“Well.. well I knew of Tianxing’s philandering nature.. But I didn’t know his reach was that far. Hehe.. Even the virtuous lady Zhao had fallen. Can’t wait to see her husband’s face when he found out he is wearing a green hat!” Tianxi grinned as he munched on dried melon seeds. “Mmmm! These things are better than I remembered..Can you believe that they don’t have these up north?” 

Qing yun who was sitting and shaking her legs impatiently, slammed the stone table as she stood up. “How could you remain so relaxed, brother!!”

 She huffed angrily and started pacing up and down her personal garden. Located directly behind her room’s terrace, it was not very big but had been furnished intimately with a seating area, flower garden and a shallow fish pond. It has a side exit leading out to her estate’s main courtyard.

 ”Where is he.. where is he..” The princess started mumbling to herself continuously. Every once in a while she will craned her head to look towards the entrance. She will pout after a bit and sat back down on the stone chair. Not forgetting to give Tianxi an intense glare the whole time she was seated.

“Relax, he will be fine. I was his teacher so I can guarantee his qinggong skills are not too bad.. though still nothing compared to mine. Hahaha!” Tianxi guffawed annoyingly.

In retaliation, Qing yun tried to snatch the bowl of melon from the table. But, he was more agile and the bowl had been pushed away from her reach. She tapped her palm to the side of the stone table and used her qinggong to force it to rotate to her advantage. Albeit less skilful, she did secretly learned some basic martial arts from him.

Unfortunately, the skill gap was too wide as Tianxi skillfuly pushed the bowl up on to the air.. As it was falling, She tried to kick it away from him but with ease he manoeuvred the bowl to circle around her leg before it safely stopped above his palm. Of course, he was sneering the whole time.. which vexed her even more.

Again, she tried to kick the bowl. When she saw his hand going to grasp her leg, she suddenly turned her body and used her opposite leg instead.

“Ooooh! A feint. Not bad.” Tian xi blocked her leg with the back of his palm whilst pushing the bowl to fly to his other hand. His free hand suddenly snaked around her leg and pulled her whole body.

Qing yun felt her whole center of gravity had been forcefully shifted leaving her dizzy and frightened by it. Expecting a collision, Her instinct prompted her to wince but nothing happened except for sweet and salty taste spreading inside her mouth. Surprised, she bit down upon them. It was melon seeds.

“Have some melon seeds, they are good for your temper. Hahahhha!” Tianxi bellowed in laughter which led her to widely glare at him again. It was hers in the first place!

She knew she had been defeated and had no chance to fight back, so she could only vent her frustration by stomping her feet multiple times as she glared and bitterly munched down on the seeds. They were good though.

“Oh he is here..” Tianxi exclaimed. The princess immediately reacted by standing up and rushing towards the garden entrance, but there were only her maids and guards standing outside the entrance. She gritted her teeth and turned in anger.

 Trickle.. trickle..

 A white figure stood behind her, drenched from up to bottom. Disheveled long hairs covering the face. Her heart instantly dropped and she almost scream for help when she felt a hand covering her mouth.

 “G..Ghost arh!” Qing yun muffledly mumbled, her eyes tightly closed. Although it was cold but they were emitting some warmth, surprised by it she reopened her eyes.

 “Shhh, it’s me.” He leaned and shushed her. The long hairs had been parted to reveal her fiancee’s face. Different from his usual noble bearing, he looked so feeble and lost just like when she first met him. She calmed down upon recognising him, her worry replaced the initial surprise.

 “T.. Taiyang.. Where did you come from anyway? You look so pale.. Are you okay?” She used her sleeves to wipe his wet face.

“Mmm.. I am okay. I was chased by the guards and fell into the imperial lake. They were patrolling around the lakeshore so I had to swim underneath the lake. Thankfully one of them led here.” He sneezed.

“Hey, take the drenched dog here.” Tian xi waved amicably from the seating area. He had ignited the stone brazier next to the table. Qingyun scowled but obediently led her fiancee to sit on the chair and called out to her maids to prepare for towels and warm drinks.

A while later, once, he had been warmed and dried enough, he started to recount his earlier misadventure to the curious siblings.

 Apparently, after getting kicked down from the hill, Taiyang life had been miserable. It started with his outer robe getting torn by the shrubs and as he was being chased down, he had to use his shoes as distractions. Pathetically, he was then cornered so badly he had to jump into the cold imperial lake and hid from underneath one lotus leaves to another.

 Later once the patrol guard started swarming around the shore, he had to swim deeper. At times, holding onto the platforms to rest. It took him many wrong turns before he finally figure out his way into her courtyard. But there were also patrols here. Luckily the water for the pond originated from the lake so he managed to force himself to pass through the narrow opening until he reached here.

At hearing about his constant misfortune, Tianxi seemed to be thrilled and he even roared with laughter. Each time he did, Qing yun pinched him or kicked him under the table but he did not even flinch.

“...oof my poor stomach. Its hurting from laughing so much. Well, it is rather late. We should turn in.” Tianxi stood up but paused when he noticed the two lovers seemed reluctant to leave. 

He tapped on Taiyang shoulder a few times. “As a gratitude for the amusement, I will leave you two lovebirds alone for half a shichen. Do as what you two wills.. but remember, this big brother will be watching!”

Taiyang felt a shudder rising from his shoulder but it instantly dissolved as Tianxi walked towards the entrance. But instead of exiting, he jumped into one of the nearby trees and blended into the shadows. After a while, only sounds of night critters filled the silence.

Qingyun stole a peek at her beloved, his hairs was still glistening with the lake water and his handsome features was being outlined by the moonlight. After a moment of hesitation, he took her hand and leaned closer.. causing her heart to start throbbing from their close proximity. 

“Yun, do you remember when I first moved into the imperial palace?” He deep voice tickled her ears. She nodded, a natural blush bloomed on her cheek. He smiled in return.

“Mmm, you were so quiet then... and afraid.” She added.

“Haha, and you were as majestic as ever. You came to save me when the royal cousins were picking on me. I still remembered your beautiful tackle...”

“Aa..aaaa! Don’t remember that part!” She quickly squirmed and pouted. Amused by her behaviour, he could not help but chuckle and kissed her beautiful fingertips. She was furiously blushing from the inappropriate intimacy and refused to look at him.

“Growing up, you had always been my protector and friend. I really could not imagine my life without you..” He tilted her face to look at him. “I was glad when you requested emperor uncle to betroth us.”

“Though it was only expected that His majesty disapproved, you are the most noble princess of xia and I... am only a prince in title. I have nothing but the clothes on my back.." 

Hearing his words Qingyun shook her head.

"Yet, you fought for us. When brother Tianxi came to let me know that you starved for days in protest against His majesty's decision.. my heart broke.. but I was also elated. That was when I knew...” Taiyang lovingly caressed her cheek. Qingyun eyes were misty, her hearts moved by his sweet whispering.

 “I love you..” He whispered and leaned his head closer to her. She replied by wordlessly closing her eyes, fully trusting him.

Whoosh..

 A tree branch was swung between the two lover’s head. The sweet atmosphere blasted away by the wind pressure.

 “That’s half a shichen.” Tianxi said, the side of his mouth twitching with irritation. Obvious veins were showing throughout his face and muscled hands. He swept the branch back and forth, pushing the two lovers farther and farther away from each other. “Party’s over.. party’s over. Go home. Go home.”

 “B..brother! Its only been a few minutes.” She stammered.

 “Wa..wa..wa.. this prince can’t hear you. Party’s over! Go home! Go home!” He repeated. The branch on his hand was slowly pushing Taiyang towards the entrance. It was even turning violent, as the sweep was becoming more of a smack the more he swung it against Taiyang.

 “Brother! Stop it!” She sulkily hit her brother’s arm. “Don’t bully him!”

 Tianxi grumbled about the lack of sibling loyalty as he was pushed by his sister towards the entrance. Just before they neared the exit, Taiyang suddenly grasped her hands from behind and pulled her close to him. His face was unnaturally pale and filled with apprehension.

 “Qi..Qing Yun. Will you marry me? Against all odds... will you really marry me?” He whispered.

 Taken aback, her jaw dropped open at the sudden proposal but she still nodded her head.

 “Mm..” was the only thing she managed to utter. Her mind was in a chaotic mess whilst her heart was throbbing loudly, bursting at its seams from joy and passion.

 Taiyang face beamed at her reply. His face was so flushed with happiness that even his ears were dyed red.

Crack..

 A loud cracking sound burst out from behind her. Followed by a heavy pressure of killing intention. Qingyun turned in surprise only to see her brother had crushed the branch into splinters and blasted a crater in her garden with his feet. His hostile eyes were locked onto her fiancée.

 “I said... GO HOME!” Tianxi roared as he jumped onto the smaller man.