Tang Xiaobai wiped the sweat off her forehead, silently lamenting.
Even with a parasol to block the sun, standing under the afternoon sun wasn’t pleasant. Should I fake a heatstroke or something?
Just as she was thinking this, there was movement inside Chongde Hall where the Crown Prince lived.
A man in official robes came out from the hall, walked straight up to her, and smiled slightly: "The Crown Prince has ordered me to escort Second Miss back to the mansion, Second Miss please—"
Tang Xiaobai was overjoyed and hastily thanked him.
Following the man for a few steps, she suddenly felt something and instinctively turned around for a look.
By the hall door, a slender figure flashed and disappeared into the shadows...
...
Li Mu stood stiffly by the door, his heart pounding.
Did she see him?
Probably not, right?
...
"I saw the Crown Prince today—"
Li Mu’s hand shook, nearly dropping the so-called "Zhenzhou dumpling" handed to him.
"But I didn’t see clearly," the young girl seemed quite regretful.
Li Mu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, next time he must not expose himself like this.
"I only saw a shadow, guessing it should be the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince is so skinny, about the same as you. Hey? Now that you mention it, you and the Crown Prince are a bit alike!"
Li Mu’s heart lifted secretly, but he pretended nonchalantly with a "hmm".
The young girl indeed didn’t think much about it: "You’re both so thin, it’s fine for you, but he’s the dignified Crown Prince, how can he not take care of himself? Poor thing... and there’s someone trying to assassinate him—it’s a good thing you didn’t go today, it was quite thrilling..." she then recounted today’s encounter.
Li Mu listened absentmindedly, finally asking the question weighing on his mind when hearing she was taken to the Crown Prince Mansion: "Did the Crown Prince bully you?"
He remembered seeing her leave, wiping sweat off her forehead with her sleeve while walking.
In the middle of summer, standing for a quarter of an hour under the sun wasn’t comfortable, right?
Would she think he bullied her? Would she... dislike him because of it?
"No way! Why would he bully me?" The young girl looked at him strangely, "Even though at first the Crown Prince didn’t let me go home, once I pleaded, he let me go!"
"Just pleaded and he let you go?" Didn’t he make her wait for a quarter of an hour?
"Oh... although he had me wait a little while, it was just a short while, and the Crown Prince immediately had people bring something to shade me from the sun, the Crown Prince is truly a kind-hearted and soft-hearted child—hey, why are you blushing?"
Li Mu coughed lightly twice, frowned, and avoided her hand, saying, "What child? The Crown Prince is older than Second Miss."
Tang Xiaobai giggled: "Age isn’t important, I see him as just a child. You don’t know, the Crown Prince is quite amusing. He was still hiding at the door watching me when I left, do you think he couldn’t bear to see me go?"
Li Mu felt his face growing hotter, so he deliberately put on a stern face to cover it: "I wouldn’t know!"
Tang Xiaobai was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and shook his hand: "He might not bear to see me go, but I can’t bear to leave Ah Xiao! I won’t stay to keep the Crown Prince company!"
Li Mu couldn’t help blushing again, but his lips curled up uncontrollably.
She wasn’t provoked, didn’t misunderstand him, and didn’t dislike him...
...
After chatting with the young ancestor for a while, Tang Xiaobai had someone call Ah Yuan and divided the Zhenzhou dumplings Su Shunqing had just sent over between the two.
As the two young boys left with the dumplings, they happened to encounter Tang Jiaojiao at the Bright Moon Building entrance.
"You’re quite good to these two," Tang Jiaojiao glanced at the dumplings in the young boys’ hands and snorted lightly, "What’s the difference between Zhenzhou dumplings and Capital City dumplings, that you have to ask Su Shunqing for them?"
"How would I know the difference if I haven’t eaten them?" Tang Xiaobai replied casually, though her mind wandered to another matter—
Since Su Shunqing sent the dumplings, he must have understood her hint, right? Otherwise, given their brief acquaintance, it wouldn’t make sense for the Zhenzhou Imperial Court Official to indulge her request while even ignoring the Prince Consort.
But if Su Shunqing’s people didn’t go to Xianfu Temple, why did Zhao Jing disappear before the Crown Prince’s assassination attempt? Where would he have gone?
...
"Zhao Jing—"
Zhao Jing paused, hesitated for a moment, then turned around to salute: "Princess!"
Pingyang Princess, a little out of breath from pursuing him, couldn’t help but complain: "Why are you walking so fast?" As she spoke, her beautiful eyes fixed intently on him.
Zhao Jing said blandly, "It’s getting late."
Pingyang Princess frowned: "Aren’t you off duty tonight?"
"The palace gates will soon close, it’s inappropriate for me to stay."
Pingyang Princess felt displeased with this answer, but couldn’t find fault, so simply said: "Then hurry back and rest. The Crown Prince was attacked in the street, you’ll probably be quite busy next!"
Zhao Jing responded in a low voice, saluted, and left.
He knew Pingyang Princess was still watching him from behind, tempted several times to turn back for a glance, but ultimately he kept walking through the palace gates without stopping.
Leaving the palace gates, mounting his horse, returning to Changshou Square’s private residence.
Soon thereafter, the side door opened, and Zhao Jing emerged in casual attire.
By the time he reached Jinchang Village, dusk had already fallen.
He stood before the wooden door, hesitating for a long time, finally raising his hand to knock.
There was no response from inside the door, yet tense, hurried breathing could be heard through the door crack.
"It’s me..." he whispered.
The wooden door swung open—
...
After the wooden door closed, a person emerged from the corner of an alley not far away, squinting slightly with almond-shaped eyes, looking thoughtful.
After a moment, the person chuckled lightly.
"Ah, Prince Consort Zhao..."
...
"It’s Zhao Jing, right?" Tang Jiaojiao thought for a moment, "I saw him after you were taken by the Crown Prince’s people—why ask about him?"
Tang Xiaobai snorted and said, "Isn’t he responsible for guarding the Crown Prince? From the assassination attempt to my return to the mansion, I didn’t see him at all!"
Tang Jiaojiao made a noncommittal "hmm" sound and hesitantly asked: "At the Crown Prince Mansion, did the Crown Prince bully you?"
Tang Xiaobai gave her a strange look: "Haven’t we already asked that?"
As soon as she got home, she was interrogated, even revealing the Crown Prince’s door-hiding antics, though she omitted the quarter-hour wait.
Tang Jiaojiao frowned slightly and said, "Just now, Prince Jin sent word saying the Crown Prince intends to keep you as company. He really didn’t trouble you?"
Although her sister didn’t appear abnormal, staying alone at the Crown Prince Mansion for so long, who knows if she’d been coerced or deceived? And hearing "staying as company" made her feel unnerved.
A pampered girl from Duke Yan Mansion becoming company for that sickly, moody Young Crown Prince?
Her sister might be so oblivious, she wouldn’t notice if she was being troubled—
"Really, no trouble!" Tang Xiaobai couldn’t help but feel angry when Prince Jin was mentioned, "Prince Jin is lying! I even encountered him at the Crown Prince Mansion, and he also said the Crown Prince wouldn’t let me go, but as soon as I asked the Crown Prince, he had someone send me back!"
A quarter-hour rounding down to zero is negligible.
Tang Jiaojiao remained skeptical.
"Sis! You’d rather believe Prince Jin than trust your own full-blooded younger sister?" Frustrated, shaking!