Chapter: 037.2 out of 171
Wei Luo opened the bag and saw that the bag was full of pieces of gold in the shape of melon seeds and beans. No wonder the bag was so heavy. It was full of gold. Her eyes gleamed brightly and she raised her head to look at Zhao Jie. Her little face seemed to ask, is this all for me?
Zhao Jie smiled, “En, it’s all for you.”
She was a money-grubbing child. It was probably because she had suffered hardships in her previous life, so in this lifetime, she especially cherished hard to come by riches.
She sweetly said, “Thank you big brother.” Then, she closed the bag and hanged it on her waist.
It was almost time. They should be heading towards the receiving room. Zhao Jie stood up and went to an inner room in the study to change clothes. His new outfit was a blue robe with a flower-like design and a green overcoat that had a flying fish pattern.
He held Wei Luo’s hand as they walked to the receiving room. Snow had just started falling. The snowflakes were like floating cotton flowers that were blown off the glazed roof tiles by the wind.
There was a burst of cold wind. Zhao Jie leaned down to help Wei Luo tie up the ribbons on her bright red cloak and put on her hood.
He asked, “Are you cold?”
Wei Luo shook her head and pointed at her chest, “I’m wearing the jade pendant that big brother gave. Its very warm.”
His face showed a smiling expression. He was obviously pleased by her words.
As the two were preparing to continue walking, a young girl suddenly appeared in the verandah in front of them. She was directly heading towards them. This young and beautiful girl was wearing a charming, golden mink cloak and suede boots. Her bright and colorful clothing would attract everyone’s gaze.
Wei Luo recognized her. She was Empress Chen’s niece, Gao Danyang. The previous time they met in the palace, Zhao Jie was going to give her the kittens that Gao Danyang had given him and Gao Yang had clearly been very unhappy.
Gao Danyang had stopped a few steps from them. Originally, she had come here to look for Zhao Jie. Now that she had seen Wei Luo, her expression was complicated. From far away, she had just seen Zhao Jie leaning over to help her tie her cloak. When had Zhao Jie ever been this attentive towards another person? What kind of influence did this little girl have that would cause him to be so careful with her? Her heart had a sense of uncertainty and distrust, but this wasn’t revealed on her face.
She said with a smile, “Older cousin Jing, your guests have been waiting for you for so long, why haven’t you gone there yet?”
Because of her relationship with Empress Chen, Gao Danyang would occasionally visit Prince Jing’s residence. The servants knew that her relationship with Zhao Jie was very good, so they never stopped her from going anywhere. At this time, she could freely enter and leave the inner part of the residence.
Zhao Jie couldn’t help slightly frowning, “Something delayed me before. I’m going there now.”
She paused as if the thought had just occurred to her, “Did older cousin Jing already know Wei Luo before we met last time in the palace? From what I see now, your relationship seems better than I had imagined. Didn’t older cousin Jing return to the capital last year? How did you meet?”
Last time, after Empress Chen’s birthday, Gao Danyang had secretly ordered people to investigate Wei Luo. Unfortunately, they were only able to find out about her family and status. As for how she met Zhao Jie, they were unable to find out.
She had to admit that she was jealous of a little girl. Although this girl was much youn
ger than her and couldn’t possibly be a threat to her, she still felt uneasy. Zhao Jie wasn’t hot or cold towards her. But, he was thoughtful and attentive towards this little girl. He couldn’t have some strange peculiarity, right?
When she thought about it, that didn’t seem right. After all, Zhao Jie was cold towards other children; only Wei Luo was treated specially. What was different about Wei Luo? She looked at her left and right. Other than being more beautiful than other little girls, there wasn’t anything particularly outstanding about her.
Zhao Jie didn’t speak further on this topic.
Without a change in his expression, he changed the topic, “Did you come here with your mother?”
Gao Danyang flatten her lips. She knew that he intentionally didn’t reply her question and couldn’t help feeling disappointed.
But she wasn’t the type of person who would continue pestering, so she tactfully said, “Father, mother, and younger sister are all at the receiving room. I saw that you were late, so I secretly came here to look for you.”
The tension in Zhao Jie’s face eased, “I was in the study.”
Wei Luo listened to their conversation and thought it was time for her to leave. She gently pulled Zhao Jie’s clothes to get his attention. He lowered his head to look at her.
Her two dimples were clear when she adorably said, “Big brother and big sister are talking. I’ll go the receiving room first.”
Zhao Jie didn’t saying. She perceptively followed the steward and left the place first in order to not bother Gao Danyang and him.
He watched them until they walked far away.
After thinking about it, he said to Gao Danyang, “In the future, without my permission, don’t casually come into this residence’s inner area.”
Gao Danyang’s face showed surprise and she asked in puzzlement, “Why? I had come here several times in the past and older cousin Jing never said anything. Why did this change now?”
He said, “You’ve grown up. If you continue, people will gossip.”
Why did it matter that she was grown up? Was she no longer his younger cousin because she grew up? Besides, everyone in the capital knew that they were childhood sweethearts, a match made in Heaven and arranged by Earth.
Even Empress Chen was interested in being their matchmaker. Why was he always lukewarm towards her? Never mind about their past. After all, they were still children then. But now they were at the age to be engaged, some things couldn’t be delayed.
Many sons of high officials had gone to Duke Zhen’s residence to ask for her hand in marriage, but Duke Zhen had rejected them all. She had wholeheartedly waited for him, but she still didn’t know his thoughts and feelings!
The author has something to say:
Zhao Jie experienced great joys and great sorrows today.
— Is Ah Luo going to give herself to me? ～(￣▽￣～)(～￣▽￣)～
— Oh, she’s giving me a puppy _(:зゝ∠)_
— Ah Luo is going with me to the receiving room. This is a good opportunity to spend time together without anyone else o(*////▽////*)q
— Oh, no. Don’t go Ah Luo! There’s nothing between her and me. 〒▽〒