Put on a Smile, Our Little Master Looks the Best…
Xuan Tian Yi had his usual serious expression and all that was missing was for him to raise his hand to begin speaking. At this moment, a question suddenly flashed through Feng Xiang Rong’s mind. Back when this one had been engaged to the Bu family’s young miss, did he also treat the Bu family’s young miss like this?
She frowned, and her mood suddenly deteriorated for some reason. This deterioration was expressed with actual actions, as Xiang Rong raised her foot and fiercely stomped at Xuan Tian Yi’s foot. After her foot landed, she twisted it around a few times, and the pain caused Xuan Tian Yi’s eyes to roll back.
“I must say, my little master, why is it that your feet are getting stronger and stronger? I already told you not to go and learn martial arts from your second sister. It’s good for girls to be a bit softer. Spending all day moving your hands and feet to fight and kill, it’s quite tiring.”
“Shut your mouth!” Xiang Rong angrily gritted her teeth, wanting to break away from him. Unfortunately, she was still lacking in strength and ended up being held even tighter. “Xuan Tian Yi, let me go! If you don’t let me go, I’ll start shouting for help!”
“Little master, you cruelly cast me aside, and I ran such a great distance to Ji An Prefecture to find you. For the sake of coming, I even spent three days and three nights kneeling inside the Imperial Palace to beg Father Emperor for his permission. Why is it that you aren’t the slightest bit happy to see me? Come, don’t be so expressionless. Put on a smile. Our little master looks the best!”
It turned out that he really was a prince… The people kneeling on the ground exchanged glances and used their glances to express their thoughts. The most-common of thoughts was that the sons of the imperial family really broadened their world views! The sixth prince ran out here to teach classes instead of being a proper prince. This unknown prince ran over here to chase a girl. This really… really did see the Emperor give birth to nine very different children! Seeing the two hugging tightly in broad daylight, not to mention the offense to decency, but it was also… too inviting of envy!
Those young misses internally complained and thought that the Feng family’s daughters really had good fortune. They were all protected by princes. They had heard that fourth young miss Feng in the capital had already been engaged to the fifth prince since long ago. With her status as a daughter of a concubine, she was promised the position of official princess of the fifth prince. Just thinking about it caused a great deal of jealousy!
Now, these two were openly flirting. Pitifully, they remained kneeling the entire time, and they needed to endure the sweet displays of affection between the two. It really was a bitter sight!
Xuan Tian Yi was completely oblivious to these internal complaints. He just held Xiang Rong and wondered, how was it that his little master’s temper had not seemed to improve over the past two months? She had also gotten stronger. Of course, getting stronger was a good thing, but what if his little master became more diligent about practising martial arts like her second sister? In the future, she might be even harder to tame! Not good, not good, he could not allow his little master out of his sight ever again. At this moment, he felt extremely threatened.
“Xuan! Tian! Yi!” Feng Xiang Rong was practically on the verge of going mad from anger. In the end, which idol was it that she had not paid respects to that she would offend this venerated deity? “What have you come for?” This place is Ji An Prefecture! Was this guy not sentenced to house arrest by the Emperor? How did he actually get out of the capital? Her entire body shook, as she could not help but say: “It shouldn’t be that you escaped, right? Xuan Tian Yi, you’re a little too bold. If this was found out by the Emperor, you would be sentenced to death. Are you not afraid of dying? Are you crazy?”
“Hah, my little master!” Xuan Tian Yi dotingly patted Xiang Rong’s back, “Didn’t I just say it? I obtained permission from Father Emperor after kneeling in the Imperial Palace for three days and three nights. How could this be considered escaping? Don’t worry, don’t worry. I am fine!”
It was only then that Xiang Rong let out a sigh of relief; however, she immediately argued back: “I wasn’t worried that something would happen to you. I was worried that the Emperor would assign blame and implicate me. I finally managed to enjoy a few days of peace. Nothing must go wrong.” After saying this, she struggled a bit more and found that she still could not break free, and she could not help but become dejected. It seemed that she needed to train properly! If she had her second sister’s abilities, what would a lowly Xuan Tian Yi be considered? “What exactly are you wanting to do?” Xiang Rong’s tone was unkind, “Xuan Tian Yi, get your paws off me. You and I are just disciple and master. Is this any way to treat a master? Are you trying to bully your master and betray your ancestors?”
“I will not let go!” A certain person frankly began to act like a rascal, “If I let you go, you’ll run away. In the future, I will need to keep a close eye on you. That will ensure that you won’t disappear without notice.”
The two went back and forth in a lively manner, and the clerks in the shop felt that continuing like this would not be proper. Their young boss still needed to preserve her reputation! Moreover, there were still so many people kneeling there while watching the show. It left people feeling a bit awkward.
Thus the clerks took the initiative to begin chasing people out. At first, those people did not dare leave. Later on, Xuan Tian Yi’s attendants appeared, which allowed the madams and young misses to retreat. As they left, who knew which family’s young miss said: “This prince really is loving and affectionate.”
Feng Xiang Rong felt even more nauseous. She understood that Xuan Tian Yi had deliberately run to Ji An Prefecture to ruin her reputation to… to do what? She was a bit confused and could not help but ask: “Xuan Tian Yi, what exactly are you trying to do?”
Seeing everyone leave and the shop door close, the clerks were understanding in retreating to an inner room. Only then did he release his little master and take a couple steps back, rubbing his nose and saying: “Declaring my rights.”
Feng Xiang Rong’s nose nearly went crooked with anger, “What rights? If you want to declare your rights, go back to the capital to declare them. What have you come here to my place for? Also, who belongs to you? If there is a discussion, I am your master. Even if there are rights to declare, it would be me as the master declaring them!”
“That also works!” Xuan Tian Yi’s eyes lit up, “Regardless of whether it’s you or I, the meaning is the same. Come, my little master, declare it! I am listening!”
Xiang Rong felt as though she had been dragged into a ditch. Why could an understanding not be reached? There was nothing she could do but desperately plead: “You and I are nothing more than disciple and master. I just need to teach you how to embroider. You can’t have any demands of me. Just like how I came to Ji An Prefecture, who determined that I need to remain in the capital? Who determined that a master could not go out and travel? As a disciple, why are you such a hurdle? Following wherever I go? Can you let others feel a little more at ease? I say, Xuan Tian Yi, although we had not interacted much two to three years ago, I am very clear that you had been engaged to the Bu family’s young miss. I had also heard from second sister about you as a person. At that time, I did not think that you were so clingy? I did not think that you were so annoying? How is it that after spending a few years locked up in your palace, you’ve completely changed?”
Xuan Tian Yi nodded without hesitation, “Of course! Who has ever heard of a grown man spending every day locked inside to embroider every day? Who has ever heard of a dignified prince spending every day inside to embroider? My personality has changed over the course of learning to embroider. This is all my little master’s efforts. For this, Father Emperor has commended me, saying that my new personality is quite good. He also said that when there is an opportunity, he will present you with a reward.”
“Forget it, I don’t need it.” Xiang Rong quietly turned around and found a chair to sit on, “Xuan Tian Yi, as long as you don’t mess with me in such an exaggerated manner, I will be grateful. Look, there were so many people watching today. It will have a very bad effect on my reputation. After all, I am a girl that has not yet gotten engaged. How do you want me to get married? Won’t I end up getting my morality questioned until I die?”
Xuan Tian Yi laughed upon hearing this, “Don’t worry, don’t worry. I will repay you if your reputation is ruined! I will take responsibility! Not being engaged and not being married yet is better. Un, it’s better.” Seeing that Feng Xiang Rong’s gaze was becoming filled with anger, Xuan Tian Yi added: “In truth, you should not be so worried about such a thing. Don’t you copy your second sister in every manner? Why not learn a bit from her personality? Look at how she does things. When has she ever been worried about what others say? People can say what they want. It’s not like it will do any physical harm to you. What is it, will someone else’s words affect your life? If you brought this sort of question to your second sister, I can guarantee that Feng Yu Heng will give you a spanking.”
Xiang Rong heard this and was a bit moved. That was right! She was using her second sister as a model for everything, but why could she not be as optimistic as her second sister? Why could she not emulate her second sister’s courage?
Xuan Tian Yi added: “Don’t use the excuse that your second sister has a pillar of support. That’s right, she does have a pillar of support, but could it be that you don’t? Fool, your greatest pillar of support is your second sister!”
These words helped wake Xiang Rong. But she still did not understand why this fourth prince would come to Ji An Prefecture and could not help but ask: “Say, why exactly have you come here?”
“My master ran away, and there was nobody to teach me. As an earnest disciple, I naturally needed to chase after my master. This was something that even Father Emperor praised!”
Xiang Rong facepalmed. This emperor really was… forget it, “Since you’ve come, you might as well stay. Either way, I will not chase you away. But I don’t know where I should arrange for you to live. Right now, I am still living in second sister’s manor. It’s inconvenient for you to move in. There was a residence that second sister left for mother and me, but I still have not moved in. The inside also has not been furnished or cleaned. It is unsuitable for living. Also, men and women cannot interact directly, so you can’t live in my residence.”
“It’s fine. I’ll go look for old sixth. I’ll live where he lives.”
“Uh…” Xiang Rong was a bit troubled, “That uh, the sixth prince is living in second sister’s manor!”
“Then why can’t I live there?” Xuan Tian Yi lost it, “Even old sixth can live there, so why can’t I live there?”
Xiang Rong had no way to refute this. After thinking on it for a long time, she said: “The sixth prince was invited by second sister to move in. Also, he is currently managing Ji An Prefecture. He is someone with contributions to the prefecture, but what about you? What can you do for the prefecture? Also! Second sister is currently in the South. I can’t make the decision. If you truly want to move into the manor, go and discuss it with the two madams from the Yao family.”
Upon hearing that he would need to discuss it with members of the Yao family, Xuan Tian Yi shriveled up. What could possibly come from a discussion with the Yao family? How could he not know about the members of the Yao family? They were people that defended themselves even when they were in the wrong! Not only was this the case, but they were extremely unreasonable. Even his Father Emperor was unable to reconcile matters with the members of the Yao family. How could he dare to go and try to mess with that sharp edge? Forget it, forget it, “If things truly don’t work out, I will go and live in an inn. It will be fine if I spend money to live in an inn, right!”
Xiang Rong’s heart softened. Thinking about this guy coming such a great distance, leaving him to live in an inn was a little too inhumane. After a great deal of thought, she helplessly said: “How about you live in this shop’s inner yard!” The inner yard of the embroidery shop was a two-division residence. It was originally meant for the embroiderers and other workers to live in, but the majority of the people that worked here lived nearby. They could return home to live. In addition to this, the inner yard was a little too nice. When the workers lived there, they felt that it was a bit wasteful, thus it was left empty. Giving it to Xuan Tian Yi to live in now was perfect.
Xuan Tian Yi heard this and smiled. He smiled and pulled Xiang Rong into another hug: “I knew that my little master was the kindest! I will immediately move in!”
Xiang Rong ignored him and tried to break free, wanting to bring him to the back to take a look at the residence. At this time, a knock came from the shop door, and someone urgently said: “Is third young miss here? A letter came from the South, and His Highness the sixth prince had this lowly one bring it to you!”