The Adventures of the Peace Princess in Marriage Alliance - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

He was still smiling, but his gaze looked like it was about to tear me to shreds.

The last time I saw killing intent that thick was on the opera stage, when Qin Xianglian accused Chen Shimei of being a heartless, unfaithful scoundrel.

Who told every prince of the Northern Dynasty to be so handsome?

I was merely loving too broadly. Was I wrong?

I was not.

But Song Zhunzhi clearly thought I was dead wrong.

So I had no choice but to soothe him.

“Although the stone isn’t the only one, some memories exist only between you and me.”

I took his hand, my words sincere.

“That year, when an evil eunuch pushed you into the imperial pond, I was the one who held tight to your hand and refused to let go. Have you forgotten?”

He pulled his hand back. “That was Third Brother, not me.”

I froze, then swiftly grabbed his other hand.

“That year, when my imperial brother forced you to perform sword dance in the rain, I slapped my brother five times to save you. Have you forgotten?”

He said nothing. Instead, he clasped my hand, turning the tables on me.

“D-did I remember wrong again?” I stammered. “The one performing the sword dance wasn’t you either?”

“It was me.”

I let out a breath of relief.

“But you only slapped your imperial brother twice. The other three slaps landed on my face.”

Alas! I am dead!

I was so frightened I tried to yank my hand back.

He gripped it tightly, the jade thumb ring digging into my skin until it hurt.

“Back then, Your Highness was terribly domineering. You said I was yours, and could only dance with a sword for you.”

“To dance for another was disloyalty.”

He lifted my hand and patted his own left cheek with it.

“Those three slaps certainly made me remember very clearly…”

“I. Am. Yours.”

He enunciated each word, his gaze sharp.

It was over.

“How about… you return those three slaps to me?”

With the courage of one marching to her death, I offered him my face.

On my first day in the Northern Dynasty, I had already been slapped three times by the imperial physician. Now I was about to get slapped three more times.

The slaps I had dealt out in my youth were all flying back to me now.

Song Zhunzhi raised his hand.

“Wait!”

I switched to the other side of my face.

“Hit the left side. The right side is prettier.”

He raised his hand again.

“Wait!”

I removed his blue-jade thumb ring.

“You can’t wear this.”

He was about to raise his hand yet again.

“Wait!”

This time, he didn’t listen. His large palm came whistling toward me.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

A long while later, Dongzhu poked my shoulder.

“Princess, stop screaming. The Northern Dynasty Emperor has already left.”

I slowly opened my eyes and touched my forehead.

Why did he just flick me on the forehead and leave?

All that remained before me was a table full of stones.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

One, two, three, four…

Wait. Why did it seem like one was missing?