Chapter 23: Plum blossom petals

Liang-shi naturally also had to go with everyone else. Gu Yu Qi hung onto Liang-shi’s clothes and did not leave her. She was quietly shaken off by Liang-shi.

“Ah Nan, you should stay with the others,” Liang-shi whispered to Gu Yu Qi. She was happy that her daughter was attached to her, but she could not keep her daughter for a lifetime. Although her daughter was a little young right now, she would be eligible to marry in four or five years. There was nothing wrong with chatting more with other noble girls.

Gu Yu Qi originally wanted to stay by her mother’s side, but since her mother said this, she could only let go and watch Liang-shi walk into the warm pavilion.

Without any other choice, she chose a secluded place to walk. Away from the crowd, she finally calmed down a little.

She had come to this courtyard several times in her previous life so she would not get lost. She found a sunny and secluded corridor and sat down, half leaning against the railing and watching the vigorous plum blossom trees in the courtyard. The warm afternoon sun and the fragrance of the plum blossoms was pleasant. Gu Yu Qi was planning to hide for a while, then go to Liang-shi saying that she was tired or cold so that Liang-shi would not push her out again.

The sounds of laughter and the zither could be heard faintly in the distance. Gu Yu Qi pulled the cloak on her body closer. There was a slight smile in the corner of her mouth. If this was her previous life, she would definitely think of a way to stand out among those people. This was pretty good now, leisurely spending the day.

Perhaps it was because she was wearing too much and the sun was shining and warm, but after a while, Gu Yu Qi fell asleep in a daze.

Yun Ke finally found an excuse to leave. He had never liked such gatherings, being surrounded by a crowd of chattering women. Although there were soft words and laughter in his ears, he found no joy in them.

He had been an emperor and he had been surrounded by the imperial harem for decades. He was already used to the blooming flowers in front of his eyes. Seeing the crown prince’s and Yun Yi’s enthusiasm, he followed and humoured them courteously but without sincerity and got a little tired of it.

He remembered that there was a small yard on the north side. The yard was sunny and quiet, so he walked over.

As soon as he entered the small yard, he saw a young girl sitting under the warm sun in the corridor. She was petite, yet to grow up fully, and wrapped up in a brocade cotton cloak. Her face was powdered and her lips were like cherry blossoms. She was leaning quietly on the railing to rest and she must have fallen asleep. Her eyes were closed tightly and her long lashes covered the pink face, leaving two graceful shadows.

The plum blossoms in the garden were blooming and the girl’s sleeping posture was quiet and beautiful.

She was actually hiding here. No wonder there was no trace of her in that group of people just now. If she was less wilful, she would be a demure and beautiful person. In his previous life, she had always been too flamboyant and dazzling, doing things that were too daring and always being different from others. Was she doing all those to get his attention? If she had clung onto him constantly in her past life, then what happened now?

Avoiding? Hiding? Or was she afraid?

It was only then that Yun Ke realised he seemed to be a bit lost in a trance.

A white plum blossom petal floated from the corridor and quietly landed on her forehead. The slightly icy petal touched her warm skin and she frowned slightly in discomfort. As though at the behest of some spirit or god, Yun Ke brushed the plum blossom petal away for her.

Feeling as if there was a haze floating above her head blocking the warm sun and having something brush against her forehead, Gu Yu Qi opened her eyes slightly. A vague shadow stood in front of her, the tall figure blocking the sun. Backlit by the light, she could not see his face clearly and could only see the sunlight framing his body in a golden outline.

“You…” Gu Yu Qi exclaimed and sat up straight. She subconsciously raised her hand to brush the hand from her forehead.

Anyone who woke up in a daze and suddenly realised there was a person standing in front of them would move to protect themself.

Halfway, her hand was intercepted by the man and Gu Yu Qi’s small hand was wrapped in a warm palm.

She was still as reckless as ever. Intercepting Gu Yu Qi’s hand, Yun Ke felt relieved for no reason. He did not like that Gu Yu Qi had the same memories of her previous life as he did. If that was the case, it would be too boring. Holding her slender hand in his, the smooth and soft feeling made his heart feel at ease.

In his last life, he had never held her hand well but he liked the enthusiasm she showed when she did that kind of thing with him. She liked things that the other concubines were unwilling to try and she was even wild. He admitted that when he did that with her, she pierced his heart like a rose that bloomed so beautifully unlike anyone else. The reason why she was still favoured by him was probably because of her unrestrained nature. She was willing to try any action, but in his memory, he had never felt tenderness for her.

Now that this small hand was completely wrapped by him, he could not help but think of the past and even his body seemed to react a little.

Ridiculous. The girl in front of him was only ten-years-old. He had always boasted of having strong self-control, yet he had become crazy about her and it was simply incomprehensible.

“Seventh… Seventh Highness,” When Gu Yu Qi saw the person in front of her clearly, she almost bit her tongue. Why was it that what she was afraid of was what came?! She had been hiding in corners, but she still met this guy.

She jumped up suddenly as though struck by lightning. Her hand was still tightly clasped by Yun Ke, and what kind of gaze was that? Why did it seem like he wanted to tear her apart?

“This girl did not know that Seventh Highness had arrived, what an offence,” she threw off Yun Ke forcefully then bent her knees and spoke quickly. What should she do? Run? The question was, could she outrun Yun Ke? She was only ten-years-old now and had not grown up yet. There was no way she could outrun Yun Ke’s long legs.

In her previous life, he had hated her, right! Inspiration flashed in Gu Yu Qi’s mind. Since she could not hide from him, it would be better for him to continue hating her like he did in the previous life. It was just that in her previous life, she took the initiative and became his concubine. In this life, she would never be so stupid agian.

Thinking of this, Gu Yu Qi raised her eyes instead and looked at Yun Ke with a pretended obsession. However, she vomited in her heart.

It was this expression!

Yun Ke’s eyes suddenly met Gu Yu Qi’s and his eyebrows furrowed involuntarily. As she freed her small hand that had been wrapped in his, Yun Ke’s heart felt like he had lost something. He tried hard to ignore the discomfort and looked at Gu Yu Qi’s eyes. With amazement and admiration, an outrageously unscrupulous expression fell onto her face! She was actually still her! Not someone with memories of her previous life.

Bold! Impudent! Shameless! These three words rushed up to his mouth, just like the feeling from his previous life.

Seeing Yun Ke frown slightly, Gu Yu Qi gave herself a big compliment from the bottom of her heart! That was right, if she could not avoid him, then she would just disgust him to death!

Thinking of this, Gu Yu Qi stared at Yun Ke even harder.

He was a handsome man carved from ice and jade. Although she felt hatred in her heart, she had to say that Yun Ke was really tempting. It was no wonder that in her previous life, she rushed over desperately like a moth to a flame.

Yun Ke, who was displeased by Gu Yu Qi’s gaze, said coldly, “Who are you?”

Nonsense! Why was he putting on an act! It was not their first time meeting! Zhang Wan Yi had introduced her just now. She did not believe that Yun Ke had Alzheimer’s and would forget as soon as he turned around. He must have done it on purpose!

Gu Yu Qi raised her middle finger at Yun Ke from the bottom of her heart, but her face still smiled like a flower, “Replying to Seventh Highness, this girl is Gu Yu Qi from the Ding Yuan Marquis’ residence.”

She remembered that in her previous life, when she introduced herself so openly, his eyes had been full of contempt.

That was right, modern people liked to introduce themselves, but women in the ancient era should not easily give their names to others. She had not known this in her previous life, so she had openly told Yun Ke her name when meeting him for the first time. She had made him regard her as a woman with bad intentions and had secretly suffered a loss.

This was the generation gap! There was a generation gap with a child of three-years-old, not to mention that the thousand year generation gap between her and the guy in front of her.

“A girl from the countryside is uneducated,” Yun Ke said with a dark face. “Don’t you know that you should not tell your name to unfamiliar men so casually?”

Huh? He was lecturing her? Gu Yu Qi was slightly startled, this was not how the script should go! He should snort coldly and leave with a flick of his sleeves! That was what he did in her previous life.

She scratched her head! What went wrong?!

Gu Yu Qi still smiled and said, “This girl has seen His Highness several times, so this girl thought that His Highness is no longer an unfamiliar man.”

Really shameless, just like in the previous life!

“Hmph!” Hearing Gu Yu Qi say this, Yun Ke snorted coldly. With a flick of his sleeves, he turned to leave.

She was shameless, but he was not! For a man and woman to be alone, without the slightest knowledge of taboo, if someone accidentally saw it then it was unknown what would happen. If they kept going on, she would probably speak again and say something about how he looked good or that she liked him. So Yun Ke left before Gu Yu Qi could say these outrageous words.

Now this was back on track! Gu Yu Qi watched Yun Ke leave and let out a long sigh of relief. If she had known that the great god could be sent away like this, she would have long done this. She raised her hand and rubbed the corners of her slightly twitching eyes. It turned out that looking flirtatious was so tiring.

She had only said a few words with him, but Gu Yu Qi felt much more tired than if she had been punched! This would not do, she could not stay in this princess’ residence. It would be best to find a way to return home quickly.