She was not only beautiful, but also interesting.
That day he had heard her conversation with the maid and knew she had been given some subtle rebuffs, but when he spoke with her, he hadn’t seen her show any aggrieved expression. He had thought she was too young to understand social nuances, but later he realized this wasn’t the case. Though this little girl was small, her eyes were clear and perceptive, and he knew she understood the maid’s thoughts at the time.
She understood clearly but didn’t reveal it—Xiao Ziheng found her rather intriguing.
Tonight he had slipped out of the palace to wander and unexpectedly saw her by the moat. He hadn’t planned to go talk to her, but he noticed several men standing not far from her who clearly had ill intentions. He thought this little girl was from Qi Ying’s residence, so he should go manage the situation, which was why he went forward to chat with her.
It wasn’t surprising that others harbored bad thoughts about her—she was indeed beautiful, and her smile through the steam from the bowl looked even more lovely. She was still young now, but given time when she grew up, then…
Xiao Ziheng narrowed his eyes slightly.
Seeing Xiao Ziheng staring at her continuously, Shen Xiling suspected she had something on her face. She wiped her face and asked tentatively, “…Your Highness?”
Xiao Ziheng came back to his senses, also surprised that he had been staring at a little girl thin as a bean sprout to the point of losing focus. He couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh, then asked Shen Xiling, “Girl, what’s your name?”
When asked about her name again, Shen Xiling was much more practiced and answered quite naturally, “Your Highness, I’m called Fang Jun.”
Xiao Ziheng nodded, then suddenly looked behind Shen Xiling and smiled, “Miss Fang—look, someone’s come to find you.”
Shen Xiling was startled and turned around to see Qing Zhu standing behind her, somewhat out of breath. Despite the cold weather, there was actually sweat on his forehead.
Qing Zhu walked toward Shen Xiling, quite surprised to see the Fourth Prince there as well. He immediately moved to pay respects but was naturally stopped by the Fourth Prince, who said sarcastically, “Enough, enough. You’re truly worthy of being someone from Qi Ying’s side—as stiff and boring as he is. Aren’t you just here to fetch this little girl? Take her away then.”
Having followed Qi Ying for many years, Qing Zhu was familiar with this prince’s temperament and knew he was most informal with etiquette. If he bowed now, the prince would probably be even more displeased, so he didn’t bow again. He only turned to Shen Xiling, frowning, and said, “The young master has been looking for you for a long time, yet you’re here enjoying yourself—why don’t you come back with me quickly?”
Shen Xiling knew Qing Zhu had never much liked her, and his attitude now was even less pleasant. She stood up somewhat awkwardly, feeling she had caused trouble again and naturally felt very apologetic, but hearing that Qi Ying had looked for her made her heart feel faintly happy.
She said, “I’m sorry…”
Qing Zhu didn’t speak to her further, only gave Xiao Ziheng a shallow bow, saying, “We’ve troubled Your Highness. This servant will surely inform the young master of this matter.”
Xiao Ziheng swallowed a yuanxiao and waved his hand dismissively, “That’s not necessary.”
He seemed to have been burned by the dumpling, continuously sucking air through his mouth. He glanced at Shen Xiling again and said with a smile, “Instead of that, why not have your young master keep a better eye on her? For such a pretty little girl, beauty can be quite dangerous.”
His tone was half joking, half serious, making Shen Xiling feel somewhat embarrassed, but Qing Zhu remained stiff and formal, answering very respectfully, “Yes.”
Qing Zhu led Shen Xiling in another quick bow to the Fourth Prince before turning to leave. Just as Shen Xiling turned around, she was called back by the Fourth Prince. She turned her head to see his peach blossom eyes sparkling as he handed her the fox lantern he had been carrying, saying, “This lantern is for you—take it and play with it.”
Shen Xiling thought she had already mooched a meal of yuanxiao from the Fourth Prince and shouldn’t mooch a flower lantern from him as well, so she politely declined. But the Fourth Prince laughed, “Take it. It’s something only you little girls would like anyway—it’s useless to me.”
Xiao Ziheng stood up, walked over to hand her the lantern, saying, “Consider it my apology for deceiving you last time.”
Shen Xiling was greatly alarmed and tried to decline again, but the Fourth Prince stuffed the lantern into her hands, then turned and walked away first. Shen Xiling saw him wave at her with his back turned, then disappear into the crowd after a few quick movements.
Holding this flower lantern, Shen Xiling didn’t know what to do. She was lost in thought when she heard Qing Zhu beside her snort coldly and say, “Aren’t you coming quickly?”
After saying this, he walked away rapidly, and Shen Xiling came to her senses and hurried to follow him.
When Shen Xiling followed Qing Zhu to find Qi Ying and the others, it was already quite late.
Actually, she herself hadn’t delayed for very long—the main issue was Qing Zhu… he seemed somewhat unfamiliar with the roads. At first Shen Xiling hadn’t noticed this, until later when she discovered they had passed the same sugar painting stall three times while Qing Zhu remained oblivious and even maintained a stern expression, she realized something was wrong.
Shen Xiling felt that Qing Zhu already disliked her, and if she now exposed his inability to navigate, it would only make matters worse, so she could only silently follow him as they went in circles on the street. But later, watching Qing Zhu’s forehead grow increasingly sweaty, Shen Xiling felt quite sympathetic. Just as she was about to suggest she lead the way to find people, unexpectedly Qing Zhu had a stroke of luck and happened to find Second Young Master Qi’s group.
Shen Xiling clearly felt Qing Zhu beside her breathe a sigh of relief.
By then there were fewer people on the street. Eldest Young Master’s daughter Hui’er had probably gotten tired from playing and was already asleep in her father’s arms. Third Young Master and Fourth Young Master were still quite energetic, talking to each other while each holding five or six lanterns. Shen Xiling saw Miss Zhao standing beside Second Young Master Qi, looking up at him with a pink face as she said something, holding several pretty little flower lanterns in her hand. Qi Ying was looking down at her, but since his back was toward Shen Xiling and Qing Zhu’s direction, Shen Xiling couldn’t see his expression—she could only see he was also holding a lantern, which appeared to be a fox lantern as well.
Bai Song, standing not far from Qi Ying, saw Qing Zhu and Shen Xiling first and said something to Qi Ying. Hearing this, Qi Ying turned around. At that moment, behind him were the brilliant lights of the long street, too bright, preventing Shen Xiling from clearly seeing his expression when he looked at her. Only when she got closer could she see him frowning as he asked, “Where did you run off to all evening?”
His tone didn’t carry much reproach, he was just frowning, making Shen Xiling momentarily tongue-tied, not knowing what to say. Qing Zhu then leaned close to his ear and said something. Shen Xiling only saw Qi Ying raise an eyebrow after hearing it, showing a rather surprised expression, then glanced at the fox lantern in her hand.
When Zhao Yao saw Shen Xiling return carrying a fox lantern—exactly the one she had casually pointed at when getting out of the carriage—she felt Shen Xiling was deliberately trying to compete with her, and immediately felt contemptuous. Actually, she had only mentioned it casually then, but this orphan girl had taken it seriously, which was truly laughable.
She now held several small lanterns, each more exquisite and expensive than that fox lantern, and one was even bought by second brother. She felt she had won a great victory tonight, her eyes quite smug. Seeing second brother frowning at that orphan girl, she felt the girl had angered second brother and was even happier.
Qi Yun stood aside holding Hui’er, seeing his second brother frowning at Miss Fang, guessing he might be about to scold someone. It wasn’t surprising he was angry—shortly after everyone got out of their carriages, Miss Fang had gotten lost, and Jingchen had searched for her all along the way. Qi Yun knew his brother was cold on the surface but warm-hearted, and quite concerned about this Miss Fang. Though he didn’t show it on his face, he was worried in his heart. Now that she was found, given his somewhat strict nature, he would inevitably scold her a few words.
Qi Yun thought that Jingchen had been serious since youth. The younger brothers at home were like little monkeys—sometimes even he as the eldest brother couldn’t control them, but Jingchen could always manage them properly. When he scolded people, he wasn’t necessarily harsh with words, but he made people feel anxious in their hearts. Sometimes even Qi Yun felt intimidated watching from the side. He thought Miss Fang was certainly going to be scolded now. Poor thing, she was so delicate and weak, and would have to be scolded by Jingchen in front of others—it was truly pitiful.
Ever since becoming a father, Eldest Young Master had become increasingly softhearted. He wanted to advise Jingchen to give the little girl some face, but unexpectedly he heard Qi Ying sigh and say to Miss Fang, “It’s good that you’re safe. Don’t do this again next time.”
This… he actually didn’t scold her!
Qi Yun was quite surprised, then saw Miss Fang nod obediently, and the matter was settled just like that. Qi Le beside them muttered quietly, “Second brother is really playing favorites. If I had gotten lost today, who knows how he would have scolded me.”
This mutter was heard by Qi Ying, who turned to glance at him. Qi Le was frightened and quickly shrank his neck, smiling ingratiatingly at his second brother.
At this moment Hui’er half-woke up. The little girl was uncomfortable sleeping and began to fuss. Qi Yun coaxed her while turning to his uncle-in-law and aunt, “It’s getting late. I think today we should…”
Zhao Run nodded, and Zhao Qishi laughed as she continued, “It is quite late. Hurry back and coax this little darling to sleep.”
Qi Yun and Han Ruohui thanked uncle-in-law and aunt, and the group walked back toward their carriages along the long street. Shen Xiling followed behind everyone. After walking just a few steps, she saw Qi Ying stop and turn back to beckon to her, saying, “Walk closer to me.”
Shen Xiling blinked, her face flushing red again. She pressed her lips together and trotted a few steps to his side. Qi Ying positioned her slightly in front of him, and she heard him say, “Mm, let’s go.”
Shen Xiling’s face grew even redder.
All of this was seen by Zhao Yao, who suddenly felt her night’s victory had been greatly diminished. Her originally joyful mood became somewhat stifled again. Qi Le beside her, seeing she wasn’t speaking, came over to ask, “Sister Yao’er, what’s wrong? You look unhappy—do you still want to buy lanterns?”
Of course Zhao Yao didn’t respond to him.
Everyone soon walked back to where they had gotten out of the carriages, bowed to each other in farewell, then boarded their respective carriages.
After getting in her carriage, Zhao Yao hurriedly opened the window wanting to see second brother one more time, but saw him helping that orphan girl into the carriage. Then the curtain dropped and she couldn’t glimpse even the slightest bit of the scene. Thinking that tonight she had to go back to the Zhao residence with her parents while that orphan from Ba Commandery could return to Fenghe Garden with second brother, Zhao Yao became increasingly angry. She smashed all the flower lanterns except the one second brother had bought, startling her father, then threw herself into her mother’s arms wailing inconsolably.
On the return journey, Shen Xiling and Qi Ying didn’t speak the entire way.
Shen Xiling couldn’t tell if he was angry and wanted to apologize, but felt she really hadn’t done anything wrong. Yet his silence throughout the journey made her heart uncomfortable, so she was caught in a dilemma.
She remained in this dilemma until it was time to get out of the carriage.
Since Qi Ying sat on the outer side, he got out of the carriage first. Shen Xiling followed behind him but saw he had left his fox lantern in the carriage. She pressed her lips together, took his lantern in her hand as well, and called out to him as she got out of the carriage.
“Young master.”
Qi Ying had already walked several steps but turned around when he heard her voice, looking at her.
Shen Xiling hadn’t yet gotten out of the carriage, standing half-bent on the carriage step with two fox lanterns in her hands—the one Xiao Ziheng gave her in her left hand, the one Qi Ying had left behind in her right hand. Though both were fox lanterns, looking closely there were some differences. The one in her left hand was made of white paper, while the one in her right hand was made of light red colored paper and looked more delicate and beautiful. She held up the one in her right hand and said, “Young master, you left your lantern behind.”
Shen Xiling saw Qi Ying walk over, but instead of taking the lantern from her hand, he helped her down from the carriage. Only after she was steady did he let go of her hand, saying, “That’s for you.”
Shen Xiling was stunned: “Hm?”
Qi Ying was silent for a while, then said, “I thought you really wanted it.”
Tonight on the street when they had just gotten out of the carriage, Zhao Yao had pointed at the fox lanterns by the street. At that moment he had seen the little girl secretly looking, but only glanced once before looking away. He thought Shen Xiling liked that lantern, so later when buying lanterns for Zhao Yao, he also bought one for her. He just hadn’t expected her to later encounter Xiao Ziheng, and that prince with his eccentric behavior had also given her a lantern.
Hearing Qi Ying say this, Shen Xiling was momentarily speechless.
She had been naturally sensitive since childhood, always accustomed to reading facial expressions and secretly observing others’ words and actions, speculating on their thoughts and emotions, then carefully maneuvering around them. But she had never imagined that one day someone would secretly pay attention to her every glance and movement, caring about her every thought and idea. Today she had only instinctively glanced at that fox lantern once, yet Qi Ying had even noticed that.
Shen Xiling’s eyes moistened as she looked straight at Qi Ying. Seeing the little girl’s eyes redden again, Qi Ying frowned and sighed, asking, “What are you crying about now?”
Shen Xiling looked away and shook her head repeatedly, saying, “I’m not crying…”
Qi Ying was amused by her sullen tone and asked back, “How are you not crying?”
When he smiled, the emotion in his phoenix eyes seemed especially gentle. He was already handsome, and when he smiled he was even more so, making Shen Xiling afraid to look at his eyes. She only said sullenly, “I’m just not crying…”
At that moment, Shen Xiling didn’t realize that this sentence was actually acting coquettish. Though it was only slight petulance, this was indeed the first time since meeting Qi Ying that she had spoken to him this way.
So naturally, it just came out.
Qi Ying also didn’t notice anything inappropriate, his eyes becoming even more gentle. Though he didn’t know what the little girl was thinking, he could roughly see that her slightly red eyes at this moment weren’t from sadness. He looked up at the sky and saw tonight’s moon was bright and clear without a trace of cloud, indicating tomorrow would likely be good weather.
He lowered his head and said to Shen Xiling, “Let’s go back. Rest early today—tomorrow I’ll take you to meet mother.”
Shen Xiling watched him turn and climb the stone steps in the mountain, his figure blending with the cool moon and mountain bamboo shadows of this night, and suddenly felt a wave of tranquility rise in her heart. She looked down at the light red fox lantern in her hand, showing faint joy in her eyes, and quickly followed that figure.
Today’s Lantern Festival, she… had spent it happily.
Author’s Note: -What are you crying about now? -I’m not crying. -How are you not crying? -I’m just not crying! -…? Fine, if you say you’re not crying, then you’re not crying.