Luo Cuiwei said softly, "This can't be blamed on the Jingzhao Prefecture. It's just following the law. After all, when their people arrived, the man had already been knocked to the ground and was injured. They didn't catch him in the act of harassing the young girl. If they arrested him, the Jingzhao Prefecture would inevitably face some gossip."
"Your family is really at a huge loss, suffering this humiliation for nothing," Xiong Xiaoyi spat indignantly.
Yun Lie simply looked up at Luo Cuiwei and said calmly, "Who are you looking for? What do you plan to do?"
Luo Cuiwei choked for a moment, then quickly lowered her eyes, her smile somewhat stiff: "It's nothing, just trivial family matters."
What she was planning to do seemed rather unorthodox, and she didn't want to mention it to Yun Lie.
"Of course we'll pick a fight and retaliate!" Xiong Xiaoyi said bluntly. "What's there to be afraid of? I'm good at fighting, leave it to me!"
Luo Cuiwei waved her hands repeatedly to decline: "Thank you for your righteousness, General Xiong! But why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut? It's just a small street dispute. If you punch him in the face, you'll only be making him look good. If others find out, it will tarnish the reputation of the Prince Zhao's Mansion."
This wasn't flattery on her part. Although Yun Lie didn't get involved in court affairs and wasn't particularly noticeable among the princes and princesses who had already established their own residences, he was still quite well-regarded among the people for his meritorious service in defending the border and never disturbing the people.
Even if she intended to collude with the Prince Zhao's mansion to make a deal, it would be a major matter like "borrowing a route through Linchuan." Compared to that, teaching a lesson to the idle Zhang Wenping was insignificant. She never even considered involving the Prince Zhao's mansion in such a trivial matter.
Her words seemed to make some sense. Xiong Xiaoyi choked for a moment, then became somewhat dejected.
Yun Lie, however, raised an eyebrow indifferently and said in a deep voice, "If even teaching a local thug a lesson can leave a handle for people to laugh at, then the Zhao Prince's Mansion will truly become a joke."
Outsiders say that King Zhao Yunlie is upright and honest, but those who know him well know that this is not always the case.
For example, he doesn't find it difficult to do things like assessing the situation and reciprocating favors.
Hearing that Xiong Xiaoyi didn't object to him getting involved in the Luo family's affairs, Xiong Xiaoyi immediately perked up again: "That's right! When it comes to fighting, you won't find anyone in the entire capital who's more skilled than us! Just tell me how badly you want that person injured? Do you need a broken arm or a broken leg?"
Luo Cuiwei stared in disbelief at Yun Lie, dumbfounded: "You...you can even specify the degree of injury?"
"You've done me so many favors these past few days for no reason. This is just a small token of my appreciation," Yun Lie said frankly, a hint of a smile in his eyes. "Tell me, what percentage of injury do you want? I won't charge you."
9. Chapter Nine
Ever since that day, whenever Zhang Wenping went out, he would always get into conflicts with strangers for all sorts of inexplicable reasons, and he would almost always get beaten up every time he went out.
Having just had a disagreement with Luo Fengming, and then being frequently beaten, it was inevitable that Zhuo's second aunt would suspect the Luo family.
For nearly ten days, Luo Fengming was busy checking accounts in various places and hardly left his house; while Luo Cuiwei frequently visited the Prince Zhao's residence and delivered New Year's gifts to various families that had dealings with the Luo family. Her whereabouts were in everyone's sight every day.
In this way, even if Aunt Zhuo wanted to make a fuss about it, she couldn't find a reason to "catch him red-handed" and could only swallow the bitter pill, leaving Zhang Wenping to hide at home to avoid trouble for the time being.
This seemingly unintentional act of "returning a favor" unexpectedly led to Luo Cuiwei being quickly accepted as "one of their own" by everyone in the Prince Zhao's mansion.
In addition, Luo Cuiwei visited every day for nearly half a month, offering not only delicious food and drink but also generous gifts without leaving a trace. She thoughtfully found various reasons to ensure that the other party would not feel uncomfortable as if they were being given charity when receiving her favors. As a result, she became familiar with Prince Zhao's residence much faster than expected.
After that, whenever her jeweled sedan chair stopped at the gate of Prince Zhao’s mansion, two or three young guards from Prince Zhao’s mansion would come up to greet her warmly and report to her with great enthusiasm how Zhang Wenping had been in such a miserable state the day before.
Whenever there was a day for sparring or dueling, there would always be a chair covered with a brocade cushion next to the small training ground. If anyone dared to covet this throne, it would surely provoke a barrage of accusations like, "Get out of here! This belongs to Miss Luo."
Even Yun Lie was less cold towards her than before, and occasionally invited her to play chess or play leaf games. Once, when Xiong Xiaoyi was drunk and no one was keeping the atmosphere lively, he took the initiative to chat with her for a long time.
It's like a group of mischievous kids who weren't very close at first, but suddenly teamed up to do something naughty. From then on, they had a little secret in common, and naturally they were considered "a gang".
After lunch that day, they played two more games of chess. Luo Cuiwei had to visit the Xu family, so after chatting for a few minutes, she bid farewell to everyone.
Unexpectedly, Yun Lie personally got up to see her off. Although the two walked side by side in silence, Luo Cuiwei was somewhat flattered.
After passing through the garden, when the screen wall inside the gate of Prince Zhao's residence could be faintly seen, Luo Cui smiled and slowed her pace. She turned her head slightly and tilted her head up to Yun Lie, saying, "Your Highness, please wait. I know this place well, and it would be too much trouble for Your Highness to personally escort me..."
"Um, that..." Yun Lie cleared his throat, as if he had a lot to say but hadn't figured out how to say it, and hesitated for a moment.
On a windless and sunny winter afternoon, a light mist inevitably rises from the air as people speak.
They were only less than half a step apart, and at the moment their voices overlapped, two breaths, one strong and sharp, the other warm and sweet, unexpectedly intertwined.
Although the light white mist dissipated in just a breath, the ambiguous and beautiful scene that appeared only briefly was like the tip of a feather that had been gently roasted over a low flame and then dusted with icing sugar, playfully and arrogantly sweeping across Yun Lie's heart a few times.
That was originally a heart that remained unbreakable despite the harshness of the borderlands and the smoke of war; a heart that showed no fear even in the face of savage enemies and sharp blades; a heart that endured hardship and poverty amidst the machinations and suppression of others, never trembling or retreating.
But at that very moment, the heart in King Zhao Yunlie's chest, which had inspired countless men of the Linchuan army to bow down in reverence, swear to follow him to the death, and be tempered into steel, turned into a pool of spring water, utterly devoid of its backbone.
Sour. Sweet. Incomprehensible. Helpless.
This unfamiliar feeling was somewhat unpleasant for him, yet strangely, he felt no resistance or aversion to it... which made things even worse.
Luo Cuiwei was unaware that his mind had already taken eighteen twists and turns. She only noticed his strange expression and the suspicious ochre red that had appeared on his handsome and resolute light bronze face. She was immediately startled and, without thinking, tiptoed and raised the back of her hand to feel his forehead temperature.
She withdrew her hand and touched it to her forehead again to test it. After comparing the two, she concluded: "Your Highness seems to have been exposed to the wind; you appear to be a little hot. Go back to your palace to rest, and have someone prepare some ginger juice for you to drink."
The girl's warm and soft hand gently touched his forehead, and then touched his own. In Yun Lie's eyes, this scene made it seem as if his forehead was touching hers.
Noticing his heart suddenly pounding in his chest, and fearing that the thunderous sound of his heart might be heard, Yun Lie quickly cleared his throat, hummed in response, and then looked up as if trying to avoid something, his gaze passing over the top of her head and looking into the distance.
"I received the imperial decree this morning. Tomorrow I am to be summoned to the palace for a family banquet."
This statement, lacking a subject, left Luo Cuiwei momentarily bewildered.
"I mean, you don't need to come tomorrow, no one will be here." Seeing that she didn't respond for a while, Yun Lie added again.
Luo Cuiwei then understood what he meant, nodded, and casually replied with a smile, "Okay, then I'll come again the day after tomorrow."
She really wanted to tease him: How come there's "no one here tomorrow"? Does your royal family banquet really require the entire Prince Zhao's household to attend?
However, seeing that Yun Lie was acting strangely, she was afraid that he had really caught a cold, so she stopped talking and delayed him. She gently urged him, "Your Highness, hurry back to your palace and rest. You must drink the ginger juice! If you don't like the taste, you can secretly ask someone to add some sugar."
Yun Lie cleared his throat for the third time. "No need to add sugar."