If there wasn’t anything wrong with his eyes, there was only one girl clad in red at the tower.
Staring at the girl wearing a cherry dress made of Yanluo silk in infatuation, Zeyan apologized to Peiyuan, “Peiyuan, I have to confess to you that I can’t marry your little sister anymore. Have you ever heard of falling in love with someone at the first sight?”
Lu Peiyuan, who couldn’t help s.h.i.+vering in surprise, nodded after a while. He made up his mind not to reveal Mingyue’s ident.i.ty.
“I heard that girls from Dongyi Kingdom are good at hunting on horseback. It’s beyond my expectation that they are such glamorous beauties,” An Rushuang came up and said.
Haya stared at her blankly with her eyes wide open before she asked An Rushuang in surprise, “How did you know I come from Dongyi Kingdom?”
An Rushuang pointed at Haya’s slightly revealed wrist in smile. As Haya raised her hand, the little tinge of cyan on her wrist gradually developed into a wolf paw.
“In Dongyi Kingdom, all the people at the age of eight must get a tattoo, the so-called wolf print, on their left wrists, the nearest place to the heart,” An Rushuang smiled sweetly, “The girls’ wolf prints are good-looking, too.”
Wearing the traditional clothes of Nanqi Kingdom, Haya had never been recognized as a foreigner. But this girl, born and growing up at the aristocratic families who never allowed their daughters to show up in public, actually deduced that the cyan on her left wrist was the wolf print.
Haya raised her head, catching An Rushuang’s sparkling eyes. “Your eyes are so beautiful, just like the twinkling stars at the night I used to observe on the prairie!” Her praise was candid enough.
An Rushuang couldn’t help smiling.
Haya, with a tinge of grievance on her face, asked, “May I enjoy the peonies at a close distance? Your guards look so brutal...”
An Rushuang turned to look at Princess Anyang. There was a glimmer of smile on the their faces.
“Your Grace, since it’s the peonies enjoyment with all the citizens, we might as well withdraw the guards,” An Rushuang suggested.
“This is exactly what I thought.” Princess Anyang nodded.
As soon as she finished speaking, Princess Anyang commanded most of the guards to leave, only appointing several to protect the most valuable peonies.
The Flower Tower was very large, where emperor Shengzu used to enjoy flowers. Besides the places for flowers, the tower could still accommodate about a thousand people, a real wonder in the capital city.
Now, all the citizens gathering around were entering the tower one by one, including common people, n.o.ble princes, children, as well as seniors, all of whom would enjoy a feast for the eyes.
Stepping onto the stairs, Haya said in smile, “What a magnificent tower. I have watched a lot of attractive things in Nanqi Kingdom, especially the peonies, with the white ones like the blooms above the Tianshan Mountain, the red ones seeming to grow in fire, the purple ones impressing me most. How beautiful they are...”
“Do you praise anything you saw?” An Rushuang smiled.
Haya clarified her words in a hurry. “The peonies are the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen!” Suddenly, there was a streak of shyness on her face. “Could you sell the peonies to me? I want to bring them back to my hometown.” Haya’s mum, a lover of flower, would definitely love the peonies, which were even more beautiful than the saussurea.
Originally thinking Haya was merely a lover of peony, Princess Anyang was much displeased at her intention to buy them with money. Since all of the peonies here were left to Princess Anyang by her late mother, their values could definitely not be measured by money, let alone the purple peony.
Upon hearing her words, Princess Anyang began to have ill feeling towards this foreign girl.
Keeping silent in smile, An Rushuang approached Princess Anyang before replenished her cup with tea. “Your Grace, the envoy of Dongyi Kingdom might have come here to make a peace agreement with us now.”
She, still in doubt, whispered to Princess Anyang.
The complexion of Princess Anyang turned a little while pondering on the dilemma. Though she felt much reluctant to give the purple peony to someone else, she still turned to looked at Haya in smile and said softly, “You can enjoy it here as you will, if you want to take it to Dongyi Kingdom... Firstly, given its rarity, the transportation is so hard; secondly, Dongyi Kingdom is too cold for peonies to survive since they could only grow in warm area.”
While speaking, Princess Anyang observed Haya’s expression closely. Since the majority of people in Dongyi Kingdom had to wear leather to keep warm, Haya, having no fear for the great troubles in transportation, as well as the coldness, must be of a n.o.ble status.
With a wisp of pleasure skimming across her face, Haya said repeatedly, “I am not afraid of troubles. Do peonies merely need warmth? My bedchamber is warm enough. I can put them within. Please give me the purple one, only the purple. You can exchange for anything you want...”
Haya implored with eyes full of sorrow.
“Princess Haya! I finally found you!”
A woman clad in short gown hurried here, extending her respect to Haya by pressing her hands to her chest. “Princess Haya, you disappeared without telling me anything. The king is searching for you now!”
“Wait a sec. Just wait a moment.”
Haya, still not giving up, kept begging Princess Anyang to give her the purple peony. “I only want the purple peony. I can give you a lot of jewelries as reward.”
In fact, as soon as Haya finished speaking just then, Princess Anyang had made up her mind. “I will try my best to transport the flower to your hometown, but I don’t lack jewelry.”
Haya, frowning at Anyang, barely saw any jewelry on her body. “What do you want then?” She asked directly.
An Rushuang, with a wisp of dark light glittering in her eyes, couldn’t help chuckling. “Anything is okay?”
“As long as I have.” Haya, turning to look at An Rushuang, answered.
Just as Princess Anyang and An Rushuang intended to speak after an eye-contact, there came a shouting, “Ladies!”