Su Yaoyao froze.
What did that mean?
She lifted her gaze, meeting his eyes.
The sunlight fell just right, glinting in his deep, fathomless eyes, and for the first time, a faint ripple stirred in their usual icy calm.
“Your servant…” she bit her lip, long lashes trembling, “Your servant dares not overstep.”
“Prayer beads are given to those with fate,” Xiao Chenyan’s voice was calm, undisturbed. “Miss Su, if it brings you comfort, then it is fate. If it is fate, how is it overstepping?”
As he spoke, he extended the hair ornament back to her.
“Keep it.”
The hall fell silent.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
The Crown Prince… had actually gifted a personal string of prayer beads to a young lady?!
And he told her to keep them?!
Su Yaoyao herself was stunned.
This reaction… was not what she had expected.
She thought Xiao Chenyan would coldly take the beads back and let her leave, or at the very least ask why she felt reluctant to part with them.
But instead, he said… “Keep them”?
She lifted her eyes, studying his expression carefully.
His face remained composed, almost unreadable, yet those deep eyes seemed to hide a subtle… meaning.
Her mind raced. She reached out and took the hair ornament.
This time, she didn’t immediately withdraw her hand.
Instead, she gently held one end of the ornament, letting his fingertip linger briefly against her palm.
“Then…” she looked up at him, a radiant smile blooming across her face, “Your servant will boldly accept it. Thank you, Your Highness.”
Xiao Chenyan withdrew his hand, fingers unconsciously twisting the beads, as if still feeling the warmth of her palm.
“Mm,” he responded faintly, turning to leave.
“Your Highness.” Su Yaoyao suddenly called after him.
Xiao Chenyan paused and looked back.
“Today, besides returning the prayer beads, I also wish to offer incense in the temple,” Su Yaoyao said, stepping forward, her voice soft. “But I am not well-versed in Buddhism… I wonder if Your Highness might guide me a little?”
Her eyes, pure and expectant, looked at him.
Like a kitten yearning for its master’s touch.
The surrounding girls gasped.
Su Yaoyao… was audacious enough to ask the Crown Prince to accompany her to offer incense?!
Li Yan trembled with fury, about to sneer, but then heard Xiao Chenyan say:
“Yes.”
One word.
Casual, effortless.
Yet it struck like thunder.
Su Yaoyao’s eyes lit up in surprise as she bent in a formal bow.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
Xiao Chenyan spoke no more, turning to enter the hall.
Su Yaoyao hurried to follow.
After a few steps, she glanced back at the frozen Li Yan and the others, gently shaking the hair ornament in her hand.
The rosewood beads clicked softly.
And then, she gave a meaningful smile.
Li Yan’s face turned completely green with envy.
Inside the Main Hall, incense smoke curled through the air.
Su Yaoyao knelt on the mat, hands clasped, eyes closed in prayer.
Xiao Chenyan stood beside her, fingers twisting the prayer beads, gaze fixed on her.
Morning light slanted through the hall doors, illuminating the side of her face. Her long lashes cast soft shadows, her nose sharp and elegant, lips faintly red.
Even in devotion, she radiated a breathtaking beauty.
“What is Miss Su praying for?” Xiao Chenyan suddenly asked.
Su Yaoyao opened her eyes, turning to him, her gaze still carrying the purity of her prayer:
“For my family’s safety, and… that all the heart’s wishes may come true.”
“The heart’s wishes?” Xiao Chenyan repeated, his eyes deepening. “What is your heart’s wish, Miss Su?”
She met his gaze and suddenly smiled.
Her smile carried cunning, a hint of testing:
“Your Highness, can you guess?”
Xiao Chenyan paused briefly, fingers on the beads stilling for a fraction of a second.
The hall was silent, only the soft crackle of burning incense.
After a long moment, he finally spoke:
“I guess… Miss Su’s heart’s wish is related to me.”
Not a question, but a statement.
Su Yaoyao’s heart skipped a beat.
Looking into those eyes that seemed to see everything, she felt momentarily exposed.
But she quickly regained composure, tilting her head, feigning innocence:
“How do you know? Could it be… Your Highness can read minds?”
Xiao Chenyan looked at her playful act, lips curving ever so slightly.
A faint, fleeting arc.
“No,” he said, “but I can read eyes.”
“Eyes?”
“Your eyes…” Xiao Chenyan hesitated, voice lowered slightly, “reveal ambition.”
The smile on Su Yaoyao’s face stiffened.
Ambition.
The word was like a key, unlocking the deepest corners of her heart.
Yes, ambition.
She was never one to be content. Not in her past life, not in this one.
She wanted revenge, power, to stand at the highest place and trample those who had humiliated her.
And… to conquer the man before her.
This man, as cold and serene as Buddha, yet whose presence made her heart race.
“Your Highness… do you think ambition is a bad thing?” she asked softly.
Xiao Chenyan looked at her, silently, for a long time.
So long that Su Yaoyao thought he would not answer, until he finally spoke:
“Buddha says all sentient beings suffer, all because of desire.”
“But if there is no desire…” Su Yaoyao stepped closer, tilting her face up, “then how would sentient beings exist?”
She was close.
Close enough to smell the faint sandalwood on him, close enough to see her reflection in his eyes.
“Your Highness cultivates Buddhism, seeking desirelessness,” she said softly, each word clear. “But I am mortal. Mortals have desires, ambitions, and…”
She paused, eyes suddenly burning.
“Desire for someone.”
Xiao Chenyan’s breath caught ever so slightly.
He lowered his gaze, looking at this audacious woman before him.
Seeing the ambition and… possessiveness in her eyes, unabashed.
Like a fire, threatening to melt his icy exterior.
“Miss Su,” he said, voice calm, yet the beads in his hand whitened slightly under his grip, “do you know what you’re saying?”
“I know,” Su Yaoyao smiled, bright and unrestrained,
“I am saying…”
“I want… Your Highness’s heart.”
Snap.
A light sound.
Xiao Chenyan squeezed the prayer beads fiercely.
He looked up at her, eyes deep as a frozen lake.
Su Yaoyao did not flinch, meeting his gaze boldly, her smile unwavering.
After a long moment, Xiao Chenyan lowered the beads.
“Miss Su,” he said, voice still calm and even, “Buddha says all conditioned things are like dreams and illusions.”
Su Yaoyao’s smile stiffened slightly.
A refusal?
Yet she then heard him continue:
“But in this world, there are always people and matters that even a cultivator cannot remain unmoved by.”
He stepped closer.
So close that Su Yaoyao could smell the faint sandalwood on him, could see her reflection in his eyes.
“Your heart is too big,” Xiao Chenyan said, low and deep.
“You want too much.”
Su Yaoyao tilted her face up, unflinching:
“Then… will Your Highness give it?”
Xiao Chenyan was silent for a moment.
Then, suddenly, he lifted his hand, brushing the hair ornament in her hair.
His fingertips warm, touching briefly before pulling away.
“This string of prayer beads, as it is your fate,”
He withdrew his hand, turning to walk outside,
“then treasure it well.”
At the door, he paused, tilting his face.
Sunlight poured behind him, haloing his silhouette.
Su Yaoyao could not read his expression, only hearing his low voice carried by the breeze:
“As for my heart…”
He paused,
“That depends on your skill.”
With that, he pushed the door open and left.
The door closed gently behind him.
Su Yaoyao stood in place, fingertips unconsciously tracing the beads still warm with his touch.
The rosewood was slightly cool, yet where he had touched seemed to still burn.
Sunlight dazzled, magnolias in bloom.
She slowly curved her lips, eyes shimmering.
“Very well.”
She whispered to herself, fingertips twisting the rosewood beads,
As if feeling someone’s heartbeat.
“Then let Your Highness see…”
“The skill of Your servant.”