Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Your hair is messy.
Ling Zhu glanced at Nie Xiangyi in surprise.
She was not at all like other girls from aristocratic families who followed the rules and were self-respecting and steady. She actually took the initiative to ask to ride with her prince.
Besides, the Third Prince was always aloof and indifferent, so how could he easily agree? Even a few days ago, perhaps because it was raining, he allowed her to board the carriage, but then ordered everyone to replace everything inside. I imagine he was unhappy about it.
His eyes fell on the carriage curtains.
As expected, His Highness did not allow her to get on the carriage. "Just tell me what you want to say."
Nie Xiangyi glanced at Ling Zhu and tightened her grip on the item in her sleeve. With Ling Zhu watching, she felt a little embarrassed to take out the gift for him.
She pursed her lips, her voice carrying a nasal rumble, "But my feet are numb from waiting for you..."
Her voice was light and soft, as if she was just acting coquettishly because she lacked confidence.
There was a long silence in the carriage.
Ling Zhu already understood his Highness's attitude, so he stepped forward with a tactful look, ready to politely ask Nie Xiangyi to leave.
"Miss Nie... please let me..."
"Forget it, let her in." Just as he opened his mouth, he heard a voice coming from inside the carriage.
The voice was flat, seemingly without any emotion.
Ling Zhu suppressed his surprise, his expression calm as he turned around and lifted the curtain for Nie Xiangyi, "Miss Nie, please."
Xie Zhi tightened his jaw and watched Nie Xiangyi lift her skirt and briskly get into the car.
When the familiar, refreshing fragrance of gardenias reached his nose, he didn't know why he had allowed her to get on the carriage.
He frowned slightly in annoyance.
When she saw him, her eyes suddenly brightened up. She bowed to him and called him, "Your Highness," with a smile on her face.
She didn't shy away from his gaze, her feathery eyelashes flickering with each blink, and even the small mole on the tip of her nose came alive. Xie Zhi, however, held the scroll in his hand, and without even glancing at her, simply asked, "What's the matter?"
Nie Xiangyi's fingertips rubbed the cuffs of his sleeves for a moment, as if he was thinking about how to start. "I... I came to thank His Highness..."
Xie Zhimo's dark eyes fixed, and his gaze suddenly fell on her.
Their eyes suddenly met. The beautiful eyes she had remembered for so many years were now staring at her quietly.
This realization made Nie Xiangyi inexplicably nervous. She rubbed the corner of her clothes, her eyes suddenly dodging, "Thank you so much, Your Highness, for helping me find Xue Mo last time... and... and for clarifying things for me when I was Duke of Qi..."
Before Xie Zhi could respond, Ling Zhu's voice was heard outside: "Your Highness, Master Pei is waiting for you at the mansion."
"I understand. Let's go back home first." Xie Zhi responded.
He stopped looking at Nie Xiangyi and his gaze returned to the scroll. He said in a cold voice, "You've already thanked me, you can go."
Nie Xiangyi was startled at first, then hurriedly said, "Not yet! Not yet!"
As she spoke, she prepared to take out a thank-you gift from her sleeve.
Seeing that Nie Xiangyi did not get out of the carriage, Ling Zhu thought that His Highness had other instructions, so he did not think much about it and just told the coachman to set off for home.
The sudden movement of the carriage caused Nie Xiangyi to stumble forward without any preparation, and the item on her sleeve happened to fall at Xie Zhi's feet.
He lowered his eyes and glanced over. It was a purse, a purse with crooked stitching and no discernible pattern.
Xie Zhi looked coldly at the purse that fell at his feet, unmoved.
Nie Xiangyi bent down hurriedly to pick it up, but when she stood up, she accidentally bumped into the small table in the car. She cried out in pain, and the teacups on the table also made a clanging sound when she bumped against them.
She rubbed her head and stood up, even her hair was a little messy.
I was in a state of panic for a while.
Ling Zhu was startled when he heard the noise outside, and glanced suspiciously at the tightly closed curtain.
Nie Xiangyi's eyes watered with pain, but she still handed the purse to Xie Zhi with red eyes, "Your Highness, this... this is the purse I embroidered myself. Thank you for your help a few days ago."
Aunt Wu's teaching of rules during those few days was not in vain, as she forced her to learn some embroidery skills.
Xie Zhi didn't take the purse, but frowned and said, "No need."
Purses, such intimate items, were always exchanged between lovers as a token of affection. Giving one away for nothing was truly beneath her dignity as a woman.
He raised his eyes to glance at Nie Xiangyi who was looking at him eagerly, and couldn't help but frowned.
If she hadn't recognized the wrong person, would she have given the purse?
Rejected, Nie Xiangyi's eyebrows drooped immediately, but she still held the purse out in Xie Zhi's direction, "Your Highness, please accept it... I've been sewing this for a long time..."
Every time she prayed, she would draw out the ending syllable like this, like a pair of cat claws gently scratching people.
Xie Zhi remained silent, and the white wrist just froze in the air awkwardly.
"This is my first time making a purse..." Nie Xiangyi looked a little depressed and muttered to himself.
Before Xie Zhi took the purse, Nie Xiangyi heard him ask casually, "Did you find your Xue Mo?"
The lively expression on her cheek suddenly froze, and even her eyes dimmed for a moment because of these words.
Then she shook her head dejectedly, "Xue Mo is dead."
Xie Zhi paused slightly as she flipped through the pages of the book. Then she forced a smile and said, "But I avenged it!"
He could vaguely glimpse something from her words.
Dead Xue Mo, pushing her hand. As a prince who grew up in the palace, he was accustomed to these dirty tricks of fighting and competing.
But he didn't want to pay too much attention to her.
But for some unknown reason, he took the purse from her hand.
The finest brocade had coarse stitching and a few irritating threads. The pattern embroidered on the purse was indistinguishable, with various threads jumbled together in a somewhat comical manner.
Xie Zhi carefully examined the pattern on the purse for a moment and it seemed to be embroidered with a puppy.
Why did she give herself such a fancy purse?
Xie Zhi pursed his lips and said coldly, "This is not in accordance with etiquette."
"How could that be?" Nie Xiangyi's eyes widened in surprise. "Isn't Qilin also against etiquette?"
Xie Zhi's hand holding the purse froze.
It turned out to be a Qilin.
Seeing Xie Zhi's eyes fixed on the pattern, Nie Xiangyi blushed for some reason. She said with a guilty tone, "Maybe the embroidery isn't that good..."
But she soon regained her composure, as if to cheer herself up, "It's pretty good that I can embroider like this for the first time! Qilin is very difficult! Look! I can embroider it with some details!"
This was her first time sewing. Back in Shanzhou, she'd spent her days eating, drinking, and having fun, and no one had ever forced her to learn these things. Now she was just learning on the spot.
"Yeah." Xie Zhi's eyes rarely showed a smile, "It does have both a nose and eyes."
This didn't sound like a compliment, and Nie Xiangyi blushed even more awkwardly.
After a while, the carriage gradually stopped. Nie Xiangyi was about to get off when she heard Xie Zhi call her, "Wait."
She looked back in confusion.
Xie Zhi still didn't look at her, and only said: "Your hair is messy."
"Hmm?" Nie Xiangyi adjusted her hair bun belatedly, remembering that she had bumped her head on the small table just now, causing her hair bun to become a little messy.
"It doesn't make sense." Xie Zhi reminded her.
She smoothed her hair slightly with her hands and said nonchalantly, "It's nothing! It's dark now, so no one can see it!"
Xie Zhi frowned and looked at her, "Because it's dark."
If someone with ulterior motives saw him leaving the carriage with his hair disheveled like this, who knows what kind of rumors would spread.
He thought that he shouldn't let her get on the carriage, it would be really troublesome.
The purse was still in his palm, and he didn't know what to do with it.
Nie Xiangyi pursed her lips in dissatisfaction, sat down, fixed her hair bun again, and glared at Xie Zhi angrily, "Is it okay now? Your Highness!"
She emphasized the word "Your Highness" very much, as if she was afraid that others would not know that she was dissatisfied.
Xie Zhi didn't even look at her, but got off the carriage first.
"Huh? Why hasn't it reached the palace gate?" Nie Xiangyi got off the carriage and found that the carriage did not reach the palace gate, but stopped in front of a mansion.
She looked around for a moment, only to realize that this place was far away from the imperial palace, and there was no plaque on the mansion.
"Our Highness does not live in the palace." Ling Zhu replied, "This is His Highness's residence outside the palace."
Nie Xiangyi was a little confused. "Your Highness hasn't been crowned a king yet, so why did you live away from the palace?"
Ling Zhu immediately became solemn upon hearing this, "Young lady, you are overstepping your bounds."
Without waiting for Nie Xiangyi to speak, he turned to Xie Zhi and said, "Your Highness, Master Pei has been waiting in the study for a long time."
Xie Zhi nodded, said no more, and walked into the mansion.
"Your Highness, do you want to replace everything in the carriage this time?" Ling Zhu followed closely behind him and asked in a low voice.
As a qualified and capable subordinate, you must have the foresight to take the initiative to do things.
Xie Zhi stared at him intently, until Ling Zhu's scalp tingled, and then he said lightly: "Then change it."
The stitches of the purse in his palm rubbed against his palm, causing a slight itch. He seemed to smell the disturbing fragrance again at the tip of his nose.
"Your Highness!" A brisk and lively voice sounded behind him, like a ray of light in the dark night.
Nie Xiangyi hadn't left yet. Xie Zhi looked back at her from the gate. Her eyes shone like stars in the darkness. "Can I come here to see you next time?"
Since we already know where he lives, why bother waiting in the Divine Strategy Department?
"No." Xie Zhi's voice of refusal was cold and calm.
Nie Xiangyi pretended not to hear.
After all, the walls here are probably much easier to climb than those of the Shen Ce Division.
She curled her eyes and saw Xie Zhi enter the mansion. She turned around and walked towards the Yongyi Marquis Mansion with Hanxu.
"Miss, has His Majesty accepted the purse?"
"Of course." Nie Xiangyi snorted proudly, "Your Highness praised me for doing it so well."
It's a compliment, too.
Hanxu put her hands on her hips and became arrogant. "This really slaps Aunt Wu in the face! She was really disgusted by the girl's ugly purse!"
Speaking of this, Nie Xiangyi became a little indignant. "She even said that my purse was tied to a dog, and even the dog would be embarrassed! When His Highness wears it, we'll see what she says!"
Hanxu always felt that this sounded a little strange, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She just nodded repeatedly like a chick pecking at rice.
We walked and chatted like this.
In the darkness of the night, she suddenly heard Hanxu ask doubtfully behind her, "Eh? Miss, where's your butterfly hairpin?"
"What butterfly hairpin?" Nie Xiangyi was stunned.
Hanxu pointed at her bun and said, "Today I put a butterfly hairpin on you."
Nie Xiangyi followed her hand and touched her hair bun, "Maybe it was just dropped on the carriage that fell on His Highness."
She waved her hand, "Never mind, it's nothing important. Come with me to the bookstore tomorrow."
"Why go to the bookstore?" Han Xu was puzzled.
You should go to Treasure House to buy jewelry.
Nie Xiangyi's eyes flashed with determination, "Catering to his preferences!"
Even though Xie Zhi didn't remember her, she would make sure he remembered her from now on!
Here, Ling Zhu was waiting outside the study.
His Highness and Young Master Pei of the Pei family are discussing matters inside.
A servant hurried over to report, "Lord Ling Zhu, everything in His Highness's carriage has been replaced..."
Ling Zhu hummed with a straight face, "I understand."
Seeing the servant's hesitant expression, he could not help but frown and scolded in a low voice: "Just say it directly!"
The servant trembled and handed over a red butterfly hairpin, "Your Excellency, we found this hairpin inside the carriage..."
Ling Zhu looked at the butterfly pearl hairpin and suddenly remembered the noise she had just heard outside the carriage. The image of the girl from the Nie family just getting off the carriage appeared in her mind, with her hair a little disheveled.
He turned around and looked at the tall figure illuminated by the candlelight in the study, and his eyes widened rarely.
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Ling Zhu:! Something is wrong!!!
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