Ghostly Masked Prince Xiao

Just when Chu Qing-Yan thought she was finished, a black figure flitted past her eyes, and immediately after, a strength could be felt on her waist, a warm touch with a toughness that was hard to ignore. Afterwards, both of her legs rotated and she crashed onto a chest with a distinct cold aura. If it wasn't for that powerful heartbeat sounding loudly beside her ear, she would've mistakenly thought that she had fallen into a lush green field, because she could smell the scent of nature. It was so clean and comfortable, making people want to embrace it.

Just when Chu Qing-Yan was about to sink into this illusion, she heard the sound of a heavy object falling and this startled her awake.

She immediately opened her eyes and that strong blackness still remained. The only thing she saw was a magnified top grade embroidered pattern made of gold colored silk thread. She abruptly lifted her head and just so happened to meet the slightly angry gaze of the person above her. Only now did she realize she was drawn into him, and thus, narrowly had a lucky escape from disaster. However, the actions of these two people at the moment——

Chu Qing-Yan's hand held tightly onto his collar, and her whole body was hugged to his chest. Such a small her was just like this embraced in his arms, as if this was inevitable and right.

Being this close, she discovered that the eyes behind the mask were so captivating. Looking from a slanted angle, the rolled up eyelashes covering those eyes were like pines leaves, slender, long and full. Looking at it made a person's heart itch. She really wanted to stretch out her hand to touch it a bit. But after just having this thought, she immediately put a stop to it because she could feel that the gaze of this person before her had always been on her body. And at this moment, she was using all her strength to stare at this person in a manner that completely made her lose that wise and virtuous ladylike conduct.

"Standing so firmly and you can still slip and fall? Qing-Yan, you are not the general silly!" His mocking tone travelled light as a feather from the top of her head.

Chu Qing-Yan stared, slightly distracted. This was the first time he had called her by her name. She was somewhat not accustomed to it, but thinking about it, there wasn't anything strange about it. So, she lowered her head, putting on a lovable face of admitting her errors, "I wasn't paying attention. It won't happen next time."

The person's height was very short and felt very light in his arms, just like a cute bunny. However, he also knew that sometimes, she would turn into a little cat that would brandish its teeth and claws. Even to the point of changing into a th.o.r.n.y little hedgehog.

But right now, with her head lowered and an obedient harmless appearance, it made his heart soften, so he couldn't help but to want to tease her.

He extended a hand to pinch her soft and tender little face, and with a careless tone, he said, "Just now, you asked about the corruption matter in court. If this king was to say that I can't escape from being implicated in this matter, what would you do?"

Chu Qing-Yan never expected that the usually unapproachable Xiao Xu would actually pinch her face like he was teasing a pet. All of a sudden, her entire person was stupefied. Even though she had the lolita-type body of a ten-year-old, she still had the heart of a twenty-year-old okay? Being teased provoked her fury to soar up, however, just as she was about to flare up, she met his clear and penetrative eyes. In a split second, her fury deflated, it seemed the other party really took her as a little doll.

With her heart having taken a blow, she heard him speak and all the hairs on her body stood up straight again. Could this matter really be connected to him? But seeing his indifferent, 'none of my business' appearance, Chu Qing-Yan wasn't able to see through him. She carefully thought about it and then put on a firm expression, whereas her heart was speechlessly crying, "My mother told me, marry a chicken, then follow the chicken, marry a dog, then follow the dog. His Majesty bestowed Qing-Yan in marriage to His Highness, then Qing-Yan will naturally share life's joys and sorrows with Your Highness and follow Your Highness until death."

Although Chu Qing-Yan's choice of words like chicken ah and dog ah wasn't pleasing to his ear, but the meaning behind the words still made him very satisfied. Even though he knew she said it without meaning it, however, he just liked to see her tangled appearance.

"At least you know how to be tactful!" Xiao Xu stroked her long hair in a rewarding manner.

Chu Qing-Yan couldn't help but want to jump down from his legs, after all, men and women shouldn't be that close ah! However, she didn't have the guts, after all, just now, he was clearly angry. If it weren't for that she had stumbled from being inattentive, she feared that now, she would have been trying to block his unleashed wrath.

Inadvertently discovering a layer of light blush emerging on the little girl's face, Xiao Xu thought that she was afraid and couldn't help but sigh, this little girl really couldn't endure the teasing. He merely said a few words to her and she already got this scared.

"Don't worry, even if this king can't do anything, this king still won't pay attention to these dissenting groups." Xiao Xu normally didn't like to explain himself, but at this moment, for some reason, he wanted to comfort this tiny person in his arms, and without thinking much, blurted out these words. However, after he said those words out loud, he somewhat regretted it.

Having heard what was said, Chu Qing-Yan's smile bloomed brightly, "I just knew that Your Highness isn't that kind of person."

The joy was apparent in her tone, this way, she wouldn't have to worry if Xiao Xu lost power, and what course she ought to take from hereon as his consort. She also didn't need to worry whether her own parents would be implicated and suffer from this matter. This really made her happy.

Perhaps it was because Chu Qing-Yan relaxed too quickly that it made Xiao Xu feel unhappy. His tone cooled down a bit when he said, "It's a pity that in the imperial court, even if you are innocent, it doesn't mean that the innocence can be proven. Framing by shifting the blame, making someone a scapegoat, happens frequently as well. As long as evil intentions exist, I fear it's still hard to escape implication!"

The mocking words successfully made the smile on Chu Qing-Yan's lips stiffen. She robotically turned her head to look at him, and in his eyes, she saw and understood the cruelty that happened in court. She couldn't help but ask, "Then could you be wrongly accused?"

Perhaps it was the hint of concern in her words that softened Xiao Xu's hardened cheeks, "Didn't you just say this king isn't that kind of person? Then, in your eyes, what kind of person is this king?"

Chu Qing-Yan felt that she had had enough of this person. They were clearly talking about one topic, then he changed it to another topic. But who told him to be a prince ah?

"Chu Qing-Yan thinks that Your Highness is a warrior who's brave and good at fighting. Conducts himself in an upright and plainspoken manner, omnipotent. In Qing-Yan's heart, Your Highness is a big hero!" This was her judgement from a child's point of view.

Xiao Xu smilingly pinched her nose, his tone carried an obvious smiling expression as well as a domineering manner that didn't permit anyone to look at him directly, "Since you said that this king is omnipotent, then how could this king be so easily plotted against? Unless this king is willing to do so!"

The corner of Chu Qing-Yan's eyes couldn't help but twitch. Wasn't this person a little bit too arrogant? Trying to mislead her, this little child! She knew that adults always liked to boast about themselves being omnipotent in from of kids just to obtain admiration and envy. She never thought that this Xiao Xu was also like that, not the least bit modest.

However, only a long time after this did she really understand. The words he said today weren't really to mislead her, because she saw his willingness to do so, she felt sad and wept tears because he was willing to do so (1).

After teasing her with a few more sentences, Xiao Xu finally put her down.

Only at this time did she realize, she had been held in his arms all along, and Chu Qing-Yan was very thin-skinned. After being placed down, her face flushed a slight red and she didn't dare to lift her head to look at him. At this moment, she noticed that the lower corner of his shirt had been splashed by a few drops of ink, and she couldn't help but shift her gaze away. Then, she saw the inkstone that had fallen on the floor as well as the puddle of ink, and she suddenly realized that the sound from earlier came from the inkstone falling to the floor. The place just so happened to be the place she was standing at before. Fortunately, Xiao Xu had caught her on time, or else, if the heavy inkstone had come smashing down, then she wouldn't have been able to keep her little feet.

After feeling embarra.s.sed, she was a little grateful to him.

Sadly, a certain somebody just happened to open his mouth to say unreasonably, "Too much water was added and the ink is all diluted. "

Chu Qing-Yan immediately clenched her teeth in rage, this person wasn't worth a bit of people's grat.i.tude!

1) This sentence is a sad foreshadowing of the future. It was hard to translate but basically saying he will only be plotted against if he was willing to let it happen. I am only saw this writer's hints after reading the story once through.