The autumn sun was shining brightly, and the bluestone slabs of Suzaku Street were scorching hot. Shen Weiwan lifted a corner of the carriage curtain and saw a street vendor holding a string of candied haws and shouting. The red hawthorns, wrapped in a glistening candy shell, shone in the sun, making people greedy.
"Stop the car!" She poked Xiao Yu who was dozing next to her.
The Seventh Prince slowly opened his eyes, his dark jade eyes reflecting her sparkling face: "Want to eat again?"
"Your Highness, can't you smell the sweet aroma?" Shen Weiwan was already peeking out of the car door, "Chun Tao, give me money!"
Xiao Yu smiled helplessly and threw a silver ingot to the driver: "No need, I will do it." He jumped out of the carriage first and reached out to help her, but was slapped away by Shen Weiwan.
"Men and women should not touch each other. Your Highness, have you forgotten?" She said this, but she deliberately swayed when she landed, taking the opportunity to grab his sleeve.
Xiao Yu raised his eyebrows and let her pull him, his fingertips rubbing the back of her hand silently. Shen Weiwan's heart skipped a beat, but she pretended not to notice and went straight to the candied haws stall: "I want three strings, with extra chopped walnuts!"
"Okay!" the vendor said with a smile that showed his teeth. "Miss, you have really good taste. Our candied haws..."
"I know, I know. The sweetest in the whole capital." Shen Weiwan stuffed a bunch of them into Chuntao's mouth and bit into one herself. The candy shell crackled, and the sweet and sour juice mixed with the aroma of walnuts exploded on her tongue. She narrowed her eyes in satisfaction, not noticing that Xiao Yu beside her was staring at the corner of her candy-stained mouth, distracted.
"Your Highness, you're a birdcage..." Shen Weiwan suddenly pointed at his waist, "No, your hairpin is crooked!"
Xiao Yu came back to his senses and subconsciously touched his hair. He was incognito today and only wore an ordinary ebony hairpin. Without waiting for his reaction, Shen Weiwan stood on tiptoe to support it, and her fingertips accidentally brushed his earlobe.
"Hiss..." Xiao Yu suddenly took half a step back, and the tips of his ears turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Shen Weiwan laughed out loud: "Your Highness is ticklish?"
"Nonsense!" Xiao Yu turned his head away, pretending to look at the parrot stand next to him, "I'm just... worried that you'd fall."
"Oh?" Shen Weiwan drawled out her tone, deliberately moving closer, "Then Your Highness, please stand lower next time so that I won't be out of reach."
Chuntao blushed as she watched, quickly lowering her head to fiddle with the candied haws in her hand. Xiao Yu took a deep breath and decided to change the subject: "Go see the parrots? I heard there are some that can recite poems."
Sure enough, a crowd gathered in front of the parrot stall. The vendor was teasing a green-feathered parrot: "Come, recite a poem for this young man or young lady!"
The parrot tilted its head and suddenly said, "Auntie is very good at calculating, and she has lost all our wealth!"
The whole audience burst into laughter. Shen Weiwan laughed so hard that she fell backwards, but Xiao Yu took out the silver without changing his expression: "This parrot, the king wants it."
"Your Highness, you bought it and then went back to scold yourself?" Shen Weiwan joked.
"No," Xiao Yu looked at her with a smile in his eyes, "Let it repeat in your ears every day, so that you won't forget how to be rude to others."
The two walked forward, bickering. When they passed a cricket stall, Shen Weiwan suddenly stopped. An old man in gray was boasting, "This is the 'Golden Winged General' caught in the General's Mansion's treasury. It can defeat the 'Black Heart' of the Liu Mansion!"
A cold glint flashed in Xiao Yu's eyes, and he winked at his attendant. Before the old man could react, two guards stepped forward and whispered questions. Shen Weiwan took the opportunity to squat down and saw the words "Liu's Exclusive" engraved on the bottom of the cricket jar. She laughed so hard that she slapped her thigh.
"Buy it." Xiao Yu threw a silver ingot to the old man, "and find me a 'loving couple'."
The old man happily held out another jar and said, "Look at this pair of 'Butterfly Lovers', they never fight!"
Shen Weiwan looked over and saw two crickets huddled together, chewing on a leaf. She immediately burst into laughter and fell on Xiao Yu's shoulder. He stiffened for a moment, then relaxed, letting her lean on him. Chuntao was stunned and quickly turned her head to look at the peacock next to her.
"Your Highness," Shen Weiwan panted, "Are you going to hold a cricket fighting competition?"
"No," Xiao Yu lowered his head, his warm breath brushing against her hair, "to entertain you."
The two of them wandered around the orchid stalls. Shen Weiwan took a fancy to a pot of crooked-necked orchid, its leaves mostly yellow. The stall owner described it as a "rare 'Phoenix Turning Back' variety." Just as she was about to tease him, she caught a glimpse of Liu's personal nanny furtively sprinkling white powder into the pot in the corner.
"Your Highness," Shen Weiwan tugged at his sleeve, "Look at that pot of grass, does it resemble your aunt's face?"
Xiao Yu followed her gaze, his eyes cold. Before the nanny could react, two guards had already "invited" her to a secluded place. Shen Weiwan followed and heard the nanny tremblingly say: "It was... Madam Liu who asked to spread the itching powder, hoping that Miss Shen..."
"Oh?" Shen Weiwan sneered, picking up the pot of roses sprinkled with powder. "Auntie is really 'considerate'." She turned to Xiao Yu, "Your Highness, why don't you give these flowers to Auntie? Just say 'Flowers bloom in wealth, itches so hard that you can't forget them.'"
Xiao Yu chuckled and told his followers, "Do as instructed."
After dealing with the trouble, the two continued to move forward. Shen Weiwan took a fancy to a starling that could roll its eyes, and Xiao Yu bought it immediately and asked the bird dealer to tie a silver bell on the bird's leg.
"Your Highness, are you going to move the entire market back to the mansion?" Shen Weiwan asked while chewing on the newly bought candy cake.
"For you to play with." Xiao Yu said naturally, "By the way, there will be a palace banquet tomorrow. I'm afraid Liu will cause trouble again. How are you preparing?"
Mentioning the palace banquet, Shen Weiwan wiped her mouth: "When the enemy comes, the general will stop him; when the water comes, the earth will cover it. But..." She smiled cunningly, "If Your Highness is willing to treat me to another meal of roast duck, I might be able to write a few more 'appropriate' poems."
"Greedy." Xiao Yu knocked her head, his eyes full of pampering, "I asked the imperial kitchen to keep it for you."
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