Chapter 70 - Stare That Kills
Chapter 70 – Stare That Kills
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Lin Xiaofei almost instantly remove her eyes from him before turning to Liu Shishi with a frown.
"You didn't say this when you told me that you will even ask for his hand for marriage last time." With a knowing smile on her face, Liu Shishi assumed that her friend was being bashful and didn't want to admit it when the other person was present and sitting across them.
However, as a playful young miss, she couldn't help but tease her friend whom she didn't get to see for a long time.
Only, Lin Xiaofei didn't appreciate her friend who kept giggling like a school girl seeing the man she admired passing by.
Although she was no young budding lady, Lin Xiaofei wished she could storm out and go home in this instant. The embarrassment she was feeling was giving her a headache.
What's more, the fact that she saw the shock in that man's eyes when they made eye contact told her that he must have read or heard what they were saying.
Biting her lips, Lin Xiaofei felt frustrated at the previous owner..
Once again, the smile that got disappeared from Qu Xing Xu's face reappeared when he understood the second part of Liu Shishi's words. Ask his hand for marriage? He thought with a smile and looked at Lin Xiaofei who glared at him.
She was obviously warning him with her eyes to not think further of what her friend has been talking about.
Even though there weren't any verbal exchanges, the exchanges of their eyes didn't get past Liu Shishi.
Grinning widely, she nudged her friend once again as she excitedly said, "What's this? Are you two really flirting in front of everyone?"
Lin Xiaofei really wanted to roll her eyes at her. Responding to Liu Shishi's teasing will only be useless and result in more shameful words coming out of this young lady's mouth.
It was just that Lin Xiaofei couldn't blame Liu Shishi since the previous owner was obviously a young girl at heart and knew how to appreciate outstanding people. It's just that, the current Lin Xiaofei ended up dealing with the previous owner's actions.
Just as she was about to retract her eyes and look elsewhere, she saw that Princess Gao and Princess Zhu still had their eyes glued to the direction of Qu Xing Xu, their love-struck gaze was too hard to ignore and they weren't even planning to hide it as well.
Unfortunately, the man they were staring at didn't even glance in their way as Qu Xing Xu stared with smiling eyes at Lin Xiaofei.
Not only did Liu Shishi took notice of this but even the other princes beside the two princesses saw that Qu Xing Xu had his eyes on the female across him. However, because there were two females sitting across the Duke, they couldn't guess out who he was actually staring at.
However, they soon assumed that the woman he was looking at was Liu Shishi, the granddaughter of the Chief Secretariat and not the other lady who had her head lowered.
With a sly smile on his face, Prince Zhou jokingly said, "Duke Qu Xing Xu, if you stare at the young lady some more, who knew if she will melt before the banquet is done?"
His words were said with a hint of jest but the sly look in his eyes betrayed him.
After hearing Prince Zhou's words, every female turned towards him before looking at Qu Xing Xu who said, "What is his highness saying? Melting someone doesn't have anything to do with how one should stare at someone. Besides, if there is anyone who will melt, shouldn't it be me or his highness, Yu Fangzhu?"
He responded skillfully and smoothly. Not hurrying or clumsy. With only his words, he rendered Prince Zhou speechless since not only did Qu Xing Xu mentioned that melting someone wasn't as easy as just staring at someone all day long but also, he bounced the question back to them.
It would be foolish of him if he didn't sense the stares that the two princesses were giving to him. The gazes from other princes and people in the pavilion were also hard to deny but he easily ignored it.
With the torch passed to him by Qu Xing Xu, Yu Fangzhu lightly laughed, "Duke Qu Xing Xu is joking. If anything, the scenery in this pavilion is far worth the attention of everyone's eyes." His voice was mellow and quite charming that many unmarried young ladies felt their ears being tickled. Sadly, it wasn't the case for Lin Xiaofei who wished she could hold a dagger in her hand and cut her ears off.
Tightly gripping her skirt, Lin Xiaofei closed her eyes tightly in an attempt to hide her hatred and disgust towards Yu Fangzhu. She wanted to avoid Qu Xing Xu's eyes from seeing her deep seethed emotions from her.
Qu Xing Xu lazily smiled. He was bored from the answer that Yu Fangzhu gave to him and besides, he was more interested in the sudden change of demeanor from the young lady across him.
Upon seeing that Qu Xing Xu wasn't provoked, Prince Zhou felt sour even more and sat on his chair while grumbling under his breath.
He wasn't successful in trying to put the man in a tight spot. However, he was still successful in making everyone take notice of the young ladies across Qu Xing Xu.
Murmurs started as young ladies and noble sons whispered among themselves. The hot tea on their table was slowly getting colder with how long they kept on talking from the time they got in the pavilion till now.
Uncomfortable with all the stares they were getting, Liu Shishi frowned and wanted to speak when the voice of princess Gao was heard, "Miss Liu, have you and the Duke met before?"
Although the matter has already passed Princess Gao was unwilling to let go. She obviously didn't like the fact that the man she wanted for herself was staring at some other women.
With Princess Gao's statement, stopped their murmuring to turn to look at Liu Shishi.
Liu Shishi bit her lips as she didn't like the attention she was getting from everyone. Although she was as arrogant as Lin Xiaofei, she was still thought to be a young lady who follows the basic etiquette. No matter how hard her situation was, she must not show it to the public.
Also, she cannot show any displeasure towards the royal offsprings.
With a smile and innocent eyes, Liu Shishi replied, "To answer the princess's question, I have yet to meet the Duke until today."
Her answer was polite and void of any inclination that she was lying. Thus, many didn't find fault with her.
"Hmm…" Princess Gao didn't seem to be impressed and wanted to probe further when her eyes fell on the sitting figure of another young lady beside Miss Liu, "What about the young lady beside you? It seems that I haven't met her before. Will the young lady please raise your head so I can take a look?"
Lin Xiaofei sighed in her heart and wanted to do nothing with any of them. She cursed Qu Xing Xu and his nine succeeding generations to hell. She couldn't put the fault to him for being shameless and bold to even stare at someone without reservation.
On the other hand, she blamed the females who admired that man for being close-minded and childish in acting this way.
Princess Gao waited for her to raise her head and reply but everyone was shocked that even after when several seconds passed, the lady didn't obey the process's order.
"Impudent!" Princess Zhu viciously spat. Even though she didn't like the fact that her own sister was trying to covet the man she liked for herself, she also couldn't wait to tear the woman who was receiving the gaze of Qu Xing Xu.
After hearing the young princess's reproach, Lin Xiaofei's grip on the teacup in her hand tightened before slacking.
Slowly, she raised her head and looked at the two princesses with bravery and there was no hint of fear or obedience in her eyes.
When they saw her face, a few gasps left the mouths of every female and male seated in the pavilion. Earlier, they didn't care to look at her way and was preoccupied with the conversation they shared with their peers. Add the fact that Lin Xiaofei had her head lowered and wanted to keep her low profile while Liu Shishi's figure covered her own, they didn't think much of her and didn't look at her way.
However, with the spotlight that was given to her by the princess and caused by Qu Xing Xu, Lin Xiaofei felt more annoyed than happy.
"You…" Princess Gao was speechless upon seeing her face. Even the four Princes and Princess Zhu didn't know what to say after seeing her peerless beautiful face.
Several emotions played in everyone's heart as soon as their eyes laid upon Lin Xiaofei's face.