Forced to Marry the Enemy Prince

Xian Sheng puffed his cheeks and shook his head. He was hooked by the food right then. As he was eating, someone brought in a bowl of ginger lotus root soup. With the pork chops as an appetizer, he was able to drink a bowl of light soup. Right after, the maids brought over another two vegetable dishes. It was cooked with lard, however. It was completely different from the other dishes. Therefore, he took a few more bites.

Xian Sheng couldn’t help but reveal a smile to him. He ate to his heart’s content before he said embarrassed, “I’m full.” 

The servants cleaned up the dishes before leaving. Zhan Lue wiped the corner of Xian Sheng’s lips for him. “It’s snowing outside. Do you want to go out and take a look?”

“Is that so?” Since Xian Sheng was just fed by Zhan Lue, he was in a good mood now. He became talkative. “It rarely snowed in the capital. Even when it did snow, it normally only lasted for a bit. I heard snow can pile as high as the height of half a person, right?”

“It snowed last night. The snow’s about a foot deep, but it seems like it’ll snow for one to two more days.”

Xian Sheng replied, “I want to go out to take a look then.” 

In the capital, Xian Sheng would be locked in his room whenever it hit winter. The doors and windows would be tightly shut. Only the scent of incense and bitter medicine were in the room. Up until he was ten, he only heard others say that snow was white, but he had never seen it before. Later on, he willfully and secretly opened the window to take a look. As a result, he got sick for a few days though.

He could count the number of times he saw snow in the seventeen years.

Zhan Lue brought his clothes over and helped Xian Sheng wear it. Then, he brought over a huge quilt, covering him fully. In the end, he even helped Xian Sheng wear a huge hat, covering his head and ears. “You don’t need to dress up nicely. It’s not like you’re leaving the residence either.”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Xian Sheng laughed again.

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The doorstep of the Crown Prince’s residence was a bit high, and so were the walls. Zhan Lue didn’t take him out through the front door, but rather through the corridor of the backyard. The moment Xian Sheng looked out, he saw the blossoming plum flowers on the tree with heavy snow piled on top. The branches were pressed low, but the blossoming plum flowers were quite contrasting to the white snow.

He gasped as he looked at the heavy snow. He tested the waters and walked out of the corridor. He lifted his feet, but was pulled back by Zhan Lue. “The lake is beneath your feet. It’s just frozen right now. When the snow compresses it in a few days, you can ice skate on the surface of the frozen lake. It’s very interesting.” 

Xian Sheng imagined the scene and became delighted right then. “You’re talking about ice skating? I remember seeing this in a book. There would always be a soccer competition on the ice rinks in North Jin every year. Even the Jin Emperor would personally come to see the competition. During that day, the common people would crowd around a huge frozen lake and cheer for the participants. The winners would be rewarded heavily.”

“It seems like before the princess married over, you’ve done your research on this.”

Xian Sheng replied, “It’s not so I could marry you. I knew about North Jin’s customs beforehand already. At that time, I even imagined the scene and created a painting of it. However, it vanished.”

Zhan Lue softly smiled. “Someone stole it?” 

“I don’t know, but it was gone.” Xian Sheng said this before suddenly tugging on Zhan Lue. He said eagerly, “Then is it about time for the soccer competition?”

Zhan Lue glanced at the slender and fair hand on his sleeves. Xian Sheng was about to withdraw when Zhan Lue held his hands. The man covered his hands with his two hands. “It depends on whether there is a lot of snow or not. It has to fill three foot of the frozen lake. Otherwise, accidents can easily happen.”

“Have you attended the competition before?”

“I’m always the winner.” 

Xian Sheng admired and felt envious of him. “Then if there’s a competition this year, can I go check it out?”

Zhan Lue smiled before slowly moving over. He said in an attractive tone, “If I get something out of this, I’ll consider it.”

They were standing under the plum blossom tree. The low plum blossom branches were sitting above them. Xian Sheng looked at him through the brim of the hat, his heartbeat slightly increasing.

He knew what Zhan Lue meant. But he felt an uncrossable barrier in his heart when he thought of doing it. 

The snowflakes floated in the sky. Zhan Lue stared at him, unmoved and waited patiently. Xian Sheng pursed his lips and seemed to have made a decision. He slowly raised his chin and prepared to kiss him.

At this time, they heard a rustle and heavy snow on a plum blossom branch fall on top of Xian Sheng’s hat.

He suddenly snapped out of his trance and took two steps back, widening his eyes and he looked up.

Zhan Lue was unhappy with the sudden interruption. 

Xian Sheng maintained his pose of glancing at the plum blossoms. Under the awkward atmosphere, he tried finding a topic, “There’s a plum blossom branch blossoming by the corner of the wall alone in winter.”

Zhan Lue was speechless.

After a short silence, Xian Sheng tippy-toed to reach for the plum blossom branch. Zhan Lue walked over and asked, “What are you doing?’

Xian Sheng withdrew his hand. His heart was still pounding against his chest. He said stiffly, “I want…that branch.” 

Zhan Lue glanced at the tall branch. He took out the dagger by his waist and used it to press the branch down.

Xian Sheng broke the branch and Zhan Lue let go.

Their gazes met each other and Xian Sheng delivered the plum blossom branch to him. “…Can you accept this?”

Zhan Lue calmly took it. He held the plum blossom branch and looked down at it for a while before coldly looking at Xian Sheng, “No.”