Chapter 30

In the imperial flower garden, the Empress Dowager walked near the pavilion, looking from a distance at the two figures inside, their heads close together, intently playing with crickets.

“Hehe! I still feel genuinely happy seeing them like this!” the Empress Dowager chuckled.

“Ancestress, shall we go over?” the elderly maid, Jian Qiu, asked with a smile, supporting the Empress Dowager.

“No! I don’t want to ruin their good time! Let’s return to Cining Palace!” The Empress Dowager smiled warmly, leading the group of palace maids and eunuchs back to the palace.

“Prince Xian, the crickets are exhausted! I need to go home now. Let’s play together again another day!” Xia Qingqing tossed the grass stick in the cricket cage and bid farewell to Prince Xian.

In her past life, perhaps due to her busy schedule, she never imagined that playing with crickets would be so enjoyable here in the Great Hua Dynasty! Could this be a distraction from more important matters?

“Xia Qingqing, you must call me ‘Xian Wang’—that sounds odd! Call me ‘Sixth Brother,’ it sounds much better to me!” Prince Xian grinned, shaking his head happily.

Xia Qingqing declined, saying, “Weren’t you calling me ‘sister’ earlier? Why the sudden change? I still prefer you calling me ‘sister’!”

She figured she could play along with this naïve, silly prince. Although he seemed carefree, he was quite clever. After all, he managed to get the noble Prince Jin to lose in their bet, which was no small feat.

Remembering how she had secretly seen Prince Jin at the Xia family manor in her past life, speaking eloquently and acting gracefully, she couldn’t understand why the three young ladies in the Xia family all wished that night that they could drown.

Looking at Prince Xian now, she realized that any young lady who caught his eye must be quite relaxed, as he seemed content simply playing with crickets.

“Alright! I’ll call you ‘sister.’ Is it alright if I call you ‘Xiao Liu’ then?” Prince Xian scratched his head, laughing foolishly.

His eyes flashed with a barely noticeable gleam.

“Then I’ll go now! Bye!” Xia Qingqing stretched her neck and shoulders, waving at Prince Xian.

“Wait! Sister, let Xiao Liu escort you out of the palace! Sometimes, there are monsters and ghosts in the palace. If you have Xiao Liu to protect you, they won’t dare to come out! Hehe!” Prince Xian, holding the cricket cage with one hand, reached out to grab Xia Qingqing’s arm.

Xia Qingqing avoided his hand.

“Xiao Liu, men and women should be respectful to each other. You can’t just grab a girl’s hand!”

“Hmph! I wouldn’t grab any other girl’s hand! I just want to hold yours, sister! Let me hold your hand, in case you trip, I can catch you!” Prince Xian raised his chin, grinning smugly. He had no interest in other women who tried to flatter him, and he completely ignored them.

Eunuch An, walking behind them, stifled a laugh, realizing that their prince had finally learned how to act with young girls.

Previously, when other girls tried to get close, he would ignore them and keep his hand behind his back to avoid their advances.

“Sixth Miss, please agree to His Highness’ request! He genuinely wants to be good friends with you!” Eunuch An spoke up to help.

Xia Qingqing shook her head stubbornly. “There’s no need to hold hands to be good friends! Only girls hold hands with their best friends. Between men and women, it’s better to keep some distance!”

Eunuch An sighed lightly.

Looks like his attempt to help the prince wasn’t going to work out.

Prince Xian didn’t get angry. He still had a smile on his face. “Alright, if you don’t want to, that’s fine. Let’s go!”

“Thud!”

“Ah!” As soon as Prince Xian finished speaking, he tripped over a small stone and stumbled forward, landing directly on top of Xia Qingqing.

“Be careful!” Xia Qingqing reacted quickly and tried to catch the large prince, but her slender frame couldn’t stop him, and they both fell to the ground.

Prince Xian managed to brace himself with his hands, not putting all his weight on her.

But their faces were very close now, and they could both feel each other’s breath.

“Xiao Liu!” Xia Qingqing’s face turned bright red. It was the first time she’d been this close to a man. She could even smell the faint scent of dragon’s saliva on Prince Xian.

“You’re so cute, sister! Your face is as red as a red apple!” Prince Xian observed her closely, his eyes sparkling.

Eunuch An stood behind, covering his mouth, peeking through his fingers to watch them.

Good heavens! My little prince is so clever! Who would’ve thought of such a move? I’m truly impressed!

“Xiao Liu… stop staring at me like that! Let’s get up quickly!” Xia Qingqing felt something off about the way Prince Xian was looking at her.

Although she had a background in medicine, this was her first experience with such an ambiguous atmosphere between men and women.

“Oh! Alright!” Prince Xian quickly got up, pushing himself off the ground. He then reached out to help Xia Qingqing to her feet.

He didn’t let go of her hand.

“Sister, let me hold your hand. What if I trip again?” Prince Xian said, justifying his reason for holding her hand.

Eunuch An silently gave him a thumbs up. The prince was truly growing up!

Xia Qingqing couldn’t help but feel awkward at the situation. But she pretended not to mind.

“Alright! Just be careful where you’re going!” she advised.

They slowly walked along the stone path.

Prince Xian flashed a sly grin, one that quickly disappeared, unnoticed by anyone else.

As Xia Qingqing finally walked out of the palace, she tried to pull her hand away from his, but Prince Xian wasn’t concerned about the palace guards or eunuchs looking at them.

He personally saw her off to the carriage, waving at her.

“Sister, go home and get some good rest! Eat a lot and get chubby!” he said with a wink.

Xia Qingqing nearly fell over.

She bit her lip and shot him a look, signaling him to stop. “Stop saying that! Everyone heard you! How can I face them now?”

“Sister, bye-bye!” Prince Xian waved, not caring at all.

Xia Qingqing quickly urged the carriage to leave.

“Go!” The coachman cracked the whip, urging the horses forward.

“Ah!” Prince Xian watched as the Xia family’s carriage disappeared in the distance.

“Your Highness, it’s time to return to the palace!” Eunuch An reminded him.

Prince Xian turned around, feeling a bit wronged, and headed back to the palace.