Chapter 482: Gifts Blind the Eyes
“Lord, Young Master Qi, please sit here.”
As the weather was hot recently, Lu Zhou and Shangguan Dian moved the coffee table and chairs outside.
The duo had just sat down when Lu Sheng went to prepare tea and watch the fire.
She served them tea after it was boiled.
Looking at the beautiful scenery in front of him, Qi Dongjing could not help but sigh. “This peaceful farm life is not bad.”
His father was a high and mighty general. Like the State Minister and His Majesty, he was the faith of the citizens of Xuan Yue Country.
His family also hoped that he would take the path of an official, but he was not interested in these.
Firstly, he did not have the ambition to protect the country like his father. Secondly, he did not like a life of fighting and killing.
His father and grandfather always said that he was immoral, but he did not bicker.
The reason why he opened a bookstore in Huang Yang Town was more or less related to Chu Sihan.
He, Chu Sihan, Shi Yi, and Yun Ting were classmates. They had toured the mountains and rivers together before coming to Huang Yang Town.
Coincidentally, when they arrived at Huang Yang Town, there was a bookstore in the Chu Mansion that was facing closing.
He thought that life there was not bad. Hence, he took the initiative to buy this bookstore from Chu Sihan. Ever since then, he had been staying in Huang Yang Town.
Three to four years had passed since then.
Lu Sheng smiled. After pouring tea for the two of them, she said a few words and returned to the kitchen.
At this moment, Lan Yi had also finished cutting the remaining sweet potatoes.
Lu Sheng poured the cut sweet potatoes into the pot. When she saw that it was almost done, she started to fish them out and sprinkle starch on them.
Finally, she started to fill the pot with water and sugar. Then, she added some oil and started to stir the mixture.
When the sugar color was out, she poured the sweet potatoes in and stirred them for a while. The candied sweet potatoes were basically done.
Lu Sheng took a plate and scooped some for Chu Sihan, Qi Dongjing, and the rest.
Lan Yi ate a few pieces in the kitchen before clapping his hands. He ran to call Lu Zhou and Shangguan Dian back to eat.
“Well…”
When he saw Lu Zhou return with the hoe, Qi Dongjing was dumbfounded.
He looked at Lu Zhou in a daze. After a long while, he moved his eyes with difficulty and asked Chu Sihan in a daze, “That person just now…”
Chu Sihan picked up a piece of candied sweet potato and bit it lightly.
After swallowing, he said lightly, “You’re not wrong.”
“He… really is the Third Prince?” Qi Dongjing swallowed his saliva.
He could not associate this ‘farmer’ in front of him with the high and mighty Third Prince.
However, that face and that unusual silver hair made it impossible for him not to associate the two of them.
Chu Sihan raised his eyebrows slightly. “Indeed.”
“Why is he here?” Qi Dongjing was confused.
The mighty Third Prince of Xuan Yue Country actually came to a nameless village to do farm work for others?
What was wrong with this world?
“Well…”
Chu Sihan glanced at Lu Zhou, who was walking over, and said lightly, “You have to ask him yourself.”
“Who?”
Lu Zhou found a seat and sat down. He raised an eyebrow at the two of them.
“Third… Third Prince!”
After being stunned, Qi Dongjing hurriedly cupped his hands and bowed.
“Yes!”
Lu Zhou nodded slightly and said lightly, “If I’m not wrong, you should be General Qi’s youngest son, Qi Dongjing, right?”
Qi Dongjing said respectfully, “Yes, I am!”
“Little niece, bring it outside.”
On the other side, Shangguan Dian had already walked over and sat beside Lu Zhou.
Qi Dongjing looked suspiciously at him, then at Chu Sihan, seemingly asking him for an explanation.
Chu Sihan introduced faintly, “He’s surnamed Shangguan, a close friend of the Third Prince.”
“So you’re the Third Prince’s close friend!” Qi Dongjing smiled and introduced himself. “I’m Qi Dongjing!”
Shangguan Dian smiled and nodded. “Shangguan Dian.”
As he spoke, he picked up his chopsticks and started tasting the candied sweet potatoes.
It would have been better if he did not try it. Once he tasted it, he could not stop.
Lu Zhou and Chu Sihan watched him habitually, but Qi Dongjing was shocked.
To cover up his loss of composure, he stared at the vegetable field and smiled. “Miss Lu has so many strange things here.”
At least, he had never seen anything planted in this field.
“If Young Master Qi likes them, you can bring some back later.”
Lu Sheng walked over with two plates of candied sweet potatoes and smiled.
Qi Dongjing smiled and bowed. “Then, I’ll do as you say!”
Lu Zhou looked up at her and said, “Disciple, cut a watermelon.”
“Okay.”
Lu Sheng nodded slightly. After putting down the items, she went to the watermelon field to pick a big watermelon.
The watermelon was perfectly ripe. It had a lot of juice and was sweet. It helped to relieve the heat.
Qi Dongjing fell in love after eating a piece.
“These fruits called watermelons are quite good.”
At least, it was the fruit that suited his taste the most.
Chu Sihan said coldly, “If you like them, eat a few more pieces.”
Lu Zhou glanced at Chu Sihan and said lightly to Qi Dongjing, “It’s not appropriate to eat too much.”
Although watermelons quenched thirst and summer heat, people who had not eaten them before would probably suffer from diarrhea if they ate too much.
“Oh!”
Qi Dongjing nodded blankly.
He stared at the bamboo hat on Lu Zhou’s head and his elegant eating posture. The more he looked, the more unbelievable he felt.
The Third Prince always had a smile on his face. To put it bluntly, he looked a little silly.
However, the Third Prince in front of him looked inexplicably dignified, somewhat different from the Third Prince he knew previously.
It was as if he was a different person.
Seeing his expression, Chu Sihan knew that he was suspicious.
However, he did not say anything.
After all, Lu Zhou’s looks and identity were there.
Moreover, even if someone questioned him, they would definitely not be able to find evidence that this old man was a fake.
After all, his skin was the real Third Prince.
“Sheng Sheng, when are you moving back?”
Chu Sihan put down the watermelon skin in his hand and asked Lu Sheng.
“In two days. Brother just went over to propose marriage today.”
“Yes.”
Chu Sihan nodded slightly. “Grandmother has already gotten someone to calculate our birth characters. It’s a match made in heaven. Grandmother said that she would come over on the first day of the next month to propose marriage and asked me to inform you.”
His ‘match made in heaven’ made Lu Zhou sneer.
Lu Zhou smiled faintly and said, “Of course. The State Minister calculated your marriage fate. How can it be bad?”
If he had not accidentally owed a debt, this ‘match made in heaven’ would not have existed.
Chu Sihan smiled calmly. “You’re right.”
Everyone was used to Lu Zhou’s and Chu Sihan’s tone.
However, Qi Dongjing, who heard it for the first time, was a little scared.
The Third Prince suddenly appeared here and worked for the Lu family. Could it be…
He glanced at Lu Sheng and could not help but admire her.
It was indeed not simple for two influential figures who did not like women to take a liking to her at the same time!
The two of them were not ordinary people. Hence, it was impossible for them to come over only for Lu Sheng’s beauty. From this, one could guess that Lu Sheng definitely had something outstanding about her.
However, it seemed like Chu Sihan was winning.
Poor Third Prince. He came all the way here to help with farm work, but he still couldn’t move the beauty’s heart. What a joke!
They did not know what Qi Dongjing was thinking, so they were very calm.
“These candied sweet potatoes taste good. Eat more.”
Lu Sheng gave Chu Sihan and Lu Zhou a piece each and smiled at the stunned Qi Dongjing. “Young Master Qi, eat more too.”
“Oh, yes, yes!”
After agreeing, Qi Dongjing frowned imperceptibly.
This girl looked quite innocent. He did not expect her to have such brilliant methods.
She was pleasing two big shots at once. Moreover, the two of them did not react at all when they saw her putting something into someone else’s bowl.
What… What happened?
Qi Dongjing scanned the three of them, puzzled.
He did not know the Third Prince well, but he knew Chu Sihan quite well.
Could it be that Chu Sihan already liked Lu Sheng to the point of no hope, so he turned a blind eye to her pleasing others?
On the other hand, Lu Zhou and Shangguan Dian went for an afternoon nap after eating.
Qi Dongjing walked around the vegetable field. He looked at Chu Sihan and hesitated. In the end, he did not say anything.
Lu Sheng plucked two watermelons and a basket of ripe tomatoes for him. She also gave him some potatoes and purple sweet potatoes.
Seeing that the carriage was full of goods, Qi Dongjing no longer blamed Lu Sheng.
It was normal for everyone to like such a kind person like Miss Lu, right?
When he thought of this, his desire to persuade Chu Sihan dissipated.
Anyway, this was a matter of mutual consent. If Chu Sihan was willing to fall, he could not care less.
This time, Chu Sihan did not stay. Instead, he returned to town with Qi Dongjing.
When she heard that he was going back too, Lu Sheng packed some things for him to bring back.
On the way back, Chu Sihan realized that Qi Dongjing kept stealing glances at him.
Halfway through, he finally could not take it anymore. He sat up straight and frowned at him. “You… don’t tell me you like me?”
“What did you say?”
Qi Dongjing thought that he had heard wrongly.
“Let me tell you. I only like Sheng Sheng in my life. I’m not interested in men.”
Qi Dongjing said, “…You’re overthinking.”
Chu Sihan raised an eyebrow. “Since I’m overthinking, why did you keep stealing glances at me along the way?”
“I wanted to ask… wanted to ask…”
He glanced at the items Lu Sheng gave him and could not bring himself to ask.
As the saying goes, gifts blind the eyes. He ate and received things. He felt bad saying bad things about others.
He coughed lightly and changed the topic. “Didn’t I ask you why the Third Prince was there today? You haven’t replied me yet.”
“Didn’t I tell you to ask him yourself?”
Qi Dongjing said cowardly, “I didn’t dare!”
No matter what, he was the prince of a country. How would he dare to casually ask others about their privacy?
Chu Sihan shrugged and said disapprovingly, “If you don’t dare, don’t ask.”
“It’s alright if you don’t say it. What about the Third Prince’s friend? Who is he?”
Shangguan Dian did not look like an ordinary person, but he had never seen this person among the royal families.
Could he actually be from another country?
“You mean Master Shangguan?”
Chu Sihan pondered and said, “I don’t know either. When I saw the Third Prince, he was already by his side. As for his identity, I can’t find out either.”
Someone who could find Shangguan Dian in Xuan Yue Country was probably not human.
“So mysterious?”
Qi Dongjing clicked his tongue lightly. He looked at Chu Sihan and said, “How about this? I’ll get my father to help investigate later and see if we can find out this person’s identity.”
Chu Sihan narrowed his eyes and asked suspiciously, “Why do you want to check his identity?”
“I’m afraid of offending others.”
Qi Dongjing sighed softly. “That’s the Third Prince’s friend. If we offend him, we’ll have to bear the consequences.”
Now that the Crown Prince had lost and the Eldest Prince was valued, the Third Prince, who was the Eldest Prince’s supporter, was naturally valued as well.
Although he had not been in the capital recently, he had heard of all the major events in the capital.
Originally, the three were already doted on. Now, with the Eldest Prince as his backing, those who used to look down on the Third Prince would probably not even dare to fart in front of him.
Chu Sihan smiled lightly. “Don’t worry. Although I can’t find out anything else, I heard from the Third Prince that this person is an orphan.”
The old Demon King and the old Demon Queen had passed away. Shangguan Dian was indeed an orphan now.
“In that case, everything’s alright!”
As long as they did not offend Shangguan Dian, they should be fine, right?
“Speaking of which, your father has never liked the Third Prince. Why are you so afraid of the Third Prince?”
Chu Sihan remembered that Qi Long had always looked down on the Third Prince. In the past, the Third Prince did nothing but play with his trading companies.
Moreover, every time he faced the Emperor, he would have a cynical attitude. This made the usually stern General Qi despise him.
However, with the Third Prince’s status, no matter how much he despised him, he could only suppress his displeasure and bow obediently to the Third Prince.
“My father is my father. I’m me, and…”
Qi Dongjing narrowed his eyes and said, “I keep feeling that the Third Prince now is very different from the Third Prince I’ve seen in the past.”
“Oh?” Chu Sihan pretended to be puzzled. “How is he different?”
“Ah…”
Qi Dongjing pinched his chin and pondered for a while before saying, “In the past, even though the Third Prince was standing in front of you, you wouldn’t be afraid at all.”
“Now, even if the Third Prince doesn’t speak, him just sitting there gives me an inexplicable pressure.”
“Really?”
Chu Sihan smiled faintly.
They were two different people.
One was the innocent Third Prince, while the other was a ten-thousand-year-old sly old fox. How could their auras be the same?
Of course, Qi Dongjing would probably never know about this.
“Could it be that the Third Prince in the past was actually pretending? The Third Prince now is his true self?” Qi Dongjing guessed.
“You’re right.”
Chu Sihan nodded. “He was indeed pretending in the past.”
When Qi Dongjing heard that, he immediately revealed an ‘as expected’ expression.
Chu Sihan pursed his lips and smiled without saying anything else.
“But why would he be willing to help Miss Lu farm?”
Chu Sihan was speechless.
After circling around, they returned to their starting point.
“Of course, it’s because the Third Prince is Sheng Sheng’s master.”
“Oh.”
Qi Dongjing subconsciously replied and widened his eyes. “What did you say?”