Chapter 21: Good Friends, but Also a Liability

Jiang Shiyuan looked at the hand in front of her, the palm large, the fingers long and slender. For some reason, her heart skipped a beat.

“Thank you.”

Jiang Shiyuan didn’t dare to place her hand directly in his palm but instead placed it on his wrist, through the official robe.

With Pei Che’s support, Jiang Shiyuan stepped out from the bushes, then quickly withdrew her hand as if it had been burned.

Pei Che watched her pull back and step away thoughtfully.

“Do you want to go back to Zhuangxia Palace and freshen up?”

Jiang Shiyuan blushed, shook her head, and turned to walk a short distance away, turning her back to adjust her clothes. “No need, just a little adjustment.”

Two palace maids stepped forward to help, and Pei Che quietly waited by the side.

Xie Ruoruo stood in the bushes, rubbing her eyes vigorously.

“What the hell?! Why is Pei Taifu so gentle with Jiang Shiyuan? Why?!?” she muttered in disbelief.

“Does the princess not know? Yesterday, the old lady of the Pei family and Madam Pei entered the palace to meet Consort Jiang, and they were there to arrange a marriage between the two of them. Consort Jiang was so pleased she even gave the entire Zhuangxia Palace three months’ salary as a reward.”

The palace maid said enviously, unsure if the Ninth Princess would get such a reward for her engagement.

Probably not, since she wasn’t born to Consort Lan.

“What did you say?” Xie Ruoruo exclaimed in shock.

Jiang Shiyuan and Pei Taifu are engaged?!

Did she hear that right??

Xie Ruoruo’s eyes widened—

Damn it!

Jiang Shiyuan wasn’t joking.

She really didn’t like Shen Luchu anymore; she liked Pei Taifu!!

Wasn’t that obvious? Who would still care about the son of a marquis when they could marry Pei Taifu?

At the thought of this, Xie Ruoruo suddenly felt enraged. The two of them were already engaged, so what did she just do, shouting and making a fuss?

At that moment, Jiang Shiyuan had finished adjusting her appearance and turned back to Pei Che. “I’m ready.”

Her clothes were straightened, but the flush on her face didn’t diminish, still like a ripe peach in summer.

Pei Che nodded and gently said, “Then let’s go.”

Just as Jiang Shiyuan was about to take a step, she suddenly turned around and looked at Xie Ruoruo, who was still standing in the bushes, head lowered, holding onto the leaves of the shrubs, looking quite upset.

Jiang Shiyuan thought of something and turned to Pei Che. “Taifu, those East Pearls you gave me—can I dispose of them as I please?”

Pei Che was a bit confused but nodded. “Mm.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shiyuan took the jeweled box with the East Pearls from the maid, and then rushed over to Xie Ruoruo.

“Xie Ruoruo, I haven’t made many friends outside the palace these years, so you’re still my best friend.”

“We promised when we were little, we’d share good things together.”

“Here, I’ve just got a new box of East Pearls, and I’m giving you half.”

Jiang Shiyuan squatted down, took out a handkerchief, and counted out eighteen East Pearls from the box, wrapping them in the cloth and handing them to Xie Ruoruo.

Just like when they were children, sharing pastries, candies, and glass beads.

“Thirty-six pearls in total, I’m giving you eighteen—no more, no less.”

Xie Ruoruo stared at her, then at the shimmering pearls, before suddenly pouting and bursting into tears.

“Jiang Shiyuan! How useless are you, that you can’t even find a proper friend?!”

Xie Ruoruo reached into her sleeve and pulled out a colorful hairpin, identical to the one on Jiang Shiyuan’s head.

She wouldn’t tell her that she had been waiting for her on purpose, nor that she was angry because she had heard Jiang Shiyuan had entered the palace without coming to see her. So she said those irritating things on purpose.

Jiang Shiyuan looked at the hairpin in her hand, her nose tingling. She stepped forward and embraced Xie Ruoruo.

“You’re the same. You’re a princess, but you’ve been trampled on by a few county princesses! Coward!”

Although Xie Ruoruo was a spoiled, reckless little thing, she was also kind-hearted and generous. She always thought of sharing good things with her friends before enjoying them herself.

Taking the blame was just because no one protected her growing up, even palace maids would try to trip her up.

Xie Ruoruo didn’t mean any harm. She just didn’t expect that such a small mistake would stop Jiang Shiyuan from entering the palace again.

They’d both made small mistakes like this before.

“Hmph, I couldn’t be bothered to argue with them. If they really anger me, my slap is not to be taken lightly!” Xie Ruoruo sniffed, raised her hand, and inserted the hairpin into Jiang Shiyuan’s hair.

The once elegant and delicate woman suddenly became much more dazzling and radiant than before.

Xie Ruoruo’s eyes still glistened with tears as she suddenly scowled, “Damn it! How do you manage to look so good no matter what you wear?”

That’s just how Xie Ruoruo was—sharp-tongued.

Pei Taifu was still waiting by the side. Jiang Shiyuan stuffed the East Pearls into Xie Ruoruo’s hands. “Take care, I’m leaving.”

Xie Ruoruo wasn’t polite at all, taking the East Pearls, holding back her tears, and raising her chin to Jiang Shiyuan. “Jiang Shiyuan, I take back what I said earlier. It’s not that you’re not worthy of Shen Luchu, it’s that Shen Luchu isn’t worthy of you.”

Xie Ruoruo thought about how Princess Wenhe had treated Jiang Shiyuan like a joke yesterday, using her as a stepping stone to show off how outstanding Shen Luchu was, and she was seething with anger.

Jiang Shiyuan’s parents had died in battle for the country, their loyalty and noble souls, but in her eyes, they had become nothing but uncouth and worthless.

What kind of shallow, ignorant mother could raise such a child?

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Her best friend’s taste was so terrible—it was so embarrassing!

“Jiang Shiyuan, how could you like such a man? I heard you almost lost your life for him. In the coldest part of winter, just to see him for a moment and speak to him, you braved the snow to go to the Shen family’s villa, almost freezing to death in the mountains…”

Jiang Shiyuan felt her mind, which had just settled, explode again.

As she tried to stop the unstoppable Xie Ruoruo, she quietly looked over at Pei Taifu, who was a few steps away.

Even if the marriage between her and Pei Taifu was only a political arrangement with no feelings involved, no man would want to hear his fiancée profess her undying love for another man.

But Xie Ruoruo was completely oblivious. She brushed Jiang Shiyuan’s hand away and continued talking.

“Why are you covering my mouth? Am I lying? This isn’t the first time, is it? For Shen Luchu, you’ve done everything you shouldn’t, everything you should’ve, everything you could… Have you admitted it, Jiang Shiyuan?”

Xie Ruoruo was furious just thinking about how Princess Wenhe had treated Jiang Shiyuan like a joke yesterday.

“Enough,” Jiang Shiyuan whispered, feeling her regret building. Was it too late to break off their friendship now?

“Give me the East Pearls back.”

Jiang Shiyuan was out of breath.

Xie Ruoruo protectively held onto the pearls in her hands, her gaze catching the solemn figure of Pei Taifu in the distance.

“Why should I give them back…?”

Her voice abruptly cut off, and the world seemed to freeze.

The wind and rain ceased, and under the blazing sun, cold sweat began to drip down Xie Ruoruo’s forehead.

She glanced over again.

Not far away, Pei Taifu had turned back into the stern figure she was familiar with—cold and unapproachable, his eyes piercing as though warning her.

A sense of fear rose in Xie Ruoruo’s heart. She glanced at Jiang Shiyuan apologetically, then flashed a flattering smile.

“Good sister, you and Pei Taifu are a perfect match—truly a match made in heaven. I wish you both a long and happy marriage, with many children.”

With that, Xie Ruoruo quickly pocketed the East Pearls and ran off.

She had escaped, but the mess she made still remained.

Jiang Shiyuan turned toward Pei Taifu, whose expression remained unchanged. They exchanged a brief glance before he turned and spoke. “Let’s go. I’ll see you out of the palace.”