“Xiong Xiaoyi,” a strange “survival instinct” prompted Yun Lie to skillfully shift the blame, his face full of uprightness and honesty, “I said it couldn’t be Huang Jingru, but he just wouldn’t believe me.”
Luo Cuiwei ridiculed Xiong Xiaoyi with utter disdain.
****
In the afternoon, the group followed the emperor to the hunting grounds.
Luo Cuiwei was too lazy to move and, as usual, hid in her tent reading idle books, telling Luo Cuizhen to go find Xu Ying to play with.
Seeing that her elder sister seemed to have made up her mind, Luo Cuizhen didn't say anything more and left dejectedly with her head down.
Yun Lie went out for a brief ride, then quickly slipped back unnoticed.
Although the two had reached a consensus and Emperor Xianlong had given his tacit approval, they still had to wait until they returned to the capital before they could propose marriage. In their daily lives, they couldn't afford to attract too much attention if they wanted to spend time together.
Luo Cuiwei put down the book in her hand, took the fruit he handed her, and looked at him with a mischievous smile.
"Oh, by the way, I've actually been wanting to ask you for a long time... how did you, a prince of Zhao, end up so poor?"
"It's complicated and I can't explain it in a short time," Yun Lie thought for a moment while looking at her smiling face, and then added, "In short, sometimes I have money, and sometimes I don't."
After this period of time, those who are paying attention will probably understand his plans, and the situation will be different from before.
However, he did not want to make any boastful claims in front of Luo Cuiwei before things were settled.
In the past, he only cared about protecting his fellow soldiers, so he was too lazy to cause trouble.
But he still needs to protect Luo Cuiwei, so there are some things he won't do as he used to.
"You're probably more often short of money, aren't you?" Luo Cui smiled and sighed, patting his shoulder. "Forget it, just focus on protecting the country. I'll take care of you if necessary."
Thinking back to those young men who had greedily snatched several cartloads of grain from her in Songyuan, Luo Cuiwei secretly made a vow in her heart—
My ancestors, I would never allow myself to be so poor!
Yun Lie was taken aback upon hearing this, and a warm and sweet feeling welled up in his heart.
He didn't argue with her, but simply smiled, lowered his eyes, and hummed in agreement.
She really was deeply in love with him.
****
On the fifteenth of February, as the hour of Yin was drawing to a close, the sky was as dark as ink.
A faint light shone on the horizon, and birdsong could be heard faintly in the woods. The entire Quanshan Palace was still fast asleep.
Go up along Jianjing, the easternmost point of Quanshan Mountain, and then along a stretch of rarely traveled dirt road to the top, where there is a small waterfall hanging from the mountain.
The small waterfall hanging on the opposite cliff is the only view in this somewhat desolate corner of the mountaintop.
Luo Cuiwei wrapped her cloak tighter around herself, stood on the mountaintop with her head drooping and sleepy eyes, her forehead resting on Yun Lie's shoulder.
In the hazy light of the approaching night, Yun Lie, dressed in a neat black martial robe, stood tall and straight like a pine tree.
"Your invitation sounds absurd. Why did I agree to it yesterday...?"
Luo Cuiwei couldn't help but yawn, complaining softly with a hint of laughter.
Yesterday at dusk, Yun Lie suddenly said with a solemn expression that he wanted her to come out at dawn this morning, because he wanted to take her to a place.
She doesn't have any particular hobbies. In her spare time, she likes to read storybooks... well, she reads both serious and not-so-serious ones.
If we follow the logic of "not-so-serious storybooks," Yun Lie's invitation would probably fall into the category of one with impure motives and potentially "unthinkable" consequences.
It was all because his expression was so solemn at the time, and his deep black eyes were full of righteous indignation, that she agreed without even asking where he was going.
She felt that she was really doomed.
"Why did you agree? Naturally, it's because you like me and don't want me to be disappointed or sad." Yun Lie held the exhausted and languid girl tightly in his arms, answering with particular confidence and certainty.
“So, the fact that you’re willing to let me feel so tired and uncomfortable,” Luo Cuiwei yawned weakly again, her long eyelashes glistening with sleepy tears, like butterfly wings soaked with night dew, “means you must really hate me.”
"Nonsense!" Yun Lie said sternly, slightly annoyed. After rebuking her, he frowned and hugged her even tighter.
The chilly mountain wind of the early spring night was completely blocked by his tall figure.
Luo Cuiwei was not an early riser, but today she was forced to leave her warm bed before dawn and follow this person up the mountain, yet she still had no idea what they were here for.
At this moment, the annoyance in his voice finally woke her up from her morning grumpiness.
"Yun Lie, have I been too lenient with you these past few days?"
She was so sleepy that she could barely open her eyes. With a tense expression, she raised her chin and gave a cold glance through her slits, like a flamboyant little tabby cat.
"If you yell at me again, believe me, I'll smash a chest of gold against you!"
This was the first time Yun Lie had ever seen Luo Cuiwei like this.
She must have thought she looked fierce enough.
He felt like laughing, but his intuition told him that if he actually laughed, his fate might be dire.
So he cleverly chose to keep quiet, lowered his head and lightly pecked her lips, as if to comfort her or to please her.
"Don't think that you..." Luo Cuiwei, who had just been kissed again, was wide awake and stared at him with wide eyes.
Yun Lie lowered his eyelashes to hide the triumphant smirk in his eyes, his gently lowered gaze as soft as that of a vulnerable little beast.