Reunion

Li Baojia was led into the hall by Mr. Huang.

The closer she got to the main hall, the faster her heart began to beat. After all, although she had decided not to provoke him, the thought of them kissing and caressing each other in her previous life was still vivid in her mind. Her nervousness was valid now.

She dreaded him and found him obnoxious, but she didn't hate him.

During those three years at the East Palace, although he didn't really love her, he did provide her with the fanciest life she could imagine.

Princess Xinyue once had a pigeon's egg-sized South Sea night pearl, which she usually treated like a treasure and seldom took out.

But in Zhilan Palace, where she lived then, there were three fist-sized South Sea night pearls, which could make the hall as bright as day at night, so she often used them as candlelight.

Even after she found out about his affair with Su Ruhui, he didn't abuse her and still treated her as usual.

As for the Li family's disaster, if not for the prince's help, the Li family would have been wiped out long ago.

Moreover, she knew he was the honorable prince and that there was little she could do, even if she hated him.

She thought she'd just let it be and live a normal life till she died, just like everybody else, despite the fact that she would be branded feckless.

With her fists clenched and her mind made up, she walked up to him.

She was still lost in thought when he saw her. He looked at her fixedly for a while before she came back to her senses.

She only dared glance at him, and her eyes stopped at the cuffs of his purple lapel shirt that was decorated with gold thread.

"Your Highness, please forgive me for saying this, but I would like my purse back. It's supposed to be a gift for my older brother. Unfortunately, one of my maids made a mistake and sent it to your palace. Pray, let me make it up to you by giving you two first-class paintings."

Without waiting for him to say anything, she lowered her head and babbled on.

She looked terrified of him.

"Do I look scary?" A smile touched Zhao Yi's face as he played with the jade stone in his hands.

He scratched the table slightly and casually took out the purse from the box next to him. "A gift to your brother? Then why are there Mandarin ducks on it?

Li Baojia bit her lip with a look of regret, an old habit of hers.

Her snow-white teeth produced a small tooth mark on her delicate red lips, making her look extremely seductive.

He would like to see what she looked like when she cried.

Zhao Yi was surprised by his thoughts, but his face did not show it the slightest bit.

Li Baojia stretched out her fingers, pointing to the ill-made Mandarin ducks, and said carefully, "Your Highness, in fact, these are ducks. They just look like Mandarin ducks."

Zhao Yi only played with the straps of the purse and said playfully, "Is that so?"

This move reminded her of his evil smile in her previous life.

At that time, he liked to put her on his lap, squeezing her fingers and playing with them while asking with a smile, "Is that so? Is that what's been on your mind?"

Li Baojia dropped her head even lower.

"You don't like it anyway, and you'll give it to your lover in the future. So why would you care about the pattern on it?" she thought.

Zhao Yi lifted his head. "My lover?"

Li Baojia froze. "Huh?"

Zhao Yi stared at her mouth, certain that she wasn't talking now.

But he heard that voice again: I was scared to death. I just thought I had accidentally said what was on my mind, and all of a sudden, I was mumbling something like my lover.

He smiled happily. "I mean, I like the purse very much. It is a beloved item of mine. You can make another for your brother, and I would like to take this one."

"Huh?"

Initially, he wanted to give her the purse when she came in, but he suddenly didn't want to return it to her now.

Li Baojia got anxious. "Your Highness...you can't do this to me. You...this is mine..."

Because of her anxiety, tears were seeping out of the corners of her eyes, and the ends of her eyes were slightly red.

He had not seen this coming.

Zhao Yi turned around and stared at her face, which was flushed with anxiety, and her mouth was closed tightly as if she were a little upset.

It turned out that she was not that good-tempered.

She was like a rabbit—docile and obedient most of the time, but would bite people when anxious.

She could tell he had no intention of giving the purse back to her. On the contrary, he turned to look at her face playfully, as if he were waiting for her to cry.

Li Baojia was immediately shocked. Tears hung at the corners of her eyes, which could fall at any moment.