Ying Lili smiled at Sheng Li’s statement. “When a lion will be in front of you then, throw this line at me. I know you will be the first one to run away from there,” Ying Lili asserted. Sheng Li resumed walking so was Ying Lili.

“You are undermining the meaning of my name,” asserted Sheng Li.

“Sheng Li, thank you,” Ying Lili said. Sheng Li blinked his eyes and glanced at her. “Why are you saying thank you out of sudden?” Sheng Li asked skeptically.

“Because you saved my friend’s life, and you agreed to my request to go to the market,” Ying Lili replied to him. Sheng Li could not digest the fact that Ying Lili was saying praise-worthy words regarding him. “So, you are trying to say I am not cruel enough and I have a soft heart too?” Sheng Li looked for an answer from Ying Lili.

“Indeed. If you would be cruel then, you would have killed Jingguo without giving any second thought. You also treat me well. Back in Juyan, I had heard that the crown prince was a womanizer and he treated women badly. My mother was scared how I will survive with you but, now it feels different,” Ying Lili pronounced in her soft tone.

Sheng Li grinned. “How do you know that I am not a womanizer? It is just I do not see you as a woman that’s why nothing has happened between us till now. Do not deduce things so quickly, Lili. It is not even a week for our marriage and you started deducing things about me? I indeed treat women badly. To put into the right words, I do not consider gender when I punish someone. Forgot about your maidservant? She is a woman too but I killed her. I might have some hidden motives in keeping Hu Jingguo alive,” Sheng Li adduced.

Ying Lili knitted her brows and spoke, “But my deductions have never gone wrong. You told me that Su Binxi was a spy from the first brother’s side. And, if you would be a womanizer then you would have a harem by now.” Sheng Li looked at Ying Lili and smiled. “You are a dimwit, Ying Lili. Okay, tell me you want me to go to create a harem?” Sheng Li asked.

Ying Lili was out of words. “Why are you not answering? Do not tell me that you have started being affectionate towards me,” Sheng Li stated.

“Affectionate towards you? Huh? That will never happen. I was just saying. Okay, throw away whatever I told you from your mind,” Ying Lili stated.

“I am not a child, Lili. How am I suppose to forget whatever you told me? Wait, are you telling me that I am good because I asked his majesty to let me be a one-woman man?” Sheng Li queried Ying Lili with a smug expression.

“We are on the main road, Sheng Li,” Ying Lili delightedly said when Sheng Li told Ying Lili that they should use different names, not their original names. Ying Lili nodded and asked him what name they should use.

“Hushu” “Minli” Ying Lili and Sheng Li both suggested names for each other. Sheng Li blinked his eyes and said, “That is a very wrong name. You want people to call me… ” Sheng Li was cut by Ying Lili in the middle. “I will call you Hushu. It fits perfectly with your personality and, I liked the name you gave to me. Let’s go then, Hushu,” Ying Lili stated with a smile and started walking.

Sheng Li could not speak anything as he saw someone was coming from the front. The two kept walking and in a while, they were in the market. Ying Lili saw a restaurant that was quite packed with customers. “Hushu, let’s go there,” Ying Lili told Sheng Li who gave a nod and the two walked inside the restaurant.

They sat around a table when Sheng Li put his hat slightly down so, that people cannot look at him. A young boy came to them and asked for the orders. “Give us the best dish of your restaurant,” Ying Lili stated. The young boy nodded and walked away.

“Minli, I do not think it is safe to eat here. What if someone put the poison in it?” Sheng Li in a low voice asked.

“Hushu, you are thinking too much. No one knows us,” Ying Lili whispered. Sheng Li looked around to check whether it was safe for them there when he heard something which grabbed his attention quickly. Three men were sitting around a table left to them and were laughing with each other.

“Have you seen the crown princess?” one of them asked.

“Indeed, I have seen the crown princess. She is a true jade beauty. But, I wonder how is her highness surviving with the crown prince?” the man expressed his concern.

“Do not lie to us. Going inside the palace is not an easy thing,” the other man among them said. Minli was also hearing their conversation and looked at Sheng Li inside whom the anger was building up. The young boy came there with a tray in his hand over which two porcelain bowls were placed. “Here is your order,” the boy said as he put the bowls on the table.

“What is it?” Sheng Li complained, carrying a disgusting look on his face. He did not realize that he spoke so loud that everyone around him turned their gazes at him. “This is wheat dough noodles, Hushu. Sorry, young boy. My husband had never eaten the outside food so, he is behaving like this,” Ying Lili handled the situation well.

“It is fine, sister,” the young boy said and walked away.

Ying Lili tasted the soup first and then started eating the noodles. Seeing Ying Lili alive, Sheng Li also started eating. The noodles seem not of his taste so he stopped in the middle. “I did not like it,” Sheng Li stated with annoyance.

“Do not waste food like this,” Ying Lili told him.

“I can neither eat this food. It is making my taste buds sick,” asserted Sheng Li. Ying Lili did not speak anything further and continued eating. Once she was done eating, they stood up from their respective seats. They went to the counter to pay the bills when Sheng Li recalled something. “Minli, I have no money with me,” Sheng Li concernedly whispered near Minli’s ear.

The cashier was looking at them and spoke, “You have to give 20 coins for two servings.” Sheng Li smiled and then looked at Minli who got closer to Sheng Li and whispered, “Let’s run.” Sheng Li looked at her in bewilderment.