"Hmm." Xin He nodded: "Find something plain, nothing too flamboyant."
"Your Highness, rest assured," Shulan turned around to choose a lake-blue water skirt: "How about this one?"
Xin He glanced at it: "Not bad, let’s go with this one."
"Yes." Shulan responded with a smile.
Just then, as she turned around, Xin He noticed a small fragrance pouch hanging from her waist.
"When did you buy this new fragrance pouch? It’s very delicately made, I’ve never seen you wear it before." Xin He casually asked.
A blush surfaced on Shulan’s face, shyly she said: "This, this is my betrothal gift."
Xin He raised an eyebrow, her lips curling into a smile: "Oh~ so your fiancé gave it to you."
Shulan’s face turned even redder: "During the betrothal, don’t both parties exchange gifts? This fragrance pouch was his gift to me. Your Highness, please stop teasing me."
"Let me see." Xin He chuckled.
Shulan then handed over the fragrance pouch, Xin He examined it, the workmanship was indeed very delicate. It was clearly of high quality, both the material and stitching are exceptional. For Liu Man to give away such a fragrance pouch, it was clear he truly cared for Shulan.
"What scent is inside? It’s very refined."
"Your Highness, it’s begonia flowers. Liu, Liu Young master...he has a particular fondness for begonias, so he gave me this. I don’t understand these things, I only thought it smelled very nice, do you like it, Your Highness?"
Xin He smiled and handed the fragrance pouch back to her: "It’s indeed not bad, I rarely use begonia-scented pouches, I will have someone make me one to try it someday."
"Yes." Seeing her own fragrance pouch being praised, Shulan felt overjoyed and gleefully responded.
After everything was properly packed, they finally set off.
Xin He preferred to keep a low profile when going out, traveling in a single horse-drawn carriage directly from the side gate, so nobody could easily notice nor anticipate that it was the Royal Concubine Yu on a journey.
The horse carriage was spacious and bright. Xin He closed her eyes to rest the moment she got in, while Ah Guai, leaning out the window to watch the outside scenery, occasionally chatted with Xiaoyu and Shulan.
Xiaoyu took a small incense burner out of a small box inside the carriage and lit Xin He’s favorite orchid fragrance. Because the carriage would inevitably become stuffy and uncomfortable after a long journey, the scent of the incense would bring a refreshing comfort and also work as a calming agent. Next, she served a cup of hot tea, cooling it in a wooden tub filled with ice. Now in the midst of a hot summer day, Xin He could barely drink hot tea, especially while travelling. In the absence of Marquis Mu, Xin He only drank cold tea.
With these small habits, they, as personal attendants, naturally understood everything very clearly. Nearly everything was done methodically without needing much direction.
The journey was extremely comfortable. Taking their time, they reached the prefecture city in about an hour.
---
Prefecture City.
"Li Nan, the Royal Mansion sent a message saying my sister is coming to the city. Let’s both go welcome her, then head directly to a restaurant for a good meal. We won’t take her to the public school this time. Otherwise, it’ll cause a stir."
Even though Xin He was travelling low-key and few people knew about her royal identity when she was out and about, she was indeed a striking figure. Public school was all men, it should create a stir!
After his mood had stabilized these days, Xiao Chaihuo was no longer as unstable as he was half a month ago and calmly responded: "You’re afraid she will ask your teacher about your academic progress, aren’t you?"
Xiao Bei responded by punching him: "I’m not afraid!"
It was evident he was feeling a bit guilty.
Xiao Chaihuo easily dodged the punch and walked out: "Fine, let’s go together."
Xiao Bei immediately caught up with him, and said with a grin: "You’ll have to apologize to my sister properly at that time. She was pretty upset."
Xiao Chaihuo nodded his head; "Hmm."
The two left the public school, preparing to wait in a nearby tea house. When they received the news that Xin He had entered the city, they would go to the city gate to welcome her.
Xiao Bei, being a chatterbox, was always able to engage Xiao Chaihuo in endless conversation along the way.
Xiao Chaihuo, on the other hand, usually just listened to him, occasionally responding. However, while they were about to enter the tea house, he saw a figure hurriedly rounding the corner of a small alley, glancing around apprehensively before merging into the crowd and heading towards the major thoroughfare.
Having grown up under Xin He’s training, Xiao Chaihuo’s perceptiveness was much sharper than the average person’s. Naturally, he was instantly able to sense that something was off about this person.
However, he usually saw odd individuals all the time, and he never bothered to interfere.
But this time, Xiao Chaihuo suddenly stopped in his tracks, his gaze narrowing slightly to focus on the figure that had just flashed by.
"What’s up? Let’s go in for some tea and wait, what are you looking at?" Xiao Bei asked after seeing him standing still.
Xiao Bei followed his gaze, but only saw a bustling crowd without anything else in sight.
"He looked somewhat familiar." Xiao Chaihuo murmured thoughtfully.
"Who looked somewhat familiar?" Xiao Bei asked in confusion.
"That man..." Xiao Chaihuo paused, his eyes darkening as if in thought, "I’ve seen that man before."
He had seen him in the Royal Mansion.
Half a month ago, when he visited the Royal Mansion, he had come across the same man by the side gate. It was just a brief encounter, but he remembered it.
If he had seen this person elsewhere, Xiao Chaihuo would undoubtedly have ignored it, but having seen this person appear in the Royal Mansion, he couldn’t afford not to take precautions. Even if there was the slightest chance this man might harm the Royal Mansion, he couldn’t afford to overlook it.
"Wait here for me, I’ll be back soon." Xiao Chaihuo said in a deep voice, then quickly blended into the crowd to chase after the man.
"Hey!" Xiao Bei scratched his head in confusion, "Who the hell did he see?"
Following the man in secret, Xiao Chaihuo traced him to a restaurant located at the corner of the street. Watching him enter, Xiao Chaihuo followed him inside.
"How many guests do you have, sir?"
"I am a guest of Mr. Chen." said Liu Man.
"So you’re Mr. Chen’s guest, please follow me upstairs." The boy led him up into a private room.
Xiao Chaihuo took note of the position of the private room and casually said to another attendant: "Prepare a private room for me on the second floor."
"Okay!" The attendant, noting Xiao Chaihuo’s non-shabby appearance and extraordinary demeanor, promptly heeded the order and guided him to the second floor.
Xiao Chaihuo randomly ordered a table of dishes, then excused the waiter.
No sooner had the waiter left than he exited the room himself, heading straight towards the private room the man had entered according to his previous observations.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
