Chapter 113: Building a Big Snowman

Qin Xiangnuan squeezed her eyes shut, preparing to silently endure the blow. But after a while, the imagined pain didn't even come. She quietly opened one eye, meeting Jiang Lin's deep gaze. Jiang Lin held her in his arms as the snowboard slammed heavily onto his head and back. The snowboard shattered and fell to the ground, sending a light, thin layer of snow scattering from the air, scattering granular snowflakes onto both of their heads and eyelashes.

It's a bit romantic.

Qin Xiangnuan thought to herself, her face flushing slightly as she quickly retracted the thought. She tried to take a half step back, to pull out of Jiang Lin's arms, but Jiang Lin tugged at her wrist. Inertia kicked in, and Qin Xiangnuan crashed directly into his arms. Boom boom—the two heartbeats, like drums, blended together, making it impossible to tell which was beating faster.

"There's snow." Jiang Lin's throat tightened and his voice became hoarse and low. He pinched the snowflakes on Qin Xiangnuan's eyelashes with his index finger and thumb, and handed it in front of Qin Xiangnuan, showing it to her as if as proof.

Qin Xiangnuan came back to her senses, raised the corners of her lips, and said stiffly, "Thank you, Prince."

"You little bastard, you dare to hit me! Come here! I'll bury you in the snow and teach you a lesson!" Qin Feng was frightened. After confirming that Qin Xiangnuan was not in danger and had not been hit by the snow, he turned around, rolled up his sleeves, and walked towards Qin Xiangsong aggressively. "Stand right there!"

Qin Xiangsong fled in a hurry, hid behind a pile of snow, and begged for mercy pitifully.

"Cousin, I am your brother too!" Qin Xiangsong repeatedly stated his identity, "Why don't you love me! I didn't mean to hit my big sister, I was just careless." Qin Xiangsong stared at Qin Xiangnuan with apology in his eyes, trying to get her to say a few words for him.

Qin Xiangnuan, however, was indifferent and just brushed off the snow on her body, watching the two children playing from the other side.

"How can you be compared with your cousin Nuannuan?" Qin Feng retorted bluntly, "Nuannuan is a weak woman who can't take care of herself. She's not in good health either. She can enjoy the thick snow, but if you hit her with your snowboard, won't she get sick?" He said firmly, with his hands on his hips, grabbing Qin Xiangsong's ears and repeatedly asking him, "But remember?"

It's not that fragile.

Qin Xiangnuan felt something was amiss as she listened to Qin Feng's description. In the Qin family's eyes, the original Third Young Miss seemed like a woman who couldn't be lifted or carried, a woman who would float away at the slightest breeze. It simply didn't fit her. If this change had been gradual, it would have been easy to accept. But now, in just a few days, she seemed like a completely different person. They must have harbored doubts, but hadn't raised them.

You should think of a reason and explain the matter away.

Qin Xiangnuan narrowed her eyes, lost in deep thought, but she didn't notice Jiang Lin watching her with a similar expression. Qin Feng pretended to slap Qin Xiangsong's butt, giving him a good lesson. Qin Xiangsong rubbed his eyes, looking pitifully at the snow pile in front of him, and asked Qin Xiangnuan, "Big sister, can I build a snowman?"

"Why don't you ask me?"

Qin Feng lowered his head and looked at the little guy running from his side towards Qin Xiangnuan.

Qin Xiangsong turned around, a look of "Don't you know?" in his eyes. Even a child who hadn't grown to waist height knew who was the boss of the Qin family.

"Okay, but you have to do it yourself."

Qin Xiangnuan stood by, looking at Qin Xiangsong's red hands and face from the cold, and took out a slightly thicker piece of cloth from her arms, wrapped all the fingers and palms of his hands to make a simple cotton glove, and raised her chin to signal him that he could go play.

In the capital, Qi treated Qin Xiangsong like she was holding him in her mouth for fear that he would melt, and holding him in her palm for fear that he would fall.

Let alone playing in the snow, even going out in winter was a rare and difficult task. It was his pampered upbringing that had turned Qin Xiangsong into this state. Qin Xiangnuan watched the little guy laboriously roll a snowball and roll it on the ground, a beaming smile on her face, the ice at the corners of her mouth melting a little.

——

The capital city, the residence of the seventh prince.

Kong Wu handed the information he had received to Gu Mingqi, then stood beside him with his head bowed. Gu Mingqi opened the letter and quickly scanned the text. He was so angry that he immediately stood up and swept away everything on the desk. The pen holder and inkstone fell to the ground with a clanging sound. The maids and servants in the room all knelt on the ground, not daring to look up, fearing that Gu Mingqi would discover them and kill them today.

"Jiang Lin actually ran into Qin Xiangnuan? Was this intentional or unintentional?"

Gu Mingqi sneered. He looked at the withered leaves of the trees in the courtyard. They had been lush and green in the summer, but now they were disgustingly ugly. "Someone, pull these trees out by the roots and throw them away! I don't want to see them again!" Gu Mingqi vented his anger on an insignificant object, staring back at Kong Wu and his staff. "Jiang Lin is just trying to go against me and take everything that belongs to me!"

"If it were in the past, I might have been a little worried if he was hanging out with those illiterate people in the General's Mansion. But now, Qin Guangdu has been demoted from a general to an exiled prisoner, and Jiang Lin is still trying to curry favor with him. I'm afraid he's not in his right mind!" Gu Mingqi tore up all the received letters and threw them into the brazier. Looking at the blazing flames, he frowned and said, "No, Qin Xiangnuan's hands..."

Maybe there is evidence of what he did! If Jiang Lin gets it, he will give it to his father.

Gu Mingqi's heart trembled, and he felt extremely annoyed.

"Seventh Prince, Madam has asked me to bring you some freshly made pear soup." A female voice rang out from outside the room. Gu Mingqi waved, signaling her to come in. A pretty maid knelt on the floor, handed him the food box, and said, her head bowed, unwilling to show her face, "This is a kind gift from Madam. It's her birthday today, and Madam has forbidden us to celebrate. I dare to mention this to the Seventh Prince. I beg your forgiveness."

Birthday? Gu Mingqi thought of the wife he had just married back home and narrowed his eyes.

"Lead the way, I'll go take a look." As Gu Mingqi walked out of the house, she glanced back at the maid kneeling on the ground. The brilliance in her eyes made her feel uncomfortable. In the side courtyard of the Seventh Prince's residence, only a few red candles were lit. A dignified and well-mannered woman was embroidering a handkerchief on the couch. When she heard footsteps and looked up, she happened to see Gu Mingqi enter. She put down her things, knelt on the ground respectfully, and said without fault, "I greet my husband."