The Royal’s Little Lady

Gu Sui’er could feel that the Old Madam and the Madam had come and that they were getting anxious with the passage of time, but she just couldn’t wake up.

 

She was still trapped in that dream. In the dream, she collapsed dazedly on the dusty road and looked at his gradually shrinking figure riding the horse. There was nothing she could do.

 

She stretched out her hand to grab the edge of his clothes, but she couldn’t even touch it.

 

She knew this was a dream and that she should wake up.

 

However, she simply couldn’t wake up ah.

 

Then, for some reason, her consciousness plunged into deep darkness and she fell fast asleep.

 

When she finally opened her eyes, the one she saw was Xiao Heng.

 

Xiao Heng stood in front of her in silence.

 

Just like in her dream, he was wearing an impressive purple robe. Even his black hair was neatly tied with a jade guan1Guan [冠] – It is a type of hair binding ornament with which ancient Chinese men used to bind their hair. It kind of looks like this: , making him look incomparably handsome.

 

None of the guests at the inn could match his appearance.

 

She looked up at him. To her surprise, she noticed an unclear emotion in his pair of serene and deep eyes… Was he at a complete loss? Was he worried about her?

 

She frowned slightly, wondering if she had misinterpreted his expression.

 

She must still be in a dream ah. Or else how could he, Xiao Heng, be like this?

 

The Xiao Heng she knew had always been cold, cheerless, and aloof. How could he ever look like what he was now?

 

As a result, after thinking about it for a while, she felt that there was something wrong with this dream and closed her eyes again.

 

Xiao Heng watched as her long eyelashes trembled a few times before she opened her eyes and looked at him. From her gaze, he felt as if she didn’t know him at all. Then, she unexpectedly closed her eyes again.

 

He stood at the edge of the bed, staring at her without saying a word.

 

After Gu Sui’er closed her eyes, she felt that she couldn’t fall asleep or have any more dreams.

 

Without any other option, she opened her eyes again. And when she opened her eyes, the one she saw was still Xiao Heng.

 

It was just that at this time, Xiao Heng was standing by the bed with an expressionless face and staring at her motionlessly.

 

Her thin lips twitched as she frowned slightly. She was at a loss; she really didn’t understand what was going on with him.

 

Xiao Heng watched as she opened and closed her eyes repeatedly and looked at him with a confused expression as if she failed to recognize him.

 

He finally said with some awkwardness: “You… Are you okay?”

 

When Gu Sui’er heard his voice, she blinked but she didn’t say anything.

 

Seeing this, Xiao Heng simply lifted his robe and sat on the edge of the bed.

 

“The Old Madam said that you are ill.”

 

At last, Gu Sui’er finally realized that this was not a dream. Xiao Heng had really come back to check on her.

 

Because of her sudden illness, the Old Madam had advised him to visit her.

 

Biting her lower lip with her white teeth lightly, she removed her gaze from him and mumbled: “It’s not a big deal. The third Master doesn’t have to worry.”

 

Xiao Heng stared at her side profile. Her elegantly shaped ears and the strands of smooth black hair made her look both tender and charming.

 

She had always been well-behaved, but now that she was feeling uneasy, it was inevitable that she would be in a bad mood.

 

She reminded him of the little rabbit he saw when he was a child.

 

“I heard from the Old Madam that you fell into a stupor from anxiety and grief. Who made you anxious? Or… did I unknowingly say something unpleasant?”

 

Xiao Heng fixed his gaze on the delicately embroidered quilt and asked in a hoarse voice.

 

He had probably never spoken so softly to anyone in his life.

 

Even the Emperor often talked to him in a coaxing tone, not daring to make him unhappy.

 

Hearing this, Gu Sui’er shook her head and said softly, “No.”

 

Her voice was quiet and feeble, different from the delicate and gentle tone of the past. It made anyone who heard her take pity on her.

 

Xiao Heng pursed his lips. He stared at her thin little face and asked in a low voice, “It is my fault, isn’t it?”

 

Gu Sui’er still shook her head.

 

This time, Xiao Heng didn’t know what else to say.

 

He had never been a talkative person. Moreover, now facing an unhappy and delicate woman, he was even more at a loss.

 

Perhaps because the silence in the room became a little oppressive, Gu Sui’er took a deep breath.

 

Xiao Heng moved his eyes away meaningfully and he noticed the tiny shoes placed beside the embroidered pillow.

 

They were of bright color and were extremely adorable. The workmanship was so fine that anyone would come to love it from the first glance.

 

Xiao Heng recalled how Gu Sui’er held these little shoes in her white and slender hands. She showed them to him as if she was offering her most precious treasure. At that time, her eyes shone brightly; her appearance was completely different from what she looked like now.

 

He reached out for the little shoes and fiddled with them.

 

His hands were much bigger than Gu Sui’er’s hands so the shoes seemed to have become much smaller and more exquisite in his hands. For a while, he couldn’t help but be astonished by their size. How could a child’s feet be so small?

 

When Gu Sui’er saw him holding the pair of shoes, an unknown emotion stirred in her eyes. She bit her lips and said, “Since the third Master doesn’t like them, you should put them down.”

 

Xiao Heng was stunned. He looked at Gu Sui’er, then looked at the shoes, and in the end, he silently put them back in their original place beside Gu Sui’er’s pillow.

 

As Gu Sui’er witnessed this scene, a chill spread in her heart. She felt wronged, and her tears dripped down.

 

Seeing her again, Xiao Heng didn’t know what to do. He frowned: “Did I do something wrong again?”

 

With bitterness in her heart, Gu Sui’er covered her face with the quilt and continued weeping: “How could the third Master have done something wrong. Wuwuwu, my little tadpole…”

 

Xiao Heng got into the bed, lifted the quilt, and hugged her body: “Were you unhappy because I didn’t take a good look at these shoes before?”

 

Gu Sui’er opened her moist eyes, her gaze full of endless grief: “The third Master doesn’t like them, so don’t look at them. Don’t look at them ah!”

 

Xiao Heng felt helpless: “I didn’t dislike them.”

 

Gu Sui’er: “Third Master is lying!”

 

Xiao Heng: “I’d be a puppy if I lied to you.” 

[T/N: Ahahaha a man-child spotted!]

 

Gu Sui’er: “…”

 

Her eyes widened as she looked at Xiao Heng in disbelief. Just a moment ago, she was feeling uncomfortable but now that he said that, a sense of incredulity and amusement filled her.

 

How could a cold and indifferent person like Xiao Heng say that he would be a puppy if he lied to her?

 

She tilted her head and looked at him for a long time. Soon, two drops of tear slipped down her cheeks as she blurted out without thinking: “Then you are a puppy!”

 

In any case, he is still lying to me.

 

He must have said those words to deceive her.

 

She turned her face away; she didn’t want to look at him anymore. Just at this time, the little tadpole moved slightly. Gu Sui’er stroked her belly and bit her lips.

 

But the man by her side didn’t speak a word again.

 

Gu Sui’er sulked inwardly, assuming that since he had first lied to her, he had come to coax her. 

 

But now that the time to console her had arrived, he was still not doing it! If he didn’t coax her, didn’t that mean he was lying to her all along?

 

Just say you weren’t feeling well so you didn’t pay attention to me before, won’t you? As for him saying that he didn’t dislike it, she didn’t believe it. She didn’t believe it at all!

 

Gu Sui’er muttered softly as she stroked her belly, feeling the little tadpole move around.

 

Her little tadpole was a good child who was considerate to its Mother. Whenever she felt bad, it would move around a few times, as if to comfort her.

 

But this time, after the little tadpole moved a few times, it stopped.

 

After another while of stroking her belly, Gu Sui’er suddenly realized that Xiao Heng hadn’t spoken yet.

[T/N: Lmao, she forgot about him already xD]

 

Is he gone?

 

She was embarrassed to look back directly, so she moved her head and looked back furtively.

 

Finally, she noticed his jade guan and the corner of his delicately embroidered purple robe made from the highest quality satin.

 

She quickly looked away, straightening her head and pretending not to have seen anything.

 

Hmph. So he hasn’t left yet!

 

She bit her lips, wondering what he was going to do.

 

At this moment, she unexpectedly heard his voice from behind.

 

“Woof woof woof.” 

[T/N: Bwahahaha, the raw says ‘汪汪汪’ which translates to ‘wang wang wang’. Here’s a hilarious youtube short about the different types of dog barking in different languages (ﾉ∇≦*) ]

 

Gu Sui’er felt that she had misheard.

 

The barking voice was hoarse and deep.

 

It was clearly a man’s voice, not a puppy.

 

Just then, she heard it again.

 

“Woof woof woof.”

 

Now Gu Sui’er knew that she had heard correctly.

 

Her eyes widened in surprise as she turned around in doubt, looking at the man behind her.

 

The man was Xiao Heng.

 

The long jade guan created a powerful contrast against his dark sword-like eyebrows, making his handsome and dignified face stand out further.

 

Without a doubt, he was the honorable and aloof third Master of Marquis RuiDing’s Mansion, Xiao Heng.

 

His lips were stretched taut as he looked at her with his cold eyes without speaking.

 

She sized him up carefully but she failed to discover any clue that could make her believe that he was the one who had barked just now.

 

Nevertheless, she wasn’t wrong. He had really barked ah.

 

She tilted her head and examined him carefully. No matter how she looked at it, she felt it was an extraordinary situation.

 

At long last, she noticed something odd about him.

 

She leaned over to take a closer look and confirmed that the tip of his ears was faintly red.

 

This man’s skin was so good that it was almost jade-like. Therefore, if there was even a little bit of an anomaly, everyone could clearly discern it.

 

Now that his ears were flushed, she could easily detect it.

 

Under her scrutinizing gaze, the man’s originally expressionless face slowly turned red.

 

He pursed his lips and asked in a deadly earnest tone, “What else do you want to say?”

 

Gu Sui’er was surprised. She was unable to make sense of what she was hearing: “Eh?”

 

Xiao Heng sat upright on the bed and said solemnly, “Didn’t you say that a liar is a puppy?”

 

Gu Sui’er was so shocked that her little mouth opened wide.

 

“You mean you’re a puppy so you’re learning how to bark like one?”

 

Xiao Heng said nothing.

 

He had already barked. Could it be that he had to admit it with his own mouth?

 

Gu Sui’er thought for a while. Suddenly, she snorted softly and muttered, “Sure enough, you were indeed lying to me. You dislike these tiny shoes, you even dislike my little tadpole… You dislike me…”

 

Xiao Heng, who had just learned how to bark, grabbed her wrist quickly.

 

“I’m not happy. My heart feels discontent.”

 

It was really difficult for Xiao Heng to admit this, so he said this in an awkward manner.

 

But after he finished speaking, he felt relaxed.

 

It was as if a stone that was pressing on his chest was slowly being removed.

 

“You… Why are you unhappy ah…?” Gu Sui’er was a little stunned. She licked her lips and asked in a confused tone.

 

“I had told you earlier not to mind those irrelevant people. You’re pregnant now, so you need to take good care of yourself. But what was the result?”

 

“…” For a short while, Gu Sui’er couldn’t say anything. She couldn’t understand why he cared so much about this matter: “B-but I have nothing to do anyway! I merely wanted to do something for my little tadpole. Can’t I do even that…”

 

She didn’t understand. Even if she made a mistake, was it a huge mistake?

 

Xiao Heng gripped her wrist tightly, his eyes staring straight into hers. Currently, the two were so close that they could feel each other’s breath.

 

An incomprehensible emotion swirled in his black eyes.

 

“Did you embroider a handkerchief for Jiang Zheng?”

 

It was difficult to utter these words, but once he said it, he stared at her intently.

 

Today, Jiang Zheng followed Xiao Heng and the Emperor to go somewhere, and unexpectedly, they were attacked by assassins.

 

Jiang Zheng was seriously injured at that time so Xiao Heng especially went to visit him.

 

Xiao Jin happened to be there too.

 

There, both Xiao Jin and Xiao Heng noticed that Jiang Zheng had a handkerchief embroidered with bamboo.

 

Those bamboos, how could Xiao Heng not recognize them? After all, he had drawn them with his own hands.

 

He had given his paintings to Gu Sui’er because she said she wanted to embroider something.

 

In the end, she embroidered it and gave it to Jiang Zheng.

 

Her workmanship was indeed outstanding. The embroidered bamboo on the handkerchief was so vivid and lifelike that it was even more ingenious than his painting.

 

But that embroidered handkerchief was with Jiang Zheng.

 

No matter how good the embroidery was, in his eyes, it was like a thorn that pierced his heart.

 

In fact, he knew her temperament. He might not have thought too much about this if it was changed to someone else but since it was Jiang Zheng, this was a totally different matter.

 

“I… For Jiang Zheng?” Gu Sui’er frowned. She muttered in shock, “Why would I embroider a handkerchief for Jiang Zheng?”

 

Although she came from the countryside and didn’t really understand the strict rules of this residence, in their village, a girl embroidering a handkerchief for a man was considered deeply meaningful.

 

How could she embroider a handkerchief for another man?

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1Guan [冠] – It is a type of hair binding ornament with which ancient Chinese men used to bind their hair. It kind of looks like this: