Lu Dingfeng rolled up her sleeves and started picking up food with her chopsticks, glaring at Lu Zhaoling provocatively.
Lu Zhaoling's patience with Chu Tianjiao didn't mean he would tolerate a little girl's disrespect. His face darkened as he angrily rebuked, "Where did this ill-mannered girl come from? Withdraw immediately!"
Lu Dingfeng grew angrier the more she looked at this grandson. Using the chopsticks in her hand, she rapped Lu Zhaoling on the head, saying, "Shut up! Your great-great-grandfather is eating. Who are you to speak?"
For a moment, Lu Dingfeng forgot her current identity, but others didn't.
A little girl daring to hit a prince on the head - not only were the people around them stunned, but even Lu Zhaoling himself was dumbfounded.
Chu Tianjiao realized Lu Dingfeng was about to cause trouble. According to custom, if Lu Zhaoling wanted to kill her now, Chu Tianjiao wouldn't be able to stop him.
Chu Tianjiao quickly tried to smooth things over, putting on a smile and stepping between Lu Zhaoling and Lu Dingfeng.
"Please calm your anger, Fourth Prince. This girl of mine accidentally ate some poisonous mushrooms earlier, which is why her behavior is so erratic."
Then she turned to glare at Lu Dingfeng, pulling her aside to scold her quietly:
"A general with a sword doesn't slay mosquitoes and flies. Sangzhen, I will settle accounts when the time comes. Now is not the moment, don't add to the trouble."
Lu Dingfeng also realized she had gone too far with her act today and sheepishly retreated to the side.
Lu Zhaoling's face was as black as ink as he pondered whether to lose his temper now.
Chu Tianjiao had been cold towards him all day, and she was finally smiling at him. If he offended her now, Chu Tianjiao would surely be displeased.
Lu Zhaoling believed Chu Tianjiao wasn't lying.
This girl must have accidentally eaten poisonous mushrooms and was hallucinating.
Otherwise, there was no way a little girl would dare to offend his princely dignity.
It wasn't worth getting upset over a girl in a state of delirium.
Lu Zhaoling suppressed his anger, revealed eight teeth in a smile, and looked at Chu Tianjiao with eyes full of doting affection, saying, "You really do spoil this girl. Fine, fine. You spoil her, and I'll spoil you. We'll do whatever you say!"
Chu Tianjiao unconsciously rubbed her arm, afraid Lu Zhaoling would see that she had broken out in goosebumps.
Originally, she had given up on the idea of putting on an act with Lu Zhaoling today, but now, to protect Lu Dingfeng, she had no choice but to start performing again. How nauseating!
"Thank you for your magnanimity, Fourth Prince!"
"Sister Chu, are you camping here tonight? I'll keep you company."
Chu Tianjiao wanted to send him away immediately, but seeing Lu Zhaoling's gaze still occasionally flitting towards Lu Dingfeng, she had to swallow her words.
"Fourth Prince, you may stay, but I'm here for training exercises. If you bring so many guards, it will affect the morale of my subordinates. Would you consider sending them back first?"
Lu Zhaoling looked back at the people he had brought.
Apart from the eight guards officially assigned to protect their safety, princes were not allowed to maintain other armed forces.
Of course, if the people they kept privately had respectable identities, officials couldn't investigate too deeply.
The daily identities of Lu Zhaoling's guards were basically household guards.
Their discipline couldn't compare to Chu Tianjiao's twelve Warrior Maids.
After Lu Zhaoling ordered them to rest on the spot, these guards sprawled all over the ground, with some even surrounding Chu Tianjiao's Warrior Maids to chat them up.
The originally neat and orderly campsite suddenly became chaotic.
Lu Zhaoling's face reddened.
He got up and rushed to the nearest guard, kicking him and spitting, "Take your men and get back to the city."
Lu Zhaoling only kept two secret guards and one attendant.
In Lu Zhaoling's mind, Chu Tianjiao was still his fiancée.
He firmly believed that Chu Tianjiao was fond of him but had been frightened by Monk Miaoyin's prophecy, causing her to waver temporarily about their marriage.
This was the outskirts of the capital, and with Chu Tianjiao and her Warrior Maids nearby, Lu Zhaoling wasn't too worried about his safety.
Lu Zhaoling hadn't eaten either. The table of food he had brought was originally intended for him to enjoy with Chu Tianjiao.
When he prepared to dine, he was dumbfounded: Lu Dingfeng had already eaten seven or eight tenths of the meal he had brought, leaving only cold leftovers.
As a prince, he certainly wouldn't eat the leftovers of a little girl. However, his attendant had brought some dry rations and handed them to Lu Zhaoling: "Your Highness, why don't you make do with some dry rations for the night?"
Taking the package of dry rations from his attendant, Lu Zhaoling then looked at the identical package in Chu Tianjiao's hand, remembering that he had just called this coarse food. He was caught between eating and not eating.
Chu Tianjiao saw his predicament and thoughtfully reached out to take the dry rations from his hand, saying:
"How could such coarse food be worthy of Your Highness's precious body? Let us common folk help you dispose of it."
With that, Chu Tianjiao distributed the package of dry rations among her twelve Warrior Maids and Lu Zhaoling's attendant.
Lu Zhaoling wanted to say he could actually eat it, but fearing Chu Tianjiao would continue to dwell on this issue, he sheepishly kept quiet.
Lu Zhaoling's attendant also received a piece of dry ration. He was about to put it in his mouth when he saw the displeasure in his master's eyes and had to offer it up with both hands.
Lu Zhaoling didn't immediately take it.
The attendant got the hint from his eyes, nodded, and hid the piece of dry ration in his bosom.
The attendant got up to set up the tent on an empty stomach.
Lu Dingfeng, full from the meal, pretended to still be in a daze and bumped into the attendant, causing the dry ration he had just hidden in his bosom to fall out.
Watching the last remaining piece of dry ration roll onto the ground, only to be stepped on by that delirious little girl, Lu Zhaoling's face turned from blue to purple, then from purple to blue.
As if she hadn't seen the dry ration under her foot, Lu Dingfeng plowed it twice before lifting her head to look at the sky, shouting, "Young Miss, look quickly, there's a white steamed bun hanging in the sky..."
Chu Tianjiao followed the direction of Lu Dingfeng's finger and saw a full moon climbing up the branches.
Lu Zhaoling's heart stirred.
Such a night scene, with mountains like painted eyebrows and a bright moon high in the sky, was the perfect environment to capture Chu Tianjiao's heart. He must not miss such a good opportunity.
He no longer paid attention to that delirious little girl, straightened his clothes, clasped his hands behind his back, and strolled to Chu Tianjiao's side. Looking up, he softly recited:
"In life I've always loved tranquility,
A thousand affairs, none concern me.
Pine winds blow, untying my sash,
Mountain moon shines as I pluck the qin..."
After reciting, Lu Zhaoling's face took on a serene expression. He lightly raised his right hand to brush aside a stray hair from his forehead, truly exuding the charm of a refined scholar.
He muttered in his heart: "Come on, praise me, praise me..."
After waiting for a while without receiving Chu Tianjiao's praise, he had to turn his head and look at her with lowered eyes.
Chu Tianjiao seemed to have just received his hint and nodded earnestly: "Well said! 'Recklessly playing the qin' is a good phrase!"
Hearing this, Lu Zhaoling's expression froze, and he cursed inwardly: "How uncouth!"
"Sister Chu, it's 'shine as I pluck the qin', not 'recklessly playing the qin'."
Lu Zhaoling suppressed his disgust and gently corrected Chu Tianjiao.
Chu Tianjiao had spent three years in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, listening to Empress Jingci recite poetry every day. She was already very familiar with these poems, but she deliberately pretended not to understand. She refused to flatter Lu Zhaoling!
She asked Lu Zhaoling with a straight face: "There are many wolves and tigers in these mountains. Only a fool would come here to play the qin! Shouldn't a fool be 'recklessly playing the qin'?"
Lu Zhaoling was at a loss for words, feeling quite defeated, like a scholar encountering a soldier, unable to explain himself clearly despite being in the right.
It seemed that playing the refined card wouldn't work with an uncouth person like Chu Tianjiao. He had to express himself more directly.
"Sister Chu, during the days you were ill, I was worried day and night..."
Just as Lu Zhaoling was about to get to the point and pour out his heart, Lu Dingfeng tactlessly squeezed between the two.
Lu Zhaoling was about to rebuke her to withdraw when Lu Dingfeng stuck out her bottom and bumped him aside.
She looked up at Chu Tianjiao with an innocent face and asked:
"Young Miss, will I be leading the training exercises tomorrow?"
Chu Tianjiao nodded. Coming to the mountains was also in hopes that Lu Dingfeng could regain some memories and successfully find the fire turtle. It was perfectly fine for her to lead.
Lu Dingfeng turned around, one hand on her hip and the other pointing at Lu Zhaoling, asking: "But if I'm leading and the Fourth Prince doesn't follow orders, what then?"
Chu Tianjiao wanted to force Lu Zhaoling to leave, so she played along: "It's alright, if the Fourth Prince isn't participating in our training, he'll leave early tomorrow morning."
Lu Zhaoling now truly regretted not having beaten that ill-mannered little girl to death earlier.
He had pursued Chu Tianjiao out of the city this time, determined to win her over and marry her as soon as possible. How could he possibly leave now?
Lu Zhaoling stepped past Lu Dingfeng and urgently said to Chu Tianjiao, "Sister Chu, if you're going to conduct drills tomorrow, you can just treat me as one of your soldiers. I promise to obey orders just like everyone else."
Chu Tianjiao hadn't expected Lu Zhaoling to be so persistent and was at a loss for words.
Lu Dingfeng once again jumped between the two, clapping his hands in approval and instigating, "Since Your Fourth Highness has said so, do you dare to sign a military pledge? This way, during training, you won't fear hardship or exhaustion and constantly accuse us of insubordination, threatening to behead or kill us!"
Lu Zhaoling thought to himself, how difficult could a girl's training possibly be?
Lu Zhaoling gladly agreed to sign the military pledge, promising to follow all orders from the team leader.
Seeing the smugness in Lu Dingfeng's eyes, Chu Tianjiao held back a laugh and pointed to the trees ahead, saying:
"If that's the case, then Your Highness's two hidden guards and attendant should sign as well. I'm worried they might try to help Your Highness cheat when the time comes."
Thus, Lu Zhaoling himself and his three subordinates all signed the military pledge.
