Jiang Mian had made up her mind and even thought of several ways to properly "punish" Xiao Jingcheng.
But when she entered the cubicle and walked around the bathtub to the corner where he had hidden before, it was empty. Even the clothes she had thrown there were nowhere to be seen.
"Where is he?"
Jiang Mian was slightly stunned.
She looked around.
The cubicle was very small and there were no cabinets. It was hardly possible to hide anyone. Where could he have gone?
If it weren't for the lingering feeling on her face of the man's touch, she would have thought it was just an illusion.
Could he be above?
Jiang Mian looked up at the ceiling.
She knew that some martial - artists liked to hide on the roof. In the storybooks, such people were called "gentlemen on the beams". Could it be that Xiao Jingcheng was up there?
Not daring to be too loud, Jiang Mian softly called out, "Xiao Jingcheng, stop hiding. Come out quickly."
She called from the bathing cubicle to the outside. She walked around the entire first floor but there was no response. She even climbed up the ladder to the second floor, but still couldn't find that person.
Jiang Mian, who was originally only 70% angry, was now 100% furious.
What did Xiao Jingcheng mean by this? Coming and going as he pleased without even saying a word. What did he take her place for!
She came downstairs, stomping on the wooden ladder so hard that it made a thumping sound. She threw the feather duster aside and plopped down on the chair angrily, grinding her back molars hard.
She had originally wanted to take a good bath to wash off the dust and sweat on her body. But because of his appearance, she hadn't been able to enjoy her bath, and she had almost been seen naked!
How hateful!
If she forgave him again, she was a pig!
She sat in the room for a while. Xiao Jingcheng still didn't show up, but Su Yu came back instead.
Su Yu was holding a plate of snacks in her hand. They were mung - bean and jujube - paste cakes in the shape of osmanthus flowers. There were also a few osmanthus petals sprinkled on them, and a bit of red jujube skin was used to add a touch of color. They looked very delicious.
Along with the cakes, there was also a bowl of apricot milk.
Su Yu didn't notice that Jiang Mian was angry. She said with a smile, "Eunuch Wen is really considerate. When this servant got to the kitchen, I found that there were already several kinds of snacks prepared. As long as the masters need them, they can be served to the masters."
"Don't worry, miss. This servant also sent some to the prince and the princess."
Jiang Mian looked at the snacks and ground her molars, "I don't want to eat them. You all can divide them up."
Su Yu, "Ah?"
Didn't the miss say she was hungry just now? Why didn't she want to eat now?
But remembering Jiang Mian's instruction to "be cautious in words and deeds", Su Yu quickly said, "Yes. Should I take the apricot milk away too?"
"Take it all away!" Jiang Mian said expressionlessly.
Su Yu finally noticed something.
The princess seemed really angry?
Could it be that she had done something wrong?
After Jiang Mian said that, seeing Su Yu looking panicked and holding the plate at a loss, she guessed that Su Yu must have misunderstood. She sighed in her heart and her tone was a bit better than before:
"Forget it. Leave half. You all can divide the rest. Leave the apricot milk too."
Su Yu let out a sigh of relief. She said yes and divided a few pieces of the snacks onto another plate, leaving some for Jiang Mian.
"Alright, go down. I don't need your service for now." Jiang Mian said.
Su Yu replied yes, carried the snacks and retreated, thoughtfully closing the door for Jiang Mian.
Looking at the snacks on the table, Jiang Mian thought for a while and still picked one up to eat.
She took a few bites of the snack and sipped a mouthful of apricot milk. The jujube - kernel filling was a bit too sweet, but the freshness of the mung bean neutralized this sweetness well. The apricot milk was mellow. After drinking it, the fragrance of osmanthus in the snack was brought out, and her whole mouth was filled with the smell of osmanthus.
The cooks in the prince's mansion really had good skills.
Before she knew it, she had eaten the second piece of snack, but Xiao Jingcheng still didn't show up.
Worried that eating too much at night would cause indigestion, Jiang Mian stopped after the second piece.
Maybe because she had just eaten something, or maybe because she had been thinking about someone all the time, Jiang Mian didn't go back to the inner room to lie down. Instead, she took out the medical notes she had jotted down along the way and sat under the lamp to read them.
These notes recorded not only her insights from practicing medicine but also some experiences in identifying and using poisons.
Maybe because she had a good memory, when two completely different medical methods were stuffed into her head, she didn't find them contradictory. Instead, she discovered that there were similarities between using medicine and using poison.
Although she had now become the Princess Zhaoping and her status was much higher than before, Jiang Mian didn't want to just abandon what she had learned in Dongli Town.
Father had also said that if she still wanted to practice medicine, he wouldn't stop her. But before that, she wanted to see her master first.
And... her real junior uncle.
Just as she was thinking like this, suddenly, there was another sound from the cubicle.
Jiang Mian perked up, thinking "He's finally here". She put down the notes in her hand and turned her head to look in the direction of the cubicle.
But no one came out for a long time. She wondered if she had heard wrong. After hesitating for a moment, she got up and walked over.
The area next to the bathtub in the cubicle was indeed empty. Just as she was feeling puzzled, there were three knocks on the half - open window.
What on earth was Xiao Jingcheng up to?
Jiang Mian walked over angrily and pushed open the window. Under the moonlight outside the window, there indeed stood that uninvited guest.
Xiao Jingcheng was leaning against the window. He didn't seem to want to enter the room. He even didn't dare to look at her directly. He lowered his voice and said,
"I'm sorry, Jiang Mian."
Jiang Mian gritted her teeth, "You should give me a good explanation!"
"A dignified crown prince, actually, actually—"
She couldn't go on. Just thinking about the scene before made her feel ashamed and annoyed.
"I really didn't expect you to be here..." Meeting her murderous gaze, Xiao Jingcheng paused and continued,
"There were maids inside and outside your room. I was afraid of being discovered, and I just happened to see that window was open. So I thought I'd enter the room from there first and come out to see you when the time was right."
Jiang Mian said, "So it's all my fault for being blind and opening that window. It's all my own fault, right?"
"Of course not!" Xiao Jingcheng immediately explained.
"I really made a mistake. In the future, I won't enter your room casually. If I want to see you, I'll knock on the window three times."
So this was the reason why he disappeared from the room and then showed up outside the window?
Some of her anger had faded. Only then did she realize—
He could freely enter and leave her room, which meant that his body had fully recovered. He had finally gotten rid of the state of being in a coma all the time and being as weak as a patient?
"Are you... all better?" Jiang Mian frowned and asked.
Xiao Jingcheng said, "Sort of."
Jiang Mian tilted her head with a puzzled look on her face. Xiao Jingcheng then explained it to her.