After Being Kidnapped by the Crown Prince

Now that she was seeing her from afar, the rumors were indeed true.
Dressed in her bright red dress, with her small face, her very fair skin and her eyes which curved into fine crescents when she smiled, the junzhu looked beautiful, bright and attractive.
Between her eyebrows was painted a flower dot, which was the current fashion trend, and when she slightly raised her chin, she appeared a little proud.

Sheng Ling spotted a vermilion hairpin, she pointed to the hairpin on the counter, her usual arrogant face looked a little tense, she said, “Taizi gege, I want this one, you buy it for me, okay ?”
(TL’s note : Taizi means “crown prince” and gege means “big brother”, but it’s a bit weird in english to say “Crown Prince big brother”, it feels a bit too unnatural, so I’m keeping the chinese for this form of address.
She’s calling him brother because they’re cousins.)

Zhao Zhi’s eyes lingered on the vermilion hairpin for a moment, before he agreed in a low voice and then asked the shopkeeper to wrap it up.

Sheng Ling took the vermilion hairpin, loving it so much she couldn’t let go of it.
Most times, it was only because she kept pestering him so much that she could bring her taizi gege out of the palace.
She added, “Taizi gege, I’m a little hungry, why don’t we go to Jiuxian House for lunch ? I heard that Jiuxian House’s goose stew tastes very good.”

Zhao Zhi however shook his head and said, “I still have things to attend do, I’ll have someone send you there.”

Sheng Ling’s expression suddenly sank, “If you don’t go, I also can’t be bothered to go.”

She silently raised her eyes, her gaze couldn’t help but stop on his face.
He looked really handsome, he was born with features which looked like a fine carved jade.
His eyes were affectionate, his skin was fair, the outlines of his face were distinct and cool, his figure stood straight, and his bearing seemed like the one of a flower of a high mountain.

Her heart was racing and her mind was spellbound.

From a young age, Sheng Ling knew that she would marry in the future into the crown prince residence and become the crown princess.
She was the only one worthy of Zhao Zhi.

As she had those thoughts, she couldn’t help but blush.

Ming Zhu couldn’t hear clearly what they were saying.
She clenched her fingers silently and as her nails sank deep into her palms, the stinging sensation dragged her mind back to reality.

Ming Zhu’s eyes suddenly turned sore, and her nose too felt painful.

Zhao Zhi’s attitude towards her and towards the junzhu was entirely different.
In front of the junzhu, he was considerate and gentle, the accumulated white frost on his face melted like snow did when meeting with spring.

Ah Ruo didn’t know why her family’s young lady suddenly stopped in her tracks and asked in confusion, “Miss, what’s wrong?”

Ming Zhu clutched the silver banknotes in her arms and shook her head, she had a few imperceptible sobs in her voice as she said, “Nothing, let’s go.”

Ah Rou did not see anything amiss.
It was a rare opportunity for her miss to come out and get a fresh breath of air, and she joyfully strolled around, as if she was dancing: “Miss, in front is a clothing store.
I heard that their fabrics are imported from the Shu territory, the female embroiderer is from Suzhou and her craftsmanship is excellent.”

Ming Zhu was absent-minded, “Let’s go and check it out.

*

It suddenly started raining outside.
Zhao Zhi, expressionlessly, said to the guards around him in a low voice, “Escort the junzhu back.”

The guards followed his order.

Holding an umbrella coated with oil, Zhao Zhi walked in the middle of the rain.
After a moment, the man footsteps stopped in front of a rouge store.

Folding his umbrella, he walked inside.

The shopkeeper swept a glance up and down his clothes, and seeing that his clothes weren’t ordinary, he greeted him with a smile, “Gongzi, what would you like to buy ?”

Zhao Zhi’s body scent was mixed with the faint smell of damp rain.
He casually looked twice and pointed to a few boxes of rouge, “Wrap these all up.”

The shopkeeper smiled brightly and began his flattering, “Sir, you really have good taste, these are the best rouges in our store.
Although they’re not cheap, but when you bring it back, they will most definitely make your wife at home happy.

Zhao Zhi didn’t contradict him: “Mmh.”

He paid for it with silver and walked out with his umbrella.
After getting into the carriage, the attendant hesitantly asked, “Your Highness, are we going to the Ming residence ?”

Zhao Zhi lowered his eyes and looked at the beautiful small boxes containing rouge in his hand.
The packaging looked exquisite, the boxes were carved with lifelike flowers.
It indeed looked like something that a young girl would appreciate.

He pondered for a moment and murmured in a low voice, “Let’s first go back to the crown prince’s residence.”

Let’s wait for a couple of days before going to see her again.

Yesterday, after Zhao Zhi furiously walked out of her room, he was still absent-minded after the morning court had ended.
As he calmed down and seriously thought about the matter, he realized this matter really couldn’t be blamed on her.

He was the one who pried open the small locked box, and he was also the one who forced her to read the letters.
In the end, it was because his jealousy was too deep that he got so furious.
At first, Zhao Zhi thought that Ming Zhu and her fiancé were betrothed to each other because of their parent’s order and the matchmaker’s words, he thought they had never met and had no feelings for each other.
Only later did he learn that the two had long been secretly in love.

Zhao Zhi was afraid that Ming Zhu still couldn’t forget Wei Chiyu in her heart.

He had seen Wei Chiyu, that person, multiple times.
His temperament was calm and he was a man of few words.
Although he came from a poor and humble family, but the person wasn’t stubborn nor pedantic, on the contrary, he was alike those high officials, who had both ambition and means.