Su Xi-er scrunched up her slender eyebrows and pursed her lips slightly, lifting her foot and firmly stepping on his instep.
Pei Qianhao felt the pain and couldn’t help but reduce the strength of his grip, allowing Su Xi-er to escape. She opened the pot of wine. “Prince Hao, didn’t you ask this servant to drink with you? This servant will drink now.”
Su Xi-er tipped the pot of wine into her mouth, her throat moving continuously as she drank, and only put the pot down when it was empty.
Pei Qianhao clapped. “You can drink a lot.”
The crystal clear remnants of the wine dripped down Su Xi-er’s chin. Pei Qianhao walked close to her and raised his hand to wipe it off. “Good wine should be savoured; although you can drink a lot, it is a waste to drink too fast.”
Su Xi-er raised her head to look at him. “All that matters is that it’s finished. You didn’t instruct this servant to savour it slowly, Prince Hao.”
“Glib tongue.” Pei Qianhao let go of her and walked out of the teahouse.
Looking at the bunch of uneaten delicacies on the table, Su Xi-er thought that Pei Qianhao is the wasteful one instead.
“Su Xi-er, be quick and get on the horse carriage. Don’t make Prince Hao wait for too long.” The imperial guard shouted from the front door of the teahouse.
“I’ll be there soon,” Su Xi-er replied and walked towards the entrance of the teahouse.
Quickly getting on the horse carriage, Su Xi-er found Pei Qianhao resting against the wall of the carriage with his eyes closed.
“Come, massage this prince’s shoulders,” Pei Qianhao spoke with his eyes still closed, turning to one side to allow Su Xi-er to massage his shoulders.
Su Xi-er walked over and put both hands on Pei Qianhao’s shoulders before beginning to massage them slowly
The imperial guard who drove the horse carriage raised the horse whip, and began to move the carriage forwards again.
“Go left. Use more strength,” Pei Qianhao instructed with a soft voice.
Su Xi-er used more strength in her left hand, causing Pei Qianhao’s brows and eyes to relax in comfort. However, the feeling of comfort didn’t last long before her grip softened again, the power of her fingers soft like cotton.
“Use more strength on both sides.” Pei Qianhao instructed again, but the massage suddenly stopped, and Su Xi-er’s fair arms slipped down against his shoulders.
Pei Qianhao suddenly felt a heavy weight on his back. Su Xi-er was drunk after downing the strong and spicy wine, falling asleep on Pei Qianhao’s back.
After Su Xi-er fell asleep, her body trembled violently for a second before going still. After a moment, her slender arms suddenly raised and hugged Pei Qianhao’s head tightly, her head rubbing against the back of his neck.
The first two sensations Pei Qianhao felt were warmth and tickles, making him feel strange and uncomfortable.
Pei Qianhao held Su Xi-er’s arms and tried to pull her away. When he started to use more force, she hugged him even tighter. Thus, the soft body of a woman was pressed against his broad back.
“Don’t move, I want to hug for a while,” Su Xi-er muttered in dissatisfaction. She even raised her hand to smack Pei Qianhao before hugging him even tighter.
Pei Qianhao didn’t know what to do with her, and thought to himself. Why is she so troublesome? I told her to massage my shoulders, but she ended up falling asleep and using me as a pillow.
The horse carriage arrived at the posthouse, but Su Xi-er didn’t wake up, still hugging Pei Qianhao tightly.
“Prince Hao, we have arrived at the posthouse. Please alight the horse carriage.” The respectful voice of the imperial guard came from outside the carriage.
After being answered with nothing but silence, the imperial guard didn’t dare to speak, and stood quietly to the side. After a long time however, there was still no movement in the carriage.
The imperial guard gulped nervously. Just as he was about to speak, he finally heard movements in the carriage.
When the carriage curtain was lifted, the guard immediately bowed in respect. “Prince Hao…”
Before he could finish, he saw Prince Hao putting his finger on the middle of his lips, signalling him to be quiet.