Cui Yunchu waved at him. “Goodbye.”
Lord Wang waved back at Cui Yunchu with a dazzling smile. When he reached the plum tree, he raised his voice and called to her, “Eldest Miss Cui, which branch do you like?”
Cui Yunchu smiled. “As long as it’s picked by Lord Wang, I’ll like it.”
Her smile was like the warm sunlight of spring, so bright and captivating that it left one speechless. Wang Qing stared at her blankly, forgetting to respond for a moment.
Cui Yunchu suddenly covered her mouth with one hand and pointed behind him. Lord Wang turned around, only to find himself face-to-face with a large sack gaping wide. Before he could say a word, it was pulled over his head.
“Oh dear, how careless of Lord Wang. I told you to be careful.”
Cui Yunchu waved at the sack as it was carried away. “Let me say goodbye to you again.”
Yu Feng and several others carried the sack away from the plum grove, their footsteps swift as the wind.
Only after they had disappeared did Cui Yunchu lower her hand. She smoothed her already immaculate skirt and muttered under her breath, “I said before we came that I might not even get to show this outfit to anyone.”
She raised her eyes lightly and saw a man in white robes walking toward her, a sprig of plum blossom clasped in his hand. His face was as handsome as jade, and his eyes were filled with tenderness.
Cui Yunchu beamed.
He raised his hand and tucked the sprig behind her ear. “A Chu, I searched the entire plum grove for this—the most beautiful branch, to match the most beautiful A Chu today.”
Cui Yunchu touched the flower by her ear and smiled. “Ugh, you’re disgusting.”
Perhaps they were simply too used to being shameless with each other. Suddenly trying to act like a couple on a romantic rendezvous made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
“Isn’t this how two people in love are supposed to behave?” Shen Xiabai raised one brow.
“Is that so?” Cui Yunchu blinked, then moved closer to Shen Xiabai’s chest. She poked him in the heart and spoke in a syrupy voice. “Then how should I put it?”
“Oh, you’re so annoying.”
“…”
The two of them fell silent at the same time. Shen Xiabai shuddered uncontrollably, then lifted his sleeve for Cui Yunchu to see.
“Look.”
“Goosebumps everywhere.”
“Get lost.” Cui Yunchu kicked him lightly in the shin.
Shen Xiabai caught her and pulled her into his arms. One hand stroked her face. “How did you know I would come today?”
“Because you’re petty.”
Cui Yunchu tilted her head up to look at him. “And Lord Wang? Don’t tell me you hung him from a tree.”
“Am I that kind of person?” Shen Xiabai cast her a sidelong glance. “I’ve already had Yu Feng send him where he belongs.”
Cui Yunchu naturally assumed that meant he had sent him home. She gave an “oh” in response.
Shen Xiabai pinched her cheek and turned her face toward him. “You seemed to be enjoying yourself just now. You liked whatever branch Lord Wang picked, did you?”
“I knew he wouldn’t be able to pick one for me. I was only stringing him along.”
Shen Xiabai looked displeased. “That’s not allowed either.”
“Even if you, Lord Shen, can control everything under the heavens, can you really control whether I smile or not?”
“Try me.” Shen Xiabai covered her red lips with his hand and tapped her pearly teeth. “If you do that again, I’ll pull out your front teeth. Then every time you grin, you’ll whistle through the gap. Let’s see whether people are captivated by your smile or stare at your gaping front teeth instead.”
Cui Yunchu slapped his hand away and walked off on her own.
“Are you angry?” Shen Xiabai hurried after her and reached for her wrist, but Cui Yunchu shook him off forcefully.
She simply felt that all the effort she had put into dressing up today had been wasted. Weren’t romantic rendezvous supposed to be all sweetness and tenderness? How had the atmosphere turned completely different when it came to the two of them?
Her lover had no sweet nothings to offer. The first thing he did was threaten to knock out her front teeth.
Clearly, she had made the wrong choice when picking a man.
When Shen Xiabai failed to catch her hand, he simply grabbed the back of Cui Yunchu’s neck from behind. “You’re not allowed to run.”
Cui Yunchu: “…”
What an idiot. He was completely hopeless.
“I was only joking. Are you really angry?”
Cui Yunchu said quietly, “The way you’re holding me—are you carrying me by the scruff like a rabbit?”
Shen Xiabai raised a brow. “I’ll let go, but you’re not allowed to run.”
Cui Yunchu’s chest rose and fell with anger. Damn him. Every bit of thought she had put into her appearance today had been wasted on Shen Xiabai.
“I won’t run,” Cui Yunchu ground out through clenched teeth.
Only then did Shen Xiabai release her. Cui Yunchu immediately turned around and kicked him.
Shen Xiabai caught her leg with remarkable speed. “All right, don’t be angry. I was only joking. If you don’t like it, I won’t say it anymore.”
“Let go of me,” Cui Yunchu said ominously.
Shen Xiabai obediently released her. Cui Yunchu lost her balance and nearly fell, but fortunately he caught her around the waist and steadied her.
Taking advantage of the moment, Cui Yunchu wrapped her arms around his lean waist. “Now that’s more like it.”
“What did you say?”
Cui Yunchu pressed down on his hand to stop him from letting go. “I said that when I’m angry, you’re supposed to hold me around the waist while you coax me—not grab me by the neck as if I were a rabbit.”
“…”
But that was how they had always interacted.
He smiled. “Your usual methods don’t work on you, anyway.”
Cui Yunchu’s brows drew together. He immediately changed his tune. “Yes, yes, I’ll do as A Chu says.”
“All the effort I put into dressing up so beautifully today, and it was all for nothing,” she grumbled under her breath.
“I noticed.” Shen Xiabai’s voice softened. “You’re beautiful. My A Chu is like a fairy in the forest, so lovely that words can’t do her justice.”
He gently stroked the floral decoration between her brows, then bent down to kiss her red lips. Cui Yunchu turned her head away. “All you know how to do is kiss. My lips go numb every time. I don’t want to kiss anymore.”
Did couples on romantic rendezvous really do nothing but kiss?
Shen Xiabai: “…”
He knew it. His usual methods were useless on her.
They were not even married yet. “Is A Chu saying she finds me boring?”
“Of course not.” Cui Yunchu hooked a finger around his and spoke in a voice sweet enough to make one’s teeth ache. “It’s just that this is the first time we’ve had a proper romantic rendezvous.”
“A Chu,” Shen Xiabai said, struggling not to laugh, “don’t do that. You’re frightening me.”
Every time she acted like this in the past, it meant she was scheming against him.
The corners of Cui Yunchu’s mouth drooped, but she continued undaunted. “What is Lord Shen saying?”
Shen Xiabai promptly covered her mouth. “Where did you learn all this nonsense?”
Cui Yunchu’s expression darkened. “I learned it when I was pursuing Prince An and the Crown Prince. I even bought the Thirty-Six Stratagems.”
This time, it was Shen Xiabai’s face that turned dark.
Cui Yunchu continued, “You should have heard how much more coy and seductive I sounded when I was pursuing them. Their eyes went vacant the moment they heard me, and they shuddered all over.”
Shen Xiabai regretted not adding another dose of poison to those pastries back then.
He stood there without moving. Cui Yunchu shot him a sidelong glance, then simply left him behind to stew in his own resentment.
He was petty, insisted on arguing with her, and then got angry himself. What was the point?
She stopped in front of a plum tree and looked up at the blossoms covering its branches. Pointing to one particular branch, she said, “I like that one. Go pick it for me.”
The moment she finished speaking, an arm wrapped around her waist. In the next instant, she was lifted into the air and carried up into the branches. He enclosed her hand in his and reached with her toward the sprig of plum blossoms.
Cui Yunchu rose onto her tiptoes, but Shen Xiabai still did not pick the branch. Instead, he threatened her. “Between me, the Crown Prince, and Prince An, who is better?”
“You.”
“Who am I?”
“My Lover.”
“Hurry up. My legs and arms are getting sore from stretching. I can’t hold on much longer.”
Shen Xiabai laughed in delight. Only then did he let her have the plum branch she wanted.
Before Cui Yunchu had a chance to take in the view, her body suddenly turned around. The man’s crisp, cool breath came straight toward her, covering her red lips completely.
Cui Yunchu was held securely in his arms, with no fear of falling. She savored his kiss while taking in the scenery below at a glance.
