Yun Jing's eyes were already tinged with anger.
His little girl was only eighteen, yet this lecher was pressing and rubbing against her.
He truly wanted to break that bastard's legs.
Yet he also felt that there was no flirtation in the way the girl looked at him.
She must have been deliberately teasing this lecher.
Though he did not know her purpose, he should not ruin it.
Meng Anli saw that the lump of clay in her master's hand had already lost its shape.
She gently pushed the Crown Prince. "Brother Shaoguang, we need to sit still and let Master watch us. That way, it will be easier for him to observe us and mold us."
The Crown Prince reluctantly turned back around.
Yun Jing looked at Meng Anli approvingly. "The girl is absolutely right. At least you know how to be considerate of this old man."
Meng Anli: "..."
Her master seemed to be hinting at something.
Cold sweat streamed down her back.
The Crown Prince was quite curious about what the figurines would look like, so he cooperatively stopped moving.
Meng Anli sat primly, feeling as though needles were pricking her back, and did not dare speak.
The Crown Prince occasionally glanced at her, finding her utterly adorable like this.
Seeing her appearance, Yun Jing's heart softened slightly.
He decided not to say the words meant to warn her just yet, lest he frighten her.
He quickly finished molding them.
Meng Anli was delighted. They really did look remarkably alike.
Master truly was Master—he even possessed such craftsmanship.
The Crown Prince was also delighted. He thought Yun Jing had molded them especially well, particularly Xiao Ying. She looked charmingly simple and adorable, yet lacked no liveliness. He had truly captured her very essence.
He had even molded the candied hawthorn skewers in her hand.
Without hesitation, the Crown Prince set down an ingot of gold. "No need for change. Keep the rest as your reward."
"Many thanks, Young Master. You are indeed generous," Yun Jing said without much sincerity.
Meng Anli hurried away. Only when she could no longer feel her master's gaze did she hold out her hand toward the Crown Prince.
"My little clay figurine..."
"They are both mine." The Crown Prince put both figurines away.
With her master gone, Meng Anli could act as freely as she pleased again. Her cheeks suddenly flushed red.
"But... that's me~"
"It was my money that paid for it~"
Meng Anli stomped her foot, pretended to be angry, and ran into the crowd.
The Crown Prince smiled and chased after her, like a young man fallen head over heels in love.
Meng Anli thought of the things the Crown Prince had told her Meng Shiwan had done with him in her past life, including setting floating lanterns adrift on the river and lighting fireworks.
But none of those things were available now. They would have to wait until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
There was also a rather sour line she wanted to say.
For the moment, she could not bring herself to say it.
So Meng Anli took him to eat noodles from a roadside stall again.
The Crown Prince found them novel and ate every bite.
Naturally, the Crown Prince paid for them as well.
Meng Anli rubbed her belly and let out a satisfied burp. Reluctantly, she said, "Thank you, Brother Shaoguang. I have never been this happy before, but we must part ways here."
The smile on the Crown Prince's face vanished instantly. "Part ways here? What do you mean? I can take you home."
Meng Anli shook her head, her eyes reddening. "Just treat today as a dream. You are still the Heavenly Realm Crown Prince, and I am only Xiao Ying."
"No!" The Crown Prince seized her wrist. "Come back to the Heavenly Court with me."
Meng Anli bit her lip, her eyes full of reluctance. "My mother would never agree. My father caused her family to be destroyed and her loved ones to perish. She fears people of the Heavenly Realm most of all."
"How could her family have been destroyed and her loved ones killed?"
"I'm sorry, I cannot say. I have to go." She looked deeply at the Crown Prince. "I will always remember Brother Shaoguang, the one who dazzled my entire lifetime."
Shaoguang's gaze trembled slightly. "Xiao Ying..."
Meng Anli turned and blended into the crowd.
That sickeningly melodramatic line had disgusted her beyond endurance. If she did not leave now, she would not be able to keep it up.
Shaoguang stepped forward to chase after her, only to be blocked by a cart from a vendor packing up his stall.
When he looked up again, Xiao Ying was already gone.
In fury, he kicked the cart over, sending both the old vendor woman and the cart rolling several times.
The old woman finally came to a stop. When she raised her head to demand an explanation, she saw Shaoguang's pitch-dark expression and his magnificent robes, and could only swallow her grievance.
Shaoguang's eyes darkened inch by inch.
"Xiao Ying, if you will not tell me, I will investigate. Every grievance you have suffered, I will seek justice for you."
As his words fell, he entered an alley and, once no one was paying attention, vanished as he returned to the Heavenly Court.
Meng Anli let out a breath of relief and returned to her original appearance. Just as she was about to emerge from the alley, she felt a weight settle around her leg.
She lowered her head and met a small dirty face. Beneath the tangled hair, she could vaguely see a pair of bright, sparkling eyes.
The child's clothes were tattered all over, yet there was not a single patch on them.
It was a little beggar hugging her leg.
The little beggar looked at the candied hawthorn skewers in her hand and swallowed.
Meng Anli bent down, stroked his head, and handed him the skewers.
"Here, take them. Thank you for helping me solve a problem."
She would never eat something the Crown Prince had eaten.
She also felt it would be wasteful to throw them away and had not known what to do with them.
The little beggar released her leg, took the candied hawthorn skewers, and looked a little bewildered. "Thank me?"
"Yes." Meng Anli patted his head again. "I'm leaving now. May you be safe and healthy."
The little beggar watched her retreating figure, scratched his head, then raised the candied hawthorn skewers and smiled.
Meng Anli went to find the old woman. Someone had already helped her up.
The old woman held her waist and cried out in pain.
Meng Anli took out a medicinal pill from her pouch, then pulled out an ingot of gold and pressed both into her hands.
"Grandmother, I'm sorry. This pill can restore you to how you were before."
She had dragged this old woman into the trouble.
The old woman repeatedly tried to refuse. "I cannot accept this."
"Take it. To me, it is not worth mentioning."
Tears in her eyes, the old woman accepted them and moved to kneel. "A living Bodhisattva~"
Meng Anli hurriedly supported her. "Please do not. Speaking of which, I was the one who implicated you."
The old woman shook her head. "That man hurt me. What does it have to do with you, Miss?"
Meng Anli's heart grew warm. Such a kind old woman.
She did not explain. After comforting her a few more times, she hurried toward the clay figurine stall.
The craftsman molding clay figurines was already an ordinary person.
Master should be very angry, right?
But for now, she had to return to the imperial palace first, then go find Master and carry thorn branches on her back to beg forgiveness.
Meng Anli quickly arrived at the imperial palace.
There was still candlelight in the main hall of the Cold Palace.
Meng Anli knocked softly. "It's me."
Meng Ying opened the door and led her inside.
Empress Chu was surprised. "It has only been one day."
"I'm not here to rush you. It's just..."
Meng Anli felt a little embarrassed, and her gaze toward Meng Ying was even more guilty.
Empress Chu keenly noticed it and guessed, "You want Meng Ying to go to the Heavenly Realm too?"
Meng Anli waved her hands repeatedly and first set down the bundle. "Meng Shiwan did not accept these clothes of yours."
Empress Chu was not surprised. "It is fine if she did not accept them. When I gave them to you, I had already thought that she dresses well now and might not take them."
"Mm..." Meng Anli glanced at Meng Ying again.
Meng Ying was gnawing on a chicken leg, looking at her with clear eyes. "Why do you keep looking at me?"
Meng Anli simply said everything in one breath.
"By chance, I encountered the Heavenly Realm Crown Prince at Qilian Mountain. He had gone to find Meng Shiwan. I did not want the Heavenly Realm Crown Prince and the Meng family to join forces, so I used Meng Ying's appearance to ruin things between the Crown Prince and Meng Shiwan.
"Afterward, I used your appearance to deliberately tease the Crown Prince, making him take an interest in you..."
Meng Anli told them everything she and the Crown Prince had done, without even leaving out their conversations.
"Huh?"
Meng Ying stopped chewing her chicken leg, meat still in her mouth.
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