Listening to the footsteps that seemed to be getting farther and farther away, Shen Mingzhu could no longer avoid the situation. She suddenly sat up, threw off the quilt, revealing a face that was extremely red from being covered. She gritted her teeth and unconsciously tightened her palm. Feeling the slight stinging pain in her palm, she suddenly came to her senses. She chased straight out, pushed open the door, and saw Xie Lang standing not far away, staring fixedly at her.
"Don't go!"
The moment she pushed open the door, along with the "creak—" of the door came Shen Mingzhu's plea. She blurted out this sentence before even seeing Xie Lang. As a result, as soon as she pushed open the door, she saw him standing at the door, not very far away.
"So you don't want me to go either."
Seeing the lingering look on Shen Mingzhu's face, Xie Lang couldn't help but let out a low laugh and said, "Then why did you just leave without hesitation?"
Shen Mingzhu took back her hand that was on the door. With a sense of recklessness, she folded her arms in front of her chest, stared at Xie Lang and gritted her teeth, saying, "What did you do in the carriage yourself? Do I still need to say more?"
"Oh."
As Xie Lang said, the corners of his eyes slightly raised, taking on a sly air like a fox. "So you're really shy, and you're really feeling guilty."
"Finally not being stubborn and saying you didn't do anything yesterday?"
Shen Mingzhu gave him a disdainful look, walked into the room, sat on the bed, and used silence to cover up her uneasiness. Her eyes were full of annoyance, and her gaze towards Xie Lang also carried a bit of dissatisfaction.
Hearing this, Xie Lang took a step forward and said, "Okay, I won't tease you anymore. Let's just pretend what happened yesterday never happened. Let's write it off."
Saying so, he casually sat down beside Shen Mingzhu, fixed his gaze on the person in front of him, and said, "I promised that if I forget, it'll be as if it never happened. Don't be angry anymore."
The two were sitting close, their hands touching. Shen Mingzhu then heard the thoughts of the person in front of her.
[Shen Mingzhu really can't handle such direct advances. As long as I take the initiative, she gets shy.]
[She clearly gets shy but still pretends nothing's wrong and talks to me stubbornly. Such a Shen Mingzhu is so cute.]
Shen Mingzhu: "······"
So that's what Xie Lang was up to! No wonder he's been so proactive lately!
And he said she was stubborn? Clearly he was the most stubborn one. When they first met, she'd never seen anyone more stubborn than him!
Shen Mingzhu gritted her teeth, feeling indignant. She turned her head, raised her eyebrows at him and said, "How can I forget? Do you think I'm that petty?"
Thinking about his words and deeds in the carriage just now, Shen Mingzhu got the idea of teasing him out of competitiveness. She quickly took off her shoes, climbed onto the bed, recalling the plot of a storybook she'd read at Chen Yun's place. She straddled his lap, tilted his chin up, and said with a faint smile, "I'm actually very magnanimous."
[Hiss—]
Hearing Xie Lang's blank thoughts, Shen Mingzhu immediately got excited. She shifted a little, pretended to be a domineering woman and continued, "Tell me again, who's the stubborn one?"
Seeing the person in front of him pretending to be calm but unable to hide the trace of uneasiness on his face, Xie Lang instantly wanted to burst out laughing. But thinking that Shen Mingzhu would get angry because of this, he immediately suppressed the smile on his face and said seriously, "It's me. I'm stubborn."
But he didn't know that all his mental activities had been heard by Shen Mingzhu.
Shen Mingzhu gritted her teeth.
At this moment, Xie Lang suddenly put his arms around her waist and said, "Are you done talking?"
"Once you're done, it's my turn."
As he said, his hot palm passed the trace of heat to Shen Mingzhu's waist through a layer of cloth.
"This time you came to me on your own. Don't blame me."
Seeing that Shen Mingzhu wanted to get up, Xie Lang exerted a little force to trap the person in front of him on his body and said with a smile, "Thank you, Your Highness, for the treat."
Seeing him suddenly take the initiative, Shen Mingzhu got closer without showing any weakness and said, "Treat? Shouldn't it be me thanking you?"
After saying that, she covered the lips of the person in front of her in his surprised gaze.
...
Shen Mingzhu hadn't had a dream for a long time. She was extremely tired today, but there was an inexplicable sense of relief in her heart.
She suddenly understood why some playboys liked to linger in the places of debauchery, singing and feasting every night.
Closing her eyes tiredly, she didn't think for long before falling asleep.
Seeing this, Xie Lang reached out to embrace her and gently pulled her into his arms.
As if sensing something, Shen Mingzhu moved a little closer to the person in front of her.
Then the last trace of consciousness gradually sank, and finally faded into the deep darkness.
"Chaochao?"
When the palace maid saw the most favored princess hiding in the corner crying, she was immediately at a loss. She called the crown prince who had come to pay respects to the queen at some unknown time.
Shen Mingzhu looked up and saw the crown prince standing in front of her. He squatted down and said gently, "Why are you suddenly crying? Is Chaochao bored and wants to go outside the palace for a stroll?"
Behind the crown prince was a little boy she didn't know. He looked extremely good-looking, with delicate eyebrows and eyes, but there was a bit of coldness in his expression that she couldn't tell at that time.
"I pay my respects to Your Highness."
The little boy spoke. Looking at Shen Mingzhu's tear-stained face, he paused slightly and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince need not worry. I still have palace maids with me. I'll leave after seeing the queen."
Shen Mingzhu looked at him indifferently, so she couldn't help but be stunned. She asked the crown prince, "Brother, who is he?"
A child's emotions come and go quickly.
The crown prince smiled helplessly. Looking at his younger sister's tear-stained face, he patiently took out a handkerchief to wipe her face and said gently, "He's the child of an old friend of mother when she was still a young lady."
"What about his mother?"
Shen Mingzhu didn't understand why he was following the crown prince, so she was a bit surprised and said, "Why did he enter the palace alone?"
Why?
Shen Mingzhu's mind was in a muddle. She only felt that this dream of hers was too real. She began to wonder whether this was a memory or an experience she had imagined.
In the dream, she was not very old, only about five or six years old.
However, the thoughts in the dream were always chaotic. As soon as this thought came up, she sank into the dream.
"His mother passed away. He came to bid farewell to mother." Saying so, the crown prince pulled Shen Mingzhu, who was squatting on the ground, up, smoothed out the wrinkles on the corner of her clothes, and then explained, "He's going to leave the capital with his grandfather's family, so he came to say goodbye to mother for the last time."
Only then did Shen Mingzhu remember the trace of solemnity on the person in front of her just now, as well as the white cloth tied on his head.
Biting her lips, Shen Mingzhu suddenly couldn't remember very clearly why she was crying. So she obediently followed the crown prince and walked towards the queen's palace.
When they got there, Xie Lang was just coming out. He looked cold, glanced at her, and called out "Your Highness."
Shen Mingzhu suddenly woke up from the dream.
She turned her head and saw Xie Lang beside her. Hearing the noise, he also opened his eyes and looked at her in confusion, asking, "Did you have a nightmare?"