"Besides her?"

Princess Chunhui looked puzzled, letting Bai Shao straighten her clothes. To her, no matter how many people came and went in her life, none could compare to Bai Shao, who always understood and resonated with her.

Bai Shao smiled slightly, smoothed out the yellow hem of Princess Chunhui's dress, and said in a seductive voice, "Princess, you don't need to worry about such things. Just come here to relax today."

After saying that, she looked at the palace maid who was squatting down to tidy up, her gaze darkening as if she were thinking about something.

To the left of the long corridor of Liufang Pavilion is the courtyard where the young master rests. To go out or to come to the young lady's courtyard, one must walk through this long corridor.

When Fu Yunning returned, the corridor was no longer visible. Only the still-dry water stains underfoot indicated that someone had been there. She walked into the courtyard and casually looked around before finding a quiet place to enjoy tea with her maid.

The platform stretched almost from the courtyard gate to the corridor, parallel to both sides of the side rooms. Against the wall, to the left of the courtyard entrance, hung a row of ivy; on that side was a specially excavated small lake, though in this world, the lake was only clear.

Li Shiyue looked up and met Fu Yunning's gaze instantly. It was just a fleeting moment. As soon as she looked up and met Fu Yunning's eyes, she hesitated whether to greet him or not, but Fu Yunning casually looked away first.

Li Shiyue looked away thoughtfully, but before she knew it, Qin Wanyin was pulling her outside.

Where are we going?

Qin Wanyin suppressed a laugh: "I can't sit still anymore, Yan Yan, come walk with me, it's around here."

She's always been lively and active, so it's perfectly normal that she can't sit still.

Li Shiyue simply followed her along the corridor. The small lake in the courtyard was connected to Bixin Lake under the corridor, but there were more red carp here, as well as extremely rare black carp.

Qin Wanyin pulled Li Shiyue to a stop in the corridor ahead. She had been hiding something in her hand and refused to show it.

Seeing that no one was around, and with a perfectly intact piece of pastry in her hand, she broke it into pieces and threw them into the lake.

"I was itching to get my hands on them when I came here today. The ones I raise at home are plump and fat, but the ones in Bixin Lake are too skinny."

Li Shiyue felt somewhat helpless. According to her understanding, the Qin family was now headed by Grand Tutor Qin, and several Grand Tutors had been produced online. Almost all of them were scholars and gentlemen, and most of them were Grand Secretaries in the court. They left others with a stereotypical and pedantic impression.

Qin Wanyin's lively and active personality makes one wonder if she is truly a member of the Qin family.

There were no balustrades in the corridor; the railings on both sides were only strong enough to support the weight of a person leaning against. Li Shiyue lowered her eyes and fiddled with her fingers.

The ground was paved with wooden planks, so even if you walked very quietly, your footsteps would be easily heard. So when she heard the slight, chaotic footsteps, Li Shiyue had already looked up.

However, she wished she were invisible to the two people who approached, and even wanted to turn around and jump into the lake.

Xu Yunyang had one hand behind his back and the other in front of him, with a jade-green thumb ring on his thumb. Beside him was the Prince of Yan, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

Wearing an indigo brocade robe with gold python patterns, he saw Li Shiyue before Xu Yunyang, raised his eyebrows slightly, and looked at Li Shiyue meaningfully.

"I hope you are well, Princess of Yichang."

Xu Yunyang was slightly taken aback before turning around and seeing Li Shiyue standing by the railing, along with another woman.

He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Li Shiyue with a hint of ferocious danger in his gaze, and even the smile on his lips was somewhat unsettling.

"It's already noon. It's the county princess's birthday banquet today. So she's hiding here to enjoy some leisure." Prince Yan didn't notice the change in Xu Yunyang's gaze beside him. Looking at Li Shiyue's face, he suddenly felt that what he had been so persistent about before wasn't so important anymore.

Li Shiyue is not the only noblewoman in the capital, and he doesn't need to pester a young girl in the current situation.

Qin Wanyin straightened up, her hands now covered in pastries. Seeing the unfriendly looks from her two husbands, she looked at Li Shiyue with some concern.

She hadn't spoken yet, but unexpectedly, the Prince of Yan suddenly looked at her and said, "You must be Miss Qin. I wonder how Grand Tutor Qin is doing? I'm very worried about him."

In the blink of an eye, Li Shiyue turned to the side, shielding Qin Wanyin from view, and smiled slightly as she looked at the Prince of Yan: "Miss Qin is a guest from Yichang today, and we will be accompanying her to enjoy the garden, so she will not be able to accompany Your Highness and Lord Xu."

Without waiting for Qin Wanyin to react, she pulled her forward, since the two young men had already blocked the corridor with only a small gap, and they couldn't possibly pass through.

Rather than giving them the opportunity to contact each other, it's better for them to leave as soon as possible.

Seeing that there was an exit in the corridor ahead, Li Shiyue grabbed Qin Wanyin's wrist and turned out, only to bump into a maid who was coming towards her. The hand warmer that the maid was holding fell onto Li Shiyue, and the freshly filled hot water inside was poured directly onto her skirt.

Instantly, the hem of her skirt was soaked with water stains, and steam was rising from it.

The maidservant, realizing she had done wrong, quickly admitted, "This servant deserves to die, please forgive me, Your Highness."

"Are you blind? This is hot water! Yan Yan, are you burned?" Qin Wanyin looked worried, staring at the steaming water stains on Li Shiyue's skirt, unsure of where to begin.

She had heard that skin is extremely delicate, and if it gets burned, it can easily peel off and cause a lot of pain.

"It was my fault. I was in a hurry to change my young lady's hand warmer and offended the county magistrate without realizing it. Please forgive me, county magistrate."

Just as Li Shiyue was about to speak, she looked up and saw that although the maid was kneeling and begging for forgiveness, her eyes were secretly staring at her. When she caught her, the maid quickly lowered her head, her eyes subconsciously looking to the lower right, and her hands clenched tightly due to nervousness.

She saw this and sneered inwardly, but on the surface she merely frowned and said, "Fine, you should be more careful in your actions. I'll let you off today."

The maidservant hurriedly kowtowed, picked up the hand warmer scattered on the ground, searched for a long time, found the lid on Li Shiyue's side, and quickly got up and ran away.

"Hey—!"

Before Qin Wanyin could finish speaking, Li Shiyue stopped her, puzzled: "She's obviously doing this on purpose, yet you let her go."

Li Shiyue looked at the water stains on her skirt. Fortunately, the pants underneath were thick enough that her legs wouldn't be scalded.

The faint dampness on my thighs wasn't a pleasant sensation.