The late spring breeze enveloped the hustle and bustle of Suzaku Street, sending waves of snow-like willow catkins swirling across the gilded carriage of the Seventh Prince, Xiao Yu. A corner of the curtain was lifted by the wind, and Chen Weiwan twirled the pearl tassels at the corner with her fingertips. She gazed at the round, round candied haws hanging from the street vendor's basket, her tongue unconsciously licking the corner of her lips. Just now, watching Lin Wanrou's farce on the "pigskin raft" in the Imperial Garden had already aroused her appetite.
"What are you looking at again?" Xiao Yu put down the celadon teacup, his black jade ring tapping against the rim. He was wearing a moon-white, dark-patterned casual suit today, the cuffs embroidered with flowing clouds in silver thread. When he raised his wrists, they looked like jade. "Are you thinking about getting Lin Wanrou a few more pigskin rafts embroidered with gold thread?"
Chen Weiwan retracted her hand, deliberately frowning, the white jade hairpin in her hair shimmering with tiny silver glints: "No way. I was just wondering if Lin Wanrou would be awakened in the middle of the night by the pig's eyes she painted if she placed the pig's skin raft by her bed when she got home."
Xiao Yu chuckled softly and reached out to pull her into his arms. The carriage rolled over the bluestone pavement, the slight jolt causing her forehead to bump against his chest, bringing with it the refreshing scent of ambergris mixed with ink. "Don't worry," he said, his fingertips brushing against the oriental pearl pinned in her hair. "I've had ten pigskin rafts hung above her bed, each painted with a different mournful face. It'll be enough for her to tell stories like 'Nezha Conquers the Dragon King' every night."
Shen Weiwan burst out laughing and was about to tease him about being even more ruthless than herself when the carriage suddenly stopped. Chuntao's urgent voice came from outside the carriage: "Miss! Your Highness! There's someone playing rogue at the entrance of the alley ahead!"
Xiao Yu lifted the curtain and looked over to see three hooligans surrounding a flower girl, jostling each other. A burly bearded man, among them, reached out to snatch the jasmine basket from her arms. Shen Weiwan frowned, and just as she reached for the car door, Xiao Yu grabbed her wrist. "Sit down," he said calmly, his palm carrying undeniable strength. The next second, he had lifted the curtain and exited the car, his moon-white dress slicing a sharp arc in the wind.
"In broad daylight, you're robbing a woman's flower basket in the street?" Xiao Yu's voice was low, but it instantly quieted the bustling alley. The bearded man was about to curse, but when he looked up and saw the jade belt with twelve emblems around his waist, his Adam's apple suddenly rolled, and he fell to his knees with a thud. The two ruffians behind him followed suit and kowtowed profusely.
Xiao Yu didn't look at them. He walked straight up to the flower girl. She trembled with fear, and a few petals fell from the jasmine in her arms. "I'll buy all these flowers." He pulled a silver ingot weighing ten taels from his sleeve and patted it into the girl's trembling hand. "Enough to buy you ten carts of jasmine."
The flower girl looked at the silver, then at the jade belt around Xiao Yu's waist, and suddenly came to her senses. She knelt on the ground and said, "Thank you, Your Highness!" She crawled away holding the silver.
When Xiao Yu got into the car, Shen Weiwan was looking at him with her chin in her hand, a cunning light flashing in her eyes: "Your Highness, this heroic rescue of the beauty is so skillful that it seems like you have performed it eight times before."
"Nothing compares to Miss Shen's skill in digging holes." Xiao Yu pinched her cheek, his fingertips delicately touching her. "But—" He suddenly pulled her into his arms, his nose against her forehead, his warm breath brushing across her brow. "From now on, let me handle these little things."
Shen Weiwan raised her eyebrows and swept her eyelashes across his jaw: "For example, those ruffians just now?"
"For example, if you want to trick someone," Xiao Yu deliberately drawled out his words, his fingertips entwining the red velvet string in her braid, "tell this king, I'll have the guards send her..." He paused, a mischievous glint in his eyes, "to Wangjia Village on the outskirts of the city to be a study companion to the most fertile sow."
"Puff—" Shen Weiwan laughed so hard that her shoulders trembled, and she hit him on the chest. "Your Highness's tricks are even more cruel than mine! Even sending croton soup is not as bad as yours!"
"A red man is known only by his proximity." Xiao Yu lowered his head, his lips touching her forehead, gently brushing against it. "As I stay by your side, my skills as a 'wife-protecting maniac' must keep pace with the times."
The carriage started moving again. Shen Weiwan leaned against his chest, listening to the regular heartbeat in his chest. Suddenly, she remembered that at this moment in her past life, she was being tricked by Liu into embroidering a wedding dress. She dared not say a word even when the needle pricked her finger. Now, she was being protected in the arms of a prince. When she heard him say that he wanted to help her cheat someone, her nose suddenly felt a little sour.
"Your Highness," she looked up at him, the sunlight filtering through the gaps in the curtains onto his eyelashes, "Weren't you quite aloof before? Why are you like... like a bricklayer who's there to fill in my holes now?"
Xiao Yu laughed and flicked her forehead. "In my heart, even if the pit you dug is a bottomless abyss, I am willing to fill it with gold bricks and turn it into a flower path."
Chen Weiwan's cheeks flushed, and just as she was about to retort, the carriage stopped in front of the general's mansion. Chuntao parted the curtain and caught a glimpse of her young lady in the prince's arms. Her face flushed furiously, and she quickly lowered her head. "Miss, His Highness...there are uninvited guests in the mansion."
"Who?" Shen Weiwan adjusted her hair as she got out of the car. When she heard the words "uninvited guest", alarm bells rang in her heart.
"It's... it's Liu who was expelled from the capital." Chun Tao lowered her voice, "She's brought Shen Ruorou with her, kneeling in the main hall, demanding to see you even if she dies."
A cold glint flashed in Shen Weiwan's eyes. Shouldn't Liu be farming sweet potatoes in the wilderness three thousand miles away? Why is she back? Xiao Yu, who was standing beside her, noticed the chill in her fingertips and calmly held her hand. "What do you want to do? I'll have the guards take them..."
"Wait!" Shen Weiwan interrupted him, the corner of her mouth raised with the familiar arc of "asking for a beating", "Let me do it this time. Your Highness... just be responsible for praising my intelligence."
As the two entered the main hall, a sour, decaying atmosphere hit them. Liu, wearing patched, coarse clothes, knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face, her hair matted with grass scraps. Beside her, Shen Ruorou was even more miserable. Her once rosy face had become so thin that cheekbones stood out, and her eyes were filled with resentment, like poisoned needles.
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