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Jiang Ruoshui put the mask on her face, revealing only a pair of bright, sparkling eyes that glimmered with excitement. She turned to look at Xu Cangyuan, who was walking towards her, and skipped over to him.
"Here, this is for you."
Jiang Ruoshui bent down to pick up another boy's mask from the stall, her face beaming with anticipation.
She wanted to personally put it on Xu Cangyuan, but he expressionlessly stepped back and said, "Princess can keep it for herself."
He frowned, looking disdainful; wearing such a childish thing would be an affront to his masculinity. His eyes showed a stubborn defiance.
Jiang Ruoshui seemed to sigh lightly, her lips pouting slightly. "But these two are a pair! How can I use one alone?"
Though the mask concealed her features, Xu Cangyuan could still guess that her little face must be scrunched up in grievance.
He casually took the mask from her, fiddling with it in an attempt to mask his slight discomfort. "Is there a gathering similar to Han festivals in Barbarian City, given that there are many foreign tribes here?"
He glanced around at the crowd, trying to shift the topic.
"There wasn't one before, but since my father stationed himself in Barbarian City, more Han people have come, and some Han customs have continued as well."
Seeing her wish fulfilled, Jiang Ruoshui's eyes sparkled with joy; her smile was like the warm sun of spring, and the bells on her wrist chimed even more sweetly, crisp and pleasant.
"Look, isn't that Princess Ruoshui?" someone exclaimed from the crowd.
"Isn't that man beside her the Prince of Huai?" someone echoed.
"What Prince of Huai! He's just a prisoner! Now he's even more despicable, willingly becoming the Princess's male pet! Who in Barbarian City doesn't know that Xu Cangyuan is being supported by our Princess Ruoshui, just a pretty boy!"
A sharp and biting voice rang out, its words like daggers thrown into the crowd.
Gossip surged into Xu Cangyuan's ears like a tidal wave, his clenched teeth revealing his anger. The mask in his hand suddenly felt unbearably heavy, as if it weighed a thousand pounds, and his hand trembled slightly.
On the way back to Duchess Manor, the two remained silent. Only the sound of their footsteps echoed on the quiet street, the atmosphere so oppressive it was hard to breathe.
"If," after a long while, Xu Cangyuan spoke first, his voice somewhat hoarse, "if you hadn't heard the words 'Prince of Huai' back in the desert, would you have let me go?"
Two years ago, Jiang Ruoshui had brought him back to Barbarian City.
At that time, he never expected that the actions of that girl with a voice like beautiful jade would be so contrary to societal norms—she wanted him, commanding him to be her subordinate in a woman's tone.
He had escaped the fate of being exiled to the frontier but had become the male pet of General Jiang's only daughter from the previous dynasty, losing all freedom and dignity, like a bird with broken wings.
Tragically, he could not leave Jiang Ruoshui.
Barbarian City was a territory granted to the Jiang family by the Former Emperor; only here could no one dare to touch him. This was his last refuge.
"I didn't expect you to be viewed this way by the people of Barbarian City, but I don't care. How you treat me is ultimately irrelevant, isn't it?"
Jiang Ruoshui raised her beautiful face, blinking her eyes as a complex expression flickered across them. However, she did not directly answer his question. "You've been angry with me all along, haven't you? Angry that I treated you this way. But Cangyuan, I'm not afraid to tell you that I've never regretted saving you two years ago. In fact, I regret not saving you sooner. If I had brought you back earlier, perhaps you wouldn't have committed that heinous crime."
Xu Cangyuan narrowed his eyes, his sword-like brows furrowing tightly. There was a hint of anger burning in his gaze, and he felt that Jiang Ruoshui's words carried more mockery than those of the common people he had just heard. In the end, he merely waved his sleeve and left hastily, his footsteps quickening and stirring up a gust of wind.
After all, he could do nothing to her, filled with helplessness and resentment in his heart.
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