Forbidden to Bully the Storybook’s Heroine – Chapter 53

Pink

The two of them fooled around until the water turned slightly cool before finally getting out of the wooden tub. Probably because they’d soaked for too long, Song Muyun’s legs were a bit soft; she had to lean slightly against Jiang Yao just to walk, her eyes looking at her like water.

Jiang Yao froze up the moment she felt that soft chest press against her. The little girl seemed completely unaware and even requested, “Support me a little, I can’t stand steady.”

…

How can you not stand steady! It was just a bath, we didn’t do anything else!

Jiang Yao thought this, but her hands honestly went to support her anyway. She made contact with the woman’s soft, smooth arms and carefully helped her to the bed.

Then she went to get her undergarments.

As she rummaged for things, she complained, “Why do I feel like I’m your maid?”

Song Muyun only had a dudou¹ on her body that had been touched by water. When the cool breeze blew, her legs involuntarily clamped together. She rested her chin on her knees, blinking her beautiful phoenix eyes, looking obediently at Jiang Yao.

Jiang Yao could see Song Muyun’s well-behaved appearance as soon as she turned her head. Her heart paused, and she suddenly felt, Maid or whatever, so be it. The Young Miss is so cute, isn’t it only right to do some work for her?

Yeah, that’s right. Just like that.

She handed over the inner shirt and pants, which were a bit shorter than her own, and deliberately hooked her lips into a dangling and sloppy² smile, asking teasingly, “Do you want me to help you dress?”

This was obviously a joke, but who knew which of Song Muyun’s nerves weren’t connected right? First, she stared blankly at her, then her cheeks flushed red for no reason. Just when Jiang Yao didn’t get a response and was starting to feel uncomfortable, she actually agreed. She didn’t take the clothes; she just lightly trembled her thick, long lashes, looking at her with watery eyes that were wanting to speak but stopping, carrying an inadvertently seductive expression. “Okay, then you help me dress.”

After speaking, she carefully moved her legs, seemingly wanting to reveal her body to make it easier for Jiang Yao to dress her. But in the end, she was too embarrassed; her legs parted halfway, then quietly closed again. Her cheeks were white flushed with red as she shyly lowered her head.

Jiang Yao: …

I didn’t actually want to dress you, hey!

“Don’t you have hands? Dress yourself!”

Jiang Yao said ferociously.

Song Muyun: …

The blush faded, and her expression instantly returned to normal. She took the clothes and snorted lightly, “Clearly you were the one who offered to dress me, and now you’re fierce with me.”

Jiang Yao blushed and looked away, deliberately not answering her.

She thought, Why is the female lead like this…

She even asked me to dress her. Isn’t the female lead’s body something no one but the male lead can see?

No, wait, pui pui pui, the male lead can’t see it either. Why should he? That dog thing³.

Jiang Yao thought of Murong Qing and cursed him out in her heart again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that she was dressed, so she dared to look at her directly.

“Then I’ll apply the medicine for you? You can’t be lazy next time. Apply the medicine a few more times so the scars fade faster.”

Just as she said she was going to get the medicine, a soaking wet dudou was handed to her face by Song Muyun. Her eyes were shining as she whispered, “Can you help me put this inside? It’ll be more convenient when the palace servants come to collect it.”

Jiang Yao: …

“You really are treating me like a maid.”

There was some helplessness in her words, but after speaking, she obediently did it. Song Muyun watched her back, hugging her legs as she sat on the bed, radiating obedience from head to toe. She thought, I don’t treat you like a maid. Isn’t this how husbands and wives interact with each other?

Woman and woman, can’t they be husband and wife? Wife and wife is also possible.

As long as you’re willing.

Of course, it won’t work if you aren’t willing. Anyway, you spoil me like this and agree to everything.

If you don’t agree, I’ll just pester you. I’ll pester you until you agree. Would you really have the heart to drive me away?

Song Muyun thought with a red face. It was the first time she realized she could be so thick-skinned.

When Jiang Yao came back from putting the things away, she was already dressed in her inner clothes. At the moment, Jiang Yao bypassed Song Muyun, rolled around on the bed first, and let out a long sigh. “Dying of exhaustion, I’m sore all over.”

The sorest parts were those two arms. She’d been swinging her sword all day, and those assassins weren’t completely without skill; at least they had considerable strength, shaking her entire arms until they were sore and weak.

Just after rolling twice, she looked up and saw Song Muyun still sitting there. Remembering there was still business to attend to, she crawled back up, found the medicine in the chest, and told her to lie down. Without looking sideways, she lifted the inner shirt, revealing the snow-white flesh marked with several pink scars. She dipped her fingertips in the ointment and applied it. After finishing the back, she applied it to the front. The cool ointment landing on the flesh was a bit itchy and a bit comfortable, causing Song Muyun to squirm constantly. So, she was held down by Jiang Yao, who grabbed her exposed, snow-white, slender waist, forbidding her from moving. After applying it, she flipped over and lay back on the bed, looking up at the little girl who was still sitting properly hugging her legs. “Tired? Want to sleep together for a while?”

She asked, and then Song Muyun opened her arms toward her.

Jiang Yao’s movements paused. A moment later, she sat up naturally, pulled the person into her arms, then with one hand holding her shoulder and back and the other supporting her bottom, she stuffed her into the blanket along with herself.

The flush behind her ears was hidden in her hair; no one noticed.

She kept her face expressionless, roughly patting Song Muyun’s back twice, urging her, “Go to sleep quickly, I’m sleepy.”

“Mhm, okay.”

Song Muyun was well-behaved this time. She snuggled a little deeper into her embrace, then obediently closed her eyes.

Jiang Yao also closed her eyes. She had fought a lot today and her body was tired, so she fell asleep in no time.

She didn’t know that after she fell asleep, the little fairy, who wasn’t very tired, opened a pair of clear eyes. She brought her face close to hers, and then, lightly kissed the corner of her lips.

Probably because she was too familiar with this person, and too familiar with the pleasant fragrance on her body, Jiang Yao had absolutely no guard up.

After being kissed, she merely moved her head, then hugged Song Muyun’s waist and rolled over, flipping the person from the inside of the bed to the outside.

Song Muyun’s heart jumped to her throat, almost crying out in surprise. Luckily, she held it back. So Jiang Yao likes to sleep like this. No wonder she said her sleeping posture wasn’t good.

The little girl smiled until her eyes curved, feeling that Jiang Yao was becoming more and more cute. Cute when sleeping, and cute when awake.

She burrowed into Jiang Yao’s arms, forcefully monopolizing the most comfortable spot, closed her eyes, and began to brew drowsiness.

After a short while, she fell asleep too.

This sleep lasted a very long time. When Jiang Yao woke up, the sky outside was already a dim yellow.

She climbed up in a daze, her arms still holding the woman’s soft body.

Song Muyun had appeared on the inner side of the bed again, so she didn’t realize she had rolled around holding the person while sleeping.

She patted the flexible lower back of the person in her arms. “Time to get up, I’ll take you to get food.”

Song Muyun had slept enough. She was already a lighter sleeper than Jiang Yao, so she woke as soon as she was called. When she opened her eyes, she was still a bit confused, but soon fully sobered up. Her eyes were clear to the bottom. She nodded and got up to change clothes.

Jiang Yao changed into a set of green martial attire. Song Muyun’s hand, which had landed on a white skirt, paused. She turned and picked up a cyan-green long dress instead.

Originally a somewhat cold and aloof woman, changing into this outfit made people dare not approach her even more.

Except those people didn’t include Jiang Yao.

Jiang Yao changed her dress with ease, fixed her long hair with a single hairpin, then raised her hand to pull Song Muyun’s hand. “Let’s go, my Young Miss. I’ll take you to mooch some food.”

Song Muyun was a bit curious. Following behind her, she asked, “Where are we going to mooch food? Also, don’t call me Young Miss. It’s so unruly if people hear it.”

Jiang Yao didn’t answer the first sentence, only the second. “What’s unruly about it? I just love calling you that. Who cares about them?”

“What if it reaches your father’s ears and he dislikes me?”

“You think too much. My dad is too lazy to care about such small matters. Even if I enshrined you as an ancestor⁴, he wouldn’t care.”

Although she didn’t know if it was true or false, Jiang Yao’s words still made Song Muyun feel a bit more at ease.

The little girl’s eyes were crystal bright. She blushed and said, “Who wants to be your ancestor? I won’t be one.”

“I coax you every day; aren’t you my ancestor? Even if my family’s actual ancestors visited personally, they wouldn’t make me coax them like this.”

She was hinting that Song Muyun had a big temper.

Song Muyun wouldn’t have it, chasing after her to argue.

There were many noble ladies and young masters here. Some noble ladies stopped admiring the flowers and looked over with disdain, feeling that Song Muyun was originally a Young Miss from a noble family, but after entering the Music Bureau, she had learned to serve others with beauty like those lowly people. And she was serving the Jiang family’s sword-wielding, extremely fierce and rude woman, of all people. Being so unpicky.

There were also noble ladies who showed her kindness, smiling as they watched her leave with Jiang Yao, turning to talk to their sisters about the Song family being framed.

Jiang Yao had caused a scene over this matter and even warned that batch of newly grown silk-pants in the capital. Therefore, the news that the Song family case was actually a frame-up had spread extremely widely; many commoners knew it too.

When Jiang Yao took Song Muyun to the bonfire roasting meat for the night, the Emperor hadn’t arrived yet. Many ministers hadn’t arrived either. Only two princes and some young masters and misses who couldn’t wait to eat roast meat had come. Among them was the Second Prince, sitting in front of a bright bonfire roasting the meat in his hand.

Jiang Yao saw quite a few prey in the basket beside him. She narrowed her eyes and didn’t hesitate for long before pulling Song Muyun over. Rarely, she bowed to someone with proper rules. “Second Prince, Your Highness.”

The Second Prince looked up at the sound. Seeing it was her, he nodded at her. “Miss Jiang.”

“The Second Prince can just call this official’s daughter⁵ Jiang Yao.”

Jiang Yao found a nearby place to sit herself, but didn’t let Song Muyun sit. She turned her head and asked the Second Prince’s attendant to find a small stool.

Her behavior was truly too natural, causing the Second Prince to look at her in surprise.

Yet she was smiling, not feeling anything was wrong at all. Song Muyun, on the other hand, was very embarrassed. She squatted beside Jiang Yao with a red face and whispered, “I-I don’t need a small stool, it’s fine.”

Jiang Yao smiled at the Second Prince, but turned to her with a serious face. “The weather is so cold and your body is weak. How can you sit directly on the ground? Careful you don’t freeze.”

The Second Prince asked her with a smile, “Did you and the Song family’s Young Miss know each other from before?”

“Before? How far back is before?”

“From when Lord Song was still around.”

“Oh, then we didn’t know each other. We only met later.”

“Then you haven’t known each other long? You look like friends of many years.”

Jiang Yao kept a poker face: “Haven’t I said it before? I’m a mirror polisher⁶.”

She thought the Second Prince wanted to hint at her lesbianism again.

The Second Prince’s name was Murong Han⁷. Hearing her not shy away from the matter of being a mirror-grinder at all, he only felt Jiang Yao was a straightforward woman. He laughed and was about to speak when another woman’s gentle voice sounded from behind him. “This concubine wondered where you went. Turns out you were avoiding this concubine to secretly roast meat here?”

Murong Han was originally smiling, but at this moment, Jiang Yao suddenly felt his smile had a few more degrees of sincerity. He turned to look at the beautiful woman walking over and reached out to hold her hand. “You’re here. I was clearly roasting meat for you, yet you slander me.”

The woman sat down gracefully. Just then, the attendant brought the small stool over. Seeing the Princess Consort here, he was a bit confused, holding the stool and not knowing who to give it to, until Jiang Yao actively took the stool, said thanks, and placed it behind Song Muyun.

She also saw the Princess Consort and felt somewhat apologetic, explaining, “Muyun’s body is weak, she can’t stand the cold.”

The Princess Consort had a gentle temperament and wouldn’t make things difficult for others over such small matters. She nodded to express understanding, then went to hold the Second Prince’s arm, whispering something to him.

Song Muyun was arranged properly, but she still didn’t know why Jiang Yao suddenly sought out the Second Prince to talk.

They weren’t… familiar with the Second Prince.

But soon, she knew. Jiang Yao chatted with the Second Prince about everything under the sun. As they chatted, the topic landed on today’s autumn hunt. Jiang Yao first spoke about the various thrills inside the hunting forest. Hearing that someone shot an arrow from the dark straight at them and almost hit, the Princess Consort exclaimed in fear repeatedly. Then she heard Jiang Yao change the subject, mentioning, “So… because of various accidents in the woods, this official’s daughter’s prey seems to have run away. Second Prince, Your Highness…”

She didn’t finish her sentence, but her gaze stared fervently at the prey in Murong Han’s basket. It was hard not to guess what she wanted to say.

Second Prince, Princess Consort: …

The two exchanged a glance. The Princess Consort hurriedly said, “Then Miss Jiang, quickly see if there’s anything you want to eat. No need to be polite. Anyway, there’s so much, the Second Prince and I can’t finish it. Just consider it thanks for saving Eighth Brother.”

Jiang Yao smiled, eyes curving. “The Princess Consort is truly beautiful and kind-hearted. Then this official’s daughter won’t be polite. Yun-Yun, is rabbit meat okay?”

She turned back to ask Song Muyun.

Song Muyun finally knew where the so-called “mooching” was happening, and finally knew why she was joking around with the Second Prince like that.

“Take whatever you want to eat, don’t ask me.”

She turned her head away in embarrassment. The little girl, who had never begged anyone for food, had red cheeks and her voice carried a natural pettiness.

Jiang Yao remembered she said she wanted to eat wild rabbit and wild pheasant before, but there were no pheasants here. She handily picked up a wild rabbit by the nape of its neck and took it away.

The ingredients had been processed by palace servants beforehand. Jiang Yao borrowed a water flask to rinse it slightly, then used her sword to skewer the meat, mooching off the Second Prince’s fire to roast it.

The Second Prince worked hard to roast the game in his hand, but it wasn’t for himself to eat. He handed the game to the attendant beside him. “Go, send it to the Eighth Prince.”

The Eighth Prince was heavily injured and couldn’t get out of bed, so he wasn’t here. The Princess Consort clung to the Second Prince with some dissatisfaction. “Didn’t you say you were roasting meat for me? After all that, roasting for Eighth Brother was the truth?”

“I’ll roast yours right away. I’m right here, I can’t run away. What are you rushing for? Eighth Brother can’t eat, let him have the first round. How about I roast a quail for you?”

“You managed to hunt quail this year?”

The Princess Consort seemed pleasantly surprised. Watching the Prince skewer the quail to roast, she disregarded Jiang Yao and the others being present and pressed against his chest to look at the tiny quail meat. “Why is it so small? You didn’t kill a child that hasn’t grown up yet, did you?”

“Quails are just this small, dummy.”

“I’m not dumb.”

The two bickered back and forth; anyone with discerning eyes could tell they were a loving couple.

The more Jiang Yao watched, the more she felt something was wrong. She looked again at Song Muyun beside her, and her heart suddenly felt a bit weird. Why was her interaction with Muyun usually similar to this couple?

Always bickering too.

Song Muyun craned her neck to look at the rabbit meat in her hand. The skin was roasted slightly charred, and a fragrance was spilling out. The more she looked, the brighter her eyes became. Jiang Yao reached out to block her. “Be careful, don’t let the fire singe your hair.”

“Oh.”

Song Muyun sat back obediently, clutching Jiang Yao’s arm, and said to her, “This is the first time you’ve personally made food for me.”

“Mm-hmm? Then whose stomach did the fish from last time go into?”

Jiang Yao shot a glance at Song Muyun. Song Muyun’s body stiffened, finally remembering that fish which had even caused them to have a fight.

A trace of guilt instantly flashed across her face. She whispered, “Then I forgot. The fish last time was also delicious. Will you take me to eat it again next time, okay?”

Jiang Yao flipped the rabbit over before speaking. “We’ll see if I have time. I don’t want to go recently.”

That day had left a bad impression on her after all. Went there happily, ended up making the person cry.

Song Muyun sensed her poor mood. She bit her lip lightly, ripples flowing in her eyes, somewhat unsure of what to do.

“Besides rabbit, do you want to eat wild pheasant? If you want, I’ll go get one for you.”

The Second Prince didn’t have pheasants here, but someone always did. She would go to their place and mooch one.

As long as one’s skin was thick, what couldn’t be mooched?

Song Muyun thought she had made her unhappy, so she nodded obediently. “No more. I can’t even finish the rabbit. Will you eat with me, okay?”

She invited cautiously. On one hand, she wanted to test if Jiang Yao was angry; on the other, her appetite was indeed extremely small. A rabbit was too much for her; she couldn’t finish it at all.

Jiang Yao laughed. “You want me to eat your leftovers? Song Xiao-Yun, don’t be too excessive.”

She deliberately distorted Song Muyun’s meaning. Seeing that she wasn’t unhappy, the little girl became much more at ease. Her eyes widened, glaring at her huffily. “How am I making you eat leftovers? You take half, I take half, how can that count as leftovers?”

Giving leftover food to others was an extremely humiliating act. She had been taught by her father since childhood to treat people with courtesy; naturally, she couldn’t do such a thing!

“Can you finish half?”

Jiang Yao raised an eyebrow, not quite believing her.

Song Muyun clenched her fist. The words had already reached this point; she retorted huffily, “Naturally,” even though she was extremely guilty inside. On the surface, she seemed to have plenty of confidence, as if she really could finish it.

Jiang Yao hooked her lips in a light smile. “Good, then I’ll wait for you to finish it.”

The rabbit took a good while to fully roast. Jiang Yao sprinkled on some seasoning salt, cornel⁸, and pepper, roasted it a while longer to let the flavor soak in, then took a dagger from her chest. She washed it with water, carved a slice off the rabbit meat, and sent it to Song Muyun’s face. “Taste it.”

Before it was even done roasting, the aroma of the sizzling oil had been drilling into people’s noses. Song Muyun had been craving it for a long time.

Her small mouth blew lightly on the meat, then she parted her lips, carefully using her snow-white teeth to catch the piece of meat into her mouth.

Crispy outside and tender inside, juicy and plentiful. Very fragrant.

Song Muyun’s eyes lit up. “So delicious.”

After speaking, she covered her lips and chewed slowly. “Just a little spicy.”

“Mhm, then eat more. This half is all yours,” Jiang Yao said deliberately, knowing how small her appetite was.

Song Muyun’s body went slightly stiff. She looked up, glaring at Jiang Yao with a gaze containing both gloom and charm, almost glaring half her body into crispiness.

Stopping her deliberate teasing, Jiang Yao coughed lightly and began to seriously carve the rabbit meat for her.

She got a plate, and half the meat was carved off cleanly by her.

The Emperor still hadn’t appeared for some reason. The smell of meat permeated the entire grassland.

The Second Prince’s Consort couldn’t sit still anymore. She poked the Second Prince, then looked at Jiang Yao. The Second Prince followed her gaze to look at Jiang Yao, then back at his own Consort, still not understanding what was wrong.

The Princess Consort glared at him in disgust, then spoke elegantly to Jiang Yao. “Miss Jiang seems to roast meat very well. Did you study specifically?”

Jiang Yao answered without looking up, “I was raised at the border pass before. I often went to the nearby mountains with the soldiers to hunt wild game for a fresh taste.”

The Princess Consort smiled. “No wonder it smells so fragrant. It’s making me a bit startled with craving just smelling it.”

Jiang Yao’s movements paused slightly, and the corner of her mouth twitched. She thought this Princess Consort was as straightforward as she was; the hint couldn’t be more obvious.

She asked the attendant nearby for another clean plate, carved off the majority of the remaining rabbit meat, and said generously, “Then the Princess Consort should taste it too. My skill is indeed not bad.”

The Princess Consort’s eyes lit up. She said pleasantly, “Oh, then thank you very much, Miss Jiang. Can I call you Jiang Yao? You really are a good person.”

“Giving you some meat makes me a good person?”

Jiang Yao lowered her head and continued carving meat. When she wasn’t making an expression, she looked a bit cold and indifferent.

But the Princess Consort didn’t mind at all. She nodded. “I heard people say you are a very fierce person, and whoever provokes you will get beaten up. Out of everyone in the capital, you are only good to the Song family’s Miss beside you. I thought you wouldn’t give me any, I didn’t expect you to be so kind.”

The Second Prince smiled brightly, speaking up for his wife. “She rarely goes out usually; she hears many things from others. Don’t mind her.”

What was there to mind?

Jiang Yao wasn’t stingy. She nodded and said to the Princess Consort again, “I’m also pretty good to Ru’er.”

“Ru’er?”

The Princess Consort didn’t get out much and didn’t know who Ru’er was. The Second Prince whispered in her ear, “That is Jiang Yao’s cousin, the daughter of the Longhu General, Jiang Ru.”

“Oh, so it’s like that.”

“For them to make you like them, they must have some surpassing qualities, right?”

The Princess Consort ate a piece of meat, her eyes shining like fire in the night. “Sure enough, it’s very delicious. Smells fragrant, tastes delicious too.”

Jiang Yao didn’t speak. Some people, she disliked at first glance. But some people, she liked at first glance. How could one say for sure?

Song Muyun had pricked up her ears to listen secretly, just wanting to know what surpassing qualities she had to make Jiang Yao like her. She didn’t expect Jiang Yao to stop talking right there.

She pursed her lips, feeling a little disappointed, but in the end said nothing. She obediently ate the meat Jiang Yao got for her, the spicy heat making her red lips swell slightly.

Jiang Yao wasn’t as refined as the young girls in the capital. She directly tore a strip from the remaining meat and fed it into her mouth.

Song Muyun should have felt that such behavior was rude and vulgar, but actually, she didn’t. Instead, she felt Jiang Yao was very free and easy like this, very… likable.

At least, likable to her.

The little girl thought to herself. Unknowingly, her stomach felt full.

She gently pulled at Jiang Yao’s sleeve, biting her lip and looking at her with watery eyes.

Jiang Yao had just eaten meat; her lips were shiny, and there were some grease stains at the corner of her mouth. Song Muyun took out a handkerchief and helped her wipe the grease stains.

While wiping, she asked, “Jiang Yao, are… are you full?”

She asked smoothly, but her eyes were embarrassed to look at her, glancing around in panic.

Jiang Yao snorted lightly, immediately understanding the intent behind her gentle grace. Without hesitation: “Thinking of making me help you eat? Impossible.”

Who told Song Muyun to say firmly that she could finish it? She just wanted to tease her.

Song Muyun blushed red. A woman’s skin was thin; after being rejected once, she was too embarrassed to ask a second time no matter what.

She didn’t speak, leaving only her watery eyes shimmering with light.

A moment later, she actually got angry at herself. She suddenly withdrew the handkerchief and denied, “I didn’t think of making you help me eat. If you won’t eat, you won’t eat. I’ll eat it myself.”

She was terribly annoyed. A thin layer of red rose on the side of her face. The color that was originally red from shyness had now turned red from anger.

Clearly, she couldn’t eat anymore, but she didn’t want to waste it, so she ate with a frown. The grievance and unhappiness in her eyes were almost overflowing.

Jiang Yao thought, Angering people occasionally is fun, but if I really make her furious, she’ll be hard to coax.

Slender fingers suddenly appeared, snatching away the plate that wasn’t held steadily enough. Song Muyun looked up to glare at the plate snatcher.

Jiang Yao poked the meat with her dagger and ate while saying, “I was joking with you, couldn’t even tell? So dumb.”

She intended to coax her, softening her voice. It was clearly a step back, but Song Muyun didn’t want to step back. Not only did she not retreat, she wanted to go a step further, like giving an inch and taking a mile. She turned her head away, not looking at Jiang Yao, and her voice carried suppressed displeasure. “Dislike me for being dumb? Then go find someone smart. No need to care about my life or death anymore.”

Jiang Yao: …

“Getting angry so easily?”

This time she poked the hornet’s nest again. Song Muyun even turned her head to glare at her with red-rimmed eyes. “Dislike me for getting angry easily? Then go find someone who doesn’t get angry easily! No need to care about me!”

The Princess Consort looked at them in surprise, leaning against the Second Prince, whispering, “Look, they’re quarreling.”

The Second Prince reached out to embrace the Consort’s waist, placing the freshly roasted quail on her plate. “No need to mind them. Taste this.”

“But what you made isn’t as delicious as what Jiang Yao made.”

She ate what the Second Prince made every time; she was tired of it long ago.

The Second Prince gave a smile that wasn’t a smile, hugging her as he stood up to go to a nearby palace hall, wanting to have a talk about “principles.”

Those two left, and Jiang Yao didn’t even notice. She sat by the bonfire, just feeling a headache. Okay, actually her heart hurt a little too, but only a little bit. She just couldn’t bear to see Song Muyun wronged.

She reached out to pull the little girl’s fingers. The little girl wouldn’t let her touch, and even tried to snatch the food in her plate. “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t help me eat? Give it back, this is mine!”

The narrow corners of her eyes were dyed with angry pink, her brows lightly furrowed. Her beautiful face was flushed with anger, yet she was charming in a way that made people unable to look away.

Jiang Yao dodged back with the hand holding the plate, half her body leaning back, letting Song Muyun lie all over her to fight for that plate of roast meat. She even had the leisure to reason with her. “What do you mean this is yours? I roasted it, and I carved it. It can’t count as yours.”

Song Muyun’s pupils dilated slightly, as if she couldn’t believe what she heard. The arm fighting for the rabbit meat froze. A moment later, she withdrew it silently, stood up with a cold face, and walked away with her back to Jiang Yao.

Jiang Yao was dazed for a moment, not reacting. When she realized she had said the wrong thing again, she hurriedly chased after her.

Even when this angry, the little girl would only walk fast, not run. Jiang Yao caught up immediately.

She was still very unhappy, but there were many people here. Jiang Yao didn’t make any big moves like hugging her, to avoid embarrassing Song Muyun along with herself.

She just held the roast meat plate in one hand and went to pull Song Muyun’s hand with the other.

Pulling the little girl into a dim corner where no light could reach, she said helplessly, “Why do you ignore people as soon as you get angry, and run away too? My meat has gone cold. Do you want to eat another piece?”

She acted as if nothing had happened, which made Song Muyun even angrier. “Who wants to eat your meat? This is yours, what right do I have to eat it? Me running is my business too. Since you’re unhappy, why bother caring about me!”

The darkness hid Song Muyun’s slightly red eye rims, but Jiang Yao had excellent eyesight and still caught a glimpse or two.

The sound of light, crisp slaps rang out. Jiang Yao patted her own mouth twice. “It was me who can’t speak properly, making you sad. Ancestor, don’t be angry, okay? Isn’t my stuff just your stuff? How can we separate things so clearly?”

Song Muyun had almost moved to stop her when she heard her hitting herself, but at this moment her expression went cold again, her voice clear and chilly. “What does your stuff have to do with me? It’s not mine.”

She tried hard to appear completely indifferent, but her voice couldn’t help leaking a fraction of grievance.

“How is there no relation? My stuff, I’m happy to give it to you. I said the wrong thing just now. Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. I’ll massage your shoulders to apologize when we get back, okay?”

Jiang Yao spoke again, already sufficiently humble. While coaxing her, she ate the rabbit meat clean bite by bite, until only the last piece was stuffed into Song Muyun’s mouth by her amidst the confusion.

“This piece is the most delicious, I saved it for you.”

Song Muyun was just preparing to speak when she was stuffed by this piece of meat until she couldn’t talk. She could only glare at her with her eyes, wanting to spit the meat out. But her upbringing since childhood made her unable to do such a crude and wasteful thing. She could only bite the meat hatefully. After finally swallowing the meat in her mouth, Jiang Yao held her hand and said, “You ate my stuff, so you can’t be angry at me anymore.”

Song Muyun: ???

There’s actually such forced buying and selling?

And besides, who cared to eat it!

Clearly you forced it in. The little girl was so angry she couldn’t speak for a moment. Jiang Yao knew she was angry but insisted on going up to pull the tiger’s whiskers. She touched the back of Song Muyun’s head where her hair was bunned neatly, then pulled the person into her arms, hugging her waist to coax her. “Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. Little Ancestor has a big heart. I’ll roast wild pheasant for you tomorrow, okay?”

The person in her arms was pulled over, but her body was stiff and she remained silent. Jiang Yao could only increase the stakes. “I’ll take you hunting with me tomorrow, okay? Just right to let you distract your mind, don’t be cooped up all day.”

“Who would be happy to go hunting with you.”

The little girl pushed her. She was a bit coy, but her body had gradually softened.

Hunting always requires riding the same horse. Forget it, Jiang Yao always speaks without using her brain. It’s not like she doesn’t know that.

Seeing her like this, Jiang Yao knew she was coaxed well again.

The Little Ancestor loved to get angry, but she was also very easy to coax. Spending a little effort to coax her and she would forgive her. It was a good thing such a temperament was being raised by her; if raised by someone else, she would be easily bullied.

Jiang Yao pressed against her face, feeling once again that among all the men she had seen, no one was worthy of the charming and soft little girl in her arms.

The two were embracing silently in the dark when a eunuch-looking person suddenly came, standing in the light, shouting in a sharp, high voice, “Prime Minister Jiang Heng’s daughter, Jiang Yao, where is she? Duke Cheng’s daughter, Li Xiting⁹, where is she?”

Jiang Yao’s figure paused. Song Muyun also forgot the lingering anger in her heart, instinctively grabbing her hand. “What matter would they find you for?”

“Since they sought the Duke’s daughter, it should be for today’s assassins. I’ll go make a trip. You…”

“I’ll go with you.”

Song Muyun didn’t need to think twice; she didn’t hesitate. She always wanted to be together with her.

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