ASTRP -Chapter 63 Feng Jingge Gets Tricked by the Prince

Feng Jingge froze for a moment. She hadn’t expected Xiao Jinghan to prepare all of this.

“Alright.”

After responding, Feng Jingge picked up a walnut from the snack plate and gently squeezed it in her palm.

With a crisp “crack,” the shell split open.

She took out the kernel and, without thinking, handed the first one to Xiao Jinghan. Before she could even speak, he said in a rather disgusted tone:

“This King doesn’t like eating these. You can have them yourself.”

He doesn’t like them?

Then why prepare them?

He’s definitely just being polite…

Forget it—politeness won’t fill her stomach.

Let him be.

Soon, Ning An came back with pan-fried buns, wrapped in layers of oiled paper. The moment it was opened, the aroma filled the air.

The smell immediately stirred Feng Jingge’s appetite again—everything she had eaten earlier suddenly felt useless.

She reached out to grab one, but Xiao Jinghan’s voice stopped her.

“Wait.”

She looked up in confusion.

He didn’t know where he produced a pair of chopsticks from. After rinsing them carefully in hot water from a teapot, he handed them to her.

“Your hands are dirty. Use chopsticks.”

Feng Jingge was speechless. She accepted them and thanked him, then picked up a bun and instinctively brought it to her mouth.

Halfway there, she noticed Xiao Jinghan staring straight at the bun.

She paused, then turned and offered it to his lips.

“You eat the first one, Your Highness.”

He looked at her, then took a bite.

A large half of the bun remained on the chopsticks.

Naturally, Feng Jingge wouldn’t eat something he had bitten. So she waited.

Xiao Jinghan slowly finished it in three bites—elegant beyond belief.

Feng Jingge, however, had no such elegance. She devoured hers in one bite per bun.

Xiao Jinghan frowned slightly, worried she might choke.

“Eat slowly. This King won’t steal from you.”

Feng Jingge: “……”

She wasn’t afraid of him stealing.

She was afraid that if she ate too slowly, the buns would get cold.

After eating and drinking her fill, Feng Jingge lazily lay down on the soft couch, planning to nap happily and wake up at the destination—then go soak in the hot springs.

But just as she lay down, Xiao Jinghan said: “This King has a letter. Read it.”

“What letter?” she asked, half-opening her eyes.

“About the Empress Dowager…”

Feng Jingge immediately complained, “Seriously, Your Highness? We’re out for leisure and you still bring official matters? How can anyone relax like this?”

Reluctantly, she sat up and took the letter.

But the moment she unfolded it, her expression changed sharply.

The further she read, the more tense she became. Anger gathered in her eyes.

After finishing, she slapped the letter onto the small table.

“That Empress Dowager never knows how to stay quiet!”

“Children were just playing—it would’ve passed quickly.”

“But she had to interfere and beat those kids.”

“With punishment boards.”

“The oldest is only nine years old! A few strikes and their backsides would be ruined!”

Feng Jingge grew increasingly angry, even thinking about turning back to the capital to confront the Empress Dowager.

According to the letter, after she left South Upper Hall, the Empress Dowager entered and saw the young emperor beaten black and blue.

Upon learning the truth, she flew into a rage and ordered the children who had hit the emperor to be arrested and given five heavy board strikes.

This caused serious injuries to the children and would surely anger the court officials.

Worse, those children would no longer dare to serve as companions to the young emperor.

Xiao Jinghan watched Feng Jingge’s changing expression calmly.

Then he raised a brow and took out another sheet of paper from his robe.

“Look at this one too.”

Feng Jingge: ???

She froze, then took it.

After reading it, her anger paused.

Then visibly faded away.

She put the paper down and looked at him.

“Your Highness, next time please take out both letters at once. Otherwise I might actually die of anger.”

Just then, Xiao Jinghan took out yet another sheet.

Under her stunned gaze, he said calmly:

“There is still one more.”

Feng Jingge: “???”

At that moment, murderous intent toward him briefly rose in her heart.

“Your Highness, is it fun to mess with me?”

Xiao Jinghan smiled faintly.

“Do I look like I’m messing with you?”

Feng Jingge gritted her teeth.

“You’re practically writing ‘I’m messing with you’ on your face!”

He said nothing more.

By now, the carriage had traveled for over an hour and a half and finally arrived.

Feng Jingge lifted the curtain—an estate came into view.

She jumped down immediately, ready to go soak in the hot springs.

But Xiao Jinghan grabbed her.

He said he would take her somewhere with mountains, water, and good food.

At the mention of food, Feng Jingge happily followed.

They stopped by a lakeside.

Qing Shan suddenly turned into a porter, unloading items: folding stools, bait, fishing rods, fishing line…

Feng Jingge looked completely confused and turned to Xiao Jinghan.

“Your Highness, didn’t you say we were going to see mountains, water, and eat good food? Where is all this—”

He pointed at the mountain.

“There is a mountain.”

Then at the lake.

“There is water.”

“And the good food?”

He replied calmly:

“In the water.”

Feng Jingge sneered.

“So after all this trouble, you tricked me into coming here just to—”

Xiao Jinghan asked calmly:

“When did I ever say I was lying to you?”

She opened her mouth, then stopped.

Thinking back… he hadn’t explicitly lied.

Only she had been too naive.

“I’m going back to the hot springs.”

Fishing?

She had no patience for that.

Xiao Jinghan replied lightly:

“Mm.”

Her eyes lit up.

“You agree?”

“Mm.”

Without hesitation, she turned to leave.

But then his voice came from behind: “We only brought clothes. No food.”

She paused.

“Whether we starve tonight depends on whether the fish bite.”

Feng Jingge sighed and sat back down beside him.

Looking at the surrounding mountains, she resigned herself.

“Your Highness… there must be wild rabbits, chickens, and mushrooms in the mountains, right?”

He flicked the fishing line.

“What are you trying to say?”

“Why don’t we go hunting instead? Let Qing Shan or Ning An handle the fishing. We go into the mountains—how about it?”