T/N: Here's the Link to the Novel Summary.

Note: This novel is part of my MTL Projects. It is not a fully edited translation.

It was in the middle of the moon, and the water pavilion was brightly lit.

This is Yingguo Gongfu. As the highest-ranking among the founding lords of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the mansion built naturally occupies a large area.

In Yingguo Gongfu's night banquet that day, in addition to his family members and old friends, the closest person was actually the in-law Zheng.

The Zheng family is a well-known family, whose ancestral home is Jiangyin, and the main branch settled in the capital. This family of scholars and officials from generations to generations has luxuriant branches. There are not a few who were officials in the previous dynasty. In addition, there have been quite a few in the past 100 years. Literati and Confucianism, so no one dare to despise it.

The old lady of the Zheng family took the family and the young and happily came to the banquet of the son-in-law. Everyone enjoyed the banquet on the water pavilion, which was considered a good time.

Shao Qiong, the second lady of Yingguo Gongfu's main branch, was with Mrs. Zheng and was peeling oranges for her.

Mrs. Zheng Jiada, Gong Sun, took her eldest son Zheng Yunqiao and said: "Look at what your cousin is doing, don't you also go and serve the old lady, what are you doing here?"

Zheng Yunqiao was visibly stunned for a moment, then he hesitated for a moment, and walked towards Mrs. Zheng.

When old Mrs. Zheng saw her grandson coming, she happily stuffed the orange in her hand and pulled him to sit down beside her.

Although there were many people present and noisy, many people still saw the eyebrow lawsuit here, so they could not help but discuss it in private.

"What's going on? When did the second girl and the Zheng family's old lady get so affectionate? This is not her grandmother."

"This is still the second thing. Didn't you always say that you are going to give our eldest girl to the Zheng family? Why doesn't it look like that."

A middle-aged woman interrupted after hearing this: "Isn't this clear yet? It's a change."

Another said: "I seem to have heard about it, saying that Niangniang in the palace wanted to match the eldest girl to the third prince, and the eldest girl then pushed the second girl to the Zheng family."

"A while ago, it seemed that the eldest girl was going to be a princess, but recently I haven't heard of the following…"

"Tsk tsk, I'm afraid it wasn't Niangniang who changed her mind? Big girl, this is too much calculation, is it empty at both ends?"

"…That's not what I said, I coldly saw her not like that person, don't forget… that is not her mother, can she still see her daughter suffer a loss?"

"Who knows what is going on…"

*

Shao Xun sat on a stone bench on the shore, leaning on the railing and looking towards the center of the lake, as if watching the excitement of others, and as if in a daze.

Lizhu touched the back of her hand and said with concern: "Girl, let's go back. Everyone is lively right now, so what are we doing in this dark place?"

Shao Xun said: "My brain hurts because of the noise inside, but I came out to hide and stay clean."

It was too dark at night, and Lizhu couldn't see her girl's face clearly. After hesitating for a while, he cautiously persuaded: "The old lady always loves you, so you will get out soon after you get together…"

Shao Xun's beautiful eyes were as quiet as a lake at the moment. She said, "Well, there's cousin and Ah Qiong in front of my grandmother."

As soon as these words came out, Lizhu didn't dare to persuade anymore, she could only say unequivocally: "You act like a baby, the old lady loves you like that, and I argued with my uncle and wife for you before, even the second lady…"

Shao Xun's heart is inextricably linked. The love and affection that have been valued in the past seem to be too small to mention. She shook her head to stop the maid's next words, and calmly said: "Don't mention this matter again. It's not good for Ah Qiong, and it's not good for me either."

Lizhu stopped talking.

Shao Xun sat for a while, feeling that her feet were a little numb, so she stood up slowly with the railing, and walked slowly along the lake.

At this time, the sky began to flash bright colors, and Shao Xun couldn't help but stare at it, and then said: "It's over the water pavilion. It seems that someone took out the fireworks left over during the Great Zhou New Year."

Lizhu snorted and whispered: "Who else can it be? Ninety-nine percent of them are the second girl. She has always had a lot of tricks."

As soon as she finished complaining, she was shocked when she looked up, and she didn't have time to remind.

Shao Xun wanted to take a few steps back and look at the fireworks. Just seeing Lizhu's surprised gaze, she felt her back hit someone's chest before she could react.

She didn't panic at first, after all, it was her own family mansion, and it didn't matter if she bumped into someone, but when she subconsciously turned and looked back, she was surprised.

Behind him is a brightly lit pavilion, but it is dark and quiet here. If it weren't for the fireworks that bloomed from time to time in the sky, maybe even the person in front of him could not be seen clearly.

Shao Xun said that she was surprised, but after a closer look, the astonishment only flashed past, and she felt a little strange when she was calm.

You know, the person in front of her is…

There was only one person next to the man. He stood in front of her like this, without saying anything first. Shao Xun hesitated and bowed her knees to salute.

The person was a head higher than Shao Xun, and he had to lean over when he helped her, and before she opened her mouth, he shook his hand slightly: "No need."

Lizhu didn't know this man, and was a little scared at this time, so she couldn't help but get close to Shao Xun: "Girl…"

Shao Xun tilted his head and said calmly: "Don't panic, this is the nobleman in the palace, don't be rude."

…In the palace?

Which prince is it? Lizhu thought uneasy – she recognized the third prince, but this person was obviously older than the third prince, which clan family member was it?

The man walked towards the lake with his hands on his back, and found that Shao Xun was still standing there, without looking back, and said, "What are you doing there?"

Shao Xun was helpless to keep up.

Lizhu and the man brought by the man followed not far away, watching the two people arrive at the lake one after another, and only then did Shao Xun sit in a daze.

Another handful of fireworks bloomed, and Shao Qiong's laughter could be heard from such a distance.

She was watching the fireworks, but the man couldn't help but looked at her: "Why, don't ask… Why am I here?"

Shao Xun came back to his senses, "You are rich from all over the world. If you really want to talk about it, this place is just your private house. How can you not come here?"

The man smiled unclearly: "At this time, he can talk and be obedient."

Shao Xun said: "You are a nobleman and an elder, I naturally want to be obedient."

After being so nonchalantly compelled, the man was not angry either. He sat on the rock where Shao Xun had been sitting, pointed his finger to the side, and motioned for her to sit over.

Shao Xun didn't move for a while, so the man turned around and said with a faint smile, "What are you afraid of, am I not an elder?"

Her lips twitched hardly, and after a long while she sat down against the stone.

Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere was quiet and in sharp contrast with the lake.

Shao Xun was a bit tight at first, but after a long time he unknowingly relaxed, and he couldn't help but think of his thoughts again, and his eyes gradually became confused.

It was dark, and the man clearly didn't look at her, but he seemed to have noticed something: "What are you thinking?"

Of course, Shao Xun's thoughts are not enough for outsiders, so she said: "I'm thinking about your presence, so I might as well go ahead and join in the fun. If the cold wind blows here, how can I pay for it?"

The man couldn't help laughing: "Little girl, you are becoming more and more presumptuous now, and you dare to be perfunctory even in front of me."

In the whole world, everyone would be panicked when they heard this sentence. Shao Xun was also terrified for the whole day because of the existence of this person, but after so long, she had broken the jar long ago. I can't get scared anymore.

I don't know if it was Shao Xun's remark. At this time, it happened that a blast of cold wind blew by, and the person who was worried about "blowing the wind" didn't move. Instead, Shao Xunlen couldn't help but tremble.

She embraced her arms subconsciously, but then felt her body warm. When she raised her head, she saw the man's angular profile-he had taken off his cloak and put it firmly on Shao Xun's body.

Shao Xun lowered his head, folded the collars of his cloak, and whispered, "Thank you."

He looked down at her for a while, and asked, "What are you afraid of?"

Shao Xun looked up at him.

"What are you afraid of?"

Shao Xun was puzzled at first, and then immediately understood the meaning of the words, immediately lowered his eyes and pursed his lips without saying a word.

The two stood in a stalemate for a long time, so that they didn't notice any movement on the path leading to the shore from the center of the lake, until the sound of footsteps got very close before Shao Xun noticed it.

At that moment, her reaction was unusually large, and she shuddered fiercely, turned her head quickly, and heard the voice of her sister Shao Qiong coming from a place where the lights were faintly flashing not far away:

"Sister, where did you hide? Come out soon, look at the fireworks set off by my cousin and me?"

Zheng Yunqiao seemed to be there, and there was hesitation in his voice: "…Sister Ah Xun, are you okay?"

Shao Xun looked at her situation and was very flustered. She couldn't help but look around and wanted to drag people to find a place to hide, but no matter how courage she was, she didn't dare to hide him like a shame.

Just as she was sweating on her forehead in anxiety, she was suddenly grasped by someone on her shoulders, and listened to him to calm down: "Don't be afraid."

These words seemed to have profound meaning, so Shao Xun couldn't help but raise his head and listen to him repeating: "——Don't be afraid."

With such voices and eyes, Shao Xun's original rapid breathing unknowingly returned to calm, and her tight shoulders gradually relaxed. She looked directly into the person's eyes and listened to the footsteps of her sister and cousin getting closer. .

"You……"

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