First time at a Tea House

Zhao Xing arrives at the prince's manor, the first thing he tells her was that he was on his way out, and she could follow him if she wanted.

How could she say no? She was so happy!

But things don't always go your way. When she arrived it was already late morning, was done with morning court and was in the manor. Her maids proposed have breakfast prepared for her, but she refused, instead wanting to wait for lunch.

While she was busy chatting, two maids came to see her with a set of clothes in their hands.

"Grand Tutor the crown prince asked for you to accompany him to the tea house. He also asks Grand Tutor to wear these clothes."

Every word they said made her pleasantly surprised. The clothes were handed over to Nuo Nuo. Zhao Xing couldn't wait and quickly got ready with the help of her maids.

"Ho ho ho, I'm going out today!" Both Nuo Nuo and Lan'er smiled at how excited Zhao Xing was. She quickly got dressed then looked herself in the mirror.

"Why does this clothes feel...different?"

The maids tried to hold their laughter, "Grand Tutor, these are men's clothes." Lan'er said as she giggled.

"Eh? How?" Then she suddenly remembered about her deal with the Crown Prince and frowned. She didn't want to wear men's clothes, she wanted to look cute like a girl, ok?

"I don't like it." She bluntly said. But her maids persuaded her, and proceeded to styling her hair, in the end most of the feminine features were gone and she looked more like a pretty boy, making Zhao Xing shiver at the thought. She stared herself again in the mirror and felt insulted. She looked at her chest that was as good as flat (not well developed), and felt like she'd been slapped in the face! Her cheeks hurt just at the thought of it.

'Zhang Zhengyang! This is your way of insulting me isn't it.'

But the round of 'insults' didn't stop there as her maids clapped at their handy work. "Grand Tutor is so good looking as a man!" Lan'er said, with a big smile on her face.

She turned to Nuo Nuo, who in turn nodded, "I'm sure like this, many maidens won't be able to look away."

How could they say that? In her life she rarely heard people say she was pretty, even her mom would occasionally advice her to eat this and that so she could 'grow'. But today, they told her she looked handsome, if this wasn't bullying then what was?

Heh. She was calm, she was calm, she was calm...These maids were so cute, there was no reason to flare up in rage. Zhao Xing took several deep breaths trying to calm down. She gritted her teeth and walked out of her room, "Let's go." She said.

She wasn't going to look for trouble with her dear maids, she was going to find the person who caused this!

She wasn't going with her maids, but the girls escorted her to the gates where Zhang Zhengyang waited for her.

Xiao Chen who was beside his master spotted her and was amazed. 'Grand tutor doesn't look bad!'

As if she could read his mind the girl glared at him, before proceeding to address the culprit. "Crown Prince, she half heartedly greeted.

The crown prince had a rare serious expression on his face, he nodded at her, then calmly said while looking into the distance, "You're considered a boy now, so you should greet like one."

Pfft.

No one present could hold their laughter, as they turned to hide their face. 'The master has such humour!' they all thought.

Zhao Xing's face was red, as she looked around her, she suddenly felt very angry,

"Zhang Zh-"

"You can come if you want, but I won't stop you if you don't." Understanding the underlying meaning behind his words, Zhao Xing could only swallow her anger, docilely waiting for the crown prince to enter the carriage before Xiao Chen helped her get on.

Zhao Xing soon forgot about her anger as she stared out the carriage, she was so excited she felt it would have been better to walk around instead.

Her eyes wandered around the streets, where the crown prince lived wasn't that bustling, but it still felt different from the time she had watched from the balcony.

"Crown Prince, don't you ever go for a walk?" She asked, curiously, having her own agenda in mind. "Hum" He passively answered.

"Then next time you're going for a walk, do go with me."

The prince stared intently at her, "I won't."

She had already anticipated this answer, so she didn't ask further, she had many chances in the future.

Throughout the journey, Zhao Xing really couldn't keep her head in the carriage, she looked like a country pumpkin who just arrived in the city.

They soon arrive a huge tea house, that made Zhao Xing's head spin.

'Aiya, mother I've made it to the world of my dreams!'

Can't she have more time to come out? So many things to see here yet this prince was so petty and locked her up in that cage of a mansion!

When they came off the carriage the Prince went ahead while both Xiao Chen and Zhao Xing followed from behind.

The tea house was bustling, filled with people here and there. The place was beautiful, and there was even a performance, as a woman played the zither on stage.

An attendant quickly came, greeted them and ushered them to the second floor.

"Young Masters, this way, please." He lead them to a private room. The room was spacious with a window that oversaw the city below. Zhao Xing rushed to it without a second thought.

"Wow! How can there be such a beautiful view!" She then turned to Zhang Zhengyang, about to tell him to came take a look, but then she suddenly remembered, "Aiya, you've probably seen this a thousand times already, never mind then." She then continued to admire the view, her excitement seemed to have transmitted to Zhang Zhengyang, as he approached the window as well to take a look.

"Eh, Zhang Zhengyang, look, what's that building over there? And that one there, next time take me there..." She went on and on, and when the Crown Prince didn't answer her, she turned to him with a frown.

The other had already predicted what she was going to ask, "You asked so many questions which should I answer first?" He said his eyes on the view outside.

"Just answer this one, will you take me there sometime?" Zhao Xing asked pleadingly.

"Depends if you finish your task first."

Why was it always about the task. His father dies, he automatically becomes the next in line. Now he doesn't want his father to die a somewhat calm death, he wants to lengthen his life, and make him suffer while doing so. What was the point of all this? He was such a genius, he had the charisma of a male lead in a novel, he could get anything he wanted, right? Yet see what he's doing, bullying the weak, ordering people around.

Zhao Xing rolled her eyes.

"Say, Xiao Yang ah, you brought me all the way here, you're usually not that kind."

Zhang Zhengyang raised an eyebrow at the new nickname he was given. But said nothing, her way of speech changed every now and then, he got used to it.

"You're right." He said as he took his seat. "I remember you talking about how stupid you are, and how you wanted to broaden your horizon by exploring more places other than the manor, I gave it a thought and discovered that you were right, if I didn't want a stupid 'Grand Tutor' I would need to help you grow in order not to have useless people around me for too long." He said with a smile. Every mention of 'stupid' and 'useless' seemed to stab Zhao Xing in the flesh one after the other.

Zhang Zhengyang didn't wait for her to flare and continued, "I decided, I'll involve you more in this case and see what benefits your existence would bring to me. So today I invited you to meet a guest of mine."