"I was just thinking the same thing."
Shen Li hesitated for a moment and then nodded. In her previous life, she had never lived a carefree life.
As a child, she had been constantly practicing martial arts and had never had the time to play. Once her martial arts skills were polished, she had met Xiao Hanzhi, and since then, she had lost all desire to go out and have fun.
So, Shen Li had lived for over two decades in her previous life without ever knowing where the fun places were in the capital.
Xuan Yuanjue thought for a moment and suggested, "The Sky Lantern Festival is just around the corner. How about we go to a shop and make a sky lantern? We can release it together on the night of the festival."
Shen Li considered the idea and thought it was a good one.
The four of them stopped in front of a shop. Shen Li looked at the three characters on the plaque and involuntarily read them out.
"Xuan Yuan Pavilion..." The name of this shop was certainly thought - provoking.
"Is this one of your family's businesses? A sky lantern shop?" Shen Li looked at Xuan Yuanjue with disbelief, her mind filled with questions.
How could the noble heir of a prince's family own a sky lantern shop?
Xuan Yuanjue just smiled without answering and led her into the Xuan Yuan Pavilion. The room was filled with various materials for making lanterns, and the price of each material was clearly marked in front of them.
"..." Shen Li watched as Xuan Yuanjue casually picked up the lantern - making materials. The only thought in her mind was that this heir of the prince was really the owner of a sky - lantern shop!
"What are you standing there for? Come here quickly!" Xuan Yuanjue waved at Shen Li.
"Coming." Shen Li snapped out of her daze when summoned by Xuan Yuanjue and walked towards him.
Xuan Shu also picked up some materials and was going to make a lantern with Jiaoyue.
Actually, the Xuan Yuan Pavilion was not just a sky - lantern shop.
There was a door beside the counter. On the surface, it was said to be a place for the shop assistants to rest, but in fact, it was for receiving guests.
The Xuan Yuan Pavilion was a shop that specialized in selling information. As long as you wanted to know something, the spies behind the Xuan Yuan Pavilion would find it for you. For a fee, they could even tell you what time a certain girl would leave her house.
Behind the Xuan Yuan Pavilion were tens of thousands of spies, which was also a secret army secretly raised by Xuan Yuanjue. It was not for seizing the throne but for self - protection.
The first Prince of Li was the sworn brother of the founding emperor of the Great Li Dynasty. But as the two of them passed away, their descendants gradually grew apart. By Xuan Yuanjue's generation, he had to prepare for self - protection.
The current emperor would not touch their family, but there was no guarantee that the next emperor would not try to eradicate them, especially Xiao Hanzhi. As the third son of the emperor, he was the most likely to become the next emperor.
Even though the current Prince of Li had started to stay out of court affairs, Xuan Yuanjue had to make more plans.
He didn't tell Shen Li about this because he thought it was not the right time yet.
The Xuan Yuan Pavilion did not operate during the first lunar month, so Xuan Yuanjue had brought Shen Li here.
"Look, when making a lantern, you need to make the frame first."
Xuan Yuanjue carefully taught Shen Li how to make a lantern. Shen Li listened attentively but was a bit clumsy in her actions.
The first step in making a lantern was to bend thin bamboo strips into a circle to form the lamp frame. The strength needed to be just right when bending the bamboo strips, but Shen Li clearly hadn't mastered this skill. With a "snap", the bamboo strip broke.
"I... Why is it so fragile?" Shen Li held the two halves of the bamboo strip in her hand, looking a bit dazed.
"Idiot." Xuan Yuanjue didn't hold back his mockery of Shen Li.
Shen Li took a deep breath. "You call me stupid. As the young master of a lantern shop, can you do any better?"
Xuan Yuanjue had made a very good lamp frame, but the lantern paper he had pasted on it was really a mess. It looked as if a silly child had randomly grabbed a lump of mud and thrown it on the lantern.
"Look at the lantern you've made. It's so shabby... Tsk, tsk, tsk." Shen Li seized the opportunity to attack when she saw Xuan Yuanjue's weakness.
Xuan Yuanjue awkwardly made a fist and covered his mouth to cough. He rolled his eyes slightly at Shen Li and retorted.
"No matter how badly I've made it, it's not as bad as Miss Shen, who can't even make a proper frame."
Shen Li didn't argue with him. She just wanted to quickly bend a frame so that she could mock Xuan Yuanjue properly.
When Xuan Yuanjue saw Shen Li tremblingly break the sixth bamboo strip, he finally couldn't sit still anymore.
Just as Shen Li picked up the seventh bamboo strip, took a deep breath, and was about to start, Mr. Xuan stepped in to teach her in person.
"Don't just hold the two ends with your hands. The pressure will be too small, and it's easy to break."
Xuan Yuanjue placed his hands over Shen Li's.
She suddenly looked up and stared blankly at his handsome face, which was less than half a foot away from her own. His thin red lips, fair skin, and long eyelashes were all in view, but his eyes were fixed on the bamboo strip in her hand.
Xuan Yuanjue gently exerted force on Shen Li's hands. When the two ends of the bamboo strip met, he quickly tied them together.
"See, it's done." There was a hint of pride in Xuan Yuanjue's tone. When he looked up, he saw Shen Li staring blankly at him.
He suddenly had a thought that this look on her face must not be seen by others.
"Little thing, why are you so mesmerized by looking at me?"
He slightly curved his lips and moved his face a bit closer. Their postures became even more ambiguous.
Xuan Shu looked up at the two of them and whispered to Jiaoyue, "I'm sorry, Miss Jiaoyue."
Then, he covered Jiaoyue's eyes with one hand. No matter how much Jiaoyue struggled, she couldn't break free.
Shen Li's hand was still holding the bamboo strip, and Xuan Yuanjue's hand was still holding Shen Li's. He even stroked it a few times.
Shen Li came back to her senses. Her eyes moved down and saw their clasped hands. Then she looked back up and raised an eyebrow at Xuan Yuanjue.
"My lord, you may not believe me..."
Xuan Yuanjue vaguely felt that this line sounded familiar.
"I find that you're quite good - looking."
"!"
Wasn't this the first thing he had said to Shen Li?
"Oh, so the little thing still remembers?"
Xuan Yuanjue smiled, and the tenderness in his eyes was almost overflowing.
Xuan Shu covered his own eyes with his other hand. While trying to block out the eye - catching scene between Xuan Yuanjue and Shen Li, he also had to endure Jiaoyue's scolding.
"Let go of me! You lecher! Don't touch me!"
Xuan Shu felt that he had made a great sacrifice for Xuan Yuanjue's happiness.
If his salary couldn't be increased any further, he would definitely have a good talk with Xuan Yuanjue about this.
On the other side, Shen Li wasn't angry. She just looked at Xuan Yuanjue with a smile.
"Yes, I do. My lord, that flash of red on you left an indelible mark in my heart. It was truly captivating."
Shen Li pretended to be affectionate and said, "Does my lord need me to help you recall what happened next?"
Taking advantage of the moment when Xuan Yuanjue was in a daze, Shen Li suddenly exerted force and pulled her hand out of his.
Xuan Yuanjue felt his hand go empty. Looking at Shen Li's proud little face, he also felt a bit empty - hearted.
Xuan Shu slightly lifted his two fingers. Seeing that the two of them had separated, he let out a long sigh of relief.
"Finally over."
At the moment when their hands separated, Jiaoyue's scolding suddenly stopped. Seeing that her young lady was safe and had successfully made a lamp frame, and recalling the conversation just now, it seemed that her young lady hadn't suffered a loss. She secretly let out a sigh of relief and started to focus on making the lamp frame.
The four of them were all concentrating on making lanterns, but Xuan Yuanjue was still savoring the moment secretly.
He really wanted to hold those hands again.