Tao Wanniang was in a bind. She could clearly feel Xiao Yi's gaze signaling her to refuse, as well as Hongzhu's composed expression. How did she end up becoming the middleman?
"Do you think I can just take on apprentices like that? We chefs make a living with our skills, and we don't want to teach our apprentices only to have them starve to death." Tao Wanniang said deliberately, displeased. "Your Highness, you're really not being fair, making fun of me like this. Is that how you refuse someone?"
After finishing her sentence, Tao Wanniang left without saying goodbye, looking quite angry.
Xiao Yi watched Tao Wanniang's departing figure with some regret, but he remained calm and stood still, without doing anything that might arouse suspicion.
“Hong-guniang, you can go and find out what level Sister Tao’s cooking skills are at. I think you could never catch up to her,” Xiao Yi said earnestly to Hong-guniang, suppressing his sadness.
Hongzhu glared at Xiao Yi, her face darkening. Not only was he comparing her, an eighteen-year-old young woman, to a middle-aged cook, but he also acted as if she were inferior to him, which really annoyed her.
“Your Highness Prince Rui, I know very well that your Prince Rui’s mansion really wants a princess consort.” Hongzhu said with a playful smile, “I don’t mind if you’re only superficially friendly with me. Given time, I believe you will still accept me.”
"Red Girl, you're abandoning your brothers on the waterways?" Cheng Feng exclaimed in surprise. "You want to enter our Prince Rui's mansion?"
“Those are all my brothers from my maternal family,” Hongzhu said magnanimously. “If anything happens to me in the capital, my brothers will all come to my aid!”
"Cheng Feng, you go out. I want to speak with Miss Hong alone," Xiao Yi said calmly. Since she knew about the rumors surrounding him, he could be more direct.
Cheng Feng understood Xiao Yi's intentions and immediately avoided the situation.
“Miss Hong, you are a free spirit, open-minded and cheerful; but I am a royal prince. Do you know that we are never on the same level?” Xiao Yi said calmly. “I have no intention of confining you to a mansion. Besides, I am cursed to bring misfortune to my wife.”
“I know, your reputation for bringing misfortune to wives is something anyone can find out with a little inquiry,” Hongzhu said nonchalantly. “If you mind that, I might as well tell you that the fortune teller said I have a tough life! I was an orphan from a young age, and my adoptive father pulled me out of the river. I don’t know how long I drifted, and I was barely clinging to life. But in the end, not only did I survive, but I also became the owner of Lixin Island.”
"I don't care about your status, your reputation, or whether you like me or not. I just want to be with you!" Hongzhu said earnestly and somewhat stubbornly. "Over time, feelings will develop. You raise a dog, and after a while, you won't want to throw it away!"
Xiao Yi frowned, looking at Hongzhu with a helpless expression. Why was this young woman so incomprehensible?
"Of course, I still like you quite a bit. For someone I like, I don't mind waiting patiently for a while longer. Prince Rui, Xiao Yi, I've been in the capital recently, and I'll come to see you often."
After saying that, Hongzhu walked away gracefully.
Xiao Yi remained inside, shaking his head in utter helplessness. Many women had pursued him, but none like Hongzhu were truly the first. After Hongzhu left, Xiao Yi thought he should properly apologize to Tao Wanniang. Deep down, he was genuinely uneasy; what if Sister Tao really got angry?
After Cheng Feng spoke to Tao Wanniang, Xiao Yi waited in the private room.
Tao Wanniang arrived quickly. Since she wasn't busy, she came over to gossip. Xiao Yi was the only one in the room, and she seemed quite happy.
"Young Master, you actually rejected such a bold and passionate girl?"
"Sister Tao, aren't you angry?" Xiao Yi looked Tao Wanniang up and down and asked nervously.
"Why would I be angry? Angry that you used me to fend off unwanted suitors?" Tao Wanniang said nonchalantly. "Anyone with a brain would know that this is just an excuse. I've seen it all, but, Young Master, you're being rather ungrateful!"
That girl is pretty, so proactive, young and enthusiastic. Isn't Princess Rui eager for a daughter-in-law?
"Sister Tao, what's wrong with me? How can you joke about something like this?" Xiao Yi looked at Tao Wanniang and sighed. "Let alone the fact that I have no feelings for that girl Hongzhu, even if I did, marrying her would be harming her, wouldn't it?"
Seeing Xiao Yi's furrowed brows, Tao Wanniang still didn't believe in the so-called saying that he was a jinx to his wife.
"What is the identity of that girl, Hongzhu?" Tao Wanniang couldn't help but ask.
“She was a female thief,” Xiao Yi said, and then recounted how the two of them met.
“She’s a good girl, loyal and righteous, but that’s precisely why I don’t want to hurt her,” Xiao Yi said. Most importantly, he would never say aloud that he had feelings for her.
Tao Wanniang always felt that someone was definitely up to no good behind Xiao Yi's back.
“Young Master, there are some things you need to figure out. Why don’t you have a good talk with this Miss Hongzhu?” Tao Wanniang said earnestly. “Since this Miss Hongzhu is skilled and courageous, and she likes you so much, perhaps you can cooperate.”
"Cooperate on what? Cooperate with her life?" Xiao Yi retorted. "I would never risk the life of an innocent person." He knew what Tao Wanniang meant. She was saying that someone behind him had always had designs on him, but for some reason, it was absolutely impossible for him to have her. However, she did not want to see him get married, which was why she caused the deaths of his former wife and children.
“This time, you’re prepared, why not give it a try?” Tao Wanniang encouraged. “Or perhaps, Miss Hongzhu has the confidence to spare her this suffering?”
“But Hongzhu is a living, breathing person!” Xiao Yi frowned. What if it was all just Tao Wanniang’s wild imagination, and he really was a jinx to his wives? Then…
"If there are gods in heaven, how could they not know that you and Hongzhu are just putting on an act?" Tao Wanniang said all she wanted to say, and in the end, it was Xiao Yi himself who made the decision.
Xiao Yi's heart sank. Yes, if his fate of bringing misfortune to his wives was already predetermined, then if he staged a scene with Hongzhu, who was not his wife, could it still be considered a fate of bringing misfortune to his wives? And if... Xiao Yi looked at Tao Wanniang. If there really was such a villain, could they find him this time?
"Sister Tao, let me think about this carefully," Xiao Yi said, deep in thought.
Seeing this, Tao Wanniang understood immediately; a clever person indeed understands quickly.
"I'm going to get busy now, Your Highness, please make yourself at home!" She decided it was best not to get involved too much.
After Tao Wanniang left, Xiao Yi also left Zhaixing Tower with Cheng Feng. Xiao Yi didn't even tell Cheng Feng what Tao Wanniang had said.
Just as she had said, Hongzhu had run into Xiao Yi several times at the entrance of Prince Rui's mansion. But on this day, Xiao Yi suddenly called her over and invited her into Prince Rui's mansion!
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