A wide, hard chest blocked Wei Luo’s front view. She tightly held the front of his robe. Using the light from the moon, she looked up and saw his face, “Older brother Prince Jing?”


  Zhao Jie was wearing a dark blue brocade robe. It wasn’t strange that Wei Luo didn’t see him before. His clothes weren’t very conspicuous. Since Bai Lan was here and they were still in view of the glimmering Su Ye, he let her go after steading her and said, “It’s me.”


  It really was him. Wei Luo opened her eyes wider in surprise.

  They were some distance away from Su Ye. Plus, the willow trees sheltered them, so it wouldn’t be easy for the people across the lake to see the scene here. Even so, Wei Luo still had a guilty conscience. Although they were engaged and she would marry him in another year to become his wife, they still shouldn’t be privately meeting late at night! If other people saw, they would probably laugh at them.

  Wei Luo instinctively pushed him away, retreated two steps, raised her beautifully made up face, and asked, “Why are you here? Do you sneak in here? Big brother, hurry and go back. It won’t be good if someone sees.”


  Zhao Jie had just come here. He hadn’t even said two sentences before she wanted to drive him away. He felt helpless as if a blow had struck him. He took her hand and pulled her towards the end of the path. “Come with me.”


  His hand was warm and forceful as he clutched her hand. Wei Luo struggled for a moment, but she wasn’t able to break free from him. She could only blindly follow him forward.

  As a result, Bai Lan became anxious. Where was His Highness Prince Jing planning on taking Miss? It was already so late. Regardless of where they went, it wasn’t appropriate! She wanted to call out, “Miss!” But, she was worried that if she were too loud, other people in the residence would hear her. Because she didn’t want to harm Wei Luo and Zhao Jie’s reputations and not knowing what she should do, she could only catch up to them. She lowered her voice and asked, “Your Highness, where are you taking my family’s Miss?”


  Zhao Jie stopped, turned around, and said to Bai Lan, “You don’t have to follow. This prince will bring Ah Luo safely back to the residence in two hours.”


  Bai Lan hesitated. She very much didn’t feel safe letting Wei Luo be alone with Zhao Jie. In the dead of the night, her Miss wouldn’t even have room to resist if he wanted to do something… A girl’s reputation was so important. Even if they were engaged, they weren’t married yet and had to comply with the strict rule of maintaining distance between men and women. “Miss…”


  Seeing that Bai Lan was in difficult position and thinking about Chang Hong and fourth aunt’s words, Wei Luo momentarily hesitated. She thought for a moment, then she said to Zhao Jie, “Older brother Prince Jing, promise that you just want to say a few words, then I’ll go with you.”


  Seeing the uneasiness in the little girl’s eyes, Zhao Jie knew that his excessively reckless behavior today had scared her. He hadn’t seen her in a long time and just wanted to talk to her. And so, he nodded and said, “Okay, this prince just wants to talk to you.”


  Wei Luo didn’t let go of her worries until she received his promise. She turned her head and said to Bai Lan, “Go back while no one is watching. If daddy or Chang Hong asks, say that I’m not feeling well, so I went to sleep early.”


  In the end, Bai Lan nodded.

  Zhao Jie squeezed Wei Luo’s palm and continued leading her to a corner gate.

  On both sides of the path, there were verdant and lush osmanthus trees. The entire path was fragrant. He seemed very familiar with Duke Ying’s residence. Even Wei Luo rarely walked this path, but he easily led them to the corner gate as if this was a familiar path to him. No one saw them. Just as Wei Luo was confused, she saw a black-robed bodyguard at the end of the path. It wasn’t Zhu Geng. It was Yang Hao, someone she hadn’t seen in a long time. Next to the opened corner gate, Yang Hao properly saluted after seeing Zhao, “Your Highness.”


  Zhao Jie nodded and led Wei Luo through the gate.

  In one smooth movement, Yang Hao turned around and locked the corner gate.

  Wei Luo was really curious. Why were they so familiar with her home?

  There was an imperial carriage parked outside of the gate. Zhao Jie had probably prepared this carriage in advance to bring her to somewhere else. Feeling anxious, she asked, “Where are you taking me?”


  Zhao Jie held her small, soft waist with both of this hands and carried her into the carriage, then he immediately came into the carriage, lifted the window curtain, and said, “How about going to Wan Yuan?”


  Wan Yuan was located in the center of the capital. It had beautiful architecture with curved eaves and a total of eight floors. It was a good place to view far away places. Normally, there were countless poets and literary people who went there to compose poetry. Today was Mid-autumn Festival. Wan Yuan would definitely be more lively than usual.

  Wei Luo was slow in her response, but she still agreeably nodded.

  The carriage slowly went forward and left the corner gate.

  As soon as Wei Luo sat down in the carriage, she toppled over onto a large pillow embroidered with golden and silver flowers to lie down, then she curled up and silently clutched her stomach.

  It was only now that Zhao Jie saw that her small face was very pale. When they were in the courtyard, their surroundings were too dark and he couldn’t see the expression on her face. He could only feel that her spirit was wan. Zhao Jie had thought she was only worried about being discovered by other people. But now, it seemed that it was something completely different. He brought her closer to him, placed her on his leg, and carefully held her small face as he asked, “Ah Luo, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well somewhere?”


  Originally, Wei Luo didn’t want to tell him. After all, it was an embarrassing thing that shouldn’t be mentioned. But, she really couldn’t resist. Her stomach ached terribly, especially after walking with him for a while. She felt as if she was going to fall down with every step she took. By the time they came into the carriage, she felt as if she had already fallen into an ice cellar. She buried her head into Zhao Jie’s chest and in a low, muffled voice, she said, “Older brother Prince Jing, my stomach hurts so much.”


  Zhao Jie was startled for a moment, but he quickly understood her meaning.

  He instinctively moved his gaze down to look at her body. Feeling helpless and sorry for her, he rubbed the red birthmark between her eyebrows and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”


  Wei Luo closed her eyes and her two rows of thick eyelashes fluttered. In her mind she thought, I wouldn’t have been able to come out if I told you. But instead of saying this, she used a fallacious argument to deceive him, “Would it stop hurting if I told you?”


  Zhao Jie didn’t have a way to deal with her. It wouldn’t be good for him to argue with her over this. He could only think of ways to make her feel more comfortable. He put her body down, so that her head was lying down on his leg. He probably knew something about this type of matter. And so, his hand went inside her clothing and his fingers stopped at top of her small stomach’s round bellybutton.

  Startled, Wei Luo moved back to avoid him, “What are you doing?”


  He laughed. He felt that her alarmed expression was too cute. She looked like a scared baby squirrel. He explained, “Don’t worry. I won’t do anything since I already promised you. You’ll feel better after I warm you up with my hand.”


  Wei Luo was skeptical. She darkly looked at him and said, “Your hand can’t wander.”


  Wei Luo didn’t relax her wariness until he nodded. There was a smile on his lips.

  A moment later, it was as Zhao Jie had said. The warmth from his hand traveled to her stomach and alleviated her pain. Wei Luo moved his hand down. She forgot that the man next to her couldn’t resist being provoked by her. “Warm this spot too.”


  Zhao Jie’s body stiffened. He lowered his eyes and looked at the little girl on his leg. Her complexion had improved a lot from before. It wasn’t pale anymore. She trusted him fully and didn’t realize that her action was a huge trial for him. A long time later, Zhao Jie curved his lips and said, “Ah Luo.” He didn’t realize that his voice had become hoarse until he said her name.

  Wei Luo quietly said, “En.”


  He said, “If you continue this, big brother will do more than just talk with you.”


  At first, Wei Luo was surprised. She quickly realized his meaning, blushed, took his hand out, sat up, and glanced at him.

  He hoarsely laughed, then he smoothly straightened her messy clothes and asked, “Does your stomach feel better?”


  Wei Luo nodded, “It doesn’t hurt as much.”


  He stared at her and said, “If it hurts too much, then we won’t go Wan Yuan. I’ll bring your back to Duke Ying’s residence. We can go another day.”


  Wei Luo blinked. She almost couldn’t believe that he had said these words. They hadn’t seen each other for a long time. She thought that he would really want to spend time with her.

  Zhao Jie probably guessed what she was thinking. He lowered his head and touched her forehead. He slowly said, “Idiot. Although this prince want to see you, I’m more worried about your health.”


  Wei Luo was slightly moved. She stared at him. At lightening speed and without warning, she kissed his cheek. “Then, let’s not go to Wan Yuan. I want to eat the lotus osmanthus pastries from Ye He. Could you buy me some before we go back?”


  Zhao Jie touched his face. He felt the warmth that she had left behind. In this type of situation, he would naturally listen to whatever she wanted. And so, he smiled and said, “Okay.”


  ——–


  Zhao Jie ordered Yang Hao to change direction to head west to Yu He.

  Not much time later, the carriage stopped in front of Yu He. Zhao Jie came down from the carriage. His figure gradually entered into the crowd. Wei Luo sat inside the carriage and waited.

  Although the sun had already set, there were still many pedestrians on the street. The streets were brightly lit and were bustling with noise and excitement that seemed as if it would last until dawn. On the streets, there were stalls selling lanterns and moon cake everywhere. There were colorful lanterns hanging on both side of the streets and they illuminated half of the night sky. If Wei Luo left the carriage with Zhao Jie at this time, someone might see her and tell Duke Ying or Wei Kun.

  So, it would be safer for her stay in the carriage.

  Wei Luo lifted up the window curtain embroidered with golden thread, looked at Yu He, and couldn’t help curving her lips.

  Just as Wei Luo was about to put the curtain down, a person walked out of Ye He’s entrance. The person walking in the front was a woman wearing a pink silk robe with a cloud pattern. Two servant girls wearing foreign clothing followed her. The woman wasn’t walking quickly. Her head was turned aside to talk with the servant girls. The motley colorful lights from the surrounding lanterns shined on her face. Her face couldn’t be clearly seen, but other people could still feel her charming and beautiful appearance.

  The woman turned around and her line of sight intersected with Wei Luo’s.

  Wei Luo wasn’t paying attention to other things. She only glanced at her before looking away.

  But after that woman saw Wei Luo, her body suddenly froze.

  Even after Wei Luo let go of the curtain, that woman still didn’t move.