Chapter 84
“The rock surface is slippery. You should not have left my hand,” asserted Lóng Wei and brushed the hair strands from her face. When she became stable, Lóng Wei pulled her up and found her trembling in the cold.
He removed his overcoat and then the upper robe. Covering her from it, he carried her in his arms and left for Yuze’s house. That place was the closest, where they could take shelter for some time.
Making her stand on the ground, he asked her to wait for a few minutes. Li Hua tightly clutched the overcoat around her and waited for Lóng Wei to return.
He, on the other hand, went to the main door. Yuze always left a key for Lóng Wei in case he wanted to come to the house in his absence. The key was inside the wall in a hole. He took out the brick and from the box, took the keys out. Quickly, he opened the lock on the door and pushed the door.
He went to Li Hua and brought her inside the house with him. He brought her to the second room as the first one was of Yuze. “I will bring the clothes for you. Stay here. Then we can leave for the palace,” he opined.
“From where Your Highness?” She asked. “I cannot use a Monk’s clothes,” she said with a trembling voice when Lóng Wei walked out of the room.
After some time he returned and brought a clean pair of clothes in his hands. He removed the overcoat from Li Hua’s body and asked her to change. Li Hua looked at the robes. “I will be outside,” he said and put the clothes in her hands. He walked out and closed the doors behind him.
Li Hua found the clothes were men’s clothes. She quickly changed into them, but the dress was too loose for her size. She told Lóng Wei that she had changed, who opened the door. A smile appeared on his lips as he found her adorable. He walked to her and folded her sleeves up.
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“You are like a baby,” Lóng Wei said and looked at the knot that she had made in a hurry. He brought his hands to her chest and made a tight knot. She wanted to stop him but didn’t.
“His Highness shall also change,” Li Hua suggested to him.
“There was only one pair of clothes,” Lóng Wei said.
“Oh. Then, why did His Highness give me these clothes? Shall I remove them? He can-” she paused as Lóng Wei put his index finger over her mouth.
“I don’t want you to catch a cold,” Lóng Wei stated. “I don’t get sick easily,” he affirmed. Li Hua nodded while gradually moving his hand up. Brushing off the tiny fringes from her forehead and cheek, he tucked them behind her ear.
“You can remove these head accessories. Wear them later,” Lóng Wei advised her.
A married woman would remove the hair accessories before going to bed. It was considered a bad omen to remove them for no special reason. Li Hua explained it to him about it, and he was astonished to hear her. So, she considered her his woman.
“I don’t want you to feel heavy because of them. Let me help you,” Lóng Wei said and carefully removed the buyao from her head. He put it on the small circular table and then removed the hairpins. Li Hua narrowly gazed at him, who was behind her.
He came to her front and got on her knees. The pants that she had worn were oversized. He asked her to lift her left foot.
“Why?” She asked.
“Do you want to fall, walking in those heavy clothes?” Lóng Wei asked her. She shook her head and asked him what she would do.
Lóng Wei grasped her foot and she promptly rested her hand on his shoulder. He folded the cuffs of the two legs and rose to his feet.
“Come,” he said and walked ahead of her. Li Hua followed him and they came to the main kitchen, where they had their lunch when they first visited Yuze’s place.
Lóng Wei asked her to sit while he went towards the stove. Li Hua thought to help him, so walked toward him. “What does His Highness want to eat? I will cook for him,” she offered her help.
“No. Sit over there,” Lóng Wei told her in a stern tone. Li Hua tried to convince him to take her when he scolded her and sent her back to the table.
Lóng Wei prepared rice balls and tofu noodle soup for them. After thirty minutes, he brought the two bowls and put them on the table. “Start eating before it gets cold,” he told her and put the chopsticks over the bowl before her. He went to the kitchen to bring rice balls on a platter.
Putting it on the table, he sat in front of her and the two started eating. Li Hua was surprised to get the taste of the tofu -noodle soup.
“What happened? Did you not like them?” Lóng Wei asked her.
“It’s delicious, Your Highness.” She passed white teeth smile to him. “It is astonishing to see that a Prince knows how to cook,” she praised him.
“I poured my heart while preparing the food for us. This was the first time my wife would be going to eat the food made by my hands. So, I need to make it delicious,” Lóng Wei affirmed. “You won’t find a man, who is good at cooking,” he stated.
Li Hua didn’t mean that. However, his words were true. Hardly any man cooked or enter the kitchen except the male chefs.
Li Hua silently ate when Lóng Wei asked her to eat the rice balls. “Tell me if you want to eat more.”
Li Hua found him so calm even after she brought his mother out of nowhere in their conversation. He usually would get angry, but with her, he was not. She decided to sincerely apologize to him.
“Your Highness,” she softly said, and the Sixth Prince looked at her, “I am truly apologetic for my earlier question. I will not do it ever.”