Zhao Shi pinched her thumb too hard, and his bent fingers were throbbing with pain. He trembled with his hands and helped her fasten the buttons on her clothes again. His dry throat made a hoarse voice, "Okay."
He avoided her eyes, not wanting to see her aggrieved expression crying to him. Those eyes seemed to be able to speak, silently accusing him of his atrocities.
Mingzhu slowly stopped crying, her eyes sparkling with water, and her thin and pale face turned a faint red after being wiped with a handkerchief. She silently tightened her belt, tied it in a tight knot, and turned her back, leaving only one She turned her head towards him and said, "Zhao Shi, I don't like others forcing me."
Love matters only if you and I are willing to do so.
He almost never asked her what she wanted, and he didn't care whether she was willing or not.
Zhao Shi hugged her waist from behind and buried his head in her neck. His cool breath gently brushed the back of her neck, but he said nothing.
As soon as it got dark, Zhao Shi had to go to the palace early. He got out of bed very lightly, and lowered the curtains layer by layer to block the skylight that rushed into the room.
Zhao Shi was dressed meticulously, with a cold face, straight thin lips, and a stern expression, showing a bit of majesty that could not be seen clearly.
The maids who served His Royal Highness the Prince held their breaths and were careful, not daring to make unnecessary noises.
Early in the morning, Zhao Shi drank half a bowl of white porridge and put down his bowl and chopsticks. Before leaving, he said in a cold voice, "It's hot these days. Please prepare more ice cubes in the house."
"yes."
Mingzhu woke up with swollen eyes. When Hongling saw her swollen eyes, she thought Zhao Shi had done something to her.
"Why is he still beating people?!"
"He didn't hit me."
"Really?" Hongling thought for a while and immediately changed her tune, "Then it's not right for him to make you cry."
It's all his fault anyway.
"Hongling."
"What's the matter?"
"Are you going to stay here forever?"
The Prince's Mansion was not a good place, with many rules and spies, and she and Zhao Shi didn't get along, so Mingzhu was afraid that she would be wronged.
Rather than staying here and living life watching other people's eyes, it's better to move out and live alone in peace and quiet.
The expression on Hongling's face was unnatural. Of course she didn't want to continue living here, but! She was now being hunted and had to hide away from the limelight.
She spoke in a cryptic manner: "Take it one step at a time."
Mingzhu reached for the money bag at her waist and put it in her palm, "Take more money and keep it with you."
Hong Ling was embarrassed to ask for it. She had made a lot of money from that pastry shop in Yangzhou. Mingzhu was taken away in such a hurry that all the money went into her pocket.
"Oh, I can't ask for any more money from you. I still have a lot of money that I haven't spent yet."
The Siamese envoy paid tribute today, and dozens of carriages were filled with tribute.
Zhao Shi glanced at it with little interest and fell in love with a small white cat with blue eyes, very beautiful.
But perhaps because of the long journey, the kitten was already half dead.
Zhao Shi asked someone to take the white cat out of the cage and stared at it carefully for several times.
The chamberlain whispered: "Your Highness, this cat got sick on the road and won't live for a few days. If you like cats, I will ask someone to give them to you..."
Zhao Shi withdrew his gaze and interrupted him, "It's good to be alive and well. I'll send it to the Prince's Mansion in a few days."
The chamberlain had to deal with this chore.
Zhao Shi felt that Mingzhu would definitely like these cute-looking pets. White cats with blue eyes were indeed rare.
About half a month later, under the careful care of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the sick cat who almost died was cured.
Zhao Shi took the cat back to his house and had the cat and cage delivered to Mingzhu.
The kitten doesn't like to move very much. She sits quietly and obediently in the cage, squinting her eyes and basking in the sun comfortably.
Mingzhu really liked it at first sight, so she stretched out her hand to touch it but didn't dare.
Manager Lin smiled and said to her: "Princess, if you like him, just keep him and raise him."
The kitten had enough sun, stretched out its paws, and yawned. The narrowed cat pupils gradually widened, and the aqua blue cat pupils were like clean and round glazed stones, showing an incredible beauty.
The more I look at Mingzhu, the more I like it.
She had loved working with small animals since she was a child. Before her mother passed away, she had a cat and a dog in the yard.
But later, Mingru said she was afraid of dogs, so the mistress gave the little yellow dog to a servant in the mansion. I heard that the slave beat the dog to death with a stick while drunk.
And the cat she had raised was given to someone else by Mingzhu on some random excuse.
Mingzhu didn't want what Zhao Shi gave her, but this cat touched her heart. She really found it difficult to resist, but she still said: "I don't like it, you can give it to others to raise."
Manager Lin felt that the matter was a bit difficult to handle: "This cat is a tribute and no one else is qualified to raise it. If you don't like it, then you can only throw it back to the palace and let it fend for itself."
Mingzhu was reluctant to let such a beautiful kitten become a wild cat, so she pretended to be very cold, "Then just stay, I'll keep it."
Manager Lin knew that she was soft-hearted and cunning, so he smiled and said, "The Crown Princess is kind-hearted."
The little white cat is well taken care of, and its fur is fluffy and soft, and feels very smooth.
As soon as Manager Lin walked away, Mingzhu couldn't wait to hold the cat in her arms and couldn't help but rub his little paws.
She carried the kitten and went to Xiaoman's house. The little girl had just woken up from her nap, with confused eyes, when she saw her mother reaching out for a hug.
Mingzhu placed the little white cat on the sofa, used her free hand to help her daughter get dressed, and picked her up from the bed.
When Xiaoman saw the fleshy white cat, he was not afraid at all and bravely grabbed the cat's ears.
Mingzhu gently opened her fingers and said, "Don't pull the cat's ears, it will hurt him too."
Xiaoman looked at her as if he didn't understand, maybe he thought kittens were not fun and of no interest, so he lay on her and said he wanted to eat cakes.
Mingzhu asked the little maid to bring some pastries with less sugar and fed her a few cakes, "Are you still hungry?"
The little girl nestled quietly in her arms, "I'm hungry, and I want some sweets."
Mingzhu glanced at her teeth and frowned, "I can't eat any more sweets. If I eat any more, my teeth will be eaten away by moths."
Xiao Man buried his face and said, "Mom, eat secretly."
Mingzhu was a little embarrassed. She let her daughter love sweets and she had to eat sweets every day, even if her teeth were damaged.
After Mingzhu banned her from eating sweets, she couldn't eat them anymore, but sometimes she just couldn't help it, so she hid behind her daughter's back and ate them secretly.
Her cheeks were hot, and she didn't expect that her daughter would see her stealing sweets, something so embarrassing.
Mingzhu put Xiaoman on the couch and changed the subject, "Can Xiaoman play with Maomao for a while?"
The little girl clasped her fingers and said, "I don't like it, Maomao."
The little white cat seemed a little afraid of her. He was lying on the pillow, then suddenly raised his tail and tried to escape.
The little girl grabbed his tail with her plump little hands.
The cat meowed several times.
Xiaoman was so disgusted that she let go of her hand. She looked up at her mother with her round face and said, "Cats are so noisy."
Mingzhu thought her daughter would also like these cute little animals, but it turned out that she was just being sentimental.
She let the maid, Bai Mao, carry her back, while she played small games with Xiao Man for half an hour.
Zhao Shi came back in the evening and heard Manager Lin say that she seemed to like the cat very much. Her eyebrows gradually relaxed, and her cold expression softened slightly. He asked, "Have the cat's nails been trimmed?"
Cats are not very understanding of human nature.
If the character is not docile, it is easy to use the cat's claws to hurt people.
Manager Lin bent down slightly: "Send it to the Crown Princess. The cat's claws have been trimmed cleanly, and the cat's temper has been carefully trained. He will never let a little beast hurt the Crown Princess."
"Um."
"At first the Crown Princess didn't really want to raise her."
Zhao Shi felt surprised when he heard this. The cold wind blew his wide sleeves, his wrists were thin and white, and he clenched a string of Buddhist beads in his palms. He said, "No."
He doesn't like these little inhumane beasts.
But Mingzhu really likes cats and dogs.
At that time, Mingzhu was probably still in the stage of discussing marriage, sneaking out the back door every day.
She didn't have much money, so she bought some snacks. When she saw wild cats and dogs on the roadside, she couldn't help but feed them.
The cats are also attached to her, and every time they see her, they gather around her and meow.
Mingzhu's face was full of struggle at that time, "I also want to take you home, but my family won't let me raise her. If you go back with me, you will die."
The matron hates the sound of cats.
My aunt also felt that wild cats were extremely dirty.
Zhao Shi also bumped into her by chance that time. He heard what she said and silently remembered it in his memory.
The summer is sultry, with dark clouds pressing in, the air humid, and it looks like it's going to snow.
The room was stuffy and suffocating.
Opening windows for ventilation doesn't work either.
Zhao Shi sweated easily, so after bathing he changed his clothes and walked out to see Mingzhu sitting by the window with needle and thread in his hand.
His long hair was tied up high with a glazed crown, his eyebrows were clear and his pupils were clear, but his outline looked a little sharp.
Zhao Shi walked to her side and sat down. There was a refreshing fragrance on his body. He asked, "What are you embroidering?"
Mingzhu never raised her head, "Shoes."
She added a few words: "Xiaoman's."
Mingzhu also gave Hongling two pairs of shoes, but not for him.
The rain gradually began to sound outside the window.
The raindrops were as big as beans, hitting the windows with a crackling sound.
Zhao Shi stood up and closed the window, listening to the sound of rain, he said: "If you are bored staying in the house, you can ask the theater troupe to come over and set up a stage to sing."
Mingzhu put away the stitches and said absently, "Oh."
It's not interesting to listen to a play alone.
Zhao Shi lifted the lid of the tea cup and continued to talk to her in a gentle voice: "Don't you still have a few sisters at home? You can call them over and let them accompany you to the show."
Mingzhu didn't hold the needle firmly in her hand, and the needle pierced her fingertips, causing blood bubbles to overflow.
She hissed in pain.
Zhao Shi held her wrist, pulled it to him and looked at it. Without saying a word, he pressed the small hole on her fingertips with a handkerchief.
Mingzhu felt uncomfortable.
Zhao Shi told her not to move.
The fat white cat sleeping on the soft pillow was startled by his voice. His hair was all over his body and he jumped up and ran around randomly. The cat's paw almost scratched Zhao Shi's face.
When the fat cat ran around, he knocked over the water glass on the low table.
The scalding hot water from the cup was poured onto Zhao Shi's legs. The back of his hands was not spared and was burned red.
It hurts a lot to look at.
Zhao Shi was very tolerant and didn't even frown.
Mingzhu swallowed her throat, her voice a little bitter: "My cat didn't mean it."
Zhao Shi twitched the corners of her mouth and smiled a little ugly. She didn't care at all whether he was in pain or burned.