The next morning.
Lu Lili had something on her mind, so she rarely got up early.
As soon as she stepped out of the inn, she found someone waiting for her.
“Xu Rui?” Lu Lili stared at the young man dressed in all black in front of her, feeling a bit surprised.
The young man who usually wore white clothes every day suddenly switched to an all-black outfit, giving her a fleeting impression that he was turning black1.
Xu Rui approached, still maintaining a distance of two steps from her, and spoke gently, “Princess, the Ninth Prince asked me to wait for you here. We will go find him together later.”
In fact, Xu Rui was conflicted at this moment.
He didn’t know if he should continue to maintain a gentlemanly demeanor and use this approach to win the princess’s favor.
Or should he be like the man who appeared out of nowhere yesterday, not needing the princess’s consent to embrace and hold her?
And yet, that man didn’t get hit?
Perhaps, he had used the wrong approach after all…
Hearing that it was Lu Xingjiang who wanted to see her, Lu Lili had no doubts. “Oh, alright, let’s go then.”
After what happened yesterday, she followed Pei Yijian to see Wen Qijin, so it was normal for Lu Xingjiang to want to talk to her.
Unexpectedly, after taking only two steps, a black figure descended from the sky in a very cool posture, landing in front of the two individuals. Then, with a leisurely manner, the figure began fanning a folding fan.
“Brother Pei, good morning,” Lu Lili greeted with a smile.
Everyone woke up early today, even the sun hasn’t risen yet.
“Li—” Pei Yi originally wanted to continue calling her ‘Little Brother Lu,’ a term that made him feel close to her because only he called her that.
But when he noticed the decent-looking young man standing next to Lu Lili, he immediately changed his words and simultaneously displayed a big smile. “Lili, good morning.”
Perhaps due to a natural aversion between males, Pei Yijian keenly sensed hostility from the seemingly gentle young man’s eyes.
Lu Lili could guess some of the reasons when she saw Pei Yijian suddenly change his words.
She continued to smile on her face. “Brother Pei, did you come to find me? But I’m about to go find my brother.”
“What a coincidence! I happen to have time to accompany you!” Pei Yijian said, naturally squeezing himself into the two-step distance that Xu Rui deliberately maintained.
Because there wasn’t enough space to accommodate his body, he had to push Xu Rui out a little.
Xu Rui felt both angry and aggrieved in his heart.
He maintained the same posture as before, looking almost as if he was about to fall, and looked at Lu Lili with a pleading expression, “Princess, why did this big brother push me?”
“Um…,” Lu Lili was embarrassed by the sudden pretentious act.
She turned to Pei Yijian, indicating that he should handle it.
Pei Yijian seemed to have just noticed Xu Rui’s presence at that moment. After helping him steady himself, he spoke earnestly, “Little Brother, you should rest well at home if you’re so delicate. It’s not something a good child would do to go out and deliberately cause trouble!”
“…” Xu Rui clenched his hand tightly hidden in his sleeve.
He had made a mistake just now. He was really afraid that Princess would think he was physically weak…
But when he lifted his gaze, he realized that the attention of the other two people had long since shifted away from him.
The three of them walked side by side.
Pei Yijian, who was in the middle, stayed close to Lu Lili the whole time.
Then, as if intentionally, he spoke loudly to her:
“Lili, I didn’t bring you back until so late last night. Did you sleep well?”
“Would you like to come to our house for dinner today? I’ve already bought many delicious dishes to take home!”
Lu Lili also cooperated with him, giving him face. “Sure!”
Xu Rui, who was forced to listen to everything clearly, remained silent throughout the journey.
It was said that in Huan’yang, it was not a crime to kill someone, no matter who you kill…
- like becoming evil ↩︎