Your Highness

It was indeed an empty building. There wasn’t a single guard around. Looks like she was going to stay here for the night.

Lin Shan took off her soaked outer garment and headed towards the stairs. However, after a couple of steps, she paused. Wait a minute… a rainy night, a ge lou, and a weak woman that is alone… isn’t this a scene from a horror movie? Oh my goodness…

A gust of wind blew and it caused a chilling sensation on Lin Shan’s soaked back. Her hair stood on ends and she had a very bad feeling something was going to happen…

Then, from the faint lighting, Lin Shan noticed a shadow that was slowly approaching her. It stopped right behind her.

Outside the building were sounds of heavy rain and violent wind. The sky was trembling with sounds of thunder, and the shadow had silently stopped right behind her. All Lin Shan could sense was danger.

Lin Shan was frozen stiff, but her heart was beating so fast that she felt like it was going to pop out at any moment. Her breathing was heavy.

She knew she was doomed. She couldn’t speak due to the smoke that had gotten in her throat. She couldn’t run either, due her to injured ankle. If she was going to die regardless, she might as well turn around and take a look at the demon.

Lin Shan gritted her teeth and turned around like a boss. However, she turned around so dramatically that she crashed straight into the “demon”. At this moment, her eyes saw stars and she was very dizzy.

Oh wow! I never knew demons are so firm! Ouch. And holy moly, this demon looks so much like Du Hao. Hmm… I guess that’s a good fit. Wait a minute!! How come he looks so much like Du Hao? Ah!!!

She finally figured it out. F***. I thought I would see a demon, but it’s actually worse than a demon!

Lin Shan subconsciously took a step back. She was about to run, but Du Hao had already reached out and grabbed onto her wrist. He grimly questioned: “Why are you here?” But his voice was quickly drowned by the sounds of thunder.

Lin Shan was so scared that she couldn’t utter a sound. All she did was looked at him with an alarmed expression. Droplets of water dripped from her wet hair onto her soaked clothes. When the wind blew, she couldn’t stop shivering.

Du Hao crinkled his brows. He was about to speak when suddenly Lin Shan sneezed violently on him without giving any warning. He only heard “Ahh choo!”. Du Hao became as stiff as a rock. The corner of his mouth twitched.

Lin Shan felt bad and tried to wipe his face using her sleeves. Yet, the moment she advanced forward, her nose tingled again and, “Ahh choo!” It was another sneeze. This time, it was even more explosive. Now, her drool was on Du Hao’s face as well.

Du Hao’s face turned as dark as the sky. Lin Shan could barely see his face from the faint lighting now. She was panicking and decided to lightly laugh to warm the atmosphere. But her nose was truly not helping. The moment she opened her mouth, it led to another three or four sneezes.

Somehow, they all landed on Du Hao.

Now, Du Hao’s mouth couldn’t even twitch anymore.

Lin Shan was freaking out. Ahhh! It’s over! It’s over! The Crown Prince is angry! It’s not like I can control my sneezes. If you don’t want it to land on you, then let go of my wrist…

“Ahhhhh choo! Ahh choo!!!”

Finally, after sneezing more than ten sneezes in a row, Du Hao released her hand and turned to walk up the stairs.

“Follow me.” He icily ordered. His voice sounded like he was about to kill someone.

Should I follow? Lin Shan hesitated. The wind and rain roared louder and when it made contact with her soaked clothes, her bones could feel the chill.

Whatever! It’s better to be slaughtered by the Crown Prince than to freeze to death. If I become a demon, I could always get revenge later on!

With that thought, Lin Shan bravely followed Du Hao.

-------

Lin Shan watched Du Hao stopped in front of a room. He pushed the door opened, and Lin Shan was welcomed by the warmth of a heater. The warmth embraced her frozen body and Lin Shan’s will to survive suddenly erupted.

Before Du Hao could say a word, she had already slipped into the room and huddled right beside the heater. Lin Shan heavenly sighed.

Mother! It’s freezing! Freezing, I tell you! What type of messed up weather is this? It’s supposed to be raining but it felt like I was being slapped by ice instead. It was trying to take my life!

As Lin Shan silently fumed, the room lit up. Du Hao came over and rudely threw a cloth on her head.

Lin Shan couldn’t see a thing and clumsily took the cloth off her head, only to see Du Hao changing in front of her without a care.

Du Hao looked like he was about to go to bed. He only had a black robe draped on his body. Once he took it off, his tan skin was exposed; along with all his scars.

Although Lin Shan had seen Du Hao change before, she still felt awkward. Lin Shan quickly pulled off her headband and covered her face with the cloth to dry her hair.

By the time I’m done drying my hair, he should be finished changing, right? Lin Shan thought to herself. Therefore, she continued wiping her hair for a long period of time. There didn’t seem to be any movement from Du Hao.

I think he should be done by now. Lin Shan carefully removed the cloth from her head as she decided to secretly scanned around the room.

When she did, she nearly yelped out in surprise.

Du Hao was sitting directly in front of her. He had already changed into his sleeping garments. He was wearing a dark green robe without a waist belt. He simply draped it onto his shoulders. Du Hao’s honey coloured chest was bare in front of Lin Shan.

For some odd reason, Lin Shan thought of Lian Feng and her nose tingled. She felt a nosebleed coming.

At that moment, Du Hao coldly interrupted her thoughts: “Are you done looking?”

Lin Shan was brought back to reality. She immediately realized the person in front of her wasn’t Lian Feng, but Du Hao. Although they had the exact same face, their aura was totally different. One of them was calm and secretive; while the other one was wild and arrogant. The moment they opened their mouths, she could tell them apart.

Lin Shan composed herself and used the cloth to wipe her face. Currently, she actually felt relieved she couldn’t speak. At least, she could use it as an excuse to ignore Du Hao’s questions.

Lin Shan didn’t say a word. But Du Hao wasn’t frustrated. He continued watching her from his seat.

Honestly, Du Hao never expected to bump into Song Luo here. This part of the Palace was very remote. This was where his grandfather, the previous Emperor, lived during his retirement. When he was little, he would often come here. After his grandfather passed away, this hidden area was abandoned for several years.

It wasn’t until he recently returned in triumph that he ordered Gu Zuo to get the servants to renovate the place. At the end of every month, he would come here and stay a night to reminisce his grandfather. Unexpectedly, Lin Shan somehow found her way here as well.

Was this fate?

Lin Shan was still wiping her face. She had been here for over half a year now, yet she had never encountered such a rainstorm. She couldn’t help but think back to her hometown. Where she came from rained a lot. Sometimes, the rain would continue for days. Whenever that happened, her favourite thing to do was to stay in bed and daydream under her blanket.

The deafening lightning hadn’t stopped, but Lin Shan’s mind had already drifted far far away. Suddenly, Du Hao took the cloth from her and she snapped back into reality.