"We are here," Wei Kangnuan announced with bright eyes as he showed Peng Mingzhu the gigantic gate doors that led in and out of the capital city.
When she saw the huge door with multiple guards standing cautiously at both sides of the door, she could not help but to sigh. She had indeed seen these gigantic wooden doors that were so heavy you needed a lever to help lift, but those doors did not have the liveliness that the current one in front of her had.
Whereas he stared at her and saw her eyes that glowed in appreciation at the glory of just the entrance to the city, he internally felt proud of his history.
As Wei Kangnuan motioned the horse forward and the guards finally saw him, they all shouted out and bowed at the same time, "Second Prince!"
With his status being announced to all the people standing in front of the entrance, everyone moved away to make space for him before starting to bow just like the guards.
For Peng Mingzhu, when she saw such courtesy and respect for him, she was a bit shocked as everyone did not seem forced but as though they were truly happy to bow to him. Different from her though, Wei Kangnuan continued to motion the horse to enter the city.
Only when the horse reached the door did Wei Kangnuan finally turned around to say warmly, "Rise. Continue."
Seeing the netizens continue like how he told them to, Peng Mingzhu became surprised. However, there was another thought in her brain that could not go away.
Still sitting in front of him, Peng Mingzhu asked, "Say...this won't happen the entire time, right? While we are heading to your place?"
Upon hearing her question, Wei Kangnuan chuckled, "I am a prince. It is natural for this to happen. Just get used to it."
"No way…" Peng Mingzhu instantly replied and tensed her body.
If she did not even like her own people gathering up to salute, bow, and greet her, how could she possibly like seeing his people bow to him?
"You will start to get used to it the more you experience it," Wei Kangnuan told her when he noticed her most noticeably tensed body.
Hearing his statement, Peng Mingzhu shook her head from side to side like a ragdoll, "No, no, no… I'll never like it. I've never liked it and will never like it."
When Wei Kangnuan saw her shake her head like that, he laughed out loud, "I never thought there would be something that you would be scared of…"
Peng Mingzhu turned red and exclaimed, "I'm not scared! I-I just don't like it!!"
Wei Kangnuan thought she was lying, but he still responded with, "Yes, yes, you just do not like it."
"You-don't you dare take this as a joke!" Peng Mingzhu shouted at him with an angry voice.
"Alright, alright, I will take a detour," Wei Kangnuan calmed her. "There is an alleyway my men and I always take when we want to avoid the crowds. It could be considered a secret path."
Peng Mingzhu immediately took a deep breath to calm herself down when she heard him say they would take a secret alleyway. She truly was not afraid of crowds or people paying respect to her.
It was just -
She shook her head to clear her thoughts. The past was something she did not want to think of nor even recall. If possible, she hoped that her team of scientists could create a machine to erase her memories.
Actually, that was a project that was almost passed. However, the moment that Xiao Qiqiang heard about the project, he immediately vetoed the idea. In the organization, the only person who held the same and equal power as her was him and he was the only person who knew about the decisions she made.
However, since he was the only person who knew and understood why she did something, he was also the only person that she allowed to go against her decisions.
She did not want to recall, but he wanted her to be strong and beat the pain of her past.
As she was too deep in her thoughts, she did not realize when they had arrived at the estate. By the time she noticed, there were already guards, servants, and maids standing outside to greet them. There was Mo Yuanjun.
Somehow, seeing Mo Yuanjun standing there to greet them really angered her.
Is he standing there, first in line out of all the servants, does that not mean that he has long arrived and that they were taking their long long time just coming here?!
"Disperse. Mo Yuanjun, Butler Cui, Headmaid Yang, please follow me," Wei Kangnuan suddenly ordered them when she finally came back to focus.
As she saw the magnificent estate with the huge wooden sign top that wrote, "Er Wang Estate," she read them out loud in a questioning tone.
"What is it?" Wei Kangnuan asked when he heard the inquiry in her voice.
"The name...is quite direct?" Peng Mingzhu spoke with a wry smile.
She truly did not expect the estate to be named in such a direct manner. It was as though whoever named the estate was too lazy and found naming to be too wasteful of their time.
"I think this name is quite good," Wei Kangnuan told her. "Er Wang Estate…"
[A/N: Er means Second and Wang means Prince; which is why I wrote 'direct manner.']
"Don't tell me…" Peng Mingzhu started questioning in disbelief.
"Yes, I named this estate," Wei Kangnuan answered before she could finish asking. "Why? Do you not like the name? Because I personally believe this is better than some fancy or poetic names out there."
"Well… When you put it that way… I guess…you are right…" Peng Mingzhu mumbled while thinking about his words carefully.
After that short conversation, he jumped down from the horse. As she was still sitting on top with no hints of showing that she was going to get down, he thought that maybe she did not know how to get off. After all, he did throw her on top of the horse quite forcefully since she refused to get on the horse with him, demanding him to "let her get her own horse."
With that thought in his head, he stretched out his right hand in a princely manner thinking that she would grab his hand and get down. However, she immediately made him stand still like a stone…
Surprised at the hand that suddenly stretched out, she lost track of her wilding thoughts and stared blankly at the hand that he was offering her. Not understanding why he was giving her his hand, she decided to ignore the outstretched hand and just jumped down in the most elegant and graceful manner ever. Even more beautifully than him, a prince that was taught to be elegant and cool from a young age.
Indeed, it was this action of ignoring his hand that left him standing still like a stone.
"You...did you wait for my hand just so that you can embarrass me?" Wei Kangnuan asked with an awkward smile as he had never experienced such a thing before.
"No, I didn't even know why you offered your hand to me," Peng Mingzhu honestly admitted. "I was thinking about something and then you suddenly stuffed your hand in my face. I almost grabbed it to just damage it. Be thankful that I was clear headed enough to remember that only you'd be shameless enough to bother me."
"Ah, you speak some really harsh words," Wei Kangnuan stated with a sigh as his eyes lit up in pity.
As he spoke, the stablemaster came out and started leading the horse back into the stables. When she saw this, she immediately shouted out to the stablemaster in order to stop him.
Hearing herself being so loud, she became embarrassed for herself. However, since she has already committed the action, she decided to just go through with what she wanted to ask.
Still a bit embarrassed, Peng Mingzhu asked in a quiet voice, "Um...that...I just wanted to know the horse's name…"
He instantly bursted out laughing, "If you just wanted to ask for his name, you did not have to scream as though asking for me to save you!"
"Oh, shut up!" Peng Mingzhu ordered him as she became more red from his words. "Just tell me his name! I don't want to ride a horse and not be acquainted with it!"
After laughing until his stomach was hurting, Wei Kangnuan finally answered, "His name is Xiu."
Giving a small cough to cover up her embarrassment, she turned to the estate entrance and entered while ignoring all the people that were staring at her.
Wei Kangnuan was staring at her with endearment and laughter, Mo Yuanjun was staring at her with curiosity and intrigue, and Butler Cui was staring at her with interest and warmth, while Headmaid Yang was staring at her with cautiousness and rejection.
At the same time, upon entering those giant fancy wooden doors, Peng Mingzhu felt like she was going to be experiencing and starting a new life even though she did not know why.