Chapter 178 (1/2)

Chapter 178: 178

“Miss Xia, do you need something?” Princess Consort Jing observed the bevy of expressions that crossed Xia Furong’s face . She had been aware of the young maiden’s schemes throughout the whole journey . Luckily, her second son completely disdained her, which made her relax quite a bit .

A preteen girl who was only interested in seducing men was definitely someone who would cause trouble later on . How could she let such a person become someone who was linked to her son for a lifetime?

Xia Furong quickly fixed her expression and pasted on an innocent smile . She replied sweetly, “Princess Consort, Aunt wanted me to ask you if you already have a place to stay tonight . If not, Aunt says that she has a small residence here in Tanggu Town . Although it’s a bit crude, it should still suffice as a resting place…”

“No need, County Magistrate Wu’s wife is a close childhood friend of mine . Before I left, I had written a letter to her to let her know that I was going to bother her for two days!” Although Princess Consort Jing had a good impression of Zhaoyong General Fang Zizhen’s wife, she didn’t want her son to have any more exposure to this young girl who had such obvious ulterior motives . Thus, she resolutely refused the offer .

Xia Furong’s pair of dark, lively eyes instantly became dim from disappointment . She turned around and stared at that tall and manly figure in the melon stand . Not resigned in the least, her eyes flickered a bit and the corners of her mouth slightly curved up . However, she still politely said her farewells to the princess consort .

When Xia Furong returned back to the Fang Family’s horse carriage that was behind Prince Jing’s carriage, she smiled sweetly at her aunt . She cheerfully reported, “Aunt, the princess consort said that she had already made plans with the county magistrate’s wife and will be staying over there . . . oh right, there’s a family selling watermelons over there . They say that the melons are tasty and the price is reasonable . Niece will go right now to buy one to let aunt try some!”

Her expression and tone didn’t betray the fact that she had just been soundly rejected by Zhu Junxi . It was as if she was just another young maiden without a care in the world .

Lady Fang lovingly smiled at her niece and waved a hand, “Let a maidservant go over . After traveling for so many days, you must also feel tired . ”

“Aunt, Niece isn’t tired! After sitting in the carriage for a few days, walking around is also good!” Xia Furong’s eyes, which resembled Lady Fang’s, gleamed with a dazzling light .

Among her numerous nieces, Lady Fang had chosen Xia Furong not only because of her temperament but also because she thought this niece resembled herself the most . She patted Xia Furong’s hand and nodded, “You are right . It’s good to step down and walk around for a bit . Aunt will also accompany you to go there to look!”

Lady Fang looked through the window and saw a young cute girl with a glittering smile in front of the watermelon store that wasn’t far from them . She looked to be around eight to nine years of age and had gleaming, pale skin . Although she couldn’t be considered to be astoundingly beautiful, she was still quite adorable . Her large and dark eyes were especially charming and seemed to be full of liveliness .

Although Lady Fang had never seen the adopted daughter that her husband had taken in, she had pieced together an image of an odd little girl who was amazingly talented at cooking from his stories and letters about her . His most recent letter said that his adopted daughter had planted watermelons that had ripened astoundingly early . In addition, these watermelons were tastier and sweeter than the ones he had before . He even had someone bring two of them over to the capital so she could try them . She had never tried watermelon that was so big and so sweet before!

Within Tanggu Town, only the Yu Family had enough courage to try planting watermelon . Then, did that mean that this watermelon store was linked in countless ways with her husband’s adopted daughter? Was that lively little girl in the watermelon stand the adopted daughter that her husband praised constantly?

At this moment, her niece wanted to go look at the watermelon stand which met her interest too . With the help of her personal maidservants, Linglong and Zhenzhu, Lady Fang stepped off the carriage . She gently stretched out her legs and idly strolled towards the melon stand .

Although Lady Fang was content, Xia Furong wasn’t actually happy about her decision . The young maiden was originally planning on finding an opportunity in the watermelon store to talk to Prince Jing’s second son again . Now, her perfect plan had been ruined . She stared at her aunt’s back and resentment filled her heart .

By this time, the craze for buying watermelons had mostly died down . Within the store, there were only two to three matrons who were dressed in dignified attire . They were carefully selecting some watermelons from the remaining stock on the shelves . Yu Xiaocao, who could finally take a breather, sat on the tall stool and kicked her feet playfully underneath her skirts . Her heart felt cheerful as she rocked the cash box full of ingots on the counter .

At this moment, she saw a figure come in from the corner of her eyes . She promptly smiled sweetly at the new customer and trumpeted out a greeting, “Welcome, feel free to choose what you would like!”

As she raised her head, she saw a handsome face that seemed to have been finely carved with a knife . The young man was wearing a blue robe that was embroidered with black bamboo . There was a white belt cinched around his waist and his feet were shod with a pair of white deerskin boots——he was a perfect example of an alluringly attractive man from ancient times! Yu Xiaocao gazed at the handsome guy’s nice figure with obvious interest .

Zhu Junxi seemed to sense Xiaocao’s eyes on him and faintly glanced at her . He suddenly discovered that the little girl had a pair of eyes that glittered brightly that stared at him appreciatively . Although her eyes stopped for a long time on his handsome face, her gaze seemed pure and didn’t make him feel disgusted .

After he looked at her for a bit longer, he discovered that the owner of the eyes was actually a lively little girl who hadn’t reached the age of ten . Zhu Junxi couldn’t help but let out an amused laugh . How would such a little girl know of the propriety between men and women? No wonder she didn’t try to hide her obvious stares!

Zhu Junxi smiled at the little girl and unexpectedly found that little girl seemed to be a bit stunned by his grin . This young girl was quite interesting . Was it really okay for her to reveal such an obvious appreciative glance at a man?

Zhu Junxi couldn’t help but want to tease this little girl, so he walked up to her and deliberately frowned, “What are you looking at me for?”