Li Guangi sat quietly. The more Chu Yunge looked at him, the more she liked him. Knowing that he liked mathematics, she personally instructed someone to find books on related subjects and even let him search the study himself for any mathematics books.
Books on ancient arithmetic were scarce, but the Princess Mansion had a large collection, so they might be mixed in among them.
From then on, Chu Yunge established rules for everyone in the Princess Mansion: pocketing money was not allowed, and anyone trying to cook the books was simply dreaming.
However, as long as the work was done well, there were bonuses—monthly, quarterly, and annual ones, all generous—which motivated everyone greatly.
After finishing her tasks, she went to the study and saw Li Guangi hugging a book, reading it with great interest. He didn’t even notice her entering.
Chu Yunge leaned against the door and quietly watched Li Guangi for a moment. For some reason, Li Guangi had a magical quality that calmed the heart.
Ever since transmigrating, Chu Yunge had been busy, but in truth, her heart had never truly settled. It always wandered restlessly.
She even felt like she was in a long dream.
Only today, only at this moment, watching the quietly reading Li Guangi, did she calm down and gain a real sense of her transmigration.
She stood stunned for a moment but didn’t disturb Li Guangi. In the end, she found a book for herself and started reading.
As she read, she couldn’t help but fall asleep.
Li Guangi finished one book and was about to pick up another when he noticed Chu Yunge sleeping soundly with her head on the table.
The sunlight from the window was probably too bright, as she frowned slightly in her sleep.
Li Guangi walked over quietly and blocked the sunlight for her. Seeing her brows relax, he couldn’t help but smile faintly.
As for Pei Ji.
After fleeing back to the Nine Heavens Courtyard, Pei Ji still couldn’t calm down. Whenever he thought of Chu Yunge, he still went mad, his heart racing.
He couldn’t tell if it was anger, annoyance, or embarrassment. In any case, back home, he jumped around restlessly, sometimes full of fury, sometimes touching his lips and chuckling foolishly.
Wen Xin and Wu Kui were concerned at first, but later they grew numb to it.
Looking at his state, they exchanged a glance and felt only darkness ahead.
Their family’s Little Marquis was becoming stranger and stranger.
Then, the Little Marquis told them to go inquire about what the Princess was doing.
No sooner had he said it than he regretted it.
“No, don’t go. Why should I inquire about her?”
But in the end, the Little Marquis ran off himself, dawdling in a way that clearly showed he was sneaking off to find the Princess.
Wen Xin and Wu Kui exchanged another glance, both baffled. “What’s wrong with the Little Marquis?”
Pei Ji himself couldn’t explain what was wrong with him. In any case, he sneaked into the bedchamber to find Chu Yunge.
In the end, he found Chu Yunge in the study, but Li Guangi was still by her side.
Chu Yunge was asleep, and Li Guangi stood nearby, glancing at her from time to time. Pei Ji didn’t like that look in his eyes.
Pei Ji left in the end. Before going, he flicked a small piece of wood chip he pried from the beam carving at Chu Yunge’s forehead.
Chu Yunge was sleeping soundly when suddenly it felt like someone flicked her forehead. She frowned and woke up.
Seeing Li Guangi beside her, she rubbed her forehead. “Why are you standing there?”
Li Guangi hurriedly lowered his gaze.
With red sleeves adding fragrance, he read a bit more, and only then did Chu Yunge leave.
Seeing the lake, Chu Yunge got interested and originally planned to go boating, but she discovered that someone had beaten her to it.
And not just one—it was Pei Ji, Xie Wangze, and Master Qingchen together.
“Why are they gathered again?”
Seeing them together made her worry they were plotting something behind her back.
Chu Yunge touched her chin, found a shady spot to sit, and then grabbed a handful of melon seeds from her pouch to give to Yan Feng.
“Yan Feng, relay for me. You know what to do.”
She wanted to monitor their secret discussions in real time.
Yan Feng looked at the lazy Chu Yunge munching on seeds, then at the seeds in his hand, and fell silent for a moment.
He had never imagined that his martial arts skills could be used this way.
He silently pocketed the seeds, then put on a serious face and began relaying.
When he saw the admiring look Chu Yunge gave him, Yan Feng had to admit that his skills were indeed useful.
In the lake.
“Young Master Xie, Master Qingchen, don’t you think the Princess has been acting stranger and stranger lately?”
As expected, Pei Ji initiated the conversation.
Pei Ji couldn’t hold back and sought out Xie Wangze and Master Qingchen. Seeing they were going boating, he joined them on the boat.
Upon hearing Pei Ji mention Chu Yunge, Xie Wangze lowered his gaze without speaking, while Master Qingchen glanced at Pei Ji.
“Why do you say that, Little Marquis?”
“Haven’t you noticed she’s changed? She’s become very strange. Lately, she’s always with that Li Guangi. It doesn’t seem like acting—she really seems to like him.”
After Pei Ji spoke, Qingchen fell silent too.
Pei Ji waited a moment with no response. “Why aren’t you saying anything? Do you think she might be playing hard to get?”
“You think her sudden favoritism toward Li Guangi is playing hard to get?” Xie Wangze finally spoke. “Does the Little Marquis have evidence?”
“Where would I get evidence? If I did, I wouldn’t be asking you.” Pei Ji paused, thinking of Chu Yunge’s heartless words and how she deliberately teased him, and his face burned.
“She’s the most heartless right now. I don’t think it’s playing hard to get—she really likes him. But if she likes him, fine, yet she’s not devoted. She spouts nonsense, saying Li Guangi is different from us, that he likes women.”
Xie Wangze and Qingchen looked at Pei Ji, and Pei Ji looked back at them.
“That’s right. The Princess said that about you two, not just me. You’re probably on her list too.”
“Think about it carefully—that’s basically saying we don’t like women.”
Xie Wangze and Qingchen looked at Pei Ji with strange expressions.
“I’m not lying. She really said that. I don’t know why she said we don’t like women. Is it because we’re indifferent to her?”
Xie Wangze and Qingchen didn’t answer for a moment.
After Yan Feng finished relaying by the lake, shock and confusion filled his eyes. The Little Marquis doesn’t like women? And Prince Consort Xie and Master Qingchen too…
If they don’t like women, who do they like?
Chu Yunge saw Yan Feng’s expression and found it amusing.
“In this world, besides liking between men and women, there are likes between women and women, men and men. It’s not only opposite sex—some people like the same sex.”
Yan Feng’s pupils shrank. So they like men?
He swallowed silently. It seemed he should stay away from them in the future to avoid being liked.
The Princess was truly unlucky. The face consorts she snatched with great difficulty actually liked men.
Seeing Yan Feng’s panicked face, Chu Yunge immediately regretted it a bit. Maybe she shouldn’t have pointed it out. After all, a loyal dog innocently unaware of his own feelings for the Chu Emperor was the best to ship.
Yan Feng still didn’t know his savior was the Chu Emperor. She had revealed it too early.
Thinking of the typical pure love novel tropes, where one agonizes over liking the same sex, unable to accept it, she tried to mend the fold after the sheep was lost. “Don’t be afraid. Liking the same sex is normal too. It’s just different tastes. As long as you don’t harm others, no need to feel too guilty or pained.”
Yan Feng nodded, thinking to himself that the Princess was truly a good person.
She could accept such things so calmly.
Just then, they spoke again over there, and he dutifully relayed.
It was still Pei Ji who spoke. “My indifference to her is because I’m trying to break through, and not liking her doesn’t mean I don’t like women. I think she’s deliberately making us out that way. If those words spread outside, our reputations would be ruined.”
“The Princess wouldn’t act like that…” Qingchen said. “Don’t worry, Little Marquis. It might be a misunderstanding.”
The Princess had spoken those profound Buddhist words that gave him much to contemplate. How could she think that way?
Pei Ji snorted. “She’s nice to you, takes care of you, so you speak for her.”
A trace of helplessness flashed across Qingchen’s face.
Xie Wangze looked up at them. “You two are so concerned about the Princess now?”
“Especially you, Little Marquis. You seem to care a lot about her lately. When mentioning Li Guangi, even facing Master Qingchen, there’s jealousy in your tone. What’s this? Has the Little Marquis gotten jealous?