“Oh, so you’re actually a year younger than me1. Being young is great!”
Lu Lili smiled in a good mood.
He’s truly an innocent child, falling for such an easy trap.
It seems his older brothers and sisters in the mountain stronghold have been protecting him well.
Failing to hide his age, Xu Rui lowered his gaze.
He changed the topic: “Does the Princess want to know how my Fourth Sister and the Ninth Prince met?”
From the very beginning, Xu Rui noticed that Lu Lili was surprised to learn that they knew her brother.
So he thought she would definitely be interested in this topic.
Sure enough…
Lu Lili’s eyes became focused: “Hmm? How did they meet?”
Xu Rui seemed to have thought of something amusing and suddenly laughed: “Hehe, half a year ago, one day, it was my Fourth Sister’s turn to… uh, guard the road at the foot of the mountain.”
He paused and cautiously glanced at Lu Lili.
Seeing that she didn’t have any particular reaction and her gaze remained focused, he continued to speak with a smile.
“The Ninth Prince happened to pass by on his horse and was instantly captivated by the charm of my Fourth Sister guarding the road. The Ninth Prince stopped his horse and followed my Fourth Sister back to the mountain stronghold, becoming my sister’s husband!”
With that scene in mind, Lu Lili couldn’t help but laugh.
She knew that Xu Rui’s words were embellished, but it didn’t prevent her from understanding the reason.
Perhaps, in fact, it was Xu Xiang who intercepted Lu Xingjiang on the road and insisted on him becoming her husband. The two quickly developed feelings for each other in the stronghold, and they truly fell in love.
Seeing that his words made the girl he liked laugh, Xu Rui also felt delighted, inexplicably feeling a sense of accomplishment.
So he gathered his courage and continued tentatively, “My Fourth Sister said that I’m now almost sixteen years old and can get married and have children.”
“Hehe, congratulations to you!” Lu Lili thought for a moment and couldn’t figure out whether he actually got married and had children in the original plot.
After all, Xu Rui, just like Pei Yijian, was not a character in the plot, without even a name, and there was no information about him.
Thinking of Pei Yijian, Lu Lili’s bright eyes dimmed slightly.
Xu Rui originally wanted to ask the Princess if she had thought about marrying someone.
But as he noticed her gaze seemed to wander slightly, Xu Rui suddenly had a not-so-good feeling in his heart.
All those words he wanted to say were swallowed back.
“Princess, it’s not safe at night. Shall I accompany you back to the inn?”
After coming out of the restaurant, Xu Rui spoke in a gentle voice. He held his hands properly and consciously maintained a two-step distance from Lu Lili, neither too far to hear each other nor too close to feel intrusive.
Dressed in immaculate white clothes, the young man truly resembled a gentleman and scholar who adhered to proper etiquette. No one would easily associate him with a bandit.
Lu Lili smiled and directly declined, saying, “No need, thanks. I’ll just walk a few steps.”
Being rejected was within Xu Rui’s expectations, and he didn’t feel defeated or disappointed.
Being able to chat with the girl he liked tonight already made him happy, enough to have a good dream when he went back.
“Alright then, Your Highness, goodbye.”
“Um, goodbye.”
After bidding farewell, the two went their separate ways.
However, when Xu Rui said “goodbye,” he meant that he wanted to see her again tomorrow.
On the other hand, Lu Lili’s “goodbye” meant a complete farewell.
- Lu Lili is sixteen in this world. Xu Rui is lacking four years but not five years to twenty, meaning he’s over fifteen but not yet sixteen. Xu Rui wanted to round it up to sixteen but Lili deliberately implied that he’s still fifteen. ↩︎