Gu Xiaoran was stunned again.
The fairy smiled!
It wasn't a polite yet distant smile; it was a genuine, heartfelt smile.
When the fairy smiled, Gu Xiaoran felt that the raging cold wind around him was nothing.
Unfortunately, the fairy only smiled once and then didn't say anything more.
Lili could tell that this young master didn't have any bad intentions; he was just spoiled since childhood.
Judging from his tone just now, he seemed a little afraid of Gu Ziyi.
For the first time, Gu Xiaoran, this dashing and arrogant young master, felt lost and uncertain.
It was so cold outside. Gu Xiaoran saw that the little fairy's face was red from the cold. He wanted to take her inside directly, but he was also mindful of her feelings and asked for her opinion for the first time.
“Miss Chen, I… well, I can still say a few words here, but it’s very windy outside. Shall I take you inside?”
As Gu Xiaoran spoke, he eagerly pulled on the horse pulling the carriage, as if he wanted to personally lead the horse into the carriage for Lili.
The middle-aged man behind him was shocked. He had always served his young master and had never seen him act like this before.
Pear was indeed finding the wind a bit too much to handle. It wasn't a strong wind, but every gust seemed to sweep in all the cold air from the sky, making her feel freezing.
But Yun Shu just said that An Qi has already gone to find Gu Ziyi, and Li Li still wants to stay here and wait for Gu Ziyi.
Just as Lili was about to politely refuse, the sound of horses' hooves grew closer. Gu Ziyi reined in his horse and dismounted, coldly slapping Gu Xiaoran's hand away: "Go back."
Gu Xiaoran jumped back a step with a start, looking at his cousin who had suddenly appeared in surprise: "Cousin, what are you doing here?"
Upon seeing him, those around him bowed respectfully, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
Gu Ziyi ignored him completely. Seeing Lili's face red from the cold, he felt extremely sorry for her and picked her up, stuffing her into the carriage: "Why didn't you send someone to tell me beforehand?"
Lili returned to the warm carriage, her relaxed expression brightening: "It was a sudden urge to come."
Gu Ziyi was somewhat helpless and instructed the driver, "Go straight in."
"yes."
The carriage drove directly into the military camp, and the driver took the carriage to stop.
The guards who stopped Lili were still shaken: "It really is Miss Shen. Luckily, we followed the rules and were very polite to her."
"Yes, Miss Shen is just as rumored, both beautiful and kind-hearted."
Gu Xiaoran watched helplessly as his cousin, the Crown Prince, carried the little fairy into the carriage and drove off without anyone paying attention to him. He became anxious and ran a few steps to catch up, trying to climb onto the carriage.
The driver was startled: "Oh dear!"
Gu Ziyi frowned, recalling the way Gu Xiaoran had shown wicked intentions when she arrived, and felt extremely annoyed. She said without any politeness, "Don't cause trouble if you have nothing to do."
The cold words came from inside the carriage, and Gu Xiaoran paused, feeling extremely wronged.
Why can my cousin be with that fairy, while he has to stand outside in the cold wind?
As the carriage drove away, Gu Xiaoran stood pacing back and forth, anxious yet unwilling to disobey his cousin.
Gu Xiaoran was very puzzled and asked the middle-aged man next to him, "No, Li Wu, you said that this cousin's guest is also my guest, so what's wrong with me coming along?"
Li Wu sighed softly, looking at his slow-witted young master with some sympathy.
Your Highness, this person seems to be more than just a guest of His Highness the Crown Prince!
"Your Highness, shall we hurry back? The martial arts competition over there isn't over yet."
"Let's go, let's go."
Gu Xiaoran angrily took two steps forward, glanced at the horse that Gu Ziyi had just ridden, and a plan formed in his mind.
Gu Xiaoran mounted the horse and chased after the carriage, saying, "Li Wu, you go first. I'll return the horse to my cousin!"
Li Wu couldn't catch him no matter what, and chased after him calling, "Hey! Young Master! Young Master!"
Lili was telling Gu Ziyi about the weather, her tone somewhat troubled: "It's getting cold very early. I'm afraid something will happen if it gets this cold again."
Gu Ziyi understood her meaning almost instantly: "Are you afraid of a blizzard?"
It's so refreshing to talk to smart people. Lili nodded vigorously, her eyes shining: "Yes, so I was thinking that those poorer families live in thatched huts that aren't very sturdy. If a blizzard really comes, wouldn't something bad happen?"
Lili originally intended to explain step by step and then present her plan, but she never expected that Gu Ziyi had already thought of this.
"Don't worry, I've already started preparing. The materials have arrived, and the General's Mansion will post a notice in a few days to announce the news and ask the people to cooperate with the Red Eagle Army."
Lili's eyes widened: "Your Highness was prepared all along?"
Gu Ziyi chuckled but did not respond.
Lili smiled. It seemed that His Highness had always been like this, doing many things quietly and arranging everything without making a sound.
With him around, Lili never seems to have anything to worry about.
The two exchanged a knowing smile, everything understood without a word.
The carriage was parked in one place.
"Your Highness, Miss, you may get off the carriage now."
Yun Shu's voice came through.
Gu Ziyi gently reminded her, "Put your cloak up properly and take the hand warmer."
"Um."
In the stables, warhorses neighed intermittently.
The coachman untied the horses from the reins, and a stableman came out from the stable to take the horses from the coachman and lead them inside to feed them.
The aroma of hay mingled with the scent of horses.
Lili noticed while in the carriage that it took about half a cup of tea to get here from the entrance of the military camp, which wasn't very far, but Gu Ziyi still made her come in by carriage, afraid that she would get too cold.
Once inside the military camp, the buildings became more densely packed, and the wind wasn't as strong.
But Gu Ziyi still silently walked half a step ahead of Lili, shielding her from the wind.
Gu Ziyi led her to the martial arts arena, and Lili followed behind, curiously looking around.
Rows of neat tents were arranged in a staggered manner. The tents were mostly made of coarse gray or brown cloth, which was not luxurious but extremely practical.
In the open spaces between the tents, weapons and armor were piled up, gleaming coldly in the sunlight.
The outer perimeter is filled with the soldiers' tents; you have to go around and around until you reach the innermost part to find the arena.
Apart from those patrolling various places and those on special missions, most of the soldiers have gathered here today.
A huge, densely packed area, tens of thousands of people.
From afar, Lili could hear bursts of cheers, lively and passionate.
Lili was a little excited. She wondered what ancient martial arts competitions were like. Maybe they involved things like archery and horseback riding?
Lili's steps quickened with excitement, which Gu Ziyi noticed. He smiled and asked, "Happy?"
"Hmm, I've never seen anything like this before. Listen to the cheers over there... Isn't it exciting and thrilling?" Lili asked him with a smile.
Gu Ziyi chuckled: "Yes, the Red Eagle Army holds a martial arts competition every year. The soldiers will have friendly exchanges, which can be considered a form of competition and communication. Not only the main camp in Anding City, but also the Red Eagle Army camps stationed in several other border cities will hold competitions with the assistance of the deputy general. It's very lively, you should like it."
Lili nodded, unable to contain her anticipation.
Two people were competing in archery on the dueling platform. Lili watched for a while, and her interest grew.
Gu Ziyi led Lili up to the high platform.
Chu Zhenyue sat in the center, surrounded by several men who looked like generals, all exuding a murderous aura. They sat around Chu Zhenyue, intently watching the situation on the dueling platform, nodding occasionally and exchanging a few words of discussion.
Upon seeing Gu Ziyi return, the group of grown men paid no attention and stared intently at Lili behind them.
They had long wanted to see the legendary Miss Shen in person. During that severe drought, she single-handedly boosted the grain production of the entire Nanlin County. What an extraordinary person she was!
The old general then told them that the divine being was just a little girl.
This left the group of grown men both surprised and impressed.
Seeing all the eyes turning to her, Lili wasn't intimidated and gave a generous smile: "Greetings, generals."
They were all a bunch of tough, burly men. Suddenly, a fairy-like little girl appeared in this army camp full of men. They were all fathers, and they were immediately filled with affection for this capable and beautiful girl.
"Oh my, this must be the little girl from the Shen family?"
"She's truly beautiful inside and out. If you didn't tell me, I would have thought she was some kind of deity descended to earth!"
Another person reminded him, "Alright, alright, stop using 'I's' all the time, don't scare the young girl."
"What are you afraid of? His Highness is here to protect you!"
They were all military generals who had spent their lives fighting on the battlefield. They spoke without thinking, but their words were all well-intentioned.
Lili also knew that these people who risked their lives for the country were great heroes, so she naturally didn't mind.
Gu Ziyi had already arranged for a seat to be added next to his, with a soft cushion on it and a heater next to it.
The platform was high up, and the wind was strong up there. Gu Ziyi was worried that she would catch a cold, so he had a small screen placed in front of her.
Lili was both amused and exasperated: "Your Highness, I'm not that frail."
"It's windy," Gu Ziyi said.
"It's alright, Your Highness. Please check if anyone else is doing this, blocking other people's view."
"All right."
Gu Ziyi then had the hand warmer removed, but she asked Zhuifeng to bring her a new hand warmer, as the one she had been holding earlier had cooled down.
Chu Zhenyue adored Lili and treated her like his own granddaughter. The old general was overjoyed when Lili came to visit.
The old general trained the Red Eagle Army his whole life, and he felt like he was showing off something he was proud of to the younger generation.
"Lili's timing for coming to Anding City is perfect. This martial arts competition only happens once a year, so you'd better watch it closely!"
Lili replied earnestly, "Of course, Lili will definitely take a good look."
Just then, the archery competition ended, and some people tidied up the arena, moved their belongings off, and rearranged the competition area.
The targets are gone, and only a weapon rack remains in one corner of the field.
Lili, curious, whispered to Gu Ziyi beside her, "Your Highness, what are we competing in now?"
"Choose one weapon to fight; the first to fall off the fighting platform loses."
Lili realized that it was a fight.
In the camp, each general has his own soldiers, and each general has his own deputy general. The deputy general is responsible for training the soldiers in their best skills.
When it came to the weaponry section, several deputy generals who specialized in weapon training went down to their respective groups of soldiers to find candidates to go into battle.
Gu Ziyi called Zhuifeng over and whispered a few words in his ear.
Zhui Feng nodded, walked to the center of the arena, and announced loudly, "His Highness has said that today we will be using a system of defending the title, and the final champion will be the sole winner. The winner will have a banquet with all the generals tonight, and will also receive a reward of fifty taels of silver!"
The soldiers erupted in commotion; clearly, the reward of fifty taels of silver had greatly boosted morale, and everyone was eager to try their luck.
Lili was also surprised by this method of competition. For the defender, if he succeeded in defending his title, it would inevitably be a long battle that would consume a lot of energy.
"Interesting! Interesting!"
Lili clenched her little fists excitedly. The tens of thousands of people below were making a ruckus, and Lili, her blood boiling, wanted to go up and have a match with them.
Gu Ziyi found it amusing: "So happy?"
"Mmm!" Lili nodded. "I've never seen anything like it before, it's fun!"
Gu Ziyi smiled and nodded, about to say something, when Gu Xiaoran rushed over, glaring at the two of them with a mixture of grievance and anger: "How could you not wait for me, cousin? I kindly helped you lead your horse back, only to find that you were already gone!"
Gu Ziyi: "..."
Damn it, I forgot about the spoilsport.
Gu Ziyi was speechless and didn't say anything. Lili was a little frightened and didn't say anything either.
Gu Xiaoran didn't feel awkward at all. His original seat was to the left of Gu Ziyi, but now there was Lili between him and Gu Ziyi. He wasn't angry at all. He happily sat down in his seat and started chatting with Lili.
"Miss Chen, what a coincidence, you're here too?"
Lili blinked, looking somewhat confused.
Before she could speak, Gu Xiaoran continued, "Isn't that a bit of a coincidence? I'm here too. What a coincidence! May I ask how old you are, Miss Shen? I'm thirteen years old, a year younger than my cousin. My father, Prince Qi, is thirty-eight. He's the younger brother of the current Emperor, and his fief is in Qiyang. He now lives in the capital. Oh, by the way, my family lives in the Prince Qi's residence in the capital. The address is the largest house in Wuyi Lane, Miss Shen..."
Gu Xiaoran was so engrossed in his own world that he didn't notice Lili's increasingly confused look or Gu Ziyi's increasingly dark face.
Finally, Gu Ziyi threw a teacup at him, spilling half a cup of tea onto his clothes, soaking half of them.
Gu Xiaoran hurriedly caught the cup: "Cousin, what are you doing! It's freezing!"
The tea spilled on my clothes cooled down quickly in the cold wind, and some of it got on my hands, which were very cold.
Gu Ziyi said calmly, "Oh, sorry, my hand slipped."
Gu Xiaoran believed him: "Hey cousin, you've always been so careless since we were little. Who else but me can put up with you?"
Gu Ziyi sighed and said, "Li Wu, take the young master downstairs to change his clothes."
Li Wu had long been unable to stand it any longer, and quickly took the grumbling Gu Xiaoran away.
Finally, there was peace and quiet around me.
Lili chuckled, looking at Gu Ziyi's darkened expression with some curiosity: "I never thought there could be someone who could make Your Highness react like this, it's truly a rare sight."
Gu Ziyi gave her a deep look but didn't respond.
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