Sure enough, as Mingyue had said, when they walked back to the street they had just passed and turned the corner, there were fewer people. Although "fewer" here only meant that they no longer had to shoulder - to - shoulder with others and squeeze forward, at least the air was a bit fresher.
Jiaoyue and Mingyue no longer needed to hold Shen Li's hand all the time for fear of losing her.
Mingyue and Jiaoyue were attracted by the lotus lanterns sold by a small street vendor. They were standing in front of the stall, selecting lanterns. Hanyue had already stood guard beside Shen Li.
Just as Shen Li turned around, she felt someone pat her on the shoulder. When she turned around in confusion, she saw a swaying black - and - red demon mask, and Hanyue's sword pressed against the masked person's neck.
"How boring! It's no fun at all!" A complaining voice sounded. Then the masked person moved and took off the mask on their head.
It was actually the cute and innocent face of Princess Jiugongzhu Luoning. At this moment, her cheeks were slightly puffed up, and she said somewhat dissatisfiedly, "You're not even scared at all! It's really so boring!"
As soon as Shen Li saw Princess Luoning's face, she told Hanyue to put away her sword. Princess Luoning looked at Hanyue curiously.
"Can you even use a sword? You're so amazing!" Princess Luoning said, looking at Hanyue with eyes full of admiration and respect. "Then can you teach me how to practice swordsmanship? I really admire those chivalrous heroes who are highly skilled in martial arts and can teach bad guys a lesson with just a few strokes of their swords!"
"Sometimes I think, if I had martial arts skills, the first person I'd teach a lesson to would be that stinky girl Yajing. I'd definitely beat her so badly that she'd beg for mercy! How about it, Master? Will you take me as your disciple and teach me martial arts?"
Although Princess Yajing was a few years older than her, when Luoning talked about teaching someone a lesson, she forgot all about it and directly called Yajing "stinky girl".
Hanyue had never encountered such a situation before. Facing Princess Luoning's sudden enthusiasm, she seemed a bit at a loss. Her eyes frequently glanced at Shen Li and she didn't dare to look directly at Princess Luoning.
Until Princess Luoning felt that her face was starting to stiffen from smiling, and she still didn't see Hanyue make any response. But she wasn't the kind of person who would give up easily. Before, she had wanted to learn martial arts but had never met anyone who could teach her. Now that she had finally met Hanyue, she naturally wasn't going to let this opportunity slip away.
Immediately, she grabbed Hanyue and called her "Master" more and more affectionately. Although her "Master" was a bit cold, it didn't stop Princess Luoning from having a fearless heart.
Shen Li watched Princess Luoning, who was still holding Hanyue and asking all kinds of questions, and then looked at Hanyue, who didn't know where to look. She found it quite amusing in her heart, but still spoke up to help Hanyue out, "Your Highness, my maid has a cold and uncommunicative personality. Please forgive her if she does anything inappropriate."
While Shen Li was speaking, Hanyue quickly pulled away Princess Luoning's hand and hid behind Shen Li.
"Alas! Master, you!" Princess Luoning wanted to stop her, but Hanyue was too fast. She could only talk to Hanyue across Shen Li. "Master, how could you just abandon me like this! I'm your good disciple. Don't you want me anymore?"
Even facing such a passionate Princess Jiugongzhu, Hanyue still had a cold face and directly refused, "Please forgive me, Your Highness. I'm not your master!"
"It doesn't matter that I'm not your master now. I will be in the future! I'll just call you in advance so that I can get used to it. Right, Master?"
Princess Luoning's repeated calls of "Master" made Hanyue's face even colder. Usually, when people saw her cold, expressionless face, they would stay away from her and not dare to provoke her.
Even those who weren't scared away would still keep a certain distance from her. But she had never met someone as enthusiastic as Princess Luoning.
At first, she tried to scare Princess Luoning away with her cold face according to her previous experience, but it didn't work. And just now, when she directly refused, she didn't expect Princess Luoning to have a way to deal with it. Now Hanyue couldn't think of any way to deal with Princess Luoning, so she could only cast a pleading look at Shen Li.
Seeing Hanyue looking so helpless and embarrassed, Shen Li thought that Hanyue looked unexpectedly cute. But she still helped her out and asked, "There are so many people here today. Why did Your Highness come out of the palace? Does the Empress know?"
It wasn't that Shen Li deliberately wanted to dampen Princess Luoning's enthusiasm. It was just that the last time Princess Luoning sneaked out of the palace, she almost caused a big disaster, which made Shen Li worry a lot.
Sure enough, as soon as Shen Li mentioned the matter of coming out of the palace, the smile on Princess Luoning's face immediately disappeared. She put on a melancholy expression. Before she could say anything, she heard a familiar voice.
"Luoning! Why are you running around again?" The speaker was Princess Wugongzhu Luoyao. She wasn't alone. There were more than a dozen guards following her, all standing beside her.
Then Princess Luoning gave Shen Li a "look" expression, and then lowered her head and whispered, "She came even faster than a rabbit! Could it be that those guards have noses like dogs?"
When Princess Luoyao walked closer, she saw that Princess Luoning looked unhappy. She was looking up at the night sky, pretending to enjoy the scenery.
"I pay my respects to Princess Wugongzhu!" Shen Li had just started to bow when Princess Luoyao pulled her up.
Princess Luoyao had a dignified and generous smile on her face. After pulling Shen Li up, she patted Shen Li's hand and said, "Today we're all out for the festival. There's no need for so many formalities. Miss Shen, you don't have to be so polite!"
Then, Princess Luoyao turned her gaze to the side and saw Princess Luoning standing there. Immediately, she put on an expression of worry and disappointment.
"I've told you so many times not to run around! There are so many people here tonight. If you get separated from the crowd, it'll be a hassle to find you! What would you do if you really met some bad guys?"
Facing Princess Luoyao, Princess Luoning was both respectful and afraid. She didn't dare to talk back to her elder sister directly, but she still pouted and muttered dissatisfiedly, "Bad guys, bad guys! Where are there so many bad guys?"
"You! You've been protected too well. You haven't seen the cruelty outside, so you have such naive thoughts! One day when you suffer a setback, you'll learn your lesson!"
Whenever she encountered the naughty and lively Princess Luoning, Princess Luoyao felt like she was turning into a nagging old woman. She was tired of saying some things, but Princess Luoning still did whatever she wanted and didn't change her personality at all. Princess Luoyao just didn't know what to do with her.