Then she received another rather unusual gift.
The gift itself was nothing remarkable. It was once again, fruit. This time, a southern variety. But the person who sent it was rather unusual—-Prince Lu Zhiyan of Changning.
After Lu Zhi Yan was able to intercept the Regent that day with his schemes, he promptly left Xiliang. Feng Zhi Wei still held two of his handwritten IOUs, so she wasn’t worried about him not owing up to them. However, their interaction in Xiliang could not be considered pleasant at all, so why a gift of nowhere? Could there be a bomb hidden in the fruit? Feng Zhi Wei stared at the neatly wrapped fruit and thought it seemed to be rather big in size. When she unwrapped it, she saw that it was a pile of extremely large papayas, each one round and plump. Tucked among them was also a note.
Feng Zhi Wei unfolded the note. The handwriting did indeed belong to Lu Zhi Yan. Like his personality, his writing was as lively and as unrestrained, with each stroke seeming about to leap off the page, though the note only consisted of a few words.
One single glance caused Feng Zhi Wei to fume with so much anger that it nearly twisted her nose crooked.
“A beauty once gifted me fine jade; I should of course repay her with papayas. These are the finest papayas from the south, remarkably effective for enhancing the breasts. Your breasts are already so pitiful, stop tormenting them further.”
For the first time in her life, Feng Zhi Wei wasn’t able to control her emotions and ripped the young prince’s note into shreds.
Not feeling satisfied, she wanted to crush the papayas as well, but then she realized there was no reason to take her anger out on the innocent fruit, so she ordered the papayas to be taken to the water well for chilling. She figured she would make them nice and cold before eating them. The greater the hatred, the faster one should destroy it.
While waiting for the papayas to cool, she calmly instructed her subordinates to pay frequent visits to Guangji Grocery Shop, and have the Nine Cities Military Patrol regularly “check in” on it. While they are at it, they should also “show concern” for the business of Double Happiness Bank.
Guangji Grocery Shop was merely one of Lu Zhi Yan’s half-hidden bases in the Capital. The latter was his true covert financial network spread across the realms. Feng Zhi Wei answered his “gift of papayas” with a warning: Don’t think I don’t know your hidden power and the sources of wealth.
The papaya rolled around by the well, exuding a rich fragrance. Feng Zhi Wei angrily grabbed one and threw it into the well, but instead of the expected splash, she heard a chuckling “Ouch!”
Hearing the voice, Feng Zhi Wei knew right away that the guy who had been popping out of the well so frequently lately had shown up again. She quickly stood up to tidy up the pile of papayas, but then Ning Yi had already popped his head out with a grape in his mouth and a papaya in his hand. While eating a grape, he said, “This tastes pretty good, and the papaya looks good too.”
Seeing him holding a papaya in each hand, Feng Zhi Wei’s face promptly turned bright red and she quickly reached out her hand to snatch them. Retracting his hands to hide the papayas behind his back, Ning Yi cocked his head and examined her carefully, “Hey, why are you blushing just because I took two papayas from you? Are you feeling stingy? It’s just two fruits. How come you have become more and more stingy as you age?”
He rubbed the two papayas back and forth in his hands and even sniffed them carefully, saying with admiration, “These came from the south, right? It’s rare to get them this fresh. They are of a good variety too.”
Seeing his perfectly serious expression, Feng Zhi Wei figured that this man of noble birth spent his whole life in the imperial capital, so it is probable that he doesn’t know about the so-called “special use” of papayas. Her expression eased a little. Clearing her throat, she smiled and said, “No, it’s just that they haven’t been washed yet. I was worried you would get an upset stomach if you ate them.”
Ning Yi set the papayas aside and raised his brows with a smile, “It’s rare of you to care about me this much. I’ll return the favor.” As he spoke, he picked up one bunch of grapes, peeled one personally, and held it to her lips, “Here.”
Under the starlight, his features were striking, his eyes glittering in the light. Facing a face that is so beautiful that it could topple cities and kingdoms, Feng Zhi Wei suddenly felt that male beauty could indeed be its own pressure at times. She hurriedly turned her gaze away and reached out a hand to take the grape, but Ning Yi said, “Your hands are not washed, bring your mouth here.”
Feeling something was off when she heard the phrase “bring your mouth here”, Feng Zhi Wei was about to glare at him, but Ning Yi had already lightly brushed the grape against her lips. Painted by the grape’s crystal-clear juice, the redness of her lips became even more vibrant.
Ning Yi smiled and said, “Not opening your mouth? Fine, then let me taste whether it’s sweet.” As he spoke, he leaned closer.
Startled, Feng Zhi Wei immediately opened her mouth and swallowed the grape so quickly that she almost choked.
Ning Yi’s finger brushed her lips as he said with a smile, “That’s more like it.” Then he brought the finger stained with grape juice from her lips to his own lips and softly sucked on it.
It was one thing for him to suck on the juice, but he also tilted his head slightly and looked at Feng Zhi Wei with a smile. At this moment, his smile was alluring and captivating, a completely different demeanor than his usual elegant and noble air— it was more like a crimson mandala flower blooming in the dark of the night, enchanting and dangerous, its seductive fragrance lingering as it swayed softly.
Taking the full impact of that smile, Feng Zhi Wei instantly lost all ability to defend herself. If it wasn’t for the fact that the night had just fallen, and if the lush flowers and trees around them had not provided some concealment, the burning redness on her face would certainly have been impossible to hide.
She could only reach out and snatch all the grapes to avoid being teased by a certain someone again. Ning Yi didn’t get into a tussle with her but allowed her to take all the grapes. Once she got a handful of grapes and was about to start eating, only then did he say with a smile, “I peeled a grape for you just now. There should be some reciprocity; it’s your turn.”
Feng Zhi Wei touched her face, glanced at him, and said slowly, “Alright…” She slowly peeled a grape. The glistening grape trembled with juice between her snow-white fingers. Peeling the last pit of the skin off, she was about to mischievously squeeze the grape onto a certain someone’s face when Ning Yi, who was sitting at the well’s edge next to her, suddenly leaned in with his face.
At that very moment, her fingers squeezed, the grape shot out, and landed right on his lips. Ning Yi caught it right with his mouth and then took the perfect opportunity to take her finger into his mouth along with the grape.
Feng Zhi Wei quickly tried to pull her finger away, but the man gently bit it and would not let go. His face, which was slightly lower than hers, was raised slightly, and his eyes, sparkling with smiles, were right in front of her. His gaze made her blush red again. It didn’t help that he wasn’t just holding her finger with his mouth but was naughtily brushing it continuously with the tip of his tongue while his teeth were nibbling bit by bit. It was hot and itchy, her hand couldn’t help but tremble. Ignoring the possibility of being harmed by his bite, she forcefully pulled her hand.
Ning Yi immediately released her. Feng Zhi Wei withdrew her finger and caught a clear glimpse of a tooth mark out of the corner of her eyes. Her face was red, but she still tried to act like a big tough wolf and calmly said, “Sorry, I didn’t wash my hands.” She then went to wash her hands by the well, trying to use the cool well water to calm the heat on her face.
All text copyright @www.Ninja-Reflection.com