Hu Xiaotian looked at Qiqi with considerable displeasure. "Get up!"
Shi Xuedong wore a woeful expression. How could he dare rise without the princess's permission?
Qiqi sat down opposite Hu Xiaotian, glanced over the dishes on the table, and said, "You may rise. Bring me a fresh bowl and chopsticks."
Only then did Shi Xuedong stand, as though a great weight had been lifted from him, and hurry off to fetch the tableware.
Hu Xiaotian looked at Qiqi with a smile that never reached his eyes. "Won't even let me save face?"
Qiqi said, "Your wings have grown strong, and now you don't even think anything of me."
Hu Xiaotian laughed. "I wouldn't dare. You're a delicate, precious princess."
"So you do remember!"
Hu Xiaotian said, "But you're also my wife-to-be. A woman ought to let her man save some face in public, wouldn't you say?"
Qiqi considered this. "That does seem to make some sense. In that case, I went a little too far just now."
Hu Xiaotian said, "Shi Xuedong may be a eunuch, but he's still my sworn elder brother. Looking down on him means looking down on me. Punishing him means punishing me."
Qiqi nodded. "Even when beating a dog, you must consider its master. Now that you put it that way, I feel all the more that I was wrong."
At that moment, Shi Xuedong returned with a brand-new bowl and chopsticks. He respectfully set them before Qiqi, then removed his own tableware. Just as he was about to leave, Qiqi said, "Brother Shi, I was only joking with you earlier. Please don't hold it against me."
Shi Xuedong dropped to his knees again with a thud, terrified. There was clearly something wrong with Princess Yongyang's tone.
Qiqi smiled. "Get up, Brother Shi. Brother Tian