Hm? There was no reaction even after a long while. There was nothing in front of them!
Don’t mention a ferocious beast, not even a tiny bird was to be seen flying overhead…
Inside the garden, the wintersweet was still in full bloom and the pines and cypresses were evergreen, but because it was too cold, all the creatures had holed themselves up inside their small burrows.
Wahhh! Failed again!
Qiao Mu hurled that ebony talisman into the snow, but she still wasn’t appeased and stomped on it twice before running into the crown prince’s arms in a huff.
“Ey, Miss, the runes on this talisman have lost their color!” Shaoyao ran up to pick up the ebony talisman in the snow, waving it in her hand.
When Miss took out the talisman at the beginning, the ebony had clearly been engraved with mystifying blue runes, yet the blue rune imprints had now disappeared from it, only leaving behind several faint grayish-brown rune grooves.
“That’s right! That means the talisman was successfully activated!” But nothing was summoned, just like before! She simply couldn’t summon anything!
Qiao Mu was awfully ticked off, and her small hand randomly clutched at the crown prince’s long hair that fell before her eyes. She puffed out her cheeks moodily and griped, “Leaving, leaving now.”
The crown prince couldn’t help but laugh, and he grasped her small hand while turning around to walk back towards the bedchamber. “Qiaoqiao, don’t be anxious. Not being able to summon anything now doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to summon anything in the future. You’re still young, and the fact that you summoned out Qingluan as an intermediate-level talisman practitioner doesn’t particularly accord with the laws after all, right.”
Qiao Mu merely pursed her lips noncommittally.
“Caw!” The weak chicken put in its two cents as it ruffled its feathers, smugly thrusting out its chest with its head held up high.
“Forget it, you can’t be too demanding when it comes to these things.” The little fellow listlessly dropped her head.
“Qiaoqiao, I’ve returned that batch of medical books from last time. I also brought you back several books that are each its only extant copy. Do you want to go back and take a look?”
“Okay!” Qiao Mu’s footsteps halted slightly before she raised her head at him and asked, “The old royal physician is willing to lend such precious medical books like only extant copies to you?”
Of course he wasn’t willing! But what was the point of refusing? Hmph!
“Cough.” The crown prince put his fist to his mouth and coughed lightly, and Huifeng immediately said, “Crown Prince Consort, please rest assured. His Highness the Crown Prince didn’t seize nor steal them but talked it over with the old royal physician to take a look. Furthermore, Your Highness is also quick at reading, so we’ll be able to return them soon. The old royal physicians are all extremely reassured and even fought to send them over to Your Highness.” As if!
“That’s good then.” Qiao Mu nodded. “Your father has an incredible number of consorts in the three palaces and six courts, and the bunch of grandpas have to do routine checkups on the consorts in each palace and court even at their advanced age. It’s quite hard on them, so don’t bully them for no reason!”
The crown prince gave a grunt and lightly coughed twice with a serious expression. It was impossible to perceive that the heart of a small fiend was hiding underneath his gentle and warm exterior…
Alas, Royal Physician Cao cried today…
He couldn’t let his darling know that he bullied the royal physicians. Mhm, he’d send a gift to Royal Physician Cao tomorrow to console him.
Not long after the group of people left, the snowy ground that Qiao Mu was originally standing on suddenly shifted, and a small snow mound popped up.
Darling Qiao passed this day extremely leisurely. She read for half the day, but she would also occasionally be entranced by the serious expression the crown prince wore while evaluating memorials.
After dinner, the crown prince silently took the cloak that the royal maid handed over and pitifully glanced at Qiao Mu. After saying, “I’m going now, Qiaoqiao,” he shuffled at a turtle pace outside into the cold winds and snowy ground, his back silhouette lonesome and pitiful.
After glancing outside at the snowstorm that didn’t show any signs of weakening, Qiao Mu suddenly said, “H-How about, staying here to sleep?”
——