Fields of Gold

“Nothing else, it’s only you!” Zhu Junyang couldn't help but step forward and reveal a genuine smile when he saw how happy the little lass was, “As far as I’m concerned, you’re the only one!”  

Fudge! Did he have to say something that sweet? Yu Xiaocao felt her tiny heart thumping. Beautiful people truly moved one’s heart! Apparently even handsome men could do the same? Xiaocao wasn’t a true twelve year old girl as her inner self was already an ‘old woman’ who was past thirty. In front of a young and innocent youth, should she really speak her thoughts?

“Uhhhh...you really can’t read the thoughts in my heart?” Yu Xiaocao decided that she was still considered a good person as she managed to suppress the salivating wolf in her heart and changed the subject. She tried to hypnotize herself, ‘This sister cannot see the handsome boy in front of me, can’t see him, can’t see him…’

Zhu Junyang took a step forward and lowered his head to look at Yu Xiaocao who was right beneath his nose. His voice took on a magnetic quality as he alluringly said, “The last person I would try to trick in this world would be you…”

Yu Xiaocao raised her eyes and realized that stunningly handsome face was only a small distance away from her. She swallowed down her saliva and retreated two steps. Since she wasn’t paying attention, she stumbled over a stone while backing up and felt her body start to fall. ‘I’m screwed! Behind me is the fake mountain in the garden. If I continue to fall towards it, my head will definitely get a large hole in it.’

Was her life going to end like this? It looked like she was fated to falling. In her previous life, she had fallen down something and died. It looked like this time was…

Just as the back of her head was about to hit a jutted out portion of the fake mountain, Zhu Junyang reached out an arm and used his hand to protect her head. His other arm was wrapped around her delicate waist, as if they were in the middle of ballroom dancing.

The young royal prince’s warm breath gently hit her face and Yu Xiaocao looked up to see his straight nose. She idly thought that only people who had undergone plastic surgery in Korea could have a nose so perfectly shaped. She then raised her gaze and saw his pair of phoenix eyes. They were as clear as a mountain spring and had an intriguing depth to them. The slightly slanted up corners of his eyes added to his seductive look and caused her heart strings to gently throb. He also had perfectly sculpted red lips, and she was sure that they would feel very soft when kissing...Yu Xiaocao felt her heart pounding even faster, even faster than if she had just run a kilometer. It was as if she couldn’t catch her breath anymore.

At this moment, Zhu Junyang was slightly shocked at how weak and delicate the waist in his right hand felt. The little lass was truly too thin. She must have been too busy lately. She always worried about everything going on in the Yu Family and she usually didn’t eat enough...once she married him, he needed to take good care of her and let her body heal. He would take care of the usual issues at home and all she had to do was to eat and chat to her heart's content. When she was happy, she could go into the kitchen to make a few dishes for him!

As he was lost in his thoughts, he could smell a light fragrance coming off of the little lass’s body. It was very hard to describe the smell. It didn’t smell like flowers yet it seemed more refreshing than flowers. It also didn’t smell like fruit yet it was more attractive than fruit...perhaps it was just the natural smell of a girl?

Zhu Junyang slightly came closer and his nose was almost touching Xiaocao’s face. Xiaocao felt very conflicted inside. This body of hers hadn’t even reached the age of twelve. If she got kissed now, wouldn’t that be a bit too early? ‘Young Royal Prince, you are defiling a young girl who hasn’t even reached her majority! That’s a major crime!’

Just as Yu Xiaocao was contemplating whether she should push away the young, she didn’t expect the young royal prince to sniff the area by ears a bit instead of kissing her. It was like he was a large dog. How embarrassing! Luckily, she didn’t broadcast her thoughts earlier. Yu Xiaocao bitterly glared at him——Young Royal Prince, you’re worse than a beastly animal!

“Oh my!” The sound of Meixiang’s voice could be heard not too far from them. The two of them simultaneously moved their heads over to look and saw Meixiang’s back.

Yu Xiaocao noticed their positioning and realized that the posture that they were in could cause other people to have a misunderstanding. She quietly reminded the prince, “Why haven’t you let me go yet? This is so embarrassing!”

“How is this embarrassing? Do you think this prince is not worthy of you?” Zhu Junyang very gently supported Xiaocao up and lightly fixed her messed up hair as he sternly said. 

Yu Xiaocao rolled her eyes at him and softly replied, “Didn’t you want to try out whether you have the ability to read people’s thoughts ah? Don’t we have an experimental subject right in front of you? Quickly try!”

After hearing her suggestion, Zhu Junyang focused his eyes on the back of Meixiang’s head. A stream of clear thoughts transmitted back into his head. He couldn't help but say it out loud, “Oh my goodness! So embarrassing! I accidentally came across the young master and Miss Yu kissing each other...the young master is truly too much. Miss Yu is only twelve and hasn’t reached the age of majority, how could he possibly start messing around…”

The more Zhu Junyang said the angrier he became. His eyes staring at the back of Meixiang’s head seemed to be spewing flames now. ‘You little wretch of a servant. Just what type of eyes were you using to see me kissing Xiaocao ah? And then you even dare to say bad things about me in your heart. Who gave you the guts?’

Meixiang covered her mouth and turned around suddenly. Her face was full of surprise as she looked at the young master. ‘I’m screwed. It looks like I wasn’t careful and accidentally said what I was thinking out loud. What should I do? Did the young master hear what I said? Will he get angry? Will I be able to still keep my life?? However...how come it didn’t sound like my own voice earlier? When did my voice become so deep?’

On the other hand, Yu Xiaocao was very excited and she pulled on Zhu Junyang’s sleeve. She lowered her voice as she mysteriously said, “Success! You really are able to look into people’s hearts and hear what they’re thinking! In the future, if there are people who have malicious thoughts towards you, you can easily figure out why and then craft a plan to go against them! Your ability is too freaking awesome! I’m so envious ah!”

“What is ‘freaking’...is this a word that young girls should be saying ah? You should stop saying such crude and unrefined words in the future!” The excitement Yu Xiaocao had was infectious, and Zhu Junyang felt the anger he had towards Meixiang lessen. He raised his hand and knocked it a few times on the little lass’s head. 

Yu Xiaocao covered her head with her hands and retreated a few steps. She scrunched up her face in anger and growled, “I grew up in the rural, uncultured farmland, so I don't know how to say things elegantly like you wealthy nobles do. If you think the words I use are unrefined, then go find someone else to talk to ah! I don’t need to accompany you!”

The little lass turned her head and left, but didn’t choose the right direction at first. Before she walked far, she discovered that she was heading towards a dead end and then angrily came back. As she passed by Zhu Junyang, she even pretended to accidentally not notice his foot and deliberately stomped on it. 

Zhu Junyang thought the little girl resembled a blowfish when she was all puffed up with anger. He good naturedly pulled on her elbow in amusement and said, “Alright ah! Your little temper is quite large! You even stepped on my foot. You’re only doing this because you know I won’t get mad at you, right?”

“Hmph, you’re a high and mighty young royal prince, the youngest son who Princess Consort Jing loves the most. You obviously can do whatever you want to other people! If you don’t like it, then hit me ah!” Yu Xiaocao wondered if she was relying a bit too much on his favor.

The smile disappeared from Zhu Junyang’s face as he intently looked at her. He used a hand to raise her chin and said, “In the future, don’t keep referencing our statuses. I don’t like it! You also know that I never treated you differently just because I have a higher rank. On the contrary, you always manage to surprise me and change the way I view things. So, there’s no need to lack self confidence or be unduly humble. I believe that you’re a good match and that’s the only thing that matters!”

Yu Xiaocao pushed aside his hand in annoyance and grumbled, “What’s wrong with your eyes? I’m not lacking self confidence at all! And what do you mean you believe that I’m a good match? I haven’t even agreed to anything!”

“You already know my most inner secret, so do you think it’s going to be easy to get rid of me?” Zhu Junyang replied calmly, as if the little lass in front of him was already his prey that he had cornered. It seemed as if he enjoyed seeing her struggle.

Yu Xiaocao unconsciously frowned again and she stopped playing around. She seriously looked at Royal Prince Yang and solemnly proclaimed, “Young Royal Prince, don’t be so hasty in making your decision. Perhaps you think I’m interesting because so far I am the only person you’ve encountered that you can’t mindread. You’re intrigued about this and that’s the only reason why you want to become closer to me! Or maybe, in the not-so distant future, the person that you’re fated to be with will appear. At that time, you’ll finally know that romantic love was different than what you used to think!”

“I don’t believe I’ll be able to encounter anyone who is more suitable for me than you. After all, if I had to live with someone who I can easily mindread at any time, a woman who had no private thoughts, wouldn’t that be incredibly boring?” Zhu Junyang was more and more certain that Yu Xiaocao was his fated partner that was decreed by the heavens. She was his soulmate.

Yu Xiaocao scratched her head and somewhat irritably said, “Who knows? You might encounter another woman very soon who you also can’t mindread, and she might be even more suitable than me, right? If you already made your decision, how could you face your actual soulmate when she comes? And then how would you treat me? I’ve already stated that I will never share my partner with someone else!”

Although he couldn’t feel any thoughts or emotions from Yu Xiaocao’s heart, Zhu Junyang could readily tell that she was feeling a bit uneasy and jittery. He somewhat blamed himself for this, ‘Did I push too hard and too fast with this little lass? Maybe I should give her some time and space to think it through herself.’

Even though he was convinced that Xiaocao was the person he had been waiting for, he didn’t want to give the little lass too much pressure. He could only say, “Don’t worry! I’m not going to force you to do anything! I’ll wait until you reach your majority. There’s still three to four years to go. I’m confident that in that time period you will be able to see my true heart. However, you need to promise me that you won’t hide from me. Let’s keep our interactions the same as they were before, okay?”

Yu Xiaocao thought for a bit and decided she could only do that. She unhappily nodded her head and then looked down, “Guess I can only do it this way!”

Zhu Junyang snorted and then pointed at the little lass’s forehead, who looked like a dispirited and bullied little rabbit and said, “How come you sound so unenthusiastic ah? It’s as if you’re some nobly born maiden and I’m a wild youth from the rural countryside who’s not worthy of you. How come you seem so reluctant to be paired up with me?”

“Is it that obvious ah? I thought I was doing a good job at hiding it!” Yu Xiaocao felt listless, as if she was a tiny delicate flower who had just undergone a large blustery storm. 

Zhu Junyang pointed at her unhappily and then addressed Meixiang, who was slowly approaching them from behind, “You, what do you need?”  

Meixiang shifted a few steps with her head lowered. Both of her hands were by her side, clenched up in anxiety, as she quietly said, “Her Highness told me to come over and see if you and Miss Yu were finally done talking in private…”