When the cold-faced prince’s inner thoughts become his new consort’s private “romance broadcast,” a marriage that began as a matter of propriety turns into a secret game full of doting affection.
When Su Yunqing married into Prince Jing’s household, she thought she was merely fulfilling an imperial decree by entering into a respectable union. After all, Xiao Jue was known throughout the court as the “Ice-Faced Prince.” Rumor had it that he handled state affairs with the chill of midwinter frost, and had even sent back the beauties bestowed on him by the emperor without batting an eye. Surely, he would be no more affectionate toward a princess consort he had just married. But who could have guessed that barely halfway through the candles on their wedding night, she would hear the sincere thoughts hidden beneath his icy exterior? “The way she clutches her skirt is so sweet. The tip of her nose is as red as if it had been dusted with sugar. I shouldn’t have put on princely airs. I should’ve moved the hand warmer closer.”
From then on, Su Yunqing’s life in the prince’s manor went completely “off the rails”:
On the surface, he coolly told her, “There’s no need for the princess consort to stand on ceremony.” In his heart, he was shouting, “She looks so delicate when she curtsies. Is it tiring? Get up, get up! Should I help you up?”
He told others, “There’s no need to bother me with trivial matters of the inner household,” then learned that a stewardess had made her do heavy work. In his mind, he counted through every last one of the woman’s ancestors, and that very night transferred her to a remote servants’ quarters.
In the imperial garden, he shielded her from a startled bird swooping at her. “Watch where you’re going,” he scolded, yet he held tightly onto her wrist and refused to let go. Inside, he was screaming, “That scared me to death! Its feathers nearly brushed her face! From now on, every bird in the imperial garden needs to be kept in a cage.”
All the while, Xiao Jue had no idea that his little acts of “saying one thing while meaning another” had already been heard loud and clear by his princess consort. It was not until she caught a chill after getting drenched in the rain, and he sat by her bed feeding her medicine, that he unconsciously let his thoughts...
