What?
Wearing Buddhist beads since childhood?
Sun Ningning was a bit confused and jokingly asked the System:
[Little System, I don’t remember the book mentioning him wearing Buddhist beads. Did I transmigrate into a pirated version?]
The System glitched, buzzing and crackling for a moment before replying:
[That can’t be… The book you transmigrated into has Crown Prince Bai Chengtin, Second Prince Bai Ze, and Third Prince Bai Ling, right?]
Hearing the System’s increasingly uncertain tone, Sun Ningning laughed and said:
[Just kidding, don’t be nervous. I’m not saying you messed up your job, it’s just a bit strange.]
If the System had a heartbeat, it would probably be racing at 110 beats per minute right now!
Sun Ningning stared at the Buddhist beads from afar, still wondering who had given them to him.
Worn since childhood?
Was it a gift from the Emperor or the Empress?
Or perhaps from Xiao Ze’s beloved grandmother, who was also her own grandaunt?
Sun Ningning held back from asking, but because this obvious trait of Bai Ze didn’t match the original book, she felt a strange sensation creeping over her.
This odd sense of dissonance wasn’t the first time it had appeared.
In the original book, Xiao Ze was cold on the outside but warm on the inside—a character who dared to love and hate, pure and kind.
But now, she was discovering that Xiao Ze was cold on the outside and even colder on the inside?
Most of the plot and descriptions were accurate.
For instance, Xiao Ze’s exotic-like features, his pale complexion, and his tall 188cm stature;
His mysophobia, which made him wash his hands incessantly;
Or how he changed his clothes, indeed swapping everything from head to toe, including his hairpins, without repeating an outfit.
Yet there were differences too.
Like wearing Buddhist beads since childhood—something never mentioned in the original book;
Or his personality—Xiao Ze was much colder than described in the book. It was only today that he had spoken full sentences to her.
In the original book, no matter how cold he was, after his older sister saved him once, he personally visited her to deliver gifts, prepared medicine for her, and promised to fulfill one of her requests.
A woman’s intuition began to stir uneasily, and Sun Ningning felt as if a fog was obstructing her vision.
It was like reciting a familiar word, feeling certain it was correct, only to realize after saying it aloud that she had confused it with another.
Noticing Sun Ningning’s sudden silence, Bai Ze keenly realized it was about the Buddhist beads.
He looked at Sun Ningning, who was sitting on the bed with her head bowed, his expression unreadable, and casually tossed the bracelet over to her.
“It was a gift from the abbot of Fachan Temple.”
Sun Ningning stared at the Buddhist beads now lying beside her hand, and all her previous thoughts scattered instantly!
She immediately dismissed her untimely suspicions.
“So it was a gift from the abbot!”
Sun Ningning’s smile grew wider and wider, and only then did Bai Ze withdraw his gaze.
She was more suited to grinning foolishly.
Sun Ningning carefully picked up the bracelet and gently rubbed the beads. Internally, she was screaming like a groundhog:
[Oh my god! Xiao Ze’s Buddhist beads, worn since childhood! Rounding it up, I’ve held hands with Xiao Ze!]
The System quietly added: [You forgot? He carried you here when you fainted earlier.]
Sun Ningning immediately remembered, and her mind was already filled with triumphant laughter, her lips pressed tightly together to keep herself from laughing out loud.
The Buddhist beads were small and lightweight, made of agarwood. Sun Ningning counted them one by one, lost in thought.
She carefully touched each bead, as if trying to leave her scent on them—a behavior reminiscent of a puppy marking its territory by urinating on a tree.
There were 42 beads, smooth and round, fitting perfectly around her wrist in two loops.
When Bai Ze saw Sun Ningning’s infatuated expression as she fondled each bead, that strange sense of satisfaction surged within him again.
If Ling Shuang and Feiyun had witnessed this scene, they would surely have wondered if the world had turned upside down.
To this day, only His Majesty the Emperor has curiously taken His Highness Prince Qin’s Buddhist beads to examine them.
Yet now, Prince Qin himself had actively tossed them to the Second Miss of the Sun family?
The person involved, Sun Ningning, expressed: There was nothing special about this string of Buddhist beads at all.
Finally, she gave them another touch, almost wishing she could kiss them a few times.
Fortunately, she didn’t yet have the nerve to perform such a perverted act as kissing the Buddhist beads right in front of Bai Ze.
Deliberately wrapping the bracelet around her own wrist, Sun Ningning slowly rose and walked over to return it to its owner.
“Cousin”
Seeing her shamelessly wrap his Buddhist beads around her wrist, Bai Ze had expected to feel annoyance and disgust. But when Sun Ningning stood before him again, feigning innocence and acting cute, deliberately extending her hand to slowly remove them…
Bai Ze found his heart remarkably calm.
So calm that he considered Sun Ningning’s behavior perfectly normal.
Having intentionally used the Buddhist beads to test him and discovering she had actually succeeded, a certain woman was overjoyed and beside herself, wishing she could cling to him right then and confess her feelings.
She once again stirred up mischief, attempting to slip the Buddhist beads onto Bai Ze’s wrist.
But the moment she touched his hand, he swiftly took the beads back, winding them twice around his own wrist and putting them on.
He gave her no opportunity at all, rejecting her quite decisively!
His wrist remained still and facing downward, as if concealing something.
Sun Ningning immediately remembered.
Xiao Ze’s blood…
One bowl each month, offered to blood relatives and the altar…
This secret was known only to four people: the Emperor, the Empress, the Crown Prince, and the Empress Dowager.
Without a trace of change in her expression, she shifted her gaze away from his wrist and, as if nothing were amiss, bowed to Bai Ze:
“Thank you, cousin, for taking me in and caring for me. The sky is growing dark, and Grandfather is probably off duty by now. I must hurry back to the estate.”
Bai Ze replied indifferently, “Mm, your maid is outside.”
Sun Ningning took a step forward, closing the safe distance she had maintained by one step.
Seeing that Bai Ze showed no sign of aversion or frowning, she inwardly breathed a sigh of relief and silently gave herself a “victory” sign.
Successfully one step closer!
“Thank you, cousin, for your thoughtfulness. Cousin, does this mean we’re familiar now? It should count, right? Hmm?”
Bai Ze lifted his gaze to Sun Ningning’s face, seeing her flatteringly coquettish, like a kitten begging for food.
It reminded him of the kitten he had raised in his previous life.
“Mm, it counts,” he answered truthfully.
Sun Ningning took another step forward. Upon noticing that Bai Ze still showed no aversion to this distance, the corners of her mouth nearly stretched to her ears in a grin.
“Cousin, then will you call me Ningning from now on?”
But this time, Sun Ningning was disappointed.
Bai Ze cast a cold glance her way, smiling mockingly without a word. Sun Ningning immediately chuckled awkwardly and quickly retreated two steps.
“Hehe, we’ll talk about that later then. Cousin, I take my leave.”
She made a swift escape, determined not to give him a chance to react.
Tofu must be eaten while hot, and the door to a person’s heart must be slipped through while it’s warm!
Having grown up reading people’s expressions since childhood, Sun Ningning was very tactful in this regard.
Because her wound no longer hurt and her stomach was full, she lifted her skirt and walked quickly.
Bai Ze watched her graceful figure standing outside the door, smiling and chatting with Feiyun and Ling Shuang.
He clearly heard her asking some trivial questions:
“Does your master eat spicy food? Does he like sweets?”
“Cousin looks pale. As his subordinates, you should arrange more blood-nourishing medicinal cuisine for him…”
Bai Ze slowly twirled the Buddhist beads again. Since his rebirth at the age of three, this was the first time he felt inner peace.
And it was all because of this woman who should never have appeared in his line of sight.
The first meeting made him want to kill her, the second left him shocked, and the third sparked curiosity and amusement.
Bai Ze wondered: What would this Second Young Miss do when they met for the fourth time?