"Sister, I've nothing against the Second Prince, you understand. But he is... Now, how can I put this? But his reputation is very much prickly. To associate with him would be exactly the same as trying to hug a hedgehog. You'd harm yourself and you would be inviting endless trouble."
She pulled a face. Prickly? She gazed to one side, playing back a memory in her mind. "Last spring I thought about keeping a hedgehog as a pet, only to hurt myself trying to catch one." She winced, then she giggled: "Yes, don't try to hug a hedgehog for they do have strong and sharp spines."
She shook her head vigorously while she made a hand chopping gesture. "Those animals can't be tamed! Can't be tamed!"
The next moment, she thought of Shufeng because he once taught her some facts about hedgehogs. She then babbled away, oblivious to the discomfited expression on her brother's face.
