The recliner was kicked askew by Rong Ning, and the Crown Prince almost fell off. He managed to keep his balance by bracing himself with one foot, preventing himself from falling flat on his face.
The Crown Prince hadn't expected Rong Ning to react so strongly. He turned to look at her and asked curiously, "Why do you react so strongly every time Chu Pingyao is mentioned?"
"It's not that I'm overreacting, it's that you're doing something inhuman."
Rong Ning was extremely annoyed. "If you want to marry her, even if you don't love her, you should at least give her the respect she deserves, just like Father Emperor treated his Consort. But if you can't even give her basic respect, why bother to harm her?"
The Crown Prince sighed, "But this marriage concerns the interests of the court and the Chu family itself. It's not something we can decide. However, I did make a mistake. I'll go back to the palace later. Is that alright?"
"Whatever!"
Rong Ning lay down again.
"Why don't you come back to the palace with me to see your father? He misses you quite a bit."
"No!" Rong Ning said decisively. "I have no plans to go to the palace anytime soon."
After saying that, she turned her back to him, ignored him, and went straight to sleep.
The location was quite shady and comfortable, and Rong Ning fell asleep in no time. When she woke up again, the Crown Prince had already left.
Ah Ying said he was very careful when he left, afraid of waking her up.
Rong Ning stretched and loosened her limbs, then asked, "How is Xie Xizhu?"
“Lock yourself in your room,” A-Ying replied.
Tsk...this girl.
Rong Ning got up, tidied her appearance, and went to the next courtyard. The palace maid serving there greeted her and whispered, "Your Highness, Miss Xie didn't go in today and hasn't come out since. She didn't eat lunch either."
Rong Ning nodded, indicating that she understood. She waved for them to leave, walked to the door, and gently knocked. "Xi Zhu, open the door!"
There was no response from inside. Rong Ning frowned and knocked a few more times, but still no reaction.
What happened?
Just as Rong Ning was considering whether to kick the door down, the door opened.
"Your Highness, please forgive me!" Xie Xizhu said softly, "I just fell asleep."
Looking at her red and swollen eyes and haggard face, Rong Ning knew that she had been crying. In the end, she couldn't bear it and sighed, "Why do you have to make yourself like this? There are many things you can't control. If you are unwilling to do what I told you, just pretend I didn't say it. It's not a big deal. I keep my word and won't force you."
Xie Xizhu bit her lip to hold back, hurriedly lowered her head to hide the emotions in her eyes, and didn't reply with a single word.
"Alright, I'll have someone tidy you up. I'll take you out for a walk to clear your head. Staying cooped up like this is making you feel suffocated."
Xie Xizhu neither said she would go nor she wouldn't go, and remained silent for a long time.
Having no other choice, Rong Ning summoned a palace maid to clean up Xie Xizhu's mess.
When Xie Xizhu was brought out of the Prime Minister's residence, she didn't bring anything with her, not even her most trusted maid, Rong Ning. So everything she needed had to be prepared by the Princess's residence.
Fortunately, the people in the princess's residence were efficient and had prepared everything for Xie Xizhu by the end of the morning.
After giving Xie Xizhu a proper bath and changing her clothes, she was brought before Rong Ning.
After tidying herself up, Xie Xizhu looked much better than before, and the pale yellow gauze dress added a touch of vitality to her.
She curtsied slightly, saying, "I've kept Your Highness waiting."
Rong Ning smiled and shook her head, took the veiled hat that had been prepared in advance from A Ying and put it on Xie Xizhu, then asked softly, "Is there anywhere you'd like to go?"
Xie Xizhu shook her head.
"In that case, I'll take you to a place I frequent. If you don't like it, just tell me and we'll go somewhere else."
Xie Xizhu was, after all, a girl raised in seclusion, and there were some things she might not be able to accept.
She hadn't eaten anything all day and must be hungry, so Rong Ning first took Xie Xizhu to Yunlou to eat something, and then took her shopping for clothes and jewelry.
My older sister said that when a girl is in a bad mood, buying more pretty things will make her feel much better.
No girl can resist beautiful clothes and jewelry. Even someone like Rong Ning, who doesn't really need them, loves to shop. When she has too many things to carry, she asks the shop assistant to deliver them directly to the princess's residence.
So on this day, Rong Ning and Xie Xizhu visited almost all the well-known clothing and jewelry shops in Nanyang City.
Extremely flamboyant!
The two stopped when the city lights came on; they were really tired.
"Xizhu, are you hungry?"
Xie Xizhu shook her head.
Today, she ate as she strolled around. Rong Ning took her to eat snacks, and her mouth never stopped. She felt that it didn't fill her stomach, but after eating for so long, she couldn't eat dinner at all.
Xie Xizhu had never eaten, drunk, and played so unrestrainedly in her entire life, and she was in a much better mood than when she first came out.
She looked at Rong Ning and said sincerely, "Your Highness, thank you. In all my life, only Your Highness has ever taken me out to play like this."
"You're too kind. This is the first time I've taken a girl other than my older sister to play like this."
Xie Xizhu was stunned upon hearing this.
Seeing her expression, Rong Ning felt a little helpless and explained with a smile, "I told you a long time ago that I don't have any close female friends. Even if I did, they wouldn't play around with me like this. So you're the first one."
"Your Highness..."
Xie Xizhu was filled with a myriad of emotions, but when she tried to express them, she didn't know how to do so and remained silent for a moment.
"Since you're not hungry, I'll take you somewhere."
Rong Ning immediately pulled her hand and got her into the carriage, urging A Ying to hurry up and drive.
Finally, they arrived at the top of the city wall, where the city was ablaze with lights, reflecting the prosperity of Nanyang.
Xie Xizhu was mesmerized, murmuring, "So beautiful..."
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