55 Let’s stay this way
Lóng Wei put his hand down and advanced toward her. Li Hua turned and started to run. She saw Yuze coming and quickly drifted in his direction and stood behind him. “Monk Yuze, please save me,” she requested him, who found Lóng Wei angry.
“Yuze, get away,” Lóng Wei told him.
“Why?” Yuze asked.
“She hit me,” Lóng Wei replied and pointed his finger towards the middle of his forehead, “here.”
“Because His Highness kept calling Monk Yuze by his name.” Li Hua said while peeking from behind Yuze. Lóng Wei advanced to her when Yuze stopped him from using his stick.
“Prince Lóng Wei shall stay where he is! The young lady isn’t wrong either. Prince Lóng Wei shall turn respectful. It is time when he must change his social behavior,” Yuze made him understand.
Lóng Wei huffed and stepped back. Yuze turned to look at Li Hua, who had a tiny smile on her lips. “Welcome to my small house, Miss Hua,” Yuze said and asked them to follow him.
Li Hua stayed close to Monk Yuze on his right side while Lóng Wei was on the left side. “We were hungry. So, I thought about bringing her here,” Lóng Wei stated.
“You did well. I will leave for the shrine tomorrow morning. I will return after a few weeks,” Yuze informed him and tilted his head to look at Li Hua. “At this time, I will visit and stay in the Buddhist Shrine for a while, Miss Hua. Unfortunately, I am unable to attend your marriage, but my blessings are with you both,” he stated and asked them to sit around the table.
.....
Li Hua waited for Lóng Wei to sit first.
“You should have attended my marriage. Your Buddha won’t punish you if you reach late in the shrine,” Lóng Wei said. Yuze was more than a family for him. His presence was important for him on such an occasion.
“Blessings are crucial not the person,” Yuze asserted and patted Lóng Wei’s shoulder. Li Hua found how calmly the Sixth Prince would talk with Yuze. He had hardly conversed with any of his family members this way.
“Sit,” Lóng Wei told Li Hua.
“First, His Highness shall sit,” she said humbly. Lóng Wei pushed her down on the bench and walked to the kitchen with Yuze. Li Hua was stunned for a second and found them going away.
“You brought Miss Hua out of the Palace,” Yuze said and pushed the kitchen door.
“She was upset. So, I brought her to the flower valley,” Lóng Wei answered and rested himself against the counter while folding his arms. “She loves someone from her place. I am confused if the person is alive or dead,” Lóng Wei asserted.
Yuze smiled and ignited the fire in the stove. He put a cauldron over it. Lóng Wei filled it with water and helped Yuze in cooking rice noodles for them.
“Then why did Miss Hua agree to marry the Sixth Prince?” Yuze asked as he stood straight.
“She doesn’t want to get kicked out. Every time she gives a strange explanation about her family, instead of telling the truth. She is in the palace for a purpose which is still unknown to me,” Lóng Wei affirmed.
Yuze smiled and went towards the counter. He had to prepare the rice noodles from the flour. “Prince Lóng Wei needs to replace the man who has taken the place in Miss Hua’s heart with him. That is going to be tough. He unexpectedly rushed his marriage,” Yuze remarked and put his stick against the counter support.
“It seems I have to tell Li Hua the truth first. I will do it after the marriage,” Lóng Wei said and watched Yuze kneading the flour.
“The Sixth Prince has found something interesting about Miss Hua,” Yuze said and smiled. “Yet, he refrains from telling this old man,” he stated.
“Yuze already knows. Even he’s hiding something about Li Hua from me,” Lóng Wei asserted. Yuze gazed into his eyes and nodded. He continued to knead the flour and asked Lóng Wei to go outside as Li Hua was alone.
Lóng Wei left the kitchen and found Li Hua on the bench. He sat beside her while his back faced the table. His elbows rested on the table and he tilted his head to look at Li Hua, who looked surprised.
Li Hua moved a little away which Lóng Wei noticed. He also moved towards her. “I didn’t forget how you hit the Prince in the middle of the forehead,” he said and she stopped moving.
“I apologize to His Highness. However, His Highness must accept that he needs to be respectful with Monk Yuze,” she affirmed. Lóng Wei studied her eyes, without uttering any word.
“Have you ever seen me talking with anyone in the palace as I talk with Yuze? I respect him, that is why my tone is polite with him,” Lóng Wei stated. “You should do something about the mistake you made.” He reminded her about the flick that she gave earlier at his forehead.
Li Hua leaned forward and told Lóng Wei that he was free to flick at her forehead as punishment. Her head crowned like a proud crane bird.
“You think that would be enough,” his brow arched, and his lips twisted. “I expect more punishment,” he stated.
“Then, His Highness can punish in whatever way he wants to punish,” she said. Lóng Wei ducked his head down and planted a kiss in the middle of her throat.
Li Hua promptly moved back, forgetting that she was almost at the edge of the bench. She fell back when Lóng Wei caught her arm and pulled her up. “You get surprised easily.” That smirk on his lips made Li Hua nervous.
“Has His Highness lost his mind? I told him that he cannot-” she paused when Lóng Wei interrupted her words in the middle.
“I cannot kiss you on the lips. There’s no such condition you put forward about kissing you elsewhere.” Lóng Wei put his finger down. “Moreover, I won’t agree to any other condition. It was kind of your punishment to flick at my forehead,” he said while grinning.
He let go of her arm and rested his elbow against the table. “You are such a shy girl,” Lóng Wei remarked and gestured to her to come close. Li Hua refused, so he leaned to her ear and whispered, “If I had kissed another woman, she would have demanded more from me.”
“Sadly, I don’t fall in the category of those women,” asserted Li Hua and told him to keep a distance from her.
“My arm isn’t touching yours,” he said in amusement.
Li Hua turned speechless and decided to sit on the other side of the table. She rose to her feet and walked to the other side to sit on the bench. Lóng Wei immediately turned to face her and asked her to sit beside him.
She shook her head. “I will complain to Monk Yuze if His Highness keeps troubling me,” she threatened him, who started to laugh.
“Yuze, Li Hua isn’t sitting beside me. She said she would complain to you if I asked her to sit by my side.” Lóng Wei loudly said and tilted his head.
Li Hua bit her lower lip and knitted her brows together. “If you don’t come now, then I will come,” he said, with a serious tone and almost stood up when Li Hua got up. She settled beside him and turned her face away.
Lóng Wei rested his forehead on her shoulder, and it made her jerk. “Don’t do anything. Let’s stay this way,” Lóng Wei urged her.
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