Li Xinyue was stunned in fright. The broken look in his eyes seemed to cut at her heart. She didn't dare to make any more jokes and quickly corrected herself.
"Chu Junyi! You're Chu Junyi, the consort of this princess!"
To show her sincerity, she summoned up her courage, stood on tiptoe and kissed him.
But Chu Junyi didn't expect this. He wasn't steady on his feet at all. Her sudden force pushed him back step by step. Then he stepped on a pebble and fell backward.
Li Xinyue also leaned forward due to the excessive force and couldn't stop herself.
So when he fell backward, she fell with him. It happened so fast that she only had time to reach out and protect his head.
Bang—
The two of them fell onto the pebble path. Chu Junyi groaned in pain, and there were several cuts on his hands.
But with her soft jade hand cushioning his head, it didn't hurt much.
Chu Junyi quickly pulled her hands out.
Li Xinyue lay on top of Chu Junyi, her cheek pressed against his chest, her hands hanging around the back of his head. She looked up at him blankly.
Chu Junyi also looked down at her.
The evening breeze blew, and the leaves fluttered. A serene and beautiful atmosphere enveloped the two of them. Their breaths quickened, and all sorts of amorous thoughts welled up.
Li Xinyue was like she was seeing him for the first time. His good - looking face made her heart pound wildly, and she secretly swallowed her saliva.
Chu Junyi wanted to hold her chin and have a passionate kiss, but considering they were still in the palace with so many people around, he had to hold back.
After getting into the carriage, Li Xinyue began to feel drowsy and dizzy. The after - effect of the wine kicked in completely, messing up her mind. Her vision became blurred, and she even started to slur her words. Her thoughts and speech were a bit out of control.
Suddenly, she put her arm around Chu Junyi's shoulder and squatted outside the seat cushion. As the carriage started moving, she swayed from side to side.
Chu Junyi reached out to hold her, wanting to hold her onto his lap, but she refused. He tried to put her on the seat cushion, but she still refused. She insisted on squatting like this.
Helpless, he could only bend down, reach out to protect her, and let her put her arm around his shoulder and act wild at will.
The tipsy Li Xinyue suddenly thought of something funny. She laughed to herself and murmured, "Chu Junyi, guess what's in this storybook? If you knew, you'd definitely regret picking it up!
This princess said it wasn't a proper book, but you just didn't believe me!
But this princess is quite satisfied with the ending of the story!"
She smiled and reached out to look for the storybook.
Chu Junyi nervously protected her. His eyes followed her hand and watched as she put the storybook on his lap.
Then she flipped through it while laughing. She wrapped her hands around his neck, forcing him to bend down to listen to her. "This storybook says, says... Burp~"
She felt a bit nauseous and turned around to look for something like a bucket, but she couldn't find it after groping for a long time. She angrily pounded the table, but her small hand was immediately covered by a big one as soon as it hit the table.
She was stunned and opened her eyes to look at the owner of the hand.
Suddenly, she couldn't remember his name. She just knew he looked familiar, but she couldn't remember who he was at all.
So she stared at him intently, determined to remember.
Chu Junyi helplessly stared back into her eyes for a long, long time.
The carriage was moving in the long night. It was very quiet all around. Because of the Wei family case, the once bustling and prosperous capital city had fallen into a brief panic again.
So in the night market of the capital city these days, just like the night when the Prince of An had an accident, everyone stayed in their houses. Very few people went out for a stroll at night.
Even if they did come out, they would just find an inn nearby to stay.
The inns were still lit up as usual, but due to the impact of the Wei family case, their business had declined a lot.
Lord Zhu and several other lords had an appointment to meet at an inn. When they mentioned Chu Junyi, they all took a deep breath and gritted their teeth secretly.
"I really didn't expect the Crown Prince to help Chu Junyi out of trouble. When did they get in cahoots?" Lord Zhu recalled the scene in the morning court today. Don't think that the Crown Prince just happened to pass by.
But the busy Crown Prince, how could he pass by for no reason and stop specifically to greet them.
This was clearly a hint.
Lord Wang stroked his beard and thought for a while. "It is said that Chu Junyi secretly contributed a lot to the matter of the disaster - relief silver. Why did those unscrupulous merchants who used the Princess to make huge profits disappear within just a few days?"
Didn't this explain the problem?
Lord Wang raised his eyes and scanned around.
The other lords fell silent.
After a while, one of the lords angrily knocked on the table. "So it seems that Chu Junyi will be protected by the Crown Prince in the future. Are we no match for him?
But this kid is determined to investigate us. If we don't get rid of him first, he will wipe us all out. This is not a good sign."
"I have a plan." The lord who had been silent all this time raised his head. His eyes were deep and shrewd, his speech was slow and steady, and he remained calm in the face of danger.
At his signal, the other lords all leaned in.
The lord reached out to pour himself a cup of tea, and then slowly said, "For now, we can only rely on a powerful backer. Think about it, how many noble families in the court are as stable as a rock.
Among these families, how many of them want to get rid of him just as much as we do.
Why don't we start with these families and choose a suitable one to be our backer?"
After saying that, he gave the other lords a look.
The other lords lowered their heads and thought for a while. "I think this idea will work!"
"Agreed!"
So, after a thorough analysis and discussion, the several lords unanimously thought that this family was the most suitable.
The calm and shrewd lord dipped his finger in the tea and wrote a character on the table. Then he looked at the other lords.
The other lords looked at each other and nodded one after another. This was the one.
"Waiter, check out!"
The carriage clattered forward. Inside the carriage, Li Xinyue stared at Chu Junyi without blinking, from his eyebrows to his nose bridge to his mouth, especially his thin lips with a nice curve, which always slightly curled up in her sight.
Every time she saw them, she would stop and look for a while.
As she looked, a thought popped up in her mind. She might regret it if she didn't taste them!
So she raised her head and gradually moved closer to those thin lips.
He smelled so good, with a very familiar scent of soapberry. There was also a faint smell of wine on his breath. That lip must taste delicious.
She gave a silly smile. A shy look appeared on her tipsy face, but she boldly moved closer.
Chu Junyi lowered his eyes and suppressed a laugh. He watched her get closer to him bit by bit and waited for her to fall into his trap.
But at this moment, the carriage braked suddenly. Everything in the carriage was thrown to the ground. The storybook and the teacup rolled under the small table.
Li Xinyue's head hit Chu Junyi's chest. She frowned slightly in pain and then fell asleep due to the drunkenness.
Chu Junyi quickly picked up Li Xinyue and held her on his lap. He also adjusted the slender wrist around his neck.
His neck was almost strangled by her. He twisted his neck and was about to get out of the carriage.
He thought they had arrived home, but unexpectedly, they were surrounded by a group of black - clothed men.
Jing Bai, who was driving the carriage, drew out his long sword first and protected them behind him.
Chu Junyi frowned tightly and held Li Xinyue firmly.