Chapter 161 - Your Smile Is My Happiness!

Chu Junyi returned to the Xiao Mansion. Just as he pushed open the courtyard’s door, he suddenly turned around to look at the shadow in the corner and shouted coldly, “Who is it? Come out!”

Xiao Huanxi walked out with her hands crossed around her chest. The clothes she wore were very thin. Her hair and body were wet with dew. Her face was pale and her lips were purple. She looked as if she had stayed outside all night.

Chu Junyi frowned. He didn’t want to do anything cruel to this younger sister, but she just didn’t understand. “Why are you here?”

Hearing this, Xiao Huanxi trembled. “You didn’t return home and I was afraid that something bad might happen to you, so I waited outside for you. Brother Junyi, don’t be angry. I’ll leave immediately.” After saying those words, she turned to leave, but after taking two steps, she suddenly rolled her eyes and fainted.

Chu Junyi hurriedly stepped forward and helped her up. “Huanxi, how are you feeling?”

Xiao Huanxi slowly opened her eyes and her pupils contracted abruptly. “I’m sorry, Brother Junyi. I didn’t mean to cause trouble for you. I stood outside all night and just fainted. I’m fine now. Let go of me. It will be bad if someone sees us and misunderstands you.”

As she spoke, she struggled to stand up, hugged herself with both hands, and walked out trembling.

Chu Junyi sighed deeply. A trace of helplessness flashed through his eyes. After all, they were siblings. Except for her obsession with him, she was a good person. In the future, he would take care of her more. Even if she married out of the capital, he would not let her suffer any grievances.

Xiao Huanxi returned to her courtyard and a maid hurriedly came up to support her. “Miss, I’ve prepared the ice water according to your instructions.”

The innocence and grievance on Xiao Huanxi’s face disappeared completely. She relaxed down and returned to her room. She took off her wet clothes, walked to the bathtub, and put her hands into it to feel the temperature. The water was ice-cold to the bone. She nodded in satisfaction. “So what if His Majesty granted the marriage? Aren’t there still six months left? Anything can happen in these six months. Shen Ninghua, let’s see who can laugh until the end!”

After saying that, she stepped into the bathtub and dipped into the ice water. The water was so cold that it almost froze her bone marrow. Her face instantly turned pale and her lips began to tremble.

The maid at the side looked at Xiao Huanxi and felt her teeth began to sour. “Miss, it’s almost time. Come out quickly. Such cold water will damage your body.” In order to cool the water down, she had followed Xiao Huanxi’s order to add a lot of ice to it. The water was almost as cold as the river water in winter.

Xiao Huanxi’s lips curled into a smile as she trembled. “No need, I will stay in the water for 15 minutes. You go guard the door. After I come out and change my clothes, you run out and call for the imperial doctor. Just follow my instructions and shout. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Miss.”

About an hour later, a maid quickly ran out of Xiao Huanxi’s courtyard. “Master, young master, help! Miss fainted.”

Hearing the sudden noise outside, Chu Junyi suddenly frowned. Thinking of the way Xiao Huanxi looked when she left, he frowned and walked towards her courtyard. His marriage with Ninghua had just been settled. He didn’t want to see anything bad happen to either the Xiao family or Xiao Huanxi at this time!

He had just entered the courtyard when he saw the maids running back and forth in a mess, and he frowned even more tightly. “What are you doing? Have you forgotten all the rules? Don’t blame me for having you dragged and clubbed if anyone tries to cause trouble again!”

The servants hurriedly knelt down to apologize. Chu Junyi walked to Xiao Huanxi’s door and asked coldly to the maid who was taking care of Xiao Huanxi, “How is your miss?”

“Young Master, Miss fainted not long after she returned. She hasn’t woken up yet.” The maid anxiously answered as if she was about to cry out.

“Alright, I’ve already sent someone to fetch the imperial doctor. You take care of her first.”

Inside the room, Xiao Huanxi heard the commotion at the door and thought that Chu Junyi would come in. However, she did not expect that he only warned her maids outside the door!

Brother Junyi was actually so heartless? She couldn’t help but bite her lips hard as she thought about it. Then, she rolled down from the bed and let out a muffled bang.

Sure enough, the maid who heard the sound hurriedly pushed the door open and ran in. She looked at Xiao Huanxi on the ground in shock and said, “Miss, what happened to you? Why did you suddenly fall off the bed?”

Chu Junyi followed her into the room. Seeing Xiao Huanxi’s appearance, his heart tightened.

At this moment, Xiao Huanxi’s face was as pale as white paper. Her lips were pale and dry, and the skin on the lips was even chapped. She was like a flower that had lost its moisture and was in danger of withering at any moment. “Huanxi, how did you become like this? Didn’t you look well before?”

Xiao Huanxi opened her eyes and moved her lips. Before she could speak, tears had already rolled down her face. Her watery eyes were filled with unspeakable grievances and pain. It made people want to dote on her in their hearts when they saw her.

After all, the two of them had grown up together and lived in the same mansion for more than ten years. Seeing her like this, Chu Junyi also felt very painful. “The imperial doctor will be here soon. You should go to bed first and have a good rest.”

Xiao Huanxi raised her hand to grab his sleeve, but he dodged it. She choked and said weakly.

“Brother Junyi, I know that I was wrong before. Can’t you forgive me?”

Chu Junyi’s expression softened slightly. “Huanxi, I said before that you are my sister. As your elder brother, I will not blame you.” If you could really give up your obsession, it would be great. He didn’t mind protecting another younger sister.

Xiao Huanxi took a deep breath and tears kept falling down like a broken necklace. “Brother Junyi, I really know my mistakes and have learned to let it go. Soon, you will get married. You have my best wishes.”

Chu Junyi nodded, and his eyes carried some warmth. “Alright, I thank you on behalf of Ninghua.”

Xiao Huanxi revealed a pale smile in a trance and soon fainted again.

Xiao Fengjue walked in quickly with the imperial doctor. Seeing Chu Junyi standing beside Xiao Huanxi’s bed, his expression immediately darkened. “Since you can’t marry her, you should treat her coldly and don’t give her any hope. Our Xiao family’s girl can love the wrong person, but she can’t be fooled.”

Chu Junyi turned around to meet Xiao Fengjue’s angry gaze and smiled bitterly in his heart. “Elder brother, in your heart, I am an outsider? Haha, don’t worry. Huanxi said that she had given up her obsession with me. That would be the best. His Majesty has granted Ninghua a place to build a princess mansion. Given my special condition, I have already requested His Majesty to build the Chu Mansion next to Princess Zhaohua’s Mansion. Once the mansion is built, I will move out. ”

Xiao Fengjue gritted his teeth tightly and said in a cold voice, “Alright, that would be the best.”

Chu Junyi did not say anything. He directly walked out and returned to his courtyard. Suddenly, he missed Shen Ninghua very much. He followed his heart, changed into inconspicuous clothes and leaped out of the courtyard.

In the Prefectural Princess Mansion, Shen Linghan was overjoyed to receive Madam Zhao’s dowry and stayed in the courtyard to count the dowry. Yang Yingxue came to Shen Ninghua’s room and sat there for a while. After giving her a gift, she returned to her Cuizhu Pavilion. Xia Jingqiu was even happier. Shen Ninghua was now a princess, so she would definitely not need to move out of here.

Everything in the mansion was quiet, and Shen Ninghua was in the mood to have some fun. She asked Bai Ruo to bring over two potted plants and trim them bit by bit with a pair of gold scissors.

When Chu Junyi entered, he happened to see Shen Ninghua standing at the window.

Today, she was wearing a light pink gauze long dress, she didn’t even put on her makeup, and her hair was simply rolled up with a jade hairpin. She stood in the sunlight and almost merged with the light. Her entire body was golden and looked warm, like a ball of sweet, soft, and furry cotton candy. It made him feel as if his entire heart was melting at a glance of her.

Chu Junyi did not want to disturb the tranquility around her, so he leaned against the pillar and slowly appreciated her rare relaxed expression. The ripples in his heart slowly calmed down, leaving behind only a stretch of golden warmth.

Shen Ninghua placed the trimmed branches in a small basket by the side. When she raised her head, she saw Chu Junyi leaning against the corridor. Her movements paused and a smile appeared on her face. “Why did you come over?”

Looking at that face that was even more beautiful than the sunshine, Chu Junyi instantly felt as if he was falling into a jar of honey and his entire heart was about to melt. He wanted to keep Shen Ninghua’s smile at this moment and let her smile happily forever. Only when she was happy would he feel utmost happiness.

Chu Junyi leapt in from the window and took the scissors away from Shen Ninghua’s hand. “Ninghua, you’re trimming potted plants. Let me see. Hmm, this pot should be trimmed into a round shape. How nice it will look.”

Shen Ninghua was stunned. Before she could stop him, he quickly trimmed the elegant potted plant into a dull round shape with the scissors.

“You…”

Was there a trace of elegance when the green pine potted plant was trimmed into a round shape?

However, Chu Junyi was very satisfied. He placed the round potted plant that he had trimmed beside the one that had been trimmed by Shen Ninghua and nodded in satisfaction. “What a perfect match!”

Shen Ninghua felt speechless. She had trimmed that plant according to the growth of the little pine tree. However, Chu Junyi trimmed the plant into a round shape! How could the two match each other? However, looking at Chu Junyi’s happy expression, she did not say what she wanted to say in her heart.

“Why are you here?”

“I’m here because I miss you so much. One day apart seems like three years. I used to feel that it was an exaggeration, but now I feel that the ancient people were too modest. One second without you seems like a long long time.”

Shen Ninghua’s ears turned red and she angrily stuffed the small basket containing the trimmed branches into his arms. “I see, you’re so idle that you started to talk nonsense. Now carry these things out and empty the basket.”

Chu Junyi’s eyes were full of smiles as he obediently carried the basket into the courtyard and emptied it.

Hong Ling came in and saw the two potted plants. She asked in surprise, “Miss, when did you start to like this kind of potted plant, or did something go wrong when you trimmed that potted plant?” The shape was a little unique.

Shen Ninghua paused and looked at the two potted plants standing side by side by the window. After thinking for a while, she said, “Move them away.”

“Yes, Miss. Shall I move this round one away as well?” Where should it be placed?

“…Put it in the screen cupboard outside my bedroom.” Shen Ninghua said calmly. Seeing Hong Ling holding the potted plant in her arms, she suddenly added, “Take off the Misty Rain Glass Bottle next to the screen cupboard and put the two potted plants together.”

Hong Ling paused and swallowed her saliva. “Alright.” Replacing a glass bottle with a silly round potted plant? Miss’ taste was indeed a bit unique. Was she infected by this husband-to-be of hers?