Chongfei Manual

Chapter 21

Zhao Jie took a few steps towards Wei Luo, then leaned over to grasp her soft little hand. Rubbing the back of her hand with his big thumb, he asked: "Let this prince take a look, were you scratched?"

The back of the little girl's hand was smooth, without even a trace of a scar, only two shiny wet spots.

It seemed like the kitten had liked her very much and wanted to get close to her. Unfortunately, it was too enthusiastic, scared the little girl, and got tragically snubbed. Zhao Jie recalled the scene he'd witnessed a moment ago and couldn't help but burst out in laughter. She had stiffened her body, not daring to move, while trying to get the cat off her arm. Her small face tensed up, as if she was facing her greatest enemy. He had thought she wasn't afraid of anything under the sky, yet it turned out she had a fear of cats?

Wei Luo drew back her hand. Pursing her lips, she shook her head.

Zhao Jie smiled as he brought up a finger to touch Wei Luo's reddened eyes, then asked in a pleasant voice: "Why are you crying?"

Wei Luo wasn't crying. Her eyes would easily redden if she was anxious, but that was still far from crying. She didn't know why Zhao Jie would appear here, nor was she interested to know. Getting toyed with by that cat, she wasn't in the best of moods, and only wanted to go back to Wild Goose house, "I haven't cried."

She had barely finished speaking, when she noticed Zhao Jie was keeping silent, his eyes mischievously observing her front teeth.

Her face immediately changed and she covered her mouth, looking at him vigilantly. Thinking of that time in Zhen Cui Lou (*restaurant), she was afraid he would pinch her nose again to force her to open her mouth.

Zhao Jie's lips twitched. She was short a tooth there, so her speech was affected by the bare gums. The pronunciation also sounded a bit funny. That word 'crying' sounded especially amusing when she said it. Too bad her pretty little head was particularly serious. It seemed like so long as he laughed about it, she would turn hostile at once. His eyes were laughing, but he put on a decent expression, as he asked her solemnly: "Ah Luo, right? Are you afraid of cats?"

Wei Luo glared at him without speaking.

He wanted to ask her again, when the maiden beside him curiously walked over. "Cousin Jing, who is she?"

Zhao Jie didn't like children, he had no patience for any kid under ten years old. Anyone who knew him was aware of that. Yet today, he was unexpectedly willing to get close to a little girl, and even personally wiped her tears. This was really too rare. The maiden couldn't help sizing up Wei Luo, finding her appearance adorable and much prettier than the average little girl. Could that be the reason?

The maiden was called Gao Danyang, precisely that older daughter of Duke Zhen's wife. She was a year younger than Zhao Jie. They were of similar age and were cousins from the mother's line. Having grown up together from childhood, their relationship was closer than usual. Just now, Zhao Jie had gone to pay respects to Empress Chen in the Zhaoyang palace hall, and had happened to meet Gao Danyang there. Empress Chen had then made the two of them leave together. It wasn't good for Zhao Jie to refute the Empress' intentions, so he complied. After walking for a while, he had chanced on the scene of Wei Luo and the kitten getting tangled together.

Zhao Jie withdrew his hand and spoke as he got up: "She's the fourth miss of Duke Ying's house, Wei Luo." Pausing his words, he looked at Wei Luo. "Did this prince say it right?"

Wei Luo didn't answer. Pulling on Liang Yurong's hand, she cordially said: "Yurong and I didn't know the cats belonged to big brother Prince Jing. We only wanted to give them something to eat. If we made big brother Prince Jing and big sister unhappy, let us go back and leave it at that."