Ah Luo had eaten too much bitterness in her previous life. In this lifetime, her request was simple. She would be satisfied if the person treated her very very well. When she was in a helpless and distressed situation, he would step forward bravely and put her behind his body. He would keep her from bearing hardships and feeling hurt and wronged. He would satisfy all of her wants and be completely obedient to her... Now that she thought about it, her request didn't seem that simple. At the very least, expecting him to be completely obedient was making it a bit difficult for him.
Zhao Jie had just said, "Like the way that this prince treats you very well?"
Wei Luo couldn't help thinking about the previous years. Zhao Jie had treated her very well. His actions could be described as completely obedient and pandering to her every whim. But, Ah Luo had never considered him. She had always thought that they weren't traveling on the same path. No matter how well he treated her, she always though he had some hidden motive. For example, that time when he tied Li Song to a target to help her vent her anger, he had done it because of Prince Ru Yang and was just incidentally helping her.
Besides, the difference between their ages was too big. She had always called him "big brother" and in her heart she considered him as a big brother. She thought that he and Gao Dan Yang would be a good match for each other and had never thought of the possibility of him being her sweetheart, so how could she have any improper thoughts about him?
Ah Luo thought that he was joking. She curved her almond eyes and went along with his words, "He has to treat me better than big brother. He can't show an unhappy face in front of me or bully me." She paused and let go of his sleeve. Her thin lips smiled softly, "He can't be as old as big brother. It would be the best if he's only three or four years older than me."
Zhao Jie's expression was bit strange, "Am I really old?"
She exaggeratedly nodded and told him, "You're nine years older than me. My father had me and Chang Hong before he was twenty."
Zhao Jie, “…”
The girl didn't seem to understand his feelings and nonchalantly continued stabbing at his heart, "But big brother is very good-looking and doesn’t seem like he’s over twenty. When my daddy was young, he was also good-looking. But compared to you, he's immediately inferior in comparison."
She thought that she was comforting him. But in reality, her words were a shock to him.
She compared him to her daddy? So, he had this type of senior position in her heart? No wonder she remained ignorant and unmoved despite his hints. The most basic reason was because of this. She had never considered him that way, so how could he move her heart?
Zhao Jie closed his eyes. His movement in stroking her beauty mark became slower and slower and finally stopped. He wanted to use this opportunity to make his intentions clear, "This prince is twenty-two years old this year without a wife or concubine. Isn't it a little early for me to be a father?"
Wei Luo looked up. Her eyes were clear and her thoughts were honest, "Is it early? Why hasn't big brother married yet? You're not young anymore. Is the empress not anxious?"
The girl was actually completely serious as she asked about his marriage in concern. Her tone was the same as Empress Chen when she had interrogated him. How could Empress Chen not be anxious? From the time that he returned from Bin Zhou, every time that he entered the place, Empress Chen would ask about this for over an hour. It was okay if he didn't want to marry Gao Dan Yang. There were other girls from noble families that he could select from. But, he kept using various reasons to refuse her to the point that Empress Chen didn't want to see him anymore. She would only see him again once he was willing to marry.
Ultimately, what was his reason? It was because of her.
She was still young. It would be too early to marry her and bring her home to love her tenderly. He was worried that she wouldn't be able to bear it. He had to wait at least another two years. At that time, regardless if it was Song Hui or Li Song, it wouldn't be a problem for him.
Right now, it was more important to have this girl understand things properly.
He straightened up, "Worrying won’t change anything. Ah Luo, do you think big brother is similar to your daddy?"
Ah Luo shook her head and sincerely said, “Not similar.”
He smiled and asked, "What about compared to your older brother Song Hui?"
She pursed her lips. Her eyes turned and she didn't answer this question.
What was there to compare? They were two completely different people. There wasn't an area that they were similar. How could she compare?
Zhao Jie could only hold her bright and clean chin and directly look at her little face to say, "I'm only a little older than you. I'm not old. This prince will be angry if you say this again.”
She looked at his dark eyes. Her little mouth stopped smiling and she rather dispiritedly said, "I understand. I won't say it again..."
Zhao Jie's thumb gently stroked her chin and lightly brushed over her pink lips. He still wanted to say something, but was suddenly stopped by a cold voice that said, "Let go of Ah Luo."
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After Zhao Jie carried Wei Luo away, Chang Hong had originally wanted to follow them, but he was stopped by Liang Yu Rong on the way. She had asked him what was going on. He didn't know what had happened either, but since Ah Luo did this, she must have her reasons. Liang Yu Rong wouldn't let him go until her questioning led him to tell her about his engagement with Li Xiang. At that point, she suddenly realized Ah Luo's intentions. He finally broke free from Liang Yu Rong and arrived at the eastern courtyard. He didn't expect to see this scene as soon as he entered Ah Luo's room
Zhao Jie had entered Ah Luo's inner room and was touching Ah Luo's face. The two of them were so close to each other. A stranger might think they had a very close relationship.
What couldn't be calmly discussed? Why were they touching?
Chang Hong's gaze towards Zhao Jie immediately became full of hostility. He walked forward to separate the two of them and had Ah Luo behind him to protect her. He looked at Zhao Jie without saying anything.
Zhao Jie retreated half a step. The corners of his mouth were slightly curved up in a smile. He had known that Ah Luo had an extremely protective twin younger brother. He didn't have a chance to meet him before. Meeting him today, Chang Hong’s protectiveness had exceeded his expectations. He smiled and calmly said, "You're Chang Hong, right? Ah Luo's ankle was twisted, so this prince brought her back. You don't have to be so vigilant. This prince won't do anything."
Chang Hong's thin lips pursed into a line. He didn't believe Zhao Jie's words. If he really wouldn't do anything, then what was with his gaze when he looked at Ah Luo? The desire and thirst in his eyes were too obvious, only Ah Luo was stupid enough to not notice. Chang Hong's response was delayed. "Many thanks for bringing Ah Luo back, your highness Prince Jing. But, it's late now. Men and women should keep their distance from each other. If the prince continues to stay, I'm worried that people will gossip. I'll have to request you to leave."
Zhao Jie tried to look at the girl behind Chang Hong, but Chang Hong closely blocked her and he couldn't see her expression. After he thought about it, he decided to not be impatient for results at the moment. He curved his lips and said, "Then, this prince will leave now. Ah Luo's foot shouldn't touch the ground. As her young brother, you should take extra care of her." After he said this, he didn't stay any longer. He walked out of Ah Luo's inner room.
After Zhao Jie left, Chang Hong turned around to ask Wei Luo, "Ah Luo, did he do anything to you?"
Wei Luo pointed at her wrapped up foot and thought that Chang Hong had overreacted a bit, "Older brother Prince Jing helped me with applying medicine and wrapping up my foot. Chang Hong, weren't you too rude to him?"
Being blamed by her, Chang Hong felt somewhat wronged, "He was touching you."
Wei Luo paused. She hadn't thought about Zhao Jie's action. She thought that he had only touched her face to get her attention. When she was a child, Zhao Jie had frequently stroked her head and rubbed her cheeks. Now, she was grown up. But, it was understandable that he wouldn’t immediately remember this and would sometimes go back to old habits.
But now that Chang Hong mentioned it, she suddenly realized. Zhao Jie's action was too intimate. Should she pay more attention in the future?
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The next day, Wei Luo couldn't walk, so she had Jin Lu and Bai Lan carry her to the garden to soak up the sunshine. She sat on the couch and leaned against a pillow. Just as she was about to take a nap because she was feeling sleepy, Liang Yu Rong energetically came to visit her.
Wei Luo hadn't explained to her what had happened last night. From Chang Hong, she had learned enough to guess what approximately had happened, but she still had questions. Today, Wei Luo couldn't go to Zhan Yue Building to watch the hunting, so she didn't go either and came here to keep her company instead and also take the opportunity to ask her about last night.
Liang Yu Rong sat down across from her. While picking up a cherry from her steamed cherry dessert, she curiously asked her, "Did you do that intentionally?"
Wei Luo closed her eyes and slowly said, "En."
Liang Yu Rong blinked her eyes in surprise and even forgot to eat the cherry, "Were you lying when you borrowed my older brother's book from me?"
Wei Luo suddenly opened her eyes. Her bright eyes were like an overflowing pool of clear spring water. She smiled fully as she said, "It wouldn't be counted as lying. Teacher did want me to learn cursive script, but daddy said that girls didn't need to know so much and didn't agree to me learning it."
Liang Yu Rong finally understood. There was a clearly a little fox in front of her with too many clever thoughts. This entire plan was just to mess with Li Xiang! She sighed and openly admitted her defeat, "Why don't you agree with Li Xiang and Chang Hong's engagement? What do you dislike about her?"
Wei Luo put away her smile and thorougly thought for a moment, "When I was Princess Tianji's study companion, I met Li Xiang several times in the palace. She was very young then, but she acted jointly with Zhao Lin Lang to bully Liuli. During a bitterly cold day, they harmed Liuli by causing her to falling into a lake. Liuli was sick for half a month and almost died."
After saying this, her eyes turned and she looked at Liang Yu Rong, "With that type of moral character, do you think she could have become a good person?"
Liang Yu Rong's surprise wasn't small, "It's shocking that such a thing happened!"
This event had happened several years ago. Perhaps, Liuli had already forgotten, but she would always remembered this. Although the sixth prince had become their scapegoat in the end, Empress Chen probably knew the truth in her heart."
She placed a finger against her lips and told Liang Yu Rong, "Don't tell anyone else about this. Otherwise, trouble will be come to you."
Liang Yu Rong repeatedly nodded. She closed her lips and made a gesture of threading a neeedle to show that her lips would be sealed shut. She definitely wouldn't make irresponsible remarks.
The two girls sat in the garden for an entire morning. Liang Yu Rong stayed in the eastern courtyard to eat lunch and didn't leave afterwards.
When it was around 3-5pm, a bugle horn resounded throughout Zhang Xun Mountain. The hunting competition had officially ended.
One after another, the men came back from the mountain and returned to their own courtyard. The steward took people with him to take inventory of the prey and added up who had hunted the most animals, that person would be the winner of this year's competition.
Wei Luo wanted to go visit Chang Hong and Liang Yu Rong naturally wanted to go look for her older brother Liang Yu. Coincidentally, they were walking on the same path together to go Rong Courtyard. Chang Hong and Liang Yu Rong were staying in the same courtyard. Before Wei Luo and Liang Yu Rong were close to Rong Courtyard, they saw a group of people from far away carrying a young man and entering the courtyard. The young man's clothes was mottled with blood and he seemed unconscious.
Wei Luo's heart jumped. She increased her speed and walked forward. She grabbed a servant that came out from the courtyard and asked, "Who was that injured person?"
The servant was going to look for Prince Jing and the steward. Hearing her words, he replied, "It's Duke Ying's family's sixth young master. He was injured while hunting and is currently unconscious!"