After a flurry of activity, a pot of fragrant fried rice was successfully prepared.
"It smells so good!" Chunhua sniffed hard next to the iron pot, her mouth almost watering.
"Let's eat together! I'll fry some steamed buns for you while I'm at it," Chu Xiyin said as she served rice. She ladled a large bowl for Chunhua, who took it with a look of excitement. Indeed, there are many kinds of women in this world: some love money, some love beauty, some love food... and some love everything.
Chu Xiyin fried the cold steamed buns and served them to Chunhua.
"Your food is so delicious! Make it for me every day from now on!" Chunhua wolfed down her fried rice, getting rice grains all over her mouth.
"Insolence! Do you know she is my betrothed princess? How can I cook for you every day!" The Fourth Prince's eyes were filled with rage. Status, wealth, and social standing are determined at birth. He was a high and mighty prince, and regardless of her birth, she was his future princess, and he would not tolerate anyone being disrespectful to her.
Chunhua was so frightened that she forgot to eat and knelt down on the ground with a thud. "Your Highness, spare me! Your Highness, spare me!"
Chu Xiyin walked up to the Fourth Prince and said, "Your Highness, Xiyin is just an ordinary woman. It's nothing for me to cook a meal for a friend. Please don't blame Miss Chunhua."
The Fourth Prince looked at Chu Xiyin in surprise. What woman in the world doesn't yearn to be high above others, to be fawned over, and to be served? But she alone neither liked being served nor liked being fawned over.
"Come on! Try my cooking." Chu Xiyin scooped up a spoonful of fried rice and brought it to his mouth.
Such intimate behavior left him at a loss for words.
"Eat!" she urged him. "Do you dislike what I made?"
He had no choice but to open his mouth obediently.
She put the spoonful of rice into her own mouth. "Too slow to react, there's no food left," she said mischievously.
He was at a loss for what to do about her mischievous behavior.
She chuckled and said, "Seeing how pitiful you are, I'll give you a treat."
She scooped up another spoonful of rice and held it out to him. This time, he was smarter; he grabbed her wrist tightly and put the spoonful of rice into his own mouth.
"Is it good?" she asked anxiously, waiting for his answer.
He wanted to tease her, but he just chewed his food slowly and didn't answer her question.
She was getting a little anxious and asked again, "Do you think it tastes good?"
He smiled, nodded slightly, and stopped teasing her.
"Chunhua, tidy up the room next to mine later," the Fourth Prince instructed Chunhua.
Chunhua quickly put down her bowl and respectfully replied, "Yes, Your Highness!" The steamed bun she was holding sprayed out many crumbs like bullets.
"I'm so full!" Chu Xiyin patted her bulging stomach, feeling very satisfied.
"Your Highness, I'd like to take a walk around. You should go back to your room and rest first!" Chu Xiyin said.
“I’ll stay with you.” The Fourth Prince was worried about Chu Xiyin. He turned around and extended his right hand to her, just as Yichuan had extended his right hand to her countless times. She excitedly placed her left hand into his large palm.
To be able to hold your hand like this is the greatest happiness of my life! Chu Xiyin thought to herself.
Chapter 14 The Star Gazing Tower
The Fourth Prince was a silent man. He didn't speak to Chu Xiyin at all along the way, but simply pulled her forward.
A sudden spasm in her stomach made Chu Xiyin stop and clutch her stomach.
"What's wrong? Stomach ache?" The Fourth Prince stopped and asked Chu Xiyin with concern.
"We walked too fast!" As she spoke, another sharp pain shot through her stomach, and Chu Xiyin clutched her stomach and squatted down in agony.
"How about I help you back to your room to rest?" The Fourth Prince squatted down as well, looked at Chu Xiyin, and said gently.
"How can I possibly sleep after eating so much?" Chu Xiyin complained.
"Since that's the case, then..." The Fourth Prince's words were cut short.
Chu Xiyin felt her body float up into the air.
The Fourth Prince may appear thin, but he is actually quite robust.
Chu Xiyin nervously hugged his neck and shyly leaned against his firm chest.
Counting his frantic heartbeats, one, two, three... her heart unconsciously began to beat frantically as well.
"Where are you taking me?" She looked up at his handsome face.
“You’ll know when you get there,” he said, smiling down at her.
His smile was wicked and arrogant, yet still pure.
Chu Xiyin felt her face flush suddenly, but thankfully it was nighttime, so he couldn't see her blushing. Otherwise, how embarrassing would that be!
"Put...put me down..." she struggled anxiously in his arms.
"We'll be there soon!" he said gently.
The Fourth Prince was indeed fast; he arrived immediately after saying he would be there.
"Where is this?" Chu Xiyin asked the Fourth Prince in surprise.
"Star Gazing Tower!" The Fourth Prince's deep voice rang in Chu Xiyin's ears.
He liked to climb this observatory to look at the stars when he was alone. No one else was allowed to come up here except him.
She, Chu Xiyin, was the first again...
The Star Gazing Tower! Chu Xiyin's eyes shone with barely suppressed excitement.
The Fourth Prince looked at Chu Xiyin, who resembled a child, with deep affection. He hadn't expected her to like this place so much!
Chu Xiyin stroked the telescope in front of her.
This astronomical telescope has a black body, with a Twenty-Eight Mansions diagram made of a special material on top. Under the moonlight, the diagram faintly emits a pale blue fluorescence, dazzling and mesmerizing. The base of the telescope is a crescent-shaped, gold-plated support, engraved with ancient characters that Chu Xiyin does not recognize.
Did my country have astronomical telescopes more than a thousand years ago? Why is there no record of this in historical books?
"Where did you buy this telescope?" Chu Xiyin asked in confusion.
The Fourth Prince was taken aback at first, not knowing what the telescope she was referring to was. However, being as clever as he was, he quickly realized that she was referring to the unnamed object in front of him.
"I had someone else do it," he replied with a smile.
"Did you design this?" Chu Xiyin looked into the Fourth Prince's clear eyes.
The Fourth Prince smiled deeply and nodded with a hint of smugness.
Chu Xiyin smiled gently, closed one eye, and pressed the other eye close to the lens. This was the first time she had ever looked up at the starry sky like this. Although the autumn sky was not as dazzling as the summer sky, it had its own unique charm.
Chu Xiyin looked up at the countless stars within her reach, carefully searching for her constellation.
The fairy points northeast, Pegasus soars in a quadrilateral shape, the Perseus constellation illuminates the night sky, Algol's light changes, the southern sky is quiet with few bright stars, Fomalhaut shines like a bright lamp, and the Big Dipper rests on the horizon on an autumn night.
"A Pegasus soars through the sky, the Milky Way hangs obliquely" is a symbol of the autumn starry sky.
The Fourth Prince sat on the stone bench behind Chu Xiyin, tilting his head back and squinting as he sized her up.
"Found it! I found my constellation!" Chu Xiyin excitedly turned around and said to the Fourth Prince, but when she found that the Fourth Prince was staring at her, she blushed with embarrassment.
"What did you find?" The Fourth Prince naturally withdrew his gaze from her face, stood up, and slowly walked towards her.
"I've found my constellation!" Chu Xiyin's voice suddenly dropped eight octaves.
"Huh?" He didn't know what constellations were.
Chu Xiyin then remembered that constellations were an invention of the ancient Greeks. In China, there is only the concept of the Twenty-Eight Mansions.
But how should we interpret "a flying horse in the sky" according to traditional Chinese sayings?
Chu Xiyin, knowing her own limited knowledge, couldn't explain it clearly. So she simply took the Fourth Prince's hand and drew a square on his large palm. "Stand where I am and find this shape on your hand."
"Did you find it?" Chu Xiyin asked.
Right above your head, there's a roughly square quadrilateral shape; it should be easy to find!
The Fourth Prince straightened up, stared at Chu Xiyin, and asked, "What's the use of finding it?"
“This is my zodiac sign!” Chu Xiyin said proudly.
The Fourth Prince still looked completely bewildered.
"Let me explain it to you like this! This square is my symbol. From now on, whenever you see this square, it will be as if you see me. Do you understand?" Chu Xiyin said to the Fourth Prince with a mischievous look.
The Fourth Prince's affection deepened, and he thought to himself, "This woman is truly interesting! She actually compares herself to a star in the sky! However, she doesn't know that at this moment, in my eyes, no matter how beautiful the stars are, they are not even one ten-thousandth as beautiful as her."
"Chuan, do you know? I often look at the stars alone." Chu Xiyin leaned on the corridor railing with both hands and let out a soft sigh. Her dark eyes gazed sadly at the tranquil night sky.
The Fourth Prince walked to Chu Xiyin's side and silently gazed at her sorrowful profile. Although she often spoke in words he couldn't understand, he loved hearing them.
"Stars are the most wondrous creations in this world. They have stood guard there eternally, looking down upon all things and protecting those they love." Chu Xiyin smiled slightly at the Fourth Prince, who suddenly felt his heart skip a beat.
"If I die, I will become a star in the sky and forever protect the people I love," Chu Xiyin said earnestly.
The Fourth Prince forbade her to utter the word "death" in his presence. As long as he was there, he would never let her die.
He was about to stop her when she continued, "However, I won't die so soon! Because I'm being protected by the stars in the sky right now. Look, the square above my head is the star that's protecting me!" Chu Xiyin pointed upwards.
The Fourth Prince was amused by her silly remarks. In this short night, he laughed more times than he had laughed in the past twenty years.
"By the way, when is your birthday?" Chu Xiyin asked earnestly, staring into the Fourth Prince's eyes.
"Birthday? You mean my birthday?" The Fourth Prince couldn't stop smiling. Why did she always say such strange things?
Chu Xiyin nodded and chuckled twice. She secretly rejoiced that the Fourth Prince was a clever man; otherwise, communication would have been truly troublesome!
February 20th
"The 20th of the second month in the lunar calendar corresponds to the Ziling Dynasty more than a thousand years ago. Based on this timeline, he should be an Aries," Chu Xiyin muttered to herself.
The Fourth Prince looked at the rambling Chu Xiyin with a puzzled expression. "What are you saying?"
"I'm calculating when your guardian star will appear?" Chu Xiyin asked mysteriously. "Your guardian star will appear in another month and a half," Chu Xiyin said with a smile.
A cool autumn breeze brushed aside the hair that had fallen across Chu Xiyin's cheeks, revealing faint dimples on her face.
“She has appeared.” The Fourth Prince stared at Chu Xiyin intently, brushing aside the hair that had fallen across her cheek with one hand.
Little by little, he moved closer to her.
Then, his warm lips pressed against her forehead, kissed her eyes, brushed across her nose, and covered her lips...
She stood there, stunned. Even Yi Chuan had never touched her so intimately before!