When Zhao Cheng and Song Jia came out of the bedroom, their clothes were neat and tidy, their appearance noble and dignified.
Only...Minglan and Ruolan tried to avoid looking at the red mark on wang ye's face. It could be seen in an instant that wang fei's foot was small and exquisite, the type of foot most ladies in the capital would have to resort to foot binding to achieve.
But...of all places, why does it have to be admired on wang ye's face, ah...
Zhao Cheng's expression couldn't even be described as ugly anymore. He stabbed at his braised chicken with a sulking glare, as if the chicken had greatly wronged him.
Song Jia knew that it was her fault, so she sided close to him and coaxed, "Wang ye, why don't we drink plum wine in the garden today during sunset? Qie will play you a song on the guqin~"
Zhao Cheng was sorely tempted, but the food on the ebony table reminded him that he had not 'eaten'. He swung his head to the other side with a disdainful "Hmph."
"Wang ye, why don't you forgive qie just this once~" Song Jia rubbed her cheeks against his arm like a kitten, her eyelashes fluttering.
Actually, Zhao Cheng was not really angry at her. It was true that he was frustrated because of unfulfilled needs, but...he looked down at her 'apologetic' face as his lips twitched into a goofy smile. He finally let go of his chopsticks to stroke her head, "How should benwang reprimand Jia'er?"
Song Jia wrinkled her nose. She already lowered herself to apologize to him, but she still had to be reprimanded? He obviously doesn't know how to take the goodwill of people!
"Wang ye, qie was just doing it for the sake of wang ye's body, afraid you will get sick from exhaustion. Qie's concern for wang ye, does it need to be repaid with wang ye's scolding?" She bit her lip and gazed at him with woeful eyes.
Zhao Cheng parted her lips with his thumb, and gently kissed the lower lip that she had bitten with her teeth. "Whether I'm exhausted or not, Jia'er will know by this evening."
His voice was deep and rough, and when he looked at her, it was similar to how a hunter viewed his prey. Song Jia shrank back a bit from his intense gaze.
"Wang ye, qie actually isn't feeling very well..." The words were not yet finished when Zhao Cheng picked up a piece of braised chicken with his chopsticks and stuffed it into her mouth.
"This husband knows," There was a sort of ambiguous tone in his voice, "that my wife is very healthy."
His hand shamelessly patted her plump bottom, before Song Jia wriggled away. "Wang ye, qie really isn't feeling well, if wang ye has some needs to be satisfied, qie can find other 'healthy' girls to enter the wangfu and serve wang ye."
After all, even the fourth prince who was the youngest among the imperial princes, had thirty concubines in his estate. It didn't seem right for the future emperor to only have one concubine in his inner yard. And because Bai Mei Lien was pregnant, she couldn't serve him. Thinking about this, Song Jia thought that it would indeed be troublesome if Zhao Cheng still didn't have a son when he becomes an Emperor in the future.
During ancient times, Song Jia knew that the main justification for polygamy was to ensure male offspring, who were essential for passing on the throne. Polygamy was the rule rather than the exception in royal courts throughout the world.
In Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Arabia, Persia, Egypt and other ancient biblical kingdoms, a ruler with many wives could be commonly seen. It was so that they could have as many heirs as possible, to continue the family bloodline and pass on the legacy of their ancestors. This was why the first prince was so frustrated that all of his children were born daughters. A future monarch had to have many sons.
And it still wasn't certain if Bai Mei Lien's child was a boy...
Although in the 23rd century, the future could be predicted, it was based on a probability. There were a lot of room for errors, especially if the event was specified. For example, they could predict general events like the apocalypse of a certain world, the person needed to save it, and various other factors. But they couldn't predict the exact date and time of the apocalypse, the number of years that it would take to save it, and whether it would stay completely safe in the future. Song Jia had only been given a general outline when she received her mission and transmigrated. So about the events that would come in the future, she was not omnipotent and did not know much about it.
Song Jia also couldn't depend on the memories she had acquired from Li Jia. There was a constant butterfly effect going around with every little change that happened since she transmigrated into this world. Also, Li Jia had caused Bai Mei Lien's first child to die from a miscarriage...so whether it was a boy or a girl was still yet to be seen. It was really troublesome.
"Jia'er doesn't like benwang's touch and wants to recommend other girls to benwang?"
Song Jia, who was lost in her thoughts, did not hear the coldness in Zhao Cheng's tone, along with his change of informal address from 'I' to 'this prince'. So she unconsciously shook her head, "No, I can't serve you because we'll soon divorce."
She even forgot to call herself 'qie'.
It was only when she felt her chin being grabbed and she saw the hidden turmoil in his eyes did Song Jia thoroughly woke up. His grip on her chin was starting to become painful, but he didn't give any signs of letting her go.
"Jia'er is very much looking forward to divorce benwang? Is it because Jia'er wants to be with Wen Heng Zhi?"
The bitter words seemed almost as if they were pushed out of him. Song Jia stared at him with wide eyes, stunned. Did he found out her plan?
At Song Jia's silence, Zhao Cheng's insides gradually began to boil. His fingers tightened around her chin, until Song Jia cried out in pain. Only then did he loosen his hold and clutched her hand instead.
Song Jia winced. His grip was still painful. "Wang ye, why don't we go out in the garden and talk?"
Seeing that there was something wrong with him, Song Jia was determined to find out the reason behind it. The physical health of the future monarch was important, but his psychological health was important too! Song Jia could not let anything happen to Zhao Cheng. Her salary...no, the safety of this world depends upon it!
Zhao Cheng continued to hold Song Jia's hand in a tight grip as they went out of the zhengfang and into the garden pavilion. He could not relax his grip, because he was afraid, he was afraid that if he did not use force...she would find out that his hand was trembling.
If Zhao Cheng had read Song Jia's female magazines, he would definitely know the reason for his weird behavior.
After all, one of the ten obvious signs that a boy likes a girl is when...he tries to act cool in front of her.