Chapter 54: Hangover 4

"Why is that?"
Magpie glanced at her. "Naturally because the Princess Consort was lost."
He hadn't come over last night, so he shouldn't have known she wasn't there, but after only a morning's time...
"Understood, I'll go in and take a look."
Yu Qingyan pushed the door open, and her eyes were immediately greeted by that familiar back.
"What is it?"
Yu Qingyan closed the door. The person inside had already turned around, a flash of joy passing through his amber eyes.
Chu Yuchuan stepped forward and grabbed her wrist. "Where did you go?"
"Nowhere at all." Yu Qingyan easily broke free, walked over to the table and sat down, picking up a teacup to pour herself a cup of tea.
"Have you been drinking?"
Yu Qingyan sniffed at her own clothes, and sure enough, she smelled strongly of alcohol.
"Who were you drinking with? Gu Jinshi? Or someone else?"
"I'm going to take a bath, Your Highness, please make yourself at home."
Chu Yuchuan stepped forward once more, abruptly pinning her against the wall, and lowered his head to capture her lips.
He had originally meant to vent his frustration, but the moment he touched her lips, he didn't want to pull away anymore, simply abandoning himself to deepen the kiss.
"This Prince will not give you a chance to leave."

Yu Qingyan looked deep into his eyes. "If I were to leave, could you stop me?"
"Yet you didn't." Chu Yuchuan stared intently at her. In truth, it wasn't that he couldn't stop her; clipping her wings and binding her to his side was not entirely beyond his power. It was just that if he did so, it seemed it would not be the outcome he desired. "You haven't left all these days, so don't leave in the future either, all right?"
Yu Qingyan suddenly pushed him away, clearly hearing the abnormal rate of her own heartbeat.
She was Xiao, she was an assassin. Had she grown too accustomed to living as Yu Qingyan, thus forgetting her true self?
An assassin could not have emotions. That was the very first lesson she had ever been taught.
Yu Qingyan fled the room as if escaping, instructed Magpie to fetch water, and immersed herself entirely in the wooden tub, closing her eyes.
This was the exact scene that met Chu Yuchuan's eyes when he entered the room.
"What are you doing!"
Yu Qingyan slowly poked her head out of the tub, reaching up to wipe the water from her face. "Can't Your Highness see? This concubine is bathing."
Chu Yuchuan glared, but did not advance further. Having momentarily let his guard down earlier and allowed her to slip away, how was it that she seemed to have changed just in the span of a moment?
"Hurry up, I'll wait for you to have lunch."
A glint flashed in Chu Yuchuan's eyes. It didn't matter, where there was a first time, there would be a second! Next time, he would never let her escape so easily.
It seemed Zuoxuan's method was still effective.
When Yu Qingyan emerged from her bath, Magpie and Cuier had already arranged the dishes, and Chu Yuchuan was sitting at the head of the table waiting for her to eat.
"If you hadn't come any sooner, I figured Gu Jinshi would have had to make a trip here."
Only the two of them were in the room. Chu Yuchuan's mask was set aside, and as Yu Qingyan looked over, his complexion indeed did not look too good.

"Then let's eat quickly."
"Does my beloved wife worry about this Prince?"
"..."
"Ah, with no beloved wife by my side, this Prince didn't sleep well at all last night."
"..."
Yu Qingyan was genuinely hungry anyway, so she simply treated the man before her as air, prioritizing filling her own stomach.
Seeing that the woman before him remained impervious to all persuasion, Chu Yuchuan could only let it go, though he occasionally picked out food for her and had to endure her piercing glares flying his way. Her temper truly was growing worse by the day.
Yu Qingyan put down her chopsticks, and Chu Yuchuan set his down as well. Cuier entered to clear away the bowls and chopsticks, followed closely by Magpie.
"Princess Consort."
"What is it?"
"Madam Jiang and Madam Chen have arrived."
Yu Qingyan frowned. "What are they here for?"
"They said they came to pay their respects to the Princess Consort."