Trap in a Book

Chapter 47

Months went by, and winter was ending. The snow had started melting, and spring was here. There was no sign of Zhou Haitou's whereabouts as ZhangWei's men continued to search. Baozhai and Xiaomei had already recovered in a month, and ZhangWei was longer. During those months of ZhangWei's recovery, Xiaomei stayed by his side and took care of him, but once he was able to get off his bed and move around, she immediately stopped showing up to his residence. However, when ZhangWei was able to move around, the position of the new leader was given to him as he was the next best candidate. Since he was the new leader of the sect, he had become busy with business affairs and the search for Zhou Haitou.

After those assassination attempts, they all stopped doubting Xiaomei and started asking her to join them in many things, like having tea or dinner with them. Today, they asked her to join them at the market. She wanted to refuse, but she was already dragged by Baozhai and Chuhua to join them.

During their time outside, Chuhua and Baozhai had their fun while the rest of them (Xiaomei, LiJie, and Bojing) followed them. Xiaomei stood beside the ladies while the two men were two feet away behind them. The two ladies had stopped at a stall that was selling tassels and charms. When Xiaomei glanced behind her, she noticed the two men looking at her. At first, she thought she was blocking the view of their loved ones, so she moved herself to get out of their way; however, their eyes followed her. She didn't know why they were looking at her. She felt awkward being stared at.

"Crown Prince LiJie. General Bojing? Is something the matter," Xiaomei put her usual fake smile on and coy voice. They immediately looked away and acted like they weren't staring at her. "Yeah. Yeah. Be like," Xiaomei thought before redrawing her attention back at the ladies. Once Xiaomei wasn't paying attention to them, the two men stared at her again. At that moment, Chuhua glanced back to see Bojing, looking at Xiaomei. She quietly looked at the tassel, she wanted to buy him one, but she saw he was already wearing a small jade charm. She then looked at Baozhai, who had already picked out what she wanted. "LiJie, look what I got," Baozhai said with a smile. LiJie turned his attention to Baozhai and sweetly smiled at her. His eyes softened when he looked at her. "Here. For you," Baozhai said, handing him a waist tassel with her cheeks turned pink. Chuhua then noticed Bojing's gaze, looking at them. She did know that he liked Baozhai, but now she is unsure.

"Miss, are you going to buy one as well?" The vendor said, looking at Chuhua. "Miss, do you have love troubles?" The vendor noticed her gaze. Chuhua remained silent. "Let me tell you something," the vendor started to say while she listened.

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They arrived back, and the night was here. Xiaomei entered her room after a long day. She had taken off her light coat and was about to take off her outer robe before there was a knock on the door. Xiaomei stopped herself and headed to open the door.

"Han Chuhua, what brings you here?" Xiaomei asked, letting her in.

"Um, I wanted someone to consult with," Chuhua said, shy but Xiaomei could tell she had a lot on her mind.

"Consult? With me? What about Zhou Baozhai?" Xiaomei said, not understanding.

"Well, Baozhai has the Crown Prince and may not understand unrequited love like us," Chuhua said, quietly with head looking down.

"Unrequited love?" Xiaomei said in her head before remembering what she saw at the market. "Ah, I see. Come in and have a seat. Would you like some tea?" Xiaomei said, sitting by the table.

"No. It's fine," Chuhua answered before sitting down.

Before Chuhua could open her mouth again, a knock on the door was heard. "Come in," Xiaomei said. The door opened, and Baozhai entered the room.

"Chuhua, there you are. I was looking all over for you. When I asked a maid, they said you went this direction," Baozhai said.

"Oh, Baozhai. What do you need?" Chuhua asked.

"I was just wondering where you went," Baozhai said. "What are you doing here?" Baozhai asked.

"I-I wanted to talk to Huang Daiyu about something," Chuhua said with her cheeks turning pink.

"Oh, is it okay if I stay and join you two?" Baozhai asked. Xiaomei looked at Chuhua.

"Sure," Chuhua hesitantly agreed.