Changan Estate

Getting into the carriage once again, Bai Shuixian frowned at her day. The sun was shining brilliantly and the heat was not too much to handle. It was a cool spring day with no gray skies, but she felt that today was unlucky.

Bai Shuixian did not expect a stranger to knock down her veil which had tightly withheld her face from the public. That was not the only thing she did not expect. She also did not think that a royal member would behave so atrociously by forcing her hand down in order to see her face.

Rolling the veil in between her fingers again and again, Bai Shuixian bit her lips as she wondered if there would be rumors about her. She wondered if the alters would get mad at her. Gripping the fabric on her thighs, she contemplated the fact that four people managed to see her face today.

Seeing her tense body, Lin Dalong asked, "That… Why do you wear a veil to cover your face?"

"Huh?" Bai Shuixian hummed out, distracted from her deep thoughts.

"Why do you have to cover all of your features?" Lin Dalong asked again, knowing that she was probably deep in thought about the situation earlier.

"My brother told me to," Bai Shuixian answered.

Was Xuan Yueji her brother? Bai Shuixian did not know how to address him in any other way than this. He was not her biological brother, but they lived in the same body and they all called each other brother and sister despite the age differences.

"Did you brother tell you why?" Lin Dalong asked, wanting to know more about her history.

"Actually, I know why myself," Bai Shuixian said, her eyes clouded by past memories.

"Why-" Lin Dalong wanted to ask again, but Bai Shuixian continued by herself as she took off the veil, "Once. I went out once. I was curious."

Lin Dalong thought that she would speak more about the past events of her life, but seeing that she did not plan to continue he did not ask further. Instead, he appreciated her beauty. He wanted to compliment that she was not a womanly beauty, but a childish beauty.

When people said a woman was beautiful, they were expecting or imagining a female with perfect body proportions and a sexy face. If not that, then a slender and graceful body with a calm face. However, Bai Shuixian was cute.

Her facial features were not that of a mature lady, but that of a child. Only, the aura that she gave out was too calm and serene so her distinctive face seemed to have an aspect of beauty instead of just childishness. It was also because of the color of her eyes and hair that made her look different from the other females he has met before.

Curious, Lin Dalong asked, "Were you born with this hair color?"

"Yes," Bai Shuixian curtly answered.

Receiving a short simple answer again, Lin Dalong continued to say, "If not for the shade of silver in your eyes, people would think you're blind."

"Is that so?" Bai Shuixian asked back with no seriousness.

"Indeed. Most people with white pupils are generally blind. Maybe due to war or from birth," Lin Dalong explained as he continued to secretly admire her face, especially the teardrop in the middle of her forehead.

Once Lin Dalong finished talking though, Bai Shuixian did not comment at all. This left the atmosphere of the carriage to be silent and awkward. He wanted to speak again, but then found it to be beneath him as a prince and decided that when she wanted to talk, she would.

It was only when they reached the Changan Estate, the estate the Lin Dalong designed himself, that Bai Shuixian finally asked him about something. The moment she opened her mouth, he thought that she would ask about something related to the estate. However, when she spilled them out, he was struck speechless as he had no clue on how to answer her.

"Your Highness, the invader," Bai Shuixian asked, using simple words as though she treasured them.

With a wry smile on his face, Lin Dalong said, "I don't know who it is that managed to enter the palace. I'll make sure to investigate it in detail though."

Nodding in understanding, Bai Shuixian turned to the steward who was standing respectfully behind Lin Dalong with an expression that asked, "Who is he?"

Quickly walking up to Bai Shuixian, the steward introduced, "Miss Bai, I am Steward Lang."

"Steward Lang, please designate a room for her. Have the servants follow her in case she wants to change some of the interior," Lin Dalong ordered.

"No need," Bai Shuixian rejected. "I'm not picky, and I'm only living here temporarily. The moment I'm done exploring the capital, I'll be going back. Instead, do you have a hot spring?"

Hearing a question, Steward Lang turned to Lin Dalong with a difficult expression. There was indeed a hot spring, but only the prince was allowed to use it. Not even his siblings could use the hot spring unless they were mortally wounded, which would never happen since the person handling all the things behind the scene was the crowned prince.

"Steward Lang, show her where the hot spring is when you send her to her room," Lin Dalong ordered, not blinking an eye.

Well, this is out of the ordinary. Steward Land did not expect Lin Dalong to agree to Bai Shuixian. In fact, he was already surprised enough that the crowned prince would allow a woman to even enter his estate.

In the entire estate, there were no females. Every single subordinate and servant was a male. If someone brought in a family member that was not male, they would get fired personally by Lin Dalong.

Knowing the strictness that Lin Dalong had, Steward Lang did not know to react to it. Other than submissively listening to his orders, he could not show any other reactions. For some reason, he felt like the world would soon collapse at the acts of the prince.

"Miss Bai, please follow me," Steward Lang led as he stared her up and down.

Steward Lang thought that Bai Shuixian was indeed a beauty and seemed to be reserved like a good lady. However, he felt that she was a bit different from the normal ladies. He shook his head, reorganizing his opinions, "No. Not a bit. She was entirely different."

Stopping in front of a door, Steward Lang announced, "Miss Bai, this will be your room in the future. If you have any problems, please call me or the servants nearby for help. You can find the hot spring on the east annex of the estate hidden behind a wall of rocks."

Nodding her head, Bai Shuixian acknowledged everything that Steward Lang told her. When he left, the first thing that she did was to head to the hot spring. Although he did not personally show here where it was and she also did not know how to navigate through the estate, she was confident in her qinggong.

Bai Shuixian did not need to shower or bathe. Her body naturally exuded a fresh smell of flowers, not too strong and not too weak. However, she liked the refreshing feeling of warm water against her skin as she caressed her shoulders, so she would always bathe in hot springs like a normal human.

As for why Bai Shuixian did not need to take care of hygiene like normal people, it was because she managed to cultivate a level of physics in which her body could take care of it automatically. This did not excuse her menstrual cycle though. Just like an ordinary woman, she got her monthly period, forcing Xuan Yueji and the others to take care of it sometimes when she was asleep in order to recover from divining something.

Taking a little while to find the hot spring, Bai Shuixian did not get to shower until the moon was crescent shaped and the sky was dark blue with shining stars. By the time she managed to enter the warm water, she was too lazy to undress herself and just floated on the water. Drifting like a piece of wood on a river, she did not move and only allowed the water current to move her.

This was so comfortable to Bai Shuixian that she ended up falling asleep. Of course, it was because of this that she did not know that Lin Dalong actually showered in the hot spring every night. He did not miss a night of showering unless he was on a mission.

When Lin Dalong came across the clothed Bai Shuixian floating lazily on the warm hot spring water, he facepalmed. However, he was also a gentleman for once in his life, so he carried her and brought her to her room. Once he laid her on her bed, he realized that her clothes, which should be wet, were completely dry as though she never entered the water.

Although this shocked Lin Dalong as he had never seen such fabric or clothes before, he did not make big actions as he was scared of waking up the beauty in his arms. In fact, he liked having her in his embrace. He has never held a woman before, but if he knew that the body of a female was soft and comfortable like a pillow, he would want to hold one for life.

Of course, Lin Dalong was not bold enough to hold onto Bai Shuixian for long. As soon as she was placed on the bed, he left her bedroom. It was like no one had entered her room, but that she slept and walked back to her bed.

When morning came and Bai Shuixian woke up on the soft bed, she wondered, "Why am I sleeping here?"