Just as she was wondering what this flirtatious move was, Rong Wei had already pulled out his own clean inner robe and wrapped her hair with it.
Tie Ci stiffened for a moment.
The blood throughout her body seemed to surge upward at this moment, making a rushing sound in her heart. Everything around became even quieter, with only the fine sound of water droplets falling at the bottom of her ears, pounding against her eardrums. Her ears seemed to be getting hot – she wanted to touch them but didn’t want to.
She watched him lower his head, using the hem of his own inner robe to squeeze dry the water from her long hair.
The garment was lifted high, bringing up his underclothes and faintly revealing clearly defined eight-pack abs.
Tie Ci’s mind was a bit chaotic. Not knowing if she was being seduced or just had a dry mouth, she instinctively wanted to swallow, then realized this action was inappropriate and forcibly held back. Her gaze swept over the slender waist that flashed before her, and her heart was in disarray thinking: “Is he flirting with me?”
Then she thought again, “No, no, his current movements and posture are very frank, not as ambiguous as when washing hair just now. He’s treating me as a man, without any inhibitions…”
But her heart vaguely understood that it was precisely this kind of unconscious naturalness that was even more unsettling.
These chaotic thoughts flashed by in an instant.
Her expression remained that same generous and composed smile.
Watching Rong Wei squeeze dry her hair, cup it with both hands and drape it behind her shoulders, shaking it loose, when the cool morning breeze blew, she felt her whole head generating fresh air, refreshingly as if embracing a delightful wind.
But the next moment she saw Rong Wei casually shake out his own inner robe. The wet fabric became transparent, clinging to his abs, the faint outlines adding even more allure. She wanted to swallow again.
Lowering her head, holding the books to cover her face, she smiled and thanked him, walking ahead.
Silk tree flowers had fallen all over the ground in tiny stamens, the ground green as embroidery. Behind her, Rong Wei’s footsteps were neither hurried nor slow, accompanying her through these continuous flowering trees. She suddenly remembered how during the day she had consecutively refused Rong Pu and Dan Ye’s invitations to stroll the lover’s path together, yet in the blink of an eye was simply walking through this dawn flower forest with Rong Wei.
Behind her, Rong Wei suddenly said: “At dusk I saw Rong Pu looking for you to go to the Quiet Study together. But you seemed not to agree.”
Tie Ci said: “How could I agree? Even though I’m a man, I’m afraid those female academy students would go crazy and beat me up in a sack too.”
Behind her, Rong Wei laughed and said: “True, two men aren’t necessarily unambiguous either.”
Tie Ci looked down at herself – right now weren’t they just “two men”?
These words – she didn’t want to overthink them.
Fearing that Rong Pu and Dan Ye’s inexplicable attention to her would arouse Rong Wei’s suspicion, she explained: “In Shengdu, I’ve had dealings with Young Master Rong and Wolf Lord before. There are some… historical issues.”
Rong Wei moved in front of her, lowering his head to look down into her eyes: “Hmm? Are you explaining to me about your relationship with them?”
Tie Ci stood still, raising her eyes with a smile: “Afraid you’d think I’m gay.”
Rong Wei’s smile slowly broadened, speaking very slowly: “Hmm? Aren’t you?”
His eye corners were longer than ordinary people’s, his eyelids deeper than ordinary people’s, his pupils also larger, deeper, and clearer than ordinary people’s. Looking at her so intensely and closely, it was simply dazzling and dizzy-making, everything flowing with brilliant light, making one not know where to look.
Ordinary people would have been dazed under such a gaze.
But Tie Ci was not ordinary. Although her heartbeat also skipped a beat, her gaze never dodged, and her lips slowly bloomed with an even more sincere smile: “How can we men submit beneath another man!”
Truly magnificent in bearing.
Rong Wei stared at her. This fellow had clear eyes, sincere gaze, and a gentle, refined smile – no matter how you looked, she was a gentle, elegant, and amiable good person.
Just… quite teeth-grinding.
Tie Ci suddenly stopped and said: “Alright. We’re almost at Wu dormitory. From here you can turn toward the Teachers’ Study. Let’s part ways here.”
Rong Wei looked toward Wu dormitory in the distance. There, Dan Ye, who always rose early, was already up, brushing his teeth at the courtyard gate with his strong chest bare.
A servant walked by, carrying a steaming hot food box that looked quite heavy. He recognized it as Rong Pu’s servant.
With Rong Pu’s small appetite, he couldn’t eat this much. That white lotus was probably showing off his kindness to win people’s hearts again.
His gaze quickly withdrew. Smiling in agreement, he watched Tie Ci walk inside, tying up her half-dry hair as she walked with large strides and smooth, capable movements.
He watched for a while, chuckled, and turned away.
Returning to his own dormitory, sounds came from the wall. After a moment, someone silently floated down from the skylight.
Rong Wei seemed to be pondering something in his mind, slowly turning a small trinket in his hand. After a long while he said: “The assassination failed?”
The other person made an affirmative sound.
Rong Wei frowned and said: “If it failed, then it failed. I have some doubts and want to investigate another person…”
Before he could finish, the tall person said: “The King petitioned to cancel your engagement some days ago, but the Great Qian Emperor didn’t agree and kept the memorial without issuing it. He said to wait for the Crown Princess to decide herself.”
Rong Wei immediately forgot what he was going to say, sitting up and saying: “Oh, the old man had a change of heart? He actually really helped me decline the marriage?”
“This shows the King has changed his opinion of you, young master. You should seize the opportunity.”
Rong Wei laughed once and lay back down, crossing his legs and swaying: “Opportunities must be created by oneself, why need others to give them?”
He thought and said: “Haven’t asked how you failed yet? Didn’t we send elite Falcon Division assassins?”
“The other party seemed prepared, with high martial arts skills and very tight defenses. Our people were afraid of exposing their identity and were somewhat restrained.”
“Did you see that Crown Princess? What does she look like?”
“Gray Eagle got close to strike. He said her crown was brilliant, very beautiful, just quite pretentious.”
Rong Wei snorted: “That’s how royal people are. I heard she has outstanding martial arts – is that true?”
“Can only say not low. Royal people – if they have three parts they’ll boast it’s five parts, and she’s a woman too. If you insist on saying outstanding, she deserves it. Gray Eagle only exchanged one move with her before she retreated deep into the curtains, then large numbers of guards arrived with no chance to continue fighting.” The tall person said, “If you ask me, since the assassination didn’t succeed, let it be. The King has already agreed to cancel the engagement – the Crown Princess is no longer your obstacle.”
“Didn’t you hear that the old emperor’s words were just an excuse? He clearly doesn’t want to cancel the engagement. Saying wait for the Crown Princess to return to discuss – when she returns and makes a few inquiries, how could she bear to let go of someone as beautiful and outstanding as me? She’s been rejected enough times already – this time she absolutely won’t agree easily.”
The tall person snorted but didn’t refute.
“Besides, if this dynasty lost its only heir, what chaos would ensue? If Great Qian falls into chaos, wouldn’t Liaodong have an opportunity? Won’t the King credit me with another merit?” Rong Wei waved his hand: “Continue, don’t stop.”
The tall person grunted and was about to leave when Rong Wei thought and added: “When you have time, check if Shengdu’s Horse Minister has a youngest son named Ye Shiba.”
The tall person said irritably: “Give me a break. We didn’t bring out that many people to begin with. We still have to maintain remote control over Liaodong’s Embroidered Uniform Guards, deploy people around the academy, and send assassins to Shengdu. Where’s the spare time to investigate random cats and dogs for you!”
Rong Wei didn’t mind the rebuke, waving to dismiss him. After the person floated away through the skylight, he lay on the bed with hands behind his head, thinking of how Ye Shiba had stared at his abs just now, and smiled smugly.
Meanwhile, Tie Ci entered the dormitory and was caught by Dan Ye. Seeing her, he spat out the foam in his mouth and raised an eyebrow: “Where did you go last night? Another night away!”
Tie Ci thought this tone was just like a wife reproaching a philandering husband who stayed out all night. Smiling, she said: “Wolf Lord, if I don’t go out to sleep, should I stay in the dormitory with you all?”
“Why not!” Dan Ye said, “If you’re going to do something, do it thoroughly. Since you’re disguised as a man, naturally you can’t avoid everything. If you’re afraid of talking in your sleep and revealing yourself, tomorrow you can sleep with me – I’ll guard your mouth.”
Tie Ci: “……”
Thank you so much.
Sleeping with you would be worse than rolling around in a big shared bed with a bunch of men.
Rong Pu poked his head out from inside: “Shiba, come have breakfast.”
Tie Ci walked into the hall. The table was already laid out with various breakfast items. Rong Pu had his servant send some inside for the others to share, while he occupied the only two seats with her. While serving her steamed soup dumplings, he said softly: “You didn’t return last night. I’ve already spoken to the dormmates – they won’t gossip.”
Tie Ci thought, well, this one is taking the virtuous supporting spouse route.
Although she hadn’t slept all night, she wasn’t hungry, having already devoured a whole goose after all.
Rong Pu was observant. Seeing her eat slowly and methodically, though royal etiquette was like this, he understood Tie Ci somewhat and knew she wasn’t a pretentious person. So he said: “Had a midnight snack?”
Tie Ci vaguely said: “Ate some meat sandwiches.”
Rong Pu said: “Eating cold dry food hurts the stomach. Your Highness always goes out at night like this, yet still has to study during the day – it’s too exhausting. If Your Highness doesn’t mind, the Rong family still has some people who could serve Your Highness. You could have them do some menial tasks.”
Tie Ci thought of Chen Zhuolin climbing walls like a gecko last night, thinking your Rong family might not be clean either. Should my lone boat board your pirate ship as a lifeboat?
She put down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth, and smiled: “Haven’t asked why Brother Rong came to audit at Leaping Carp Academy?”
“On the surface, the family thinks I’m frail and won’t let me continue being a minor clerk running around in wind and rain at others’ beck and call. So they arranged for me to audit at the academy for a few months as experience. If I can achieve excellent academic results, it would be an acceptable account when I return. Secretly,” Rong Pu paused, gazing into her eyes and said softly, “I wanted to help you…”
Tie Ci interrupted him, as if suddenly remembering: “For someone of your frail, noble background, I remember there’s an exemption option for such training. You could have the Chief Minister petition for exemption – the Empress Dowager surely wouldn’t refuse the Rong family face. Return to the capital early. Last time I heard your old master was arranging to introduce you to Shengdu young ladies.”
Rong Pu’s chopsticks paused. The pastry he was about to serve her scattered flakes all over the floor. He stared at those flakes and said: “Look, these pastry flakes – don’t they look like a suddenly broken heart?”
Author’s Note: About why the male lead doesn’t think of the Crown Princess – I want to say, you readers have a god’s perspective, but the characters don’t. The book repeatedly emphasizes that Tie Ci’s male disguise is flawless. In everyone’s eyes, this is just a man – a Shengdu young master who’s familiar with Rong Pu, knows Dan Ye, and has good relationships with both, all very normal. There’s also a fake Crown Princess practicing in Shengdu’s suburbs as a cover, and Ye Shiba can use supernatural abilities that the legendary Crown Princess supposedly can’t. All these circumstances together make not thinking of it normal – after all, who would randomly connect a man to the Crown Princess? Who could imagine someone of the Crown Princess’s status could personally take such risks so freely? Tie Ci’s actions, demeanor, personality, and abilities are actually different from everyone’s impression of the Crown Princess. You could say the more familiar with her personally, the less likely to connect her to the Crown Princess.
Readers knowing the male and female leads’ true genders naturally connect the clues, but thinking from their perspective, being in the situation is different.
Honestly, don’t be hasty – the mutual concealment of gender and identity is actually a very interesting process. Revealing identities too early isn’t fun!