As Shen Mingzhu spoke, she noticed Xie Lang's face darken slightly. When he looked at her, his fox-like eyes showed a hint of displeasure. "Your Highness," Xie Lang said. Seeing the blank look on Shen Mingzhu's face, he swallowed his anger back and instead asked, "Who am I now?"
Shen Mingzhu thought for a moment and looked up at Xie Lang blankly.
"Your Highness," Xie Lang let out a long sigh, suppressing his helplessness. He told himself that Shen Mingzhu had always been like this before he could continue, "I'm your consort."
"If you're still this polite, then I'll..."
"Xie Lang," Shen Mingzhu interrupted him and said, "This is a different matter. You've just gotten involved, and the risks far outweigh the benefits. If we're unlucky, both of us will end up in trouble."
"So you only care about the benefits?" Xie Lang felt uncomfortable, so he interrupted Shen Mingzhu and continued, "In your eyes, do you measure everything by benefits?"
Shen Mingzhu suddenly couldn't say a word. She subconsciously avoided Xie Lang's gaze, and a strange feeling welled up in her heart. It was sour and painful, a kind of astringency she had never felt before, which made her nose tingle.
She wanted to refute Xie Lang's words, but she realized that it was no longer appropriate for them to continue the conversation according to their own viewpoints. So she sensibly shut up and turned her head, not wanting to look at Xie Lang.
"Your Highness," Xie Lang said. Seeing the deep-seated uneasiness on Shen Mingzhu's face, he felt a little pain in his heart. So he softened his tone and said, "You don't have to worry about these things."
"I know you may not be used to it for now," Xie Lang said as he poured another cup of hot tea for Shen Mingzhu.
While pouring the water, he saw Shen Mingzhu's hand hidden in her sleeve. Her hand was slightly red, and the joints were white from exertion.
" ... Well, forget it. But I won't let you suffer for nothing," Shen Mingzhu said. She didn't even know why she said this. It was clearly a kind of help, but her mouth unconsciously stabbed Xie Lang before she continued, "Xie Lang, you can take whatever you need from me."
As she said this, Xie Lang looked at Shen Mingzhu intently. He took out a jade finger ring from somewhere, opened the box, and placed it in front of Shen Mingzhu.
"What do you mean?" Shen Mingzhu looked at the person in front of her deeply. Seeing the look in his eyes, her heart skipped a beat, but she still didn't reach out to take the thing from Xie Lang.
Her intuition told her that this small jade finger ring must not be as simple as it seemed. It must have some more important meaning, and she couldn't accept the benefits from Xie Lang calmly.
Xie Lang sighed when he saw this. Looking at Shen Mingzhu, he said, "Your Highness, why can't you be a little stupid when you should?"
As he said this, he grabbed Shen Mingzhu's hand. While the person in front of him was in a daze, he was about to put the jade finger ring on her.
[Quickly take it. It's not something very important anyway. You can use it to buy things in the shops under my name. It can't do anything else for the time being. It can only be regarded as an interesting object.]
Shen Mingzhu dodged faster than Xie Lang expected. She even brushed past Xie Lang's hand without letting him catch her completely.
"You...," Shen Mingzhu said. Looking at him quietly, she asked, "Xie Lang, why do you do this?"
Seeing the confusion in Shen Mingzhu's eyes, Xie Lang showed a faint smile instead. "Your Highness, don't you really understand my meaning?"
Before Shen Mingzhu could speak, he continued, "It doesn't matter if you don't understand for the time being. Anyway, we have a long time."
There was no change in Shen Mingzhu's expression, but her ears turned a little red under Xie Lang's direct gaze, and the heat gradually spread.
As he said this, Xie Lang put the jade finger ring back into the box and closed it.
Shen Mingzhu let out a slight sigh of relief.
"Do you want to go back?" Xie Lang saw Shen Mingzhu in a daze and asked gently, "How about going out for a walk and walking back slowly?"
Shen Mingzhu nodded.
When they went out, Shen Mingzhu suddenly came to her senses. She felt that what had just happened was like a dream.
Did Xie Lang really like her? Then why did his love come so suddenly?
Shen Mingzhu walked side by side with Xie Lang. Her heart was full of doubts, and her eyes looking at the person in front of her were full of hesitation.
"What's wrong?" Xie Lang asked. Seeing the confusion in Shen Mingzhu's eyes when she looked at him, he pointed to a small stall by the road and asked, "Do you want to buy a sugar figurine?"
As he said this, without waiting for Shen Mingzhu's answer, Xie Lang took her hand and led her there.
"One rabbit," Xie Lang said. Then he turned to look at Shen Mingzhu. There was a burning smile in his eyes. "Your Highness is still suitable for this rabbit. If you keep looking at me without blinking, your eyes will really turn as red as a rabbit's."
Shen Mingzhu was speechless for a moment. Then she said to Xie Lang, "Then you're suitable for a bird. You're always showing off."
Xie Lang let out a low laugh. Then he turned to the stall owner making the sugar figurines and said, "Then one more sparrow."
"Preferably one with its tail up," Shen Mingzhu added.
After saying this, she subconsciously glanced at Xie Lang. Seeing the burning smile in his eyes, she felt a tingling sensation in her heart, as if a feather had brushed against it, making her heart itch.
When Shen Mingzhu took the sugar figurine, she was in a normal mood at first. But when she saw the sparrow in Xie Lang's hand, she couldn't help laughing.
The sparrow was lifelike, with its tail up and a pair of eyes looking askance at people.
Shen Mingzhu looked at Xie Lang's expression again. The smile in her eyes couldn't be hidden. She almost burst out laughing and said to Xie Lang, "It looks like you."
Xie Lang took a look and then said to Shen Mingzhu, "Do you like it?"
After saying that, he took the sugar figurine from Shen Mingzhu's hand. He wrapped a thin handkerchief around the sticks of the two sugar figurines and then reached out to hand them both to Shen Mingzhu.
"Take them," Xie Lang said with a smile. "Since you're not willing to take the valuable one, you shouldn't be so reluctant to accept these two sugar figurines."
Shen Mingzhu reached out to take them. Then she heard Xie Lang's inner thoughts.
[Alas, with this weather, the sugar figurines may melt soon. Let Shen Mingzhu hold them.]
The tone was calm, but there was a lingering resentment.
Looking at the two sugar figurines in her hand and thinking of Xie Lang's mention of the "valuable gift" just now, Shen Mingzhu knew that Xie Lang was still angry, so he had this kind of revengeful thought.
Really... Well, let him have his way this time.
Shen Mingzhu pretended not to know and took the sugar figurines. There was a faint smile in her eyes.
When they returned to the Xie Mansion and just reached the main entrance, they saw a disheveled woman lying on the ground crying.
Shen Mingzhu subconsciously looked at Xie Lang. There was a hint of speculation in her eyes.
The main gate of the Xie Mansion was tightly closed.