ARTTEDSBGT Chapter 110
Xiao Yan didn’t have the servants announce his arrival, so he stood at the door for a while. After adjusting his clothes, he stepped into the flower hall and immediately saw the Grand Princess and Li Zhizhi beside her. The young girl wore a pink and white dress, holding a silk fan, looking surprised as she glanced over, her clear eyes slightly widened, giving her a cute look.
At first sight of Xiao Yan, the Grand Princess was both surprised and happy, saying, “Xiao Yi, you’re back! Why wasn’t anyone sent to announce your arrival? I specifically instructed them to do so.”
Xiao Yan walked up to her, bowing, and said, “I told them not to, Auntie, please don’t be upset.”
As he spoke, he looked at Li Zhizhi. Not sure if it was an illusion, but she seemed to have changed a bit since they last met. However, he couldn’t pinpoint what exactly had changed. Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow slightly and said, “Have you grown taller?”
Li Zhizhi was startled. “Really?”
Xiao Yan gestured for her to stand up. “Let me see for myself.”
Li Zhizhi stood up as instructed. She felt she was still about the same as before, but upon closer thought, she realized that she used to only be able to see Xiao Yan’s chest, and now she could see his shoulders.
As Li Zhizhi was feeling pleasantly surprised, a hand lightly touched her head. She looked up in astonishment and met the familiar phoenix eyes of Xiao Yan. There was a hint of a smile in his eyes as he said, “It’s true. Why would I lie to you?”
“You always do this with A’yang,” the Grand Princess scolded him with a playful glare, then she looked at Li Zhizhi again and said, “But Zhizhi has just turned fifteen, still growing at this age. Getting taller will make your clothes look even better.”
Xiao Yan just smiled and withdrew his hand, placing it behind his back, his slender fingers lightly rubbing together in a subconscious gesture, as if the soft and smooth feel of the hair was still lingering on his fingertips.
“Oh right,” the Grand Princess remembered something and said, “You’ve come at the right time. Let me introduce someone to you.”
Only then did Xiao Yan shift his gaze to the fourth person present, a young woman in her early twenties with a fresh face he had not seen before, presumably the one mentioned earlier who would accompany Li Zhizhi to Southern Xinjiang.
The smile in Xiao Yan’s eyes dimmed almost imperceptibly, but his face remained courteous. “This is…”
“This is Yang Jun, five years older than you,” the eldest princess said with a smile, “She is the daughter of Princess Shouchun and has been with her in Southern Xinjiang for a while. It’s normal that you haven’t met before.”
Yang Jun immediately stood up and greeted him with a smile. “I’ve met the Crown Prince.”
Xiao Yan nodded slightly. “No need for formalities, please have a seat.”
After everyone settled down, the Grand Princess inquired about the details of Xiao Yan’s trip, and he answered each question. To avoid worrying the Grand Princess, he omitted the dangers along the way and only talked about the local customs and people. Seeing Li Zhizhi listening attentively and deliberately mentioning amusing anecdotes that made her laugh, he couldn’t help but feel happy, as if he had just tasted honey.
After chatting for a while, they didn’t realize it was already noon. Yang Jun suggested taking her leave, and the Grand Princess warmly insisted that she stay for a meal. “It’s already this time; staying for lunch would be more hospitable than leaving now.”
Yang Jun, not one to be overly reserved, didn’t refuse and smiled, “Your kindness is hard to decline, so I’ll impose and stay for the meal.”
Because of something he had heard before, Xiao Yan didn’t really like her at first. He just watched her coldly as she talked to the Grand Princess, and called “Zhizhi” back and forth, seemingly intimate, which made him inexplicably annoyed.
Xiao Yan didn’t think of himself as a petty person, perhaps it was because he had been away for a few days and there were some unfamiliar people around Li Zhizhi. Even though they were both women, it made him feel uncontrollable.
As for Li Zhizhi, apart from paying attention to him at the beginning, she never talked to him again, only earnestly conversing with Yang Jun, listening to her talk about things in the Southern Frontier.
Xiao Yan admitted that he was a bit fed up, full of frustration but nowhere to vent, so he could only drink tea continuously.
After drinking two cups, he suddenly asked Li Zhizhi, “Where’s A’yang?”
Li Zhizhi was taken aback for a moment before saying, “She’s listening to Qing Luo read a book. Shall I have someone call her?”
“No need,” Xiao Yan stood up and said, “I’ll go see her.”
Saying that, he looked at Li Zhizhi, but made no move. Li Zhizhi had to get up as well and said, “I’ll take you there.”
Seeing this, the Grand Princess smiled and said, “Go ahead. A’yang has been talking about you these days. My ears are about to grow calluses. If she knew you were back, she’d be thrilled.”
After leaving the flower hall, Xiao Yan followed behind Li Zhizhi. They walked side by side, with Xiao Yan initially asking about A’yang’s recent situation. Li Zhizhi answered carefully, and then she suddenly noticed something wrapped around his hand and asked, “What happened to your hand?”
At this, Xiao Yan calmly extended his hand to show her, wrapped in a white cloth. He casually said, “It’s just a scratch from a sword, nothing serious.”
Li Zhizhi was somewhat surprised and asked, “What happened?”
Xiao Yan then recounted the events of that day. He had avoided mentioning it earlier to prevent the Grand Princess from worrying, but now, in front of Li Zhizhi, he wanted to explain in detail to see if she would show some concern.
As they were talking, they arrived at a courtyard where Xiao Rulei’s voice could be heard. Li Zhizhi stepped in first and called out to her with a smile, “Guess who’s back?”
Xiao Rulei was lying on a cool couch playing. Upon hearing the voice, she turned her head and saw Xiao Yan behind Li Zhizhi. Her eyes immediately lit up, and she sat up and called out, “Brother!”
She was so excited that she rolled off the couch in a hurry, not even bothering to put on her embroidered shoes properly, and rushed towards Xiao Yan like a playful calf. Seeing her rush over recklessly, nearly colliding with Li Zhizhi, Xiao Yan instinctively reached out to pull her back, forgetting that his hand was injured.
Li Zhizhi heard a slight muffled groan and realized something was wrong. She quickly grabbed Xiao Rulei and said, “Don’t move.”
Xiao Rulei, not knowing what was going on, dared not move. Li Zhizhi then turned to Xiao Yan and saw his eyebrows furrow slightly. She asked, “Did you hit the wound?”
At this, Xiao Yan’s brows furrowed even more, and he said, “It seems so.”
Li Zhizhi asked him to open his hand, and indeed, there were faint traces of blood seeping through the white cloth. Xiao Rulei was startled and exclaimed, “Brother is injured!”
Thinking she had caused it by rushing over, she felt extremely guilty. She pouted, her eyes quickly welling up with glistening tears, and with a teary voice, she said, “What should we do? Brother is bleeding, it’s all my fault… sob, sob, sob…”
She cried while wiping her tears, feeling like the sky was falling. Li Zhizhi hurriedly comforted her, saying, “It wasn’t you who got hurt. Once the medicine is applied, it will be fine.”
Xiao Rulei looked at her with teary eyes and asked, “Really?”
Li Zhizhi then called for someone to bring the medicine. She carefully unwrapped the cloth on Xiao Yan’s palm, revealing a wound that spanned the entire center of his palm. Xiao Rulei gasped and exclaimed, “Brother, your hand seems to have become two halves. Is it going to break off?”
She pouted as if about to cry again. Xiao Yan, seeing this, used his injured hand to cover her mouth, shaping it into a duck’s beak, preventing her from crying, and asked, “Is my hand broken?”
Xiao Rulei blinked rapidly and shook her head. Only then did Xiao Yan release her, once again opening his palm and presenting it to Li Zhizhi.
Li Zhizhi was momentarily stunned but then understood that he wanted her to apply the medicine. She took the golden wound medicine from the servant and carefully sprinkled it on Xiao Yan’s wound. Xiao Yan watched her, with the young girl’s eyebrows and eyes lowered, long eyelashes covering her eyes like two quietly resting butterflies, reflecting faint shards of light in the sunlight. He suddenly felt an itch in his fingers, wanting to touch those delicate butterfly wings.
Li Zhizhi was earnestly applying the medicine when suddenly, as if unable to support itself, Xiao Yan’s hand swiftly dropped. She was startled and instinctively reached out to catch it, her palm touching the back of Xiao Yan’s hand. The sensation at that moment was both unfamiliar and strange.
Xiao Yan’s hand was much larger than hers, with slightly cool skin. Li Zhizhi could even feel the faintly protruding veins on the back of his hand, distinct yet full of strength.
For a moment, Li Zhizhi inexplicably thought, what if this hand were to grip hers forcefully, would it crush her hand?
Just a moment ago, it seemed to be this same hand that gently patted her head, its actions so tender.
The air quieted for a moment. Li Zhizhi, as if scalded, quickly pulled back her hand. Only then did she hear Xiao Yan leisurely say, “My hand is sore.”
Li Zhizhi was a bit annoyed. She glanced at him lightly, then turned to call Qing Luo for help. Just as she was about to speak, his hand reached out again, held up properly in front of her.
Li Zhizhi wanted to say something, but seeing Xiao Rulei on the side looking eagerly with red eyes like a little rabbit, she swallowed her words and continued to apply medicine for Xiao Yan.
After a while, she heard Xiao Yan speak again, “Do you know about the marriage line?”
Li Zhizhi looked up, puzzled, and Xiao Yan pursed his lips slightly, seemingly unintentionally explaining, “A Taoist priest read my palm before and said I don’t have a marriage line. Look at this wound, does it look like one?”
At these words, Li Zhizhi’s expression became somewhat awkward. She paused for a moment before saying, “A man’s marriage line is on the left hand, Your Highness. But this wound is on your right hand.”
Xiao Yan: …
“However, I didn’t expect Your Highness to believe in such things,” Li Zhizhi smiled, putting away the medicinal ointment, “If you really want a marriage line, you can draw one with a pen.”
Xiao Yan looked at her. The young girl smiled with curved eyebrows and bright eyes, shining brilliantly. Suddenly, he said, “Then draw one for me.”