tense, and his dark eyes fell on her.

Chu Ning paused, watching him. She subconsciously wanted to call out “Your Majesty”, but remembering that they were outside, the words changed when he spoke, “Sixth Uncle…”

Xiao Kezhi’s face twisted and stiffened for a moment. He stood there without answering and pointed to a room next to him, then turned his head and said to Cuihe, “Go and rest.”

Cui He glanced at Chu Ning, hurriedly bowed, then turned and left, leaving Chu Ning alone. She continued to walk forward slowly.

Xiao Kezhi stared blankly at her thickly wrapped, but still somewhat slender body, sighed indiscernibly, walked over in three or two steps, picked her up, and hurried back to his own room.

Chu Ning was still holding the hand warmer in her arms, so she had to stretch out an arm around his neck.

But before entering the room, he put her down without saying a word, and took off his robe by himself.

It was only then that she could see that there seemed to be a bit of suppressed anger under his tense face.

There was no one else in the room, so she couldn’t guess why he was unhappy at the moment. She just thought that something happened before she came and couldn’t help but hesitate a bit, then tentatively said, “I wonder if A’Ning came at the wrong time? If it is inconvenient for Your Majesty, A’Ning will go back first.”

Xiao Kezhi’s action stopped, and his face seemed to be even more ugly.

He looked sideways at her with a bit of annoyance in his eyes, but his heart softened when he saw her frozen white cheeks and the thin layer of snowflakes that were gradually melting into water on the lining of her cloak.

He pursed his lips and still didn’t answer. He just walked to her side, took off her wet cloak, and put it aside.