Shen Lang: "...Qing Mei?"
The beautiful man composed himself and said, "Qing Mei. The 'Qing' for green plum, and the 'Mei' from Samadhi True Fire."
Shen Lang nodded with a smile. "It sounds quite nice."
The beautiful man suddenly said, "How about I play the zither for you? Playing chess with me must be quite boring."
Shen Lang had no ear for music and couldn't appreciate the elegance of a zither melody. To avoid ruining her image, Shen Lang said, "No, it's fine. Chess is good enough."
"But," Qing Mei said, his eyes full of suspicion as he glanced at the one-sided chessboard, "it seems you aren't very skilled at chess, miss..."
Shen Lang: ...
'Fine, I'm out of here.'
'Can't I just leave?'
And so, Shen Huoshui, having utterly failed in her objective, floated away like an ethereal fairy, completely missing the thoughtful gaze of the beautiful man behind her.
In truth, Shen Huoshui had always had a sore spot.
In her original world, she had countless admirers, all of them top-tier men, yet not a single one had ever dared to approach her.
So, until the day she died, Shen Huoshui had never even had her first kiss.
Can you believe it??
She had finally found a handsome man who was to her liking, but he just had to be completely unromantic. How infuriating!
Shen Lang obediently scurried back to the Chen Prince Mansion.
Sure enough, she was met with Prince Chen's face, as black as the bottom of a pot.
Tsk, tsk.
"...You brat! How dare you come back!" Prince Chen let out a deafening roar. "Why didn't you just sleep over there!?"
The corners of Shen Lang's eyes lifted slightly as she said disapprovingly, "Father, you're mistaken. As the saying goes, there's no place like..."
Before she could finish, a smelly shoe came flying at her face.
Looking aggrieved, Shen Lang shuffled over in tiny steps, getting closer to Princess Consort Chen, who was enjoying the show from the side. In a low voice, she asked, "Mother, did you make Father angry again...?"
Princess Consort Chen, who was cracking melon seeds: "..." ??
'Wow, this wretched daughter of hers is a pro at shifting blame.'
"The nerve of you!" Prince Chen fumed. "Do you think sucking up to your mother will protect you?!"
Princess Consort Chen was not pleased. "What do you mean I can't protect her, Shen?"
Shen Lang quietly shuffled away, making a grand escape.
By the time the couple realized what was happening, their rascally daughter was long gone!
*
Back in her room, the more Shen Lang thought about it, the more something felt off.
Prince Chen knew she was back the moment she arrived. Not even someone with clairvoyance and clairaudience could be that fast, could they?
Unless someone had tattled on her.
Seeing Cui Sheng's eyes darting around guiltily, Shen Lang instantly knew what was up.
'Well, I'll be. So it was a mole.'
After thinking for a moment, Shen Lang smiled amicably. "Little maid, take a look at your Commandery Princess... Am I beautiful?"
Cui Sheng was too scared to look at her and stammered, "Beau... beautiful."
Shen Lang was displeased. "Why are you being so perfunctory?"
Cui Sheng's shoulders trembled. "...Your Highness is as beautiful as a celestial."
Shen Lang propped up her chin, looking very languid. "Not sincere enough."
"So beautiful you'd make fish sink and wild geese fall... so lovely the moon would hide and flowers blush in shame."
Shen Lang was still not satisfied. "Still lacks a little something."
The little maid was on the verge of anxious tears and quickly confessed, "This servant was worried about Your Highness, so I told His Highness the Prince what happened. Please punish this servant, Your Highness...!"
Shen Lang wasn't truly angry with her. Although the girl was a bit dense, she didn't have a malicious bone in her body. She was always wholeheartedly dedicated to Shen Lang's well-being and could be considered completely loyal.
She wasn't an unreasonable person. She languidly lifted her eyelids and said, "Your punishment is to sweep the courtyards. For one month."
Cui Sheng hurriedly agreed.
Because of this, Shen Lang was grounded for several days. Her father kept an extremely strict watch on her and hounded her about her studies every day.