Hu Xiaotian followed Qiqi out of Xinning Palace. He glanced back, made certain no one had followed them, then raised his sleeve to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.
Qiqi stopped. "Hey, did you get hurt?"
"Wang Decai only kicked me once," Hu Xiaotian said.
Qiqi giggled, a sinister expression utterly at odds with her age appearing on her flawless, white-jade face.
"Your Highness, could you stop smiling like that?" Hu Xiaotian said. "It gives me the creeps."
Qiqi lowered her voice. "Then isn't he as good as dead? With your vicious, scheming nature, always avenging even the smallest slight, you must already be thinking of killing him."
Hu Xiaotian hurriedly looked around and pulled the Little Princess into a secluded spot. With a miserable expression, he said, "My Little Princess, my little ancestral tyrant, could you please watch what you say?"
"Am I wrong? Hu Xiaotian, oh, Hu Xiaotian, surely I don't need to remind you about Wei Hualin and that..."
Hu Xiaotian reached out and covered her mouth. Furious, Qiqi aimed a kick straight at his crotch. He had anticipated that move and raised his right leg to block her flying foot. Then he released her mouth and stepped back twice. "Little Princess, thank you for what you did today."
Seeing him act like such a proper gentleman only bored Qiqi. She shook her head. "No fun at all. Hu Xiaotian, don't you want revenge?"
"My little grandaunt, could we please not discuss this here?" Hu Xiaotian said.
Qiqi smiled. "Fine, then. Come to the Palace of Gathered Elegance."
Remembering how Qiqi had plotted to punish him there before, Hu Xiaotian hesitated. He smiled. "I've been away too long. I should be heading back. Why don't we discuss it another day?"
"Coward," Qiqi said. "You're just afraid