Chapter 163: Like-Minded

 Chapter 163: Like-Minded

"Hmph!"  

Seeing Daohua walking towards him, Xiao Yeyang snorted coldly.

This guy—everyone else had greeted him, and he was the last to be remembered.

Daohua noticed Xiao Yeyang’s awkward expression, smiled but didn’t say anything. She walked straight to his side, gripped the railing with both hands, and looked excitedly at the lanterns in the street below, her expression full of energy as though she could shout a couple of times in excitement.

Xiao Yeyang saw that Daohua’s eyes were sparkling with excitement, and she was too absorbed in the lantern display to talk to him. He snorted again in annoyance.

Only then did Daohua turn her head to look at him, smiling gently. "You still haven’t recovered? Is your throat bothering you?"  

Hearing this, Xiao Yeyang became frustrated, turning his head to the side, too annoyed to even look at the irritating person next to him.

Seeing his behavior, Daohua couldn’t help but laugh. Standing at the height where she could see the entire street, she felt calm and content. She couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Hearing her cheerful laugh, Xiao Yeyang awkwardly turned his head, intending to scold her. But when he saw her carefree smile, he helplessly shook his head.

Fine, getting angry with her was just asking for trouble.

Noticing Xiao Yeyang’s gaze, Daohua looked at him and asked with a tilt of her head, "What’s the matter? Not angry anymore?"

Xiao Yeyang glanced at her and replied with an annoyed tone, "You actually noticed I was angry? I thought you were blind."

Daohua sighed exaggeratedly, looking at him with an expression of an adult talking to a child. "What’s wrong? Why are you angry again? Come on, tell me, I’ll help you analyze it."

Seeing her teasing expression, Xiao Yeyang couldn’t help himself. With a flick of his fan, he lightly tapped Daohua’s forehead with a soft "thud."

Daohua immediately widened her eyes, fuming. "I’m already not very smart. What if you keep knocking my head and make me even dumber?"

"Ha!"

Xiao Yeyang couldn’t hold in his laughter. "It’s rare. I didn’t expect you to have some self-awareness. But I think your head is pretty tough. It’ll probably take a few more knocks to make you silly."

Seeing Daohua fuming, Xiao Yeyang’s mood instantly lifted.

"Hmph!"  

Now it was Daohua’s turn to turn her head and ignore him.

On the side, Li Zixuan and Li Zixin watched Daohua and Xiao Yeyang’s interaction with a mix of shock and concern. They feared that Daohua might accidentally offend the noble Young Prince.

Meanwhile, Li Chenyi and his brothers were also observing Daohua and Xiao Yeyang.

Xiao Yeyang’s status was obvious. First, his demeanor and aura were distinctly royal, far beyond that of ordinary people. Second, Dong Yuanxuan and the others had been careful and hesitant around him, which clearly indicated his high rank.

Throughout the evening, Li Chenyi kept subtly signaling Yan Wenxiu, urging him to pay attention to Daohua and Xiao Yeyang.

However, every time Yan Wenxiu glanced over, he would simply smile and continue chatting with the others, clearly uninterested.

"Don’t worry. The Young Prince and Daohua are very close. They act like that because they’ve known each other for a long time," Yan Wenxiu finally said in a low voice to reassure Li Chenyi.

Li Chenyi was taken aback. "My cousin is that close with the Young Prince?"

Yan Wenxiu raised his eyes to glance at the two, who had now reconciled and were chatting happily. His expression was a bit wistful.

Logically, they had been around the Young Prince for much longer than Daohua had. If it came to familiarity and closeness, they should have had the advantage.

But ask anyone—whether it was Dong Yuanxuan or Su Hongxin—who among them would dare to interact with the Young Prince so casually, laughing and chatting as Daohua did?

After a brief silence, Yan Wenxiu finally spoke, "The two of them have similar temperaments and get along well."

That was the only way he could explain it.

"That flower cart is moving really slowly!"

Daohua silently watched the flower cart moving at a turtle's pace. The cart was adorned with various colorful lanterns, which were quite beautiful. She carefully observed and noticed that someone on the cart was throwing something, like lucky bags.

Xiao Yeyang said, "There are too many people; even if we want to go faster, we can't."

Daohua nodded. "That's true! But with the cart moving so slowly, how long will it take to get to Chong Tower?"

Xiao Yeyang replied, "It'll probably take a while." Then, he looked Daohua up and down and asked, "Where's your lantern?"

"Huh?" Daohua was confused.

Xiao Yeyang asked again, "Did you not prepare a lantern?"

Daohua asked, "Do I need to prepare one?"

Xiao Yeyang was speechless. "When the flower cart reaches Chong Tower, everyone will release their lanterns. If you didn't prepare one, what will you use?"

"There's such a step?" Daohua was stunned for a moment, then casually waved her hand and said, "It doesn't matter; it's the same if I watch you all release them."

Xiao Yeyang said, "The lanterns for the Lantern Festival are to pray and make wishes. What does it mean if you just watch?" 

Daohua thought for a moment, then turned to her two cousins. "Cousin Zixuan, do we have any lanterns?"

Li Zixuan, seeing that Xiao Yeyang was also looking over, became a little nervous. "We have some, but we rushed out just now and didn't bring them. They're still in our parents' private room."

Upon hearing this, Daohua immediately gave up. She shrugged and said, "I can't release them this time; I'll do it next time." Chong Tower was quite a distance from the room they had been in, and she really didn't want to go back to get a lantern.

At that moment, there was an uproar downstairs.

Daohua stretched her head to look down and saw a group of young men in fine clothes trying to go upstairs but were blocked by the guards. There seemed to be an argument between them.

"Who are those people?"

How dare they try to enter Chong Tower? That was a lot of nerve!

Not receiving an answer, Daohua turned around to see Xiao Yeyang staring at the people downstairs with a cold, piercing look.

At once, Daohua's heart skipped a beat.

She had seen Xiao Yeyang enraged during Old Master Zhou’s birthday banquet. Though it was somewhat frightening, it didn’t give her a sense of coldness inside.

But now, Xiao Yeyang looked like he was letting out a murderous aura. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

"Your Highness, please calm down. They can't come up. I've already sent someone to chase them away. They won’t disturb your lantern viewing," Dong Yuanxuan immediately stepped forward and spoke to Xiao Yeyang when he noticed the troublemakers.

Xiao Yeyang shot a cold glance at Dong Yuanxuan, his face dark, and remained silent.

Daohua stood on the side, looking from one to the other.

At this moment, Xiao Yeyang was suppressing his anger, while Dong Yuanxuan was trying to soothe him.

Daohua once again turned her gaze downstairs.

The argument had quieted down because a group of patrol officers had arrived and were now persuading the group of young men in fine clothes to leave.

After a while, the group finally turned and left.

The leader of the group, before leaving, gave a mocking glance toward the top of Chong Tower.

Daohua keenly noticed that at that moment, Xiao Yeyang’s coldness intensified.

Once the group left, both Dong Yuanxuan and Su Hongxin visibly relaxed.

Seeing this, Daohua's expression shifted slightly, and she became curious. Who were those people downstairs that had provoked such a strong reaction from Xiao Yeyang and the others?

(End of Chapter)