ARTTEDSBGT Chapter 116
Xiao Rulei came this time with many snacks, presenting them to Li Zhizhi like a treasure. She said, “Sister, A’yang has tried all of these, and they are delicious. This one is candied plums, and this one, this one is sticky sugar melon…”
It was hard to believe that her little brain actually remembered that Li Zhizhi liked sweets, so most of the snacks she brought were candies. Seeing Xiao Rulei’s earnest expression, Li Zhizhi couldn’t bear to tell her that Xiao Yan had already sent over many snacks the day before, and there were more than what Xiao Rulei had brought.
She instructed the maid to bring those snacks over, and Xiao Rulei immediately beamed with joy, not feeling the least bit odd. She looked like a little mouse that had fallen into a rice jar, smiling so broadly that her eyes almost disappeared.
Xiao Rulei handed her a candied plum, and Li Zhizhi accepted it. The dark purple plum made her slender, white fingers look even more delicate. The plum was covered in shiny sugar, looking very tempting. She examined it for a moment before putting it in her mouth, instinctively licking the sugar residue on her fingers. The taste was incredibly sweet.
She noticed a burning gaze and turned her head, locking eyes with Xiao Yan. His phoenix-like eyes were fixed on her, and it was unclear how long he had been watching. His gaze was deep, carrying a meaning she couldn’t quite decipher.
Suddenly, Li Zhizhi recalled what Yang Jun had said before. Her clear eyes sparkled with a bit of mischief, and she asked with a smile, “Speaking of which, Crown Prince Brother, you have many connections. I want to ask you about someone.”
Xiao Yan was somewhat surprised and asked, “Who do you want to ask about?”
Resting her chin on her hand, Li Zhizhi said, “It’s the young master from the Ministry of War. Do you know him, Crown Prince Brother?”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan’s brows slightly furrowed, and he said, “I’ve heard of him, but I have no dealings with him. Why are you asking about him?”
Li Zhizhi gently bit into the plum, her clear eyes shining with a mix of innocence and cunning. Yet, her expression was bashful as if she was too embarrassed to speak, and even her cheeks blushed faintly, like peach petals in the spring.
Xiao Yan had never seen her act so girlish before, and his heart skipped a beat as a sense of foreboding rose within him. He asked again, “Why did you bring him up?”
Li Zhizhi hesitated for a moment before stammering, “It was today when the Duchess came to the manor… she mentioned this young man, but I don’t know him, so I wanted to ask.”
She watched as Xiao Yan’s expression gradually darkened, but pretended not to notice and continued to ask, “Crown Prince Brother, what kind of person is he?”
Xiao Yan felt as if his heart had been soaked in vinegar, sour and bitter, but he had no choice but to endure it. Facing Li Zhizhi’s curious and shy gaze, he took a deep breath, pulled at the corner of his mouth, and said coldly, “Not much. He’s almost of age but hasn’t even passed the county examination. He’s short and stocky, looks like a lump of charcoal, and at night, you can’t even see him on the road.”
After thoroughly belittling him, Xiao Yan suddenly remembered something and said to Li Zhi, “I also heard that he loves to imitate donkey brays.”
Li Zhizhi was taken aback, “Imitate donkey brays?”
Xiao Yan nodded and said, “Especially when others aren’t paying attention, he’ll suddenly bray, scaring people. When he sees them looking around confused, not knowing what happened, he laughs to himself. Since his surname is Lu, some people even call him ‘Donkey Master.'”
Li Zhizhi: …
Xiao Yan stared at her closely and warned, “If you marry him, you might have to listen to his donkey brays every day.”
Li Zhizhi thought for a moment and then laughed, “He sounds like an interesting person.”
Xiao Yan’s eyebrows furrowed so tightly they could kill a mosquito. “Interesting?” he asked incredulously.
“Yeah,” Li Zhizhi retorted, “Doesn’t the Crown Prince Brother find it interesting? I’ve never heard anyone imitate a donkey’s bray before.”
Xiao Yan’s expression turned sour; he found no amusement in this. Right now, he only wished that this Donkey Master would actually turn into a donkey so he could be cooked into donkey meat stew.
While Xiao Yan was silently contemplating recipes for donkey meat, he heard Li Zhizhi continue, “However, as interesting as it may be, if I were to actually marry this person, that would be out of the question.”
Hearing this, he quietly let out a sigh of relief and said, “I’m glad you understand.”
Li Zhizhi spat the plum pit into a small dish, stood up, and began counting on her fingers, analyzing in a serious tone, “Lu Gongzi’s family background is decent. His father is the Minister of War, but that has nothing to do with him. He couldn’t even pass the imperial examination for a scholar title, so it’s clear he’s not good at writing. Who knows how long it will take for him to become an official?”
At this point, she turned to Xiao Yan and said, “They say people seek to rise higher, just as water flows downward. With my current status, I should at least marry someone with an official title, right? Maybe not second or third rank, but fourth or fifth would do, even sixth or seventh would be barely acceptable.”
Xiao Yan’s face had already turned as cold as frost, his expression icy, but Li Zhizhi seemed completely oblivious, instead smiling sweetly and asking him, “Don’t you think so, Crown Prince Brother?”
Xiao Yan was internally furious but had to maintain his composure, stiffly replying with a single word, “Yes.”
He almost gritted his teeth as he said, “How could mere second or third rank be worthy of you? At least a first-rank official.”
Li Zhizhi blushed slightly and asked, “Then does Crown Prince Brother know… which first-rank officials in the court are still unmarried?”
She really dared to ask. Xiao Yan was seething inside but replied expressionlessly, “Most officials who reach the rank of first-rank are already around the age of sixty, with wives and children. Some even have granddaughters your age. Minister Liu, the Prime Minister, is a first-rank official and just over forty, but he already has eighteen concubines. He just took in the nineteenth one the other day. What do you think?”
Li Zhizhi furrowed her brows, making a thoughtful expression before shaking her head and saying, “These concubines are too many; the household won’t be peaceful. I’m afraid it won’t work.”
She seemed to be genuinely considering it, which almost made Xiao Yan furious. Coldly, he said, “Then you’ll just have to wait a little longer.”
Li Zhizhi laughed, her beautiful bright eyes curving slightly, the light in them soft and clear. She said, “I have lived in the inner quarters for a long time, so my vision isn’t as broad as yours, Brother Crown Prince. If there is someone suitable, I’ll have to trouble you to keep an eye out for me.”
She began counting on her fingers, saying, “My requirements aren’t that high, actually. He should be good-looking, a bit tall, with a decent family background—at least an official status. Oh, and I’ve heard that if the relationship between a wife and her mother-in-law isn’t good, life can be tough. The wife could be bullied by her mother-in-law, so it’s better to find someone without a mother. And also…”
Before she could finish speaking, a loud noise interrupted her. She looked up and saw the door still shaking slightly, making a faint creaking sound. It turned out that the Crown Prince had already slammed the door and left, his tall, dark figure flashing by the doorway before disappearing.
The room was extremely quiet. After a moment, Li Zhizhi burst out laughing, slowly lowering her hand. If Xiao Yan were still there, he would have clearly seen the joy and playful mischief in the girl’s bright eyes, filled with a sense of teasing.
The Crown Prince finally had a taste of his own medicine.
Li Zhizhi was in a great mood and turned around. Xiao Rulei was still biting on a candy, looking surprised as she asked, “What happened? Was Brother angry just now?”
“I’m not sure,” Li Zhizhi thought for a moment and said, “Maybe he’s just in a bad mood?”
Xiao Rulei wrinkled her nose and said accusingly, “He’s so spoiled, and so immature!”
Her little grown-up tone was obviously imitating Xiao Yan. Li Zhizhi smiled and patted her head, saying, “Alright, alright, let him be angry. We don’t care. Come, let’s eat candy.”
Since that day, Xiao Yan hadn’t shown up for quite some time, but Li Zhizhi didn’t mind. If she had been uncertain about what she told Yang Jun before, after that day’s test, she was now convinced—Xiao Yan indeed had some feelings for her.
This thought amused Li Zhizhi. The high and mighty crown prince, who had once mocked her, looking down on her with disdain as he tried to gauge her intentions—did he ever imagine that such a day would come?
Li Zhizhi recalled that day when Xiao Yan, a little cautious, humbly apologized to her, hoping to gain her forgiveness. As she realized what was happening, she also found it incredible. Love was truly a magical thing. It was invisible and intangible, yet it could make a once extremely proud person bow down before another.
Li Zhizhi admitted that the bit of wickedness in her nature had been stirred, or perhaps it had always been there. She liked seeing Xiao Yan humble himself in front of her.
Li Zhizhi had no shortage of patience. Xiao Yan didn’t appear, and she didn’t ask about him. Everything continued as usual. However, Xiao Rulei would visit the Grand Princess’s residence every few days, carefree as ever, only occasionally complaining to Li Zhizhi, “My brother is so annoying.”
“How is he annoying?” Li Zhizhi was painting at her desk and didn’t even look up as she asked, “Did he scold you again?”
Xiao Rulei shook her head and said, “Not really, but every time I go home, he keeps asking what I did today, who I played with, and what I ate. He nags so much, just like an old nanny!”
Li Zhizhi couldn’t help but laugh when she heard this. After thinking for a moment, she offered a suggestion, “Next time he asks, you should say…”
That afternoon, when Xiao Rulei left the Grand Princess’s residence and boarded the Crown Prince’s carriage, she saw her brother inside, reading a document. After she settled in, she lifted the curtain to wave goodbye.
Xiao Yan glanced over and indeed saw that slender figure. But before he could take a closer look, Xiao Rulei had already let the curtain fall, and the carriage soon rumbled forward, moving on.
Xiao Yan instinctively called out, “Stop.”
The voice of Xu Tingfeng came from outside, sounding puzzled: “Your Highness, do you have any instructions?”
Xiao Yan tightly gripped the dossier in his hand and didn’t speak for a long while. He slightly lifted the carriage curtain and looked outside. The entrance of the Grand Princess’s mansion was already empty; the figure he had been thinking about day and night had already left.
Xiao Yan furrowed his brows, a trace of anxiety in his phoenix-like eyes. He shifted the dossier to his other hand and looked at Xiao Rulei, asking as usual, “Did you today…”
Before he could finish, Xiao Rulei interrupted him, saying, “A’yang isn’t going to the Grand Princess’s mansion tomorrow!”
Xiao Yan didn’t react for a moment, then his frown deepened, “Why aren’t you going?”
Xiao Rulei blinked and mimicked what Li Zhizhi had taught her, saying, “There’s nothing fun at the Grand Princess’s mansion anymore, and you keep asking questions all the time, it’s so annoying. So starting tomorrow, A’yang won’t be going.”
Xiao Yan cleared his throat and asked, “You don’t want to play with Sister Zhizhi anymore?”
Xiao Rulei shook her head like a rattle drum and sensibly replied, “Sister has been busy painting recently, and Ah Yang doesn’t want to disturb her.”
Xiao Yan: …