Chongfei Manual [I]

Chapter 73.3

Zhao Jie personally poured a cup of tea, pushed the glazed white porcelain cup with a colorful magnolia flower pattern in front of her, gestured with his chin, and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Wei Luo came back to her senses. She slanted her head to look at him and thought about him kissing her in the private room... They were was also seen by the waiter... Her little face immediately blushed and she duplicity said, "Nothing important."

He quietly laughed and didn't continue asking about that question. Instead, he asked, "Ah Luo, are you clear about big brother's feelings?"

Just as Wei Luo was about to reply, she suddenly saw a trace of pink on his lips. After she carefully looked, she realized that it was her lipstick. It must have rubbed off on him when he was kissing her... Fortunately, it wasn't too obvious because she was wearing light pink lipstick today. However, if a person came close to Zhao Jie, they would definitely be able to see it. No wonder Zhao Jue had looked at them with a dubious expression in his eyes!

Wei Luo suddenly felt that she had lost her reputation. It was entirely Zhao Jie's fault!

Fortunately, Zhao Liuli hadn't returned yet to see this. If Liuli saw this, even if her mouth was as long as her body, she wouldn't be able to explain her innocence.

She didn't answer his question. She angrily pointed at the lipstick on his lips, "Wipe it away."

Zhao Jie wasn't sure what she wanted, so he asked, "What?"

She pursed her lips and explained, "My lipstick... It's on your lips."

Originally, she thought he would feel embarrassed. She wouldn't have guessed that the smile in his eyes would deepen. Not only was he not worried, he calmly used his thumb to wipe, "Here?"

No, it wasn't rubbed away at all. Wei Luo shook her head and continued pointing, "It's a little further up."

He wiped again, "Here?"

It was still wrong. He went in the wrong direction. Wei Luo was worried about delaying this. Liuli and Yang Zhen would be coming back soon. She could only take out her handkerchief and go forward to help him wipe away the lipstick. After she finished wiping, she carefully looked at this spot. She felt relieved after seeing that there wasn't a trace left. She nodded and was about to go back to her seat. But, Zhao Jie suddenly held her hand and said, "Ah Luo..."

At the same time, Zhao Liuli's voice came from outside, "Is it this room? You wouldn't have made a mistake, right?"

After she said this, the doors were pushed open.

Wei Luo hurriedly took back her hand and looked at the doors.

The doorway and the round table carved with lions were separated by a divider screen with a painting of birds in the center. When Zhao Liuli walked past the divider screen, Wei Luo had just sat down in her seat. Zhao Liuli happily walked to her side and brought out an oiled paper packet in front of her.

"Ah Luo, look. These are candied fruit sticks that I bought with older brother Yang Zhen. I just had a bite. It's really delicious..."

There were different types of candied fruit sticks inside the oiled paper. There were ones made entirely of hawthorn fruit and other ones made with a mix of hawthorn fruit and walnuts, cherries, or oranges. A layer of syrup had been poured over the fruit, then a thick layer of sesame had been sprinkled on top. A person would feel hungry just looking at this candy.

Wei Luo hadn't moved yet.

On the side, Zhao Jie said, "Let's eat lunch before eating the hawthorn candy."

Zhao Liuli obediently agreed. She always listened to Zhao Jie's words and didn't dare to be disobedient towards her older brother. She immediately put away the oiled paper packet, sat down at Wei Luo's side, and said, "I didn't want to become too full, so I only had half a bowl of jellied tofu and kept the rest of my stomach empty to eat lunch.

As for the remaining half of the bowl... she had naturally given it to Yang Zhen.

Yang Zhen was a bodyguard and normally couldn't eat with them. At this time, he was properly standing at the side.

Because Zhao Jie was present, Zhao Liuli didn't ask him to come over to eat together with them. But, occasionally, she would glance and smile at him when Zhao Jie wasn't paying attention.

Yang Zhen was also look at her. Although he didn't smile, the soft light in his eyes couldn't be concealed.

The four people were pondering and harboring thoughts in their minds during this meal.

*****

After lunch, Zhao Liuli had to go back to the palace.

Yu He was located in the Western Main Street and was very close to Duke Ying's residence. But, after they sat down in the carriage, Zhao Jie ordered the driver to go back to the palace first before sending Wei Luo back to Duke Ying's residence.

This meant that on the way from the palace to Duke Ying's residence she would be alone with Zhao Jie inside the carriage. She asked, "My home isn't far from here. It's only two streets way... It won't take long to get there. Could you send me back first?"

Zhao Jie was sitting across from here. He raised his eyes to look at her, "There's a time limit to how long Liuli can leave the palace. She'll be late if we're delayed."

Oh... fine. She was speechless at the moment.

The carriage soon arrived at the palace entrance. Before she left, Zhao Liuli smilingly whispered into her ear, "Ah Luo, your lipstick is gone."

Wei Luo froze for a moment. Stunned, she said, "You..."

These two siblings were both brilliant. Although Zhao Liuli usually behaved foolishly, she understood everything clearly. She knew that the relationship between Wei Luo and Zhao Jie was unusual. She could audaciously guess this because Zhao Jie never refrained from saying anything taboo in front of her. Now, her guess had become reality. It was very possible that before too long, her friend that was like a sister would become her sister-in-law.

In this way, Wei Luo would be even closer with her.

The more she thought, the more she felt good about this. Her movement when she left the carriage was very relaxed.

*****

However, inside the carriage, Wei Luo wasn't feeling happy.

Her mind kept thinking. How did Liuli know? When did she know? Did Her Majesty also know? The more she thought, the more her thoughts whirled around in confusion and distress.

*****

The carriage slowly went towards Duke Ying's residence.

Inside the carriage, Wei Luo looked down without saying anything. Zhao Jie also didn't open his mouth. The carriage had a silence that was difficult to endure. A long time later, she finally figured out what she wanted to say after deliberating. She slowly raised her lips and said, "What happened recently... I'll treat it as if nothing happened. Big brother was confused and made a mistake."

She had thought about this a lot, but she had never thought about accepting Zhao Jie.

This had been too sudden. At the moment, she felt confused and wasn't clear what she should be thinking. She only knew that she wanted more time to think.

As Zhao Jie listened to her, he silently looked at her.

The young girl's eyes were bright. This time she didn't avoid looking at him. She confidently looked at him while waiting for his reply.

Unfortunately... a long time later, he lightly said, "Ah Luo, this prince kissed you. You can't pretend that nothing happened."

Her little face froze.

He paused, then he gently continued, "This prince likes you. You can't act as if I don't like you."