Chapter 5: Does This Count as Offending Your Highness?

Thus, Nan Xueyin followed him into the study.

The ink was good ink, with a luster like lacquer, far better than the kind at Xiao Mingyu's place. Nan Xueyin examined it, listening as Xiao Youlan asked in a flat tone, "Not rolling up your sleeves?"

Nan Xueyin nodded, "I should."

She added two drops of clear water to the inkstone, held the ink stick in her left hand, rolled up her left sleeve with her right, and began to grind.

Before she had ground for long, Nan Xueyin heard Xiao Youlan remind her, "It's overflowing."

Nan Xueyin looked down and saw the inkstone full of ink, with a few drops having leaked onto the desk, so she quickly stopped. She had never ground ink before and could not control her strength well.

Xiao Youlan's voice was deep and slow, "You certainly have a lot of strength."

"..."

After all, these were hands accustomed to killing.

Nan Xueyin used her old trick again, "When this servant was young, I often helped my family with farm work."

Xiao Youlan was noncommittal about this.

Nan Xueyin put down the ink stick; ink stains remained on her fingertips, and she rubbed them off casually.

"Can you read?"

Xiao Youlan asked suddenly.

Nan Xueyin suddenly thought of Xiao Mingyu.

He did not need Nan Xueyin to grind ink; he had plenty of bed-chamber maids and concubines to do it.

That day, Nan Xueyin went to report to him; he listened, but made no comment, only asking, "Do you know how to write your own name?"

Nan Xueyin actually knew, but at the time she felt that one more thing was worse than one less, so she shook her head.

Xiao Mingyu was very pleased, "Then come here, this Prince will teach you."

After learning her name, Xiao Mingyu did not let go of her hand, saying he wanted to teach her to write poetry.

"To hold your hand, and grow old with you."

In reality, Nan Xueyin understood the meaning of this poem, but Xiao Mingyu never knew.

At this moment, she took a moment to return to her senses, "I know a little."

Xiao Youlan: "Which ones?"

Nan Xueyin kept him in suspense and did not answer, spreading her palm, "Your Highness, the brush."

Xiao Youlan picked out a Purple Hair Brush and gave it to her.

Nan Xueyin took it, dipped it in ink, and slowly wrote three characters on the paper.

"Xiao Youlan."

After writing, she raised a bright smile, as if a child had done something good and was specifically asking for credit, "This servant knows how to write it; it is precisely Your Highness's name."

Xiao Youlan was stunned for a moment.

"Whether this servant was among the common folk or entered the palace, I always heard them speak of the Crown Prince, saying that Your Highness is upright and honest, and that Your Highness is skilled in both literature and martial arts. This servant felt admiration in my heart, so I secretly learned Your Highness's name."

After a pause, Nan Xueyin seemed to remember something and asked in a low voice, "Does this count as offending Your Highness?"

Xiao Youlan:...

Xiao Youlan: "You ask only after you've finished writing; don't you think it's too late?"

Nan Xueyin blushed with nervousness.

Xiao Youlan was rarely amused, and his tone even contained an imperceptible smile, "Do not let it happen again."

After this day, Nan Xueyin went to serve the Crown Prince every day, though she did not grind ink often; after all, many of the official documents that passed through the Crown Prince's hands were confidential, and he still harbored suspicions about Nan Xueyin, so he would not always allow her to be by his side.

However, getting up to dress and eating three meals a day, without fail, were all served by Nan Xueyin.

She observed what he ate more of and what he ate less of each day, deducing that the Crown Prince preferred a light diet and disliked all fish, shrimp, and fresh seafood from rivers and lakes, preferring chicken, duck, goose, beef, mutton, and pork by comparison.

But he likely advocated for not being picky, treating all things equally, so he ate a little of everything.

The people below could not tell and thought he liked everything, and the kitchen did not know either, so every day it was just muddled through like that.

Now with Nan Xueyin, she not only served his meals but also gave instructions in advance on what dishes to make, so the daily meals were more to the Crown Prince's liking, and he ate two extra mouthfuls of food every day.

Cui Mama came every few days to ask about the progress, and upon hearing Nan Xueyin say she only served dressing and meals, she was somewhat dissatisfied, "These are all tasks for the people below; why do you snatch them to do? The Emperor sent you here to serve His Highness in bed, not at the dining table! Besides, it's been several days, your menstrual period should have been over long ago!"

Nan Xueyin was indifferent, "The period is over, but serving His Highness is not that quick."

Hantao sneered from the side, "I'm afraid His Highness doesn't want to favor you at all? His Highness only treats you as a low-ranking palace maid who serves meals!"

Nan Xueyin raised an eyebrow, "I am a low-ranking palace maid, but what about you? You can't even serve His Highness his meals, so what kind of palace maid are you?"

Hantao's face stiffened; she glared at her fiercely, turned her head, and said to Cui Mama, "Momo, Doukou is no better than me! Give me another chance; I will definitely perform well!"

Cui Mama, however, said, "You had better just stay put! Wasn't the face you lost last time enough?"

Hantao choked for a long time and ultimately could not say a word.

The sky gradually darkened, and it was almost time for dinner.

Nan Xueyin was about to set off, but Cui Mama stopped her.

"It's been several days, and you haven't made any progress at all; if this continues, it definitely won't do."

Cui Mama pulled a long face, "Tonight, let Linglang go and try."

Nan Xueyin tilted her head; Linglang was already dressed and made up.

"Let's go." At Cui Mama's call, the two walked off one after the other, gradually moving further away.

Hantao leaned out from next door with a look of mockery, "Yo, you're still being kept in the dark, knowing nothing, right?"

"What?"

"What else could it be? Linglang is Cui Mama's distant niece!"

Nan Xueyin understood now.

"Tonight, the Empress Dowager in the palace specially had someone send over Aphrodisiac Wine; Cui Mama is deliberately hiding it from you just to let her niece receive his favor, and in this way, the benefits she gets in the future will be plenty."

Hantao snorted, "This Linglang, she doesn't look as good as you or me, yet she has such good luck! I'm afraid she'll be serving in the bedchamber tonight; who knows, by tomorrow morning, she might become a Noble Concubine. You, and I, will both have to serve her."

Xiao Youlan was busy with official business today; he sat at the dining table with an unfinished document still in his hand.

Linglang entered and bowed, "Your Highness."

She had originally felt a bit uneasy inside, worried that she would be driven out just like Hantao.

But Xiao Youlan didn't even lift his eyelids, nor did he speak.

Linglang breathed a sigh of relief and secretly rejoiced; it seemed the Crown Prince did not favor Doukou alone after all, and Hantao being driven out was simply because she lacked the ability.

With a smile on her lips, she walked forward.

On the table sat the wine bestowed by the Empress Dowager, a celadon-glazed, gourd-shaped ewer; the aunt had said that the wine inside had an extremely potent aphrodisiac effect, and after drinking a cup or two, one would find it hard to control oneself.

Linglang poured a full cup, held it with both hands, and offered it, "Your Highness, why not taste this wine first?"

Xiao Youlan did not move.

"This was bestowed by the Empress Dowager herself; it is her kind intention, so it wouldn't do to let it go to waste." Linglang softened her tone, her voice sounding very much like Doukou's.

Only then did Xiao Youlan put down the document and shift his gaze over.

The ten fingers holding the wine cup were slender, but they were merely slender; they looked soft and boneless, as if they could be snapped with a little bit of force.

These were fundamentally the hands of another person.

Xiao Youlan's eyes darkened; he looked up, his gaze lingering on her face for a brief moment, and he frowned, "You are not Doukou."