Song Zhao's words and deeds today were really strange, completely different from the casual elegance she had shown in front of Xiao Jingheng before. The more she was like this, the more Xiao Jingheng felt there was something odd about that travel bag.
His eyes were slightly cold as he awkwardly untied the straps of the bag to open it. But when he saw what was inside, it was completely beyond Xiao Jingheng's expectations.
As Song Zhao had said, the travel bag contained only some daily necessities:
Things like dried jasmine flowers, mint oil, cotton knee pads and so on...
So Xiao Jingheng was even more puzzled.
"You said the travel bag contained things you would carry with you, but I remember you don't like the smell of mint. This is..."
"But Your Majesty likes it!" Song Zhao's face turned red as she snatched the travel bag back from Xiao Jingheng's hands, pointed at the items inside and shyly said:
"Your Majesty likes the scent of jasmine, so I brought these dried jasmine flowers, planning to let Your Majesty use them when soaking in the hot spring at the Hot Spring Mountain Villa. As for this mint oil, smelling it is the best way to stimulate the mind. Your Majesty cares deeply about national affairs, so even if we go to the Mountain Villa, there will still be endless memorials and court politics to deal with. I was thinking that if Your Majesty feels tired, this could help relieve it. As for this cotton knee pad..."
She took out the knee pads, intentionally showing Xiao Jingheng the dragon patterns on them.
The embroidery of the dragon patterns was not outstanding, and loose stitches could vaguely be seen. It didn't look like the work of the embroidery ladies in the palace.
"I personally sewed this knee pad, but the embroidery is really unsightly. So I was planning to give it to Your Majesty after I fix it up properly."
Xiao Jingheng took the knee pads and looked them over, saying: "This contains your feelings, so I already really like it. But why make me knee pads when the Mountain Villa has spring weather all year round?"
Song Zhao said: "The Hunting Ground is near the Mountain Villa, and Prince An's Mansion is also in the vicinity. So I thought that if Your Majesty feels like hunting with Prince An on a spur of the moment while we're there, these knee pads can protect you and also keep you warm..."
As she spoke, Xiao Jingheng's burning gaze had been fixed on Song Zhao the whole time, and he was less and less able to hide the smile on his face.
Song Zhao was embarrassed by his stare that she didn't continue and just shyly lowered her head, weakly saying:
"Why is Your Majesty looking at concubine this way..."
"Hahaha~" Xiao Jingheng laughed out loud and pulled Song Zhao into his arms, "You are so thoughtful about me, it makes me happy."
His hand around Song Zhao's shoulders couldn't help tightening.
He really was happy, but also felt guilty.
Song Zhao had been considerate of everything for him, yet just now he had doubted her, thinking she hid something bad in her travel bag.
Now that he thought about it carefully, he really had doubted her too much.
Being held by him, Song Zhao accidentally dropped the travel bag in her hand again.
The moment it hit the ground, a scroll painting hidden deep inside rolled out.
She panicked and immediately bent down to pick it up. But Xiao Jingheng's arms were longer and he picked it up first.
"What is this?"
Song Zhao was anxious, reaching out to snatch it back, "Your Majesty, don't look! Give it back to concubine!"
Xiao Jingheng held the scroll high out of her reach, deliberately teasing her, "What thing is it that makes the Noble Consort so concerned?"
Just now he had misunderstood Song Zhao, leaving Xiao Jingheng feeling a little guilty.
He had not intended to look at the scroll, only wanting to tease Song Zhao a little before returning it to her.
But as Song Zhao tiptoed, desperately trying to reach it, she accidentally loosened the string tying up the scroll.
In that instant as it unrolled, Xiao Jingheng saw that the person depicted in Song Zhao's painting was actually himself?
The Xiao Jingheng in the painting was alone at the imperial desk, bowed and concentrating hard on reviewing memorials.
This painting was extremely exquisite, capturing even the tiny details like the folds in his clothes and strands of hair. It was clear that effort had been spent on it.
While Xiao Jingheng was still astonished, Song Zhao seized the opportunity to snatch back the scroll painting.
As she hastily rolled it up, she shyly said:
"This crude painting by concubine was just randomly sketched. It's not fit to show Your Majesty..."
"If this is called crude brushwork, I'm afraid even the painters of the Ruixiang Atelier would be driven from the palace."
Seeing how red Song Zhao's face was, Xiao Jingheng gently caressed the girl's tender cheeks and smiled, saying:
"Why so shy? This painting should be given to me sooner or later. I already really like how it looks now. I'll have Jiang Deshun take it back later to have it mounted, and display it in a prominent spot in Chaoyang Palace for me to see every day."
"No way!" Song Zhao pouted, somewhat stubbornly saying: "This painting isn't for Your Majesty, I want to keep it myself."
"Oh?" Xiao Jingheng raised a brow, askingly interestedly: "And why's that?"
Song Zhao was silent for a moment, her expression suddenly turning somewhat distressed.
She lowered her head, silently gripped the scroll tightly in her hands, and softly said:
"I miss Your Majesty every day, but you can't be by my side all the time. So I thought I'd paint Your Majesty's likeness so that I can take it out and look whenever I miss you."
Song Zhao's voice was tender and soft. Listening to it, Xiao Jingheng felt his heart ache.
Lately, Noble Consort Xiao was pregnant and Consort Chen kept seeking his favor, so he had been neglecting Song Zhao somewhat.
But this little girl never complained at all. When she couldn't see him, she just quietly painted this to comfort her longing. This pure, intense love — how could it not move Xiao Jingheng?
He took Song Zhao's hand, speaking earnestly:
"Everything in your personal travel bag is about me. There's not a single thing for yourself. With you treating me this way, how could I bear to neglect you?"
He moved closer to Song Zhao and placed a light kiss on her pink lips,
"I promise you that from now on if you miss me, you can come see me anytime. No matter how busy I am, I will make time to accompany you."
Hearing this, Song Zhao first happily laughed like a little girl.
But very soon, she shook her head in refusal again. "Your Majesty has important state affairs, concubine doesn't want to be a burden."
She then cleverly nestled into Xiao Jingheng's embrace, "Concubine doesn't care how much free time Your Majesty can spare to be with me. As long as our hearts are close, that's good enough."
Her soft fingers wound over Xiao Jingheng's chest,
hooking into his lapel and shamelessly reaching inside.
Only when they reached Xiao Jingheng's firm pectorals did he grab her wrist.
Xiao Jingheng turned over in a flash, pressing Song Zhao beneath him.
Their faces touched, breaths intermingling, extremely intimate.
Xiao Jingheng gripped Song Zhao's hand and firmly pressed it against his chest, using a low voice to ask:
"So does Noble Consort feel our hearts are close or not?"
Feeling his strong, vigorous heartbeat, Song Zhao shyly pursed her lips and nodded.
Seeing her like this stirred up a fire in Xiao Jingheng's heart even more.
He lowered himself right next to Song Zhao's ear, gently biting her earlobe as he breathed heavily:
"I can make the distance between you and me even closer."
