Ling Siran's throat bobbed, and he opened his mouth, only to find that his throat was too dry to make a sound.

He could smell the cool, refreshing fragrance emanating from her, a stark contrast to her current crimson and gorgeous robes, which strangely suppressed the restlessness in his heart.

"Your Highness... Your Highness is well."

Ling Siran finally found his voice, low and hoarse, with a barely perceptible sob.

He wanted to bow, but Zi Xi gently pressed his arm down with her fan.

"No need."

"It seems my timing is unfortunate, and I have disturbed Young Master Ling's refined pleasure?"

Zi Xi raised an eyebrow, her gaze sweeping over his slightly wrinkled collar and somewhat disheveled hair. Her phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, her tone revealing neither joy nor anger.

These words were clearly a joke, and Ling Siran's face instantly turned red, not from shame or indignation, but from embarrassment.

"No, Your Highness, I..."

He instinctively tried to explain.

"Alright, a few flies buzzing around, just swat them away, why bother with them?"

Zi Xi interrupted him, waving her fan in front of him, her tone casual.

She spoke casually, as if the bullying she had just inflicted on him was nothing more than a trivial incident.

Ling Siran stared at her blankly.

Her Highness stood before him, tall for a woman, yet she still had to tilt her head slightly to meet his gaze.

But the prince's domineering and composed aura seemed to envelop him under her wings.

An unprecedented emotion quietly crept into his heart.

It was a feeling that even he himself dared not delve into.

Zi Xi looked at his dazed expression. Those eyes that always carried a hint of aloofness were now filled with a mischievous glint in her eyes because of his embarrassed look.

"Hey, Ling Siran."

"They all say that I was blind to choose you, that I gave up on myself."

"Then what do you think... is my judgment good or bad?"

Zi Xi suddenly took a step closer, almost able to count his thick, curled eyelashes, lowered her voice, and asked with a seductive smile in a volume that only the two of them could hear.

The echo of Zi Xi's shout to get lost still lingered, its oppressive force causing Liu Rufeng and the others to cower and retreat to the side, not daring to utter a sound.

However, the malice and resentment of young people are not always completely extinguished by fear; instead, they are distorted and deformed by repression.

After a brief silence, Liu Rufeng suppressed his fear and his gaze darted back and forth between Zi Xi's flamboyant crimson brocade robe and Ling Siran's taut, tall figure.

A surge of anger, a mixture of jealousy and humiliation, suddenly erupted within him.

Liu Rufeng dared not directly target Ling Siran anymore, but instead subtly turned his attention to Zi Xi, who had intervened.

"Hey, some people have such terrible reputations, yet they still have the nerve to meddle in other people's business?"

"Could it be that birds of a feather flock together, and you feel particularly safe when you're with certain 'special' people?"

He nudged the blue-clad young man beside him with his elbow. The sound wasn't loud, but it was loud enough for everyone present to hear clearly, carrying a feigned naive malice.

“Brother Liu is right! One is a good-for-nothing who has been thoroughly tainted by wine and women, and the other is an ugly and shrewish husband that you can’t find another like him in the entire Phoenix Kingdom.”

"Looking at it this way, it really is... a match made in heaven, a perfect fit! Hahaha!"

The young man in blue immediately understood and chuckled in a low, affected voice.

"That's right! An ugly man paired with a good-for-nothing, neither of them should look down on the other!"

"One can't have children, and the other only knows how to have fun—a perfect match!"

Suppressed, malicious laughter murmured from the corner.

They dared not look directly at Zi Xi, only glancing at her out of the corner of their eyes, venting their dissatisfaction at being intimidated earlier through this veiled insult.