Part 2
Poor Princess Huachao was naturally quiet, like a sheep or a deer, yet she had to be sent thousands of miles away to be tormented by the Barbarian King.
Ying Xi would not allow such a thing to happen again. He was mentally prepared and didn’t need to be too anxious. What’s more, he was richer now than in his past life; he had double the confidence to do whatever he wanted.
Ying Xi elegantly raised the corner of his mouth.
At this moment, Yunyong Tower was at its peak flow of customers. Rushed footsteps came from the stairs.
Over by the stairs, the shop assistant said awkwardly: “Miss, the seats on the top floor are full. May this lowly one arrange a seat downstairs for you? The dishes in the tower are the same.”
“No, no! I must be upstairs. Downstairs is full of common peddlers and porters; they are different from the people I want to see!”
Hearing such arrogant words, Ying Xi frowned slightly.
The waiter explained with a smile: “It is currently the peak time for guests. Why don’t you wait a bit, Miss?”
The girl said: “Can’t wait! It’s only good to look when there are many people. This Grand-aunt is just missing one such peerless character!”
The girl was in a hurry to go upstairs. The waiter couldn’t understand what she was saying at all and thought she was a lunatic who had run out from some family that hadn’t watched her closely. Just then, a heavy piece of silver ingot appeared in his hand.
The waiter’s eyes lit up: “Then shall I find someone to share a table with you, Miss?”
“Go, go, quickly!”
Ying Xi shook his head. Sure enough, when the waiter approached, before he could speak, he was firmly rejected by Lang Xun: “My young master’s status is noble; how can he easily share a table with others?”
This statement was certainly correct.
Even Yu Jing and Lang Xun, the Chief Eunuch and the Captain of the Guard, were terrified to sit to the left and right of the Emperor.
The waiter didn’t want the cooked duck to fly away.
But Lang Xun looked like a real expert, and Yu Jing had a smile on his lips that made one’s scalp tingle. The waiter had to beat a retreat.
But the girl thought a seat had been found and had already come over: she strode with large steps, a bit reckless, her features delicate, her stature short—just like a wild hare destined to crash into a tree stump.
—”Several shiny gentlemen, lend this girl your precious land for a seat! This girl will pay for this table!”
She sat firmly opposite Ying Xi, rolled up her sleeves, and looked up. Her almond eyes were round and rolling.
But in an instant, her expression suddenly collapsed, as if there were a ball of fire on the bench.
The little girl jumped up, confirmed for a long time, and retreated several steps:
“Em… Em, Em, Em…”
The tyrannical posture of bullying men and women vanished in a flash.
Princess Huachao looked just like a student who usually pretended to be obedient and sensible, but was now caught by the teacher while leading a fight, swimming, or climbing trees.
Ying Xi looked at her indifferently: “Hmm?”
No matter how she transitioned, Princess Huachao couldn’t reconcile her current self with her elegant and quiet self in the imperial clan.
Huachao looked awkwardly at her still-rolled-up sleeves, her voice pinched with melancholy and bitterness, her attempt at salvage a complete failure: “Greetings, Brother Huang.”
Ying Xi discovered a rare curiosity.
Within the imperial family, Ying Xi didn’t have many peers; Prince Yong and Huachao counted as two.
He didn’t have much contact with this cousin. In his impression, he remembered Huachao as very compliant; she wouldn’t say much, nor would she lose her manners.
Was the real Huachao this flamboyant in character?
Ying Xi looked Huachao up and down again.
In the past life, rebellions rose again in the North and South. The Barbarian King of the Southwest extorted Great Qin, demanding a princess for marriage alliance. Asking for a princess was fake; asking for the dowry was the truth.
No wonder Huachao behaved calmly when she boarded the wedding carriage back then, yet not long after marrying the Barbarian King, news of her death from abuse came out.
She was pretending to be knowledgeable and reasonable.
Her nature was like this, difficult to disguise everywhere. Once she arrived in the Southern Borders, she couldn’t restrain her temper, and she didn’t have a powerful maternal family behind her to support her.
The identity of a princess first confined her, then killed her.
If there was truly someone Ying Xi had wronged, then forced by circumstances back then, Princess Huachao, Ying Jia, indeed counted as the first.
Ying Xi peeled a grape and ate it. It was very sour; not in season yet.
His tone was faint, but it was already tinged with an indescribable sense of indulgence: “Brother is out for a walk. Make yourself comfortable; if you want to sit, just sit.”
“Uh…” Huachao felt like she had seen a ghost, her eyes slowly widening.
Was this something her Imperial Brother could say?
Her Imperial Brother was cold, proper, and hated casual people the most.
For example, Brother Prince Yong was frequently lectured by old ministers sent by the Imperial Brother because of his dissolute and unrestrained behavior.
Huachao didn’t like being lectured, so she pretended to be well-behaved.
But now that the Imperial Brother actually told her to be more casual, Huachao didn’t know what to do instead.
She could only pour tea for Ying Xi: “Brother, please enjoy.”
Ying Xi accepted the cup of tea, appearing solemn. Suddenly remembering her words just now, he thought she had been wronged somewhere and asked: “Did some peddler or porter provoke you?”
“No… not really.” Princess Huachao lowered her head.
In her memory, her Imperial Brother was busy with official duties and entangled in trivial court matters; he had no time to chat with her, let alone care about her life.
Ying Jia sat on pins and needles, yet felt a fuzzy surge of excitement. She muttered in a small voice: “Woo, Imperial Brother don’t ask, your subject sister was just saying it for fun.”
Ying Xi was also stunned. The teacup in his hand trembled slightly, feeling a bit unfamiliar.
How should one put it?
Ying Xi was in the front court and had no harem; no one dared to act coquettishly towards him.
Today, bumping into Ying Jia’s true face, he hadn’t expected that not only was Ying Jia carefree, but she also dared to climb up the pole.
Huachao knew she couldn’t hide it anymore, so she simply exposed her true nature. Relying on the fact that he had no intention of punishing her, she vigilantly pushed her luck, planning to muddle through.
Ying Xi savored it for a moment and actually found it quite enjoyable.
Ying Xi said: “Then I won’t ask. You may do as you please; you don’t need to pay for the meal.”
Ying Jia’s eyes opened even rounder.
Although the brother and sister had been estranged for a long time, they belonged to the imperial family after all, sharing the same roots and origin. Ying Jia easily felt a sense of closeness to Ying Xi.
However, the Emperor’s majesty allowed no offense. She didn’t dare to be too presumptuous, so she had to busy herself with serious matters first.
She first took out a brush, then fished out a notebook. While looking around and sizing things up, she lowered her head to record something.
It was as if she silently observed the men in full dress filling the top floor of Yunyong Tower thoroughly.
Ying Xi was accustomed to strange things.
To be honest, after listening to Tiantong’s fierce words about touching chest muscles and administering aphrodisiacs all day, Huachao could be considered reserved.
But Huachao didn’t think that way.
Huachao was dying of strangeness today.
She had clearly only come to gather material, yet outside the palace, she saw a different Imperial Brother.
Today, her Imperial Brother was wearing a wide-sleeved robe with a snow-white base and bright gold decorations. The patterns on the cuffs were noble and magnificent. His whole body exuded an elegant fragrance, and his voice was clearer than crushed ice hitting jade.
Compared to her Imperial Brother, the full house of dressed-up men was dim!
The key point was that he treated her quite well.
The character prototype Ying Jia had just recorded suddenly seemed like gravel meeting a bright pearl in front of the Emperor.
The Princess’s eyes were flashing constantly. Flowery rhetoric rolled up, and all the preconceived plots were overturned.
She had originally wanted to write a story about a courtesan entangled with numerous patrons, eventually saved from the dusty world by a peerless man.
But suddenly, she changed her train of thought.
It turned out that when she truly faced beautiful things, what came to mind was protection.
If the protagonist was a character like her Imperial Brother, bright as the moon, she wouldn’t bear to see him bow down for anyone.
The story of the young nobleman desperately saving the courtesan faded slowly from Ying Jia’s mind.
She secretly scrutinized Ying Xi, and suddenly another strong stream of creative inspiration surged up. A myriad of ideas was ready to burst forth.
But she couldn’t capture them temporarily.
Ying Jia lowered her head anxiously. Her head was almost buried in the notebook.
At this time, she noticed the Emperor Brother stiffen his body, his mouth tighten, and his expression begin to become very grave.
Ying Jia didn’t understand why.
Did he think of some state affair?
She only saw Ying Xi’s eyebrows gather slightly, causing Ying Jia’s heart to curl up into a ball along with them.
As for what Princess Huachao didn’t know—
Right in front of Ying Xi, the dating system popped up text, releasing the latest mission: Feed Xie Qianli something to eat (0/1000)
Translator’s note: Happy reading! Enjoy!
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