Chapter Thirty-Nine: Mistaken Identity

This sudden turn of events made Zhu Hao lose all his usual composure in an instant; he spoke almost mechanically, “I—I’m sorry!”

The young girl beneath Zhu Hao was, of course, Guo Mengdie—the very one who had followed him and saved him in a moment of crisis. To Zhu Hao’s surprise, his earnest apology served only to thoroughly enrage her. She shot him a furious glare; if not for the fact that her fall had left her body numb, rendering her unable to move for the moment—though she was uninjured—she might have leapt up and killed him on the spot.

Unable to move, Guo Mengdie could only speak with frosty disdain, “Take your filthy paws off me, or I swear I’ll cut them off myself!” At her words, Zhu Hao realized his hand was resting somewhere it most certainly should not be.

A girl of eleven or twelve is already well into adolescence, and Guo Mengdie, who practiced martial arts, was more physically mature than most her age. When she had saved Zhu Hao midair, his panic had made him grasp instinctively at anything within reach, and so his hand had ended up in the most inappropriate of places. Now, at last, Zhu Hao understood why she was so angry.

Inwardly, Zhu Hao cursed, “Damn it, my lifelong reputation is about to be ruined by a moment of instinct!” He meant the human instinct to clutch at whatever one can in a moment of danger, seeking a sense of security.

But his thoughts did not hinder his actions. He quickly got to his feet and reached out to help Guo Mengdie up, only to be met with cold indifference—she did not even spare him a glance, simply snorted in disdain. After a moment, when the tingling in her body had faded, Guo Mengdie sprang up lightly and stood.

Standing, she saw Zhu Hao’s aggrieved expression—head lowered, as though he were the one who had suffered some great injustice—which only incensed her further. She raised her hand and slapped him across the face, then snapped, “You despicable pervert! You filthy scoundrel! This isn’t over!” With that, she reached for the sword at her waist, intent on confronting him with cold steel.

In truth, Guo Mengdie had misunderstood Zhu Hao. The look on his face was one of genuine guilt at having done wrong, but she, having already judged him a scoundrel for taking advantage of her, could only interpret his remorse as feigned innocence—thinking him shameless for pretending to be wronged after such behavior.

Fortunately, just as Guo Mengdie was about to draw her sword, Wenwen hurried up from behind. Seeing her mistress about to unsheathe her blade—and at the future young master, no less—she rushed to intervene. Considering Zhu Hao’s status and to prevent her mistress from making a grave mistake, she quickly cried, “Miss, you mustn’t! What on earth has happened? Please, calm down and talk it through!”

Guo Mengdie, cheeks flushed, glanced from Zhu Hao to Wenwen. She wanted to tell Wenwen what had just happened, but as a young lady, she found the whole episode too mortifying to speak of. In the end, she merely snorted coldly and turned away, refusing to look at Zhu Hao again.

Zhu Hao, rubbing his burning cheek, felt a surge of aggrievement. “Damn it, in all my years I’ve never been treated like this! If you weren’t a woman, I’d have cut you down on the spot.”

Of course, these were only his private thoughts—he could hardly speak them aloud, not with his princely status to maintain. He could not go around hurling insults like some street thug.

Forcing down his anger, Zhu Hao looked to Wenwen and managed a strained smile. “Miss, thank goodness you arrived when you did. Your mistress, for no reason at all, slapped me and is now threatening me with a sword. Please, persuade her! If she’s unwell, she ought to seek treatment before it gets worse!” His words were pointed, implying Guo Mengdie was mad.

Guo Mengdie, standing aside, was in the midst of comforting herself. “He’s just a child—surely he didn’t mean anything by it. Perhaps I’m overthinking things.” With this, some of her anger faded. But had she known that the body of this seemingly innocent boy was inhabited by a man in his twenties—a lifelong bachelor—she would surely have drawn her sword and run Zhu Hao through then and there.

Just as Guo Mengdie began to let go of her anger, Zhu Hao’s words reached her ears. The implication that she was insane enraged her anew. Not only did he show no remorse, but he even had the gall to mock her. She wanted to draw her sword and settle the score, but Wenwen clung tightly to her sleeve, begging her to calm down. In the end, Guo Mengdie suppressed her fury with another cold snort, turning her back to Zhu Hao once more.

Zhu Hao, oblivious to the looming volcano before him, continued to provoke her. “Thank you, miss, for saving me just now! But may I ask who you are, and why you’re here in the royal hunting grounds?”

This was the final straw for Guo Mengdie. What infuriated her now was not just his lack of contrition, but his presumptuous questioning. Sometimes, a woman’s heart is a tangled web, impossible to unravel.

Zhu Hao, for his part, was taken aback. He had thanked her sincerely and refrained from mentioning the earlier embarrassment, yet it only drove her to further outrage.

Guo Mengdie snapped, “Who am I? Why should I tell you? What does it matter to you why I’m here? Who do you think you are to question me? Do I need to report my whereabouts to you? You little brat, interrogating me? Say one more word and I’ll cut you down where you stand!”

Zhu Hao was left speechless. He considered revealing his identity to put an end to her arrogance, but that would go against his principle of persuading others through reason, not force. So he abandoned the idea.

But as Guo Mengdie’s fierce gaze bore into him, Zhu Hao’s own anger flared. His face reddened, and he spat out, “I—um—was trying to thank you, but you—you shrew—are so rude! Today I’m going to teach you a lesson!” He had almost said “I, the prince,” but caught himself in time.

Of course, his intention was merely to scare her, to curb her overbearing manner.

But Zhu Hao could not have known that Guo Mengdie was like a volcano on the brink of eruption, and his words were the final fuel that set it off. She wrenched free from Wenwen’s grip, drew her sword, and charged at him. Zhu Hao dodged and ran in the opposite direction, but soon realized that despite her apparent fury, Guo Mengdie’s attacks were controlled—she had no intention of actually harming him. She was only trying to scare him, which gave Zhu Hao, already irked, a mischievous urge to tease this beautiful, hot-tempered girl. As he ran, he shouted, “You shrew! Clumsy as you are, you’ll never catch me. I bet you, if you can, I’ll buy you some sweets!”

Guo Mengdie’s face turned from white to red to green with rage. With a few light leaps, she landed in front of Zhu Hao, sword flashing to rest coldly against his tender neck. Only then did Zhu Hao, alarmed by her skill, freeze in place and dare not utter another word to provoke her.

He feared that if he truly angered her, the slightest motion of her wrist would mean the end of his life.

With the poise of a victor, Guo Mengdie looked down at him, wrinkled her dainty nose, and snorted. “Run, then! Why aren’t you running? Let me tell you, Zhu Youxiao, now that you’re in my hands, I’ll make sure you regret it!”

Perhaps it was her anger or the exertion of her acrobatic leaps, but Guo Mengdie’s chest was heaving, her developing figure quivering with each breath. Zhu Hao, an old bachelor by nature, could not help but glance a few more times out of habit.

Guo Mengdie caught his gaze, and her fury redoubled, for he was staring at the very spot his wandering hands had just touched. She hissed, “Zhu Youxiao, you filthy lecher! Stare any longer and I’ll gouge your eyes out!”

Hearing her repeatedly call him “Zhu Youxiao,” Zhu Hao inwardly grumbled, “Just what did my dull-witted elder brother do to provoke such a firebrand of a woman? She’s putting all his debts on my head—how tragic for me!” He thought of explaining that he was not Zhu Youxiao, but with Guo Mengdie so agitated—and his life quite literally in her hands—he dared not risk it. “Brother, this time I truly am taking the blame for you!”

Little did he know, it was actually Zhu Youxiao who was unwittingly taking the blame. Zhu Youxiao had never even met Guo Mengdie, and all her current rage was directed solely at Zhu Hao.