Chapter 196: Shuttlecock

Qi Shuo firmly grasped Lin Hao's hand.

Lin Hao's feet landed on solid ground, and she casually scanned her surroundings. "Are you here all by yourself?"

In the past, whenever she climbed over walls, there would always be servants present.

Qi Shuo smiled. "I was just taking a stroll; I didn't bring any servants."

Just then, a voice drifted over: "Miss—"

Lin Hao quickly withdrew her hand.

Baozhu was clinging to the top of the wall, asking earnestly, "Should this servant come down?"

Lin Hao nodded as if nothing had happened. "Come down."

The little maidmaid flashed a smile and jumped down nimbly.

"I have some words to say to the Heir Apparent. Wait here."

Baozhu responded in a crisp voice.

"Let's go over there." Lin Hao pointed toward a rose trellis not far away.

It was a good place for whispering.

The two walked over and stood still. After exchanging a glance, Lin Hao couldn't help but laugh. "Time flies. We were chatting here last year, too."

Back then, how could she have imagined that the sickly Heir Apparent she once thought of would become the person in her heart?

"You heard about Princess Lingque snatching Princess Yi'an's husband, right?"

"I heard." Qi Shuo pushed aside a flowering branch blocking his view, revealing a long bench. "Sit down and let's talk."

Lin Hao tapped the surface of the bench in confusion before sitting down. "I didn't notice before—is there a bench here?"

"It's been here for a long time," Qi Shuo said without changing his expression.

When he had spoken with A-Hao here last spring, he had felt that this place was lacking a long bench.

It had indeed been here for a long time.

"Princess Lingque was supposed to be the Consort of Prince Wei. Because her head was hit by a stone, Scholar Yang became the husband instead. This change is just too drastic." Lin Hao propped her chin on her hand and asked the person sitting beside her, "Heir Apparent, do you think there will be more twists and turns regarding Princess Lingque and Scholar Yang?"

"Hard to say." Qi Shuo curled his lips. "Can't A-Hao calculate it?"

Lin Hao froze for a moment, then swung a fist at him. "Qi Shuo!"

Qi Shuo caught her hand and laughed. "'Qi Shuo' sounds better than 'Heir Apparent.' Call me by my name from now on."

Lin Hao's feigned anger didn't even last a second, and a rosy glow climbed up her cheeks. "It's not quite proper to call you by your name."

Except when she was angry.

"Just don't call me Heir Apparent." While he maintained the composed and restrained persona of the Prince of Jing in front of outsiders, he rarely showed this hint of childishness.

Lin Hao averted her eyes to the blooming flowers, where colorful butterflies danced around the blossoms.

"Then I'll call you A-Shuo."

Qi Shuo's lips curved. "Alright. By the way, what did you come to tell me?"

Lin Hao was speechless. "Didn't I just say it?"

Qi Shuo: "..."

"What have you been busy with at home these past few days?" He quickly changed the subject.

"Making floral water." Mentioning her current project, Lin Hao's eyes lit up, and she raised her hand.

Her wide, emerald-green sleeve slid down like a water wave, presenting a segment of a wrist as white as snow before Qi Shuo.

Qi Shuo froze momentarily.

What was A-Hao trying to do?

"Can you smell it?" Seeing no reaction from him, Lin Hao withdrew her hand and leaned down to sniff.

A faint scent of roses lingered at the tip of her nose, refusing to dissipate.

"The fragrance lasts much longer than the floral waters on the market, and it smells even better. It will definitely be popular when it's released..." Lin Hao spoke with great enthusiasm.

Her floral water shop would surely make more money in the future than the eatery she planned to open with A-Shuo; perhaps it could even support the eatery if the latter failed to thrive.

Lin Hao had never held much expectation for the eatery, whose profit sharing had yet to exceed twenty taels of silver.

Qi Shuo's face showed no change, but in reality, he hadn't listened to a single word. His mind was filled with only two words: *regret*.

If he were given another chance, he definitely wouldn't just stand there like an idiot.

"Doesn't it smell good?" Lin Hao presented her wrist again. Seeing Qi Shuo's expression turn even more wooden, she withdrew it in confusion. "Is there something wrong with your sense of smell?"

Both Baozhu and her sister said it smelled good.

Qi Shuo pinched himself hard.

If he were given another chance—forget it, he still didn't dare.

Qi Shuo accepted his nature as an honest man, and his brain began to function again.

"It smells very good. When will the floral water shop open? Have you thought of a name?"

"At the earliest, next month. I want to call the shop 'Wu Xiang' (No Fragrance)."

"'Wu Xiang'?" Qi Shuo felt the name was a bit strange. "Selling floral water under the name 'No Fragrance'? Will customers come?"

"Do you know what the original shop name was?"

Qi Shuo shook his head.

Lin Hao sighed. "Lin's Fragrant Powder Shop!"

Qi Shuo couldn't help but laugh. "Then 'No Fragrance' is indeed better."

"Exactly!"

As the two were talking in low voices, they suddenly heard a shout: "Aren't you Baozhu, the one serving Second Miss Lin? Why are you here?"

It was Changshun's voice.

Lin Hao and Qi Shuo exchanged a glance and looked through the gaps in the leaves.

Changshun walked quickly up to Baozhu, looking wary.

The caught little maidmaid looked perfectly calm. "I'm looking for something."

"Looking for what?" Changshun asked suspiciously.

He suspected that Second Miss Lin had climbed over the wall again!

"Looking for a shuttlecock. I was kicking a shuttlecock in the garden just now and accidentally kicked it over here. Strange, where is it?" Baozhu ignored Changshun and bent down to search.

Changshun stood with his hands tucked in his sleeves, a cold sneer on his lips.

*I'll see you keep up this act!*

"Found it!" A cheer rang out, and Baozhu waved a colorful feather shuttlecock at Changshun.

Changshun was dumbfounded.

She really did kick the shuttlecock over?

"Then I'll be going now. Sorry for the interruption." Baozhu waved her hand, took a few running steps, climbed the wall, and her nimble figure quickly vanished from Changshun's sight.

Changshun's emotions were extremely complicated.

Even if she was looking for a feather shuttlecock, this girl climbed walls far too nimbly; she truly took after her mistress!

"Changshun, why are you standing there dazed?" Changning walked over and patted her dazed companion.

Changshun pointed at the wall. "Second Miss Lin's maid just came by looking for a shuttlecock—"

Changning seemed not to have heard him and interrupted. "Hurry and find the Heir Apparent. The Crown Prince is waiting."

"Right, right, go find the Heir Apparent. If he's not in the garden, where else would he be?"

The two servants hurried away.

Behind the trellis, Lin Hao nudged Qi Shuo. "I'm going back. You should go see the Crown Prince quickly. I wonder what he wants with you."

"I guess he wants to play chess with me."

Thinking of the Crown Prince's behavior, Lin Hao showed sympathy. "That's hard on you."

"It's fine. Interacting more isn't a bad thing."

Only by understanding the enemy better could one make proper judgments.

"Where did Baozhu get that shuttlecock?" As they parted, Qi Shuo couldn't help but ask.

Lin Hao gave a beautiful smile. "Baozhu likes to carry little trinkets with her."

Qi Shuo nodded. "No wonder."

No wonder she had fooled Changshun into a stupor.

"Then I'm off. If anything happens with the Crown Prince, remember to tell me."

Lin Hao climbed over the wall and returned to the General's Manor, where Baozhu was waiting.

"Miss, do you want to kick a shuttlecock?" The little maidmaid asked with a grin, holding up the beautiful feather shuttlecock.

"Alright."

Baozhu smiled, tossed the shuttlecock, and kicked it toward Lin Hao.

Lin Hao caught it steadily and kicked it hard upward.

Standing on the other side of the wall, Qi Shuo saw the colorful shuttlecock fly high into the air, vanish for an instant, then reappear and fly up again. Its rising and falling felt as if it were kicking at his very heart.

He couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile as he strode toward the front courtyard.