After Marrying the Disabled Crown Prince of the Enemy Country

Chapter 78          Make A Wish

“Then you’ll be here alone.” Le Zhi lowered her eyes and hesitated to say something. She clearly knew in her heart that even if she stayed here, she could not help him much. However, her heart was still stuffy with indescribable worry and discomfort.

Seeing her tangled and struggling appearance, Huo Du just looked at her quietly without saying a word.

After a while, Le Zhi slowly raised her eyes and said, “I’ll come back after I find my sister-in-law and Yu’er and settle things out.”

After a pause, she reached out and took Huo Du’s hand, and repeated, “I’ll be back as soon as possible!”

Huo Du nodded.

“And this.” Le Zhi seemed to remember something, took out a wooden box from her sleeve, and handed it to him, “Uncle Yin gave this to me and he said it will be useful when we come to Shengyang City.”

Huo Du took it and opened the wooden box. There was a piece of the white jade pendant inside. He did not say anything, just reached out his hand to pull Le Zhi to stand up slowly.

“You?”

Le Zhi looked surprised, watching him pull her along toward the outside. Although his steps were still a little unsteady, he also did not walk fast. She could see that… his right leg had gained some strength.

Amazing!

She looked at him, slowly curved her eyes, and smiled.

The back garden of the Governor Mansion was beautifully decorated, with snow on the red plums, plum fragrance, and a beautiful swing beside the plum tree.

The two sat on the swing, slowly swung along with the night breeze, and their hearts also fluttered.

Le Zhi looked up at the sky and saw the crescent moon that seemed to be absent, and suddenly remembered what day it was today.

The first day of the New Year.

The stars in the night sky were covered by thick clouds, and only a faint light could be seen.

Le Zhi frowned slightly, and a sense of sadness appeared in her heart. There was no ambiance of the New Year here, let alone the festivity of the New Year.

Yes, the people were hungry, so how could they enjoy the New Year?

She recalled the New Year’s Eve of last year when she took a night tour with her imperial brother and sister to the bustling capital of Li. There were fireworks and laughter, and the smiling faces of the people were still vaguely in front of her.

“Le Zhi.”

“Hmm?” Her thoughts returned, and she turned her head to look at Huo Du.

A pair of fox eyes were filled with mist, red and wet.

Huo Du looked at her with a smile and said, “Seventeen.”

Le Zhi was stunned as her heart was far away.

Who would have thought that the year after she reached the marriageable age seemed to have experienced a terrible dream?

Suddenly, her left hand was held up, and Le Zhi lowered her eyes and saw that there was an extra bracelet on her wrist. She raised her arm, raised her wrist to her eye level, and looked carefully through the night.

Each sandalwood bead was carved with branches of different trees, and the beads were hollow and exquisitely carved. And every two sandalwood beads were separated by a warm red bean.

She leaned closer and sniffed the smell of sandalwood, as well as a faint medicinal fragrance.

Is this… a New Year’s gift from him?

Did he do it himself?

Le Zhi could not help raising her other hand to rub the hollow beads carefully with her fingertips. Tiny sandalwood beads, lifelike branches… How much effort did it take?

Her heart quivered slightly.

Her eyelashes also trembled. She raised her eyes and carelessly forgot to cover the emotions in her eyes for a moment. Biting her lip, she said with some embarrassment, “I, I didn’t prepare a gift…”

Hearing this, Huo Du smiled, raised his hand and patted her head, and said in a casual tone, “It’s all right.”

Suddenly, the thick clouds were blown away by a gust of wind, and the starlight that had been hidden for a long time was finally revealed.

“Make a wish quickly!”

Le Zhi shook Huo Du’s hand, then looked up at the bright stars, clasped both her hands in front of her, closed her eyes, sniffed the faint medicinal fragrance, and made a wish quietly.

Huo Du turned his head sideways and stared at her moon-like side face with deep eyes. His heart ached suddenly.

She should have made a beautiful New Year’s wish under the gorgeous fireworks and bright lanterns, instead of praying for the future on this dark night with sadness.

After a long time, Le Zhi opened her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to look at Huo Du and was surprised to find that he had a calm face.

“Didn’t Your Highness make a wish?” she asked.

Make a wish?

Heavens had not treated him kindly, and he did not believe in Heavens.

Huo Du did not answer, but asked her, “What wish did you make?”

“How can I say my wish?” Le Zhi hugged his arm and leaned softly on his shoulder, “It won’t work if I said it!”

Actually, this was just an excuse. It was not that she could not tell her wish, it was just that she could not tell him her wish.

“Will it work if you don’t say it?” Huo Du obviously did not believe it. He sneered and coaxed again, “It’s better to tell me than to believe in an illusory deity. Let me help you realize it, how about that?”  

“I…”

I want to kill Huo Changyun, can you help?

Le Zhi calmed down her erratic mind, as she almost blurted out just now. She believed what he said and so far, he had done everything as long as she said it. She must not say it.

But she could not be like this. She could not rely on the basis that he treated her well and made such unethical demands.

She could take revenge, even if she killed Huo Changyun herself, it was the right thing to do. Huo Changyun was guilty and deserved to be punished, and this was what he owed Great Li. But not Huo Du…

If he was not Huo Changyun’s son, just relying on the fact that Huo Changyun slaughtered the Shengnuo tribe, he could naturally avenge his relatives like her.

But, but…

Huo Du was Huo Changyun’s son. This fact could not be changed, and no one could change it.

If he killed Huo Changyun, it meant he killed his own father. Then, when he pushed Huo Changyun into hell, would he also fall into darkness forever?

No way!

Just thinking about it made her heart suffocate and unable to breathe.

She did not know how Huo Du managed all these years, nor did she know what kind of feelings he had for Huo Changyun. But she was sure that he must have suffered terribly.

What should he do?

Also, what should she do?

Feeling her body stiffen, Huo Du clearly saw the struggle and pain in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“Cold…” Le Zhi lied and whimpered.

Huo Du knew she was lying, but he still pulled her into his arms, let her cold cheeks nestle in his warm neck, and asked, “Is it still cold?”

The warmth spread from her cheeks to her heart, accompanied by the faint mint scent on his body, making Le Zhi’s sour eyes burst into tears. She hugged him tightly, rubbed her cheek against his neck, and sobbed softly.

Huo Du hugged her soft waist and tutted deliberately to tease her, “Why? Are you crying because of the cold?”

Hearing this, Le Zhi hummed softly twice, then rubbed his neck harder, and said coquettishly, “Can you just make a wish, just make one…”

Although she also knew how unrealistic it was to rely on making a wish to achieve her wish, wishing meant believing, and believing meant hope. She had seen more than once the lifelessness and emptiness on his face, which was the last thing she wanted to see.

So, she stubbornly wanted him to make a wish. She hoped that he would believe too, and never be lifeless again.

Huo Du’s neck was wet and cold. He raised his hand to caress her back and patted her gently. Looking down at the softness, who was obediently snuggling in his arms, a certain thought that had been in his mind had changed a little bit.

It was not that Heavens never treated him kindly. Otherwise, how could she come to him?

“All right.” He finally yielded and smiled, “Then I’ll make one.”

After a while, Le Zhi withdrew from his embrace and asked, “Have you made one?”

Huo Du made an “en” and led her to stand up from the swing.

Their legs were a little numb after their feet were off the ground and dangling in the air for so long. When they stood up suddenly, their bodies swayed unsteadily. Fortunately, there was a pole on the side. Huo Du supported himself by holding on to the pole with one hand and helped her stand firmly by wrapping around her waist tightly with the other hand.

Their eyes looked at each other. Although they were a little embarrassed, they could not help bending their lips and smiling.

While they were walking back slowly, Le Zhi looked at the sky again and was a little unhappy looking at the incomplete moon.

“Don’t like the crescent moon?”

Le Zhi nodded. The incomplete crescent moon looked imperfect, and she did not like it. Just like they were about to separate, there was always some depression in her heart.

“Are you stupid? The moon will be full in a few days.”

“Yeah!” Le Zhi curved her eyes and said, “I will definitely come back when the moon is full. Then, shall we enjoy the moon together then?”

Huo Du smiled, “Yes.”

“Then you have to take good care of yourself.”

“En.”

“Have a good breakfast too.”

” En.”

“You must wear a thick cotton cloak when you go out.”

“All right.”

……

The figure of the two snuggled and walking forward together was drawn very long by the moonlight.

—

Early the next morning, Le Zhi took Jing Xin, Lin Yue, Xia Ming, and the others, as well as a small team of guards assigned to her by Huo Du, left Shengyang City, and headed toward Huaxi City.

The two cities were not far apart, and after weishi* (1 pm – 3 pm), the carriage drove into Huaxi City.

Le Zhi quickly found the courtyard where her sister lived according to her letter.

Seeing Le Zhi, Le Jin was extremely surprised, “Zhizhi, why are you here?”

Le Zhi happily threw herself into her sister’s arms, and said sweetly, “I miss my sister, so I came.”

After being coquettish for a while, the two sisters entered the room to talk. After Le Zhi explained the whole story, Le Jin suddenly realized.

It turned out that Zhizhi set off from Shengyang City, no wonder she came so quickly!

“Sister, where are sister-in-law and Yu’er?” Le Zhi frowned, very puzzled, “Why doesn’t my sister-in-law want to see us?”

Le Jin sighed as she was puzzled too, “I asked people to search in the city, and I found several places where sister-in-law would go every day. But sister-in-law would hide every time she saw me, and I don’t dare to show up rashly again. I fear scaring her, in case she leaves Huaxi City… it will be even more difficult to find her again.”

After thinking for a while, Le Zhi said, “I will go to see sister-in-law with sister tomorrow. We are a family. I think sister-in-law must have something to hide.”

Le Jin nodded. Now, all they could do was try it out.

Sister-in-law had always loved Zhizhi and hoped that she would be willing to have a good chat with them when she saw Zhizhi.

After rushing around for days, Le Zhi did not have a chance to have good rest. After dinner, she went back to the bedroom to get ready to have a good sleep. Thinking that Jing Xin and Lin Yue were also exhausted recently, she hurried them to have a rest and refused to let them serve.

Sitting on the bed and opening her bag, Le Zhi wanted to take the bedclothes to the bathroom to wash up.

However, there were two more things in the bag.

The one thing that she was very familiar with was the wooden box given by Uncle Yin. She gave it to Huo Du yesterday but did not know when he put it back into her bag.

Although she did not know the usefulness of the jade pendant given by Uncle Yin, he stayed in Shengyang City alone and gave it to her.

Isn’t he a fool!

And there was also a small white jade jar.

Le Zhi opened the lid and saw candies inside. Stars, flowers, fishes, bunnies… A jar was full of cute candies in various shapes.

She pulled one out and put it in her mouth. The sweet taste was accompanied by a hint of mint coolness, lightly fragrant.

Le Zhi remembered the scene when Huo Du asked her to drink mint juice before. At that time, she could not get used to the minty smell, so she moved the cup away.

“Don’t force it, you and I are not the same kinds of people.”

This was what Huo Du said to her at that time.

So, what did he mean by making these mints to her now?

The sweetness melted between the lips and teeth, leaving a faint mint fragrance that lingers around the body for a long time. Le Zhi’s eyes turned red in the sweet aftertaste.

She thought she had tasted what he meant. It was too easy to guess, was not it?