Ming Lu could hear the impatience in Bai Luochu"s voice and immediately stepped forward to help her board the carriage. After bidding farewell to Cai Ling, he steered the carriage towards the lake.
It didn"t take long for the carriage to arrive by the lake. Before Bai Luochu"s seat became warm, they arrived at their destination.
Once she alighted the carriage, Ming Lu"s voice entered her ears, “Young Lady Luo Chu, His First Highness is waiting in the private boat. Do you need this servant"s help to board?”
Bai Luochu already felt that walking was difficult because of her clothes and accessories-filled hair. She didn"t reject Ming Lu"s proposal and she allowed him to help her board the private boat.
When she stepped onto the private boat, she saw Pei Rumo"s figure at the bow. Even though she wasn"t late, it was never polite to keep others waiting. As such, Bai Luochu walked over slowly and said to Pei Rumo, “I am sorry for making Your First Highness wait.”
Pei Rumo turned around when he heard Bai Luochu"s voice but was stunned by her current getup.
This was the first time Pei Rumo had seen a lady-like Bai Luochu. Her mountain-like brows were gently brushed with umber-black dye, and her vermilion lips were touched up with some rouge, accentuating her beauty. The serpent top knot made Bai Luochu"s already slender neck look even slimmer and the beautiful ornaments in her hair seemed to lose their appeal.
If Bai Luochu was a snow lotus on the heavenly mountains without makeup, she was a bewitching blood-colored lotus blooming in a sea of blood right now. She was still lofty and unyielding, but held fatal attraction.
Pei Rumo was unable to resist her charms. The moment Pei Rumo saw Bai Luochu, his heartstrings moved and a warm feeling seeped through his body. The blood flowed to all his limbs and bones and when they pa.s.sed through his eyes, one would realize that they were filled with nothing but her.
Bai Luochu saw Pei Rumo"s blank expression and thought that her looks frightened him. She immediately said, “Do I look weird? If you can"t get used to it, I can take out the hair ornaments… This isn"t my idea. That la.s.s Cai Ling was the one who insisted I wear them. After all, all the young ladies in the capital city are doing the same. She even said that I would be humiliating the general"s residence and Your First Highness if I didn"t wear them. That"s the only reason I changed my usual attire and ponytail to this…”
Bai Luochu"s explanation seemed to be unending but she was interrupted by Pei Rumo, “It isn"t necessary. I was stunned for a moment because this is the first time I"ve seen you dress this way. Young Lady Luo Chu is really beautiful. I am the one making a fuss over nothing…”
Bai Luochu blanked out for a moment and she stood rooted to the spot. She stood there motionless like a pillar in a room. After all, her understanding of boating came from stories told by others. She never went boating before and she didn"t know what she had to do. As such, she was rather reserved.
“I specially asked the chefs at the Drunk Immortal Inn to prepare dinner. It was just delivered to us and it is still warm. Should we eat before the food gets cold?” Pei Rumo could see that Bai Luochu was a little awkward and he quickly made a suggestion to alleviate the awkwardness.
This private boat was ma.s.sive and there were many rooms on board. Because Bai Luochu found it difficult to move, she was unable to keep up with Pei Rumo and when he turned around, he realized that there was a huge distance between them. When he saw that Bai Luochu was walking with an odd posture, he quickly went back to support her. He held her by the wrist and walked beside her.
Bai Luochu struggled at first as she didn"t want Pei Rumo to hold her wrist. However, she stopped struggling after a statement from Pei Rumo.
“I am not trying to take advantage of you. Neither am I trying to offend you. I can see that you aren"t used to walking in such a long dress and I"m here to help you. If you continue to stumble around, I don"t think we"ll be able to eat dinner anytime soon.”
Bai Luochu was embarra.s.sed but she felt that Pei Rumo was right. She allowed him to hold onto her wrist.
When they finally arrived at the dining room, Bai Luochu realized that Pei Rumo prepared all the dishes she liked.
“I learned your preference after inviting you to so many meals. You like dishes with strong taste and are exceptionally fond of spicy food. These dishes were prepared by the chefs in the Drunk Immortal Inn and shouldn"t taste bad. Hurry up and eat.”
Bai Luochu didn"t expect that Pei Rumo would pay attention to her likes and dislikes. She felt touched that he was paying so much attention to her.
After the meal, Bai Luochu felt extremely full but Pei Rumo had only eaten a little.
“You... don"t normally eat these dishes?” Bai Luochu asked.
Pei Rumo nodded with embarra.s.sment and replied, “That is indeed the case. Since I am the host, I cannot give my guest a bad impression.”
Bai Luochu blinked but didn"t say anything. She started to think about the way Pei Rumo was treating her and she realized that she was forcing herself to ignore his feelings.
“The weather seems nice tonight. Why don"t we head to the bow of the boat and admire the view of the moon? I even prepared some osmanthus cakes and plum blossom brew.” Pei Rumo didn"t wish for the atmosphere to turn awkward and he quickly suggested doing something else.
Bai Luochu didn"t know what to do and now that Pei Rumo had suggested something, she quickly agreed.
Bai Luochu never expected that she would see something she really didn"t want to when she reached the bow of the boat.
“Big Brother Qingfeng, don"t be so sulky. It"s hard for us to leave the residence and you"re putting on such a stern face. Other people might think that Xian"er owes you money…”
Ling Xian"er and Pei Qingfeng stood at the bow of their private boat and their intimate behavior entered Bai Luochu"s eyes.
When Pei Rumo noticed something wrong with Bai Luochu, he turned over to look and a smile slowly formed on his face.