Nanqian Yue was speechless. "You think you're so great, prince? You look down on a village girl like that? She even saved your life!"
Xiao Chen said calmly, "I didn't say I looked down on you, I just thought you didn't like taking showers."
Nanqianyue took a deep breath and changed the subject, "Then do you know where I can take a bath?"
Xiao Chen nodded calmly, "I know. There's a hot spring two miles to the east. I go there to bathe every day."
Nan Qianyue's eyes widened. "No wonder you disappear for an hour every day! You actually kept it from me! You have no conscience!"
“I thought you didn’t like taking showers,” Xiao Chen explained again.
"Don't say that again." Nan Qianyue held his palm out to him, looking up at the sky with immense sorrow. "Perhaps I offended God, and He sent me to this backward place as punishment."
Xiao Chen replied calmly, "Even if you're a villager with better conditions, it can't be much better than here."
Although he said that, he secretly doubted her identity.
She didn't seem like an ordinary villager at all, and she often spoke in ways he couldn't understand.
...In the dense forest, the sound of flowing water gradually became clearer, and one could feel the heat as one got closer.
Nan Qianyue reached for her collar, took off the jade pendant she had worn since childhood, and handed it to Xiao Chen, saying, "This is very important to me, please hold it for me."
Xiao Chen lowered his eyes and stared at the gold and diamond-encrusted jade in his palm. This kind of jade was not something an ordinary person could wear.
He suddenly asked, "Did Prince Anzheng give it to you?"
Nanqianyue rolled her eyes and said, "It's my own business, it has nothing to do with him."
"You stay here and keep watch for me, and don't you dare peek!" she warned, pointing at Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen turned around, clutching the jade, and said coldly, "You're just being presumptuous."
Nanqianyue was in a hurry to wash away the filth and was too lazy to argue with him.
A moment later, the expected rushing water didn't come; instead, there was a "thump," as if something heavy had fallen into the water.
No, it wasn't falling into the water; it was more like a strong swimmer plunging into the water.
So Xiao Chen guessed that she might be a fisherman living by the sea or a lake?
So this jade...
"ah--!"
A sharp whistle suddenly rang out.
"Snake! There's a snake! Help—!"
While Xiao Chen was still hesitating, his feet were already running towards the hot spring pool.
He rushed over in a panic, but he didn't see the snake. Instead, he saw a woman with long, black hair, half-naked, running towards him.
Xiao Chen was stunned for a moment, then turned around in a panic, his ears turning bright red.
"There are water snakes! They're all brightly colored and terrifying!" Nan Qianyue grabbed Xiao Chen's wrist and cried out in despair.
Xiao Chen turned his face to the side and said in a hoarse voice, "Put your clothes on first."
Nan Qianyue, with a long face, pulled her clothes up higher. "Alright, go check if the snake has run away."
Xiao Chen turned his head hesitantly, about to speak, but the words caught in his throat.
Is this what you call dressing properly...?
The woman before me had bright, moist eyes with a blush spreading at the corners. Her skin was like white porcelain, her full lips were rosy and glossy, and her loose, black hair was covered with glistening water droplets. A few strands of wet hair clung to her fair neck, and water droplets rolled down her delicate collarbone, all the way down...
Snap—
A light slap landed on Xiao Chen's face. "Where are you looking?"
Xiao Chen blushed and hurriedly looked away.
...Outside the wooden house, Nanqianyue put down his chopsticks with little interest.
"I'm done eating, you can eat slowly." She got up and walked to the swing, where she sat and swayed listlessly.
Xiao Chen also lost his appetite. Through their time together, he discovered that Nan Qianyue was a very picky eater.
The bodyguard who cooked was a trained chef, and the ingredients he brought were very fresh, so he could eat whatever he wanted. But she, a village girl, was very picky.
"Shall we go and take a look at the village at the foot of the mountain? The guards said that the villagers there grow peaches."
The southward migration month piqued his interest, "Let's go!"
Xiao Chen glanced at the sky. "Let's go after nightfall."
Nanqianyue tilted her head, "Why?"
Xiao Chen remained remarkably calm. "It's inconvenient for us to reveal our faces to others."
"Oh, right, so it's about stealing! Wow, how exciting!"
"..."
As night fell, two furtive figures darted past the dimly lit paper window.
"Didn't you say you were stealing peaches? How come you're in the village?" Nan Qianyue said, squatting in the corner and speaking through gas.
Xiao Chen said in a similarly soft voice, "There's a peach tree behind this villager's house that bears the biggest fruit. Let's go there after they turn off their lights."
The thief from the south nodded slyly, "Okay."
A woman's gentle voice came from the window.
"Does it hurt a lot? Let Mommy blow on it for you."
"...It doesn't hurt." The boy's voice was filled with suppressed emotion.
"Oh, Zhan, don't care what others say. In my heart, you are my own son. If anyone calls you a wild... ptooey, ptooey, if anyone insults you again, just tell your mother, and your mother will deal with them!"
"...I'm so stupid, I can't bring you any honor, so why do you keep me?"
"Silly child, your mother didn't raise you to gain face."
"What's it for? For retirement? But I'm so stupid, what if I grow up to be a failure and become a burden to you..."
“Ah Zhan, listen to your mother. You must never think of yourself as a burden to your mother. When your mother brought you back, you were still an infant. Your mother chose you. Your appearance has brought your mother a different life experience. Your mother should thank you.”
"Your mother only hopes that you will live a peaceful, healthy, and happy life..."
Outside the window, Nanqianyue nodded with a sigh, and whispered, "This woman's thinking is very progressive, isn't it?"
Xiao Chen didn't respond to her, so she couldn't help but look at Xiao Chen's slightly downcast face. "You... what's wrong with you?"
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