Chapter 21 You'll Laugh

Chapter Twenty-One

Shen Panyan was a diligent student, and Lin Xiao was a very responsible teacher.

His voice was slow and gentle. Even though Shen Panyan was sitting right next to him, he always remembered the rules and only gave instructions without actually doing anything.

The process of breaking the cigarette was fraught with difficulties, and the final result was not very good.

She looked at the hibiscus in her hand with a hint of dejection.

Lin Xiao praised, "The princess folded them very beautifully."

Shen Panyan blushed slightly at his praise, "Is it really beautiful?"

"Princess, it's already quite impressive that you were able to fold it this well on your first try." His voice sounded sincere, and his eyes were serious. Shen Panyan looked at the hibiscus she had folded and felt that it didn't seem so bad after all, and her eyes immediately crinkled with laughter.

She took another piece of paper and folded another hibiscus flower.

This time, she folded it carefully, and it was much better than the previous one.

She reached out and handed the hibiscus flower she had folded to Lin Xiao.

"This is for you."

Lin Xiao froze on the spot.

"It's for you!"

"Why aren't you answering?" Seeing that he wasn't answering, Shen Panyan got a little angry and huffed, "Do you think my folding is ugly?"

"No......"

"If you don't have it, then take it!"

Lin Xiao then reached out and took it.

Shen Panyan laughed, "You gave me a little rabbit, I'll give you a lotus flower, it's a give-and-take, that's how it should be!"

This is different... Lin Xiao tightened his grip on the paper hibiscus.

But he didn't know what to say, so he silently accepted it.

"Thank you, Princess."

"You're welcome!"

At this moment, the play downstairs had finished, and there was a commotion next door. Shen Panyan watched as Shen Xu left, and only then did she breathe a sigh of relief, feeling a great weight lifted from her heart.

Just now, she really didn't dare to speak loudly, for fear of being discovered.

She didn't want to argue with Shen Xu, especially now that those things were involved, she was even less willing to face her directly, so she decided to avoid her if possible.

Shen Panyan stood up, put away the paper hibiscus and the little rabbit, and said, "Lin Xiao, let's go back."

We've been out long enough today, it's time to go back.

"good."

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. They had barely stepped out of the theater when snow began to fall heavily from the sky.

"Oh dear, it's snowing! Quick, bring your things in!"

The vendors on both sides of the street hurriedly packed up their goods. The children playing by the roadside, however, were extremely happy, standing in the snow and playing with their friends.

"Watch this, Big Snowball!"

"Ha ha ha ha!!"

Looking at them, Shen Panyan also found the snow fun.

She turned to look at him and said, "Lin Xiao, the snow isn't heavy, we don't need to buy an umbrella, let's just walk back like this!"

“But Princess, your health is not good…” Lin Xiao had not forgotten how weak Shen Panyan looked when she was lying in bed.

There was a shop selling oiled paper umbrellas on the street, and Lin Xiao went in and bought one.

He opened his umbrella, and the swirling snowflakes fell onto the oil-paper umbrella.

"Princess, let's go!"

Shen Panyan glanced at him helplessly.

She muttered, "Lin Xiao, has anyone ever told you that you're actually very disobedient?"

Lin Xiao: "Your Highness, no."

Snow fell in the capital, and the streets were deserted except for two people walking one after the other, except for the children who were playing.

The snow fell silently, and the world was so quiet that it seemed as if only the two of them existed.

Holding the hand warmer, Shen Panyan walked in the snow. "No? But I think you're really disobedient."

"See, I already told you I didn't want an umbrella, but you still bought one."

"Your subordinate knows he was wrong."

"You admit your mistake so quickly, so you'll do it again next time, right?" Shen Panyan glanced at him, her round almond-shaped eyes full of accusation.

Lin Xiao looked away, avoiding her gaze.

Not knowing how to answer, he chose to remain silent.

"Look at you, you look so guilty, I must have hit the nail on the head!" Shen Panyan snorted at him.

“If this were anyone else, you would definitely be punished.”

Lin Xiao turned back, his eyes fixed on her. "Does the princess intend to punish her subordinate?"

Perhaps his gaze was too earnest, which made Shen Panyan's face flush. She turned her head away and said, "Then you will definitely be punished."

Lin Xiao's voice was calm, "Then how does the princess intend to punish her subordinate?"

Shen Panyan: "..."

She glared at him angrily. "Are you an idiot? Can't you say a few nice words to me?"

She was just saying it; she wouldn't actually punish him.

After saying that, she stuffed her hand warmer into his arms, "The punishment is for you to hold my hand warmer. I'm tired of holding it and I don't want to anymore."

Lin Xiao paused for a moment, then subconsciously took the heater. The warmth instantly chased away the winter chill.

Without a second thought, Lin Xiao returned the hand warmer to her, saying, "Princess, it's cold..."

Shen Panyan didn't want to listen to him and turned to leave.

Lin Xiao quickly caught up with her.

"Princess, I do not need the heater. Please take it back..."

Before he could finish speaking, Shen Panyan, like a kitten whose tail had been stepped on, stomped her feet in annoyance, "Who said I gave you the heater because I was afraid you would be cold? I was just tired of holding you and didn't want to hold you anymore."

"What, is that not allowed?"

Lin Xiao: "......."

He didn't say any of those things; instead, the princess blurted out her entire purpose.

Looking at the sullen princess, who was wrapped up tightly in a fluffy cloak with only her small face showing, her almond-shaped eyes wide open as she stared at him.

He remained silent, and Shen Panyan refused to compromise, so the two stood facing each other in silence, even the falling snow around them quieted down.

Suddenly!

A low chuckle gradually rose from his chest to his brow. "Yes, Your Majesty, I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have presumptuously tried to guess the Princess's thoughts."

Shen Panyan's eyes widened instantly, as if the wind and snow had stopped.

She couldn't hear anything anymore, and subconsciously clutched the hem of her clothes. "You, you can actually laugh..."

Lin Xiao's face wasn't actually that good-looking, but she just felt that he looked extremely handsome now, handsome in every way, more handsome than anyone she had ever seen.

She didn't even know what she was saying anymore, "You, you look quite pretty when you smile, you should smile more often..."

After she finished speaking in a daze, she realized what she had said and her cheeks immediately turned red. She quickly turned around and said, "Lin Xiao, let's go back quickly, the snow is getting heavier."

Actually, the snow has lessened now.

"good."

For some reason, she felt that time had passed exceptionally quickly today; she hadn't walked for long before she arrived at the house.

"Princess, you're back." Mu Ying stepped forward, took off her cloak, shook off the snow, gave her a new cloak, and lit the charcoal brazier in the room.

Shen Panyan felt very embarrassed watching her busy herself.

"Thank you for your hard work, Mu Ying. I'm fine now, you can go and rest!"

"What are you saying, Princess?" Mu Ying looked at her and smiled. "Taking care of the princess is my duty."

"I noticed it was snowing outside, so I heated up some ginger soup in the small kitchen. Princess, please wait a moment, I'll go and get it right away."

After saying this, she curtsied and left.

Watching Mu Ying's figure disappear, Shen Panyan slowly exhaled.

On the way back, she was very nervous and didn't know what to say to Lin Xiao. Only now has she calmed down a bit.

"Lin Xiao".

The door creaked open.

"Princess."

As soon as Shen Panyan saw him, she felt a little uncomfortable, twisting her embroidered handkerchief with her fingertips. "Mu, Mu Ying has heated up some ginger soup. You should go to the small kitchen too and have a bowl."

"yes."

Seeing that he had returned to his usual respectful demeanor, Shen Panyan felt a sense of loss and emptiness.

"Lin Xiao, you, you should go out first."

"Your subordinate takes his leave."

Lin Xiao left. Shen Panyan bit her lip, her mind a jumble. She thought of the time at the opera house and the time they walked together in the snow. She thought for a long time but couldn't figure it out. Finally, she slumped onto the table in dejection.

She felt that she might have a serious illness.

Trying to shake those chaotic thoughts out of her mind, Mu Ying also came in carrying ginger soup.

——

Shen Panyan stayed in the house for many days without ever stepping out of her room.

The house wasn't big, and it was boring to wander around. With nothing else to do, Shen Panyan started teaching Lin Xiao to read again.

Of course, it was taught secretly under the guise of reading miscellaneous notes.

She read it once, and Lin Xiao repeated it again. Every time he made a mistake, he was punished by having to copy it.

His handwriting was really bad; it was wild and unruly, like a ghost crawling, completely illegible. Shen Panyan's eyebrows furrowed tightly.

"That's not how it's written, you should write it like this..."

She picked up the brush and demonstrated on the rice paper. In no time, beautiful small regular script characters appeared on the paper, neat and pleasing to the eye.

Lin Xiao copied it down once.

At first, he was able to keep the characters from going astray, but as he wrote, the characters started to scribble wildly like a whirlwind.

Lin Xiao felt that he simply didn't have the talent. "Princess, this subordinate really doesn't know how..."

"No!!" Shen Panyan looked at him. "You absolutely must know how."

Lin Xiao: "......"

He sighed somewhat helplessly and tried to remind her, "Princess, I am merely a bodyguard..."

"I won't listen! I won't listen!" Shen Panyan covered her ears. "What if I don't want to read the notes myself in the future, and there's no one around me who can read?"

"Then you can teach your maid..."

"I will teach Mu Ying in the future, but right now, it's your turn to learn. Be serious, Lin Xiao, and stop scribbling. Otherwise, I'll get angry!" Shen Panyan put on a stern face, trying to make herself look more serious.

She always felt that she didn't have any of the dignity that belonged to a princess in Lin Xiao's eyes.

"Princess....."

"You promised me before that you would listen to me from now on. Do you want to go back on your word?"

Lin Xiao: ......

He sighed, "Yes."

Shen Panyan smiled and said, "That's more like it! Come on, practice properly!"

"......yes."

A stroke of the pen.

"No, no, that's not how you hold a pen. Come here, look at me."

Shen Panyan rolled up her sleeves, revealing her fair and slender wrists.

"When writing, your elbow and wrist must be suspended in the air, your fingertips must be firmly gripping the paper, but your palm should be slightly open, and the pen tip should be perpendicular to the paper... Lin Xiao, are you even listening to me?"

Lin Xiao subtly withdrew his gaze. "Your Highness, I am listening."

"Then repeat what I just said."

"......"

"Lin Xiao!!!"

"Your subordinate knows he was wrong."

"you--!"

Shen Panyan thought that even someone as good-natured as herself could be driven to the point of madness by Lin Xiao, so her former boss must have had a very tough time.

"Stop daydreaming!! Study hard!!"

Seeing that the princess seemed genuinely angry, Lin Xiao straightened his expression and said, "Yes."

A note from the author:

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Starting tomorrow, this will be a paid chapter! There will be a 10,000-word update on the first day, followed by daily updates. Thank you all for your support! [Sprinkling flowers][Sprinkling flowers][Sprinkling flowers]