Chapter 675: Chapter 675: Heart-Piercing Pain “Silver-tongued,” Ye Yiheng commented without expression, his thin lips parting lightly. “She finds there are too many bamboo baskets here, inconvenient for her to come over.” Hearing this, Leng Yu Yan maintained her smile, releasing the two fingers that pinched the peach flesh. The peach flesh immediately fell to the ground, swallowed up by the silver-gray. That Princess of the Nandian believed her drying of the peach flesh to be a rustic act, just this point alone made her disinclined to come over… Not to mention the faint irritation smoldering in her heart. Song Guo hurriedly interjected, “Your Highness, Crown Prince, I didn’t make myself clear just now. I only told the Crown Princess Consort that Your Highness, along with Princess Wen Yi and the Eighth Prince, had arrived.” Immediately after, he spoke to Leng Yu Yan, “Crown Princess Consort, such good peach flesh to be ‘dropped,’ isn’t that a pity?” Into his belly would have been much better! Leng Yu Yan grabbed a handful and placed it into Song Guo’s palm: “Here, you eat it.” Song Guo completely forgot about the stern-faced Ye Yiheng beside him, and smilingly ate a piece: “Why is this so delicious?” He had eaten plenty of preserved fruit and jerked meat, but never tasted anything quite . “Now that you’ve eaten, help me collect the dried peaches.” Leng Yu Yan no longer paid attention to a certain someone and started to gather the peach flesh herself. Song Guo stealthily glanced at Ye Yiheng, then tucked the horsetail whisk behind his waist and began helping Leng Yu Yan transfer the peach flesh from the bamboo tray into jars. Leng Yu Yan, with the corner of her eyes, kept watch over the grim-faced one, her movements brushing off the peach flesh growing a bit forceful. Accidentally, the pointed spikes on the bamboo tray pricked into her fingertip. Leng Yu Yan pinched her fingertip, a bright and shiny bamboo splinter deeply embedded in her flesh, pain making her eyes water. Xiaoshan, Miao Zhu, and the four named for Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter hurriedly crowded around her, but it seemed as if Ye Yiheng was on the sidelines. He actually had seen the bamboo splinter on her fingertip, but for some reason, his legs felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, and he couldn’t raise them even a fraction. Miao Zhu frowned: “Oh, just looking at it feels incredibly painful!” Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter clamored to help. Leng Yu Yan closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, pulling out the splinter. Yet the pain caused her to sharply inhale, her whole arm trembling slightly. Song Guo was extremely distressed: “It’s my fault; how did I not notice that splinter?” Leng Yu Yan pinched her fingertip, still feeling pain furrow her brow. Dong Yan, attentive to detail, saw her expression and quickly asked: “What’s wrong?” “A small spike from the splinter remained in the flesh.” Leng Yu Yan tightened her grasp on her fingertip. “Everyone continue collecting the peach flesh; be more careful.” With that, she left for the bedroom in the Eastern Palace. Chun Liu said, “The Crown Princess Consort injured her right hand; it’s inconvenient for her to attend to it herself. Dong Yan, you go help; we will continue collecting the peach flesh.” Dong Yan nodded, hurrying after Leng Yu Yan’s steps. Ye Yiheng then remembered what Lai Ran had said, mentioning that even a thorn from a flower stem pricking her hand could bring tears to her eyes. This time she had been pricked by a bamboo point, which had many more thorns than a flower stem, and it must be much more painful for her. With this thought, Ye Yiheng finally moved toward the bedroom. Inside the room, Dong Yan picked up a small pair of tweezers. “Commandery Princess, this maid will lift the skin around your fingertip a bit, so we can better remove the small thorn inside. You’ll have to endure it!” Leng Yu Yan nodded and handed over her finger: “Please, quickly remove it. It’s throbbing painfully being stuck in the flesh.” It seemed to ache all the way to the heart. Dong Yan murmured, “Isn’t that the truth? The fingers are connected to the heart.” Hearing this, Leng Yu Yan pursed her lips and closed her eyes, lest Dong Yan detect and worry about any emotion that might surface. Dong Yan used the tweezers to gently tease apart a bit of skin and flesh, but the splinter was too deep, leaving her no choice but to squeeze forcefully, causing Leng Yu Yan’s brows to furrow tightly with pain. “Commandery Princess, I’m sorry, I’m incompetent and can only do this,” she said apologetically. “It’s alright, do it your way,” Leng Yu Yan replied, her eyes closed, biting slightly on the inner flesh of her lip. This update ıs available on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⟡𝕗𝗂𝗋𝖾⟡𝕟𝕖𝕥 Dong Yan peeled back the tiny flap of skin on the tip of Leng Yu Yan’s finger and finally located a thin, sharp sliver, which she clamped with the tweezers and carefully yet quickly extracted. “It’s out, Commandery Princess, does it still hurt?” Leng Yu Yan moved her lips into a slight smile, shaking her head, “It doesn’t hurt anymore.” “It still hurts, I know it does,” Dong Yan said tearfully. “It’s not like you haven’t been pricked before, how many times you’ve been pricked by sharp spikes on herbs at Linqing Pavilion, and the Pavilion Master cried. Why are you enduring it today?” Dong Yan had reverted her address for Leng Yu Yan from “Commandery Princess” back to “Pavilion Master.” Unlike Miao Zhu, their group of four were the Four Guardians of Linqing Pavilion, while Miao Zhu had been a servant by Leng Yu Yan’s side since childhood. For them, the title of Pavilion Master was closer than Commandery Princess, and certainly, Commandery Princess was closer than Crown Princess Consort. Therefore, in private or when advocating for Leng Yu Yan’s status as Commandery Princess, they would all address her as such. And now, calling her Pavilion Master, what sort of affection and expectation did that convey? She knew the Pavilion Master yearned for freedom, yearned for the unrestrained liberty of Linqing Pavilion, a desire to follow her own wishes freely! At Linqing Pavilion, she was the highest authority, and even if the Tian Family’s royalty or sons of noble families sought medical treatment, they had to wait upon her whims. Unlike the Eastern Palace, where she had to ingratiate herself with the Crown Prince, not wanting to meet some bothersome princess, and yet had to endure the Crown Prince’s cold demeanor? Leng Yu Yan smiled gently, shaking her head, “I really am fine; I just don’t want to be accused of being delicate.” Dong Yan was about to say let’s return to Linqing Pavilion when she caught sight of Ye Yiheng, who had already been standing at the doorway for some time. She gave Leng Yu Yan an expressive look and changed her words, “Crown Princess Consort, I will go gather the peach flesh.” “Alright, go ahead,” Leng Yu Yan understood the cue and gently pinched her fingertips. After Dong Yan left the bedroom, Ye Yiheng stepped in slowly: “I was mistaken about you just now, Song Guo misunderstood my intentions.” Leng Yu Yan blinked back the tears that were about to well up and said with a shallow smile, “It’s okay.” “Are you upset with me?” Ye Yiheng removed his eye veil and closely scrutinized the expression in her eyes. Leng Yu Yan smiled again, “Why would I be? I thought I should be grateful that Your Highness didn’t come to reprimand me.” “The princess from Nandian, as the Eighth Prince puts it, is the Imperial Princess recognized by the Nandian Court. Such a lofty status, it’s only reasonable that she would scorn my rustic ways,” Leng Yu Yan spoke with downcast eyes to hide her true feelings, and slowly continued, “I am Your Highness’s Crown Princess Consort, and both emotionally and rationally, I should have greeted her proactively. I fail to do so earlier and that was my mistake.” While speaking, Leng Yu Yan rose from her chair and gave a curtsey to Ye Yiheng: “Please don’t take offense, Your Highness!” Ye Yiheng’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly. Since yesterday he had been unable to read her, and now, it was even more so. She was clearly smiling at him, yet he felt a tangible sense of distance. He took two steps toward her and grasped her hand, pulling her up: “Yanyan, what’s really wrong?” “Nothing really,” Leng Yu Yan smiled, “The Princess of Nandian looked down upon my country manners, are you also looking down on me? But, I made the peach dried fruit for Your Highness to eat, and you wouldn’t eat it just now.” He was still holding her hand now, squeezing the injured spot painfully… So painfully that her clear tears brimmed and her eyes became pools of shimmering water. Smiling through tears, a sight of pear blossoms bathed in rain, unique to her alone; it pained Ye Yiheng’s heart, and he quickly pulled her into an embrace.