The Little Princess's Secret Guard - Chapter 21
Chapter 21: You Can Smile
Shen Pan-yan was an eager student, and Lin Xiao was a very responsible tutor.
His voice was slow and steady. Even though Shen Pan-yan was sitting right next to him, he strictly adhered to the rules, only offering verbal guidance without touching her hands.
Shen Pan-yan’s folding was clumsy, and the final result was not very good.
She looked at the hibiscus flower in her hand with some frustration.
Lin Xiao, however, praised her, “Princess, you folded it very beautifully.”
Shen Pan-yan blushed a little from his compliment, “Does it really look beautiful?”
“The Princess managed to fold it on her very first try. That is already quite impressive,” his voice sounded sincere, and his eyes were serious. Shen Pan-yan looked at the hibiscus she had folded and felt that it was perhaps not so ugly after all. Her eyes curved into a smile instantly.
She took another piece of paper and folded a hibiscus flower again.
This time, she folded it seriously, and it was much better than the previous one.
She reached out and handed the folded hibiscus to Lin Xiao.
“This is for you.”
Lin Xiao immediately froze in place.
“It’s for you!”
“Why don’t you take it?” Seeing him refuse, Shen Pan-yan got a little angry, huffing, “Are you rejecting it because you think the one I folded is ugly?”
“No…”
“If not, then take it!”
Only then did Lin Xiao reach out and accept it.
Shen Pan-yan smiled, “You gave me a little rabbit, and I give you a hibiscus flower. Exchanging gifts like this is the right way!”
This is not the same… Lin Xiao tightened his grip on the paper hibiscus.
But he did not know what to say, so he silently accepted it.
“Thank you, Princess.”
“You’re welcome!”
At this moment, the opera downstairs finished. Movement came from next door. Shen Pan-yan only let out a sigh of relief when she saw Shen Xu leave, feeling a great weight lifted from her chest.
When Shen Xu was there just now, she truly did not dare to speak loudly, afraid of being discovered by her.
She did not want to quarrel with Shen Xu, especially now that those matters were involved; she was even more reluctant to face her. It was better to avoid her if possible.
Shen Pan-yan stood up, putting away the paper hibiscus and the little rabbit, “Lin Xiao, let’s go back.”
She had been out long enough for today; it was time to return.
“Alright.”
Fate was not kind. Just as they stepped out of the opera house, snowflakes began to drift down from the sky.
“Oh dear, it’s snowing, quickly put away the goods!”
The vendors on both sides of the street were in a frantic rush to cover their merchandise. However, the children playing on the street were incredibly happy, frolicking with their companions in the snow.
“Look at mine, a big snowball!”
“Hahahaha!”
Shen Pan-yan looked at them and also found the snow fun.
She turned her head and said, “Lin Xiao, the snow isn’t heavy. There’s no need to buy an umbrella. Let’s just walk back like this!”
“But Princess, your health is not good…” Lin Xiao had not forgotten how weak Shen Pan-yan had looked lying in bed before.
There was a shop selling oiled-paper umbrellas right on the street. Lin Xiao walked in and bought one anyway.
He opened the umbrella, and the drifting snowflakes landed on the oiled paper.
“Princess, let’s go!”
Shen Pan-yan gave him a helpless look.
She muttered, “Lin Xiao, has anyone ever told you that you are actually very disobedient?”
Lin Xiao: “Reporting to the Princess, no.”
As snow fell in the capital, the streets became deserted. Aside from the playing children, only the two of them walked along the street, one behind the other.
The falling snow was silent, and the world was so quiet that it felt as if only the two of them existed.
Shen Pan-yan held her hand warmer, walking in the snow, “No? But I think you are really disobedient.”
“Look, I told you I didn’t need an umbrella, yet you still bought one.”
“This subordinate knows his mistake.”
“Admitting your mistake so quickly means you’ll still do it next time, right?” Shen Pan-yan glanced at him, her round, almond eyes full of accusation.
Lin Xiao moved his gaze away, avoiding her eye contact.
Not knowing how to answer, he chose to remain silent.
“See, you look guilty. I must have hit the mark!” Shen Pan-yan gave him a light humph.
“If it were anyone else, I would definitely punish you.”
Lin Xiao turned back, his eyes looking straight at her, “Then, does the Princess intend to punish this subordinate?”
Perhaps his gaze was too serious, making Shen Pan-yan’s face feel hot. She turned her head away, “Of course, I must punish you.”
Lin Xiao’s voice was calm, “Then how does the Princess wish to punish this subordinate?”
Shen Pan-yan: “…”
She glared at him angrily, “Are you an idiot? Don’t you know how to say a few soft words to me?”
She was just saying it; she would never actually punish him.
With that, she shoved her hand warmer into his arms, “I’ll punish you to hold my hand warmer. I’m tired of holding it, so I don’t want to hold it anymore.”
Lin Xiao froze, instinctively accepting the hand warmer. The warmth instantly dispelled the cold of winter.
Lin Xiao handed the hand warmer back to her without thinking, “Princess, it is cold…”
Shen Pan-yan did not want to listen to him and turned to leave.
Lin Xiao caught up to her in a quick stride.
“Princess, this subordinate does not need a hand warmer. Please take it back…”
Before he could finish, Shen Pan-yan was like a small cat whose tail had been stepped on, so annoyed she stomped her foot, “Who said I gave you the hand warmer because I was afraid you were cold? I was just tired of holding it and didn’t want to anymore.”
“What? Is that not allowed?”
Lin Xiao: “…”
He had not said any of those things, yet the Princess had spilt out all her true intentions like pouring beans.
Looking at the huffing Princess, the fluffy cloak wrapped tightly around her, exposing only her small face, and her almond eyes were wide and round as she stared at him.
He did not speak, and Shen Pan-yan was unwilling to compromise. The two faced off against each other like this, and even the falling snow around them seemed to quiet down.
Suddenly!
A low laugh gradually spread from his chest to his eyebrows, “Yes, this subordinate knows his mistake. This subordinate should not have presumptuously guessed the Princess’s thoughts.”
Shen Pan-yan’s eyes instantly widened and rounded, and she felt as if the wind and snow had stopped at that moment.
She could hear nothing else. She subconsciously clutched the corner of her dress, “You, you can actually smile…”
Lin Xiao’s face was not conventionally handsome, but she felt that he looked incredibly beautiful right now, beautiful everywhere, more beautiful than anyone she had ever seen.
She did not even know what she was saying anymore, “You, your smile is quite nice. You should smile more often in the future…”
After she finished her dazed rambling and realized what she had just said, her cheeks instantly flushed. She quickly turned away, “Lin Xiao, let’s hurry back. The snow is getting heavier.”
In truth, the snow had already lightened up.
“Alright.”
Somehow, she felt that time passed particularly quickly today. Before long, they arrived back at the residence.
“Princess, you’ve returned.” Muying stepped forward to take off her cloak, shake off the snow, and handed her a new one, then lit the charcoal brazier in the room.
Shen Pan-yan felt very embarrassed seeing her bustling around.
“Thank you for your hard work, Muying. I’m fine now. You should go rest!”
“Princess, what are you saying?” Muying looked at her and smiled, “Taking care of the Princess is my duty.”
“This servant noticed it was snowing outside, so I heated up some ginger soup in the small kitchen. Please wait, Princess. I will go and bring it now.”
With that, she curtsied and left.
Watching Muying’s figure disappear, Shen Pan-yan slowly let out a breath.
On the way back, she had been too nervous to talk to Lin Xiao, and she only felt a little better now.
“Lin Xiao.”
The door creaked open.
“Princess.”
The moment Shen Pan-yan saw him, she felt a bit awkward, twisting the embroidered handkerchief with her fingers, “Mu, Muying heated up ginger soup. You should go, go to the small kitchen too, and have a bowl.”
“Yes.”
Seeing him return to his usual respectful demeanor, Shen Pan-yan felt a sense of disappointment, a strange emptiness.
“Lin Xiao, you, you can go out first.”
“This subordinate takes his leave.”
Lin Xiao left. Shen Pan-yan bit her lip, her mind a mess. She thought about the opera house earlier, then about walking together in the snow. After thinking for a long time, she still could not figure it out. Finally, she slumped onto the table, looking dejected.
She felt like she might be a little crazy.
She tried hard to shake off those messy thoughts. Muying also walked in, carrying the ginger soup.
Shen Pan-yan stayed in the residence for many days without stepping out of her room.
The residence was small, and wandering around was boring. To pass the time, Shen Pan-yan began to teach Lin Xiao how to read again.
Of course, it was done under the pretense of reading miscellaneous records.
She would read a passage once, and Lin Xiao would recite it. Each time he made a mistake, he was “punished” by having to copy it once.
His handwriting was truly terrible—wildly scrawled, looking like a ghost crawling, completely illegible. Shen Pan-yan’s delicate eyebrows were tightly furrowed.
“That’s not right. You should write it like this…”
She picked up the brush and demonstrated on the Xuan paper. In a moment, beautiful, small, elegant script appeared on the paper, neat and pleasing to the eye.
Lin Xiao followed by copying a passage.
In the beginning, he could control his handwriting from going crooked, but as he wrote, the characters would once again become a chaotic scribble, like ghost drawings.
Lin Xiao felt that he really did not have the talent for it, “Princess, this subordinate really cannot…”
“No!” Shen Pan-yan looked at him, “You must be able to do it.”
Lin Xiao:
He was somewhat helpless and tried to remind her, “Princess, this subordinate is only a shadow guard…”
“I’m not listening! Not listening!” Shen Pan-yan covered her ears, “What if I don’t want to read the miscellaneous records myself in the future, and there isn’t anyone around who can read?”
“Then you can teach your maid…”
“I will teach Muying later, but right now, you are the one who should be learning. Be serious, Lin Xiao. Don’t scribble anymore, or else I will get angry!” Shen Pan-yan put on a stern face, trying to look more serious.
She always felt that she had no princely authority whatsoever with Lin Xiao.
“Princess…”
“You promised me before that you would listen to me from now on. Could it be that you want to go back on your word?”
Lin Xiao: …
He sighed, “Yes.”
Shen Pan-yan’s eyes curved in a smile, “That’s right. Come on, practice properly!”
“…Yes.”
A stroke was laid down.
“No, no, the brush is not held like that. Come, watch me.”
Shen Pan-yan rolled up her sleeves, exposing her pale, slender wrist.
“When writing, your elbow and wrist must be suspended in the air. Your fingers should grip firmly, but your palm should be kept hollow, and the brush tip should be perpendicular to the paper… Lin Xiao, are you even listening to what I am saying?”
Lin Xiao subtly retracted his gaze, “Reporting to the Princess, this subordinate is listening.”
“Then what did I just say? Repeat it.”
“…”
“Lin Xiao!!!”
“This subordinate knows his mistake.”
“You—!”
Shen Pan-yan felt that even with her good temper, Lin Xiao could make her head spin with frustration. His former superior must have had a tough time.
“Don’t get distracted again! Focus and learn!”
Seeing that the Princess seemed genuinely angry, Lin Xiao straightened his expression, “Yes.”