47 First Date
After several days of travel, Liu Hanruo and Prince Xiaoyao Chu Che, who had just escaped death, returned to Prince Xiaoyao's mansion before sunset.
Faced with a group of elaborately dressed concubines and maids, and the overwhelming smell of perfume, Liu Hanruo felt a surge of disgust and slightly curtsied to the Prince of Xiaoyao.
"Your Highness, you must be exhausted from your long journey after recovering from a serious illness. I will take my leave now!"
Before the carefree king could react, he led Xiangchun, who had come upon hearing the news, toward Plum Blossom Courtyard.
The carefree prince stared intently at Liu Hanruo's retreating figure until it completely disappeared. A chill ran through him, and with a cold expression, he uttered a single sentence:
"I'm tired!"
After saying this, the carefree prince abandoned his group of beauties and chased after Liu Hanruo's slender figure towards Plum Blossom Courtyard.
Meixiangyuan
After Liu Hanruo finished bathing and changing, she had just stepped out from behind the screen when she saw the usually unseen Prince Xiaoyao sitting at a rosewood table, looking at her with a strange expression.
"Your Highness, is there something you wish to instruct me on?"
"Ruo'er, you are my lawfully wedded wife. Can't I come to see you unless there's something wrong?"
Looking back on the years since they got married, he realized he had indeed neglected her somewhat. Now he wanted to cherish her, but he didn't know if she would accept it.
"A few days ago, the No. 1 Restaurant in the World acquired a priceless treasure, which will be auctioned tonight. I wonder if Ruo'er would be willing to attend the auction with me tonight?" The Carefree King lowered his stance and asked softly, then clutched his chest and breathed slightly.
"Since Your Highness has spoken, I will obey. Please wait a moment, Your Highness, and I will come to Shuiyue Pavilion to find you once I have finished preparing."
Looking at Chu Che, who was clutching his chest and slightly kicking, Liu Hanruo had no choice but to agree. After all, he had given her his life, which he had saved with his own. She then turned to Xiang Chun, who was standing there dumbfounded, and called out:
"Come here and help me change my clothes and do my makeup!"
"I'll just wait for you here. I've already had a carriage prepared outside the gate."
The carefree prince quietly gazed at Liu Hanruo, who was dressed in an elegant and simple style. He walked to the dressing table, picked up a jade comb, and gently combed Liu Hanruo's flowing hair, arranging it into a simple bun and securing it with a magnolia hairpin. Xiangchun brought a purple satin cloak and draped it over Liu Hanruo's shoulders. He then took Liu Hanruo's small hand and led her towards the door. Liu Hanruo tried to break free several times, but to no avail.
The two walked hand in hand to the outside of the Prince's mansion, where a coachman was already waiting. He brought over a footstool, and Liu Hanruo hesitated for a moment before helping the Prince onto the carriage. She wondered to herself, "The Prince's behavior before and after is so different."
Just a month ago, he treated me like I was a plague carrier, so why is he suddenly being so overly kind to me? Thinking about how he risked his life to protect me makes me feel uneasy and a little suspicious.
While Liu Hanru was lost in thought, the Prince of Xiaoyao was also secretly observing her. Today, Liu Hanru was without makeup, and her clothes were a simple light blue. Apart from the magnolia hairpin that held her hair up, she had no other ornaments, yet she was beautiful and pure, and pleasing to the eye no matter how you looked at her.
When the carefree prince touched the jade hairpin in Liu Hanruo's hair, a sudden thought flashed through his mind. He remembered that in the past three years, apart from that phoenix pendant, he seemed to have given her no other gifts. He got up and whispered a few words to the coachman, then returned to the carriage and sat down, quietly watching the street outside, a rare smile appearing on his face.
The carriage sped towards the bustling city center and stopped in front of the Caiyi Pavilion. Chu Che jumped off the carriage first, wrapped his arm around Liu Hanru's slender waist, lifted her off the carriage, and led her into the colorful Caiyi Pavilion.
"Isn't Your Highness in a hurry to attend the auction? Why..." Liu Hanruo asked, looking at the room full of gorgeous clothes, with a hint of doubt.
"I will certainly attend the auction, but there's no rush. Now that I've sent out invitations, who would dare to start if I don't go?" the carefree king said with an air of dominance.
Turning around, Liu Hanruo, with her beautiful face, smiled slightly. The two of them rarely went out to stroll around the market. Although their clothes were exquisite, the colors were rather plain. The shop assistants of Caiyi Pavilion assumed that they were ordinary people from average backgrounds and were busy serving the gorgeously dressed female customers, leaving them aside.
The usually aloof and arrogant Prince Chu Che had never been treated with such disrespect. His handsome face turned cold as he angrily addressed the waiter who was introducing the items to a richly dressed noblewoman:
"Go and tell your boss to bring us the store's prized seven-layered chiffon dress."
“Esteemed guest, it’s not that I look down on you, but look at your clothes and attire. A seven-layered chiffon robe is not something someone of your lowly status can afford.” The waiter looked at the plainly dressed Prince Xiaoyao and Liu Hanru with disdain. “Besides, the seven-layered chiffon robe has already been reserved by that lady!”
"Oh... young lady, you are quite pretty, but look at your shabby clothes. This seven-layered chiffon dress costs over a thousand taels of silver, I'm afraid you can't afford it!" A seductive young woman, her face flushed with rouge, looked at Liu Hanruo and Xiaoyao Wang Chu Che with disdain. "Do you know who I am? This entire capital is under my husband's control. You dare to try to take things from me? You're asking for death."
"Little beauty, I think you're quite pretty. Why don't you come back with me and become my master's twenty-eighth concubine? It's much better to be with my master than with this poor boy!"
Liu Hanruo coldly watched the alluring young woman approaching her, half-covering her face with her hand, and chuckled inwardly. Trying to seduce the princess in front of the carefree prince, hehe, it seems this woman really doesn't know what's good for her!
Upon hearing the alluring woman's words, the carefree prince's face instantly turned ashen. He slapped the woman several feet away, casually tossing his identification token onto the counter and angrily shouting at the stunned shop assistant:
"Bring me the best clothes and jewelry from your store so the princess can take her time choosing. We'll settle the bill at the Prince's Mansion later."
The alluring young woman who had been slapped away only remembered that she had been wronged and beaten; she didn't hear the last sentence and hurriedly ran with her maid to fetch reinforcements.
Chu Che, relying on his status as the Carefree Prince, assumed that no one would dare to cause trouble. After choosing his clothes and jewelry, he took Liu Hanruo's hand and strolled leisurely through the streets toward the World's Number One Restaurant.
Just as Chu Che and Liu Yiyi were about to reach the World's Number One Restaurant, they happened to run into a seductive woman who was going back to get reinforcements and a group of thugs. These lowly thugs didn't recognize the Carefree King at all. At the seductive woman's command, the group surrounded Chu and Liu.
Immediately, fists, feet, swords, and knives flew towards the two of them. The carefree King Chu Che shielded Liu Hanruo behind him, and several times he almost grazed the blades.
Liu Hanruo felt a surge of anxiety, and was struggling with whether or not to reveal her skills when she saw the Carefree King seize a long sword from a guard, a bloodthirsty glint in his eyes, and shoot it at the alluring woman in the distance, piercing her heart with a single blow.
Upon seeing the alluring woman dead, the thugs scattered in panic, vanishing without a trace in no time. At that moment, the carefree Prince Chu Che clutched his chest and collapsed to the side…
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