Proofreader: Prof Zhu Yuan
An Rujin raised her head and saw a pair of bright and enchanting eyes.
It was the third prince Xiao Yingxuan’s eyes.
He smiled at her: "I will help you."
Rujin looked at the hand in front of her: It was fair and flawless, which had clear joints.
This hand belonged to a childe who lived an extravagant life. It was beautiful and delicate, which must only hold pens. An emerald ring was worn over his slender thumb, which showed the owner was of incomparable dignity. Women would be crazy about him.
Rujin looked at it and seemed to forget what she wanted to do.
Seeing that she did not move for a long time, Xiao Yingxuan smiled and said: " Waiting Lady An, what are you thinking? Just now I saw you speak so eloquently with powerful manner when facing Beauty w.a.n.g alone. How can you be so stiff in front of me?"
Rujin looked at Xiao Yingxuan above. The sun was dazzling and made him more handsome than a real person.
She was slightly absent-minded and asked slowly, "Why would Your Royal Highness help me?"
Xiao Yingxuan raised his eyebrows and smiled sweetly: "Do I need reasons to help you? Get up, aren"t you cold? "
Rujin put her hand in his palm. Xiao Yingxuan clenched her hand and pulled. Rujin only felt that she was pulled up by a strong force, but when she saw the smiling face that coming close to her, she suddenly felt there was something wrong.
Before she could react, the hand holding her hand suddenly loosened.
With a loud "bang" sound, her whole body fell heavily into the water. Icy water poured into her mouth and nose.
The pain, the suffocation and the cold penetrating into the bones seemed to take away all her life in an instant.
She had never been so close to death, not even in the purgatory-like Imperial Prison.
She only felt as if she had fallen into a huge sea of ice and could not escape. She could even smell the rotten stink of the foul mud at the bottom of the pond, which was worse than death.
This moment was very short, only two or three breaths, but it seemed to be very long, long enough that she could almost recall her short life.
Suddenly, her waist was encircled by a powerful arm, and a light appeared in front of her. The next moment she was standing on the solid ground again. Beside her was Xiao Yingxuan with a smiling face.
It was he who pulled her up, just after he played the prank to push her down.
"Ahem ..." She coughed violently.
Xiao Yingxuan burst out laughing.
Rujin coughed and had a deep breath. Then she glanced at Xiao Yingxuan coldly and turned to leave with her belongings.
Xiao Yingxuan looked at her back and said to himself: "Interesting girl."
…
An Rujin walked very fast. Her wet clothes were clung to her body, which made her felt frozen and uncomfortable. When the biting wind blew, the cold almost made her faint. She became very weak, shaking with cold. Her lips turned purple in a very short time.
She stooped, because other people in the palace who pa.s.sed by looked at her with mocking eyes, which made her feel humiliated. What made her even more uncomfortable was that her thin clothes could hardly cover the curve of her body.
She never knew the short distance from the imperial garden to Yuexiu Palace could be so long that she would never get there.
Suddenly she stumbled and fell to the ground.
"Hha!" Some people burst into laughing.
Rujin looked at the ground. A small piece of wooden stick was under her foot. It turned out that someone deliberately kicked the stick to trip her up. She glanced at the laughing person and tried to stand up.
But there was a sharp pain in her leg. She looked down and saw blood on her leg.
Misfortunes never came singly; she would be a laughing stock in the palace for a long time.
Rujin looked coldly at those who mocked her, trying to stand up from the ground again.
"What are you doing?" A man’s voice came from the front.
People were shocked and fell to their knees when they could see the man clearly. Rujin was tidying up the hem of her dress and couldn"t help looking up. The sun shone on the man"s body with a golden light. She couldn"t see his face at the moment.
The man was in a dark purple robe, coming slowly with an emotionless face. He frowned and glanced at the crowd who just laughed. He sneered: "What are you idlers doing here?"
The people seemed very afraid of him. They trembled and dare not speak. Rujin froze when finally seeing his face.
It"s him!
It was the army man who was punished to kneel in the imperial garden last time. Why would he still be in the palace?
She looked up at his breathtaking eyes and lost in thought. It was said that the tailor makes the man. He didn’t look like the person she met last time.
With the muddy military robe changed, the sharp air of him became more and more obvious, and the light from his cold eyes was as threatening as the light of a real sword.
Rujin felt that he could see through everything just by looking at others. There was an unspeakable supreme majesty from him.
Xiao Yingzhen, the Second Prince, went up to her and frowned. His eyes were deep: "How did you get into this?"
His eyes were as cold as snow: "Can you stand up?"
His tone was direct, and he looked at Rujin directly. He seemed very unhappy that such a weak girl was in his way.
Rujin felt that if she said she could not stand up, he would kick her away impatiently. She stood up with difficulty and whispered, "Thank you, Master, I am fine."
Master? The man raised his knife-shaped eyebrows and showed a weird expression.
Rujin felt uncomfortable when he looked at her. After all, she was soaked to the skin and showed her curves. It was inappropriate for an unmarried woman to be stared at by a man.
Xiao Yingzhen frowned and looked the girl on the ground. She looked at him directly. Her pure eyes were not as treacherous and frightened as those of other people.
These eyes were clear and a little bold. Besides, he also realized she felt kind of ashamed.
This was the first time he had seen such a bold maid.
Rujin gave Xiao Yingzhen an unhappy look, tried to stand up and turned to leave. But before she could take a step, her waist was suddenly held and her whole body was lifted up by strong arms.
"Ah!" Rujin exclaimed, and Xiao Yingzhen"s cold and unhappy voice came to her ear: "Do you want to walk back like this? If you want to draw more attention, you can shout a little louder."
Rujin only felt that his arms were as hard as iron, and could even feel the strong muscles in his arms. These were undoubtedly the arms of a warrior. They were strong and powerful, and they were the result of tough training.
She was as light as a feather in his arms.
"Which palace?" Xiao Yingzhen asked.
"What?" Rujin did not know what he was asking.
Xiao Yingzhen repeated impatiently, "Which palace do you live in?"
An Rujin hurriedly replied, "Master, I belong to Yuexiu Palace."
Xiao Yingzhen found his way and strode towards Yuexiu Palace. People in palace all along the way stopped to look at this scene in astonishment. However, Xiao Yingzhen"s sharp eyes made them lower their heads and shun.
Rujin"s face was burning with fire, and she simply buried her face in his arms. However, when she buried her face, she couldn’t ignore the good smell of him, which made it even more difficult for her to calm down.
Finally, they arrived at Yuexiu Palace.
Xiao Yingzhen put her down, turned his back and said emotionlessly, "Get in and get changed."
Only then did Rujin suddenly realize that he had carried her all the way. She opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but Xiao Yingzhen strode away with a wave of his sleeve and soon disappeared.
Rujin stood at the gate of Yuexiu Palace for a while when she remembered that she even forgot to express grat.i.tude.
In addition, she also forgot to ask the name of this master of army.