At the morning, I heard a gentle knock on the door. "Maid: Princess, have you woken up? I bought something for you," she said, her voice soft and cheerful. I replied with a sleepy voice, "Hmm, come in...."
The maid entered with a bright smile. "Just look at this once, this beautiful dress has been sent by the emperor for your and Crown Prince's engagement." I suddenly woke up in a hurry, my heart racing with surprise. "What engagement!!?? When!" I exclaimed.
The maid looked at me with a mixture of surprise and sympathy. "Princess, don't you know about your own engagement? It's tomorrow." I felt like I had been punched in the gut. "Tomorrow!!!??" I repeated, my voice shaking. He had said he would get me married by the end of this month, but this was too early.
I tried to compose myself. "Okay, you can go. Keep this dress here." The maid bowed and left the room. "Okay ".
As I sat there, trying to process the news, I remembered that tonight was the zhongyuan fastival (hungry Ghost Festival). I had always loved going out on this night, and I couldn't let this engagement news ruin it for me. It was already afternoon, and I was ready to go out. "Hey, would you like to come with me?" I asked a maid.
The maid looked at me with a hesitant expression. "Sorry, Princess I'm not qualified to go with you." I sighed, feeling a bit disappointed.
Just then, I heard a voice behind me. "What about me!" It was Lóngzi, the Crown Prince. I turned to him and bowed. "Greetings, Crown Prince ".
Lóngzi smiled and waved his hand. "No need for formalities, you can go," he said to the maid. The maid bowed and left.
"If it's okay, then let's go, Prince Lóngzi... I mean, Crown Prince," I said, trying to sound casual. Lóngzi smirked . "Why are you smirking?" I asked.
"I love the way you say Lóngzi ," he replied, his eyes sparkling with amusement. Ohhh, I felt my face grow hot.
He held my hand gently, and we walked out. We reached a sweets shop, and I told him that I wanted a particular sweet. But it was very crowded there. "I brought it for you, my princess," Lóngzi said.
"Really ," I replied, but before I could say anything else, he added, "But-".
"But?" I repeated. "Call me 'my love' first ," he said, his eyes locked on mine. "Whattt! I don't want sweets anymore ," I said, trying to play it cool.
Lóngzi chuckled. "Okay, don't do drama, my princess. I'm going, okay. But at least call me Lóngzi again?" I looked at him, unsure of what to say.
"Lóngzi, I want that sweet, would you please buy these for me, okayy ?" I asked, looking at the colorful sweets.
When Lóngzi left to buy the sweets, I thought I should take a look at the hairpins on display. "Woww, this is beautiful " I exclaimed, picking up a delicate handmade hairpin.