Chapter 494 – At a Loss

“What kind of nonsense are you saying! You’re going to misguide the child!!” Yu Xiaocao flushed bright red and she reached out to twist Zhu Junyang’s arm. There were so many people on the streets, so how could it be good if other people heard this? This fellow’s skin was truly too thick in that he wasn’t afraid of other people laughing at him!

“The news is true! Zhenxiu Restaurant has ice lanterns in the front! Quickly go find a good place!!” Someone sped past Yu Xiaocao and almost touched her arm. She was startled by this sudden appearance but immediately her waist tightened. By the time she realized what had happened, she had already been drawn into that warm chest.

She raised her head and met a pair of dark phoenix eyes that seemed to glitter like the stars. It was as if they were two deep pools that could draw one’s soul into them. Yu Xiaocao was about to be bewitched by them when a snowflake leisurely floated down and coincidentally landed on her nose. She unconsciously looked at that pure white snowflake and wasn’t aware that, in another person’s eyes, she had a silly look on her face while being cross-eyed.

She felt that person’s chest rumble and a large hand gently brushed the snowflake off of her nose. Only then did Yu Xiaocao realize just how funny she looked earlier. She firmly glared at Zhu Junyang, who was suppressing his laughter, and forcefully pushed him away. He was blatantly hugging her in such a public place. How scandalous! She didn’t want to admit anything so she became angry out of humiliation!

Zhu Junyang raised the hood on her cloak to cover her head and brushed off all of the snow that had fallen onto her shoulders. His smile seemed to be as bright as the lights around them and it had an alluring quality to it. The young ladies and matrons around who saw him all revealed a bashful smile and their eyes lingered on him.

“Attracting all of the bees and butterflies!” Yu Xiaocao snorted grumpily. Zhu Junyang hurriedly stopped smiling and reverted to a grim expression and starkly cold eyes. The young women around them, who had been surreptitiously looking at him, suddenly felt like they had seen a demon. Their faces immediately turned white and they all retreated one after another...

“Are you satisfied by this now?” When Zhu Junyang lowered his head to look at Xiaocao, he couldn’t help but unconsciously soften his expression. The loving gentleness in his eyes was enough to make someone intoxicated.

“Older Sister...it’s so scary!” Fang Haolin, who was gnawing on the sugar painting, had been scared by Zhu Junyang’s earlier expression. He pouted his lips and sobbed as if he had been wronged.

Zhu Junyang glared at him, “You’re such a coward yet you claim you’ll protect your older sister when you get older. It’s more likely your older sister will be the one protecting you!! Do you see that young fellow wearing a light green colored robe? He is also the younger brother of your older sister and has already become a county official at such a young age. He’s determined to place first in the imperial palace exams! After he does that, he’ll become a powerful official and help back your older sister up. If you don’t get more courage, then you’ll be pushed down by him!”

Yu Xiaocao found this hilarious yet a bit too much. She picked up Little Linlin, who had been begging for a hug, and said, “Why are you telling him this? Can’t you see he hasn’t even reached the age of two yet? It’d be surprising if he could understand what you’re saying!”

“Older Sister, when Linlin gets older, I’ll become a big general and I’ll fight bad people to protect you!” When he said the term ‘bad people’, Fang Haolin surreptitiously glanced at Zhu Junyang and it was clear how the little fellow categorized the prince in his mind.

How could Zhu Junyang allow Xiaocao to carry the little fatty? The little lass had such slim arms and legs, so what if she became tired? He looked at Fang Haolin with contempt and said, “What kind of big general is this cowardly? When the bad people come, you’re going to be crying instead. How can you protect your older sister?”

“Linlin is very brave!!” Fang Haolin was very upset by this and was no longer cowed by the prince’s glares. He puffed up his cheeks and stared intently at Zhu Junyang as if by doing this he wouldn’t be scared anymore.

“How do you prove you’re brave? As soon as I look a bit gloomy, you want to cry. Is that a sign that you’re brave?” Zhu Junyang had an expression that stated he didn’t believe the little boy as he secretly observed the little kid’s reactions.

Fang Haolin scrunched up his little face for a long time before he finally stretched out his hand in an effort to prove he wasn’t scared as he stated, “Linlin is not crying. Linlin is brave. In the future, Linlin will become a great general and fight bad people!!”

“That’s the spirit!” Zhu Junyang took the little boy back into his arms and lowered his head to talk to Xiaocao, who was hiding a smile, “It looks like your parents are walking toward the direction of Zhenxiu Restaurant to go look at the ice lanterns. Should we follow them too? I heard that Zhenxiu Restaurant is selling late night snacks. After walking around, it’s easy to get hungry and tired so we can also stop at the building and rest our feet while eating some food.”

Before Xiaocao could reply, he lifted up Little Haolin in his left arm and grasped Yu Xiaocao’s hand in his right. They followed the stream of people headed towards Zhenxiu Restaurant. Beautiful lights lit up the criss-crossing streets, producing an image of a flourishing land. On the two sides of the street, different varieties of lanterns lit the way and the bright glow of the candles inside of them flickered and swayed...

The unique ice lanterns in front of Zhenxiu Restaurant were actually Yu Xiaocao’s idea! In her previous life, the thing she regretted the most was that she had never traveled to Harbin in the winter to admire their ice sculptures and lanterns. Winter in the capital this year was quite cold, which was why she casually spouted this thought. However, she didn’t expect Third Young Master Zhou to take it to heart and actually follow through.

By the time they got close to Zhenxiu Restaurant, there was already a giant crowd, that had to be at least three shoulders deep, surrounding the building. It was obvious just how popular these ice lanterns were! In front of Zhenxiu Restaurant were two large ice sculptures that had been shaped into lions and they resembled the guardian stone lions in front of temples. Inside them were giant red candles, which lit them up from within. It made them look festive and pure. Nearby, there were all sorts of finely sculpted ice lanterns, such as pavilions, buildings, bridges, animals, humans, and court ladies...it was truly a beautiful and fascinating sight to behold. It was as if they had entered a fairyland that was made entirely out of ice!

Third Young Master Zhou was currently at one of the nearby buildings, looking down on the crowd below. He suddenly spotted a familiar figure within the people and hurried down the building. He managed to squeeze through the crowd with difficulty and finally arrived in front of Yu Xiaocao and Royal Prince Yang, “Why are you guys stuck in the crowd? Be careful to not get stepped on! Come, go into the building with me. I especially reserved a room upstairs where you can see all of the ice lanterns from above. The view is quite spectacular up there!”

Yu Xiaocao followed him as they headed towards Zhenxiu Restaurant. Zhu Junyang came along with Fang Haolin in his arms as he also protected Xiaocao from being squished by the crowd around him. Luckily, he had long legs and arms so he didn’t need to struggle as hard.

“Third Young Master, have you seen my parents and godparents?” Yu Xiaocao quietly asked after she reached the third floor. She was currently sitting in the private room by the window and drinking a warm cup of tea.

Third Young Master Zhou shook his head and replied, “I didn’t see them. Are you sure they came over here? I’ll have the people downstairs keep an eye out. If they see Uncle Yu and the others, they will immediately invite them over to this private room——there are too many people downstairs looking at the lights. It might be difficult to find anyone for a bit.”

Yu Xiaocao stuck her head out the window to look and enjoyed the gorgeous and delicate icy lanterns. She had to admit that she couldn’t look down on the ancient people’s creativity and work. The ice lanterns downstairs were all delicate and gorgeous and were obviously much more beautiful and interesting than the other lanterns in front of other stores. Zhu Junyang placed Fang Haolin at the windowsill and held onto the boy as he stuck half his body outside. The prince avidly observed Xiaocao’s side profile. The little lass had gotten older by one year after the New Years and seemed to have become more beautiful. The childish part of her was gradually disappearing and revealing the charm and grace of a young maiden.

“What are you looking at me for? Go look at the lights!!” He was staring too obviously at her and it made Yu Xiaocao feel a bit antsy. She felt her cheeks redden from embarrassment and even her ears were heating up. Ultimately, she couldn’t stand it anymore and turned around to glower at him angrily.

“The lights aren’t as pretty as you!!” Zhu Junyang was now completely shameless and really had no compunctions left. He even said something so shameless in front of Third Young Master Zhou. Was he not even a bit embarrassed?!

(Fang Haolin: I’m still here! Me!! You don’t just ignore Linlin just because Linlin is small!

Zhu Junyang: Anyone younger than three isn’t considered a person...

Fang Haolin glares angrily...)

Third Young Master Zhou opened his eyes wide and stared in astonishment at Zhu Junyang. Was still the same widely known cold-faced royal prince? Why did he suddenly get off his high horse and became a youth who was head over heels in love? This guy could say such sappy and lovely things without even batting an eye or turning red. It was really too much! Such sticky sweet sentiments truly prickled a single man’s heart! He couldn’t take it anymore!

Zhou Zixu did his best to suppress the rising tide of jealousy within him but a thought suddenly popped up in his mind. If he hadn’t put all of his efforts in establishing Zhenxiu Restaurant and the family business in order to prove himself to his grandfather and the Zhou Family and instead listened to his heart to pursue Yu Xiaocao, would he be the one next to her right now? Would he be the one whispering sweet nothings to her?

Although he now had the trust of his clan and was the acknowledged heir of the family business, he discovered that he had lost his chance with that person as she had already been taken away by someone else. It felt like his heart had been dug away and he was only left with an empty hole that felt cold to his bones.

“Third Young Master, are you cold? Should we close the windows for a bit?” Yu Xiaocao had noticed from the corner of her eye that Third Young Master Zhou had let out a shiver, so she hurriedly asked.

Third Young Master Zhou endured the sharp look from Zhu Junyang and did his best to remain calm as he smiled and shook his head, “There are two braziers here, how could I feel chilly? Oh right, I remember I had the kitchen leave a fruit platter for me. I’ll go down and bring it back so we can eat...”

Zhu Junyang watched as Third Young Master Zhou fled out of the room and raised an eyebrow. A complicated look crossed his eyes as he fell into thought. He was willing to bet his royal prince title that this youngster surnamed Zhou was also interested in his little lass! Fortunately, he had struck relatively early. Otherwise, he wasn’t sure if his little lass would be snatched away by some other bad wolf!

“Awoooooo——” Far away, at the Yu Residence, Little Black, who had been abandoned by the family, was sulking in the courtyard with the snow falling around it. From time to time, it would raise its head and howl in the air——’Master, Little Black also wants to go out and admire the lights. Why didn’t you bring Little Black along?!’

Little White was currently lying down at a pavilion in the corner of the courtyard garden and rolled its eyes at his brother. Its blue-gray eyes, which were full of contempt for the other wolf, had two words written in them——Giant idiot!!

The Yu Family and the Fang couple were very quickly brought up to the warm and lively private room. It was getting late and the people in the streets were slowly going away. However, the ice lanterns at Zhenxiu Restaurant glittered with a beautiful light, so the crowds admiring them did not thin out one bit.

Zhou Zixu had the chefs prepare a light and refreshing table of midnight snacks. After walking around for a few hours, everyone was feeling a bit thirsty and peckish. They drank some refreshing West Lake water shield soup, ate some lightly cooked dishes, and idly chatted as they enjoyed the beautiful scenes below them.

Outside, the snow continued to lazily float to the ground. Inside, the friendly and affectionate feelings among the people swirled into a beautiful image and engraved itself into everyone that was present there...