Prince Hui was a man who observed propriety.
Because of his noble status as a prince of the first rank, he needed to first seek Miss Yao's consent before asking his imperial father for an edict of marriage. Only after receiving his father's approval would he formally visit Miss Yao's parents, so as to avoid any suspicion of using his power to force a marriage. Unfortunately, a war suddenly broke out in the north, and he couldn't go to Changshou Alley as planned. However, Miss Yao might have already told her family. To show his sincerity in seeking her hand, Zhao Sui arranged for Nanny Liu to send a holiday gift to the Yao family every festival.
Now that he had returned to the capital, both publicly and privately, Zhao Sui ought to make up for the proper etiquette at the very first opportunity.
Before leaving the palace, Zhao Sui once again requested an edict from his imperial father. His father told him not to rush, saying that he would invite the female family members of meritorious nobles to attend this year's Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet. He would have Empress Zhou lavishly praise Yao Huang at the banquet, and then granting the marriage would be perfectly logical. If he granted the marriage today, it would look as if he were using his son's marriage to reward Yao Zhenhu.
Today was the seventh day of the eighth lunar month, eight days away from the Mid-Autumn Festival, so Zhao Sui could only continue to wait.
After returning to his manor, Zhao Sui bathed, changed into a set of casual clothes, and set aside some time for Miss Yao's family to reunite before setting off with his thank-you gifts.
He could tell that Yao Zhenhu was still unaware of the situation, so his ostensible reason for visiting this time was to thank Yao Zhenhu for saving his life.
Yao Zhenhu didn't doubt it at all; he just felt that His Highness Prince Hui was too polite. Given the battle situation at the time, any soldier should have risked their life to escort the two commanders out of the encirclement. It was his duty, and military merit was already his reward. Why would Prince Hui need to send another gift in private?
But Prince Hui was a prince after all, with a noble status. Yao Zhenhu couldn't very well push both the person and the gifts out, so he had to respectfully invite Prince Hui into the main hall.
The Yao family was of humble origins and hadn't bought any armchairs for entertaining guests. There were only four wooden benches commonly seen in commoners' homes in the main hall.
Yao Zhenhu personally picked the newest-looking bench that his daughter usually sat on, brought it before Prince Hui, and said frankly, "My humble home is simple and crude; I have wronged Your Highness."
After speaking, he even used his sleeve to wipe the surface of the bench, because the jade-colored brocade robe Prince Hui was wearing looked truly too precious.
Zhao Sui looked at Madam Luo, who looked constrained and obviously knew the inside story.
Luo Jinhua: "...My daughter went out to play with her brother. Shall I send someone to call them back?"
Zhao Sui: "No need for the trouble. This junior came today primarily to visit the Earl and Madam."
Yao Zhenhu, who had just become an Earl and wasn't yet used to the title, felt more and more awkward the more he heard Prince Hui's refined words. He said to his timid wife, "Go fetch a jar of wine; I'll drink a few bowls with His Highness."
He didn't know how to entertain Prince Hui; drinking was the simplest and most worry-free method!
Luo Jinhua looked at Prince Hui for instructions.
Zhao Sui cupped his hands: "I will trouble you, Madam."
Covered in goosebumps, Luo Jinhua hurried away. Prince Hui was handsome, sure, but he was obviously not from the same world as them. Her daughter might like him, but it was too much for her to handle.
Two quarters of an hour later, after Zhao Sui had drunk two bowls of wine with Yao Zhenhu, who was reminiscing about his days on the battlefield, he saw two familiar figures walking past the Yao family's gate.
Zhao Sui stood up subconsciously.
Seeing the noble and handsome Prince Hui actually in her own simple little main hall, and thinking of the things on the two mules behind her, Yao Huang's ears burned. Her father had just received his reward money, and she and her brother had immediately run out to buy a bunch of things. What would Prince Hui think?
Yao Huang was momentarily annoyed at her father for urging her and her brother to go shopping, and then annoyed at Prince Hui for showing up without any prior notice, leaving her completely unprepared.
Yao Lin didn't have as many thoughts as his sister. He had been holding it in all day, and seeing Lord Zhao deliver himself to their door, Yao Lin excitedly rushed over: "Lord Zhao, what exactly is going on? How did you become Prince Hui?"
Zhao Sui lowered his eyes.
Yao Zhenhu: "What Lord Zhao?"
Yao Lin then explained it to his father, saying that Prince Hui was the Lord Zhao who had previously caused... made the martial arts students unable to take off their clothes while playing polo.
Yao Huang, who had had to follow them in for fear that her father and brother's clumsy words would offend Prince Hui: "...Alright, His Highness was working incognito at the time and just didn't want to frighten the students. Let's not bring up these old matters."
Yao Lin: "If we don't bring that up, fine, but what about Lord... His Highness liking you? Obviously, every time you met, I—Ah!"
It was Yao Huang who viciously pinched her brother's lower back. After pinching him, she ran off to the west wing room.
Luo Jinhua stepped up in time, scolding her son for talking too much.
Yao Zhenhu, who felt like he was listening to a foreign language: "..."
Only then did Zhao Sui explain to Yao Zhenhu and Luo Jinhua that he had already obtained his imperial father's consent to grant the marriage, as well as the arrangements for the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet, and apologized for his breach of etiquette two years ago.
Yao Zhenhu: "...It's a common occurrence for Yaoyao and her mother to hide things from me, but in the military camp, why did Your Highness also hide it from me?"
Zhao Sui: "The timing wasn't right then, and I was afraid of disturbing the Earl's peace of mind."
Luo Jinhua: "Your Highness was right to hide it. We also didn't tell him for fear that he would let his imagination run wild on the battlefield."
Yao Zhenhu: "Alright, hidden is hidden. Then, is Your Highness really going to marry our Yaoyao as your Princess Consort?"
Zhao Sui: "Yes, I hope the Earl and Madam will grant my wish."
Luo Jinhua said, overwhelmed by the unexpected favor: "Your Highness, please don't say that. For Yaoyao to gain Your Highness's favor is not only her blessing but also our whole family's blessing. You don't even know how happy I was when Yaoyao first brought this up to me..."
Influenced by Luo Jinhua's joy, Yao Zhenhu and Yao Lin were also consumed by happiness.
Zhao Sui lowered his eyes, listening to the praises of the family of three, occasionally offering a few humble words.
In the kitchen, Aunt Wu had already started cooking enthusiastically with Aji and her sister. Luo Jinhua warmly invited Prince Hui to have a meal at their home.
Unable to decline such great hospitality, Zhao Sui agreed.
Yao Zhenhu still wanted to pull Prince Hui to continue drinking, but Luo Jinhua said, "How could His Highness be accustomed to drinking this kind of inferior wine? Hurry up and go personally to Wangxian Tower to buy two jars of good wine."
Yao Zhenhu felt his wife was right, but he had to entertain His Highness, so he asked his son Yao Lin to go.
Luo Jinhua: "You father and son go together and buy a few more jars; one person can't carry them."
Too lazy to hint anymore, Luo Jinhua grabbed one with each hand and pushed them out. After closing the main gate to block any gazes that passing neighbors might cast inside, Luo Jinhua then went to the west wing room to call her daughter, telling her to go to the main hall to entertain their guest while she went to the kitchen to help.
Yao Huang had already taken out Prince Hui's banknotes and the box with his waist tag. Now that she had the opportunity, she didn't care about being shy anymore. Hugging the two boxes, she came to the main hall and, with lowered eyes, handed them to the brocade-robed prince standing in the middle of the hall, looking completely out of place with his surroundings: "These all belong to Your Highness. Since Your Highness has returned, please take them away later."
Zhao Sui didn't look at the boxes; his gaze remained fixed on Miss Yao's face.
The fourteen-year-old Miss Yao had been lively and bright. What had first moved him were her eyes, as clear and moist as spring water, and her smile, more moving than the spring scenery.
The Miss Yao before him was sixteen now. Her eyes were as clear and moist as ever. She wasn't smiling, but her lowered brows and eyes, and her blush-red cheeks, made it even harder for him to look away.
The sound of stir-frying coming from the kitchen reminded Zhao Sui of where he was. His gaze swept over Miss Yao's soft, white hands holding the boxes, and Zhao Sui said in a low voice, "How could there be any reason to take back a gift that has already been given?"
Yao Huang bit her lip, glaring at his chest, and said, "Your Highness is generous, but I find those banknotes too hot to handle. When I go out during the day, I am afraid thieves will break into the house, and at night, I cannot sleep peacefully. If Your Highness truly wants what is best for me, please do as I ask."
Zhao Sui: "After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Imperial Father will grant our marriage..."
Yao Huang: "I do not care. As long as we are not married, I will not spend your silver. Since I cannot spend it, it is better out of sight, out of mind."
Hearing this, Zhao Sui took the two boxes. Looking at the relieved young woman before him, he reminded her, "There are also those two paintings. Please return them as well."
Yao Huang looked up in disbelief, meeting Prince Hui's fully exposed handsome face now that he had taken off his helmet—a face even more irresistible than it was two years ago. Yao Huang immediately lowered her head again and said unhappily, "The paintings are of me. Since you gave them to me, they are mine."
Zhao Sui: "They are yours, but I must trouble you to lend them to me for a while. Once we are married, I will certainly return them to their rightful owner."
Yao Huang glanced at the jade pendant at his waist and asked, "What do you need to borrow them for?"
Zhao Sui: "...To look at them."
Yao Huang: "..."
Thinking of how she had wanted to look at the first painting dozens of times a day when she first got it, and then imagining Prince Hui carefully examining the eyes, lips, and even the curves of her shoulders and waist in the painting, Yao Huang's face caught fire. She angrily threw out the word "Lecher" and turned to run back to the west wing.
Zhao Sui instinctively reached out.
Yao Huang's wrist was grabbed. Long, powerful fingers, with the thumb and index finger clearly wrapping entirely around her wrist.
Before Yao Huang could turn around, the hand quickly pulled away, as if burned, or perhaps terribly afraid of being scolded by her.
"...I acted in haste, please forgive me."
Yao Huang was very unaccustomed to such a polite Prince Hui. Half-turned away from him, she whispered, "I will not return the paintings to you. Besides that, is there anything else?"
Zhao Sui found it hard to say. What he wanted was for her to stay a moment longer, to let him look at her a bit more.
"I would like to see your backyard. Please lead the way," Prince Hui said.
Yao Huang almost laughed out loud. Her backyard was not big at all, and one could see the end of it at a glance. What kind of guiding did he need?
But she agreed anyway.
Leading Prince Hui to the backyard, Yao Huang pointed to the four nearby vegetable beds and introduced them: "These two beds are cabbage, this one is radish, and this one is green beans. The beans are almost done growing. Once they are pulled out, we can plant another crop of cabbage."
Zhao Sui looked at them one by one, memorizing the appearance of the three vegetables.
Yao Huang then pointed to the mule shed in the northeast corner and said, "Those two are our family's mounts. Although mules are not as valuable as horses, they are easier to raise, and for getting around outside the city, they are not much worse than horses."
Zhao Sui nodded.
Yao Huang glanced at the pigpen and latrine in the northwest corner, ultimately deciding not to mention them to His Highness Prince Hui.
Zhao Sui did not pay attention to that area either; his eyes were entirely filled with his fiancee, bathed in the sunset glow.
Yao Huang noticed Prince Hui's gaze, quietly stopped talking, and lowered her eyes.
Zhao Sui asked, "How have you been these past two years?"
Nanny Liu said that when she found out he had also gone to war, she immediately burst into tears.
Yao Huang thought for a moment, walked to the green bean bed, plucked a withered yellow pod, and whispered as she peeled the beans inside, "Not bad. When the army first left the capital, it was very hard. I worried about my father, and also worried about... the person who gave me the paintings. As time went on, the feeling faded. I only miss them terribly on occasion. Sometimes I dream that the army has returned in triumph, and sometimes I have nightmares."
Zhao Sui looked at her hands nimbly peeling out four beans, and said, "I missed her very much."
Yao Huang looked over: "Who?"
Zhao Sui did not answer, but simply looked at the young woman beside him without evading her gaze anymore.
Realizing what he meant, Yao Huang suddenly felt her whole body heat up. She turned her head away and said, "I am leaving. Your Highness should quickly put those two boxes in the carriage."
Zhao Sui suddenly grabbed her hand, and while Yao Huang was stiff with surprise, he pried open her fingers with one hand and snatched away the four warm beans from her palm, one by one.
