Marrying the Crown Prince

Returning from the hunting grounds, Li Changyuan quietly followed behind Chen Muchuan and Xi Qiu. The two walked side by side, greeting the soldiers who rushed over in a hurry.

Li Changyuan's brows suddenly relaxed. He seemed to understand why the soldiers at the border and the servants in the general's mansion accepted Xi Qiu, an ordinary person, as the mistress of the mansion.

They are indeed a perfect match.

Xi Qiu's character is a perfect match for Chen Muchuan.

Or, when we return to the capital, we can ask our father for a favor, so that these two lovers will no longer have to suffer together.

Li Changyuan was pondering when he suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He looked over and saw Chen Muchuan staring at him.

"gentlemen?"

"Ah."

Chen Muchuan responded indifferently, then looked away.

In two months, the weather will get colder.

Although winter has arrived in this southwestern region, the wind is not nearly as biting as in Kyoto.

But after winter set in, the area became extremely dry. Li Changyuan's initial thought, "I would rather die than use this kind of lip rouge that only women use," eventually changed because his lips were so chapped and bleeding—

“Sir, um, um…” He stood awkwardly in front of Chen Muchuan.

"Say something quickly."

"Sir, do you know where I can buy lip rouge?"

Chen Muchuan: "..."

Why do you have to come to me with such trivial matters?

He looked at the servant beside him and said, "Take Young Master Zhou to Changchun Pavilion."

"Yes," the servant replied.

"Thank you, sir," Li Changyuan said.

In a private room at Changchunlou Restaurant on the street, Xi Qiu leaned back lazily in her chair, holding a box of face powder in her hand. She played with it, then opened it, applied a little bit to the back of her hand, and brought it to her nose, gently enjoying the fragrance from nature.

The young woman working at Changchun Tower pushed open the door and entered. Upon seeing this scene, she couldn't help but sneer, "Interesting. You haven't really become a lady of a prominent family, have you?"

Xi Qiu's gentle features suddenly turned incredibly sharp, but she regained her composure the moment she looked up. "Hongmei, you've come."

Hongmei wasn't afraid of her, but to prevent the news from leaking out, she quietly closed the door and sat down opposite Xiqiu. "Since Miss Xiqiu has come to visit, I naturally have to come and serve her."

"Ha!" Xi Qiu sneered, "You've urged me three or four times already, how could I not come?"

"Yes, I've urged you three or four times before you finally came." Hongmei scoffed. "Xi Qiu, you haven't forgotten who you are, have you?"

Xi Qiu did not answer, and put the lid of the face powder back on.

Hongmei stared intently at her.

"knock--"

The perfume was closed. Xi Qiu looked up, calmly gazing at her, and replied, "How could that be?"

Upon hearing the answer, Hongmei suddenly smiled, "That's right. You and I are the same; what separates us from him is not just a difference in stance."

"We're separated from them by mountains of corpses and seas of blood!"

"In this life, we are destined to be enemies to the death."

As soon as Hongmei finished speaking, the powder box suddenly broke, and the powder scattered everywhere, emitting an extremely pungent odor.

"The food at Changchunlou is getting worse and worse." Xi Qiu said coldly, taking out a handkerchief from his sleeve and carefully wiping his hands.

Hongmei said no more and stood up. "Master said that we should get the deployment map within a month."

"If you refuse again, you will be content to remain a lady of the General's Mansion for the rest of your life, and you will no longer need to be a person of the Western Qin Kingdom."

Xi Qiu remained silent and did not answer.

Having grown up relying on each other, Hongmei felt a pang of pity, but more than that, she was disappointed in her son's lack of ambition.

She closed her eyes briefly and continued, "Do you still remember Uncle Gu and Aunt Gu?"

Xi Qiu's hand trembled.

“Think it over carefully,” Hongmei patted her shoulder. “I should go out and find work, otherwise it will arouse suspicion.”

After saying that, she walked towards the door. Just as Hongmei straightened her hand and touched the door frame, she heard Xi Qiu reply in a hoarse voice—

"I won't forget it."

Hongmei paused for a moment, then opened the door and strode out.

Li Changyuan arrived at Changchun Tower and looked up at the plaque above, where he saw the three large characters "Changchun Tower" written on it.

These characters are powerful and vigorous; every stroke contains the strength and soul of the writer.

"These characters are written exceptionally well," Li Changyuan said.

But why does it look so familiar?

"I heard this was written by the owner of Changchunlou," the servant added as a commentary.

"Oh?" Li Changyuan raised an eyebrow with interest. "Let's go in and take a look."

As soon as he entered the hall, he saw the figure in green behind the counter.

"Miss Xi Qiu." Li Changyuan bowed, of course, this was out of respect for Chen Muchuan, and also because he acknowledged her status.

"Young Master Zhou," Xi Qiu returned the greeting.

"Would you like to come along, young lady?"

"No, I've already bought it."

"it is good."

After saying goodbye, Li Changyuan rubbed his hands excitedly and looked at the shopkeeper, "Come on, bring out your most popular rouge and face powder."

He doesn't need it, but he can ask someone to send it back to Kyoto. Things from this side are probably not available in Kyoto.

Hearing that it was a big order, the shopkeeper's smile became even more genuine. "Alright, young master, this way please."

Half an hour later, Li Changyuan arrived at the counter, satisfied. "Check, please!"

To the shopkeeper, those two words sounded like heavenly music. Her hands clattered as she counted the coins, and then she said with a smile, "Young master, all the items together come to twenty-two taels and a little over one hundred and fifty coins. I'll round it down for you; twenty-two taels will be enough."

“Yes,” Li Changyuan nodded, “Please deliver the items to the General’s Mansion, and we will settle the bill there.”

"Okay." The shopkeeper recognized the servant beside him and, without suspecting anything, quickly agreed. Then, she deftly took out a new item. "Young master, please look, this is the latest lip rouge. I dare say there is no similar color in the entire Great Chen."

At this point, she bent down a little, leaned forward, and continued mysteriously, "This thing isn't on the shelves yet; you can't buy it."

"If you can't buy it, what do you mean by taking it out, young lady?"

"Oh dear," the shopkeeper said coquettishly, but without any affectation, "you are a distinguished customer of our shop, so naturally you are different from them, okay?"

Her tone of voice successfully made Li Changyuan's eyebrows curve into a smile—he was already a distinguished guest after only one visit.

The servant muttered to himself: "That's right. It's rare to have such a sucker. If you're not a 'distinguished guest,' then who is?"

Li Changyuan raised an eyebrow. "Oh? How is it different?"

Having asked that question, he had already decided to make another purchase, not for any other reason than the shopkeeper's sincere and heartfelt flattery.

"This is a gift for you, young master," the shopkeeper said.

"Oh?" Li Changyuan glanced at her. "You're quite an interesting shopkeeper."

The shopkeeper smiled but said nothing.

"Alright, then send everything to the General's Mansion."

"it is good."

As Li Changyuan emerged from Changchun Tower, he looked up again at the plaque above, his eyebrows curving into a smile once more.

The servant asked curiously, "Young master, what are you looking at?"

"Look at these characters."

"Is there anything different about this character?"

It's pretty, but no matter how pretty it is, you can't keep looking up at it, right? And standing in front of someone's shop, blocking their view, that's so weird.

“Nothing’s different,” Li Changyuan turned around gracefully. “Let’s go, come with me to the teahouse.”